Title: Laurence Sterne in Germany - A Contribution to the Study of the Literary Relations of - England and Germany in the Eighteenth Century
Author: Hewett-Thayer, Harvey W. (Harvey Waterman), 1873-
Language: English
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  LAURENCE STERNE
  IN GERMANY

  A Contribution to the Study of the
  Literary Relations of England and
  Germany in the Eighteenth Century


  By

  HARVEY WATERMAN THAYER, Ph.D.

  Sometime Fellow in Germanic Languages and
  Literatures, Columbia University



Copyright 1905, Columbia University Press, New York



NOTE


Mr. Thayer has undertaken to write, in detail and from the sources, the
history of Sterne’s vogue in Germany. As thus broadly defined the task
had not before been attempted, although phases of it had been treated,
more or less thoroughly, in recent monographs. The work here submitted,
the result of careful research in a number of American and European
libraries, is in my judgment an interesting and valuable contribution to
our knowledge of the literary relations of England and Germany at the
time of the great renascence of German letters.

  CALVIN THOMAS.

    Columbia University, May, 1905.



PREFACE


The following study was begun in the autumn of 1901, and was practically
finished now more than a year ago. Since its completion two works of
interest to lovers of Sterne have been issued, Czerny’s study of
Sterne’s influence upon Hippel and Jean Paul, a work which the present
author had planned as a continuation of this book, and Prof. Cross’s new
definitive edition of Sterne.

I desire here to express my thanks to Prof. W. H. Carpenter, Prof.
Calvin Thomas and Prof. W. P. Trent, under whose guidance my last year
of University residence was spent: their interest in my work was
generous and unfailing; their admirable scholarship has been and will
continue to be an inspiration. I am indebted to Prof. Carpenter and
Prof. Thomas for many helpful suggestions regarding the present work,
and the latter especially has given freely of his valuable time to a
consideration of my problems. I am grateful also to several other
friends for helpful and kindly service, and to many librarians in this
country and in Europe for their courtesy.

  NEW YORK, May 1, 1905.



CONTENTS


  Chapter I.    Introduction                                        1

  Chapter II.   Sterne in Germany before the Publication
                of The Sentimental Journey                          9

  Chapter III.  The Publication of The Sentimental Journey         35

  Chapter IV.   Sterne in Germany after the Publication of
                The Sentimental Journey                            55

  Chapter V.    Sterne’s Influence in Germany                      84

  Chapter VI.   Imitators of Sterne                               112

  Chapter VII.  Opposition to Sterne and His Type of
                Sentimentalism                                    156

  Chapter VIII. Bibliography                                      183

  Index                                                           196



CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION


The indebtedness of German culture to other peoples has been the theme
of much painstaking investigation. The history of German literature is,
in large measure, the story of its successive periods of connection with
the literatures of other lands, and hence scholars have sought with
industry and insight to bound and explain such literary inter-relations.

The latter half of the eighteenth century was a period of predominant
English influence. The first half of the century had fostered this
ascendency through the popularity of the moral weeklies, the religious
epic, and the didactic poetry of Britain. Admiration for English ideals
was used as a weapon to combat French dominion in matters of taste, till
a kind of Anglomania spread, which was less absolute than the waning
Gallomania had been, only in such measure as the nature of the imitated
lay nearer the German spirit and hence allowed and cherished a parallel
independence rather than demanded utter subjection. Indeed, the study of
English masters may be said to have contributed more than any other
external cause to the golden age of German letters; to have worked with
untold beneficence in bringing faltering Germany to a consciousness of
her own inherent possibilities. This fact of foreign awakening of
national greatness through kinship of inborn racial characteristics
removes the seeming inconsistency that British influence was paramount
at the very time of Germany’s most individual, most national, outburst.

The German literary world concerned itself zealously with each new
development across the channel. The German literary periodicals were
diligent and alert in giving their subscribers adequate intelligence
concerning new books in England,[1] and various journals[2] devoted
exclusively to a retailing of English thought for German readers are by
their very existence eloquent testimony to the supreme interest in
things British. Through the medium of these literary journals,
intelligence concerning British literary interests was disseminated,
and the way was thus prepared for the reception of the British authors
themselves. Every English writer of eminence, every English literary
movement was in some way or other echoed in the literature of the German
fatherland. English authors were read in the original, and in numerous
and popular translations. A German following is a well-nigh certain
inference from an English success. Sometimes the growth of German
appreciation and imitation was immediate and contemporaneous, or nearly
so, with the English interest, as in the case of the German enthusiasm
for Bishop Percy’s “Reliques.” At other times it tarried behind the
period of interest in England, and was gradual in its development. The
suggestion that a book, especially a novel, was translated from the
English was an assurance of its receiving consideration, and many
original German novels were published under the guise of English
translations. Hermes roguishly avoids downright falsehood, and yet
avails himself of this popular trend by describing his “Miss Fanny
Wilkes” upon the title page as “So gut als aus dem Englischen
übersetzt,” and printing “so gut als” in very small type. Müller in a
letter[3] to Gleim, dated at Cassel, May 27, 1781, proposes to alter
names in Liscow’s works and to publish his books as an English
translation: “Germany would read him with delight,” he says, and Gleim,
in his reply, finds the idea “splendid.” Out of this one reads clearly
how the Germany of that time was hanging on the lips of England.

As has been suggested, conscious or unconscious imitation in the home
literature is the unavoidable result of admiration for the foreign;
imitation of English masters is written large on this period of German
letters. Germany is especially indebted to the stirring impulse of the
English novel.

The intellectual development of a people is observable in its successive
periods of interest in different kinds of narration, in its attitude
toward the relation of fictitious events. The interest in the
extraordinary always precedes that in the ordinary; the unstored mind
finds pleasure only in the unusual. An appreciation of the absorbing,
vital interest of everyday existence is the accomplishment of reflective
training, and betokens the spiritualized nature. Yet it must be observed
in passing that the crude interest of unschooled ignorance, and
undeveloped taste in the grotesque, the monstrous, the unreal, is not
the same as the intellectual man’s appreciation of the unreal in
imagination and fancy. The German novel had passed its time of service
under the wild, extraordinary and grotesque. The crudities of such tales
of adventure were softened and eliminated by the culturing influence of
formal classicism and by a newly won admiration for the everyday element
in life, contemporaneous with and dependent upon the gradual
appreciation of middle-class worth. At this point the English novel
stepped in as a guide, and the gradual shaping of the German novel in
the direction of an art-form is due primarily to the prevailing
admiration of English models.

The novel has never been a characteristic method of German
self-expression, while if any form of literary endeavor can be
designated as characteristically English, the novel may claim this
distinction; that is, more particularly the novel as distinguished from
the romance. “Robinson Crusoe” (1719) united the elements of the
extraordinary and the everyday, being the practical, unromantic account
of a remarkable situation; and its extensive vogue in Germany, the
myriad confessed imitations, may be said to form a kind of transition
of interests. In it the commonplace gains interest through the
extraordinary situation. Such an awakening assures a certain measure
of interest remaining over for the detailed relation of the everyday
activities of life, when removed from the exceptional situation. Upon
this vantage ground the novel of everyday life was built. Near the
mid-century comes another mighty influence from England, Richardson,
who brings into the narration of middle-class, everyday existence, the
intense analysis of human sensibilities. Richardson taught Germany to
remodel her theories of heroism, her whole system of admirations, her
conception of deserts. Rousseau’s voice from France spoke out a stirring
appeal for the recognition of human feelings. Fielding, though attacking
Richardson’s exaggeration of manner, and opposing him in his excess of
emotionalism, yet added a forceful influence still in favor of the real,
present and ordinary, as exemplified in the lives of vigorous human
beings.

England’s leadership in narrative fiction, the superiority of the
English novel, especially the humorous novel, which was tacitly
acknowledged by these successive periods of imitation, when not actually
declared by the acclaim of the critic and the preference of the reading
public, has been attributed quite generally to the freedom of life in
England and the comparative thraldom in Germany. Gervinus[4] enlarges
upon this point, the possibility in Britain of individual development in
character and in action as compared with the constraint obtaining in
Germany, where originality, banished from life, was permissible only in
opinion. His ideas are substantially identical with those expressed many
years before in an article in the _Neue Bibliothek der schönen
Wissenschaften_[5] entitled “Ueber die Laune.” Lichtenberg in his brief
essay, “Ueber den deutschen Roman,”[6] is undoubtedly more than half
serious in his arraignment of the German novel and his acknowledgment of
the English novelist’s advantage: the trend of this satirical skit
coincides with the opinion above outlined, the points he makes being
characteristic of his own humorous bent. That the English sleep in
separate apartments, with big chimneys in their bedchambers, that they
have comfortable post-chaises with seats facing one another, where all
sorts of things may happen, and merry inns for the accommodation of the
traveler,--these features of British life are represented as affording a
grateful material to the novelist, compared with which German life
offers no corresponding opportunity. Humor, as a characteristic element
of the English novel, has been felt to be peculiarly dependent upon the
fashion of life in Britain. Blankenburg, another eighteenth-century
student of German literary conditions, in his treatise on the novel[7],
has similar theories concerning the sterility of German life as compared
with English, especially in the production of humorous characters[8]. He
asserts theoretically that humor (Laune) should never be employed in a
novel of German life, because “Germany’s political institutions and
laws, and our nice Frenchified customs would not permit this humor.” “On
the one side,” he goes on to say, “is Gothic formality; on the other,
frivolity.” Later in the volume (p. 191) he confines the use of humorous
characters to subordinate rôles; otherwise, he says, the tendency to
exaggeration would easily awaken displeasure and disgust. Yet in a
footnote, prompted by some misgiving as to his theory, Blankenburg
admits that much is possible to genius and cites English novels where a
humorous character appears with success in the leading part; thus the
theorist swerves about, and implies the lack of German genius in this
regard. Eberhard in his “Handbuch der Aesthetik,”[9] in a rather
unsatisfactory and confused study of humor, expresses opinions agreeing
with those cited above, and states that in England the feeling of
independence sanctions the surrender of the individual to eccentric
humor: hence England has produced more humorists than all the rest of
the world combined. There is, however, at least one voice raised to
explain in another way this deficiency of humor in German letters.
A critic in the _Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_[10] attributes
this lack not to want of original characters but to a lack of men like
Cervantes, Ben Jonson, Butler, Addison, Fielding.

There is undoubtedly some truth in both points of view, but the defects
of the eighteenth century German novel are due in larger measure to the
peculiar mental organization of German authorship than to lack of
interesting material in German life. The German novel was crushed under
the weight of pedantry and pedagogy. Hillebrand strikes the root of the
matter when he says,[11] “We are all schoolmasters, even Hippel could
not get away from the tutorial attitude.” The inborn necessity of German
culture is to impart information, to seek recruits for the maintenance
of some idea, to exploit some political, educational, or moral theory.
This irresistible impulse has left its trail over German fiction.
The men who wrote novels, as soon as they began to observe, began to
theorize, and the results of this speculation were inevitably embodied
in their works. They were men of mind rather than men of deeds, who
minimized the importance of action and exaggerated the reflective,
the abstract, the theoretical, the inner life of man. Hettner,[12] with
fine insight, points to the introduction to “Sebaldus Nothanker” as
exhibiting the characteristic of this epoch of fiction. Speculation was
the hero’s world, and in speculation lay for him the important things of
life; he knew not the real world, hence speculation concerning it was
his occupation. Consequential connection of events with character makes
the English novel the mirror of English life. Failure to achieve such a
union makes the German novel a mirror of speculative opinions concerning
life.

Hence we have Germany in the mid-eighteenth century prepared to accept
and adopt any literary dogma, especially when stamped with an English
popularity, which shall represent an interest rather in extraordinary
characters and unusual opinions than in astounding adventure; which
shall display a knowledge of human feeling and foster the exuberant
expression of it.

Beside the devotees of any literary fashion are those who analyze
philosophically the causes, and forecast the probable results of such a
following. Thinking Germany became exercised over these facts of
successive intellectual and literary dependence, as indicative of
national limitations or foreboding disintegration. And thought was
accordingly directed to the study of the influence of imitation upon the
imitator, the effects of the imitative process upon national
characteristics, as well as the causes of imitation, the fundamental
occasion for national bondage in matters of life and letters. The part
played by Dr. Edward Young’s famous epistle to Richardson, “Conjectures
on Original Composition” (London, 1759), in this struggle for
originality is considerable. The essay was reprinted, translated and
made the theme of numerous treatises and discussions.[13] One needs only
to mention the concern of Herder, as displayed in the “Fragmente über
die neuere deutsche Litteratur,” and his statement[14] with reference to
the predicament as realized by thoughtful minds may serve as a summing
up of that part of the situation. “Seit der Zeit ist keine Klage lauter
and häufiger als über den Mangel von Originalen, von Genies, von
Erfindern, Beschwerden über die Nachahmungs- und gedankenlose
Schreibsucht der Deutschen.”

This thoughtful study of imitation itself was accompanied by more or
less pointed opposition to the heedless importation of foreign views,
and protests, sometimes vigorous and keen, sometimes flimsy and silly,
were entered against the slavish imitation of things foreign. Endeavor
was turned toward the establishment of independent ideals, and the
fostering of a taste for the characteristically national in literature,
as opposed to frank imitation and open borrowing.[15]

The story of Laurence Sterne in Germany is an individual example of
sweeping popularity, servile admiration, extensive imitation and
concomitant opposition.


    [Footnote 1: This is well illustrated by the words prefaced to the
    revived and retitled _Frankfurter Gelehrte Anzeigen_, which state
    the purpose of the periodical: “Besonders wird man für den
    Liebhaber der englischen Litteratur dahin sorgen, dass ihm kein
    einziger Artikel, der seiner Aufmerksamkeit würdig ist, entgehe,
    und die Preise der englischen Bücher wo möglich allzeit bemerken.”
    (_Frankfurter gel. Anz._, 1772, No. 1, January 3.)]

    [Footnote 2: Elze, “Die Englische Sprache und Litteratur in
    Deutschland,” gives what purports to be a complete list of these
    German-English periodicals in chronological order, but he begins
    his register with Eschenburg’s _Brittisches Museum für die
    Deutschen_, 1777-81, thus failing to mention the more significant,
    because earlier, journals: _die Brittische Bibliothek_, which
    appeared first in 1759 in Leipzig, edited by Karl Wilhelm Müller:
    and _Bremisches Magazin zur Ausbreitung der Wissenschaften, Künste
    und Tugend, Von einigen Liebhabern derselben mehrentheils aus den
    Englischen Monatsschriften gesammelt und herausgegeben_, Bremen
    and Leipzig, 1757-1766, when the _Neues Bremisches Magazin_
    begins.]

    [Footnote 3: Briefe deutscher Gelehrten aus Gleim’s Nachlass.
    Bd. II, p. 213.]

    [Footnote 4: “Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung,” V, pp. 184 ff.
    The comparative inferiority of the German novel is discussed by
    l’Abbé Dénina in “La Prusse Littéraire sous Frédéric II,” Berlin,
    1791. Vol. I, pp. 112 ff. See also Julian Schmidt, “Bilder aus dem
    geistigen Leben unserer Zeit.” Leipzig, 1870. IV, pp. 270 ff.]

    [Footnote 5: III, pp. 1 ff.]

    [Footnote 6: Vermischte Schriften, II, p. 215.]

    [Footnote 7: “Versuch über den Roman.” Frankfort and Leipzig,
    1774, p. 528. This study contains frequent allusions to Sterne and
    occasional quotation from his works, pp. 48, 191, 193, 200, 210,
    273, 351, 365, 383, 426.]

    [Footnote 8: There is a similar tribute to English humor in “Ueber
    die moralische Schönheit und Philosophie des Lebens.” Altenburg,
    1772, p. 199. Compare also Herder’s opinion in “Ideen zur
    Geschichte und Kritik der Poesie und bildenden Künste,” 1794-96,
    No. 49, in “Abhandlungen und Briefe über schöne Literatur und
    Kunst.” Tübingen, 1806, I, pp. 375-380; compare also passages in
    his “Fragmente” and “Wäldchen.”]

    [Footnote 9: Second edition, Halle, 1807, II, pp. 309 ff. The
    definition of humor and the perplexing question as to how far it
    is identical with “Laune,” have received considerable attention at
    the hands of aesthetic critics; compare, for example, Lessing in
    the “Hamburgische Dramaturgie.”]

    [Footnote 10: VII. p. 353. 1761.]

    [Footnote 11: “Deutsche Nationalliteratur,” II, p. 535. Hamburg,
    1850.]

    [Footnote 12: “Geschichte der deutschen Literatur im achtzehnten
    Jahrhundert,” III, 1, pp. 363 ff.]

    [Footnote 13: See Introduction to “Briefe über Merkwürdigkeiten
    der Litteratur” in Seuffert’s Deutsche Litteraturdenkmale des 18.
    und 19. Jahrhunderts. The literature of this study of imitation in
    the Germany of the second half of the eighteenth century is
    considerable. The effort of much in the Litteratur-Briefe may be
    mentioned as contributing to this line of thought. The prize
    question of the Berlin Academy for 1788 brought forth a book
    entitled: “Wie kann die Nachahmung sowohl alter als neuer fremden
    Werke der schönen Wissenschaften des vaterländischen Geschmack
    entwickeln und vervollkommnen?” by Joh. Chr. Schwabe, professor in
    Stuttgart. (Berlin, pp. 120; reviewed in _Allg. Litt. Zeitung._
    1790. I, pp. 632-640.) Perhaps the first English essay upon German
    imitation of British masters is that in the _Critical Journal_,
    Vol. III, which was considered of sufficient moment for a German
    translation. See _Morgenblatt_, I, Nr. 162, July 8, 1807. A writer
    in the _Auserlesene Bibliothek der neusten deutschen Litteratur_
    (Lemgo, 1772-3), in an article entitled “Vom Zustande des
    Geschmacks beim deutschen Publikum,” traces the tendency to
    imitate to the German capacity for thinking rather than for
    feeling. (III, pp. 683 ff.) “Das deutsche Publikum,” he says,
    “scheint dazu bestimmt zu seyn, nachzuahmen, nachzuurtheilen,
    nachzuempfinden.” Justus Möser condemns his fellow countrymen
    soundly for their empty imitation. See fragment published in
    “Sämmtliche Werke,” edited by B. R. Abeken. Berlin, 1858. IV,
    pp. 104-5.]

    [Footnote 14: Herder’s sämmtliche Werke, edited by B. Suphan,
    Berlin, Weidman, 1877, I, 254. In the tenth fragment (second
    edition) he says the Germans have imitated other nations, “so dass
    Nachahmer beinahe zum Beiwort und zur zweiten Sylbe unseres Namens
    geworden.” See II, p. 51. Many years later Herder does not seem to
    view this period of imitation with such regret as the attitude of
    these earlier criticisms would forecast. In the “Ideen zur
    Geschichte und Kritik der Poesie und bildenden Künste,” 1794-96,
    he states with a burst of enthusiasm over the adaptability of the
    German language that he regards imitation as no just reproach, for
    thereby has Germany become immeasurably the richer.]

    [Footnote 15: The kind of praise bestowed on Hermes’s “Sophiens
    Reise” is a case in point; it was greeted as the first real German
    novel, the traces of English imitation being hardly noticeable.
    See _Magazin der deutschen Critik_, Vol. I, St. 2, pp. 245-251,
    1772, signed “Kl.” Sattler’s “Friederike” was accorded a similar
    welcome of German patriotism; see _Magazin der deutschen Critik_,
    III, St. 1, p. 233. The “Litterarische Reise durch Deutschland”
    (Leipzig, 1786, p. 82) calls “Sophiens Reise” the first original
    German novel. See also the praise of Von Thümmel’s “Wilhelmine”
    and “Sophiens Reise” in Blankenburg’s “Versuch über den Roman,”
    pp. 237-9. Previously Germans had often hesitated to lay the
    scenes of their novels in Germany, and in many others English
    characters traveling or residing in Germany supply the un-German
    element.]



CHAPTER II

STERNE IN GERMANY BEFORE THE PUBLICATION OF THE SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY


It is no exaggeration to assert that the works of Yorick obtained and
still retain a relatively more substantial position of serious
consideration and recognized merit in France and Germany than in the
countries where Sterne’s own tongue is spoken.[1] His place among the
English classics has, from the foreign point of view, never been a
dubious question, a matter of capricious taste and unstable ideals. His
peculiar message, whether interpreted and insisted upon with clearness
of insight, or blindness of misunderstanding, played its not unimportant
part in certain developments of continental literatures, and his station
in English literature, as viewed from a continental standpoint, is
naturally in part the reflex of the magnitude of his influence in the
literature of France and Germany, rather than an estimate obtained
exclusively from the actual worth of his own accomplishment, and the
nature of his own service as a leader and innovator in English letters.

Sterne’s career in German literature, the esteem in which his own works
have been held, and the connection between the sentimental, whimsical,
contradictory English clergyman and his German imitators have been
noted, generally speaking, by all the historians of literature; and
several monographs and separate articles have been published on single
phases of the theme.[2] As yet, however, save for the investigations
which treat only of two or three authors, there has been hardly more
than the general statement of the facts, often inadequate, incomplete,
and sometimes inexact.

Sterne’s period of literary activity falls in the sixties, the very
heyday of British supremacy in Germany. The fame of Richardson was
hardly dimmed, though Musäus ridiculed his extravagances in “Grandison
der Zweite” (1760) at the beginning of the decade. In 1762-66 Wieland’s
Shakespeare translation appeared, and his original works of the period,
“Agathon,” begun in 1761, and “Don Silvio von Rosalva,” published in
1764, betray the influence of both Richardson and Fielding. Ebert
(1760--) revised and republished his translation of Young’s “Night
Thoughts,” which had attained popularity in the previous decade.
Goldsmith’s “Vicar of Wakefield” (1766) aroused admiration and
enthusiasm. To this time too belongs Ossian’s mighty voice. As early as
1762 the first bardic translations appeared, and Denis’s work came out
in 1768. Percy’s “Reliques,” published in England in 1765, were
extensively read and cited, a stimulating force to parallel German
activity. A selection from the “Reliques” appeared in Göttingen in 1767.

The outlook maintained in Germany for the worthy in British thought,
the translatable, the reproducible, was so vigilant and, in general,
so discerning that the introduction of Yorick into Germany was all but
inevitable. The nature of the literary relations then obtaining and
outlined above would forecast and almost necessitate such an adoption,
and his very failure to secure recognition would demand an explanation.

Before the publication of Tristram Shandy it would be futile to seek for
any knowledge of Sterne on German soil. He had published, as is well
known, two sermons preached on occasions of note; and a satirical skit,
with kindly purpose, entitled “The History of a Good Warm Watchcoat,”
had been written, privately circulated, and then suppressed; yet he was
an unknown and comparatively insignificant English clergyman residing in
a provincial town, far, in those days very far, from those centers of
life which sent their enlightenment over the channel to the continent.
His fame was purely local. His sermons had, without doubt, rendered the
vicar of Sutton a rather conspicuous ecclesiastic throughout that
region; his eccentricities were presumably the talk of neighboring
parishes; the cathedral town itself probably tittered at his drolleries,
and chattered over his sentiments; his social graces undoubtedly found
recognition among county families and in provincial society, and his
reputation as a wit had probably spread in a vague, uncertain,
transitory fashion beyond the boundaries of the county. Yet the facts of
local notoriety and personal vogue are without real significance save in
the light of later developments; and we may well date his career in the
world of books from the year 1760, when the London world began to smile
over the first volumes of Tristram Shandy. From internal evidence in
these early volumes it is possible to note with some assurance the
progress of their composition and the approximate time of their
completion. In his wayward, fitful way, and possibly for his own
amusement more than with dreams of fame and fortune,[3] Sterne probably
began the composition of Shandy in January, 1759, and the completion of
the first installment is assigned to the summer or early autumn of that
year. At the end of the year[4] the first edition of the first two
volumes was issued in York, bearing the imprint of John Hinxham. Dodsley
and Cooper undertook the sale of the volumes in London, though the
former had declined to be responsible for the publication. They were
ready for delivery in the capital on the first day of the new year 1760.
Sterne’s fame was immediate; his personal triumph was complete and ranks
with the great successes in the history of our literature. On his
arrival in London in March, the world aristocratic, ecclesiastic,
and literary was eager to receive the new favorite, and his career of
bewildering social enjoyment, vigorous feasting and noteworthy privilege
began. “No one”, says Forster, “was so talked of in London this year
and no one so admired as the tall, thin, hectic-looking Yorkshire
parson.”[5] From this time on until his death Sterne was a most
conspicuous personage in English society, a striking, envied figure
in English letters.

And yet it was some time before Germany learned of the new prodigy: for
reasons which will be treated later, the growth of the Sterne cult in
Germany was delayed, so that Yorick was in the plenitude of his German
fame when England had begun to look askance at him with critical,
fault-finding eye, or to accord him the more damning condemnation of
forgetfulness.

The first mention of Sterne’s name in Germany may well be the brief word
in the _Hamburgischer unpartheyischer Correspondent_[6] for January 19,
1762, in a letter from the regular London correspondent, dated January
8. In a tone of particularity which would mark the introduction of a new
and strange personality into his communications, the correspondent
states the fact of Sterne’s departure for Paris in pursuit of lost
health. This journal may further be taken as an example of those which
devoted a remarkable amount of space to British affairs, since it was
published in the North German seaport town, where the mercantile
connection with Britain readily fostered the exchange of other than
purely commercial commodities. And yet in Hamburg Sterne waited full two
years for a scanty recognition even of his English fame.

In the fourth year after the English publication of Shandy comes the
first attempt to transplant Sterne’s gallery of originals to German
shores. This effort, of rather dubious success, is the Zückert
translation of Tristram Shandy, a rendering weak and inaccurate, but
nevertheless an important first step in the German Shandy cult. Johann
Friedrich Zückert,[7] the translator, was born December 19, 1739, and
died in Berlin May 1, 1778. He studied medicine at the University of
Frankfurt an der Oder, became a physician in Berlin, but, because of
bodily disabilities, devoted himself rather to study and society than to
the practice of his profession. His publications are fairly numerous and
deal principally with medical topics, especially with the question of
foods. In the year after the appearance of his Shandy translation,
Zückert published an essay which indicates the direction of his tastes
and gives a clue to his interest in Tristram. It was entitled
“Medizinische und Moralische Abhandlung von den Leidenschaften,”[8] and
discloses a tendency on the part of the author to an analysis of the
passions and moods of man, an interest in the manner of their
generation, and the method of their working. This treatise was quite
probably written, or conceived, while its author was busied with Shandy,
and his division of the temperaments (p. 53) into the sanguine or warm
moist, the choleric or warm dry, the phlegmatic or cold moist, and the
melancholy or cold dry, is not unlike some of Walter Shandy’s
half-serious, half-jesting scientific theories, though, to be sure, it
falls in with much of the inadequate and ill-applied terminology of the
time.

Zückert’s translation of the first six parts[9] of Tristram Shandy
appeared in 1763, and bore the imprint of the publisher Lange, Berlin
und Stralsund. The title read “Das Leben und die Meynungen des Herrn
Tristram Shandy,” the first of the long series of “Leben und Meynungen”
which flooded the literature of the succeeding decades, this becoming a
conventional title for a novel. It is noteworthy that until the
publication of parts VII and VIII in 1765, there is no mention of the
real author’s name. To these later volumes the translator prefaces a
statement which contains some significant intelligence concerning his
aim and his interpretation of Sterne’s underlying purpose. He says he
would never have ventured on the translation of so ticklish a book if he
had foreseen the difficulties; that he believed such a translation would
be a real service to the German public, and that he never fancied the
critics could hold him to the very letter, as in the rendering of a
classic author. He confesses to some errors and promises corrections in
a possible new edition. He begs the public to judge the translation in
accord with its purpose “to delight and enliven the public and to
acquaint the Germans with a really wonderful genius.” To substantiate
his statement relative to the obstacles in his way, he outlines in a few
words Sterne’s peculiar, perplexing style, as regards both use of
language and the arrangement of material. He conceives Sterne’s purpose
as a desire to expose to ridicule the follies of his countrymen and to
incorporate serious truths into the heart of his jesting.

Since the bibliographical facts regarding the subsequent career of this
Zückert translation have been variously mangled and misstated, it may be
well, though it depart somewhat from the regular chronological order of
the narrative, to place this information here in connection with the
statement of its first appearance. The translation, as published in
1763, contained only the first six parts of Sterne’s work. In 1765 the
seventh and eighth parts were added, and in 1767 a ninth appeared, but
the latter was a translation of a spurious English original.[10] In
1769, the shrewd publisher began to issue a new and slightly altered
edition of the translation, which bore, however, on the title page “nach
einer neuen Uebersetzung” and the imprint, Berlin und Stralsund bey
Gottlieb August Langen, Parts I and II being dated 1769; Parts III and
IV, 1770; Parts V, VI, VII and VIII, 1771; Part IX, 1772. Volumes
III-VIII omit Stralsund as a joint place of publication. In 1773, when
it became noised abroad that Bode, the successful and honored translator
of the Sentimental Journey, was at work upon a German rendering of
Shandy, Lange once more forced his wares upon the market, this time
publishing the Zückert translation with the use of Wieland’s then
influential name on the title page, “Auf Anrathen des Hrn. Hofraths
Wielands verfasst.” Wieland was indignant at this misuse of his name and
repudiated all connection with this “new translation.” This edition was
probably published late in 1773, as Wieland in his review in the
_Merkur_ gives it that date, but the volumes themselves bear the date of
1774.[11] We learn from the _Merkur_ (VI. 363) that Zückert was not
responsible for the use of Wieland’s name.

These are the facts of the case. Meusel in his account of Zückert gives
the date of the first edition as 1774, and the second edition is
registered but the date is left blank. Jördens, probably depending on
the information given by the review in the _Merkur_, to which reference
is made, assigns 1773 as the date. This edition, as is shown above, is
really the third.

This Zückert translation is first reviewed by the above mentioned
_Hamburgischer unpartheyischer Correspondent_ in the issue for January
4, 1764. The review, however, was not calculated to lure the German
reader of the periodical to a perusal either of the original, or of the
rendering in question: it is concerned almost exclusively with a summary
of the glaring inaccuracies in the first nineteen pages of the work and
with correct translations of the same; and it is in no sense of the word
an appreciation of the book. The critic had read Shandy in the original,
and had believed that no German hack translator[12] would venture a
version in the language of the fatherland. It is a review which shows
only the learning of the reviewer, displays the weakness of the
translator, but gives no idea of the nature of the book itself, not even
a glimpse of the critic’s own estimate of the book, save the implication
that he himself had understood the original, though many Englishmen even
were staggered by its obtuseness and failed to comprehend the subtlety
of its allusion. It is criticism in the narrowest, most arrogant sense
of the word, destructive instead of informing, blinding instead of
illuminating. It is noteworthy that Sterne’s name is nowhere mentioned
in the review, nor is there a hint of Tristram’s English popularity. The
author of this unsigned criticism is not to be located with certainty,
yet it may well have been Bode, the later apostle of Sterne-worship in
Germany. Bode was a resident of Hamburg at this time, was exceptionally
proficient in English and, according to Jördens[13] and Schröder,[14] he
was in 1762-3 the editor of the _Hamburgischer unpartheyischer
Correspondent_. The precise date when Bode severed his connection with
the paper is indeterminate, yet this, the second number of the new year
1764, may have come under his supervision even if his official
connection ended exactly with the close of the old year. To be sure,
when Bode ten years later published his own version of Shandy, he
translated, with the exception of two rather insignificant cases, none
of the passages verbally the same as the reviewer in this journal, but
it would be unreasonable to attach any great weight to this fact. Eight
or nine years later, when undertaking the monumental task of rendering
the whole of Shandy into German, it is not likely that Bode would recall
the old translations he had made in this review or concern himself about
them. A brief comparison of the two sets of translations suggests that
the critic was striving merely for accuracy in correcting the errors of
Zückert, and that Bode in his formal translation shows a riper and more
certain feeling for the choice of words; the effect of purposeful
reflection is unmistakable. Of course this in no way proves Bode to have
been the reviewer, but the indications at least allow the probability.

As was promised in the preface to Parts VII and VIII, to which reference
has already been made, the new edition was regarded as an opportunity
for correction of errors, but this bettering is accomplished with such
manifest carelessness and ignorance as to suggest a further possibility,
that the publisher, Lange, eager to avail himself of the enthusiasm for
Sterne, which burst out on the publication of the Sentimental Journey,
thrust this old translation on the public without providing for thorough
revision, or complete correction of flagrant errors. The following
quotations will suffice to demonstrate the inadequacy of the revision:

  ORIGINAL

    ZUECKERT TRANSLATION

  I, p. 6: Well, you may take my word that nine parts in ten of a
  man’s sense or his nonsense,

    P. 5: Gut, ich gebe euch mein Wort, dass neun unter zehnmal eines
    jeden Witz oder Dummheit.

    (The second edition replaces “Witz” by “Verstand,” which does not
    alter the essential error of the rendering.)

  P. 7: The minutest philosophers.

    “Die strengsten Philosophen” remains unchanged in second edition.

  P. 7: Being guarded and circumscribed with rights.

    P. 3: “Ein Wesen das ebenfalls seine Vorzüge hat” is unaltered.

  P. 8: A most unaccountable obliquity in the manner of setting up
  my top.

    Meine seltsame Ungeschicklichkeit meinen Kopf zu recht zu machen.

This last astounding translation is retained in the second edition in
spite of the reviewers’ ridicule, but the most nonsensical of all the
renderings, whereby “the momentum of the coach horse was so great”
becomes “der Augenblick des Kutschpferdes war so gross” is fortunately
corrected.[15]

These examples of slipshod alteration or careless retention contrast
quite unfavorably with the attitude of the translator in the preface to
parts VII and VIII, in which he confesses to the creeping in of errors
in consequence of the perplexities of the rendering, and begs for
“reminders and explanations” of this and that passage, thereby
displaying an eagerness to accept hints for emendation. This is
especially remarkable when it is noted that he has in the second edition
not even availed himself of the corrections given in the _Hamburgischer
unpartheyischer Correspondent_, and has allowed some of the most
extraordinary blunders to stand. These facts certainly favor the theory
that Zückert himself had little or nothing to do with the second edition
and its imperfect revision. This supposition finds further evidence in
the fact that the ninth part of Shandy, as issued by Lange in the second
(1772) and third (1774) editions, was still a translation of the
spurious English volume, although the fraud was well known and the
genuine volume was read and appreciated. Of this genuine last part Dr.
Zückert never made a translation. It may be remarked in passing that a
translation bristling with such errors, blunders which at times degrade
the text into utter nonsense, could hardly be an efficient one in
spreading appreciation of Shandy.

A little more than a year after the review in the _Hamburgischer
unpartheyischer Correspondent_, which has been cited, the _Jenaische
Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen_ in the number dated March 1, 1765,
treats Sterne’s masterpiece in its German disguise. This is the first
mention of Sterne’s book in the distinctively literary journals. The
tone of this review is further that of an introducer of the new, and the
critique is manifestly inserted in the paper as an account of a new
book. The reviewer is evidently unaware of the author’s name, since the
words which accompany the title, from the English, are nowhere
elucidated, and no hint of authorship, or popularity in England, or
possible far-reaching appeal in Germany is traceable. The idea of the
hobby-horse is new to the reviewer and his explanation of it implies
that he presumed Sterne’s use of the term would be equally novel to the
readers of the periodical. His compliment to the translation indicates
further that he was unacquainted with the review in the _Hamburgischer
unpartheyischer Correspondent_.

A little more than a year later, June 13, 1766, this same journal, under
the caption “London,” reviews the Becket and de Hondt four-volume
edition of the “Sermons of Mr. Yorick.” The critic thinks a warning
necessary: “One should not be deceived by the title: the author’s name
is not Yorick,” and then he adds the information of the real authorship.
This is a valid indication that, in the opinion of the reviewer, the
name Yorick would not be sufficiently linked in the reader’s mind with
the personality of Sterne and the fame of his first great book, to
preclude the possibility, or rather probability, of error. This state of
affairs is hardly reconcilable with any widespread knowledge of the
first volumes of Shandy. The criticism of the sermons which follows
implies, on the reviewer’s part, an acquaintance with Sterne, with
Tristram, a “whimsical and roguish novel which would in our land be but
little credit to a clergyman,” and with the hobby-horse idea. The spirit
of the review is, however, quite possibly prompted, and this added
information supplied, by the London correspondent, and retold only with
a savor of familiarity by this critic; for at the end of this
communication this London correspondent is credited with the suggestion
that quite probably the sermons were never actually preached.

The first mention of Sterne in the _Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen_ is
in the number for November 15, 1764. In the report from London is a
review[16] of the fifth edition of Yorick’s Sermons, published by
Dodsley in two volumes, 1764. To judge by the tenor of his brief
appreciation, the reviewer does not anticipate any knowledge of Sterne
whatsoever or of Shandy among the readers of the periodical. He states
that the sermons had aroused much interest in England because of their
authorship “by Lorenz Sterne, author of Tristram Shandy, a book in which
a remarkable humor is exhibited.” He mentions also that the sermon on
the conscience had already been published in the novel, but is ignorant
of its former and first appearance. Three years later, July 20,
1767,[17] the same periodical devotes a long critical review to the
four-volume London edition of the sermons. The publisher’s name is not
given, but it is the issue of Becket and de Hondt. The restating of
elementary information concerning authorship is indicative of the tardy
progress made by Yorick in these years in gaining recognition in
Germany. The reviewer thinks it even necessary to add that Yorick is the
name of the clergyman who plays a waggish (possierliche) rôle in Shandy,
and that Sterne cherished the opinion that this designation on the
title-page would be better known than his own name.

In the meantime Swiss piety and Swiss devotion to things English had
been instrumental in bringing out a translation of Sterne’s sermons,[18]
the first volume of which appeared in 1766. The Swiss translation was
occasioned by its author’s expectation of interest in the sermons as
sermons; this is in striking contrast to the motives which led to their
original publication in England. The brief preface of the translator
gives no information of Sterne, or of Shandy; the translator states his
reasons for the rendering, his own interest in the discourses, his
belief that such sermons would not be superfluous in Germany, and his
opinion that they were written for an increasing class of readers, “who,
though possessed of taste and culture and laying claim to probity, yet
for various reasons stand apart from moral instruction and religious
observance.” He also changed the original order of the sermons. The
first part of this Swiss translation is reviewed in the _Allgemeine
deutsche Bibliothek_ in the first number of 1768, and hence before the
Sentimental Journey had seen the light even in London. The review is
characterized by unstinted praise: Sterne is congratulated upon his
deviation from the conventional in homiletical discourse, is commended
as an excellent painter of moral character and situations, though he
abstains from the use of the common engines of eloquence. His narrative
powers are also noted with approval and his ability to retain the
attention of his hearers through clever choice of emphasized detail is
mentioned with appreciation. Yet in all this no reference is made to
Sterne’s position in English letters, a fact which could hardly have
failed of comment, if the reviewer had been aware of it, especially in
view of the relation of Sterne’s popularity to the very existence of
this published volume of sermons, or if it had been expected that the
fact of authorship would awaken interest in any considerable number of
readers. The tone of the review is further hardly reconcilable with a
knowledge of Sterne’s idiosyncrasies as displayed in Shandy. A brief
consideration of the principles of book-reviewing would establish the
fact indisputably that the mentioning of a former book, some hint of
familiarity with the author by open or covert allusion, is an integral
and inevitable part of the review of a later book. This review is the
only mention of Sterne in this magazine[19] before the publication of
the Sentimental Journey. A comparison of this recension, narrow in
outlook, bound, as it is, to the very book under consideration, with
those of the second and third volumes of the sermons in the same
magazine during the year 1770,[20] is an illuminating illustration of
the sweeping change brought in by the Journey. In the latter critique we
find appreciation of Yorick’s characteristics, enthusiastic acceptation
of his sentiment, fond and familiar allusions to both Shandy and the
Sentimental Journey. In the brief space of two years Sterne’s
sentimentalism had come into its own.

The _Bremisches Magazin_,[21] which was employed largely in publishing
translations from English periodicals, and contained in each number
lists, generally much belated, of new English books, noted in the third
number for 1762, among the new books from April to December, 1760, Mr.
Yorick’s Sermons, published by Mr. Sterne, and then, as customary in
these catalogues, translated the title into “Herrn Yorick’s Predigten
ans Licht gestellt von Hn. Sterne.” Four years later, in the first
volume of the _Neues Bremisches Magazin_,[22] announcement is made of
the third and fourth volumes of Yorick’s Sermons. During this period
sufficient intelligence concerning Sterne is current to warrant the
additional statement that “This Mr. Sterne, the author of the strange
book, Tristram Shandy, is the author himself.” The notice closes with
the naïve but astounding information, “He took the name Yorick because
he is a preacher in York; furthermore, these sermons are much praised.”
No further proof is needed that this reviewer was guiltless of any
knowledge of Shandy beyond the title. The ninth volume of Shandy is
announced in the same number among the new English books.

In 1767, the year before the publication of the Sentimental Journey, we
find three notices of Tristram Shandy. In the _Deutsche Bibliothek der
schönen Wissenschaften_[23] is a very brief but, in the main,
commendatory review of the Zückert translation, coupled with the
statement that the last parts are not by Sterne, but with the claim that
the humor of the original is fairly well maintained. The review is
signed “Dtsh.” Another Halle periodical, the _Hallische Neue Gelehrte
Zeitungen_, in the issue for August 10, 1767[24] reviews the same
volumes with a much more decided acknowledgment of merit. It is claimed
that the difference is not noticeable, and that the ninth part is almost
more droll than all the others, an opinion which is noteworthy testimony
to its originator’s utter lack of comprehension of the whole work and of
the inanity of this spurious last volume. The statement by both of these
papers that the last three volumes,[25] parts VII, VIII and IX, of the
Zückert translation, rest on spurious English originals, is, of course,
false as far as VII and VIII are concerned, and is true only of IX.

In the _Neue Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_, the last number for
1766[26] contains the first mention of Sterne’s name in this
representative literary periodical. It is an article entitled “Ueber die
Laune,”[27] which is concerned with the phenomena of hypochrondia and
melancholia, considered as illnesses, and their possible cure. The
author claims to have found a remedy in the books which do not depress
the spirits with exhibition of human woes, but which make merry over
life’s follies. In this he claims merely to be following the advice of
St. Evremond to the Count of Olonne. His method he further explains by
tracing humor to its beginnings in Aristophanes and by following its
development through Latin, new Latin (Erasmus, Thomas Morus, etc.),
French and English writers. Among the latter Sterne is named.
Unfortunately for the present purpose, the author is led by caution and
fear of giving the offense of omission to refrain from naming the German
writers who might be classed with the cited representatives of humor.
In closing, he recommends heartily to those teased with melancholy a
“portion of leaves of Lucian, some half-ounces of ‘Don Quixote’ or some
drachms of ‘Tom Jones’ or ‘Tristram Shandy.’” Under the heading, “New
English Books,” in the third number of the same periodical for 1767,
is a brief but significant notice of the ninth volume of Tristram
Shandy.[28] “The ninth part of the well-known ‘Life of Tristram Shandy’
has been published; we would not mention it, if we did not desire on
this occasion to note at least once in our magazine a book which is
incontestably the strangest production of wit and humor which has ever
been brought forth. . . . The author of this original book is a
clergyman by the name of Sterne, who, under his Harlequin’s name,
Yorick, has given to the world the most excellent sermons.” The review
contains also a brief word of comparison with Rabelais and a quotation
from an English critic expressing regret at Yorick’s embroidering “the
choicest flowers of genius on a paultry groundwork of buffoonry.”[29]
This late mention of Sterne’s great novel, and the manner in which it is
made are not without their suggestions as to the attitude even of the
German literary world toward Yorick. The notice is written in a tone of
forced condescension. The writer is evidently compelled, as
representative of British literary interests, to bear witness to the
Shandy craze, but the attitude of the review is plainly indicative of
its author’s disbelief in any occasion for especial concern about Yorick
in Germany. Sterne himself is mentioned as a fitful whim of British
taste, and a German devotion to him is beyond the flight of fancy.[30]

Individual authors, aware of international literary conditions, the
inner circle of German culture, became acquainted with Tristram Shandy
during this period before the publication of the Sentimental Journey and
learned to esteem the eccentric parson. Bode’s possible acquaintance
with the English original previous to 1764 has been already noted.
Lessing’s admiration for Sterne naturally is associated with his two
statements of remarkable devotion to Yorick, both of which, however,
date from a period when he had already become acquainted with the
Journey. At precisely what time Lessing first read Tristram Shandy it is
impossible to determine with accuracy. Moses Mendelssohn writes to him
in the summer of 1763:[31] “Tristram Shandy is a work of masterly
originality. At present, to be sure, I have read only the first two
volumes. In the beginning the book vexed me exceedingly. I rambled on
from digression to digression without grasping the real humor of the
author. I regarded him as a man like our Liscow, whom, as you know,
I don’t particularly fancy; and yet the book pleases Lessing!” This is
sufficient proof that Mendelssohn first read Shandy early in 1763, but,
though not improbable, it is yet rather hazardous to conclude that
Lessing also had read the book shortly before, and had just recommended
it to his friend. The literary friendship existing between them, and the
general nature of their literary relations and communications, would
rather favor such a hypothesis. The passage is, however, a significant
confession of partial failure on the part of the clever and erudite
Mendelssohn to appreciate Sterne’s humor. It has been generally accepted
that Lessing’s dramatic fragment, “Die Witzlinge,” included two
characters modeled confessedly after Yorick’s familiar personages, Trim
and Eugenius. Boxberger and others have stamped such a theory with their
authority.[32] If this were true, “Die Witzlinge” would undoubtedly be
the first example of Sterne’s influence working directly upon the
literary activity of a German author. The fragment has, however, nothing
to do with Tristram Shandy, and a curious error has here crept in
through the remarkable juxtaposition of names later associated with
Sterne. The plan is really derived directly from Shadwell’s “Bury Fair”
with its “Mr. Trim” fancifully styled “Eugenius.” Those who tried to
establish the connection could hardly have been familiar with Tristram
Shandy, for Lessing’s Trim as outlined in the sketch has nothing in
common with the Corporal.

Erich Schmidt, building on a suggestion of Lichtenstein, found a “Dosis
Yorikscher Empfindsamkeit”[33] in Tellheim, and connected the episode of
the Chevalier de St. Louis with the passage in “Minna von Barnhelm”
(II, 2) in which Minna contends with the innkeeper that the king cannot
know all deserving men nor reward them. Such an identity of sentiment
must be a pure coincidence for “Minna von Barnhelm” was published at
Easter, 1767, nearly a year before the Sentimental Journey appeared.

A connection between Corporal Trim and Just has been suggested,[34] but
no one has by investigation established such a kinship. Both servants
are patterns of old-fashioned fidelity, types of unquestioning service
on the part of the inferior, a relation which existed between Orlando
and Adam in “As You Like It,” and which the former describes:

  “O good old man, how well in thee appears
  The constant service of the antique world,
  When service sweat for duty, not for meed;
  Thou art not for the fashion of these times.”

Tellheim recognizes the value of Just’s service, and honors his
subordinate for his unusual faithfulness; yet there exists here no such
cordial comradeship as marked the relation between Sterne’s originals.
But one may discern the occasion of this in the character of Tellheim,
who has no resemblance to Uncle Toby, rather than in any dissimilarity
between the characters of the servants. The use of the relation between
master and man as a subject for literary treatment was probably first
brought into fashion by Don Quixote, and it is well-nigh certain that
Sterne took his cue from Cervantes.

According to Erich Schmidt, the episode of Just’s dog, as the servant
relates it in the 8th scene of the 1st act, could have adorned the
Sentimental Journey, but the similarity of motif here in the treatment
of animal fidelity is pure coincidence. Certainly the method of using
the episode is not reminiscent of any similar scene in Sterne. Just’s
dog is not introduced for its own sake, nor like the ass at Nampont to
afford opportunity for exciting humanitarian impulses, and for throwing
human character into relief by confronting it with sentimental
possibilities, but for the sake of a forceful, telling and immediate
comparison. Lessing was too original a mind, and at the time when
“Minna” was written, too complete and mature an artist to follow another
slavishly or obviously, except avowedly under certain conditions and
with particular purpose. He himself is said to have remarked, “That must
be a pitiful author who does not borrow something once in a while,”[35]
and it does not seem improbable that the figure of Trim was hovering in
his memory while he was creating his Just. Especially does this seem
plausible when we remember that Lessing wrote his drama during the years
when Shandy was appearing, when he must have been occupied with it, and
at the first flush of his admiration.

This supposition, however undemonstrable, is given some support by our
knowledge of a minor work of Lessing, which has been lost. On December
28, 1769, Lessing writes to Ebert from Hamburg: “Alberti is well; and
what pleases me about him, as much as his health, is that the news of
his reconciliation with Goeze was a false report. So Yorick will
probably preach and send his sermon soon.”[36] And Ebert replies in a
letter dated at Braunschweig, January 7, 1770, expressing a desire that
Lessing should fulfil his promise, and cause Yorick to preach not once
but many times.[37] The circumstance herein involved was first explained
by Friedrich Nicolai in an article in the _Berlinische Monatsschrift_,
1791.[38] As a trick upon his friend Alberti, who was then in
controversy with Goeze, Lessing wrote a sermon in Yorick’s manner; the
title and part of the introduction to it were privately printed by Bode
and passed about among the circle of friends, as if the whole were in
press. We are entirely dependent on Nicolai’s memory for our information
relative to this sole endeavor on Lessing’s part to adopt completely the
manner of Sterne. Nicolai asserts that this effort was a complete
success in the realization of Yorick’s simplicity, his good-natured but
acute philosophy, his kindly sympathy and tolerance, even his merry
whimsicality.

This introduction, which Nicolai claims to have recalled essentially as
Lessing wrote it, relates the occasion of Yorick’s writing the sermon.
Uncle Toby and Trim meet a cripple in a ragged French uniform; Capt.
Shandy gives the unfortunate man several shillings, and Trim draws out a
penny and in giving it says, “French Dog!” The narrative continues:

“The Captain[39] was silent for some seconds and then said, turning to
Trim, ‘It is a man, Trim, and not a dog!’ The French veteran had hobbled
after them: at the Captain’s words Trim gave him another penny, saying
again ‘French Dog!’ ‘And, Trim, the man is a soldier.’ Trim stared him
in the face, gave him a penny again and said, ‘French Dog!’ ‘And, Trim,
he is a brave soldier; you see he has fought for his fatherland and has
been sorely wounded.’ Trim pressed his hand, while he gave him another
penny, and said ‘French Dog!’ ‘And, Trim, this soldier is a good but
unfortunate husband, and has a wife and four little children.’ Trim,
with a tear in his eye, gave all he had left and said, rather softly,
‘French Dog!’”

This scene recalls vividly the encounter between Just and the landlord
in the first act of “Minna,” the passage in which Just continues to
assert that the landlord is a “Grobian.” There are the same tactics, the
same persistence, the same contrasts. The passage quoted was, of course,
written after “Minna,” but from it we gather evidence that Corporal Trim
and his own Just were similar creations, that to him Corporal Trim, when
he had occasion to picture him, must needs hark back to the figure of
Just, a character which may well originally have been suggested by Capt.
Shandy’s faithful servant.

Among German literati, Herder is another representative of acquaintance
with Sterne and appreciation of his masterpiece. Haym[40] implies that
Sterne and Swift are mentioned more often than any other foreign authors
in Herder’s writings of the Riga period (November, 1764, to May, 1769).
This would, of course, include the first fervor of enthusiasm concerning
the Sentimental Journey, and would be a statement decidedly doubtful,
if applied exclusively to the previous years. In a note-book, possibly
reaching back before his arrival in Riga to his student days in
Königsberg, Herder made quotations from Shandy and Don Quixote, possibly
preparatory notes for his study of the ridiculous in the Fourth
Wäldchen.[41] In May, 1766, Herder went to Mitau to visit Hamann, and he
designates the account of the events since leaving there as “ein Capitel
meines Shandyschen Romans”[42] and sends it as such to “my uncle, Tobias
Shandy.” Later a letter, written 27-16, August, 1766, is begun with the
heading, “Herder to Hamann and no more Yorick to Tobias Shandy,” in
which he says: “I am now in a condition where I can play the part of
Yorick as little as Panza that of Governor.”[43] The same letter
contains another reference and the following familiar allusion to
Sterne: “Grüsen Sie Trim, wenn ich gegen keinen den beleidigenden
Karakter Yoriks oder leider! das Schicksal wider Willen zu beleidigen,
habe, so ist’s doch gegen ihn und Hartknoch.” These last quotations are
significant as giving proof that Shandy had so far forced its claims
upon a little set of book-lovers in the remote east, Herder, Hamann and
a few others, that they gave one another in play names from the English
novel. A letter from Hamann to Herder, dated Königsberg, June 10, 1767,
indicates that the former shared also the devotion to Sterne.[44]

In the first collection of “Fragmente über die neuere deutsche
Litteratur,” 1767, the sixth section treats of the “Idiotismen” of a
language. British “Laune” is cited as such an untranslatable “Idiotism”
and the lack of German humorists is noted, and Swift is noted
particularly as an English example. In the second and revised edition
Herder adds material containing allusion to Hudibras and Tristram.[45]
The first and second “Kritische Wäldchen” contain several references to
Sterne and Shandy.[46] Herder, curiously enough, did not read the
Sentimental Journey until the autumn of 1768, as is disclosed in a
letter to Hamann written in November,[47] which also shows his
appreciation of Sterne. “An Sterne’s Laune,” he says, “kann ich mich
nicht satt lesen. Eben den Augenblick, da ich an ihn denke, bekomme ich
seine Sentimental Journey zum Durchlesen, und wenn nicht meine Englische
Sprachwissenschaft scheitert, wie angenehm werde ich mit ihm reisen.
Ich bin an seine Sentiments zum Theil schon so gewöhnt, sie bis in das
weiche innere Mark seiner Menschheit in ihren zarten Fäden zu verfolgen:
dass ich glaube seinen Tristram etwas mehr zu verstehn als the common
people. Nur um so mehr ärgern mich auch seine verfluchten Säuereien und
Zweideutigkeiten, die das Buch wenigerer Empfehlung fähig machen als es
verdient.” We learn from the same letter that Herder possessed the
sermons of Yorick in the Zürich translation. Herder’s own homiletical
style during this period, as evinced by the sermons preserved to us,
betrays no trace of Sterne’s influence.

Riedel, in his “Theorie der schönen Künste und Wissenschaften,”[48]
shows appreciation of Shandy complete and discriminating, previous to
the publication of the Sentimental Journey. This book is a sort of
compendium, a series of rather disconnected chapters, woven together out
of quotations from aesthetic critics, examples and comment. In the
chapter on Similarity and Contrast he contends that a satirist only may
transgress the rule he has just enunciated: “When a perfect similarity
fails of its effect, a too far-fetched, a too ingenious one, is even
less effective,” and in this connection he quotes from Tristram Shandy a
passage describing the accident to Dr. Slop and Obadiah.[49] Riedel
translates the passage himself. The chapter “Ueber die Laune”[50]
contains two more references to Shandy. In a volume dated 1768 and
entitled “Ueber das Publikum: Briefe an einige Glieder desselben,”
written evidently without knowledge of the Journey, Riedel indicates the
position which Shandy had in these years won for itself among a select
class. Riedel calls it a contribution to the “Register” of the human
heart and states that he knows people who claim to have learned more
psychology from this novel than from many thick volumes in which the
authors had first killed sentiment in order then to dissect it at
leisure.[51]

Early in 1763, one finds an appreciative knowledge of Shandy as a
possession of a group of Swiss literati, but probably confined to a
coterie of intellectual aristocrats and novelty-seekers. Julie von
Bondeli[52] writes to Usteri from Koenitz on March 10, 1763, that
Kirchberger[53] will be able to get him the opportunity to read Tristram
Shandy as a whole, that she herself has read two volumes with surprise,
emotion and almost constant bursts of laughter; she goes on to say:
“Il voudrait la peine d’apprendre l’anglais ne fut-ce que pour lire cet
impayable livre, dont la vérité et le génie se fait sentir à chaque
ligne au travers de la plus originelle plaisanterie.” Zimmermann was a
resident of Brugg, 1754-1768, and was an intimate friend of Fräulein von
Bondeli. It may be that this later enthusiastic admirer of Sterne became
acquainted with Shandy at this time through Fräulein von Bondeli, but
their correspondence, covering the years 1761-1775, does not
disclose it.

Dr. Carl Behmer, who has devoted an entire monograph to the study of
Wieland’s connection with Sterne, is of the opinion, and his proofs seem
conclusive, that Wieland did not know Shandy before the autumn of
1767,[54] that is, only a few months before the publication of the
Journey. But his enthusiasm was immediate. The first evidence of
acquaintance with Sterne, a letter to Zimmermann (November 13,
1767),[55] is full of extravagant terms of admiration and devotion.
One is naturally reminded of his similar extravagant expressions with
reference to the undying worth of Richardson’s novels. Sterne’s life
philosophy fitted in with Wieland’s second literary period, the
frivolous, sensuous, epicurean, even as the moral meanderings of
Richardson agreed with his former serious, religious attitude. Probably
soon after or while reading Shandy, Wieland conceived the idea of
translating it. The letter which contains this very first mention of
Sterne also records Wieland’s regret that the Germans can read this
incomparable original only in so wretched a translation, which implies a
contemporary acquaintance with Dr. Zückert’s rendering. This regret may
well have been the foundation of his own purpose of translating the
book; and knowledge of this seems to have been pretty general among
German men of letters at the time. Though the account of this purpose
would bring us into a time when the Sentimental Journey was in every
hand, it may be as well to complete what we have to say of it here.

His reason for abandoning the idea, and the amount of work done, the
length of time he spent upon the project, cannot be determined from his
correspondence and must, as Behmer implies, be left in doubt. But
several facts, which Behmer does not note, remarks of his own and of his
contemporaries, point to more than an undefined general purpose on his
part; it is not improbable that considerable work was done. Wieland says
incidentally in his _Teutscher Merkur_,[56] in a review of the new
edition of Zückert’s translation: “Vor drei Jahren, da er (Lange) mich
bat, ihm die Uebersetzung des Tristram mit der ich damals umgieng, in
Verlag zu geben.” Herder asks Nicolai in a letter dated Paris, November
30, 1769, “What is Wieland doing, is he far along with his Shandy?” And
in August, 1769, in a letter to Hartknoch, he mentions Wieland’s
Tristram among German books which he longs to read.[57]

The _Jenaische Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen_[58] for December 18,
1769, in mentioning this new edition of Zückert’s translation, states
that Wieland has now given up his intention, but adds: “Perhaps he will,
however, write essays which may fill the place of a philosophical
commentary upon the whole book.” That Wieland had any such secondary
purpose is not elsewhere stated, but it does not seem as if the journal
would have published such a rumor without some foundation in fact.
It may be possibly a resurrection of his former idea of a defense of
Tristram as a part of the “Litteraturbriefe” scheme which Riedel had
proposed.[59] This general project having failed, Wieland may have
cherished the purpose of defending Tristram independently of the plan.
Or this may be a reviewer’s vague memory of a former rumor of plan.

It is worth noting incidentally that Gellert does not seem to have known
Sterne at all. His letters, for example, to Demoiselle Lucius, which
begin October 22, 1760, and continue to December 4, 1769, contain
frequent references to other English celebrities, but none to Sterne.

The first notice of Sterne’s death is probably that in the
_Adress-Comptoir-Nachrichten_ of Hamburg in the issue of April 6, 1768,
not three weeks after the event itself. The brief announcement is a
comparison with Cervantes. The _Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen_
chronicles the death of Yorick, August 29, 1768.[60]

Though published in England from 1759-67, Tristram Shandy seems not to
have been reprinted in Germany till the 1772 edition of Richter in
Altenburg, a year later indeed than Richter’s reprint of the Sentimental
Journey. The colorless and inaccurate Zückert translation, as has
already been suggested, achieved no real popular success and won no
learned recognition. The reviews were largely silent or indifferent to
it, and, apart from the comparatively few notices already cited, it was
not mentioned by any important literary periodical until after its
republication by Lange, when the Sentimental Journey had set all tongues
awag with reference to the late lamented Yorick. None of the journals
indicate any appreciation of Sterne’s especial claim to recognition,
nor see in the fatherland any peculiar receptiveness to his appeal. In
short, the foregoing accumulation of particulars resolves itself into
the general statement, easily derived from the facts stated: Sterne’s
position in the German world of letters is due primarily to the
Sentimental Journey. Without its added impulse Shandy would have hardly
stirred the surface of German life and thought. The enthusiasm even of a
few scholars whose learning and appreciation of literature is
international, the occasional message of uncertain understanding, of
doubtful approbation, or of rumored popularity in another land, are not
sufficient to secure a general interest and attentiveness, much less a
literary following. The striking contrast between the essential
characteristics of the two books is a sufficient and wholly reasonable
occasion for Germany’s temporary indifference to the one and her
immediate welcome for the other. Shandy is whimsicality touched with
sentiment. The Sentimental Journey is the record of a sentimental
experience, guided by the caprice of a whimsical will. Whimsicality is a
flower that defies transplanting; when once rooted in other soil it
shoots up into obscurity, masquerading as profundity, or pure silliness
without reason or a smile. The whimsies of one language become amazing
contortions in another. The humor of Shandy, though deep-dyed in
Sterne’s own eccentricity, is still essentially British and demands for
its appreciation a more extensive knowledge of British life in its
narrowest, most individual phases, a more intensive sympathy with
British attitudes of mind than the German of the eighteenth century,
save in rare instances, possessed. Bode asserts in the preface to his
translation of the Sentimental Journey that Shandy had been read by a
good many Germans, but follows this remark with the query, “How many
have understood it?” “One finds people,” he says, “who despise it as the
most nonsensical twaddle, and cannot comprehend how others, whom they
must credit with a good deal of understanding, wit, and learning, think
quite otherwise of it,” and he closes by noting the necessity that one
be acquainted with the follies of the world, and especially of the
British world, to appreciate the novel. He refers unquestionably to his
own circle of literati in Hamburg, who knew Tristram and cared for it,
and to others of his acquaintance less favored with a knowledge of
things English. The Sentimental Journey presented no inscrutable mystery
of purposeful eccentricity and perplexing personality, but was written
large in great human characters which he who ran might read. And Germany
was ready to give it a welcome.[61]


    [Footnote 1: A reviewer in the _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._, as early
    as 1774, asserts that Sterne had inspired more droll and
    sentimental imitations in Germany than even in England. (Apr. 5,
    1774.)]

    [Footnote 2: See Bibliography for list of books giving more or
    less extended accounts of Sterne’s influence.]

    [Footnote 3: Sterne did, to be sure, assert in a letter (Letters,
    I, p. 34) that he wrote “not to be fed but to be famous.” Yet this
    was after this desire had been fulfilled, and, as the expression
    agrees with the tone and purpose of the letter in which it is
    found, it does not seem necessary to place too much weight upon
    it. It is very probable in view of evidence collected later that
    Sterne _began_ at least to write Tristram as a pastime in domestic
    misfortune. The thirst for fame may have developed in the progress
    of the composition.]

    [Footnote 4: Fitzgerald says “end of December,” Vol. I, p. 116,
    and the volumes were reviewed in the December number of the
    _Monthly Review_, 1759 (Vol. XXI, pp. 561-571), though without any
    mention of the author’s name. This review mentions no other
    publisher than Cooper.]

    [Footnote 5: Quoted by Fitzgerald, Vol. I, p. 126.]

    [Footnote 6: The full title of this paper was _Staats- und
    gelehrte Zeitung des Hamburgischen unpartheyischen
    Correspondenten_.]

    [Footnote 7: Meusel: Lexicon der vom Jahr 1750 bis 1800
    verstorbenen teutschen Schriftsteller. Bd. XV. (Leipzig bey
    Fleischer) 1816, pp, 472-474.]

    [Footnote 8: Berlin, bei August Mylius. 1764.]

    [Footnote 9: Behmer (L. Sterne und C. M. Wieland, p. 15) seems to
    be unaware of the translations of the following parts, and of the
    authorship.]

    [Footnote 10: This attempt to supply a ninth volume of Tristram
    Shandy seems to have been overlooked. A spurious third volume is
    mentioned in the Natl. Dict. of Biography and is attributed to
    John Carr. This ninth volume is however noticed in the _London
    Magazine_, 1766, p. 691, with accompanying statement that it is
    “not by the author of the eight volumes.” The genuine ninth volume
    is mentioned and quoted in this magazine in later issues, 1767,
    p. 78, 206.]

    [Footnote 11: This edition is reviewed also in _Almanach der
    deutschen Musen_, 1774, p. 97.]

    [Footnote 12: “Kein Deutscher, welcher das Uebersetzen aus fremden
    Sprachen als ein Handwerk ansieht.”]

    [Footnote 13: I, p. 111.]

    [Footnote 14: “Lexicon der Hamburgischen Schriftsteller,” Hamburg,
    1851-1883.]

    [Footnote 15: Tristram Shandy, I, p. 107, and Zückert’s
    translation, I, p. 141.]

    [Footnote 16: In this review and in the announcement of Sterne’s
    death, this periodical refers to him as the Dean of York,
    a distinction which Sterne never enjoyed.]

    [Footnote 17: 1767, p. 691. The reference is given in the Register
    to 1753-1782 erroneously as p. 791.]

    [Footnote 18: “Predigten von Laurenz Sterne oder Yorick.” Zürich,
    bey Fuesslin & Comp, 1766-69. 3 vols.]

    [Footnote 19: The _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_ was founded in
    1765.]

    [Footnote 20: XII, 1, pp. 210-211 and 2, p. 202.]

    [Footnote 21: For full title see Bibliography.]

    [Footnote 22: Vol. I, p. 460.]

    [Footnote 23: Edited by Klotz and founded in 1767, published at
    Halle by J. J. Gebauer. Vol. I, Part 2, p. 183.]

    [Footnote 24: Vol. II, p. 500.]

    [Footnote 25: The former says merely “the last parts”, the latter
    designates “the last three.”]

    [Footnote 26: III, 1, pp. 1 ff.]

    [Footnote 27: This article is not to be confused with Garve’s
    well-known article published in the same magazine, LXI, pp. 51-77
    (1798).]

    [Footnote 28: IV, St. 2, pp. 376-7.]

    [Footnote 29: This is from the February number, 1767, of the
    _Monthly Review_. (Vol. XXXVI, p. 102.)]

    [Footnote 30: The seventh and eighth volumes of Shandy, English
    edition, are reviewed in the first number of a short-lived
    Frankfurt periodical, _Neue Auszüge aus den besten ausländischen
    Wochen und Monatsschriften_, 1765. _Unterhaltungen_, a magazine
    published at Hamburg and dealing largely with English interests,
    notes the London publication of the spurious ninth volume of
    Shandy (Vol. II, p. 152, August, 1766). _Die Brittische
    Bibliothek_, another magazine consisting principally of English
    reprints and literary news, makes no mention of Sterne up to 1767.
    Then in a catalogue of English books sold by Casper Fritsch in
    Leipzig, Shandy is given, but without the name of the author.
    There is an account of Sterne’s sermons in the _Neue Hamburgische
    Zeitung_, April, 1768.]

    [Footnote 31: Mendelssohn’s Schriften, edited by Prof. Dr. G. B.
    Mendelssohn. Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1844. Vol. V, p. 171.]

    [Footnote 32: Kürschner edition of Lessing’s works, III, 2, pp.
    156-157. See also “Lessing und die Engländer” by Josef Caro in
    _Euphorion_, VI, pp. 489 ff. Erich Schmidt made the statement in
    his life of Lessing in the edition of 1884, but corrected it
    later, in the edition of 1899, probably depending on parallel
    passages drawn from Paul Albrecht’s “Lessing’s Plagiate” (Hamburg
    and Leipzig, 1888-1891), an extraordinary work which by its
    frequent absurdity and its viciousness of attack forfeits credence
    in its occasional genuine discoveries.]

    [Footnote 33: Lessing. “Geschichte seines Lebens und seiner
    Schriften.” Berlin, 1884, I, pp. 174, 465. This is omitted in the
    latest edition.]

    [Footnote 34: Perry (Thomas Sargeant) “From Opitz to Lessing.”
    Boston, 1885, p. 162.]

    [Footnote 35: Quoted by Lichtenberg in “Göttingischer
    Taschenkalender,” 1796, p. 191. “Vermischte Schriften,” VI,
    p. 487.]

    [Footnote 36: Lachmann edition, Berlin, 1840. Vol. XII, p. 240.]

    [Footnote 37: XIII, pp. 209-10.]

    [Footnote 38: XVII, pp. 30-45. The article is reprinted in the
    Hempel edition of Lessing, XVII, pp. 263-71.]

    [Footnote 39: Nicolai uses the German word for colonel, a title
    which Uncle Toby never bore.]

    [Footnote 40: R. Haym. “Herder nach seinem Leben und seinen
    Werken.” I, p. 413.]

    [Footnote 41: Haym, I, p. 261.]

    [Footnote 42: Herder’s “Briefe an Joh. Georg Hamann,” ed. by Otto
    Hoffmann, Berlin, 1889, p. 25, or “Lebensbild” II, p. 140.]

    [Footnote 43: “Briefe an Hamann,” p. 27.]

    [Footnote 44: Lebensbild II (I, 2), p. 256; also in Hamann’s
    Schriften, ed. by Roth. Berlin, 1822, III, p. 372. Hamann asks
    Herder to remind his publisher, when the latter sends the promised
    third part of the “Fragmente,” to inclose without fail the
    engraving of Sterne, because the latter is absolutely essential to
    his furnishings.]

    [Footnote 45: See Suphan I, p. 163; II, p. 46.]

    [Footnote 46: Suphan III, pp. 170, 223, 233, 277, 307.]

    [Footnote 47: Briefe an Hamann, p. 49.]

    [Footnote 48: . . . . in Auszug aus den Werken verschiedener
    Schriftsteller von Friedrich Just Riedel, Jena, 1767. The chapter
    cited is pp. 137 ff.]

    [Footnote 49: I, p. 106.]

    [Footnote 50: Pp. 91-96; see also p. 331.]

    [Footnote 51: Pp. 118-120, or Sämmtliche Schriften, Wien, 1787,
    4ter Th., 4ter Bd., p. 133. A review with quotation of this
    criticism of Shandy is found in the _Deutsche Bibliothek der
    schönen Wissenschaften_, II, p. 659, but after the publication of
    the Mittelstedt translation of the Sentimental Journey had been
    reviewed in the same periodical.]

    [Footnote 52: See “Julie von Bondeli und ihr Freundeskreis,” von
    Eduard Bodemann. Hannover, 1874.]

    [Footnote 53: Nicholas Ant. Kirchberger, the Swiss statesman and
    philosopher, the friend of Rousseau.]

    [Footnote 54: Behmer, “Laurence Sterne und C. M. Wieland,” pp.
    15-17.]

    [Footnote 55: “Ausgewählte Briefe,” Bd. II, p. 285 f. Zürich,
    1815.]

    [Footnote 56: V, pp. 345-6. 1774.]

    [Footnote 57: See Lebensbild, V, p. 107 and p. 40.]

    [Footnote 58: 1769, p. 840.]

    [Footnote 59: See Behmer, p. 24, and the letter to Riedel, October
    26, 1768, Ludwig Wielands Briefsammlung. I, p. 232.]

    [Footnote 60: P. 856.]

    [Footnote 61: These two aspects of the Sterne cult in Germany will
    be more fully treated later. The historians of literature and
    other investigators who have treated Sterne’s influence in Germany
    have not distinguished very carefully the difference between
    Sterne’s two works, and the resulting difference between the kind
    and amount of their respective influences. Appell, however,
    interprets the condition correctly and assigns the cause with
    accuracy and pointedness. (“Werther und seine Zeit.” p. 246). The
    German critics repeat persistently the thought that the imitators
    of Sterne remained as far away from the originals as the
    Shakespeare followers from the great Elizabethan. See Gervinus,
    Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung, I, 184; Hettner, “Geschichte
    der deutschen Literatur im 18. Jahrhundert,” III, 1, p. 362;
    Hofer, “Deutsche Litteraturgeschichte,” p. 150.]



CHAPTER III

THE PUBLICATION OF THE SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY


On February 27, 1768, the Sentimental Journey was published in
London,[1] less than three weeks before the author’s death, and the book
was at once transplanted to German soil, beginning there immediately its
career of commanding influence and wide-spread popularity.

Several causes operated together in favoring its pronounced and
immediate success. A knowledge of Sterne existed among the more
intelligent lovers of English literature in Germany, the leaders of
thought, whose voice compelled attention for the understandable, but was
powerless to create appreciation for the unintelligible among the lower
ranks of readers. This knowledge and appreciation of Yorick were
immediately available for the furtherance of Sterne’s fame as soon as a
work of popular appeal was published. The then prevailing interest in
travels is, further, not to be overlooked as a forceful factor in
securing immediate recognition for the Sentimental Journey.[2] At no
time in the world’s history has the popular interest in books of travel,
containing geographical and topographical description, and information
concerning peoples and customs, been greater than during this period.
The presses teemed with stories of wanderers in known and unknown lands.
The preface to the _Neue Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen_ of Leipzig for
the year 1759 heralds as a matter of importance a gain in geographical
description. The _Jenaische Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen_, 1773, makes
in its tables of contents, a separate division of travels. In 1759,
also, the “Allgemeine Historie der Reisen zu Wasser und zu Lande”
(Leipzig, 1747-1774), reached its seventeenth volume. These are brief
indications among numerous similar instances of the then predominant
interest in the wanderer’s experience. Sterne’s second work of fiction,
though differing in its nature so materially from other books of travel,
may well, even if only from the allurement of its title, have shared the
general enthusiasm for the traveler’s narrative. Most important,
however, is the direct appeal of the book itself, irresistible to the
German mind and heart. Germany had been for a decade hesitating on the
verge of tears, and grasped with eagerness a book which seemed to give
her British sanction for indulgence in her lachrymose desire.

The portion of Shandy which is virtually a part of the Sentimental
Journey,[3] which Sterne, possibly to satisfy the demands of the
publisher, thrust in to fill out volumes contracted for, was not long
enough, nor distinctive enough in its use of sentiment, was too
effectually concealed in its volume of Shandean quibbles, to win readers
for the whole of Shandy, or to direct wavering attention through the
mazes of Shandyism up to the point where the sentimental Yorick really
takes up the pen and introduces the reader to the sad fate of Maria of
Moulines. One can imagine eager Germany aroused to sentimental frenzy
over the Maria incident in the Sentimental Journey, turning with
throbbing contrition to the forgotten, neglected, or unknown passage in
Tristram Shandy.[4]

It is difficult to trace sources for Sterne in English letters, that is,
for the strange combination of whimsicality, genuine sentiment and
knavish smiles, which is the real Sterne. He is individual, exotic, not
demonstrable from preceding literary conditions, and his meteoric, or
rather rocket-like career in Britain is in its decline a proof of the
insensibility of the English people to a large portion of his gospel.
The creature of fancy which, by a process of elimination, the Germans
made out of Yorick is more easily explicable from existing and preceding
literary and emotional conditions in Germany.[5] Brockes had prepared
the way for a sentimental view of nature, Klopstock’s poetry had
fostered the display of emotion, the analysis of human feeling. Gellert
had spread his own sort of religious and ethical sentimentalism among
the multitudes of his devotees. Stirred by, and contemporaneous with
Gallic feeling, Germany was turning with longing toward the natural man,
that is, man unhampered by convention and free to follow the dictates of
the primal emotions. The exercise of human sympathy was a goal of this
movement. In this vague, uncertain awakening, this dangerous freeing of
human feelings, Yorick’s practical illustration of the sentimental life
could not but prove an incentive, an organizer, a relief for pent-up
emotion.[6]

Johann Joachim Christoph Bode has already been mentioned in relation to
the early review of Zückert’s translation of Shandy. His connection with
the rapid growth of the Yorick cult after the publication of the
Sentimental Journey demands a more extended account of this German
apostle of Yorick. In the sixth volume of Bode’s translation of
Montaigne[7] was printed first the life of the translator by C. A.
Böttiger. This was published the following year by the same house in a
separate volume entitled “J. J. C. Bodes literarisches Leben, nebst
dessen Bildnis von Lips.” All other sources of information regarding
Bode, such as the accounts in Jördens and in Schlichtegroll’s
“Nekrolog,”[8] are derivations or abstracts from this biography. Bode
was born in Braunschweig in 1730; reared in lowly circumstances and
suffering various vicissitudes of fortune, he came to Hamburg in 1756-7.
Gifted with a talent for languages, which he had cultivated assiduously,
he was regarded at the time of his arrival, even in Hamburg, as one
especially conversant with the English language and literature. His
nature must have borne something akin to Yorick, for his biographer
describes his position in Hamburg society as not dissimilar to that once
occupied for a brief space in the London world by the clever fêted
Sterne. Yet the enthusiasm of the friend as biographer doubtless colors
the case, forcing a parallel with Yorick by sheer necessity. Before 1768
Bode had published several translations from the English with rather
dubious success, and the adaptability of the Sentimental Journey to
German uses must have occurred to him, or have been suggested to him
directly upon its very importation into Germany. He undoubtedly set
himself to the task of translation as soon as the book reached
his hands, for, in the issue of the _Hamburgische
Adress-Comptoir-Nachrichten_ for April 20, is found Bode’s translation
of a section from the Sentimental Journey. “Die Bettler” he names the
extract; it is really the fifth of the sections which Sterne labels
“Montriul.”[9] In the numbers of the same paper for June 11 and 15, Bode
translates in two parts the story of the “Monk;” thus, in but little
over three months after its English publication, the story of the poor
Franciscan Lorenzo and his fateful snuff-box was transferred to Germany
and began its heart-touching career. These excerpts were included by
Bode later in the year when he published his translation of the whole
Sentimental Journey. The first extract was evidently received with favor
and interest, for, in the foreword to the translation of the “Monk,” in
the issue of June 11, Bode assigns this as his reason for making his
readers better acquainted with this worthy book. He further says that
the reader of taste and insight will not fail to distinguish the
difference when so fine a connoisseur of the human heart as Sterne
depicts sentiments, and when a shallow wit prattles of his emotions.
Bode’s last words are a covert assumption of his rôle as prophet and
priest of Yorick in Germany: “The reader may himself judge from the
following passage, whether we have spoken of our Briton in terms of too
high praise.”

In the July number of the _Unterhaltungen_, another Hamburg periodical,
is printed another translation from the Sentimental Journey entitled:
“Eine Begebenheit aus Yoricks Reise fürs Herz übersetzt.” The episode is
that of the _fille de chambre_[10] who is seeking Crébillon’s “Les
Egarements du Coeur et de l’Esprit.” The translator omits the first part
of the section and introduces us to the story with a few unacknowledged
words of his own. In the September number of the same periodical the
rest of the _fille de chambre_ story[11] is narrated. Here also the
translator alters the beginning of the account to make it less abrupt in
the rendering. The author of this translation has not been determined.
Bode does not translate the word “Sentimental” in his published
extracts, giving merely the English title; hence Lessing’s advice[12]
concerning the rendering of the word dates probably from the latter part
of the summer. The translation in the September number of the
_Unterhaltungen_ also does not contain a rendering of the word. Bode’s
complete translation was issued probably in October,[13] possibly late
in September, 1768, and bore the imprint of the publisher Cramer in
Hamburg and Bremen, but the volumes were printed at Bode’s own press and
were entitled “Yoricks Empfindsame Reise durch Frankreich und Italien,
aus dem Englischen übersetzt.”[14]

The translator’s preface occupies twenty pages and is an important
document in the story of Sterne’s popularity in Germany, since it
represents the introductory battle-cry of the Sterne cult, and
illustrates the attitude of cultured Germany toward the new star. Bode
begins his foreword with Lessing’s well-known statement of his devotion
to Sterne. Bode does not name Lessing; calls him “a well-known German
scholar.” The statement referred to was made when Bode brought to his
friend the news of Sterne’s death. It is worth repeating:

“I would gladly have resigned to him five years of my own life, if such
a thing were possible, though I had known with certainty that I had only
ten, or even eight left. . . . but under the condition that he must keep
on writing, no matter what, life and opinions, or sermons, or journeys.”
On July 5, 1768, Lessing wrote to Nicolai, commenting on Winckelmann’s
death as follows: “He is the second author within a short time, to whom
I would have gladly given some years of my own life.”[15]

Nearly thirty years later (March 20, 1797) Sara Wulf, whose maiden name
was Meyer and who was later and better known as Frau von Grotthus, wrote
from Dresden to Goethe of the consolation found in “Werther” after a
disappointing youthful love affair, and of Lessing’s conversation with
her then concerning Goethe. She reports Lessing’s words as follows: “You
will feel sometime what a genius Goethe is, I am sure of this. I have
always said I would give ten years of my own life if I had been able to
lengthen Sterne’s by one year, but Goethe consoles me in some measure
for his loss.”[16]

It would be absurd to attach any importance to this variation of
statement. It does not indicate necessarily an affection for Sterne and
a regret at his loss, mathematically doubled in these seven or eight
years between Sterne’s death and the time of Lessing’s conversation with
Sara Meyer; it probably arises from a failure of memory on the part of
the lady, for Bode’s narrative of the anecdote was printed but a few
months after Sterne’s death, and Lessing made no effort to correct an
inaccuracy of statement, if such were the case, though he lived to see
four editions of Bode’s translation and consequently so many repetitions
of his expressed but impossible desire. Erich Schmidt[17] reduces this
willingness on Lessing’s part to one year,--an unwarranted liberty.

These two testimonies of Lessing’s devotion are of importance in
defining his attitude toward Yorick. They attest the fact that this was
no passing fancy, no impulsive thought uttered on the moment when the
news of Sterne’s death was brought to him, and when the Sentimental
Journey could have been but a few weeks in his hands, but a deep-seated
desire, born of reflection and continued admiration.[18] The addition of
the word “Reisen” in Bode’s narrative is significant, for it shows that
Lessing must have become acquainted with the Sentimental Journey before
April 6, the date of the notice of Sterne’s death in the _Hamburgische
Adress-Comptoir-Nachrichten_;[19] that is, almost immediately after its
English publication, unless Bode, in his enthusiasm for the book which
he was offering the public, inserted the word unwarrantably in Lessing’s
statement.

To return to Bode’s preface. With emphatic protestations, disclaiming
vanity in appealing to the authority of so distinguished a friend, Bode
proceeds to relate more in detail Lessing’s connection with his
endeavor. He does not say that Lessing suggested the translation to him,
though his account has been interpreted to mean that, and this fact has
been generally accepted by the historians of literature and the
biographers of Lessing.[20] The tone of Bode’s preface, however, rather
implies the contrary, and no other proof of the supposition is
available. What Bode does assert is merely that the name of the scholar
whom he quotes as having expressed a willingness to give a part of his
own life if Sterne’s literary activity might be continued, would create
a favorable prepossession for his original (“ein günstiges Vorurtheil”),
and that a translator is often fortunate enough if his selection of a
book to translate is not censured. All this implies, on Lessing’s part,
only an approval of Bode’s choice, a fact which would naturally follow
from the remarkable statement of esteem in the preceding sentence. Bode
says further that out of friendship for him and regard for the reader of
taste, this author (Lessing), had taken the trouble to go through the
whole translation, and then he adds the conventional request in such
circumstances, that the errors remaining may be attributed to the
translator and not to the friend.

The use of the epithet “empfindsam” for “sentimental” is then the
occasion for some discussion, and its source is one of the facts
involved in Sterne’s German vogue which seem to have fastened themselves
on the memory of literature. Bode had in the first place translated the
English term by “sittlich,” a manifestly insufficient if not flatly
incorrect rendering, but his friend coined the word “empfindsam” for the
occasion and Bode quotes Lessing’s own words on the subject:

“Bemerken Sie sodann dass sentimental ein neues Wort ist. War es Sternen
erlaubt, sich ein neues Wort zu bilden, so muss es eben darum auch
seinem Uebersetzer erlaubt seyn. Die Engländer hatten gar kein
Adjectivum von Sentiment: wir haben von Empfindung mehr als eines,
empfindlich, empfindbar, empfindungsreich, aber diese sagen alle etwas
anders. Wagen Sie, empfindsam! Wenn eine mühsame Reise eine Reise
heisst, bey der viel Mühe ist: so kann ja auch eine empfindsame Reise
eine Reise heissen, bey der viel Empfindung war. Ich will nicht sagen,
dass Sie die Analogie ganz auf ihrer Seite haben dürften. Aber was die
Leser vors erste bey dem Worte noch nicht denken mögen, sie sich nach
und nach dabey zu denken gewöhnen.”[21]

The statement that Sterne coined the word “sentimental” is undoubtedly
incorrect,[22] but no one seems to have discovered and corrected the
error till Nicolai’s article on Sterne in the _Berlinische
Monatsschrift_ for February, 1795, in which it is shown that the word
had been used in older English novels, in “Sir Charles Grandison”
indeed.[23] It may well be that, as Böttiger hints,[24] the coining of
the word “empfindsam” was suggested to Lessing by Abbt’s similar
formation of “empfindnisz.”[25]

  [Transcriber’s Note:
  The reference is to Böttinger, not to the present text.]

The preface to this first edition of Bode’s translation of the
Sentimental Journey contains, further, a sketch of Sterne’s life,[26]
his character and his works. Bode relates the familiar story of the dog,
but misses the point entirely in rendering “puppy” by “Geck” in Sterne’s
reply, “So lang er ein Geck ist.” The watchcoat episode is narrated, and
a brief account is given of Sterne’s fortunes in London with Tristram
Shandy and the sermons. Allusion has already been made to the hints
thrown out in this sketch relative to the reading of Sterne in Germany.
A translation from Shandy of the passage descriptive of Parson Yorick
serves as a portrait for Sterne.

A second edition of Bode’s work was published in 1769. The preface,
which is dated “Anfang des Monats Mai, 1769,” is in the main identical
with the first, but has some significant additions. A word is said
relative to his controversy with a critic, which is mentioned later.[27]
Bode confesses further that the excellence of his work is due to Ebert
and Lessing,[28] though modesty compelled his silence in the previous
preface concerning the source of his aid. Bode admits that even this
disclosure is prompted by the clever guess of a critic in the
_Hamburgischer unpartheyischer Correspondent_,[29] who openly named
Lessing as the scholar referred to in the first introduction. The
addition and prominence of Ebert’s name is worthy of note, for in spite
of the plural mention[30] in the appendix to the introduction, his first
acknowledgment is to one friend only and there is no suggestion of
another counselor. Ebert’s connection with the Bode translation has been
overlooked in the distribution of influence, while the memorable coining
of the new word, supplemented by Böttiger’s unsubstantiated statements,
has emphasized Lessing’s service in this regard. Ebert is well-known as
an intelligent and appreciative student of English literature, and as a
translator, but his own works betray no trace of imitation or admiration
of Sterne.

The final words of this new preface promise a translation of the
continuation of the Sentimental Journey; the spurious volumes of
Eugenius are, of course, the ones meant here. This introduction to the
second edition remains unchanged in the subsequent ones. The text of the
second edition was substantially an exact reproduction of the first,
but Bode allowed himself frequent minor changes of word or phrase, an
alteration occurring on an average once in about three pages. Bode’s
changes are in general the result of a polishing or filing process, in
the interest of elegance of discourse, or accuracy of translation. Bode
acknowledges that some of the corrections were those suggested by a
reviewer,[31] but states that other passages criticised were allowed to
stand as they were. He says further that he would have asked those
friends who had helped him on his translation itself to aid him in the
alterations, if distance and other conditions had allowed. The reference
here is naturally to his separation from Ebert, who was in Braunschweig,
but the other “conditions” which could prevent a continuation of
Lessing’s interest in the translation and his assistance in revision are
not evident. Lessing was in Hamburg during this period, and hence his
advice was available.

Bode’s retranslation of the passage with which Sterne’s work closed
shows increased perception and appreciation for the subtleness of
Sterne’s indecent suggestions, or, perhaps, a growing lack of timidity
or scruple in boldly repeating them. It is probable that the
continuation by Eugenius, which had come into his hands during this
period, had, with its resumption of the point, reminded Bode of the
inadequacy and inexactness of his previous rendering.

At almost precisely the same time that Bode’s translation appeared,
another German rendering was published, a fact which in itself is
significant for the determination of the relative strength of appeal as
between Sterne’s two works of fiction. The title[32] of this version was
“Versuch über die menschliche Natur in Herrn Yoricks, Verfasser des
Tristram Shandy, Reisen durch Frankreich und Italien, aus dem
Englischen.” It was dated 1769 and was published at the “Fürstliche
Waisenhausbuchhandlung,” in Braunschweig. The preface is signed
Braunschweig, September 7, 1768, and the book was issued in September or
October. The anonymous translator was Pastor Mittelstedt[33] in
Braunschweig (Hirsching und Jördens say Hofprediger), whom the partisan
Böttiger calls the ever-ready manufacturer of translations (der allezeit
fertige Uebersetzungsfabrikant). Behmer tentatively suggests Weis as the
translator of this early rendering, an error into which he is led
evidently by a remark in Bode’s preface in which the apologetic
translator states the rumor that Weis was engaged in translating the
same book, and that he (Bode) would surely have locked up his work in
his desk if the publisher had not thereby been led to suffer loss.
Nothing was ever heard of this third translation.

This first edition of the Mittelstedt translation contains 248 pages and
is supplied with a preface which is, like Bode’s, concerned in
considerable measure with the perplexing problem of the translation of
Sterne’s title. The English title is given and the word “sentimental” is
declared a new one in England and untranslatable in German. Mittelstedt
proposes “Gefühlvolle Reisen,” “Reisen fürs Herz,” “Philosophische
Reisen,” and then condemns his own suggestions as indeterminate and
forced. He then goes on to say, “So I have chosen the title which Yorick
himself suggests in the first part.”[34] He speaks of the lavish praise
already bestowed on this book by the learned journals, and turns at last
aside to do the obvious: he bemoans Sterne’s death by quoting Hamlet and
closes with an apostrophe to Sterne translated from the April number of
the _Monthly Review_ for 1768.[35] In 1769, the year when the first
edition was dated, the Mittelstedt translation was published under a
slightly altered title, as already mentioned. This second edition of the
Mittelstedt translation in the same year as the first is overlooked by
Jördens and Hirsching,[36] both of whom give a second and hence really a
third edition in 1774. Böttiger notes with partisan zeal that Bode’s
translation was made use of in some of the alterations of this second
edition, and further records the fact that the account of Sterne’s life,
added in this edition, was actually copied from Bode’s preface.[37]

The publication of the Mittelstedt translation was the occasion of a
brief controversy between the two translators in contemporary journals.
Mittelstedt printed his criticism of Bode’s work in a home paper, the
_Braunschweiger Intelligenzblätter_, and Bode spoke out his defense in
the _Neue Hamburger Zeitung_. That Bode in his second edition adopted
some of the reviewer’s suggestions and criticisms has been noted, but in
the preface to this edition he declines to resume the strife in spite of
general expectation of it, but, as a final shot, he delivers himself of
“an article from his critical creed,” that the “critic is as little
infallible as author or translator,” which seems, at any rate, a rather
pointless and insignificant contribution to the controversy.

Bode’s translation of the third and fourth volumes of Yorick’s
Journey,[38] that is, the continuation by Eugenius, followed directly
after the announcement in the preface to the second edition of the first
two volumes, as already mentioned. Böttiger states that Bode had this
continuation from Alberti and knew it before anyone else in Germany. It
was published in England in the spring of 1769, and was greeted with a
disapproval which was quite general, and it never enjoyed there any
considerable genuine popularity or recognition. Bode published this
translation of Stevenson’s work without any further word of comment or
explanation whatsoever, a fact which easily paved the way for a
misunderstanding relative to the volumes, for Bode was frequently
regarded as their author and held responsible for their defects. Bode
himself never made any satisfactory or adequate explanation of his
attitude toward these volumes, and the reply to Goeze in the
introduction to his translation of Shandy is the nearest approach to a
discussion of his position. But there Bode is concerned only with the
attack made by the Hamburg pastor upon his character, an inference drawn
from the nature of the book translated, and the character of the
translation; in the absence of a new edition in which “Mine and His
shall be marked off by distinct boundaries,” he asks Goeze only to send
to him, and beg “for original and translation,” naturally for the
purpose of comparison. This evasive reply is Bode’s only defense or
explanation. Böttiger claims that the review of Bode’s translation in
the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_ did much to spread the idea of
Bode’s authorship, though the reviewer in that periodical[39] only
suggests the possibility of German authorship, a suspicion aroused by
the substitution of German customs and motif and word-play, together
with contemporary literary allusion, allusion to literary mediocrities
and obscurities, of such a nature as to preclude the possibility of the
book’s being a literal translation from the English.

The exact amount and the nature of Bode’s divergence from the original,
his alterations and additions, have never been definitely stated by
anyone. The reviewer in the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_ is
manifestly ignorant of the original. Böttiger is indefinite and
partisan, yet his statement of the facts has been generally accepted and
constantly repeated. He admits the German coloring given the translation
by Bode through German allusions and German word-plays: he says that
Bode allowed himself these liberties, feeling that he was no longer
dealing with Sterne, a statement of motive on Bode’s part which the
latter never makes and never hints at. The only absolute additions which
Böttiger mentions as made by Bode to the narrative of Eugenius are the
episode, “Das Hündchen,” and the digression, “Die Moral.” The erroneous
idea herein implied has been caught up and repeated by nearly everyone
who has mentioned Bode’s translation of the work.[40] The less certain
allusion to “Die Moral” has been lost sight of, and “Das Hündchen” alone
has been remembered as representing this activity on Bode’s part. In
fact this episode is only one of many pure creations on Bode’s part and
one of the briefer. In the first pages of these volumes Bode is faithful
to the original, a fact suggesting that examination or comparison of the
original text and Bode’s translation was never carried beyond the first
two-score pages; yet here, it would seem, Bode’s rendering was less
careful, more open to censure for inaccuracy, than in the previous
volumes.[41]

This method of translation obtains up to page 48, then Bode omits a
half-page of half-innocent, half-revolting suggestion, the story of the
Cordelier, and from the middle of page 49 to page 75, twenty-five pages,
the translator adds material absolutely his own. This fiction,
introducing Yorick’s sentimental attitude toward the snuff-box, resuming
a sentimental episode in Sterne’s work, full of tears and sympathy,
is especially characteristic of Yorick, as the Germans conceived him.
The story is entitled “Das Mündel,”[42] “The Ward,” and is evidently
intended as a masculine companion-piece to the fateful story of Maria of
Moulines, linked to it even in the actual narrative itself. An
unfortunate, half-crazed man goes about in silence, performing little
services in an inn where Yorick finds lodging. The hostess tells his
story. He was once the brilliant son of the village miller, was
well-educated and gifted with scholarly interests and attainments. While
instructing some children at Moulines, he meets a peasant girl, and love
is born between them. An avaricious brother opposes Jacques’s passion
and ultimately confines him in secret, spreading the report in Moulines
of his faithlessness to his love. After a tragedy has released Jacques
from his unnatural bondage, he learns of his loved one’s death and loses
his mental balance through grief. Such an addition to the brief pathos
of Maria’s story, as narrated by Sterne, such a forced explanation of
the circumstances, is peculiarly commonplace and inartistic. Sterne
instinctively closed the episode with sufficient allowance for the
exercise of the imagination.

Following this addition, the section “Slander” of the original is
omitted. The story of the adventure with the opera-girl is much changed.
The bald indecency of the narrative is somewhat softened by minor
substitutions and omissions. Nearly two pages are inserted here, in
which Yorick discourses on the difference between a sentimental traveler
and an _avanturier_. On pages 122-126, the famous “Hündchen” episode is
narrated, an insertion taking the place of the hopelessly vulgar “Rue
Tireboudin.” According to this narrative, Yorick, after the fire, enters
a home where he finds a boy weeping over a dead dog and refusing to be
comforted with promises of other canine possessions. The critics united
in praising this as being a positive addition to the Yorick adventures,
as conceived and related in Sterne’s finest manner. After the lapse of
more than a century, one can acknowledge the pathos, the humanity of the
incident, but the manner is not that of Sterne. It is a simple,
straight-forward relation of the touching incident, introducing that
element of the sentimental movement which bears in Germany a close
relation to Yorick, and was exploited, perhaps, more than any other
feature of his creed, as then interpreted, _i.e._, the sentimental
regard for the lower animals.[43] But there is lacking here the
inevitable concomitant of Sterne’s relation of a sentimental situation,
the whimsicality of the narrator in his attitude at the time of the
adventure, or reflective whimsicality in the narration. Sterne is always
whimsically quizzical in his conduct toward a sentimental condition, or
toward himself in the analysis of his conduct.

After the “Vergebene Nachforschung” (Unsuccessful Inquiry), which agrees
with the original, Bode adds two pages covering the touching solicitude
of La Fleur for his master’s safety. This addition is, like the
“Hündchen” episode, just mentioned, of considerable significance, for it
illustrates another aspect of Sterne’s sentimental attitude toward human
relations, which appealed to the Germany of these decades and was
extensively copied; the connection between master and man. Following
this added incident, Bode omits completely three sections of Eugenius’s
original narrative, “The Definition,” “Translation of a Fragment” and
“An Anecdote;” all three are brief and at the same time of baldest, most
revolting indecency. In all, Bode’s direct additions amount in this
first volume to about thirty-three pages out of one hundred and
forty-two. The divergences from the original are in the second volume
(the fourth as numbered from Sterne’s genuine Journey) more marked and
extensive: above fifty pages are entirely Bode’s own, and the individual
alterations in word, phrase, allusion and sentiment are more numerous
and unwarranted. The more significant of Bode’s additions are here
noted. “Die Moral” (pages 32-37) contains a fling at Collier, the author
of a mediocre English translation of Klopstock’s “Messias,” and another
against Kölbele, a contemporary German novelist, whose productions have
long since been forgotten.[44]

Eugenius’s chapter, “Vendredi-Saint,” Bode sees fit to alter in a rather
extraordinary way, by changing the personnel and giving it quite another
introduction. He inserts here a brief account of Walter Shandy, his
disappointment at Tristram’s calamitous nose and Tristram’s name, and
his resolve to perfect his son’s education; and then he makes the visit
to M’lle Laborde, as narrated by Eugenius, an episode out of Walter
Shandy’s book, which was written for Tristram’s instruction, and,
according to Bode, was delivered for safe-keeping into Yorick’s hands.
Bode changes M’lle Laborde into M’lle Gillet, and Walter Shandy is her
visitor, not Yorick. Bode allows himself some verbal changes and softens
the bald suggestion at the end. Bode’s motive for this startling change
is not clear beyond question. The most plausible theory is that the open
and gross suggestion of immoral relation between Yorick, the clergyman
and moralist, and the Paris maiden, seemed to Bode inconsistent with the
then current acceptation of Yorick’s character; and hence he preferred
by artifice to foist the misdemeanor on to the elder Shandy.

The second extensive addition of Bode’s in this volume is the section
called “Die Erklärung,” and its continuation in the two following
divisions, a story which unites itself with the “Fragment” in Sterne’s
original narration. Yorick is ill and herbs are brought to him in paper
wrappings which turn out to contain the story of the decayed gentleman,
which, according to Sterne’s relation, the Notary was beginning to
write. It will be remembered that the introduction in Sterne was also
brought by La Fleur as a bit of wrapping paper. This curious
coincidence, this prosaic resumption of the broken narrative, is naïve
at least, but can hardly commend itself to any critic as being other
than commonplace and bathetic. The story itself, as related by the dying
man is a tale of accidental incest told quietly, earnestly, but without
a suggestion of Sterne’s wit or sentiment.

In the next section, emanating entirely from Bode, “Vom
Gesundheitstrinken,” the author is somewhat more successful in catching
the spirit of Sterne in his buoyancy, and in his whimsical anecdote
telling: it purports to be an essay by the author’s friend, Grubbius.
The last addition made by Bode[45] introduces once more Yorick’s
sentiment relative to man’s treatment of the animal world. Yorick,
walking in the garden of an acquaintance, shoots a sparrow and meets
with reproof from the owner of the garden. Yorick protests prosaically
that it was only a sparrow, yet on being assured that it was also a
living being, he succumbs to vexation and self-reproof at his own
failure to be true to his own higher self. A similar regret, a similar
remorse at sentimental thoughtlessness, is recorded of the real Yorick
in connection with the Franciscan, Lorenzo. But there is present in
Sterne’s story the inevitable element of caprice in thought or action,
the whimsical inconsistency of varying moods, not a mere commonplace
lapse from a sentimental creed. In one case, Yorick errs through whim,
in the other, merely through heedlessness.

Bode’s attitude toward the continuation of Eugenius and the general
nature of his additions have been suggested by the above account.
A résumé of the omissions and the verbal changes would indicate that
they were made frequently because of the indecency of the original;
the transference of the immorality in the episode of M’lle. Laborde and
Walter Shandy, if the reason above suggested be allowed, is further
proof of Bode’s solicitude for Yorick’s moral reputation. Yet the
retention of the episode “Les Gants d’Amour” in its entirety, and of
parts of the continued story of the Piedmontese, may seem inconsistent
and irreconcilable with any absolute objection on Bode’s part other than
a quantitative one, to this loathesome element of the Eugenius
narrative.

Albrecht Wittenberg[46] in a letter to Jacobi, dated Hamburg, April 21,
1769, says he reads that Riedel is going to continue “Yorick’s Reisen,”
and comments upon the exceedingly difficult undertaking. Nothing further
is known of this plan of Riedel’s.


    [Footnote 1: Various German authorities date the Sentimental
    Journey erroneously 1767. Jördens, V, p. 753; Koberstein, III,
    p. 463; Hirsching, XIII, pp. 291-309.]

    [Footnote 2: The reviewer in the _Allg. deutsche Bibl._ (Anhang
    I-XII, vol. II, p. 896) implies a contemporary cognizance of this
    aid to its popularity. He notes the interest in accounts of
    travels and fears that some readers will be disappointed after
    taking up the book. Some French books of travel, notably
    Chapelle’s “Voyage en Provence,” 1656, were read with appreciation
    by cultivated Germany and had their influence parallel and
    auxiliary to Sterne’s.]

    [Footnote 3: In the Seventh Book of Tristram Shandy. III,
    pp. 47-110.]

    [Footnote 4: III, pp. 210-213.]

    [Footnote 5: The emotional groundwork in Germany which furthered
    the appreciation of the Journey, and the sober sanity of British
    common sense which choked its English sweep, are admirably and
    typically illustrated in the story of the meeting of Fanny Burney
    and Sophie la Roche, as told in the diary of the former (“The
    Diary and Letters of Frances Burney, Madame D’Arblay,” Boston,
    1880, I, p. 291), entries for September 11 and 17, 1786. On their
    second meeting Mme. D’Arblay writes of the German sentimentalist:
    “Madame la Roche then rising and fixing her eyes filled with tears
    on my face, while she held both my hands, in the most melting
    accents exclaimed, ‘Miss Borni, la plus chère, la plus digne des
    Anglaises, dites--moi--m’aimez vous?’” Miss Burney is quite
    sensibly frank in her inability to fathom this imbecility.
    Ludmilla Assing (“Sophie la Roche,” Berlin, 1859, pp. 273-280)
    calls Miss Burney cold and petty.]

    [Footnote 6: So heartily did the Germans receive the Sentimental
    Journey that it was felt ere long to be almost a German book.
    The author of “Ueber die schönen Geister und Dichter des 18ten
    Jahrhunderts vornehmlich unter den Deutschen,” by J. C. Fritsch
    (?) (Lemgo, 1771), gives the book among German stories and
    narratives (pp. 177-9) along with Hagedorn, Gellert, Wieland and
    others. He says of the first parts of the Sentimental Journey,
    “zwar . . . . aus dem Englischen übersetzt; kann aber für national
    passieren.”]

    [Footnote 7: Michael Montaigne’s “Gedanken und Meinungen über
    Allerley Gegenstände. Ins Deutsch übersetzt.” Berlin (Lagarde)
    1793-5. Bode’s life is in Vol. VI, pages III-CXLIV. For a review
    of Bode’s Life see _Neue Bibl. der schönen Wissenschaften_, LVIII,
    p. 93.]

    [Footnote 8: Supplementband für 1790-93, pp. 350-418.]

    [Footnote 9: The references to the _Hamburgische
    Adress-Comptoir-Nachrichten_ are as follows: 1768, pages 241, 361
    and 369 respectively.]

    [Footnote 10: Pp. 71-74.]

    [Footnote 11: Pp. 101-104. “The Temptation” and the “Conquest.”
    The _Unterhaltungen_ is censured by the _Deutsche Bibliothek der
    schönen Wissenschaften_, III, p. 266, for printing a poor
    translation from Yorick when two translations had already been
    announced. The references to _Unterhaltungen_ are respectively pp.
    12-16, and 209-213.]

    [Footnote 12: See below, p. 42-3.]

    [Footnote 13: It was reviewed in the _Hamburgischer
    unpartheyischer Correspondent_, Oct. 29.]

    [Footnote 14: I, pp. XX, 168; II, p. 168.]

    [Footnote 15: Lachmann’s edition, 1840, XII, p. 199.]

    [Footnote 16: See _Goethe-Jahrbuch_, XIV (1893), pp. 51-52.]

    [Footnote 17: “Heinrich Leopold Wagner, Goethe’s Jugendgenosse,”
    2d ed. Jena, Frommann, 1879, p. 104.]

    [Footnote 18: It is not possible to date with absolute certainty
    the time of Lessing’s conversation with Sara Meyer, but it was
    after the publication of “Werther,” and must have been on one of
    his two visits to Berlin after that, that is, in March, 1775,
    on his way to Vienna, or in February, 1776, on his return from
    Italy.]

    [Footnote 19: Bode must have come to Lessing with the information
    before this public announcement, for Lessing could hardly have
    failed to learn of it when once published in a prominent Hamburg
    periodical.]

    [Footnote 20: Böttiger in his biographical sketch of Bode is the
    first to make this statement (p. lxiii), and the spread of the
    idea and its general acceptation are directly traceable to his
    authority. The _Neue Bibl. der schönen Wissenschaften_ in its
    review of Böttiger’s work repeats the statement (LVIII, p. 97),
    and it is again repeated by Jördens (I, p. 114, edition of 1806),
    by Danzel-Guhrauer with express mention of Böttiger (“Lessing,
    sein Leben und seine Werke,” II. Erste Abtheilung, p. 287), and by
    Erich Schmidt (“Lessing, Geschichte seines Lebens und seiner
    Schriften,” Berlin, 1899, I, p. 674). The editor of the Hempel
    edition, VII, p. 553 claims Lessing as responsible for the
    translation of the Journey, and also of Shandy. The success of the
    “Empfindsame Reise” and the popularity of Sterne are quite enough
    to account for the latter translation and there is no evidence of
    urging on Lessing’s part. A similar statement is found in Gervinus
    (V, p. 194). The _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._ (Apr. 21, 1775), p. 267,
    credits Wieland with having urged Bode to translate Shandy. The
    _Neue Critische Nachrichten, Greifswald_, IX, p. 279, makes the
    same statement. The article, however, in the _Teutscher Merkur_
    (1773, II, pp. 228-30) expresses merely a great satisfaction that
    Bode is engaged upon the work, and gives some suggestions to him
    about it.]

    [Footnote 21: See Bode’s Introduction, p. iii, iv. Also _Allg.
    deutsche Bibl._, Anhang, I-XII, Vol. II, pp. 896-9.]

    [Footnote 22: Strangely enough the first use of this word which
    has been found is in one of Sterne’s letters, written in 1740 to
    the lady who subsequently became his wife. (Letters, p. 25). But
    these letters were not published till 1775, long after the word
    was in common use. An obscure Yorkshire clergyman can not be
    credited with its invention.]

    [Footnote 23: Böttiger refers to Campe’s work, “Ueber die
    Bereicherung und Reinigung der deutschen Sprache,” p. 297 ff.,
    for an account of the genesis of this word, but adds that Campe is
    incorrect in his assertion that Sterne coined the word. Campe does
    not make the erroneous statement at all, but Bode himself puts it
    in the mouth of Lessing.]

    [Footnote 24: See foot note to page lxiii.]

    [Footnote 25: For particulars concerning this parallel formation
    see Mendelssohn’s Schriften, ed. by G. B. Mendelssohn, Leipzig,
    1844. V, pp. 330, 335-7, letters between Abbt, Mendelssohn,
    Nicolai.]

    [Footnote 26: The source of Bode’s information is the article by
    Dr. Hill, first published in the _Royal Female Magazine_ for
    April, 1760, and reprinted in the _London Chronicle_, May 5, 1760
    (pp. 434-435), under the title, “Anecdotes of a fashionable
    Author.” Bode’s sketch is an abridged translation of this article.
    This article is referred to in Sterne’s letters, I, pp. 38-9, 42.]

    [Footnote 27: See p. 47.]

    [Footnote 28: “Dass ich das Gute, was man an meiner Uebersetzung
    findet, grössten Theils denen Herren Ebert und Lessing zu
    verdanken habe.”]

    [Footnote 29: _Hamburgischer Unpartheyischer Correspondent_,
    October 29, 1768.]

    [Footnote 30: “Verschwieg ich die Namen dieser Männer.”]

    [Footnote 31: See p. 47.]

    [Footnote 32: Jördens gives this title, which is the correct one.
    Appell in “Werther und seine Zeit,” (p. 247) calls it “Herrn
    Yoricks, Verfasser (sic) des Tristram Shandy Reisen durch
    Frankreich und Italien, als ein Versuch über die menschliche
    Natur,” which is the title of the second edition published later,
    but with the same date. See _Allg. deutsche Bibliothek_, Anhang,
    I-XII, Vol. II, pp. 896-9. Kayser and Heinsius both give
    “Empfindsame Reisen durch Frankreich und Italien, oder Versuch
    über die menschliche Natur,” which is evidently a confusion with
    the better known Bode translation, an unconscious effort to locate
    the book.]

    [Footnote 33: Through some strange confusion, a reviewer in the
    _Jenaische Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen_ (1769, p. 574) states
    that Ebert is the author of this translation; he also asserts that
    Bode and Lessing had translated the book; it is reported too that
    Bode is to issue a new translation in which he makes use of the
    work of Lessing and Ebert, a most curious record of uncertain
    rumor.]

    [Footnote 34: See p. 31, “In the Street, Calais.” “If this won’t
    turn out something, another will. No matter,--’tis an essay upon
    human nature.”]

    [Footnote 35: _Monthly Review_, XXXVIII, p. 319: “Gute Nacht,
    bewunderungswürdiger Yorick! Dein Witz, Deine Menschenliebe! Dein
    redliches Herz! ein jedes untadelhafte Stück deines Lebens und
    deiner Schriften müsse in einem unsterblichen Gedächtnisse
    blühen,--und O! mögte der Engel, der jenes aufgezeichnet hat,
    über die Unvollkommenheiten von beiden eine Thräne des Mitleidens
    fallen lassen und sie auf ewig auslöschen.”]

    [Footnote 36: Jördens, V, p. 753. Hirsching,
    Historisch-litterarisches Handbuch, XIII, pp. 291-309 (1809).]

    [Footnote 37: It has not been possible to examine this second
    edition, but the information concerning Sterne’s life may quite
    possibly have been taken not from Bode’s work but from his sources
    as already given.]

    [Footnote 38: “Yoriks empfindsame Reise, aus dem Englischen
    übersetzt,” 3ter und 4ter Theil, Hamburg und Bremen, bei Cramer,
    1769.]

    [Footnote 39: See _Allg. deutsche Bibl._ Anhang, I-XII, Vol. II,
    pp. 896-9. Hirsching (Hist.-Litt. Handbuch) says confusedly that
    Bode wrote the fourth and fifth parts.]

    [Footnote 40: See _Neue Bibl. der schönen Wissenschaften_, LVIII,
    p. 98, “Im dritten Bande ist die rührende Geschichte, das
    Hündchen, ganz von ihm.” Also Jördens, I, 114, Heine, “Der
    deutsche Roman,” p. 23.]

    [Footnote 41: The following may serve as examples of inadequate,
    inexact or false renderings:

    ORIGINAL
      BODE’S TRANSLATION

    Like a stuck pig.
      P. 5: Eine arme Hexe, die Feuer-Probe machen soll.

    Dress as well as undress.
      P. 9: Der Kleidung als der Einkleidung.

    Chance medley of sensation.
      P. 11: Unschuldiges Verbrechen der Sinne.

    Where serenity was wont to fix her reign.
      P. 13: Wo die Heiterkeit ihren Sitz aufgeschlagen hatte.

    Wayward shades of my canvas.
      P. 20: Die harten Schattirungen meines Gewebes.

    Caterpillars.
      P. 22: Heuschrecken.

    The chance medley of existence.
      P. 23: Das unschuldige Verbrechen des Daseyns.]

    [Footnote 42: Bode’s story, “Das Mündel” was printed in the
    _Hamburgische Adress-Comptoir-Nachrichten_, 1769, p. 729 (November
    23) and p. 753 (December 4).]

    [Footnote 43: There will be frequent occasion to mention this
    impulse emanating from Sterne, in the following pages. One may
    note incidentally an anonymous book “Freundschaften” (Leipzig,
    1775) in which the author beholds a shepherd who finds a torn lamb
    and indulges in a sentimental reverie upon it. _Allg. deutsche
    Bibl._, XXXVI, 1, 139.]

    [Footnote 44: Bode inserts “Miss Judith Meyer” and “Miss
    Philippine Damiens,” two poor novels by this Kölbele in place of
    Eugenius’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Böttiger comments, “statt des im
    englischen Original angeführten schalen Romans ‘The Pilgrim’s
    Progress.’” Bode, in translating Shandy several years later,
    inserts for the same book, “Thousand and one Nights.” In speaking
    of this, Böttiger calls “Pilgrim’s Progress” “die schale
    engländische Robinsonade,” an eloquent proof of Böttiger’s
    ignorance of English literature.]

    [Footnote 45: Pp. 166 ff.]

    [Footnote 46: _Quellen und Forschungen_, XXII, p. 129.]



CHAPTER IV

STERNE IN GERMANY AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF THE SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY


The publication of the Sentimental Journey, as implied in the previous
chapter, brought Sterne into vital connection with literary impulses and
emotional experiences in Germany, and his position as a leader was at
once recognized. Because of the immediate translations, the reviews of
the English original are markedly few, even in journals which gave
considerable attention to English literary affairs. The _Neue Bibliothek
der schönen Wissenschaften_[1] purposely delays a full review of the
book because of the promised translation, and contents itself with the
remark, “that we have not read for a long time anything more full of
sentiment and humor.” Yet, strangely enough, the translation is never
worthily treated, only the new edition of 1771 is mentioned,[2] with
especial praise of Füger’s illustrations.

Other journals devote long reviews to the new favorite: according to the
_Jenaische Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen_[3] all the learned
periodicals vied with one another in lavish bestowal of praise upon
these Journeys. The journals consulted go far toward justifying this
statement.

The _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_ reviews both the Bode and
Mittelstedt renderings, together with Bode’s translation of Stevenson’s
continuation, in the second volume of the Anhang to Volumes I-XII.[4]
The critique of Bode’s work defines, largely in the words of the book
itself, the peculiar purpose and method of the Journey, and comments
briefly but with frank enthusiasm on the various touching incidents of
the narrative: “Nur ein von der Natur verwahrloseter bleibt dabei kalt
und gleichgültig,” remarks the reviewer. The conception of Yorick’s
personal character, which prevailed in Germany, obtained by a process of
elimination and misunderstanding, is represented by this critic when he
records without modifying his statement: “Various times Yorick shows
himself as the most genuine foe of self-seeking, of immoral _double
entendre_, and particularly of assumed seriousness, and he scourges them
emphatically.” The review of the third and fourth parts contains a
similar and perhaps even more significant passage illustrating the view
of Yorick’s character held by those who did not know him and had the
privilege of admiring him only in his writings and at a safe distance.
“Yorick,” he says, “although he sometimes brings an event, so to speak,
to the brink of an indecorous issue, manages to turn it at once with the
greatest delicacy to a decorous termination. Or he leaves it incomplete
under such circumstances that the reader is impressed by the rare
delicacy of mind of the author, and can never suspect that such a man,
who never allows a _double entendre_ to enter his mind without a blush,
has entertained an indecent idea.” This view is derived from a somewhat
short-sighted reading of the Sentimental Journey: the obvious Sterne of
Tristram Shandy, and the more insidiously concealed creator of the
Journey could hardly be characterized discriminatingly by such a
statement. Sterne’s cleverness consists not in suggesting his own
innocence of imagination, but in the skill with which he assures his
reader that he is master of the situation, and that no possible
interpretation of the passage has escaped his intelligence. To the
Mittelstedt translation is accorded in this review the distinction of
being, in the rendering of certain passages, more correct than Bode’s.
A reviewer in the _Hallische Neue Gelehrte Zeitung_[5] treats of the
Sentimental Journey in the Mittelstedt translation. He is evidently
unfamiliar with the original and does not know of Bode’s work, yet his
admiration is unbounded, though his critique is without distinction or
discrimination. The _Neue Critische Nachrichten_[6] of Greifswald gives
a review of Bode’s rendering in which a parallel with Shakespeare is
suggested. The original mingling of instruction and waggery is commented
upon, imitation is discouraged, and the work is held up as a test,
through appreciation or failure to appreciate, of a reader’s ability to
follow another’s feelings, to understand far-away hints and allusions,
to follow the tracks of an irregular and errant wit.

The _Hamburgischer unpartheyischer Correspondent_ for October 29, 1768,
regards the book in Bode’s translation as an individual, unparalleled
work of genius and discourses at length upon its beneficent medicinal
effects upon those whose minds and hearts are perplexed and clouded.
The wanton passages are acknowledged, but the reviewer asserts that the
author must be pardoned them for the sake of his generous and
kind-hearted thoughts. The Mittelstedt translation is also quoted and
parallel passages are adduced to demonstrate the superiority of Bode’s
translation.

The Germans naturally learned to know the continuation of Eugenius
chiefly through Bode’s translation, designated as the third and fourth
volumes of the work, and thus because of the sanction of the
intermediary, were led to regard Stevenson’s tasteless, tedious and
revolting narrative with a larger measure of favor than would presumably
have been accorded to the original, had it been circulated extensively
in Germany. After years the _Allgemeine Literatur Zeitung_[7] implies
incidentally that Bode’s esteeming this continuation worthy of his
attention is a fact to be taken into consideration in judging its
merits, and states that Bode beautified it. Bode’s additions and
alterations were, as has been pointed out, all directly along the line
of the Yorick whom the Germans had made for themselves. It is
interesting to observe that the reviewer of these two volumes of the
continuation in the _Neue Critische Nachrichten_,[8] while recognizing
the inevitability of failure in such a bold attempt, and acknowledging
that the outward form of the work may by its similarity be at first
glance seductive, notes two passages of sentiment “worthy even of a
Yorick,”--the episode “Das Hündchen” and the anecdote of the sparrows
which the traveler shot in the garden: both are additions on Bode’s
part, and have no connection with the original. The reviewer thus
singled out for especial approval two interpolations by the German
translator, incidents which in their conception and narration have not
the true English Yorick ring.

The success of the Sentimental Journey increased the interest in the
incomprehensible Shandy. Lange’s new edition of Zückert’s translation
has been noted, and before long Bode[9] was induced to undertake a
German rendering of the earlier and longer novel. This translation was
finished in the summer of 1774, the preface being dated “End of August.”
The foreword is mainly concerned with Goeze’s attack on Bode’s personal
character, a thrust founded on Bode’s connection with the Sentimental
Journey and its continuation. At the close of this introduction Bode
says that, without undervaluing the intelligence of his readers, he had
regarded notes as essential, but because of his esteem for the text,
and a parental affection for the notes, he has foreborne to insert them
here. “So they still lie in my desk, as many as there are of them, but
upon pressing hints they might be washed and combed, and then be
published under the title perhaps of a ‘Real und Verballexicon über
Tristram Shandy’s Leben und Meinungen.’” This hint of a work of his own,
serving as a commentary to Tristram Shandy, has been the occasion of
some discussion. A reviewer in the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_,[10]
in an account of Bode’s and Wichmann’s renderings of “Tom Jones,” begs
Bode to fulfill the hopes thus raised, saying he could give Yorick’s
friends no more valuable or treasured gift. Böttiger in his biographical
sketch of Bode expressed regret that the work never saw the light,
adding that the work contained so many allusions to contemporary
celebrities and hits upon Bode’s acquaintance that wisdom had consigned
to oblivion.[11] A correspondent, writing to the _Teutscher Merkur_,[12]
minimizes the importance of this so-called commentary, saying “er hatte
nie einen Kommentar der Art, . . . auch nur angefangen auszuarbeiten.
Die ganze Sache gründet sich auf eine scherzhafte Aeusserung gegen
seinem damaligen Freund in Hamburg, welchen er oft mit der ihm eignen
Ironie mit diesem Kommentar zu drohen pflegte.”

The list of subscribers to Bode’s translation contained upwards of 650
names, among which are Boie, Claudius, Einsieder, Gerstenberg, Gleim,
Fräulein von Göchhausen, Goethe, Hamann, Herder, Hippel, Jacobi,
Klopstock, Schummel, Wieland (five copies), and Zimmermann. The names of
Ebert and Lessing are not on the list. The number of subscribers in
Mitau (twelve) is worthy of note, as illustrating the interest in Sterne
still keenly alive in this small and far away town, undoubtedly a direct
result of the admiration so lavishly expressed in other years by Herder,
Hamann and their circle.

The translation was hailed then as a masterly achievement of an arduous
task, the difficulties of which are only the less appreciated because of
the very excellence of the performance. It contrasts most strikingly
with its clumsy predecessor in its approximation to Sterne’s deftness of
touch, his delicate turns of phrase, his seemingly obvious and facile,
but really delicate and accurate choice of expression. Zückert was
heavy, commonplace, uncompromisingly literal and bristling with
inaccuracies. Bode’s work was unfortunately not free from errors in
spite of its general excellence, yet it brought the book within reach of
those who were unable to read it in English, and preserved, in general
with fidelity, the spirit of the original. The reviews were prodigal of
praise. Wieland’s expressions of admiration were full-voiced and
extensive.[13]

The _Wandsbecker Bothe_ for October 28, 1774, asserts that many readers
in England had not understood the book as well as Bode, a frequent
expression of inordinate commendation; that Bode follows close on the
heels of Yorick on his most intimate expeditions. The _Frankfurter
Gelehrte Anzeigen_[14] copies in full the translation of the first
chapter as both Zückert and Bode rendered it, and praises the latter in
unqualified terms; Bode appears as “Yorick’s rescuer.” Several years
later, in the _Deutsches Museum_, the well-known French translation of
Shandy by Frenais is denounced as intolerable (unerträglich) to a German
who is acquainted with Bode’s,[15] an opinion emphasized later in the
same magazine[16] by Joseph von Retzer. Indeed, upon these two
translations from Sterne rests Bode’s reputation as a translator. His
“Tom Jones” was openly criticised as bearing too much of Sterne,[17] so
great was the influence of Yorick upon the translator. Klamer Schmidt in
a poem called “Klamersruh, eine ländlich malerische Dichtung,”[18]
dilating upon his favorite authors during a country winter, calls Bode
“our Sterne” and “the ideal translator,” and in some verses by the same
poet, quoted in the article on Bode in Schlichtegroll’s “Nekrolog,”[19]
is found a very significant stanza expressing Sterne’s immeasurable
obligation to his German translator:

  “Er geht zu dir nun, unser Bode!
  Empfang ihn, Yoriks Geist! Auch dein
  Erbarmt er sich,
  Errettete vom Tode
  Der Uebersetzer dich!”

Matthison in his “Gruss aus der Heimath,”[20] pays similar tribute in a
vision connected with a visit to Bode’s resting-place in Weimar. It is a
fanciful relation: as Bode’s shade is received with jubilation and
delight in the Elysian Fields by Cervantes, Rabelais, Montaigne,
Fielding and Sterne, the latter censures Bode for distrusting his own
creative power, indicating that he might have stood with the group just
enumerated, that the fame of being “the most excellent transcriber” of
his age should not have sufficed.

In view of all this marked esteem, it is rather surprising to find a few
years later a rather sweeping, if apologetic, attack on the rendering of
Shandy. J. L. Benzler, the librarian of Graf Stolberg at Wernigerode,
published in 1801 a translation of Shandy which bore the legend “Newly
translated into German,” but was really a new edition of Bode’s work
with various corrections and alterations.[21] Benzler claims in his
preface that there had been no translation of the masterpiece worthy of
the original, and this was because the existing translation was from the
pen of Bode, in whom one had grown to see the very ideal of a
translator, and because praise had been so lavishly bestowed on the work
by the critics. He then asserts that Bode never made a translation which
did not teem with mistakes; he translated incorrectly through
insufficient knowledge of English, confusing words which sound alike,
made his author say precisely the opposite of what he really did say,
was often content with the first best at hand, with the half-right, and
often erred in taste;--a wholesale and vigorous charge. After such a
disparagement, Benzler disclaims all intention to belittle Bode, or his
service, but he condescendingly ascribes Bode’s failure to his lowly
origin, his lack of systematic education, and of early association with
the cultured world. Benzler takes Bode’s work as a foundation and
rewrites. Some of his changes are distinctly advantageous, and that so
few of these errors in Bode’s translation were noted by contemporary
critics is a proof of their ignorance of the original, or their utter
confidence in Bode.[22] Benzler in his preface of justification
enumerates several extraordinary blunders[23] and then concludes with a
rather inconsistent parting thrust at Bode, the perpetrator of such
nonsense, at the critics who could overlook such errors and praise the
work inordinately, and at the public who ventured to speak with delight
of the work, knowing it only in such a rendering. Benzler was severely
taken to task in the _Neue Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[24] for his
shamelessness in rewriting Bode’s translation with such comparatively
insignificant alterations, for printing on the title page in brazen
effrontery “newly translated into German,” and for berating Bode for his
failure after cursing him with condescension. Passages are cited to
demonstrate the comparative triviality of Benzler’s work. A brief
comparison of the two translations shows that Benzler often translates
more correctly than his predecessor, but still more often makes
meaningless alterations in word-order, or in trifling words where
nothing is to be gained by such a change.

The same year Benzler issued a similar revision of the Sentimental
Journey,[25] printing again on the title page “newly translated into
German.” The _Neue Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[26] greets this
attempt with a similar tart review, containing parallel quotations as
before, proving Benzler’s inconsiderate presumption. Here Benzler had to
face Bode’s assertion that both Lessing and Ebert had assisted in the
work, and that the former had in his kindness gone through the whole
book. Benzler treats this fact rather cavalierly and renews his attack
on Bode’s rendering. Benzler resented this review and replied to it in a
later number of the same periodical.[27]

Now that a century and more has elapsed, and personal acrimony can no
longer play any part in criticism, one may justly admit Benzler’s
service in calling attention to inaccurate and inadequate translation,
at the same time one must condemn utterly his manner of issuing his
emendations. In 1831 there appeared a translation of Tristram Shandy
which was again but a revision of Bode’s work. It bore on the title page
“Neu übertragen von W. H.,” and contained a sketch of Sterne’s life.[28]

In the nineties there seemed to be a renewal of Yorick enthusiasm, and
at this time was brought forth, at Halle in 1794, a profusely annotated
edition of the Sentimental Journey,[29] which was, according to the
anonymous editor, a book not to be read, but to be studied. Claim is
made that the real meaning of the book may be discovered only after
several careful readings, that “empfindsam” in some measure was here
used in the sense of philosophical, that the book should be treated as a
work of philosophy, though clad in pleasing garb; that it should be
thought out according to its merits, not merely read. Yorick’s failure
to supply his chapters with any significant or alluring chapter-headings
(probably the result of indolence on his part) is here interpreted as
extraordinary sagacity, for he thereby lessens the expectations and
heightens the effect. “Eine Empfindungs-reise” is declared to be a more
suitable name than “Empfindsame Reise,” and comment is made upon the
purpose of the Journey, the gathering of material for anatomical study
of the human heart. The notes are numerous and lengthy, constituting a
quarter to a third of the book, but are replete with padding, pointless
babble and occasional puerile inaccuracies. They are largely attempts to
explain and to moralize upon Yorick’s emotions,--a verbose, childish,
witless commentary. The Wortregister contains fourteen pages in double
columns of explanations, in general differing very little from the kind
of information given in the notes. The _Allgemeine Litteratur
Zeitung_[30] devotes a long review chiefly to the explanation of the
errors in this volume, not the least striking of which is the
explanation of the reference to Smelfungus, whom everyone knows to have
been Smollett: “This learned Smelfungus appears to have written nothing
but the Journey which is here mentioned.”[31] As an explanation of the
initial “H” used by Sterne for Hume, the note is given, “The author ‘H’
was perhaps a poor one.”[32]

Sterne’s letters were issued first in London in 1775, a rather
surprisingly long time after his death, when one considers how great was
Yorick’s following. According to the prefatory note of Lydia Sterne de
Medalle in the collection which she edited and published, it was the
wish of Mrs. Sterne that the correspondence of her husband, which was in
her possession, be not given to the world, unless other letters bearing
his name should be published. This hesitation on her part must be
interpreted in such a way as to cast a favorable light on this much
maligned gentlewoman, as a delicate reticence on her part, a desire to
retain these personal documents for herself.[33] The power of this
sentiment must be measured by her refraining from publishing during the
five years which intervened between her husband’s death and her own,
March, 1768 to January, 1773--years which were embittered by the
distress of straitened circumstances. It will be remembered that an
effort was made by Mrs. Sterne and her daughter to retrieve their
fortunes by a life of Sterne which was to be a collaboration by
Stevenson and Wilkes, and urgent indeed was Lydia Sterne’s appeal to
these friends of her father to fulfill their promises and lend their
aid. Even when this hope had to be abandoned early in 1770, through the
faithlessness of Sterne’s erstwhile companions, the widow and daughter
turned to other possibilities rather than to the correspondence, though
in the latter lay a more assured means of accomplishing a temporary
revival of their prosperity. This is an evidence of fine feeling on the
part of Sterne’s widow, with which she has never been duly credited.

But an anonymous editor published early in 1775[34] a volume entitled
“Letters from Yorick to Eliza,” a brief little collection, the source of
which has never been clear, but whose genuineness has never been
questioned. The editor himself waives all claim to proof “which might be
drawn concerning their authenticity from the character of the gentleman
who had the perusal of them, and with Eliza’s permission, faithfully
copied them at Bombay.”

In July of this same year[35] was published a volume entitled “Sterne’s
Letters to His Friends on Various Occasions, to which is added his
History of a Watchcoat with Explanatory Notes,” containing twelve
letters (one by Dr. Eustace) and the watchcoat story. Some of these
letters had appeared previously in British magazines, and one, copied
from the _London Magazine_, was translated in the _Wandsbecker Bothe_
for April 16, 1774.[36] A translation of the same letter was given in
the _Gothaische Gelehrte Zeitungen_, 1774, pp. 286-7. Three of these
letters only are accepted by Prof. Saintsbury (Nos. 7, 124, the letter
of Dr. Eustace, and 125). Of the others, Nos. 4-11 have been judged as
of doubtful authenticity. Two of them, Nos. 11 and 12 (“I beheld her
tender look” and “I feel the weight of obligation”) are in the standard
ten-volume edition of Sterne,[37] but the last letter is probably
spurious also.

The publication of the letters from Yorick to Eliza was the
justification afforded Lydia Sterne de Medalle for issuing her father’s
correspondence according to her mother’s request: the other volume was
not issued till after it was known that Sterne’s daughter was engaged in
the task of collecting and editing his correspondence. Indeed, the
editor expressly states in his preface that it is not the purpose of the
book to forestall Mme. Medalle’s promised collection; that the letters
in this volume are not to be printed in hers.[38] Mme. Medalle added to
her collection the “Fragment in the manner of Rabelais” and the
invaluable, characteristic scrap of autobiography, which was written
particularly for “my Lydia.” The work appeared at Becket’s in three
volumes, and the dedication to Garrick was dated June, 1775; but, as the
notice in the _Monthly Review_ for October[39] asserts that they have
“been published but a few days,” this date probably represents the time
of the completion of the task, or the inception of the printer’s
work.[40] During the same year the spurious letters from Eliza to Yorick
were issued.

Naturally Sterne’s letters found readers in Germany, the Yorick-Eliza
correspondence being especially calculated to awaken response.[41] The
English edition of the “Letters from Yorick to Eliza” was reviewed in
the _Neue Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_,[42] with a hint that
the warmth of the letters might easily lead to a suspicion of unseemly
relationship, but the reviewer contends that virtue and rectitude are
preserved in the midst of such extraordinary tenderness, so that one may
interpret it as a Platonic rather than a sensual affection. Yet this
review cannot be designated as distinctive of German opinion, for it
contains no opinion not directly to be derived from the editor’s
foreword, and that alone; indeed, the wording suggests decidedly that
source. The _Gothaische Gelehrte Zeitung_[43] for April 15, 1775,
reviews the same English edition, but the notice consists of an
introductory statement of Eliza’s identity and translation of parts of
three letters, the “Lord Bathurst letter,” the letter involving the
criticism of Eliza’s portraits,[44] and the last letter to Eliza. The
translation is very weak, abounding in elementary errors; for example,
“She has got your picture and likes it” becomes “Sie hat Ihr Bildniss
gemacht, es ist ähnlich,” and “I beheld you . . . as a very plain woman”
is rendered “und hielt Sie für nichts anders als eine Frau.” The same
journal,[45] August 5, reviews the second collection of Sterne’s
letters, but there is no criticism, merely an introductory statement
taken from the preface, and the translation of two letters, the one to
Mistress V., “Of two bad cassocs, fair lady,” and the epistle beginning,
“I snatch half an hour while my dinner is getting ready.” The
_Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen_, 1776, p. 382, also gives in a review
information concerning this anonymous collection, but no criticism.

One would naturally look to Hamburg for translations of these epistles.
In the very year of their appearance in England we find “Yorick’s Briefe
an Eliza,” Hamburg, bey C. E. Bohn, 1775;[46] “Briefe von Eliza an
Yorick,” Hamburg, bey Bode, 1775; and “Briefe von (Yorick) Sterne an
seine Freunde nebst seiner Geschichte eines Ueberrocks,” Hamburg, bey
Bohn, 1775. The translator’s name is not given, but there is every
reason to suppose that it was the faithful Bode, though only the first
volume is mentioned in Jördens’ account of him, and under his name in
Goedeke’s “Grundriss.” Contemporary reviewers attributed all three books
to Bode, and internal evidence goes to prove it.[47]

The first volume contains no translator’s preface, and the second, the
spurious Eliza letters, only a brief footnote to the translation of the
English preface. In this note Bode’s identity is evident in the
following quotation: He says he has translated the letters “because I
believe that they will be read with pleasure, and because I fancy I have
a kind of vocation to give in German everything that Sterne has written,
or whatever has immediate relation to his writings.” This note is dated
Hamburg, September 16, 1775. In the third volume, the miscellaneous
collection, there is a translator’s preface in which again Bode’s hand
is evident. He says he knows by sure experience that Sterne’s writings
find readers in Germany; he is assured of the authenticity of the
letters, but is in doubt whether the reader is possessed of sufficient
knowledge of the attending circumstances to render intelligible the
allusion of the watchcoat story. To forfend the possibility of such
dubious appreciation, the account of the watchcoat episode is copied
word for word from Bode’s introduction to the “Empfindsame Reise.”[48]

In this same year, an unknown translator issued in a single volume a
rendering of these three collections.[49] The following year Mme.
Medalle’s collection was brought out in Leipzig in an anonymous
translation, which has been attributed to Christian Felix Weisse.[50]
Its title was “Lorenz Sterne’s Briefe an seine vertrautesten Freunde
nebst einem Fragment im Geschmack des Rabelais und einer von ihm selbst
verfassten Nachricht von seinem Leben und seiner Familie, herausgegeben
von seiner Tochter Mad. Medalle,” Leipzig, 1776, pp. xxviii, 391.
Weidmanns Erben und Reich.

Bode’s translation of Yorick’s letters to Eliza is reviewed in the
_Gothaische Gelehrte Zeitung_, August 9, 1775, with quotation of the
second letter in full. The same journal notes the translation of the
miscellaneous collection, November 4, 1775, giving in full the letter of
Dr. Eustace and Sterne’s reply.[51] The _Allgemeine deutsche
Bibliothek_[52] reviews together the three Hamburg volumes (Bode) and
the Leipzig volume containing the same letters. The utter innocence, the
unquestionably Platonic character of the relations between Yorick and
Eliza is accepted fully. With keen, critical judgment the reviewer is
inclined to doubt the originality of the Eliza letters. Two letters by
Yorick are mentioned particularly, letters which bear testimony to
Yorick’s practical benevolence: one describing his efforts in behalf of
a dishonored maiden, and one concerning the old man who fell into
financial difficulties.[53] Both the translations win approval, but
Bode’s is preferred; they are designated as doubtless his. The “Briefe
an Elisa” (Bode’s translation) are noticed in the _Frankfurter Gelehrte
Anzeigen_, October 3 and 6, 1775, with unrestrained praise of the
translator, and vigorous asseveration of their authenticity. It is
recognized fully that the relation as disclosed was extraordinary among
married people, even Sterne’s amazing statement concerning the fragile
obstacles which stood in the way of their desires is noted. Yet the
Yorick of these letters is accorded undisguised admiration. His love is
exalted above that of Swift for Stella, Waller for Sacharissa, Scarron
for Maintenon,[54] and his godly fear as here exhibited is cited to
offset the outspoken avowal of dishonoring desire.[55] Hamann in a
letter to Herder, June 26, 1780, speaks of the Yorick-Eliza
correspondence quite disparagingly.[56]

In 1787 another volume of Sterne letters was issued in London, giving
English and German on opposite pages.[57] There are but six letters and
all are probably spurious.

In 1780 there was published a volume of confessedly spurious letters
entitled “Briefe von Yorick und Elisen, wie sie zwischen ihnen konnten
geschrieben werden.”[58] The introduction contains some interesting
information for the determination of the genuineness of the Sterne
letters.[59] The editor states that the author had written these letters
purely as a diversion, that the editor had proposed their publication,
but was always met with refusal until there appeared in London a little
volume of letters which their editor emphatically declared to be
genuine. This is evidently the volume published by the anonymous editor
in 1775, and our present editor declares that he knows Nos. 4-10 were
from the same pen as the present confessedly spurious collection. They
were mere efforts originally, but, published in provincial papers, found
their way into other journals, and the editor goes on to say, that,
to his astonishment, he saw one of these epistles included in Lydia
Medalle’s collection. This is, of course, No. 5, the one beginning, “The
first time I have dipped my pen in the ink-horn.” These events induced
the author to allow the publication. The book itself consists mostly of
a kind of diary kept by Yorick to send to Eliza at Madeira and later to
India, and a corresponding journal written by Eliza on the vessel and at
Madeira.

Yorick’s sermons were inevitably less potent in their appeal, and the
editions and translations were less numerous. In spite of obvious
effort, Sterne was unable to infuse into his homiletical discourses any
considerable measure of genuine Shandeism, and his sermons were never as
widely popular as his two novels, either among those who sought him for
whimsical pastime or for sentimental emotion. They were sermons. The
early Swiss translation has been duly noted.

The third volume of the Zürich edition, which appeared in 1769,
contained the “Reden an Esel,” which the reviewer in the _Allgemeine
deutsche Bibliothek_[60] with acute penetration designates as spurious.
Another translation of these sermons was published at Leipzig, according
to the editor of a later edition[61] (Thorn, 1795), in the same year as
the Zürich issue, 1769.

The _Berlinische Monatsschrift_[62] calls attention to the excellence of
the work and quotes the sermons at considerable length. The comment
contains the erroneous statement that Sterne was a dissenter, and
opposed to the established church. The translation published at Thorn in
1795, evidently building on this information, continues the error, and,
in explanation of English church affairs, adds as enlightenment the
thirty-nine articles. This translation is confessedly a working-over of
the Leipzig translation already mentioned. It is difficult to discover
how these sermons ever became attached to Sterne’s name, and one can
hardly explain the fact that such a magazine as the _Berlinische
Monatsschrift_[63] should at that late date publish an article so flatly
contradictory to everything for which Sterne stood, so diametrically
opposed to his career, save with the understanding that gross ignorance
attended the original introduction and early imitation of Yorick, and
that this incomprehension, or one-sided appreciation of the real Sterne
persisted in succeeding decades. The German Yorick was the champion of
the oppressed and downtrodden. The author of the “Sermons to Asses”
appeared as such an opponent of coercion and arbitrary power in church
and state, an upholder of human rights; hence, possibly, the authorship
of this book was attributed to Sterne by something the same process as
that which, in the age of heroic deeds, associated a miscellaneous
collection of performances with a popular hero. The “Sermons to Asses”
were written by Rev. James Murray (1732-1782), a noted dissenting
minister, long pastor of High Bridge Chapel in Newcastle-on-Tyne. They
were published in London in 1768 and dedicated to G. W., J. W., W. R.
and M. M.--George Whitfield, John Wesley, William Romaine and Martin
Madan. The English people are represented as burden-bearing asses laden
with oppression in the shape of taxes and creeds.[64] They are directed
against the power of the established church. It is needless to state
that England never associated these sermons with Sterne.[65] The
English edition was also briefly reviewed in the _Hamburgische
Adress-Comptoir-Nachrichten_[66] without connecting the work with
Sterne. The error was made later, possibly by the translator of the
Zürich edition.

The new collection of Sterne’s sermons published by Cadell in 1769,
Vols. V, VI, VII, is reviewed by _Unterhaltungen_.[67] A selection from
Sterne’s sermon on the Prodigal Son was published in translation in the
_Hamburgische Adress-Comptoir-Nachrichten_ for April 13, 1768. The new
collection of sermons was translated by A. E. Klausing and published at
Leipzig in 1770, containing eighteen sermons.[68]

Both during Sterne’s life and after his death books were published
claiming him as their author. In England contemporary criticism
generally stigmatized these impertinent attempts as dubious, or
undoubtedly fraudulent. The spurious ninth volume of Shandy has been
mentioned.[69] The “Sermons to Asses” just mentioned also belong here,
and, with reservation, also Stevenson’s continuation of the Sentimental
Journey, with its claim to recognition through the continuator’s
statement of his relation to Yorick. There remain also a few other books
which need to be mentioned because they were translated into German and
played their part there in shaping the German idea of Yorick. In
general, it may be said that German criticism was never acute in judging
these products, partially perhaps because they were viewed through the
medium of an imperfectly mastered foreign tongue, a mediocre or an
adapted translation. These books obtained relatively a much more
extensive recognition in Germany than in England.

In 1769 a curious conglomerate was brought over and issued under the
lengthy descriptive title: “Yoricks Betrachtungen über verschiedene
wichtige und angenehme Gegenstände. Nemlich über Nichts, Ueber Etwas,
Ueber das Ding, Ueber die Regierung, Ueber den Toback, Ueber die Nasen,
Ueber die Quaksalber, Ueber die Hebammen, Ueber den Homunculus, Ueber
die Steckenpferde, Ueber das Momusglas, Ueber die Ausschweifungen, Ueber
die Dunkelkeit im Schreiben, Ueber den Unsinn, Ueber die Verbindung der
Ideen, Ueber die Hahnreiter, Ueber den Mann in dem Monde, Ueber
Leibnitzens Monaden, Ueber das was man Vertu nennt, Ueber das Gewissen,
Ueber die Trunkenheit, Ueber den Nachtstuhl, Betrachtungen über
Betrachtungen.--neque--cum lectulus, aut me Porticus excepit, desum
mihi, Horat.” Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1769, 8vo. The book purported to be
a collection of Sterne’s earliest lucubrations, and the translator
expresses his astonishment that no one had ever translated them before,
although they were first issued in 1760. It is without doubt the
translation of an English volume entitled “Yorick’s Meditations upon
interesting and important subjects,” published by Stevens in London,
1760.[70] It had been forgotten in England long before some German
chanced upon it. The preface closes with a long doggerel rhyme, which,
the translator says, he has purposely left untranslated. It is, however,
beyond the shadow of a doubt original with him, as its contents prove.
Yorick in the Elysian Fields is supposed to address himself, he
“anticipates his fate and perceives beforehand that at least one German
critic would deem him worthy of his applause.”

  “Go on, poor Yorik, try once more
  In German Dress, thy fate of yore,
  Expect few Critics, such, as by
  The bucket of Philosophy
  From out the bottom of the well
  May draw the Sense of what you tell
  And spy what wit and Morals sound
  Are in thy Rambles to be found.”

After a passage in which the rhymester enlarges upon the probability of
distorted judgment, he closes with these lines:

  “Dire Fate! but for all that no worse,
  You shall be WIELAND’S Hobby-Horse,
  So to HIS candid Name, unbrib’d
  These meditations be inscrib’d.”

This was at the time of Wieland’s early enthusiasm, when he was probably
contemplating, if not actually engaged upon a translation of Tristram
Shandy. “Thy fate of yore” in the second line is evidently a poetaster’s
acceptation of an obvious rhyme and does not set Yorick’s German
experience appreciably into the past. The translator supplies frequent
footnotes explaining the allusions to things specifically English. He
makes occasional comparison with German conditions, always with the
claim that Germany is better off, and needs no such satire. The
_Hallische Neue Gelehrte Zeitungen_ for June 1, 1769, devotes a review
of considerable length to this translation; in it the reviewer asserts
that one would have recognized the father of this creation even if
Yorick’s name had not stood on its forehead; that it closely resembles
its fellows even if one must place it a degree below the Journey. The
_Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek_[71] throws no direct suspicion on the
authenticity, but with customary insight and sanity of criticism finds
in this early work “a great deal that is insipid and affected.” The
_Deutsche Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_, however, in a review
which shows a keen appreciation of Sterne’s style, openly avows an
inclination to question the authenticity, save for the express statement
of the translator; the latter it agrees to trust.[72] The book is placed
far below the Sentimental Journey, below Shandy also, but far above the
artificial tone of many other writers then popular. This relative
ordering of Sterne’s works is characteristic of German criticism. In the
latter part of the review its author seizes on a mannerism, the
exaggerated use of which emphatically sunders the book from the genuine
Sterne, the monotonous repetition of the critic’s protests and Yorick’s
verbal conflicts with them. Sterne himself used this device frequently,
but guardedly, and in ever-changing variety. Its careless use betrays
the mediocre imitator.[73]

The more famous Koran was also brought to German territory and enjoyed
there a recognition entirely beyond that accorded it in England. This
book was first given to the world in London as the “Posthumous Works of
a late celebrated Genius deceased;”[74] a work in three parts, bearing
the further title, “The Koran, or the Life, Character and Sentiments of
Tria Juncta in Uno, M. N. A., Master of No Arts.” Richard Griffith was
probably the real author, but it was included in the first collected
edition of Sterne’s works, published in Dublin, 1779.[75] The work
purports to be, in part, an autobiography of Sterne, in which the late
writer lays bare the secrets of his life, his early debauchery, his
father’s unworthiness, his profligate uncle, the ecclesiastic, and the
beginning of his literary career by advertising for hack work in London,
being in all a confused mass of impossible detail, loose notes and
disconnected opinion, which contemporary English reviews stigmatize as
manifestly spurious, “an infamous attempt to palm the united effusions
of dullness and indecency upon the world as the genuine production of
the late Mr. Sterne.”[76]

In France the book was accepted as genuine and it was translated (1853)
by Alfred Hédouin as an authentic work of Sterne. In Germany, too,
it seems to have been recognized with little questioning as to its
genuineness; even in recent years Robert Springer, in an article
treating of Goethe’s relation to the Koran, quite openly contends for
its authenticity.[77]

Since a German translation appeared in the following year (1771), the
German reviews do not, in the main, concern themselves with the English
original. The _Neues Bremisches Magazin_,[78] however, censures the book
quite severely, but the _Neue Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_[79]
welcomes it with unquestioning praise. The German rendering was by
Johann Gottfried Gellius, and the title was “Yorick’s Nachgelassene
Werke.”[80] The _Deutsche Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_[81]
does acknowledge the doubtful authorship but accepts completely its
Yorick tone and whim--“one cannot tell the copyist from the original.”
Various characteristics are cited as common to this work and Yorick’s
other writings, the contrast, change, confusion, conflict with the
critics and the talk about himself. For the collection of aphorisms,
sayings, fragments and maxims which form the second part of the Koran,
including the “Memorabilia,” the reviewer suggests the name “Sterniana.”
The reviewer acknowledges the occasional failure in attempted thrusts of
wit, the ineffective satire, the immoral innuendo in some passages,
but after the first word of doubt the review passes on into a tone of
seemingly complete acceptation.

In 1778 another translation of this book appeared, which has been
ascribed to Bode, though not given by Goedeke, Jördens or Meusel.
Its title was “Der Koran, oder Leben und Meynungen des Tria Juncta in
Uno.”[82] The _Almanach der deutschen Musen_[83] treats this work with
full measure of praise. The _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[84] accepts
the book in this translation as a genuine product of Sterne’s genius.
Sammer reprinted the “Koran” (Vienna, 1795, 12mo) and included it in his
nine volume edition of Sterne’s complete works (Vienna, 1798).

Goethe’s connection with the “Koran,” which forms the most interesting
phase of its German career, will be treated later.

Sterne’s unacknowledged borrowings, his high-handed and extensive
appropriation of work not his own, were noted in Germany, the natural
result of Ferriar’s investigations in England, but they seem never to
have attracted any considerable attention or aroused any serious concern
among Sterne’s admirers so as to imperil his position: the question in
England attached itself as an ungrateful but unavoidable concomitant of
every discussion of Sterne and every attempt to determine his place in
letters. Böttiger tells us that Lessing possessed a copy of Burton’s
“Anatomy of Melancholy,” from which Sterne filched so much wisdom, and
that Lessing had marked in it several of the passages which Ferriar
later advanced as proof of Sterne’s theft. It seems that Bode purchased
this volume at Lessing’s auction in Hamburg. Lessing evidently thought
it not worth while to mention these discoveries, as he is entirely
silent on the subject. Böttiger is, in his account, most unwarrantedly
severe on Ferriar, whom he calls “the bilious Englishman” who attacked
Sterne “with so much bitterness.” This is very far from a veracious
conception of Ferriar’s attitude.

The comparative indifference in Germany to this phase of Sterne’s
literary career may well be attributed to the medium by which Ferriar’s
findings were communicated to cultured Germany. The book itself, or the
original Manchester society papers, seem never to have been reprinted or
translated, and Germany learned their contents through a _résumé_
written by Friedrich Nicolai and published in the _Berlinische
Monatsschrift_ for February, 1795, which gives a very sane view of the
subject, one in the main distinctly favorable to Sterne. Nicolai says
Sterne is called with justice “One of the most refined, ingenious and
humorous authors of our time.” He asserts with capable judgment that
Sterne’s use of the borrowed passages, the additions and alterations,
the individual tone which he manages to infuse into them, all preclude
Sterne from being set down as a brainless copyist. Nicolai’s attitude
may be best illustrated by the following passages:

“Germany has authors enough who resemble Sterne in lack of learning.
Would that they had a hundredth part of the merits by which he made up
for this lack, or rather which resulted from it.” “We would gladly allow
our writers to take their material from old books, and even many
expressions and turns of style, and indeed whole passages, even if like
Sterne . . . . they claimed it all as their own: only they must be
successful adapters; they must add from their own store of observation
and thought and feeling. The creator of Tristram Shandy does this in
rich measure.”

Nicolai also contends that Sterne was gifted with two characteristic
qualities which were not imitation,--his “Empfindsamkeit” and
“Laune”--and that by the former his works breathe a tender, delicate
beneficence, a character of noble humanity, while by the latter a spirit
of fairest mirth is spread over his pages, so that one may never open
them without a pleasant smile. “The investigation of sources,” he says,
“serves as explanation and does not mean depreciation of an otherwise
estimable author.”

By this article Nicolai choked the malicious criticism of the late
favorite which might have followed from some sources, had another
communicated the facts of Sterne’s thievery. Lichtenberg in the
“Göttingischer Taschenkalender,” 1796, that is, after the publication of
Nicolai’s article, but with reference to Ferriar’s essay in the
Manchester Memoirs, Vol. IV, under the title of “Gelehrte Diebstähle”
does impugn Sterne rather spitefully without any acknowledgment of his
extraordinary and extenuating use of his borrowings. “Yorick,” he says,
“once plucked a nettle which had grown upon Lorenzo’s grave; that was no
labor for him. Who will uproot this plant which Ferriar has set on his?”
Ferriar’s book was reviewed by the _Neue Bibliothek der schönen
Wissenschaften_, LXII, p. 310.

Some of the English imitations of Sterne, which did not actually claim
him as author, also found their way to Germany, and there by a less
discriminating public were joined in a general way to the mass of Yorick
production, and the might of Yorick influence. These works represent
almost exclusively the Sterne of the Sentimental Journey; for the shoal
of petty imitations, explanations and protests which appeared in England
when Shandy was first issued[85] had gone their own petty way to
oblivion before Germany awakened to Sterne’s influence.

One of the best known of the English Sentimental Journeys was the work
of Samuel Paterson, entitled, “Another Traveller: or Cursory Remarks and
Critical Observations made upon a Journey through Part of the
Netherlands,--by Coriat Junior,” London, 1768, two volumes. The author
protested in a pamphlet published a little later that his work was not
an imitation of Sterne, that it was in the press before Yorick’s book
appeared; but a reviewer[86] calls his attention to the sentimental
journeying already published in Shandy. This work was translated into
German as “Empfindsame Reisen durch einen Theil der Niederlande,”
Bützow, 1774-1775, 2 Parts, 8vo. The translator was Karl Friedrich
Müchler, who showed his bent in the direction of wit and whim by the
publication of several collections of humorous anecdotes, witty ideas
and satirical skits.[87]

Much later a similar product was published, entitled “Launige Reise
durch Holland in Yoricks[88] Manier, mit Charakterskizzen und Anekdoten
über die Sitten und Gebräuche der Holländer aus dem Englischen,” two
volumes, Zittau und Leipzig, 1795. The translation was by Reichel in
Zittau.[88] This may possibly be Ireland’s “A Picturesque Tour through
Holland, Brabant and part of France, made in 1789,” two volumes, London,
1790.[89] The well-known “Peter Pennyless” was reproduced as
“Empfindsame Gedanken bey verschiedenen Vorfällen von Peter Pennyless,”
Leipzig, Weidmann, 1770.

In 1788 there appeared in England a continuation of the Sentimental
Journey[90] in which, to judge from the reviewers, the petty author
outdid Sterne in eccentricities of typography, breaks, dashes, scantily
filled and blank pages. This is evidently the original of “Die neue
empfindsame Reise in Yoriks Geschmack,” Leipzig, 1789, 8vo, pp. 168,
which, according to the _Allgemeine Litteratur-Zeitung_ bristles with
such extravagances.[91]

A much more successful attempt was the “Sentimental Journey, Intended as
a Sequel to Mr. Sterne’s, Through Italy, Switzerland and France, by Mr.
Shandy,” two volumes, 12mo, 1793. This was evidently the original of
Schink’s work;[92] “Empfindsame Reisen durch Italien, die Schweiz und
Frankreich, ein Nachtrag zu den Yorikschen. Aus und nach dem
Englischen,” Hamburg, Hoffmann, 1794, pp. 272, 8vo. The translator’s
preface, which is dated Hamburg, March 1794, explains his attitude
toward the work as suggested in the expression “Aus und nach dem
Englischen,” that is, “aus, so lange wie Treue für den Leser Gewinn
schien und nach, wenn Abweichung für die deutsche Darstellung notwendig
war.” He claims to have softened the glaring colors of the original and
to have discarded, or altered the obscene pictures. The author, as
described in the preface, is an illegitimate son of Yorick, named
Shandy, who writes the narrative as his father would have written it,
if he had lived. This assumed authorship proves quite satisfactorily its
connection with the English original, as there, too, in the preface, the
narrator is designated as a base-born son of Yorick. The book is, as a
whole, a fairly successful imitation of Yorick’s manner, and it must be
judged as decidedly superior to Stevenson’s attempt. The author takes up
the story where Sterne left it, in the tavern room with the Piedmontese
lady; and the narrative which follows is replete with allusions to
familiar episodes and sentiments in the real Journey, with sentimental
adventures and opportunities for kindly deeds, and sympathetic tears;
motifs used originally are introduced here, a begging priest with a
snuff-box, a confusion with the Yorick in Hamlet, a poor girl with
wandering mind seated by the wayside, and others equally familiar.

It is not possible to determine the extent of Schink’s alterations to
suit German taste, but one could easily believe that the somewhat
lengthy descriptions of external nature, quite foreign to Sterne, were
original with him, and that the episode of the young German lady by the
lake of Geneva, with her fevered admiration for Yorick, and the
compliments to the German nation and the praise for great Germans,
Luther, Leibnitz and Frederick the Great, are to be ascribed to the same
source. He did not rid the book of revolting features, as one might
suppose from his preface.[93] Previous to the publication of the whole
translation, Schink published in the February number of the _Deutsche
Monatsschrift_[94] two sections of his book, “Die Schöne
Obstverkäuferin” and “Elisa.” Later, in the May number, he published
three other fragments, “Turin, Hotel del Ponto,” “Die Verlegenheit,”
“Die Unterredung.”[95]

A few years later Schink published another and very similar volume with
the title, “Launen, Phantasieen und Schilderungen aus dem Tagebuche
eines reisenden Engländers,”[96] Arnstadt und Rudolstadt, 1801, pp. 323.
It has not been possible to find an English original, but the translator
makes claim upon one, though confessing alterations to suit his German
readers, and there is sufficient internal evidence to point to a real
English source. The traveler is a haggard, pale-faced English clergyman,
who, with his French servant, La Pierre, has wandered in France and
Italy and is now bound for Margate. Here again we have sentimental
episodes, one with a fair lady in a post-chaise, another with a monk in
a Trappist cloister, apostrophes to the imagination, the sea, and
nature, a new division of travelers, a debate of personal attributes,
constant appeals to his dear Sophie, who is, like Eliza, ever in the
background, occasional references to objects made familiar through
Yorick, as Dessein’s Hotel, and a Yorick-like sympathy with the dumb
beast; in short, an open imitation of Sterne, but the motifs from Sterne
are here more mixed and less obvious. There is, as in the former book,
much more enthusiasm for nature than is characteristic of Sterne; and
there is here much more miscellaneous material, such, for example,
as the tale of the two sisters, which betrays no trace of Sterne’s
influence. The latter part of the volume is much less reminiscent of
Yorick and suggests interpolation by the translator.[97]

Near the close of the century was published “Fragments in the manner of
Sterne,” 8vo, Debrett, 1797, which, according to the _Monthly
Review_,[98] caught in large measure the sentimentality, pathos and
whimsicality of Sterne’s style. The British Museum catalogue suggests
J. Brandon as its author. This was reprinted by Nauck in Leipzig in
1800, and a translation was given to the world by the same publisher in
the same year, with the added title: “Ein Seitenstück zu Yoricks
empfindsamen Reisen.” The translation is attributed by Kayser to Aug.
Wilhelmi, the pseudonym of August Wilhelm Meyer.[99] Here too belongs
“Mariens Briefe nebst Nachricht von ihrem Tode, aus dem
Englischen,”[100] which was published also under the title: “Yoricks
Empfindsame Reisen durch Frankreich und Italien,” 5th vol., 8vo,
Weissenfels, Severin, Mitzky in Leipzig, 1795.


    [Footnote 1: VI, 1, p. 166. 1768.]

    [Footnote 2: XII, 1, p. 142.]

    [Footnote 3: August 28, 1769. P. 574.]

    [Footnote 4: Pp. 896-9.]

    [Footnote 5: III, pp. 689-91, October 31, 1768.]

    [Footnote 6: V, No. 5, p. 37, 1769, review is signed “Z.”]

    [Footnote 7: 1794, IV, p. 62, October 7.]

    [Footnote 8: Greifswald, VI, p. 300.]

    [Footnote 9: See p. 42.]

    [Footnote 10: Anhang LIII-LXXXVI. Vol. V, pp. 2611-2614.]

    [Footnote 11: This is repeated by Jördens.]

    [Footnote 12: 1799. I, p. 36.]

    [Footnote 13: _Teut. Merkur_, VIII, pp. 247-251.]

    [Footnote 14: April 21, 1775, pp. 267-70.]

    [Footnote 15: Hirsching (see above) says it rivals the original.]

    [Footnote 16: The references to the _Deutsches Museum_ are
    respectively IX, pp. 273-284, April, 1780, and X, pp. 553-5.]

    [Footnote 17: See Jördens I, p. 117, probably depending on the
    critique in the _Allg. deutsche Bibl._ Anhang, LIII-LXXXVI, Vol.
    V, pp. 2611-2614.]

    [Footnote 18: _Erholungen_ III, pp. 1-51.]

    [Footnote 19: Supplementband für 1790-93, p. 410.]

    [Footnote 20: Werke, Zürich, 1825-29, pp. 312 ff.]

    [Footnote 21: “Tristram Shandy’s Leben und Meynungen von neuem
    verdeutscht, Leipzig, 1801, I, pp. 572; II, pp. 532; III, pp. 430.
    Mit 3 Kupfern und 3 Vignetten nach Chodowiecki von J. F.
    Schröter.” A new edition appeared at Hahn’s in Hanover in 1810.
    This translation is not given by Goedeke under Benzler’s name.]

    [Footnote 22: Wieland does modify his enthusiasm by acknowledgment
    of inadequacies and devotes about a page of his long review to the
    correction of seven incorrect renderings. _Teut. Merkur_, VIII,
    pp. 247-51, 1774, IV.]

    [Footnote 23: The following may serve as examples of Bode’s
    errors. He translated, “Pray, what was your father saying?” (I, 6)
    by “Was wollte denn Ihr Vater damit sagen?” a rendering obviously
    inadequate. “It was a little hard on her” (I, p. 52) becomes in
    Bode, “Welches sie nun freilich schwer ablegen konnte;” and “Great
    wits jump” (I, 168) is translated “grosse Meister fehlen auch.”]

    [Footnote 24: LXXIII, pp. 75-81.]

    [Footnote 25: Leipzig, 1801, 8vo, I, 168; II, 170. 2 Kupf. und 2
    Vignetten nach Chodowiecki von G. Böttiger.]

    [Footnote 26: LXXIX, pp. 371-377.]

    [Footnote 27: LXXXII, I, p. 199.]

    [Footnote 28: Magdeburg, I, pp. 188; II, pp. 192; III, pp. 154;
    IV, pp. 168; V, pp. 236.]

    [Footnote 29: A Sentimental Journey, mit erläuternden Anmerkungen
    und einem Wortregister.]

    [Footnote 30: Jena, 1795, II, pp. 427-30.]

    [Footnote 31: P. 49.]

    [Footnote 32: The edition is also reviewed in the _Erfurtische
    Gelehrte Zeitung_ (1796, p. 294.)]

    [Footnote 33: The threat of Mrs. Sterne and her daughter to
    publish the letters to Mrs. Draper would seem to be at variance
    with this idea of Mrs. Sterne’s character, but her resentment or
    indignation, and a personal satisfaction at her former rival’s
    discomfiture are inevitable, and femininely human.]

    [Footnote 34: They are reviewed in the April number of the
    _Monthly Review_ (LII, pp. 370-371), and in the April number of the
    _London Magazine_ (XLIV, pp. 200-201).]

    [Footnote 35: It is noted among the publications in the July
    number of the _London Magazine_, XLIV, p. 371, and is reviewed in
    the September number of the _Monthly Review_, LIII, pp. 266-267.
    It was really published on July 12. (_The Nation_, November 17,
    1904.)]

    [Footnote 36: The letter beginning “The first time I have dipped
    my pen in the ink-horn,” addressed to Mrs. M-d-s and dated
    Coxwould, July 21, 1765. The _London Magazine_ (1775, pp. 530-531)
    also published the eleventh letter of the series, that concerning
    the unfortunate Harriet: “I beheld her tender look.”]

    [Footnote 37: Dodsley, etc., 1793.]

    [Footnote 38: Two letters, however, were given in both volumes,
    the letter to Mrs. M-d-s, “The first time I have dipped,” etc.,
    and that to Garrick, “’Twas for all the world like a cut,” etc.,
    being in the Mme. Medalle collection, Nos. 58 and 77 (II, pp.
    126-131, 188-192) and in the anonymous collection Nos. 1 and 5.
    The first of these two letters was without indication of addressee
    in the anonymous collection, and was later directed to Eugenius
    (in the American edition, Harrisburg, 1805).]

    [Footnote 39: LIII, pp. 340-344. The publication was October 25.
    See _The Nation_, November 17, 1904.]

    [Footnote 40: The _London Magazine_ gives the first announcement
    among the books for October (Vol. XLVI, p. 538), but does not
    review the collection till December (XLIV, p. 649).]

    [Footnote 41: Some selections from these letters were evidently
    published before their translation in the _Englische Allgemeine
    Bibliothek_. See _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._, 1775, p. 667.]

    [Footnote 42: XVIII, p. 177, 1775.]

    [Footnote 43: 1775, I, pp. 243-246.]

    [Footnote 44: Letters Nos. 83 and 86.]

    [Footnote 45: 1775, II p. 510.]

    [Footnote 46: This volume was noted by _Jenaische Zeitungen von
    Gelehrten Sachen_, September, 4, 1775.]

    [Footnote 47: A writer in Schlichtegroll’s “Nekrolog” says that
    Bode’s own letters to “einige seiner vertrauten Freundinnen” in
    some respects surpass those of Yorick to Eliza.]

    [Footnote 48: Another translator would in this case have made
    direct acknowledgment to Bode for the borrowed information, a fact
    indicating Bode as the translator of the volume.]

    [Footnote 49: “Lorenz Sterne’s oder Yorick’s Briefwechsel mit
    Elisen und seinen übrigen Freunden.” Leipzig, Weidmanns Erben und
    Reich. 1775, 8vo.]

    [Footnote 50: Weisse is credited with the translation in Kayser,
    but it is not given under his name in Goedeke.]

    [Footnote 51: References to the _Gothaische Gelehrte Zeitung_ are
    p. 518 and p. 721, 1775.]

    [Footnote 52: XXVIII, 2, p. 489, 1776.]

    [Footnote 53: These are, of course, the spurious letters Nos. 8
    and 11, “I beheld her tender look” and “I have not been a furlong
    from Shandy-Hall.”]

    [Footnote 54: This is a quotation from one of the letters, but the
    review repeats it as its own.]

    [Footnote 55: For a rather unfavorable criticism of the
    Yorick-Eliza letters, see letter of Wilh. Ludw. Medicus to
    Höpfner, March 16, 1776, in “Briefe aus dem Freundeskreise von
    Goethe, Herder, Höpfner und Merck,” ed. by K. Wagner, Leipzig,
    1847.]

    [Footnote 56: Hamann’s Schriften, ed. by Roth, VI, p. 145:
    “Yorick’s und Elisens Briefe sind nicht der Rede werth.”]

    [Footnote 57: London, Thomas Cornan, St. Paul’s Churchyard, 8vo,
    pp. 63. These letters are given in the first American edition,
    Harrisburg, 1805, pp. 209-218 and 222-226.]

    [Footnote 58: Leipzig, Weidmanns Erben und Reich, I, pp. 142;
    II, pp. 150.]

    [Footnote 59: The English original is probably that by William
    Combe, published in 1779, two volumes. This original is reviewed
    in the _Neue Bibl. der schönen Wissenschaften_, XXIV, p. 186,
    1780.]

    [Footnote 60: XII, 1, pp. 210-211. Doubt is also suggested in the
    _Hallische Neue Gelehrte Zeitungen_, 1769, IV, p. 295.]

    [Footnote 61: Reviewed in _Allg. Litt. Zeitung_, 1798, II, p. 14,
    without suggestion of doubtful authenticity.]

    [Footnote 62: XX, pp. 79-103, 1792.]

    [Footnote 63: They are still credited to Sterne, though with
    admitted doubt, in Hirsching (1809). It would seem from a letter
    of Hamann’s that Germany also thrust another work upon Sterne. The
    letter is directed to Herder: “Ich habe die nichtswürdige Grille
    gehabt einen unförmlichen Auszug einer englischen Apologie des
    Rousseau, die den Sterne zum Verfasser haben soll, in die
    _Königsberger Zeitung_ einflicken zu lassen.” See Hamann’s
    Schriften, Roth’s edition, III, p. 374. Letter is dated July 29,
    1767. Rousseau is mentioned in Shandy, III, p. 200, but there is
    no reason to believe that he ever wrote anything about him.]

    [Footnote 64: The edition examined is that of William Howe,
    London, 1819, which contains “New Sermons to Asses,” and other
    sermons by Murray.]

    [Footnote 65: For reviews see _Monthly Review_, 1768, Vol. XXXIX,
    pp. 100-105; _Gentleman’s Magazine_, Vol. XXXVIII, p. 188 (April).
    They were thus evidently published early in the year 1768.]

    [Footnote 66: 1768, p. 220.]

    [Footnote 67: VII, p. 360.]

    [Footnote 68: Review in _Allg. deutsche Bibl._, XIII, 1, p. 241.
    The reviewer is inclined to doubt their authenticity.]

    [Footnote 69: A spurious third volume was the work of John Carr
    (1760).]

    [Footnote 70: See _Monthly Review_, XXIII, p. 84, July 1760, and
    _London Magazine_, Monthly Catalogue for July and August, 1760.
    _Scott’s Magazine_, XXII, p. 389, July, 1760.]

    [Footnote 71: XIV, 2, p. 621.]

    [Footnote 72: But in a later review in the same periodical
    (V, p. 726) this book, though not mentioned by name, yet clearly
    meant, is mentioned with very decided expression of doubt. The
    review quoted above is III, p. 737. 1769.]

    [Footnote 73: This work was republished in Braunschweig at the
    Schulbuchhandlung in 1789.]

    [Footnote 74: According to the _Universal Magazine_ (XLVI, p. 111)
    the book was issued in February, 1770. It was published in two
    volumes.]

    [Footnote 75: Sidney Lee in Nat’l Dict. of Biography. It was also
    given in the eighth volume of the Edinburgh edition of Sterne,
    1803.]

    [Footnote 76: See _London Magazine_, June, 1770, VI, p. 319; also
    _Monthly Review_, XLII, pp. 360-363, May, 1770. The author of this
    latter critique further proves the fraudulence by asserting that
    allusion is made in the book to “facts and circumstances which did
    not happen until Yorick was dead.”]

    [Footnote 77: It is obviously not the place here for a full
    discussion of this question. Hédouin in the appendix of his “Life
    of Goethe” (pp. 291 ff) urges the claims of the book and resents
    Fitzgerald’s rather scornful characterization of the French
    critics who received the work as Sterne’s (see Life of Sterne,
    1864, II, p. 429). Hédouin refers to Jules Janin (“Essai sur la
    vie et les ouvrages de Sterne”) and Balzac (“Physiologie du
    mariage,” Meditation xvii,) as citing from the work as genuine.
    Barbey d’Aurevilly is, however, noted as contending in _la Patrie_
    against the authenticity. This is probably the article to be found
    in his collection of Essays, “XIX Siècle, Les oeuvres et les
    hommes,” Paris, 1890, pp. 73-93. Fitzgerald mentions Chasles among
    French critics who accept the book. Springer is incorrect in his
    assertion that the Koran appeared seven years after Sterne’s
    death, but he is probably building on the incorrect statement in
    the _Quarterly Review_ (XCIV, pp. 303 ff). Springer also asserts
    erroneously that it was never published in Sterne’s collected
    works. He is evidently disposed to make a case for the Koran and
    finds really his chief proof in the fact that both Goethe and Jean
    Paul accepted it unquestioningly. Bodmer quotes Sterne from the
    Koran in a letter to Denis, April 4, 1771, “M. Denis Lit.
    Nachlass,” ed. by Retzer, Wien, 1801, II, p. 120, and other German
    authors have in a similar way made quotations from this work,
    without questioning its authenticity.]

    [Footnote 78: III, p. 537, 1771.]

    [Footnote 79: X, p. 173.]

    [Footnote 80: Leipzig, Schwickert, 1771, pp. 326, 8vo.]

    [Footnote 81: V, p. 726.]

    [Footnote 82: Hamburg, Herold, 1778, pp. 248, 12mo.]

    [Footnote 83: 1779, p. 67.]

    [Footnote 84: Anhang to XXV-XXXVI, Vol. II, p. 768.]

    [Footnote 85: As products of the year 1760, one may note:

      Tristram Shandy at Ranelagh, 8vo, Dunstan.

      Tristram Shandy in a Reverie, 8vo, Williams.

      Explanatory Remarks upon the Life and Opinions of Tristram
      Shandy, by Jeremiah Kunastrokins, 12mo, Cabe.

      A Genuine Letter from a Methodist Preacher in the Country to
      Laurence Sterne, 8vo, Vandenberg.

      A Shandean essay on Human Passions, etc., by Caleb MacWhim, 4to,
      Cooke.

      Yorick’s Meditations upon Interesting and Important Subjects.

      The Life and Opinions of Miss Sukey Shandy, Stevens.

      The Clockmaker’s Outcry Against Tristram Shandy, Burd.

      The Rake of Taste, or the Elegant Debauchee (another ape of the
      Shandean style, according to _London Magazine_).

      A Supplement to the Life and Opinion of Tristram Shandy, by the
      author of Yorick’s Meditations, 12mo.]

    [Footnote 86: _Monthly Review_, XL, p. 166.]

    [Footnote 87: “Der Reisegefährte,” Berlin, 1785-86. “Komus oder
    der Freund des Scherzes und der Laune,” Berlin, 1806. “Museum des
    Witzes der Laune und der Satyre,” Berlin, 1810. For reviews of
    Coriat in German periodicals see _Gothaische Gelehrte Zeitungen_,
    1774, p. 378; _Leipziger Musen-Almanach_, 1776, p. 85; _Almanach
    der Deutschen Musen_, 1775, p. 84; _Unterhaltungen_, VII, p. 167.]

    [Footnote 88: See _Allg. Litt. Zeitung_, 1796, I, p. 256.]

    [Transcriber’s Note:
    The first of the two footnote tags may be an error.]

    [Footnote 89: The identity could be proven or disproven by
    comparison. There is a copy of the German work in the Leipzig
    University Library. Ireland’s book is in the British Museum.]

    [Footnote 90: See the _English Review_, XIII, p. 69, 1789, and the
    _Monthly Review_, LXXIX, p. 468, 1788.]

    [Footnote 91: _Allg. Litt. Zeitung_, 1791, I, p. 197. A sample of
    the author’s absurdity is given there in quotation.]

    [Footnote 92: Joh. Friedrich Schink, better known as a dramatist.]

    [Footnote 93: See the story of the gentlewoman from Thionville,
    p. 250, and elsewhere.]

    [Footnote 94: The references to the _Deutsche Monatsschrift_ are
    respectively, I, pp. 181-188, and II, pp. 65-71.]

    [Footnote 95: For review of Schink’s book see _Allg. Litt.
    Zeitung_, 1794, IV, p. 62, October 7. Böttiger seems to think that
    Schink’s work is but another working over of Stevenson’s
    continuation.]

    [Footnote 96: It is not given by Goedeke or Meusel, but is given
    among Schink’s works in “Neuer Nekrolog der Deutschen,” Weimar,
    1835-1837, XIII, pp. 161-165.]

    [Footnote 97: In both these books the English author may perhaps
    be responsible for some of the deviation from Sterne’s style.]

    [Footnote 98: CV, p. 271.]

    [Footnote 99: Kayser notes another translation, “Fragmente in
    Yorick’s Manier, aus dem Eng., mit Kpf., 8vo.” London, 1800. It is
    possibly identical with the one noted above. A second edition of
    the original came out in 1798.]

    [Footnote 100: The original of this was published by Kearsley in
    London, 1790, 12mo, a teary contribution to the story of Maria of
    Moulines.]



CHAPTER V

STERNE’S INFLUENCE IN GERMANY


Thus in manifold ways Sterne was introduced into German life and
letters.[1] He stood as a figure of benignant humanity, of lavish
sympathy with every earthly affliction, he became a guide and mentor,[2]
an awakener and consoler, and probably more than all, a sanction for
emotional expression. Not only in literature, but in the conduct of life
was Yorick judged a preceptor. The most important attempt to turn
Yorick’s teachings to practical service in modifying conduct in human
relationships was the introduction and use of the so-called
“Lorenzodosen.” The considerable popularity of this remarkable conceit
is tangible evidence of Sterne’s influence in Germany and stands in
striking contrast to the wavering enthusiasm, vigorous denunciation and
half-hearted acknowledgment which marked Sterne’s career in England.
A century of criticism has disallowed Sterne’s claim as a prophet, but
unquestionably he received in Germany the honors which a foreign land
proverbially accords.

To Johann Georg Jacobi, the author of the “Winterreise” and
“Sommerreise,” two well-known imitations of Sterne, the sentimental
world was indebted for this practical manner of expressing adherence to
a sentimental creed.[3] In the _Hamburgischer Correspondent_ he
published an open letter to Gleim, dated April 4, 1769, about the time
of the inception of the “Winterreise,” in which letter he relates at
considerable length the origin of the idea.[4] A few days before this
the author was reading to his brother, Fritz Jacobi, the philosopher,
novelist and friend of Goethe, and a number of ladies, from Sterne’s
Sentimental Journey the story of the poor Franciscan who begged alms of
Yorick. “We read,” says Jacobi, “how Yorick used this snuff-box to
invoke its former possessor’s gentle, patient spirit, and to keep his
own composed in the midst of life’s conflicts. The good Monk had died:
Yorick sat by his grave, took out the little snuff-box, plucked a few
nettles from the head of the grave, and wept. We looked at one another
in silence: each rejoiced to find tears in the others’ eyes; we honored
the death of the venerable old man Lorenzo and the good-hearted
Englishman. In our opinion, too, the Franciscan deserved more to be
canonized than all the saints of the calendar. Gentleness, contentedness
with the world, patience invincible, pardon for the errors of mankind,
these are the primary virtues he teaches his disciples.” The moment was
too precious not to be emphasized by something rememberable, perceptible
to the senses, and they all purchased for themselves horn snuff-boxes,
and had the words “Pater Lorenzo” written in golden letters on the
outside of the cover and “Yorick” within. Oath was taken for the sake of
Saint Lorenzo to give something to every Franciscan who might ask of
them, and further: “If anyone in our company should allow himself to be
carried away by anger, his friend holds out to him the snuff-box, and we
have too much feeling to withstand this reminder even in the greatest
violence of passion.” It is suggested also that the ladies, who use no
tobacco, should at least have such a snuff-box on their night-stands,
because to them belong in such a high degree those gentle feelings which
were to be associated with the article.

This letter printed in the Hamburg paper was to explain the snuff-box,
which Jacobi had sent to Gleim a few days before, and the desire is also
expressed to spread the order. Hence others were sent to other friends.
Jacobi goes on to say: “Perhaps in the future, I may have the pleasure
of meeting a stranger here and there who will hand me the horn snuff-box
with its golden letters. I shall embrace him as intimately as one Free
Mason does another after the sign has been given. Oh! what a joy it
would be to me, if I could introduce so precious a custom among my
fellow-townsmen.” A reviewer in the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[5]
sharply condemns Jacobi for his conceit in printing publicly a letter
meant for his friend or friends, and, to judge from the words with which
Jacobi accompanies the abridged form of the letter in the later editions
it would seem that Jacobi himself was later ashamed of the whole affair.
The idea, however, was warmly received, and among the teary, sentimental
enthusiasts the horn snuff-box soon became the fad. A few days after the
publication of this letter, Wittenberg,[6] the journalist in Hamburg,
writes to Jacobi (April 21) that many in Hamburg desire to possess these
snuff-boxes, and he adds: “A hundred or so are now being manufactured;
besides the name Lorenzo, the following legend is to appear on the
cover: Animae quales non candidiores terra tulit.” Wittenberg explains
that this Latin motto was a suggestion of his own, selfishly made,
for thereby he might win the opportunity of explaining it to the fair
ladies, and exacting kisses for the service. Wittenberg asserts that a
lady (Longo guesses a certain Johanna Friederike Behrens) was the first
to suggest the manufacture of the article at Hamburg. A second letter[7]
from Wittenberg to Jacobi four months later (August 21, 1769) announces
the sending of nine snuff-boxes to Jacobi, and the price is given as
one-half a reichsthaler. Jacobi himself says in his note to the later
edition that merchants made a speculation out of the fad, and that a
multitude of such boxes were sent out through all Germany, even to
Denmark and Livonia: “they were in every hand,” he says. Graf Solms had
such boxes made of tin with the name Jacobi inside. Both Martin and
Werner instance the request[8] of a Protestant vicar, Johann David Goll
in Trossingen, for a “Lorenzodose” with the promise to subscribe to the
oath of the order, and, though Protestant, to name the Catholic
Franciscan his brother. According to a spicy review[9] in the
_Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[10] these snuff-boxes were sold in
Hamburg wrapped in a printed copy of Jacobi’s letter to Gleim, and the
reviewer adds, “like Grenough’s tooth-tincture in the directions for its
use.”[11] Nicolai in “Sebaldus Nothanker” refers to the Lorenzo cult
with evident ridicule.[12]

There were other efforts to make Yorick’s example an efficient power of
beneficent brotherliness. Kaufmann attempted to found a Lorenzo order of
the horn snuff-box. Düntzer, in his study of Kaufmann,[13] states that
this was only an effort on Kaufmann’s part to embrace a timely
opportunity to make himself prominent. This endeavor was made according
to Düntzer, during Kaufmann’s residence in Strassburg, which the
investigator assigns to the years 1774-75. Leuchsenring,[14] the
eccentric sentimentalist, who for a time belonged to the Darmstadt
circle and whom Goethe satirized in “Pater Brey,” cherished also for a
time the idea of founding an order of “Empfindsamkeit.”

In the literary remains of Johann Christ Hofmann[15] in Coburg was found
the “patent” of an order of “Sanftmuth und Versöhnung.” A “Lorenzodose”
was found with it marked XXVIII, and the seven rules of the order, dated
Coburg “im Ordens-Comtoir, den 10 August, 1769,” are merely a topical
enlargement and ordering of Jacobi’s original idea. Longo gives them in
full. Appell states that Jacobi explained through a friend that he knew
nothing of this order and had no share in its founding. Longo complains
that Appell does not give the source of his information, but Jacobi in
his note to the so-called “Stiftungs-Brief” in the edition of 1807
quotes the article in Schlichtegroll’s “Nekrolog” as his only knowledge
of this order, certainly implying his previous ignorance of its
existence.

Somewhat akin to these attempts to incorporate Yorick’s ideas is the
fantastic laying out of the park at Marienwerder near Hanover, of which
Matthison writes in his “Vaterländische Besuche,”[16] and in a letter to
the Hofrath von Köpken in Magdeburg,[17] dated October 17, 1785. After a
sympathetic description of the secluded park, he tells how labyrinthine
paths lead to an eminence “where the unprepared stranger is surprised by
the sight of a cemetery. On the crosses there one reads beloved names
from Yorick’s Journey and Tristram Shandy. Father Lorenzo, Eliza, Maria
of Moulines, Corporal Trim, Uncle Toby and Yorick were gathered by a
poetic fancy to this graveyard.” The letter gives a similar description
and adds the epitaph on Trim’s monument, “Weed his grave clean, ye men
of goodness, for he was your brother,”[18] a quotation, which in its
fuller form, Matthison uses in a letter[19] to Bonstetten, Heidelberg,
February 7, 1794, in speaking of Böck the actor. It is impossible to
determine whose eccentric and tasteless enthusiasm is represented by
this mortuary arrangement.

Louise von Ziegler, known in the Darmstadt circle as Lila, whom Merck
admired and, according to Caroline Flaschsland, “almost compared with
Yorick’s Maria,” was so sentimental that she had her grave made in her
garden, evidently for purposes of contemplation, and she led a lamb
about which ate and drank with her. Upon the death of this animal,
“a faithful dog” took its place. Thus was Maria of Moulines
remembered.[20]

It has already been noted that Yorick’s sympathy for the brute creation
found cordial response in Germany, such regard being accepted as a part
of his message. That the spread of such sentimental notions was not
confined to the printed word, but passed over into actual regulation of
conduct is admirably illustrated by an anecdote related in Wieland’s
_Teutscher Merkur_ in the January number for 1776, by a correspondent
who signs himself “S.” A friend was visiting him; they went to walk, and
the narrator having his gun with him shot with it two young doves. His
friend is exercised. “What have the doves done to you?” he queries.
“Nothing,” is the reply, “but they will taste good to you.” “But they
were alive,” interposed the friend, “and would have caressed
(geschnäbelt) one another,” and later he refuses to partake of the
doves. Connection with Yorick is established by the narrator himself:
“If my friend had not read Yorick’s story about the sparrow, he would
have had no rule of conduct here about shooting doves, and my doves
would have tasted better to him.” The influence of Yorick was, however,
quite possibly indirect through Jacobi as intermediary; for the latter
describes a sentimental family who refused to allow their doves to be
killed. The author of this letter, however, refers directly to Yorick,
to the very similar episode of the sparrows narrated in the continuation
of the Sentimental Journey, but an adventure original with the German
Bode. This is probably the source of Jacobi’s narrative.

The other side of Yorick’s character, less comprehensible, less capable
of translation into tangibilities, was not disregarded. His humor and
whimsicality, though much less potent, were yet influential. Ramler said
in a letter to Gebler dated November 14, 1775, that everyone wished to
jest like Sterne,[21] and the _Frankfurter Gelehrte Anzeigen_ (October
31, 1775), at almost precisely the same time, discourses at some length
on the then prevailing epidemic of whimsicality, showing that
shallowness beheld in the then existing interest in humor a
justification for all sorts of eccentric behavior and inconsistent
wilfulness.

Naturally Sterne’s influence in the world of letters may be traced most
obviously in the slavish imitation of his style, his sentiment, his
whims,--this phase represented in general by now forgotten triflers; but
it also enters into the thought of the great minds in the fatherland and
becomes interwoven with their culture. Their own expressions of
indebtedness are here often available in assigning a measure of
relationship. And finally along certain general lines the German Yorick
exercised an influence over the way men thought and wanted to think.

The direct imitations of Sterne are very numerous, a crowd of followers,
a motley procession of would-be Yoricks, set out on one expedition or
another. Musäus[22] in a review of certain sentimental meanderings in
the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_,[23] remarked that the increase of
such journeyings threatened to bring about a new epoch in the taste of
the time. He adds that the good Yorick presumably never anticipated
becoming the founder of a fashionable sect. This was in 1773. Other
expressions of alarm or disapprobation might be cited.

Through Sterne’s influence the account of travels became more personal,
less purely topographical, more volatile and merry, more subjective.[24]
Goethe in a passage in the “Campagne in Frankreich,” to which reference
is made later, acknowledges this impulse as derived from Yorick. Its
presence was felt even when there was no outward effort at sentimental
journeying. The suggestion that the record of a journey was personal and
tinged with humor was essential to its popularity. It was probably
purely an effort to make use of this appeal which led the author of
“Bemerkungen eines Reisenden durch Deutschland, Frankreich, England und
Holland,”[25] a work of purely practical observation, to place upon his
title-page the alluring lines from Gay: “Life is a jest and all things
shew it. I thought so once, but now I know it;” a promise of humorous
attitude which does not find fulfilment in the heavy volumes of purely
objective description which follow.

Probably the first German book to bear the name Yorick in its title was
a short satirical sketch entitled, “Yorick und die Bibliothek der
elenden Scribenten, an Hrn.--” 1768, 8vo (Anspach),[26] which is linked
to the quite disgustingly scurrilous Antikriticus controversy.

Attempts at whimsicality, imitations also of the Shandean gallery of
originals appear, and the more particularly Shandean style of narration
is adopted in the novels of the period which deal with middle-class
domestic life. Of books directly inspired by Sterne, or following more
or less slavishly his guidance, a considerable proportion has
undoubtedly been consigned to merited oblivion. In many cases it is
possible to determine from contemporary reviews the nature of the
individual product, and the probable extent of indebtedness to the
British model. If it were possible to find and examine them all with a
view to establishing extent of relationship, the identity of motifs,
the borrowing of thought and sentiment, such a work would give us little
more than we learn from consideration of representative examples. In the
following chapter the attempt will be made to treat a number of typical
products. Baker in his article on Sterne in Germany adopts the rather
hazardous expedient of judging merely by title and taking from Goedeke’s
“Grundriss,” works which suggests a dependence on Sterne.[27]

The early relation of several great men of letters to Sterne has been
already treated in connection with the gradual awakening of Germany to
the new force. Wieland was one of Sterne’s most ardent admirers, one of
his most intelligent interpreters; but since his relationship to Sterne
has been made the theme of special study,[28] there will be needed here
but a brief recapitulation with some additional comment. Especially in
the productions of the years 1768-1774 are the direct allusions to
Sterne and his works numerous, the adaptations of motifs frequent, and
imitation of literary style unmistakable. Behmer finds no demonstrable
evidence of Sterne’s influence in Wieland’s work prior to two poems of
the year 1768, “Endymions Traum” and “Chloe;” but in the works of the
years immediately following there is abundant evidence both in style and
in subject matter, in the fund of allusion and illustration, to
establish the author’s indebtedness to Sterne. Behmer analyzes from this
standpoint the following works: “Beiträge zur geheimen Geschichte des
menschlichen Verstandes und Herzens;” “Sokrates Mainomenos oder die
Dialogen des Diogenes von Sinope;” “Der neue Amadis;” “Der goldene
Spiegel;” “Geschichte des Philosophen Danischmende;” “Gedanken über eine
alte Aufschrift;” “Geschichte der Abderiten.”[29]

In these works, but in different measure in each, Behmer finds Sterne
copied stylistically, in the constant conversations about the worth of
the book, the comparative value of the different chapters and the
difficulty of managing the material, in the fashion of inconsequence in
unexplained beginnings and abrupt endings, in the heaping up of words of
similar meaning, or similar ending, and in the frequent digressions.
Sterne also is held responsible for the manner of introducing the
immorally suggestive, for the introduction of learned quotations and
references to authorities, for the sport made of the learned professions
and the satire upon all kinds of pedantry and overwrought enthusiasm.
Though the direct, demonstrable influence of Sterne upon Wieland’s
literary activity dies out gradually[30] and naturally, with the growth
of his own genius, his admiration for the English favorite abides with
him, passing on into succeeding periods of his development, as his
former enthusiasm for Richardson failed to do.[31] More than twenty
years later, when more sober days had stilled the first unbridled
outburst of sentimentalism, Wieland speaks yet of Sterne in terms of
unaltered devotion: in an article published in the _Merkur_,[32] Sterne
is called among all authors the one “from whom I would last part,”[33]
and the subject of the article itself is an indication of his concern
for the fate of Yorick among his fellow-countrymen. It is in the form of
an epistle to Herr . . . . zu D., and is a vigorous protest against
heedless imitation of Sterne, representing chiefly the perils of such
endeavor and the bathos of the failure. Wieland includes in the letter
some “specimen passages from a novel in the style of Tristram Shandy,”
which he asserts were sent him by the author. The quotations are almost
flat burlesque in their impossible idiocy, and one can easily appreciate
Wieland’s despairing cry with which the article ends.

A few words of comment upon Behmer’s work will be in place. He accepts
as genuine the two added volumes of the Sentimental Journey and the
Koran, though he admits that the former were published by a friend, not
“without additions of his own,” and he uses these volumes directly at
least in one instance in establishing his parallels, the rescue of the
naked woman from the fire in the third volume of the Journey, and the
similar rescue from the waters in the “Nachlass des Diogenes.”[34] That
Sterne had any connection with these volumes is improbable, and the
Koran is surely a pure fabrication. Behmer seeks in a few words to deny
the reproach cast upon Sterne that he had no understanding of the
beauties of nature, but Behmer is certainly claiming too much when he
speaks of the “Farbenprächtige Schilderungen der ihm ungewohnten
sonnenverklärten Landschaft,” which Sterne gives us “repeatedly” in the
Sentimental Journey, and he finds his most secure evidence for Yorick’s
“genuine and pure” feeling for nature in the oft-quoted passage
beginning, “I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba and cry
‘’Tis all barren.’” It would surely be difficult to find these repeated
instances, for, in the whole work, Sterne gives absolutely no
description of natural scenery beyond the most casual, incidental
reference: the familiar passage is also misinterpreted, it betrays no
appreciation of inanimate nature in itself, and is but a cry in
condemnation of those who fail to find exercise for their sympathetic
emotions. Sterne mentions the “sweet myrtle” and “melancholy
cypress,”[35] not as indicative of his own affection for nature, but as
exemplifying his own exceeding personal need of expenditure of human
sympathy, as indeed the very limit to which sensibility can go, when the
desert denies possibility of human intercourse. Sterne’s attitude is
much better illustrated at the beginning of the “Road to Versailles”:
“As there was nothing in this road, or rather nothing which I look for
in traveling, I cannot fill up the blank better than with a short
history of this self-same bird.” In other words, he met no possibility
for exercising the emotions. Behmer’s statement with reference to
Sterne, “that his authorship proceeds anyway from a parody of
Richardson,” is surely not demonstrable, nor that “this whole fashion of
composition is indeed but ridicule of Richardson.” Richardson’s star had
paled perceptibly before Sterne began to write, and the period of his
immense popularity lies nearly twenty years before. There is not the
slightest reason to suppose that his works have any connection
whatsoever with Richardson’s novels. One is tempted to think that Behmer
confuses Sterne with Fielding, whose career as a novelist did begin as a
parodist of the vain little printer. That the “Starling” in the
Sentimental Journey, which is passed on from hand to hand, and the
burden of government which wanders similarly in “Der Goldene Spiegel”
constitute a parallelism, as Behmer suggests (p. 48), seems rather
far-fetched. It could also be hardly demonstrated that what Behmer calls
“die Sternische Einführungsweise”[36] (p. 54), as used in the
“Geschichte der Abderiten,” is peculiar to Sterne or even characteristic
of him. Behmer (p. 19) seems to be ignorant of any reprints or
translations of the Koran, the letters and the sermons, save those
coming from Switzerland.

Bauer’s study of the Sterne-Wieland relation is much briefer
(thirty-five pages) and much less satisfactory because less thorough,
yet it contains some few valuable individual points and cited
parallelisms. Bauer errs in stating that Shandy appeared 1759-67 in
York, implying that the whole work was issued there. He gives the dates
of Sterne’s first visit to Paris, also incorrectly, as 1760-62.

Finally, Wieland cannot be classed among the slavish imitators of
Yorick; he is too independent a thinker, too insistent a pedagogue to
allow himself to be led more than outwardly by the foreign model. He has
something of his own to say and is genuinely serious in a large portion
of his own philosophic speculations: hence, his connection with Sterne,
being largely stylistic and illustrative, may be designated as a drapery
of foreign humor about his own seriousness of theorizing. Wieland’s
Hellenic tendencies make the use of British humor all the more
incongruous.[37]

Herder’s early acquaintance with Sterne has been already treated.
Subsequent writings offer also occasional indication of an abiding
admiration. Soon after his arrival in Paris he wrote to Hartknoch
praising Sterne’s characterization of the French people.[38] The fifth
“Wäldchen,” which is concerned with the laughable, contains reference to
Sterne.[39]

With Lessing the case is similar: a striking statement of personal
regard has been recorded, but Lessing’s literary work of the following
years does not betray a significant influence from Yorick. To be sure,
allusion is made to Sterne a few times in letters[40] and elsewhere,
but no direct manifestation of devotion is discoverable. The compelling
consciousness of his own message, his vigorous interest in deeper
problems of religion and philosophy, the then increasing worth of native
German literature, may well have overshadowed the influence of the
volatile Briton.

Goethe’s expressions of admiration for Sterne and indebtedness to him
are familiar. Near the end of his life (December 16, 1828), when the
poet was interested in observing the history and sources of his own
culture, and was intent upon recording his own experience for the
edification and clarification of the people, he says in conversation
with Eckermann: “I am infinitely indebted to Shakespeare, Sterne and
Goldsmith.”[41] And a year later in a letter to Zelter,[42] (Weimar,
December 25, 1829), “The influence Goldsmith and Sterne exercised upon
me, just at the chief point of my development, cannot be estimated. This
high, benevolent irony, this just and comprehensive way of viewing
things, this gentleness to all opposition, this equanimity under every
change, and whatever else all the kindred virtues may be termed--such
things were a most admirable training for me, and surely, these are the
sentiments which in the end lead us back from all the mistaken paths of
life.”

In the same conversation with Eckermann from which the first quotation
is made, Goethe seems to defy the investigator who would endeavor to
define his indebtedness to Sterne, its nature and its measure. The
occasion was an attempt on the part of certain writers to determine the
authorship of certain distichs printed in both Schiller’s and Goethe’s
works. Upon a remark of Eckermann’s that this effort to hunt down a
man’s originality and to trace sources is very common in the literary
world, Goethe says: “Das ist sehr lächerlich, man könnte ebenso gut
einen wohlgenährten Mann nach den Ochsen, Schafen und Schweinen fragen,
die er gegessen und die ihm Kräfte gegeben.” An investigation such as
Goethe seems to warn us against here would be one of tremendous
difficulty, a theme for a separate work. It is purposed here to gather
only information with reference to Goethe’s expressed or implied
attitude toward Sterne, his opinion of the British master, and to note
certain connections between Goethe’s work and that of Sterne,
connections which are obvious or have been already a matter of comment
and discussion.

In Strassburg under Herder’s[43] guidance, Goethe seems first to have
read the works of Sterne. His life in Frankfurt during the interval
between his two periods of university residence was not of a nature
calculated to increase his acquaintance with current literature, and his
studies did not lead to interest in literary novelty. This is his own
statement in “Dichtung und Wahrheit.”[44] That Herder’s enthusiasm for
Sterne was generous has already been shown by letters written in the few
years previous to his sojourn in Strassburg. Letters written to
Merck[45] (Strassburg, 1770-1771) would seem to show that then too
Sterne still stood high in his esteem. Whatever the exact time of
Goethe’s first acquaintance with Sterne, we know that he recommended the
British writer to Jung-Stilling for the latter’s cultivation in
letters.[46] Less than a year after Goethe’s departure from Strassburg,
we find him reading aloud to the Darmstadt circle the story of poor Le
Fevre from Tristram Shandy. This is reported in a letter, dated May 8,
1772, by Caroline Flachsland, Herder’s fiancée.[47] It is not evident
whether they read Sterne in the original or in the translation of
Zückert, the only one then available, unless possibly the reader gave a
translation as he read. Later in the same letter, Caroline mentions the
“Empfindsame Reisen,” possibly meaning Bode’s translation. She also
records reading Shakespeare in Wieland’s rendering, but as she speaks
later still of peeping into the English books which Herder had sent
Merck, it is a hazardous thing to reason from her mastery of English at
that time to the use of original or translation on the occasion of
Goethe’s reading.

Contemporary criticism saw in the Martin of “Götz von Berlichingen”
a likeness to Sterne’s creations;[48] and in the other great work of the
pre-Weimarian period, in “Werther,” though no direct influence rewards
one’s search, one must acknowledge the presence of a mental and
emotional state to which Sterne was a contributor. Indeed Goethe himself
suggests this relationship. Speaking of “Werther” in the “Campagne in
Frankreich,”[49] he observes in a well-known passage that Werther did
not cause the disease, only exposed it, and that Yorick shared in
preparing the ground-work of sentimentalism on which “Werther” is built.

According to the quarto edition of 1837, the first series of letters
from Switzerland dates from 1775, although they were not published till
1808, in the eleventh volume of the edition begun in 1806. Scherer,
in his “History of German Literature,” asserts that these letters are
written in imitation of Sterne, but it is difficult to see the occasion
for such a statement. The letters are, in spite of all haziness
concerning the time of their origin and Goethe’s exact purpose regarding
them,[50] a “fragment of Werther’s travels” and are confessedly cast in
a sentimental tone, which one might easily attribute to a Werther,
in whom hyperesthesia has not yet developed to delirium, an earlier
Werther. Yorick’s whim and sentiment are quite wanting, and the
sensuousness, especially as pertains to corporeal beauty, is distinctly
Goethean.

Goethe’s accounts of his own travels are quite free from the Sterne
flavor; in fact he distinctly says that through the influence of the
Sentimental Journey all records of journeys had been mostly given up to
the feelings and opinions of the traveler, but that he, after his
Italian journey, had endeavored to keep himself objective.[51]

Dr. Robert Riemann in his study of Goethe’s novels,[52] calls Friedrich
in “Wilhelm Meister’s Lehrjahre” a representative of Sterne’s humor, and
he finds in Mittler in the “Wahlverwandtschaften” a union of seriousness
and the comic of caricature, reminiscent of Sterne and Hippel. Friedrich
is mercurial, petulant, utterly irresponsible, a creature of mirth and
laughter, subject to unreasoning fits of passion. One might, in thinking
of another character in fiction, designate Friedrich as faun-like. In
all of this one can, however, find little if any demonstrable likeness
to Sterne or Sterne’s creations. It is rather difficult also to see
wherein the character of Mittler is reminiscent of Sterne. Mittler is
introduced with the obvious purpose of representing certain opinions and
of aiding the development of the story by his insistence upon them. He
represents a brusque, practical kind of benevolence, and his
eccentricity lies only in the extraordinary occupation which he has
chosen for himself. Riemann also traces to Sterne, Fielding and their
German followers, Goethe’s occasional use of the direct appeal to the
reader. Doubtless Sterne’s example here was a force in extending this
rhetorical convention.

It is claimed by Goebel[53] that Goethe’s “Homunculus,” suggested to the
master partly by reading of Paracelsus and partly by Sterne’s mediation,
is in some characteristics of his being dependent directly on Sterne’s
creation. In a meeting of the “Gesellschaft für deutsche Litteratur,”
November, 1896, Brandl expressed the opinion that Maria of Moulines was
a prototype of Mignon in “Wilhelm Meister.”[54]

The references to Sterne in Goethe’s works, in his letters and
conversations, are fairly numerous in the aggregate, but not especially
striking relatively. In the conversations with Eckermann there are
several other allusions besides those already mentioned. Goethe calls
Eckermann a second Shandy for suffering illness without calling a
physician, even as Walter Shandy failed to attend to the squeaking
door-hinge.[55] Eckermann himself draws on Sterne for illustrations in
Yorick’s description of Paris,[56] and on January 24, 1830, at a time
when we know that Goethe was re-reading Sterne, Eckermann refers to
Yorick’s (?) doctrine of the reasonable use of grief.[57] That Goethe
near the end of his life turned again to Sterne’s masterpiece is proved
by a letter to Zelter, October 5, 1830;[58] he adds here too that his
admiration has increased with the years, speaking particularly of
Sterne’s gay arraignment of pedantry and philistinism. But a few days
before this, October 1, 1830, in a conversation reported by Riemer,[59]
he expresses the same opinion and adds that Sterne was the first to
raise himself and us from pedantry and philistinism. By these remarks
Goethe commits himself in at least one respect to a favorable view of
Sterne’s influence on German letters. A few other minor allusions to
Sterne may be of interest. In an article in the _Horen_ (1795,
V. Stück,) entitled “Literarischer Sansculottismus,” Goethe mentions
Smelfungus as a type of growler.[60] In the “Wanderjahre”[61] there is a
reference to Yorick’s classification of travelers. Düntzer, in Schnorr’s
_Archiv_,[62] explains a passage in a letter of Goethe’s to Johanna
Fahlmer (August, 1775), “die Verworrenheiten des Diego und Juliens” as
an allusion to the “Intricacies of Diego and Julia” in Slawkenbergius’s
tale,[63] and to the traveler’s conversation with his beast. In a letter
to Frau von Stein[64] five years later (September 18, 1780) Goethe used
this same expression, and the editor of the letters avails himself of
Düntzer’s explanation. Düntzer further explains the word θεοδοκος,
used in Goethe’s Tagebuch with reference to the Duke, in connection with
the term θεοδιδακτος applied to Walter Shandy. The word is, however,
somewhat illegible in the manuscript. It was printed thus in the edition
of the Tagebuch published by Robert Keil, but when Düntzer himself, nine
years after the article in the _Archiv_, published an edition of the
Tagebücher he accepted a reading θεοτατος,[65] meaning, as he says, “ein
voller Gott,” thereby tacitly retracting his former theory of connection
with Sterne.

The best known relationship between Goethe and Sterne is in connection
with the so-called plagiarisms in the appendix to the third volume of
the “Wanderjahre.” Here, in the second edition, were printed under the
title “Aus Makariens Archiv” various maxims and sentiments. Among these
were a number of sayings, reflections, axioms, which were later
discovered to have been taken bodily from the second part of the Koran,
the best known Sterne-forgery. Alfred Hédouin, in “Le Monde Maçonnique”
(1863), in an article “Goethe plagiaire de Sterne,” first located the
quotations.[66]

Mention has already been made of the account of Robert Springer, which
is probably the last published essay on the subject. It is entitled “Ist
Goethe ein Plagiarius Lorenz Sternes?” and is found in the volume
“Essays zur Kritik und Philosophie und zur Goethe-Litteratur.”[67]
Springer cites at some length the liberal opinions of Molière, La
Bruyère, Wieland, Heine and others concerning the literary appropriation
of another’s thought. He then proceeds to quote Goethe’s equally
generous views on the subject, and adds the uncritical fling that if
Goethe robbed Sterne, it was an honor to Sterne, a gain to his literary
fame. Near the end of his paper, Springer arrives at the question in
hand and states positively that these maxims, with their miscellaneous
companions, were never published by Goethe, but were found by the
editors of his literary remains among his miscellaneous papers, and then
issued in the ninth volume of the posthumous works. Hédouin had
suggested this possible explanation. Springer adds that the editors were
unaware of the source of this material and supposed it to be original
with Goethe.

The facts of the case are, however, as follows: “Wilhelm Meister’s
Wanderjahre” was published first in 1821.[68] In 1829, a new and revised
edition was issued in the “Ausgabe letzter Hand.” Eckermann in his
conversations with Goethe[69] relates the circumstances under which the
appendices were added to the earlier work. When the book was in press,
the publisher discovered that of the three volumes planned, the last two
were going to be too thin, and begged for more material to fill out
their scantiness. In this perplexity Goethe brought to Eckermann two
packets of miscellaneous notes to be edited and added to those two
slender volumes. In this way arose the collection of sayings, scraps and
quotations “Im Sinne der Wanderer” and “Aus Makariens Archiv.” It was
later agreed that Eckermann, when Goethe’s literary remains should be
published, should place the matter elsewhere, ordered into logical
divisions of thought. All of the sentences here under special
consideration were published in the twenty-third volume of the “Ausgabe
letzter Hand,” which is dated 1830,[70] and are to be found there, on
pages 271-275 and 278-281. They are reprinted in the identical order in
the ninth volume of the “Nachgelassene Werke,” which also bore the
title, Vol. XLIX of “Ausgabe letzter Hand,” there found on pages 121-125
and 127-131. Evidently Springer found them here in the posthumous works,
and did not look for them in the previous volume, which was published
two years or thereabouts before Goethe’s death.

Of the sentiments, sentences and quotations dealing with Sterne, there
are twenty which are translations from the Koran, in Loeper’s edition of
“Sprüche in Prosa,”[71] Nos. 491-507 and 543-544; seventeen others (Nos.
490, 508-509, 521-533, 535) contain direct appreciative criticism of
Sterne; No. 538 is a comment upon a Latin quotation in the Koran and No.
545 is a translation of another quotation in the same work. No. 532
gives a quotation from Sterne, “Ich habe mein Elend nicht wie ein weiser
Mann benutzt,” which Loeper says he has been unable to find in any of
Sterne’s works. It is, however, in a letter[72] to John Hall Stevenson,
written probably in August, 1761. The translation here is inexact.
Loeper did not succeed in finding Nos. 534, 536, 537, although their
position indicates that they were quotations from Sterne, but No. 534 is
in a letter to Garrick from Paris, March 19, 1762. The German
translation however conveys a different impression from the original
English. The other two are not located; in spite of their position, the
way in which the book was put together would certainly allow for the
possibility of extraneous material creeping in. At their first
appearance in the “Ausgabe letzter Hand,” five Sprüche, Nos. 491, 543,
534, 536, 537, were supplied with quotation marks, though the source was
not indicated. Thus it is seen that the most of the quotations were
published as original during Goethe’s lifetime, but he probably never
considered it of sufficient consequence to disavow their authorship in
public. It is quite possible that the way in which they were forced into
“Wilhelm Meister” was distasteful to him afterwards, and he did not care
to call attention to them.

Goethe’s opinion of Sterne as expressed in the sentiments which
accompany the quotations from the Koran is significant. “Yorick Sterne,”
he says, “war der schönste Geist, der je gewirkt hat; wer ihn liest,
fühlet sich sogleich frei und schön; sein Humor ist unnachahmlich, und
nicht jeder Humor befreit die Seele” (490). “Sagacität und Penetration
sind bei ihm grenzenlos” (528). Goethe asserts here that every person of
culture should at that very time read Sterne’s works, so that the
nineteenth century might learn “what we owed him and perceive what we
might owe him.” Goethe took Sterne’s narrative of his journey as a
representation of an actual trip, or else he is speaking of Sterne’s
letters in the following:

“Seine Heiterkeit, Genügsamkeit, Duldsamkeit auf der Reise, wo diese
Eigenschaften am meisten geprüft werden, finden nicht leicht
Ihresgleichen” (No. 529), and Goethe’s opinion of Sterne’s indecency is
characteristic of Goethe’s attitude. He says: “Das Element der
Lüsternheit, in dem er sich so zierlich und sinnig benimmt, würde vielen
Andern zum Verderben gereichen.”

The juxtaposition of these quotations and this appreciation of Sterne is
proof sufficient that Goethe considered Sterne the author of the Koran
at the time when the notes were made. At precisely what time this
occurred it is now impossible to determine, but the drift of the
comment, combined with our knowledge from sources already mentioned,
that Goethe turned again to Sterne in the latter years of his life,
would indicate that the quotations were made in the latter part of the
twenties, and that the re-reading of Sterne included the Koran. Since
the translations which Goethe gives are not identical with those in the
rendering ascribed to Bode (1778), Loeper suggests Goethe himself as the
translator of the individual quotations. Loeper is ignorant of the
earlier translation of Gellius, which Goethe may have used.[73]

There is yet another possibility of connection between Goethe and the
Koran. This work contained the story of the Graf von Gleichen, which is
acknowledged to have been a precursor of Goethe’s “Stella.” Düntzer in
his “Erläuterungen zu den deutschen Klassikern” says it is impossible to
determine whence Goethe took the story for “Stella.” He mentions that it
was contained in Bayle’s Dictionary, which is known to have been in
Goethe’s father’s library, and two other books, both dating from the
sixteenth century, are noted as possible sources. It seems rather more
probable that Goethe found the story in the Koran, which was published
but a few years before “Stella” was written and translated but a year
later, 1771, that is, but four years, or even less, before the
appearance of “Stella” (1775).[74]

Precisely in the spirit of the opinions quoted above is the little
essay[75] on Sterne which was published in the sixth volume of “Ueber
Kunst und Alterthum,” in which Goethe designates Sterne as a man “who
first stimulated and propagated the great epoch of purer knowledge of
humanity, noble toleration and tender love, in the second half of the
last century.” Goethe further calls attenion to Sterne’s disclosure of
human peculiarities (Eigenheiten), and the importance and interest of
these native, governing idiosyncrasies.

These are, in general, superficial relationships. A thorough
consideration of these problems, especially as concerns the cultural
indebtedness of Goethe to the English master would be a task demanding a
separate work. Goethe was an assimilator and summed up in himself the
spirit of a century, the attitude of predecessors and contemporaries.

C. F. D. Schubart wrote a poem entitled “Yorick,”[76] beginning

  “Als Yorik starb, da flog
  Sein Seelchen auf den Himmel
  So leicht wie ein Seufzerchen.”

The angels ask him for news of earth, and the greater part of the poem
is occupied with his account of human fate. The relation is quite
characteristic of Schubart in its gruesomeness, its insistence upon
all-surrounding death and dissolution; but it contains no suggestion of
Sterne’s manner, or point of view. The only explanation of association
between the poem and its title is that Schubart shared the one-sided
German estimate of Sterne’s character and hence represented him as a
sympathetic messenger bringing to heaven on his death some tidings of
human weakness.

In certain other manifestations, relatively subordinate, the German
literature of the latter part of the eighteenth century and the
beginning of the nineteenth and the life embodied therein are different
from what they would have been had it not been for Sterne’s example.
Some of these secondary fruits of the Sterne cult have been mentioned
incidentally and exemplified in the foregoing pages. It would perhaps be
conducive to definiteness to gather them here.

Sterne’s incontinuity of narration, the purposeful irrelation of parts,
the use of anecdote and episode, which to the stumbling reader reduce
his books to collections of disconnected essays and instances, gave to
German mediocrity a sanction to publish a mass of multifarious,
unrelated, and nondescript thought and incident. It is to be noted that
the spurious books such as the Koran, which Germany never clearly
sundered from the original, were direct examples in England of such
disjointed, patchwork books. Such a volume with a significant title is
“Mein Kontingent zur Modelectüre.”[77] Further, eccentricity in
typography, in outward form, may be largely attributed to Sterne’s
influence, although in individual cases no direct connection is
traceable. Thus, to the vagaries of Shandy is due probably the license
of the author of “Karl Blumenberg, eine tragisch-komische
Geschichte,”[78] who fills half pages with dashes and whole lines with
“Ha! Ha!”

As has been suggested already, Sterne’s example was potent in fostering
the use of such stylistic peculiarities, as the direct appeal to, and
conversation with the reader about the work, and its progress, and the
various features of the situation. It was in use by Sterne’s
predecessors in England and by their followers in Germany, before Sterne
can be said to have exercised any influence; for example, Hermes uses
the device constantly in “Miss Fanny Wilkes,” but Sterne undoubtedly
contributed largely to its popularity. One may perhaps trace to Sterne’s
blank pages and similar vagaries the eccentricity of the author of
“Ueber die Moralische Schönheit und Philosophie des Lebens,”[79] whose
eighth chapter is titled “Vom Stolz, eine Erzählung,” this title
occupying one page; the next page (210) is blank; the following page is
adorned with an urnlike decoration beneath which we read, “Es war einmal
ein Priester.” These three pages complete the chapter. The author of
“Dorset und Julie” (Leipzig, 1773-4) is also guilty of similar Yorickian
follies.[80]

Sterne’s ideas found approbation and currency apart from his general
message of the sentimental and humorous attitude toward the world and
its course. For example, the hobby-horse theory was warmly received, and
it became a permanent figure in Germany, often, and especially at first,
with playful reminder of Yorick’s use of the term.[81] Yorick’s
mock-scientific division of travelers seems to have met with especial
approval, and evidently became a part of conversational, and epistolary
commonplace allusion. Goethe in a letter to Marianne Willemer, November
9, 1830,[82] with direct reference to Sterne proposes for his son, then
traveling in Italy, the additional designation of the “bold” or
“complete” traveler. Carl August in a letter to Knebel,[83] dated
December 26, 1785, makes quite extended allusion to the classification.
Lessing writes to Mendelssohn December 12, 1780: “The traveler whom you
sent to me a while ago was an inquisitive traveler. The one with whom I
now answer is an emigrating one.” The passage which follows is an
apology for thus adding to Yorick’s list. The two travelers were
respectively one Fliess and Alexander Daveson.[84] Nicolai makes similar
allusion to the “curious” traveler of Sterne’s classification near the
beginning of his “Beschreibung einer Reise durch Deutschland und die
Schweiz im Jahre 1781.”[85]

Further search would increase the number of such allusions indefinitely.
A few will be mentioned in the following chapter.

One of Walter Shandy’s favorite contentions was the fortuitous
dependence of great events upon insignificant details. In his
philosophy, trifles were the determining factors of existence. The
adoption of this theory in Germany, as a principle in developing events
or character in fiction, is unquestionable in Wezel’s “Tobias Knaut,”
and elsewhere. The narrative, “Die Grosse Begebenheit aus kleinen
Ursachen” in the second volume of the _Erholungen_,[86] represents a
wholesale appropriation of the idea,--to be sure not new in Shandy, but
most strikingly exemplified there.

In “Sebaldus Nothanker” the Revelation of St. John is a Sterne-like
hobby-horse and is so regarded by a reviewer in the _Magazin der
deutschen Critik_.[87] Schottenius in Knigge’s “Reise nach Braunschweig”
rides his hobby in the shape of his fifty-seven sermons.[88] Lessing
uses the Steckenpferd in a letter to Mendelssohn, November 5, 1768
(Lachmann edition, XII, p. 212), and numerous other examples of direct
or indirect allusion might be cited. Sterne’s worn-out coin was a simile
adopted and felt to be pointed.[89]

Jacob Minor in a suggestive article in _Euphorion_,[90] entitled
“Wahrheit und Lüge auf dem Theater und in der Literatur,” expressed the
opinion that Sterne was instrumental in sharpening powers of observation
with reference to self-deception in little things, to all the deceiving
impulses of the human soul. It is held that through Sterne’s inspiration
Wieland and Goethe were rendered zealous to combat false ideals and
life-lies in greater things. It is maintained that Tieck also was
schooled in Sterne, and, by means of powers of observation sharpened in
this way, was enabled to portray the conscious or unconscious life-lie.

    [Footnote 1: A writer in the _Gothaische Gelehrte Zeitungen_, 1775
    (II, 787 ff.), asserts that Sterne’s works are the favorite
    reading of the German nation.]

    [Footnote 2: A further illustration may be found in the following
    discourse: “Von einigen Hindernissen des akademischen Fleisses.
    Eine Rede bey dem Anfange der öffentlichen Vorlesungen gehalten,”
    von J. C. C. Ferber, Professor zu Helmstädt (1773, 8vo), reviewed
    in _Magazin der deutschen Critik_, III, St. I., pp. 261 ff. This
    academic guide of youth speaks of Sterne in the following words:
    “Wie tief dringt dieser Philosoph in die verborgensten Gänge des
    menschlichen Herzens, wie richtig entdeckt er die geheimsten
    Federn der Handlungen, wie entlarvt, wie verabscheuungsvoll steht
    vor ihm das Laster, wie liebenswürdig die Tugend! wie interessant
    sind seine Schilderungen, wie eindringend seine Lehren! und woher
    diese grosse Kenntniss des Menschen, woher diese getreue
    Bezeichnung der Natur, diese sanften Empfindungen, die seine
    geistvolle Sprache hervorbringt? Dieser Saame der Tugend, den er
    mit wohlthätiger Hand ausstreuet?” Yorick held up to college or
    university students as a champion of virtue is certainly an
    extraordinary spectacle. A critic in the _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._,
    August 18, 1772, in criticising the make-up of a so-called
    “Landbibliothek,” recommends books “die geschickt sind, die guten
    einfältigen, ungekünstelten Empfindungen reiner Seelen zu
    unterhalten, einen Yorick vor allen . . . .” The long article on
    Sterne’s character in the _Götting. Mag._, I, pp. 84-92, 1780,
    “Etwas über Sterne: Schreiben an Prof. Lichtenberg” undoubtedly
    helped to establish this opinion of Sterne authoritatively. In it
    Sterne’s weaknesses are acknowledged, but the tendency is to
    emphasize the tender, sympathetic side of his character. The
    conception of Yorick there presented is quite different from the
    one held by Lichtenberg himself.]

    [Footnote 3: The story of the “Lorenzodosen” is given quite fully
    in Longo’s monograph, “Laurence Sterne und Johann Georg Jacobi”
    (Wien, 1898, pp. 39-44), and the sketch given here is based upon
    his investigation, with consultation of the sources there cited.
    Nothing new is likely to be added to his account, but because of
    its important illustrative bearing on the whole story of Sterne in
    Germany, a fairly complete account is given here. Longo refers to
    the following as literature on the subject:

      Martin, in _Quellen und Forschungen_, II, p. 10, p. 27,
      Anmerk. 24.

      Wittenberg’s letter in _Quellen und Forschungen_, II, pp. 52-53.

      K. M. Werner, in article on Ludw. Philipp Hahn in the same
      series, XXII, pp. 127 ff.

      Appell: “Werther und seine Zeit,” Leipzig, 1855, p. 168.
      (Oldenburg, 1896, p. 246-250).

      Schlichtegroll: “Nekrolog von 1792,” II, pp. 37 ff.

      Klotz: _Bibliothek_, V, p. 285.

      Jacobi’s Werke, 1770, I, pp. 127 ff.

      _Allg. deutsche Bibl._, XIX, 2, p. 174; XII, 2, p. 279.

      Julian Schmidt: “Aus der Zeit der Lorenzodosen,” _Westermann’s
      Monatshefte_, XLIX, pp. 479 ff.

    The last article is popular and only valuable in giving letters
    of Wieland and others which display the emotional currents of the
    time. It has very little to do with the Lorenzodosen.]

    [Footnote 4: The letter is reprinted in Jacobi’s Works, 1770, I,
    pp. 31 ff., and in an abridged form in the edition of 1807, I, pp.
    103 ff.; and in the edition of Zürich, 1825, I, pp. 270-275.]

    [Footnote 5: XI, 2, pp. 174-75.]

    [Footnote 6: _Quellen und Forschungen_, XXII, p. 127.]

    [Footnote 7: _Ibid._, II, pp. 52-53.]

    [Footnote 8: This was in a letter to Jacobi October 25, 1770,
    though Appell gives the date 1775--evidently a misprint.]

    [Footnote 9: Review of “Trois lettres françoises par quelques
    allemands,” Amsterdam (Berlin), 1769, 8vo, letters concerned with
    Jacobi’s “Winterreise” and the snuff-boxes themselves.]

    [Footnote 10: XII, 2, p. 279.]

    [Footnote 11: Longo was unable to find one of these once so
    popular snuff-boxes,--a rather remarkable fact. There is, however,
    a picture of one at the end of the chapter “Yorick,” p. 15 in
    Göchhausen’s M . . . . R . . . .,--a small oval box. Emil Kuh, in
    his life of Fredrich Hebbel (1877, I, pp. 117-118) speaks of the
    Lorenzodose as “dreieckig.” A chronicler in Schlichtegroll’s
    “Nekrolog,” 1792, II, p. 51, also gives rumor of an order of
    “Sanftmuth und Toleranz, der eine dreyeckigte Lorenzodose zum
    Symbol führte.” The author here is unable to determine whether
    this is a part of Jacobi’s impulse or the initiative of another.]

    [Footnote 12: Fourth Edition. Berlin and Stettin, 1779, III,
    p. 99.]

    [Footnote 13: “Christopher Kaufmann, der Kraftapostel der
    Geniezeit” von Heinrich Düntzer, _Historisches Taschenbuch_,
    edited by Fr. v. Raumer, third series, tenth year, Leipzig, 1859,
    pp. 109-231. Düntzer’s sources concerning Kaufmann’s life in
    Strassburg are Schmohl’s “Urne Johann Jacob Mochels,” 1780, and
    “Johann Jacob Mochel’s Reliquien verschiedener philosophischen
    pädogogischen poetischen und andern Aufsätze,” 1780. These books
    have unfortunately not been available for the present use.]

    [Footnote 14: For account of Leuchsenring see Varnhagen van Ense,
    “Vermischte Schriften”, I. 492-532.]

    [Footnote 15: Schlichtegroll’s “Nekrolog,” 1792, II, pp. 37 ff.
    There is also given here a quotation written after Sterne’s death,
    which is of interest:

      “Wir erben, Yorick, deine Dose,
      Auch deine Feder erben wir;
      Doch wer erhielt im Erbschaftsloose
      Dein Herz? O Yorick, nenn ihn mir!”]

    [Footnote 16: Works of Friedrich von Matthison, Zürich, 1825, III,
    pp. 141 ff., in “Erinnerungen,” zweites Buch. The “Vaterländische
    Besuche” were dated 1794.]

    [Footnote 17: Briefe von Friedrich Matthison, Zürich, 1795, I, pp.
    27-32.]

    [Footnote 18: Shandy, III, 22.]

    [Footnote 19: Briefe, II, p. 95.]

    [Footnote 20: “Herders Briefwechsel mit seiner Braut”, pp. 92,
    181, 187, 253, 377.]

    [Footnote 21: Quoted by Koberstein, IV, p. 168. Else, p. 31;
    Hettner, III, 1, p. 362, quoted from letters in Friedrich
    Schlegel’s _Deutsches Museum_, IV, p. 145. These letters are not
    given by Goedeke.]

    [Footnote 22: The review is credited to him by Koberstein, III,
    pp. 463-4.]

    [Footnote 23: XIX, 2, p. 579.]

    [Footnote 24: See “Bemerkungen oder Briefe über Wien, eines jungen
    Bayern auf einer Reise durch Deutschland,” Leipzig (probably 1804
    or 1805). It is, according to the _Jenaische Allg. Litt. Zeitung_
    (1805, IV, p. 383), full of extravagant sentiment with frequent
    apostrophe to the author’s “Evelina.” Also, “Meine Reise vom
    Städtchen H . . . . zum Dörfchen H . . . .” Hannover, 1799. See
    _Allg. Litt. Zeitung_, 1799, IV, p. 87. “Reisen unter Sonne, Mond
    und Sternen,” Erfurt, 1798, pp. 220, 8vo. This is evidently a
    similar work, but is classed by _Allg. Litt. Zeitung_ (1799,
    I, 477) as an imitation of Jean Paul, hence indirectly to be
    connected with Yorick. “Reisen des grünen Mannes durch
    Deutschland,” Halle, 1787-91. See _Allg. Litt. Zeitung_, 1789,
    I, 217; 1791, IV, p. 576. “Der Teufel auf Reisen,” two volumes,
    Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1789. See _Allg. Litt. Zeitung_, 1789, I,
    p. 826. Knigge’s books of travels also share in this enlivening
    and subjectivizing of the traveler’s narrative.]

    [Footnote 25: Altenburg, Richter, 1775, six volumes.]

    [Footnote 26: Reviewed in _Allg. deutsche Bibl._, X, 2, p. 127,
    and _Neue Critische Nachrichten_, Greifswald V, p. 222.]

    [Footnote 27: Many of the anonymous books, even those popular in
    their day, are not given by Goedeke; and Baker, judging only by
    one external, naturally misses Sterne products which have no
    distinctively imitative title, and includes others which have no
    connection with Sterne. For example, he gives Gellius’s “Yoricks
    Nachgelassene Werke,” which is but a translation of the Koran,
    and hence in no way an example of German imitation; he gives also
    Schummel’s “Fritzens Reise nach Dessau” (1776) and “Reise nach
    Schlesien” (1792), Nonne’s “Amors Reisen nach Fockzana zum
    Friedenscongress” (1773), none of which has anything to do with
    Sterne. “Trim oder der Sieg der Liebe über die Philosophie”
    (Leipzig, 1776), by Ludw. Ferd. v. Hopffgarten, also cited by
    Baker, undoubtedly owes its name only to Sterne. See _Jenaische
    Zeitungen von gel. Sachen_, 1777, p. 67, and _Allg. deutsche
    Bibl._, XXXIV, 2, p. 484; similarly “Lottchens Reise ins
    Zuchthaus” by Kirtsten, 1777, is given in Baker’s list, but the
    work “Reise” is evidently used here only in a figurative sense,
    the story being but the relation of character deterioration,
    a downward journey toward the titular place of punishment. See
    _Jenaische Zeitungen von gel. Sachen_, 1777, pp. 739 ff.; 1778,
    p. 12. _Allg. deutsche Bibl._, XXXV, 1, p. 182. Baker gives Bock’s
    “Tagereise” and “Geschichte eines empfundenen Tages” as if they
    were two different books. He further states: “Sterne is the parent
    of a long list of German Sentimental Journeys which began with von
    Thümmel’s ‘Reise in die mittäglichen Provinzen Frankreichs.’” This
    work really belongs comparatively late in the story of imitations.
    Two of Knigge’s books are also included. See p. 166-7.]

    [Footnote 28: “Laurence Sterne und C. M. Wieland, von Karl August
    Behmer, Forschungen zur neueren Litteraturgeschichte IX. München,
    1899. Ein Beitrag zur Erforschung fremder Einflüsse auf Wieland’s
    Dichtung.” To this reference has been made. There is also another
    briefer study of this connection: a Programm by F. Bauer, “Ueber
    den Einfluss, Laurence Sternes auf Chr. M. Wieland,” Karlsbad,
    1898. A. Mager published, 1890, at Marburg, “Wieland’s Nachlass
    des Diogenes von Sinope und das englische Vorbild,” a school
    “Abhandlung,” which dealt with a connection between this work of
    Wieland and Sterne. Wood (“Einfluss Fieldings auf die deutsche
    Litteratur,” Yokohama, 1895) finds constant imitation of Sterne in
    “Don Silvio,” which, from Behmer’s proof concerning the dates of
    Wieland’s acquaintance with Sterne, can hardly be possible.]

    [Footnote 29: Some other works are mentioned as containing
    references and allusions.]

    [Footnote 30: In “Oberon” alone of Wieland’s later works does
    Behmer discover Sterne’s influence and there no longer in the
    style, but in the adaptation of motif.]

    [Footnote 31: See Erich Schmidt’s “Richardson, Rousseau und
    Goethe,” Jena, 1875, pp. 46-7.]

    [Footnote 32: 1790, I, pp. 209-16.]

    [Footnote 33: This may be well compared with Wieland’s statements
    concerning Shandy in his review of the Bode translation (_Merkur_,
    VIII, pp. 247-51, 1774), which forms one of the most exaggerated
    expressions of adoration in the whole epoch of Sterne’s
    popularity.]

    [Footnote 34: Since Germany did not sharply separate the work of
    Sterne from his continuator, this is, of course, to be classed
    from the German point of view at that time as a borrowing from
    Sterne. Mager in his study depends upon the Eugenius continuation
    for this and several other parallels.]

    [Footnote 35: Sentimental Journey, pp. 31-32.]

    [Footnote 36: “Ich denke nicht, dass es Sie gereuen wird, den Mann
    näher kennen zu lernen” spoken of Demokritus in “Die Abderiten;”
    see _Merkur_, 1774, I, p. 56.]

    [Footnote 37: Wieland’s own genuine appreciation of Sterne and
    understanding of his characteristics is indicated incidentally in
    a review of a Swedish book in the _Teutscher Merkur_, 1782, II,
    p. 192, in which he designates the description of sentimental
    journeying in the seventh book of Shandy as the best of Sterne’s
    accomplishment, as greater than the Journey itself, a judgment
    emanating from a keen and true knowledge of Sterne.]

    [Footnote 38: Lebensbild, V, Erlangen, 1846, p. 89. Letter to
    Hartknoch, Paris, November, 1769. In connection with his journey
    and his “Reisejournal,” he speaks of his “Tristramschen
    Meynungen.” See Lebensbild, Vol. V, p. 61.]

    [Footnote 39: Suphan, IV, p. 190. For further reference to Sterne
    in Herder’s letters, see “Briefe Herders an Hamann,” edited by
    Otto Hoffmann, Berlin, 1889, pp. 28, 51, 57, 71, 78, 194.]

    [Footnote 40: Lachmann edition, Berlin, 1840, XII, pp. 212, 240.]

    [Footnote 41: Eckermann: “Gespräche mit Goethe,” Leipzig, 1885,
    II, p. 29; or Biedermann, “Goethe’s Gespräche,” Leipzig, 1890,
    VI, p. 359.]

    [Footnote 42: “Briefwechsel zwischen Goethe und Zelter, in den
    Jahren, 1796-1832.” Ed. by Fr. W. Riemer, Berlin, 1833-4, Vol. V,
    p. 349. Both of these quotations are cited by Siegmund Levy,
    “Goethe und Oliver Goldsmith;” Goethe-Jahrbuch, VI, 1885, pp.
    282 ff. The translation in this case is from that of A. D.
    Coleridge.]

    [Footnote 43: Griesebach: “Das Goetheische Zeitalter der deutschen
    Dichtung,” Leipzig, 1891, p. 29.]

    [Footnote 44: II, 10th book, Hempel, XXI, pp. 195 ff.]

    [Footnote 45: “Briefe an Joh. Heinrich Merck von Göthe, Herder,
    Wieland und andern bedeutenden Zeitgenossen,” edited by Dr. Karl
    Wagner, Darmstadt, 1835, p. 5; and “Briefe an und von Joh.
    Heinrich Merck,” issued by the same editor, Darmstadt, 1838,
    pp. 5, 21.]

    [Footnote 46: In the “Wanderschaft,” see J. H. Jung-Stilling,
    Sämmtliche Werke. Stuttgart, 1835, I, p. 277.]

    [Footnote 47: “Herder’s Briefwechsel mit seiner Braut, April,
    1771, to April, 1773,” edited by Düntzer and F. G. von Herder,
    Frankfurt-am-Main, 1858, pp. 247 ff.]

    [Footnote 48: See _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._, 1774, February 22.]

    [Footnote 49: Kürschner edition of Goethe, Vol. XXII, pp. 146-7.]

    [Footnote 50: See introduction by Dünster in the Kürschner
    edition, XIII, pp. 137 ff., and that by Fr. Strehlke in the Hempel
    edition, XVI. pp. 217 ff.]

    [Footnote 51: Kürschner edition, Vol. XXIV, p. 15; Tag- und
    Jahreshefte, 1789.]

    [Footnote 52: “Goethe’s Romantechnik,” Leipzig, 1902. The author
    here incidentally expresses the opinion that Heinse is also an
    imitator of Sterne.]

    [Footnote 53: Julius Goebel, in “Goethe-Jahrbuch,” XXI, pp.
    208 ff.]

    [Footnote 54: See _Euphorion_, IV, p. 439.]

    [Footnote 55: Eckermann, III, p. 155; Biedermann, VI, p. 272.]

    [Footnote 56: Eckermann, III, p. 170; Biedermann, VI, p. 293.]

    [Footnote 57: Eckermann, II, p. 19; Biedermann, VII, p. 184. This
    quotation is given in the Anhang to the “Wanderjahre.” Loeper says
    (Hempel, XIX, p. 115) that he has been unable to find it anywhere
    in Sterne; see p. 105.]

    [Footnote 58: See “Briefwechsel zwischen Goethe und Zelter.”
    Zelter’s replies contain also reference to Sterne. VI, p. 33 he
    speaks of the Sentimental Journey as “ein balsamischer
    Frühlingsthau.” See also II, p. 51; VI, p. 207. Goethe is reported
    as having spoken of the Sentimental Journey: “Man könne durchaus
    nicht besser ausdrücken, wie des Menschen Herz ein trotzig und
    verzagt Ding sei.”]

    [Footnote 59: “Mittheilungen über Goethe,” von F. W. Riemer,
    Berlin, 1841, II, p. 658. Also, Biedermann, VII, p. 332.]

    [Footnote 60: See Hempel, XXIX, p. 240.]

    [Footnote 61: Kürschner, XVI, p. 372.]

    [Footnote 62: IX, p. 438.]

    [Footnote 63: See “Briefe von Goethe an Johanna Fahlmer,” edited
    by L. Ulrichs, Leipzig, 1875, p. 91, and Shandy, II, pp. 70
    and 48.]

    [Footnote 64: “Goethe’s Briefe an Frau von Stein,” hrsg. von Adolf
    Schöll; 2te Aufl, bearbeitet von W. Fielitz, Frankfurt-am-Main,
    1883, Vol. I, p. 276.]

    [Footnote 65: References to the Tagebücher are as follows: Robert
    Keil’s Leipzig, 1875, p. 107, and Düntzer’s, Leipzig, 1889,
    p. 73.]

    [Footnote 66: See also the same author’s “Goethe, sa vie et ses
    oeuvres,” Paris, 1866; Appendice pp. 291-298. Further literature
    is found: “Vergleichende Blätter für literarische Unterhaltung,”
    1863, No. 36, and 1869, Nos. 10 and 14. _Morgenblatt_, 1863,
    Nr. 39, article by Alex. Büchner, Sterne’s “Coran und Makariens
    Archiv, Goethe ein Plagiator?” and _Deutsches Museum_, 1867,
    No. 690.]

    [Footnote 67: Minden i. W., 1885, pp. 330-336.]

    [Footnote 68: “Druck vollendet in Mai” according to Baumgartner,
    III, p. 292.]

    [Footnote 69: II, pp. 230-233. May 15, 1831.]

    [Footnote 70: Goedeke gives Vol. XXIII, A. l. H. as 1829.]

    [Footnote 71: Hempel, XIX, “Sprüche in Prosa,” edited by G. von
    Loeper, Maximen und Reflexionen; pp. 106-111 and 113-117.]

    [Footnote 72: Letters, I, p. 54.]

    [Footnote 73: This seems very odd in view of the fact that in
    Loeper’s edition of “Dichtung und Wahrheit” (Hempel, XXII, p. 264)
    Gellius is referred to as “the translator of Lillo and Sterne.” It
    must be that Loeper did not know that Gellius’s “Yorick’s
    Nachgelassene Werke” was a translation of the Koran.]

    [Footnote 74: The problem involved in the story of Count Gleichen
    was especially sympathetic to the feeling of the eighteenth
    century. See a series of articles by Fr. Heibig in _Magazin für
    Litteratur des In- und Auslandes_, Vol. 60, pp. 102-5; 120-2;
    136-9. “Zur Geschichte des Problems des Grafen von Gleichen.”]

    [Footnote 75: Weimar edition, Vol. XLI, 2, pp. 252-253.]

    [Footnote 76: Gesammelte Schriften, Stuttgart, 1839, IV, pp.
    272-3.]

    [Footnote 77: Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1775. See _Gothaische Gel.
    Zeitungen_, 1776, I, pp. 208-9, and _Allg. deutsche Bibl._,
    XXXII, 1, p. 139. _Jenaische Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen_,
    September 27, 1776. This does not imply that Sterne was in this
    respect an innovator; such books were printed before Sterne’s
    influence was felt, _e.g._, _Magazin von Einfällen_, Breslau, 1763
    (?), reviewed in _Leipziger Neue Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen_,
    February 20, 1764. See also “Reisen im Vaterlande,--Kein Roman
    aber ziemlich theatralisch-politisch und satyrischen Inhalts,” two
    volumes; Königsberg and Leipzig, 1793-4, reviewed in _Allg. Litt.
    Zeitung_, 1795, III, p. 30. “Der Tändler, oder Streifereyen in die
    Wildnisse der Einbildungskraft, in die Werke der Natur und
    menschlichen Sitten,” Leipzig, 1778 (?), (_Almanach der deutschen
    Musen_, 1779, p. 48). “Meine Geschichte oder Begebenheiten des
    Herrn Thomas: ein narkotisches Werk des Doktor Pifpuf,” Münster
    und Leipzig, 1772, pp. 231, 8vo. A strange episodical
    conglomerate; see _Magazin der deutschen Critik_, II, p. 135.]

    [Footnote 78: Leipzig, 1785 or 1786. See _Allg. Litt. Zeitung_,
    1786, III, p. 259.]

    [Footnote 79: Altenburg, 1772, by von Schirach (?).]

    [Footnote 80: See _Auserlesene Bibl. der neuesten deutschen
    Litteratur_, IV, pp. 320-325, and VII, pp. 227-234. _Allg.
    deutsche Bibl._, XXIII, 1, p. 258; XXVI, 1, p. 209.]

    [Footnote 81: Riedel uses it, for example, in his “Launen an
    meinen Satyr,” speaking of “mein swiftisch Steckenthier” in
    “Vermischte Aufsätze,” reviewed in _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._, 1772,
    pp. 358-9. _Magazin der deutschen Critik_, I, pp. 290-293.]

    [Footnote 82: “Briefwechsel zwischen Goethe und Marianne Willemer
    (Suleika).” Edited by Th. Creizenach, 2d edition; Stuttgart, 1878,
    p. 290.]

    [Footnote 83: “K. L. von Knebel’s literarischer Nachlass und
    Briefwechsel;” edited by Varnhagen von Ense and Th. Mundt,
    Leipzig, 1835, p. 147.]

    [Footnote 84: See Mendelssohn’s Schriften; edited by G. B.
    Mendelssohn, Leipzig, 1844, V, p. 202. See also letter of
    Mendelssohn to Lessing, February 18, 1780.]

    [Footnote 85: Third edition, Berlin and Stettin, 1788, p. 14.]

    [Footnote 86: II, pp. 218 ff.]

    [Footnote 87: II, 2, p. 127.]

    [Footnote 88: These two cases are mentioned also by Riemann in
    “Goethe’s Romantechnik.”]

    [Footnote 89: See _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._, May 8, 1772, p. 296.]

    [Footnote 90: III, pp. 276 ff.]



CHAPTER VI

IMITATORS OF STERNE


Among the disciples of Sterne in Germany whose literary imitation may be
regarded as typical of their master’s influence, Johann Georg Jacobi is
perhaps the best known. His relation to the famous “Lorenzodosen”
conceit is sufficient to link his name with that of Yorick. Martin[1]
asserts that he was called “Uncle Toby” in Gleim’s circle because of his
enthusiasm for Sterne. The indebtedness of Jacobi to Sterne is the
subject of a special study by Dr. Joseph Longo, “Laurence Sterne und
Johann Georg Jacobi;” and the period of Jacobi’s literary work which
falls under the spell of Yorick has also been treated in an inaugural
dissertation, “Ueber Johann Georg Jacobi’s Jugendwerke,” by Georg
Ransohoff. The detail of Jacobi’s indebtedness to Sterne is to be found
in these two works.

Longo was unable to settle definitely the date of Jacobi’s first
acquaintance with Sterne. The first mention made of him is in the letter
to Gleim of April 4, 1769, and a few days afterward,--April 10,--the
intelligence is afforded that he himself is working on a “journey.” The
“Winterreise” was published at Düsseldorf in the middle of June, 1769.
Externally the work seems more under the influence of the French
wanderer Chapelle, since prose and verse are used irregularly
alternating, a style quite different from the English model. There are
short and unnumbered chapters, as in the Sentimental Journey, but,
unlike Sterne, Jacobi, with one exception, names no places and makes no
attempt at description of place or people, other than the sentimental
individuals encountered on the way. He makes no analysis of national, or
even local characteristics: the journey, in short, is almost completely
without place-influence. There is in the volume much more exuberance of
fancy, grotesque at times, a more conscious exercise of the picturing
imagination than we find in Sterne. There is use, too, of mythological
figures quite foreign to Sterne, an obvious reminiscence of Jacobi’s
Anacreontic experience. He exaggerates Yorick’s sentimentalism, is more
weepy, more tender, more sympathizing; yet, as Longo does not
sufficiently emphasize, he does not touch the whimsical side of Yorick’s
work. Jacobi, unlike his model, but in common with other German
imitators, is insistent in instruction and serious in contention for pet
theories, as is exemplified by the discussion of the doctrine of
immortality. There are opinions to be maintained, there is a message to
be delivered. Jacobi in this does not give the lie to his nationality.

Like other German imitators, too, he took up with especial feeling the
relations between man and the animal world, an attitude to be connected
with several familiar episodes in Sterne.[2] The two chapters, “Der
Heerd” and “Der Taubenschlag,” tell of a sentimental farmer who mourns
over the fact that his son has cut down a tree in which the nightingale
was wont to nest. A similar sentimental regard is cherished in this
family for the doves, which no one killed, because no one could eat
them. Even as Yorick meets a Franciscan, Jacobi encounters a Jesuit
whose heart leaps to meet his own, and later, after the real journey is
done, a visit to a lonely cloister gives opportunity for converse with a
monk, like Pater Lorenzo,--tender, simple and humane.

The “Sommerreise,” according to Longo, appeared in the latter part of
September, 1769, a less important work, which, in the edition of 1807,
Jacobi considered unworthy of preservation. Imitation of Sterne is
marked: following a criticism by Wieland the author attempts to be
humorous, but with dubious success; he introduces a Sterne-like
sentimental character which had not been used in the “Winterreise,”
a beggar-soldier, and he repeats the motif of human sympathy for animals
in the story of the lamb. Sympathy with erring womanhood is expressed in
the incidents related in “Die Fischerhütte” and “Der Geistliche.” These
two books were confessedly inspired by Yorick, and contemporary
criticism treated them as Yorick products. The _Deutsche Bibliothek der
schönen Wissenschaften_, published by Jacobi’s friend Klotz, would
naturally favor the volumes. Its review of the “Winterreise” is
non-critical and chiefly remarkable for the denial of foreign imitation.
The _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_,[3] in reviewing the same work pays
a significant tribute to Sterne, praising his power of disclosing the
good and beautiful in the seemingly commonplace. In direct criticism of
the book, the reviewer calls it a journey of fancy, the work of a
youthful poet rather than that of a sensitive philosopher. Wieland is
credited with the astounding opinion that he prefers the “Sommerreise”
to Yorick’s journey.[4] Longo’s characterization of Sterne is in the
main satisfactory, yet there is distinctly traceable the tendency to
ignore or minimize the whimsical elements of Sterne’s work: this is the
natural result of his approach to Sterne, through Jacobi, who understood
only the sentimentalism of the English master.[5]

Among the works of sentiment which were acknowledged imitations of
Yorick, along with Jacobi’s “Winterreise,” probably the most typical and
best known was the “Empfindsame Reisen durch Deutschland” by Johann
Gottlieb Schummel. Its importance as a document in the history of
sentimentalism is rather as an example of tendency than as a force
contributing materially to the spread of the movement. Its influence was
probably not great, though one reviewer does hint at a following.[6] Yet
the book has been remembered more persistently than any other work of
its genre, except Jacobi’s works, undoubtedly in part because it was
superior to many of its kind, partly, also, because its author won later
and maintained a position of some eminence, as a writer and a pedagogue;
but largely because Goethe’s well-known review of it in the _Frankfurter
Gelehrte Anzeigen_ has been cited as a remarkably acute contribution to
the discriminating criticism of the genuine and the affected in the
eighteenth-century literature of feeling, and has drawn attention from
the very fact of its source to the object of its criticism.

Schummel was born in May, 1748, and hence was but twenty years of age
when Germany began to thrill in response to Yorick’s sentiments. It is
probable that the first volume was written while Schummel was still a
university student in 1768-1770. He assumed a position as teacher in
1771, but the first volume came out at Easter of that year; this would
probably throw its composition back into the year before. The second
volume appeared at Michaelmas of the same year. His publisher was
Zimmermann at Wittenberg and Zerbst, and the first volume at any rate
was issued in a new edition. The third volume came out in the spring of
1772.[7] Schummel’s title, “Empfindsame Reisen,” is, of course, taken
from the newly coined word in Bode’s title, but in face of this fact it
is rather remarkable to find that several quotations from Sterne’s
Journey, given in the course of the work, are from the Mittelstedt
translation. On two occasions, indeed, Schummel uses the title of the
Mittelstedt rendering as first published, “Versuch über die menschliche
Natur.”[8]

These facts lead one to believe that Schummel drew his inspiration from
the reading of this translation. This is interesting in connection with
Böttiger’s claim that the whole cavalcade of sentimental travelers who
trotted along after Yorick with all sorts of animals and vehicles was a
proof of the excellence and power of Bode’s translation. As one would
naturally infer from the title of Schummel’s fiction, the Sentimental
Journey is more constantly drawn upon as a source of ideas, motifs,
expression, and method, than Tristram Shandy, but the allusions to
Sterne’s earlier book, and the direct adaptations from it are both
numerous and generous. This fact has not been recognized by the critics,
and is not an easy inference from the contemporary reviews.

The book is the result of an immediate impulse to imitation felt
irresistibly on the reading of Sterne’s narrative. That the critics and
readers of that day treated with serious consideration the efforts of a
callow youth of twenty or twenty-one in this direction is indicative
either of comparative vigor of execution, or of prepossession of the
critical world in favor of the literary genre,--doubtless of both.
Schummel confesses that the desire to write came directly after the book
had been read. “I had just finished reading it,” he says, “and Heaven
knows with what pleasure, every word from ‘as far as this matter is
concerned’ on to ‘I seized the hand of the lady’s maid,’ were imprinted
in my soul with small invisible letters.” The characters of the Journey
stood “life-size in his very soul.” Involuntarily his inventive powers
had sketched several plans for a continuation, releasing Yorick from the
hand of the _fille de chambre_. But what he attempts is not a
continuation but a German parallel.

In the outward events of his story, in the general trend of its
argument, Schummel does not depend upon either Shandy or the Journey:
the hero’s circumstances are in general not traceable to the English
model, but, spasmodically, the manner of narration and the nature of the
incidents are quite slavishly copied. A complete summary of the thread
of incident on which the various sentimental adventures, whimsical
speculations and digressions are hung, can be dispensed with: it is only
necessary to note instances where connection with Sterne as a model can
be established. Schummel’s narrative is often for many successive pages
absolutely straightforward and simple, unbroken by any attempt at
Shandean buoyancy, and unblemished by overwrought sentiment. At the
pausing places he generally indulges in Sternesque quibbling.

A brief analysis of the first volume, with especial reference to the
appropriation of Yorick features, will serve to show the extent of
imitation, and the nature of the method. In outward form the Sentimental
Journey is copied. The volume is not divided into chapters, but there
are named divisions: there is also Yorick-like repetition of
section-headings. Naturally the author attempts at the very beginning to
strike a note distinctly suggesting Sterne: “Is he dead, the old
cousin?” are the first words of the volume, uttered by the hero on
receipt of the news, and in Yorick fashion he calls for guesses
concerning the mien with which the words were said. The conversation of
the various human passions with Yorick concerning the advisability of
offering the lady in Calais a seat in his chaise is here directly
imitated in the questions put by avarice, vanity, etc., concerning the
cousin’s death. The actual journey does not begin until page 97, a brief
autobiography of the hero occupying the first part of the book; this
inconsequence is confessedly intended to be a Tristram Shandy whim.[9]
The author’s relation to his parents is adapted directly from Shandy,
since he here possesses an incapable, unpractical, philosophizing
father, who determines upon methods for the superior education of his
son; and a simple, silly mockery of a mother.

Left, however, an orphan, he begins his sentimental adventures: thrust
on the world he falls in with a kindly baker’s wife whose conduct toward
him brings tears to the eyes of the ten-year old lad, this showing his
early appetite for sentimental journeying. A large part of this first
section relating to his early life and youthful struggles, his kindly
benefactor, his adventure with Potiphar’s wife, is simple and direct,
with only an occasional hint of Yorick’s influence in word or phrase, as
if the author, now and then, recalled the purpose and the inspiration.
For example, not until near the bottom of page 30 does it occur to him
to be abrupt and indulge in Shandean eccentricities, and then again,
after a few lines, he resumes the natural order of discourse. And again,
on page 83, he breaks off into attempted frivolity and Yorick
whimsicality of narration. In starting out upon his journey the author
says: “I will tread in Yorick’s foot-prints, what matters it if I do not
fill them out? My heart is not so broad as his, the sooner can it be
filled; my head is not so sound; my brain not so regularly formed. My
eyes are not so clear, but for that he was born in England and I in
Germany; he is a man and I am but a youth, in short, he is Yorick and I
am not Yorick.” He determines to journey where it is most sentimental
and passes the various lands in review in making his decision. Having
fastened upon Germany, he questions himself similarly with reference to
the cities. Yorick’s love of lists, of mock-serious discrimination, of
inconsequential reasonings is here copied. The call upon epic, tragic,
lyric poets, musicians, etc., which follows here is a further imitation
of Yorick’s list-making and pseudo-scientific method.

On his way to Leipzig, in the post-chaise, the author falls in with a
clergyman: the manner of this meeting is intended to be Sterne-like:
Schummel sighs, the companion remarks, “You too are an unhappy one,” and
they join hands while the human heart beams in the traveler’s eyes. They
weep too at parting. But, apart from these external incidents of their
meeting, the matter of their converse is in no way inspired by Sterne.
It joins itself with the narrative of the author’s visit to a church in
a village by the wayside, and deals in general with the nature of the
clergyman’s relation to his people and the general mediocrity and
ineptitude of the average homiletical discourse, the failure of
clergymen to relate their pulpit utterance to the life of the common
Christian,--all of which is genuine, sane and original, undoubtedly a
real protest on the part of Schummel, the pedagogue, against a
prevailing abuse of his time and other times. This section represents
unquestionably the earnest convictions of its author, and is written
with professional zeal. This division is followed by an evidently
purposeful return to Sterne’s eccentricity of manner. The author begins
a division of his narrative, “Der zerbrochene Postwagen,” which is
probably meant to coincide with the post-chaise accident in Shandy’s
travels, writes a few lines in it, then begins the section again,
something like the interrupted story of the King of Bohemia and his
Seven Castles. Then follows an abrupt discursive study of his aptitudes
and proclivities, interspersed with Latin exclamations, interrogation
points and dashes. “What a parenthesis is that!” he cries, and a few
lines further on, “I burn with longing to begin a parenthesis again.” On
his arrival in Leipzig, Schummel imitates closely Sterne’s satirical
guide-book description of Calais[10] in his brief account of the city,
breaking off abruptly like Sterne, and roundly berating all
“Reisebeschreiber.” Here in fitting contrast with this superficial
enumeration of facts stands his brief traveler’s creed, an interest in
people rather than in places, all of which is derived from Sterne’s
chapter, “In the Street, Calais,” in which the master discloses the
sentimental possibilities of traveling and typifies the superficial,
unemotional wanderer in the persons of Smelfungus and Mundungus, and
from the familiar passage in “The Passport, Versailles,” beginning, “But
I could wish to spy out the nakedness, etc.” No sooner is he arrived in
Leipzig, than he accomplishes a sentimental rescue of an unfortunate
woman on the street. In the expression of her immediate needs, Schummel
indulges for the first time in a row of stars, with the obvious
intention of raising a low suggestion, which he contradicts with
mock-innocent questionings a few lines later, thereby fastening the
attention on the possibility of vulgar interpretation. Sterne is guilty
of this device in numerous instances in both his works, and the English
continuation of the Sentimental Journey relies upon it in greater and
more revolting measure.

Once established in his hotel, the author betakes himself to the
theater: this very act he feels will bring upon him the censure of the
critics, for Yorick went to the theater too. “A merchant’s boy went
along before me,” he says in naïve defense, “was he also an imitator of
Yorick?” On the way he meets a fair maid-in-waiting, and the relation
between her and the traveler, developed here and later, is inspired
directly by Yorick’s connection with the fair _fille de chambre_.
Schummel imitates Sterne’s excessive detail of description, devoting a
whole paragraph to his manner of removing his hat before a lady whom he
encounters on this walk to the theater. This was another phase of
Sterne’s pseudo-scientific method: he describes the trivial with the
attitude of the trained observer, registering minutely the detail of
phenomena, a mock-parade of scholarship illustrated by his description
of Trim’s attitude while reading his sermon, or the dropping of the hat
in the kitchen during the memorable scene when the news of Bobby’s death
is brought.

In Schummel’s narration of his adventures in the house of ill-repute
there are numerous sentimental excrescences in his conduct with the poor
prisoner there, due largely to Yorick’s pattern, such as their weeping
on one another’s breast, and his wiping away her tears and his, drawn
from Yorick’s amiable service for Maria of Moulines, an act seemingly
expressing the most refined human sympathy. The remaining events of this
first volume include an unexpected meeting with the kind baker’s wife,
which takes place at Gellert’s grave. Yorick’s imitators were especially
fond of re-introducing a sentimental relationship. Yorick led the way in
his renewed acquaintance with the _fille de chambre_; Stevenson in his
continuation went to extremes in exploiting this cheap device.

Other motifs derived from Sterne, less integral, may be briefly
summarized. From the Sentimental Journey is taken the motif that
valuable or interesting papers be used to wrap ordinary articles of
trade: here herring are wrapped in fragments of the father’s philosophy;
in the Sentimental Journey we find a similar degrading use for the
“Fragment.” Schummel breaks off the chapter “La Naïve,”[11] under the
Sternesque subterfuge of having to deliver manuscript to an insistent
publisher. Yorick writes his preface to the Journey in the
“Désobligeant,” that is, in the midst of the narrative itself. Schummel
modifies the eccentricity merely by placing his foreword at the end of
the volume. The value of it, he says, will repay the reader for waiting
so long,--a statement which finds little justification in the preface
itself. It begins, “Auweh! Auweh! Ouais, Helas! . . . Diable, mein
Rücken, mein Fuss!” and so on for half a page,--a pitiful effort to
follow the English master’s wilful and skilful incoherence. The
following pages, however, once this outbreak is at an end, contain a
modicum of sense, the feeble, apologetic explanation of his desire in
imitating Yorick, given in forethought of the critics’ condemnation.
Similarly the position of the dedication is unusual, in the midst of the
volume, even as the dedication of Shandy was roguishly delayed. The
dedication itself, however, is not an imitation of Sterne’s clever
satire, but, addressed to Yorick himself, is a striking example of
burning personal devotion and over-wrought praise. Schummel hopes[12] in
Sterne fashion to write a chapter on “Vorübergeben,” or in the chapter
“Das Komödienhaus” (pp. 185-210) to write a digression on “Walking
behind a maid.” Like Sterne, he writes in praise of digressions.[13] In
imitation of Sterne is conceived the digressive speculation concerning
the door through which at the beginning of the book he is cast into the
rude world. Among further expressions savoring of Sterne, may be
mentioned a “Centner of curses” (p. 39), a “Quentchen of curses,” and
the analytical description of a tone of voice as one-fourth questioning,
five-eighths entreating and one-eighth commanding (p. 229).

The direct allusions to Sterne and his works are numerous. A list of
Sterne characters which were indelibly impressed upon his mind is found
near the very beginning (pp. 3-4); other allusions are to M. Dessein
(p. 65), La Fleur’s “Courierstiefel” (p. 115), the words of the dying
Yorick (p. 128), the pococurantism of Mrs. Shandy (p. 187), the division
of travelers into types (p. 141), Uncle Toby (p. 200), Yorick’s
violin-playing (p. 274), the foolish fat scullion (p. 290), Yorick’s
description of a maid’s (p. 188) eyes, “als ob sie zwischen vier Wänden
einem Garaus machen könnten.”

The second volume is even more incoherent in narration, and contains
less genuine occurrence and more ill-considered attempts at
whimsicality, yet throughout this volume there are indications that the
author is awakening to the vulnerability of his position, and this is in
no other particular more easily discernible than in the half-hearted
defiance of the critics and his anticipation of their censure. The
change, so extraordinary in the third volume, is foreshadowed in the
second. Purely sentimental, effusive, and abundantly teary is the story
of the rescued baker’s wife. In this excess of sentiment, Schummel shows
his intellectual appreciation of Sterne’s individual treatment of the
humane and pathetic, for near the end of the poor woman’s narrative the
author seems to recollect a fundamental sentence of Sterne’s creed, the
inevitable admixture of the whimsical, and here he introduces into the
sentimental relation a Shandean idiosyncrasy: from page 43 the narrative
leaps back to the beginning of the volume, and Schummel advises the
reader to turn back and re-read, referring incidentally to his confused
fashion of narration. The awkwardness with which this is done proves
Schummel’s inability to follow Yorick, though its use shows his
appreciation of Sterne’s peculiar genius. The visit of the author, the
baker’s wife and her daughter (the former lady’s maid) to the graveyard
is Yorickian in flavor, and the plucking of nettles from the grave of
the dead epileptic is a direct borrowing. Attempts to be immorally,
sensuously suggestive in the manner of Sterne are found in the so-called
chapter on “Button-holes,” here cast in a more Shandean vein, and in the
adventure “die ängstliche Nacht,”--in the latter case resembling more
the less frank, more insinuating method of the Sentimental Journey. The
sentimental attitude toward man’s dumb companions is imitated in his
adventure with the house-dog; the author fears the barking of this
animal may disturb the sleep of the poor baker’s wife: he beats the dog
into silence, then grows remorseful and wishes “that I had given him no
blow,” or that the dog might at least give him back the blows. His
thought that the dog might be pretending its pain, he designates a
subtle subterfuge of his troubled conscience, and Goethe, in the review
mentioned above, exclaims, “A fine pendant to Yorick’s scene with the
Monk.”

Distinctly Shandean are the numerous digressions, as on imitation
(p. 16), on authors and fairs (p. 45), that which he calls (pp. 226-238)
“ein ganz originelles Gemische von Wiz, Belesenheit, Scharfsinn,
gesunder Philosophie, Erfahrung, Algebra und Mechanik,” or (p. 253) “Von
der Entstehungsart eines Buches nach Erfindung der Buchdrukerkunst,”
which in reference to Sterne’s phrase, is called a “jungfräuliche
Materie.” He promises (pp. 75 and 108), like Sterne, to write numerous
chapters on extraordinary subjects,--indeed, he announces his intention
of supplementing the missing sections of Shandy on “Button-holes” and on
the “Right and Left (sic) end of a Woman.” His own promised effusions
are to be “Ueber die roten und schwarzen Röcke,” “über die Verbindung
der Theologie mit Schwarz,” “Europäischenfrauenzimmerschuhabsätze,” half
a one “Ueber die Schuhsohlen” and “Ueber meinen Namen.”

His additions to Shandy are flat and witless, that on the “Right and
Wrong End of a Woman” (pp. 88 ff.) degenerating into three brief
narratives displaying woman’s susceptibility to flattery, the whole idea
probably adapted from Sterne’s chapter, “An Act of Charity;” the chapter
on “Button-holes” is made a part of the general narrative of his
relation to his “Naïve.” Weakly whimsical is his seeking pardon for the
discourse with which the Frenchman (pp. 62-66), under the pretext that
it belonged somewhere else and had inadvertently crept in. Shandean also
is the black margin to pages 199-206, the line upside down (p. 175),
the twelve irregularly printed lines (p. 331), inserted to indicate his
efforts in writing with a burned hand, the lines of dashes and
exclamation points, the mathematical, financial calculation of the worth
of his book from various points of view, and the description of the
maiden’s walk (p. 291). Sterne’s mock-scientific method, as already
noted, is observable again in the statement of the position of the
dagger “at an angle of 30°” (p. 248). His coining of new words, for
which he is censured by the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_, is also a
legacy of Yorick’s method.

The third volume bears little relation to Sterne aside from its title,
and one can only wonder, in view of the criticism of the two parts
already published and the nature of the author’s own partial revulsion
of feeling, that he did not give up publishing it altogether, or choose
another title, and sunder the work entirely from the foregoing volumes,
with which it has in fact so contradictory a connection. It may be that
his relations to the publisher demanded the issuing of the third part
under the same title.

This volume is easily divisible into several distinct parts, which are
linked with one another, and to the preceding narrative, only by a
conventional thread of introduction. These comprise: the story of
Caroline and Rosenfeld, a typical eighteenth century tale of love,
seduction and flight; the hosts’ ballad, “Es war einmahl ein Edelmann;”
the play, “Die unschuldige Ehebrecherin” and “Mein Tagebuch,” the
journal of an honest preacher, and a further sincere exploitation of
Schummel’s ideas upon the clergyman’s office, his ideal of simplicity,
kindliness, and humanity. In the latter part of the book Schummel
resumes his original narrative, and indulges once more in the luxury of
sentimental adventure, but without the former abortive attempts at
imitating Sterne’s peculiarities of diction. This last resumption of the
sentimental creed introduces to us one event evidently inspired by
Yorick: he meets a poor, maimed soldier-beggar. Since misfortune has
deprived the narrator himself of his possessions, he can give nothing
and goes a begging for the beggar’s sake, introducing the new and highly
sentimental idea of “vicarious begging” (pp. 268-9). In the following
episode, a visit to a child-murderess, Schummel leaves a page entirely
blank as an appropriate proof of incapacity to express his emotions
attendant on the execution of the unfortunate. Sterne also left a page
blank for the description of the Widow Wadman’s charms.

At the very end of the book Schummel drops his narrative altogether and
discourses upon his own work. It would be difficult to find in any
literature so complete a condemnation of one’s own serious and extensive
endeavor, so candid a criticism of one’s own work, so frank an
acknowledgment of the pettiness of one’s achievement. He says his work,
as an imitation of Sterne’s two novels, has “few or absolutely no
beauties of the original, and many faults of its own.” He states that
his enthusiasm for Tristram has been somewhat dampened by Sonnenfels and
Riedel; he sees now faults which should not have been imitated; the
frivolous attitude of the narrator toward his father and mother is
deprecated, and the suggestion is given that this feature was derived
from Tristram’s own frankness concerning the eccentricities and
incapacities of his parents. He begs reference to a passage in the
second volume[14] where the author alludes with warmth of appreciation
to his real father and mother; that is, genuine regard overcame the
temporary blindness, real affection arose and thrust out the transitory
inclination to an alien whimsicality.

Schummel admits that he has utterly failed in his effort to characterize
the German people in the way Sterne treated the English and French; he
confesses that the ninety-page autobiography which precedes the journey
itself was intended to be Tristram-like, but openly stigmatizes his own
failure as “ill conceived, incoherent and not very well told!” After
mentioning some few incidents and passages in this first section which
he regards as passable, he boldly condemns the rest as “almost beneath
all criticism,” and the same words are used with reference to much that
follows, in which he confesses to imitation, bad taste and intolerable
indelicacy. He calls his pathetic attempts at whimsical mannerisms
(Heideldum, etc.), “kläglich, überaus kläglich,” expresses the opinion
that one would not be surprised at the reader who would throw away the
whole book at such a passage. The words of the preacher in the two
sections where he is allowed to air his opinions still meet with his
approval, and the same is true of one or two other sections. In
conclusion, he states that the first part contains hardly one hundred
good pages, and that the second part is worse than the first, so that he
is unwilling to look at it again and seek out its faults. The absence of
allusions to Sterne’s writings is marked, except in the critical section
at the end, he mentions Sterne but once (p. 239), where he calls him
“schnurrigt.” This alteration of feeling must have taken place in a
brief space of time, for the third volume is signed April 25, 1772. It
is not easy to establish with probability the works of Sonnenfels and
Riedel which are credited with a share in this revulsion of feeling.

In all of this Schummel is a discriminating critic of his own work; he
is also discerning in his assertion that the narrative contained in his
volume is conceived more in the vein of Fielding and Richardson. The
Sterne elements are rather embroidered on to the other fabric, or, as he
himself says, using another figure, “only fried in Shandy fat.”[15]

Goethe’s criticism of the second volume, already alluded to, is found in
the _Frankfurter Gelehrte Anzeigen_ in the issue of March 3, 1772. The
nature of the review is familiar: Goethe calls the book a thistle which
he has found on Yorick’s grave. “Alles,” he says, “hat es dem guten
Yorick geraubt, Speer, Helm und Lanze, nur Schade! inwendig steckt der
Herr Präceptor S. zu Magdeburg . . . Yorick empfand, und dieser setzt
sich hin zu empfinden. Yorick wird von seiner Laune ergriffen, und
weinte und lachte in einer Minute und durch die Magie der Sympathie
lachen und weinen wir mit: hier aber steht einer und überlegt: wie lache
und weine ich? was werden die Leute sagen, wenn ich lache und weine?”
etc. Schummel is stigmatized as a childish imitator and his book is
censured as “beneath criticism,” oddly enough the very judgment its own
author accords but a few weeks later on the completion of the third
volume. The review contains several citations illustrative of Schummel’s
style.

The first two parts were reviewed in the _Allgemeine deutsche
Bibliothek_.[16] The length of the review is testimony to the interest
in the book, and the tone of the article, though frankly unfavorable,
is not so emphatically censorious as the one first noted. It is observed
that Schummel has attempted the impossible,--the adoption of another’s
“Laune,” and hence his failure. The reviewer notes, often with generous
quotations, the more noticeable, direct imitations from Sterne, the
conversation of the emotions, the nettle-plucking at the grave, the
eccentric orthography and the new-coined words. Several passages of
comment or comparison testify to the then current admiration of Yorick,
and the conventional German interpretation of his character; “sein
gutes, empfindungsvolles Herz, mit Tugend und sittlichem Gefühl
erfüllt.” The review is signed “Sr:”[17]

A critic in the _Jenaische Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen_ for January
17, 1772, treating the first two volumes, expresses the opinion that
Jacobi, the author of the “Tagereise,” and Schummel have little but the
title from Yorick. The author’s seeking for opportunity to dissolve in
emotion is contrasted unfavorably with Yorick’s method, the affected
style is condemned, yet it is admitted that the work promises better
things from its talented author; his power of observation and his good
heart are not to be unacknowledged. The severity of the review is
directed against the imitators already arising.

The _Magazin der deutschen Critik_[18] reviews the third volume with
favorable comment; the comedy which Schummel saw fit to insert is
received with rather extraordinary praise, and the author is urged to
continue work in the drama; a desire is expressed even for a fourth
part. The _Hamburgische Neue Zeitung_, June 4 and October 29, 1771,
places Schummel unhesitatingly beside the English master, calls him as
original as his pattern, to Sterne belongs the honor only of the
invention. The author is hailed as a genius whose talents should be
supported, so that Germany would not have to envy England her
Yorick.[19]

After Schummel’s remarkable self-chastisement, one could hardly expect
to find in his subsequent works evidence of Sterne’s influence, save as
unconsciously a dimmed admiration might exert a certain force. Probably
contemporaneous with the composition of the third volume of the work,
but possibly earlier, Schummel wrote the fourth part of a ponderous
novel by a fellow Silesian, Christian Opitz, entitled “Die Gleichheit
der menschlichen Herzen, bey der Ungleichheit ihrer äusserlichen
Umstände in der Geschichte Herrn Redlichs und seiner Bedienten.” Goedeke
implies that Opitz was the author of all but the last part, but the
reviewer in the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[20] maintains that each
part has a different author, and quotes the preface to the fourth as
substantiation. According to this review both the second and fourth
parts are characterized by a humorous fashion in writing, and the last
is praised as being the best of the four. It seems probable that
Schummel’s enthusiasm for Sterne played its part in the composition of
this work.

Possibly encouraged by the critic’s approbation, Schummel devoted his
literary effort for the following years largely to the drama. In 1774 he
published his “Uebersetzer-Bibliothek zum Gebrauche der Uebersetzer,
Schulmänner und Liebhaber der alten Litteratur.” The reviewer[21] in the
_Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_ finds passages in this book in which
the author of the “Empfindsame Reisen” is visible,--where his fancy runs
away with his reason,--and a passage is quoted in which reference is
made to Slawkenberg’s book on noses. It would seem that the seeking for
wit survived the crude sentimentality.

Two years later Schummel published “Fritzen’s Reise nach Dessau,”[22]
a work composed of letters from a twelve-year old boy, written on a
journey from Magdeburg to Dessau. The letters are quite without whim or
sentiment, and the book has been remembered for the extended description
of Basedow’s experimental school, “Philantropin” (opened in 1774). Its
account has been the source of the information given of this endeavor in
some pedagogical treatises[23] and it was re-issued, as a document in
the history of pedagogical experiment, in Leipzig, by Albert Richter in
1891. About fifteen years later still the “Reise durch Schlesien”[24]
was issued. It is a simple narrative of a real journey with description
of places and people, frankly personal, almost epistolary in form,
without a suggestion of Sterne-like whim or sentiment. One passage is
significant as indicating the author’s realization of his change of
attitude. The sight of a group of prisoners bound by a chain calls to
his memory his former sentimental extravagance, and he exclaims: “Twenty
years ago, when I was still a sentimental traveler, I would have wasted
many an ‘Oh’ and ‘alas’ over this scene; at present, since I have
learned to know the world and mankind somewhat more intimately, I think
otherwise.”

Johann Christian Bock (1724-1785), who was in 1772 theater-poet of the
Ackerman Company in Hamburg, soon after the publication of the
Sentimental Journey, identified himself with the would-be Yoricks by the
production of “Die Tagereise,” which was published at Leipzig in 1770.
The work was re-issued in 1775 with the new title “Die Geschichte eines
empfundenen Tages.”[25] The only change in the new edition was the
addition of a number of copperplate engravings. The book is inspired in
part by Sterne directly, and in part indirectly through the intermediary
Jacobi. Unlike the work of Schummel just treated, it betrays no Shandean
influence, but is dependent solely on the Sentimental Journey. In
outward form the book resembles Jacobi’s “Winterreise,” since verse is
introduced to vary the prose narrative. The attitude of the author
toward his journey, undertaken with conscious purpose, is characteristic
of the whole set of emotional sentiment-seekers, who found in their
Yorick a challenge to go and do likewise: “Everybody is journeying,
I thought, and took Yorick and Jacobi with me. . . . I will really see
whether I too may not chance upon a _fille de chambre_ or a
harvest-maid,” is a very significant statement of his inspiration and
intention. Once started on his journey, the author falls in with a poor
warrior-beggar, an adaptation of Sterne’s Chevalier de St. Louis,[26]
and he puts in verse Yorick’s expressed sentiment that the king and the
fatherland should not allow the faithful soldier to fall into such
distress.

Bock’s next sentimental adventure is with a fair peasant-maid whom he
sees weeping by the wayside. Through Yorick-like insistence of sympathy,
he finally wins from her information concerning the tender situation:
a stern stepfather, an unwelcome suitor of his choosing, and a lover of
her own. Her inability to write and thus communicate with the latter is
the immediate cause of the present overflow. The traveler beholds in
this predicament a remarkable sentimental opportunity and offers his
services; he strokes her cheek, her tears are dried, and they part like
brother and sister. The episode is unquestionably inspired by the
episode of Maria of Moulines; in the latter development of the affair,
the sentiment, which is expressed, that the girl’s innocence is her own
defense is borrowed directly from Yorick’s statement concerning the
_fille de chambre_.[27] The traveler’s questioning of his own motives in
“Die Ueberlegung”[28] is distinctly Sterne-like, and it demonstrates
also Bock’s appreciation of this quizzical element in Yorick’s attitude
toward his own sentimental behavior. The relation of man to the domestic
animals is treated sentimentally in the episode of the old beggar and
his dead dog:[29] the tears of the beggar, his affection for the beast,
their genuine comradeship, and the dog’s devotion after the world had
forsaken his master, are all part and parcel of that fantastic humane
movement which has its source in Yorick’s dead ass. Bock practically
confesses his inspiration by direct allusion to the episode in Yorick.
Bock defends with warmth the old peasant and his grief.

The wanderer’s acquaintance with the lady’s companion[30] is adapted
from Yorick’s _fille de chambre_ connection, and Bock cannot avoid a
fleshly suggestion, distinctly in the style of Yorick in the section,
the “Spider.”[31] The return journey in the sentimental moonlight
affords the author another opportunity for the exercise of his broad
human sympathy: he meets a poor woman, a day-laborer with her child,
gives them a few coins and doubts whether king or bishop could be more
content with the benediction of the apostolic chair than he with the
blessing of this unfortunate,--a sentiment derived from Yorick’s
overcolored veneration for the horn snuff-box.

The churchyard scene with which the journey ends is more openly
fanciful, down-right visionary in tone, but the manner is very
emphatically not that of Sterne, though in the midst the Sterne motif of
nettle-plucking is introduced. This sentimental episode took hold of
German imagination with peculiar force. The hobby-horse idea also was
sure of its appeal, and Bock did not fail to fall under its spell.[32]

But apart from the general impulse and borrowing of motif from the
foreign novel, there is in this little volume considerable that is
genuine and original: the author’s German patriotism, his praise of the
old days in the Fatherland in the chapter entitled “Die Gaststube,” his
“Trinklied eines Deutschen,” his disquisition on the position of the
poet in the world (“ein eignes Kapitel”), and his adulation of Gellert
at the latter’s grave. The reviewer in the _Deutsche Bibliothek der
schönen Wissenschaften_[33] chides the unnamed, youthful author for not
allowing his undeniable talents to ripen to maturity, for being led on
by Jacobi’s success to hasten his exercises into print. In reality Bock
was no longer youthful (forty-six) when the “Tagereise” was published.
The _Almanach der deutschen Musen_ for 1771, calls the book “an
unsuccessful imitation of Yorick and Jacobi,” and wishes that this
“Rhapsodie von Cruditäten” might be the last one thrust on the market as
a “Sentimental Journey.” The _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[34]
comments also on the double inspiration, and the insufficiency and
tiresomeness of the performance. And yet Boie[35] says the papers
praised the little book; for himself, however, he observes, he little
desires to read it, and adds “What will our Yoricks yet come to? At last
they will get pretty insignificant, I think, if they keep on this way.”

Bock was also the author of a series of little volumes written in the
early seventies, still under the sentimental charm: (1) Empfindsame
Reise durch die Visitenzimmer am Neujahrstag von einem deutschen Yorick
angestellt, Cosmopolis (Hamburg) 1771--really published at the end of
the previous year; (2) . . . am Ostertage, 1772; (3) Am Pfingsttage,
1772; (4) Am Johannistage, 1773; (5) Am Weynachtstage, 1773. These books
were issued anonymously, and Schröder’s Lexicon gives only (2) and (3)
under Bock’s name, but there seems no good reason to doubt his
authorship of them all. Indeed, his claim to (1) is, according to the
_Frankfurter Gelehrte Anzeigen_, well-nigh proven by an allusion to the
“Tagereise” in the introduction, and by the initials signed. None of
them are given by Goedeke. The books are evidently only in a general way
dependent on the Sterne model, and are composed of observations upon all
sorts of subjects, the first section of each volume bearing some
relation to the festival in which they appear.

In the second edition of the first volume the author confesses that the
title only is derived from Yorick,[36] and states that he was forced to
this misuse because no one at that time cared to read anything but
“Empfindsame Reisen.” It is also to be noted that the description
beneath the title, “von einem deutschen Yorick angestellt,” is omitted
after the first volume. The review of (4) and (5) in the _Altonaer
Reichs-Postreuter_ finds this a commendable resumption of proper
humility. The observations are evidently loosely strung together without
the pretense of a narrative, such as “Allgemeines Perspectiv durch alle
Visitenzimmer, Empfindsamer Neujahrswunsch, Empfindsame Berechnung eines
Weisen mit sich selbst, Empfindsame Entschlüsse, Empfindsame Art sein
Geld gut unterzubringen,” etc.[37] An obvious purpose inspires the
writer, the furthering of morality and virtue; many of the meditations
are distinctly religious. That some of the observations had a local
significance in Hamburg, together with the strong sentimental tendency
there, may account for the warm reception by the _Hamburgischer
unpartheyischer Correspondent_.[38]

Some contemporary critics maintained a kinship between Matthias Claudius
and Yorick-Sterne, though nothing further than a similarity of mental
and emotional fibre is suggested. No one claimed an influence working
from the English master. Even as late as 1872, Wilhelm Röseler in his
introductory poem to a study of “Matthias Claudius und sein Humor”[39]
calls Asmus, “Deutschland’s Yorick,” thereby agreeing almost verbally
with the German correspondent of the _Deutsches Museum_, who wrote from
London nearly a hundred years before, September 14, 1778, “Asmus . . .
is the German Sterne,” an assertion which was denied by a later
correspondent, who asserts that Claudius’s manner is very different from
that of Sterne.[40]

August von Kotzebue, as youthful narrator, betrays a dependence on
Sterne in his strange and ingeniously contrived tale, “Die Geschichte
meines Vaters, oder wie es zuging, dass ich gebohren wurde.”[41] The
influence of Sterne is noticeable in the beginning of the story:
he commences with a circumstantial account of his grandfather and
grandmother, and the circumstances of his father’s birth. The
grandfather is an original undoubtedly modeled on lines suggested by
Sterne’s hobby-horse idea. He had been chosen in days gone by to greet
the reigning prince on the latter’s return from a journey, and the old
man harks back to this circumstance with “hobby-horsical” persistence,
whatever the subject of conversation, even as all matters led Uncle Toby
to military fortification, and the elder Shandy to one of his pet
theories.

In Schrimps the servant, another Shandean original is designed. When the
news comes of the birth of a son on Mount Vesuvius, master and man
discuss multifarious and irrelevant topics in a fashion reminiscent of
the conversation downstairs in the Shandy mansion while similar events
are going on above. Later in the book we have long lists, or catalogues
of things which resemble one of Sterne’s favorite mannerisms. But the
greater part of the wild, adventurous tale is far removed from its
inception, which presented domestic whimsicality in a gallery of
originals, unmistakably connected with Tristram Shandy.

Göschen’s “Reise von Johann”[42] is a product of the late renascence of
sentimental journeying. Master and servant are represented in this book
as traveling through southern Germany, a pair as closely related in head
and heart as Yorick and La Fleur, or Captain Shandy and Corporal Trim.
The style is of rather forced buoyancy and sprightliness, with
intentional inconsequence and confusion, an attempt at humor of
narration, which is choked by characteristic national desire to convey
information, and a fatal propensity to description of places,[43] even
when some satirical purpose underlies the account, as in the description
of Erlangen and its university. The servant Johann has mild adventures
with the maids in the various inns, which are reminiscent of Yorick,
and in one case it borders on the openly suggestive and more Shandean
method.[44] A distinctly borrowed motif is the accidental finding of
papers which contain matters of interest. This is twice resorted to;
a former occupant of the room in the inn in Nürnberg had left valuable
notes of travel; and Johann, meeting a ragged woman, bent on
self-destruction, takes from her a box with papers, disclosing a
revolting story, baldly told. German mediocrity, imitating Yorick in
this regard, and failing of his delicacy and subtlety, brought forth
hideous offspring. An attempt at whimsicality of style is apparent in
the “Furth Catechismus in Frage und Antwort” (pp. 71-74), and genuinely
sentimental adventures are supplied by the death-bed scene (pp. 70-71)
and the village funeral (pp. 74-77).

This book is classed by Ebeling[45] without sufficient reason as an
imitation of von Thümmel. This statement is probably derived from the
letter from Schiller to Goethe to which Ebeling refers in the following
lines. Schiller is writing to Goethe concerning plans for the Xenien,
December 29, 1795.[46] The abundance of material for the Xenien project
is commented upon with enthusiastic anticipation, and in a list of
vulnerable possibilities we read: “Thümmel, Göschen als sein
Stallmeister--” a collocation of names easily attributable, in
consideration of the underlying satiric purpose, to the general nature
of their work, without in any way implying the dependence of one author
on another,[47] or it could be interpreted as an allusion to the fact
that Göschen was von Thümmel’s publisher. Nor is there anything in the
correspondence to justify Ebeling’s harshness in saying concerning this
volume of Göschen, that it “enjoyed the honor of being ridiculed
(verhöhnt) in the Xenien-correspondence between Goethe and Schiller.”
Goethe replies (December 30), in approval, and exclaims, “How fine
Charis and Johann will appear beside one another.”[48] The suggestion
concerning a possible use of Göschen’s book in the Xenien was never
carried out.

It will be remembered that Göschen submitted the manuscript of his book
to Schiller, and that Schiller returned the same with the statement
“that he had laughed heartily at some of the whims.[49]” Garve, in a
letter dated March 8, 1875, speaks of Göschen’s book in terms of
moderate praise.[50]

The “Empfindsame Reise von Oldenburg nach Bremen,”[51] the author of
which was a Hanoverian army officer, H. J. C. Hedemann, is characterized
by Ebeling as emphatically not inspired by Sterne.[52] Although it is
not a sentimental journey, as Schummel and Jacobi and Bock conceived it,
and is thus not an example of the earliest period of imitation, and
although it contains no passages of teary sentimentality in attitude
toward man and beast, one must hesitate in denying all connection with
Sterne’s manner. It would seem as if, having outgrown the earlier
Yorick, awakened from dubious, fine-spun dreams of human brotherhood,
perhaps by the rude clatter of the French revolution, certain would-be
men of letters turned to Yorick again and saw, as through a glass
darkly, that other element of his nature, and tried in lumbering,
Teutonic way to adopt his whimsicality, shorn now of sentimentalism, and
to build success for their wares on remembrance of a defaced idol. This
view of later sentimental journeying is practically acknowledged at any
rate in a contemporary review, the _Allgemeine Litteratur-Zeitung_ for
August 22, 1796, which remarks: “A sentimental voyage ist ein Quodlibet,
wo einige bekannte Sachen und Namen gezwungenen Wiz und matten Scherz
heben sollen.”[53]

Hedemann’s book is conspicuous in its effort to be whimsical and is
openly satirical in regard to the sentimentalism of former travelers.
His endeavor is markedly in Sterne’s manner in his attitude toward the
writing of the book, his conversation about the difficulty of managing
the material, his discussion with himself and the reader about the
various parts of the book. Quite in Sterne’s fashion, and to be
associated with Sterne’s frequent promises of chapters, and statements
concerning embarrassment of material, is conceived his determination “to
mention some things beforehand about which I don’t know anything to
say,” and his rather humorous enumeration of them. The author satirizes
the real sentimental traveler of Sterne’s earlier imitators in the
following passage (second chapter):

“It really must be a great misfortune, an exceedingly vexatious case,
if no sentimental scenes occur to a sentimental traveler, but this is
surely not the case; only the subjects, which offer themselves must be
managed with strict economy. If one leaps over the most interesting
events entirely, one is in danger, indeed, of losing everything, at
least of not filling many pages.”

Likewise in the following account of a sentimental adventure, the
satirical purpose is evident. He has not gone far on his journey when he
is met by a troop of children; with unsentimental coldness he determines
that there is a “Schlagbaum” in the way. After the children have opened
the barrier, he debates with himself to which child to give his little
coin, concludes, as a “sentimental traveler,” to give it to the other
sex, then there is nothing left to do but to follow his instinct. He
reflects long with himself whether he was right in so doing,--all of
which is a deliberate jest at the hesitation with reference to trivial
acts, the self-examination with regard to the minutiae of past conduct,
which was copied by Sterne’s imitators from numerous instances in the
works of Yorick. Satirical also is his vision in Chapter VII, in which
he beholds the temple of stupidity where lofty stupidity sits on a paper
throne; and of particular significance here is the explanation that the
whole company who do “erhabene Dummheit” honor formerly lived in cities
of the kingdom, but “now they are on journeys.” Further examples of a
humorous manner akin to Sterne are: his statement that it would be a
“great error” to write an account of a journey without weaving in an
anecdote of a prince, his claim that he has fulfilled all duties of such
a traveler save to fall in love, his resolve to accomplish it, and his
formal declaration: “I, the undersigned, do vow and make promise to be
in love before twenty-four hours are past.” The story with which his
volume closes, “Das Ständchen,” is rather entertaining and is told
graphically, easily, without whim or satire, yet not without a Sternian
_double entendre_.[54]

Another work in which sentimentalism has dwindled away to a grinning
shade, and a certain irresponsible, light-hearted attitude is the sole
remaining connection with the great progenitor, is probably the
“Empfindsame Reise nach Schilda” (Leipzig, 1793), by Andreas Geo. Fr.
von Rabenau, which is reviewed in the _Allgemeine Litteratur-Zeitung_
(1794, I, p. 416) as a free revision of an old popular tale, “Das
lustige und lächerliche Lalenburg.” The book is evidently without
sentimental tinge, is a merry combination of wit and joke combined with
caricature and half-serious tilting against unimportant literary
celebrities.[55]

Certain miscellaneous works, which are more or less obviously connected
with Sterne may be grouped together here.

To the first outburst of Sterne enthusiasm belongs an anonymous product,
“Zween Tage eines Schwindsüchtigen, etwas Empfindsames,” von L. . . .
(Hamburg, 1772), yet the editor admits that the sentiment is “not
entirely like Yorick’s,” and the _Altonaer Reichs-Postreuter_ (July 2,
1772) adds that “not at all like Yorick’s” would have been nearer the
truth. This book is mentioned by Hillebrand with implication that it is
the extreme example of the absurd sentimental tendency, probably judging
merely from the title,[56] for the book is doubtless merely thoughtful,
contemplative, with a minimum of overwrought feeling.

According to the _Frankfurter Gelehrte Anzeigen_ (1775, pp. 592-3),
another product of the earlier seventies, the “Leben und Schicksale des
Martin Dickius,” by Johann Moritz Schwager, is in many places a clever
imitation of Sterne,[57] although the author claims, like Wezel in
“Tobias Knaut,” not to have read Shandy until after the book was
written. Surely the digression on noses which the author allows himself
is suspicious.

Blankenburg, the author of the treatise on the novel to which reference
has been made, was regarded by contemporary and subsequent criticism as
an imitator of Sterne in his oddly titled novel “Beyträge zur Geschichte
des teutschen Reiches und teutscher Sitten,”[58] although the general
tenor of his essay, in reasonableness and balance, seemed to promise a
more independent, a more competent and felicitous performance. Kurz
expresses this opinion, which may have been derived from criticisms in
the eighteenth century journals. The _Frankfurter Gelehrte Anzeigen_,
July 28, 1775, does not, however, take this view; but seems to be in the
novel a genuine exemplification of the author’s theories as previously
expressed.[59] The _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[60] calls the book
didactic, a tract against certain essentially German follies. Merck, in
the _Teutscher Merkur_,[61] says the imitation of Sterne is quite too
obvious, though Blankenburg denies it.

Among miscellaneous and anonymous works inspired directly by Sterne,
belongs undoubtedly “Die Geschichte meiner Reise nach Pirmont” (1773),
the author of which claims that it was written before Yorick was
translated or Jacobi published. He says he is not worthy to pack
Yorick’s bag or weave Jacobi’s arbor,[62] but the review of the
_Almanach der deutschen Musen_ evidently regards it as a product,
nevertheless, of Yorick’s impulse. Kuno Ridderhoff in his study of Frau
la Roche[63] says that the “Empfindsamkeit” of Rosalie in the first part
of “Rosaliens Briefe” is derived from Yorick. The “Leben, Thaten und
Meynungen des D. J. Pet. Menadie” (Halle, 1777-1781) is charged by the
_Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_ with attempt at Shandy-like
eccentricity of narrative and love of digression.[64]

One little volume, unmistakably produced under Yorick’s spell, is worthy
of particular mention because at its time it received from the reviewers
a more cordial welcome than was accorded to the rank and file of
Sentimental Journeys. It is “M . . . R . . .” by E. A. A. von Göchhausen
(1740-1824), which was published at Eisenach, 1772, and was deemed
worthy of several later editions. Its dependence on Sterne is confessed
and obvious, sometimes apologetically and hesitatingly, sometimes
defiantly. The imitation of Sterne is strongest at the beginning, both
in outward form and subject-matter, and this measure of indebtedness
dwindles away steadily as the book advances. Göchhausen, as other
imitators, used at the outset a modish form, returned to it consciously
now and then when once under way, but when he actually had something to
say, a message of his own, found it impracticable or else forgot to
follow his model.

The absurd title stands, of course, for “Meine Reisen” and the puerile
abbreviation as well as the reasons assigned for it, were intended to be
a Sterne-like jest, a pitiful one. Why Goedeke should suggest “Meine
Randglossen” is quite inexplicable, since Göchhausen himself in the very
first chapter indicates the real title. Beneath the enigmatical title
stands an alleged quotation from Shandy: “Ein Autor borgt, bettelt und
stiehlt so stark von dem andern, dass bey meiner Seele! die Originalität
fast so rar geworden ist als die Ehrlichkeit.”[65] The book itself, like
Sterne’s Journey, is divided into brief chapters unnumbered but named.
As the author loses Yorick from sight, the chapters grow longer.
Göchhausen has availed himself of an odd device to disarm
criticism,--a plan used once or twice by Schummel: occasionally when the
imitation is obvious, he repudiates the charge sarcastically, or
anticipates with irony the critics’ censure. For example, he gives
directions to his servant Pumper to pack for the journey; a reader
exclaims, “a portmanteau, Mr. Author, so that everything, even to that,
shall be just like Yorick,” and in the following passage the author
quarrels with the critics who allow no one to travel with a portmanteau,
because an English clergyman traveled with one. Pumper’s
misunderstanding of this objection is used as a farther ridicule of the
critics. When on the journey, the author converses with two poor
wandering monks, whose conversation, at any rate, is a witness to their
content, the whole being a legacy of the Lorenzo episode, and the author
entitles the chapter: “The members of the religious order, or, as some
critics will call it, a wretchedly unsuccessful imitation.” In the next
chapter, “Der Visitator” (pp. 125 ff.) in which the author encounters
customs annoyances, the critic is again allowed to complain that
everything is stolen from Yorick, a protest which is answered by the
author quite naïvely, “Yorick journeyed, ate, drank; I do too.” In “Die
Pause” the author stands before the inn door and fancies that a number
of spies (Ausspäher) stand there waiting for him; he protests that
Yorick encountered beggars before the inn in Montreuil, a very different
sort of folk. On page 253 he exclaims, “für diesen schreibe ich dieses
Kapitel nicht und ich--beklage ihn!” Here a footnote suggests “Das
übrige des Diebstahls vid. Yorick’s Gefangenen.” Similarly when he calls
his servant his “La Fleur,” he converses with the critics about his
theft from Yorick.

The book is opened by a would-be whimsical note, the guessing about the
name of the book. The dependence upon Sterne, suggested by the motto, is
clinched by reference to this quotation in the section “Apologie,” and
by the following chapter, which is entitled “Yorick.” The latter is the
most unequivocal and, withal, the most successful imitation of Yorick’s
manner which the volume offers. The author is sitting on a sofa reading
the Sentimental Journey, and the idea of such a trip is awakened in him.
Someone knocks and the door is opened by the postman, as the narrator is
opening his “Lorenzodose,” and the story of the poor monk is touching
his heart now for the twentieth time as strongly as ever. The postman
asks postage on the letter as well as his own trivial fee. The author
counts over money, miscounts it, then in counting forgets all about it,
puts the money away and continues the reading of Yorick. The postman
interrupts him; the author grows impatient and says, “You want four
groschen?” and is inexplicably vexed at the honesty of the man who says
it is only three pfennigs for himself and the four groschen for the
post. Here is a direct following of the Lorenzo episode; caprice rules
his behavior toward an inferior, who is modest in his request. After the
incident, his spite, his head and his heart and his “ich” converse in
true Sterne fashion as to the advisability of his beginning to read
Yorick again. He reasons with himself concerning his conduct toward the
postman, then in an apostrophe to Yorick he condemns himself for failing
in this little test. This conversation occupies so much time that he
cannot run after the postman, but he resolves that nothing, not even the
fly that lights on his nose, shall bring him so far as to forget
wherefore his friend J . . . . sent him a “Lorenzodose.” And at the end
of the section there is a picture of the snuff-box with the lid open,
disclosing the letters of the word “Yorick.” The “Lorenzodose” is
mentioned later, and later still the author calms his indignation by
opening the box; he fortifies himself also by a look at the
treasure.[66]

Following this picture of the snuff-box is an open letter to “My dear
J . . . ,” who, at the author’s request, had sent him on June 29th a
“Lorenzodose.” Jacobi’s accompanying words are given. The author
acknowledges the difficulty with which sometimes the self-conquest
demanded by allegiance to the sentimental symbol has been won.

Yet, compared with some other imitations of the good Yorick, the volume
contains but a moderate amount of lavish sentiment. The servant Pumper
is a man of feeling, who grieves that the horses trod the dewdrops from
the blades of grass. Cast in the real Yorick mould is the scene in which
Pumper kills a marmot (Hamster); upon his master’s expostulation that
God created the little beast also, Pumper is touched, wipes the blood
off with his cuff and buries the animal with tenderness, indulging in a
pathetic soliloquy; the whole being a variant of Yorick’s ass episode.

Marked with a similar vein of sentimentality is the narrator’s conduct
toward the poor wanderer with his heavy burden: the author asserts that
he has never eaten a roll, put on a white shirt, traveled in a
comfortable carriage, or been borne by a strong horse, without bemoaning
those who were less fortunately circumstanced. A similar and truly
Sterne-like triumph of feeling over convention is the traveler’s
insistence that Pumper shall ride with him inside the coach; seemingly a
point derived from Jacobi’s failure to be equally democratic.[67]

Sterne’s emphasis upon the machinery of his story-telling, especially
his distraught pretense at logical sequence in the ordering of his
material is here imitated. For example: near the close of a chapter the
author summons his servant Pumper, but since the chapter bore the title
“Der Brief” and the servant can neither read nor write a letter, he says
the latter has nothing to do in that chapter, but he is to be introduced
in the following one. Yet with Yorick’s inconsequence, the narrator is
led aside and exclaims at the end of this chapter, “But where is
Pumper?” with the answer, “Heaven and my readers know, it was to no
purpose that this chapter was so named (and perhaps this is not the last
one to which the title will be just as appropriate)”, and the next
chapter pursues the whimsical attempt, beginning “As to whether Pumper
will appear in this chapter, about that, dear reader, I am not really
sure myself.”

The whimsical, unconventional interposition of the reader, and the
author’s reasoning with him, a Sterne device, is employed so constantly
in the book as to become a wearying mannerism. Examples have already
been cited, additional ones are numerous: the fifth section is devoted
to such conversation with the reader concerning the work; later the
reader objects to the narrator’s drinking coffee without giving a
chapter about it; the reader is allowed to express his wonder as to what
the chapter is going to be because of the author’s leap; the reader
guesses where the author can be, when he begins to describe conditions
in the moon. The chapter “Der Einwurf” is occupied entirely with the
reader’s protest, and the last two sections are largely the record of
fancied conversations with various readers concerning the nature of the
book; here the author discloses himself.[68] Sterne-like whim is found
in the chapter “Die Nacht,” which consists of a single sentence: “Ich
schenke Ihnen diesen ganzen Zeitraum, denn ich habe ihn ruhig
verschlafen.” Similar Shandean eccentricity is illustrated by the
chapter entitled “Der Monolog,” which consists of four lines of dots,
and the question, “Didn’t you think all this too, my readers?”
Typographical eccentricity is observed also in the arrangement of the
conversation of the ladies A., B., C., D., etc., in the last chapter.
Like Sterne, our author makes lists of things; probably inspired by
Yorick’s apostrophe to the “Sensorium” is our traveler’s appeal to the
spring of joy. The description of the fashion of walking observed in the
maid in the moon is reminiscent of a similar passage in Schummel’s
journey.

Göchhausen’s own work, untrammeled by outside influence, is
considerable, largely a genial satire on critics and philosophers;
his stay in the moon is a kind of Utopian fancy.

The literary journals accepted Göchhausen’s work as a Yorick imitation,
condemned it as such apologetically, but found much in the book worthy
of their praise.[69]

Probably the best known novel which adopts in considerable measure the
style of Tristram Shandy is Wezel’s once famous “Tobias Knaut,” the
“Lebensgeschichte Tobias Knauts des Weisen sonst Stammler genannt,
aus Familiennachrichten gesammelt.”[70] In this work the influence of
Fielding is felt parallel to that of Sterne. The historians of
literature all accord the book a high place among humorous efforts of
the period, crediting the author with wit, narrative ability, knowledge
of human nature and full consciousness of plan and purpose.[71] They
unite also in the opinion that “Tobias Knaut” places Wezel in the ranks
of Sterne imitators, but this can be accepted only guardedly, for in
part the novel must be regarded as a satire on “Empfindsamkeit” and
hence in some measure be classified as an opposing force to Sterne’s
dominion, especially to the distinctively German Sterne. That this
impulse, which later became the guiding principle of “Wilhelmine Arend,”
was already strong in “Tobias Knaut” is hinted at by Gervinus, but
passed over in silence by other writers. Kurz, following Wieland, who
reviewed the novel in his _Merkur_, finds that the influence of Sterne
was baneful. Other contemporary reviews deplored the imitation as
obscuring and stultifying the undeniable and genuinely original talents
of the author.[72]

A brief investigation of Wezel’s novel will easily demonstrate his
indebtedness to Sterne. Yet Wezel in his preface, anticipating the
charge of imitation, asserts that he had not read Shandy when “Tobias”
was begun. Possibly he intends this assertion as a whim, for he quotes
Tristram at some length.[73] This inconsistency is occasion for censure
on the part of the reviewers.

Wezel’s story begins, like Shandy, “ab ovo,” and, in resemblance to
Sterne’s masterpiece, the connection between the condition of the child
before its birth and its subsequent life and character is insisted upon.
A reference is later made to this. The work is episodical and
digressive, but in a more extensive way than Shandy; the episodes in
Sterne’s novel are yet part and parcel of the story, infused with the
personality of the writer, and linked indissolubly to the little family
of originals whose sayings and doings are immortalized by Sterne. This
is not true of Wezel: his episodes and digressions are much more purely
extraneous in event, and nature of interest. The story of the new-found
son, which fills sixty-four pages, is like a story within a story, for
its connection with the Knaut family is very remote. This very story,
interpolated as it is, is itself again interrupted by a seven-page
digression concerning Tyrus, Alexander, Pipin and Charlemagne, which the
author states is taken from the one hundred and twenty-first chapter of
his “Lateinische Pneumatologie,”--a genuine Sternian pretense, reminding
one of the “Tristrapaedia.” Whimsicality of manner distinctly
reminiscent of Sterne is found in his mock-scientific catalogues or
lists of things, as in Chapter III, “Deduktionen, Dissertationen,
Argumentationen a priori und a posteriori,” and so on; plainly adapted
from Sterne’s idiosyncrasy of form is the advertisement which in large
red letters occupies the middle of a page in the twenty-first chapter of
the second volume, which reads as follows: “Dienst-freundliche Anzeige.
Jedermann, der an ernsten Gesprächen keinen Gefallen findet, wird
freundschaftlich ersucht alle folgende Blätter, deren Inhalt einem
Gespräche ähnlich sieht, wohlbedächtig zu überschlagen, d.h. von dieser
Anzeige an gerechnet. Darauf denke ich, soll jedermanniglich vom 22.
Absatze fahren können,--Cuique Suum.” The following page is blank: this
is closely akin to Sterne’s vagaries. Like Sterne, he makes promise of
chapter-subject.[74] Similarly dependent on Sterne’s example, is the
Fragment in Chapter VIII, Volume III, which breaks off suddenly under
the plea that the rest could not be found. Like Sterne, our author
satirizes detailed description in the excessive account of the
infinitesimals of personal discomfort after a carouse.[75] He makes also
obscure whimsical allusions, accompanied by typographical eccentricities
(I, p. 153). To be connected with the story of the Abbess of Andouillets
is the humor “Man leuterirte, appelirte--irte,--irte,--irte.”

The author’s perplexities in managing the composition of the book are
sketched in a way undoubtedly derived from Sterne,--for example, the
beginning of Chapter IX in Volume III is a lament over the difficulties
of chronicling what has happened during the preceding learned
disquisition. When Tobias in anger begins to beat his horse, this is
accompanied by the sighs of the author, a really audible one being put
in a footnote, the whole forming a whimsy of narrative style for which
Sterne must be held responsible. Similar to this is the author’s
statement (Chap. XXV, Vol. II), that Lucian, Swift, Pope, Wieland and
all the rest could not unite the characteristics which had just been
predicated of Selmann. Like Sterne, Wezel converses with the reader
about the way of telling the story, indulging[76] in a mock-serious line
of reasoning with meaningless Sternesque dashes. Further conversation
with the reader is found at the beginning of Chapter III in Volume I,
and in Chapter VIII of the first volume, he cries, “Wake up, ladies and
gentlemen,” and continues at some length a conversation with these
fancied personages about the progress of the book. Wezel in a few cases
adopted the worst feature of Sterne’s work and was guilty of bad taste
in precisely Yorick’s style: Tobias’s adventure with the so-called
soldier’s wife, after he has run away from home, is a case in point, but
the following adventure with the two maidens while Tobias is bathing in
the pool is distinctly suggestive of Fielding. Sterne’s indecent
suggestion is also followed in the hints at the possible occasion of the
Original’s aversion to women. A similar censure could be spoken
regarding the adventure in the tavern,[77] where the author hesitates on
the edge of grossness.

Wezel joined other imitators of Yorick in using as a motif the
accidental interest of lost documents, or papers: here the poems of the
“Original,” left behind in the hotel, played their rôle in the tale.
The treatment of the wandering boy by the kindly peasant is clearly an
imitation of Yorick’s famous visit in the rural cottage. A parallel to
Walter Shandy’s theory of the dependence of great events on trifles is
found in the story of the volume of Tacitus, which by chance suggested
the sleeping potion for Frau v. L., or that Tobias’s inability to take
off his hat with his right hand was influential on the boy’s future
life. This is a reminder of Tristram’s obliquity in his manner of
setting up his top. As in Shandy, there is a discussion about the
location of the soul. The character of Selmann is a compound of Yorick
and the elder Shandy, with a tinge of satiric exaggeration, meant to
chastise the thirst for “originals” and overwrought sentimentalism. His
generosity and sensitiveness to human pain is like Yorick. As a boy he
would empty his purse into the bosom of a poor man; but his daily life
was one round of Shandean speculation, largely about the relationships
of trivial things: for example, his yearly periods of investigating his
motives in inviting his neighbors Herr v. ** and Herr v. *** every July
to his home.

Wezel’s satire on the craze for originality is exemplified in the
account of the “Original” (Chap. XXII, Vol. II), who was cold when
others were hot, complained of not liking his soup because the plate was
not full, but who threw the contents of his coffee cup at the host
because it was filled to the brim, and trembled at the approach of a
woman. Selmann longs to meet such an original. Selmann also thinks he
has found an original in the inn-keeper who answers everything with
“Nein,” greatly to his own disadvantage, though it turns out later that
this was only a device planned by another character to gain advantage
over Selmann himself. So also, in the third volume, Selmann and Tobias
ride off in pursuit of a sentimental adventure, but the latter proves to
be merely a jest of the Captain at the expense of his sentimental
friend. Satire on sentimentalism is further unmistakable in the two
maidens, Adelheid and Kunigunde, who weep over a dead butterfly, and
write a lament over its demise. In jest, too, it is said that the
Captain made a “sentimental journey through the stables.” The author
converses with Ermindus, who seems to be a kind of Eugenius,
a convenient figure for reference, apostrophe, and appeal. The novelist
makes also, like Sterne, mock-pedantic allusions, once indeed making a
long citation from a learned Chinese book. An expression suggesting
Sterne is the oath taken “bey den Nachthemden aller Musen,”[78] and an
intentional inconsequence of narration, giving occasion to conversation
regarding the author’s control of his work, is the sudden passing over
of the six years which Tobias spent in Selmann’s house.[79]

In connection with Wezel’s occupation with Sterne and Sterne products in
Germany, it is interesting to consider his poem: “Die unvermuthete
Nachbarschaft. Ein Gespräch,” which was the second in a volume of three
poems entitled “Epistel an die deutschen Dichter,” the name of the first
poem, and published in Leipzig in 1775. This slight work is written for
the most part in couplets and covers twenty-three pages. Wezel
represents Doktor Young, the author of the gloomy “Night Thoughts” and
“Der gute Lacher,--Lorenz Sterne” as occupying positions side by side in
his book-case. This proximity gives rise to a conversation between the
two antipodal British authors: Sterne says:

  “Wir brauchen beide vielen Raum,
  Your Reverence viel zum Händeringen,
  Und meine Wenigkeit, zum Pfeifen, Tanzen, Singen.”

and later,

  . . . “Und will von Herzen gern der Thor der Thoren seyn;
  Jüngst that ich ernst: gleich hielt die
  Narrheit mich beym Rocke.
  Wo, rief sie, willst du hin,--Du! weisst du unsern Bund.
  Ist das der Dank? Du lachtest dich gesund.”

To Sterne’s further enunciation of this joyous theory of life, Young
naturally replies in characteristic terms, emphasizing life’s
evanescence and joy’s certain blight. But Sterne, though acknowledging
the transitoriness of life’s pleasures, denies Young’s deductions.
Yorick’s conception of death is quite in contrast to Young’s picture and
one must admit that it has no justification in Sterne’s writings. On the
contrary, Yorick’s life was one long flight from the grim enemy. The
idea of death cherished by Asmus in his “Freund Hein,” the welcome
guest, seems rather the conception which Wezel thrusts on Sterne. Death
comes to Yorick in full dress, a youth, a Mercury:

  “Er thuts, er kommt zu mir, ‘Komm, guter Lorenz, flieh!’
  So ruft er auf mich zu. ‘Dein Haus fängt an zu wanken,
  Die Mauern spalten sich; Gewölb und Balken schwanken,
  Was nuzt dir so ein Haus? . . .’”

so he takes the wreathèd cup, drinks joyfully, and follows death,
embracing him.

  “Das ist mein Tod, ich sehe keinen Knochen,
  Womit du ihn, gleich einem Zahnarzt, schmückst,
  Geschieht es heute noch, geschieht’s in wenig Wochen,
  Dass du, Gevatter Tod, nur meine Hände drückst?
  Ganz nach Bequemlichkeit! du bist mir zwar willkommen.”

The latter part of the poem contains a rather extended laudation of the
part played by sympathetic feeling in the conduct of life.

That there would be those in Germany as in England, who saw in Sterne’s
works only a mine of vulgar suggestion, a relation sometimes delicate
and clever, sometimes bald and ugly, of the indelicate and sensual, is a
foregone conclusion. Undoubtedly some found in the general approbation
which was accorded Sterne’s books a sanction for forcing upon the public
the products of their own diseased imaginations.

This pernicious influence of the English master is exemplified by
Wegener’s “Raritäten, ein hinterlassenes Werk des Küsters von
Rummelsberg.”[80] The first volume is dedicated to “Sebaldus Nothanker,”
and the long document claims for the author unusual distinction, in thus
foregoing the possibility of reward or favor, since he dedicates his
book to a fictitious personage. The idea of the book is to present
“merry observations” for every day in the year. With the end of the
fourth volume the author has reached March 17, and, according to the
_Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_, the sixth volume includes May 22. The
present writer was unable to examine the last volume to discover whether
the year was rounded out in this way.

The author claims to write “neither for surly Catos nor for those fond
of vulgar jests and smutty books,” but for those who will laugh. At the
close of his preface he confesses the source of his inspiration: “In
order to inspire myself with something of the spirit of a Sterne, I made
a decoction out of his writings and drank the same eagerly; indeed I
have burned the finest passages to powder, and then partaken of it with
warm English ale, but”--he had the insight and courtesy to add--“it
helped me just a little as it aids a lame man, if he steps in the
footprints of one who can walk nimbly.” The very nature of this author’s
dependence on Sterne excludes here any extended analysis of the
connection. The style is abrupt, full of affected gaiety and raillery,
conversational and journalistic. The stories, observations and
reflections, in prose and verse, represent one and all the ribaldry of
Sterne at its lowest ebb, as illustrated, for example, by the story of
the abbess of Andouillets, but without the charm and grace with which
that tale begins. The author copies Sterne in the tone of his
lucubrations; the material is drawn from other sources. In the first
volume, at any rate, his only direct indebtedness to Sterne is the
introduction of the Shandean theory of noses in the article for January
11. The pages also, sometimes strewn with stars and dashes, present a
somewhat Sternesque appearance.

These volumes are reviewed in the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[81]
with full appreciation of their pernicious influence, and with open
acknowledgment that their success demonstrates a pervision of taste in
the fatherland. The author of the “Litterarische Reise durch
Deutschland”[82] advises his sister, to whom his letters are directed,
to put her handkerchief before her mouth at the very mention of Wegener,
and fears that the very name has befouled his pen. A similar
condemnation is meted out in Wieland’s _Merkur_.[83]

A similar commentary on contemporary taste is obtained from a somewhat
similar collection of stories, “Der Geist der Romane im letzten Viertel
des 18ten Jahrhunderts,” Breslau and Hirschberg, 1788, in which the
author (S. G. Preisser?) claims to follow the spirit of the period and
gives six stories of revolting sensuality, with a thin whitewash of
teary sentimentalism.

The pursuit of references to Yorick and direct appeals to his writings
in the German literary world of the century succeeding the era of his
great popularity would be a monstrous and fruitless task. Such
references in books, letters and periodicals multiply beyond possibility
of systematic study. One might take the works[84] of Friedrich Matthison
as a case in point. He visits the grave of Musäus, even as Tristram
Shandy sought for the resting-place of the two lovers in Lyons (III,
p. 312); as he travels in Italy, he remarks that a certain visit would
have afforded Yorick’s “Empfindsamkeit” the finest material for an
Ash-Wednesday sermon (IV, p. 67). Sterne’s expressions are cited:
“Erdwasserball” for the earth (V, p. 57), “Wo keine Pflanze, die da
nichts zu suchen hatte, eine bleibende Stäte fand” (V, p. 302); two
farmsteads in the Tyrol are designated as “Nach dem Ideal Yoricks” (VI,
pp. 24-25). He refers to the story of the abbess of Andouillets (VI,
64); he narrates (VIII, pp. 203-4) an anecdote of Sterne which has just
been printed in the _Adress-Comptoir-Nachrichten_ (1769, p. 151); he
visits Prof. Levade in Lausanne, who bore a striking resemblance to
Sterne (V, p. 279), and refers to Yorick in other minor regards (VII,
158; VIII, pp. 51, 77, and Briefe II, 76). Yet in spite of this evident
infatuation, Matthison’s account of his own travels cannot be classed as
an imitation of Yorick, but is purely objective, descriptive, without
search for humor or pathos, with no introduction of personalities save
friends and celebrities. Heinse alluded to Sterne frequently in his
letters to Gleim (1770-1771),[85] but after August 23, 1771, Sterne
vanished from his fund of allusion, though the correspondence lasts
until 1802, a fact of significance in dating the German enthusiasm for
Sterne and the German knowledge of Shandy from the publication of the
Sentimental Journey, and likewise an indication of the insecurity of
Yorick’s personal hold.

Miscellaneous allusions to Sterne, illustrating the magnitude and
duration of his popularity, may not be without interest: Kästner
“Vermischte Schriften,” II, p. 134 (Steckenpferd); Lenz “Gesammelte
Werke,” Berlin, 1828, Vol. III, p. 312; letter from the Duchess Amalie,
August 2, 1779, in “Briefe an und von Merck,” Darmstadt, 1838; letter of
Caroline Herder to Knebel, April 2, 1799, in “K. L. von Knebel’s
Literarischer Nachlass,” Leipzig, 1835, p. 324 (Yorick’s “heiliges
Sensorium”); a rather unfavorable but apologetic criticism of Shandy in
the “Hinterlassene Schriften” of Charlotta Sophia Sidonia Seidelinn,
Nürnberg, 1793, p. 227; “Schiller’s Briefe,” edited by Fritz Jonas, I,
pp. 136, 239; in Hamann’s letters, “Leben und Schriften,” edited by Dr.
C. H. Gildermeister, Gotha, 1875, II, p. 338; III, p. 56; V, pp. 16,
163; in C. L. Jünger’s “Anlage zu einem Familiengespräch über die
Physiognomik” in _Deutsches Museum_, II, pp. 781-809, where the French
barber who proposes to dip Yorick’s wig in the sea is taken as a type of
exaggeration. And a similar reference is found in Wieland’s _Merkur_,
1799, I, p. 15: Yorick’s Sensorium is again cited, _Merkur_, 1791, II,
p. 95. Other references in the _Merkur_ are: 1774, III, p. 52; 1791, I,
p. 418; 1800, I, p. 14; 1804, I, pp. 19-21; _Deutsches Museum_, IV, pp.
66, 462; _Neuer Gelehrter Mercurius_, Altona, 1773, August 19, in review
of Goethe’s “Götz;” _Almanach der deutschen Musen_, 1771, p. 93. And
thus the references scatter themselves down the decades. “Das Wörtlein
Und,” by F. A. Krummacher (Duisberg und Essen, 1811), bore a motto taken
from the Koran, and contained the story of Uncle Toby and the fly with a
personal application, and Yorick’s division of travelers is copied
bodily and applied to critics. Friedrich Hebbel, probably in 1828, gave
his Newfoundland dog the name of Yorick-Sterne-Monarch.[86] Yorick is
familiarly mentioned in Wilhelm Raabe’s “Chronik der Sperlingsgasse”
(1857), and in Ernst von Wolzogen’s “Der Dornenweg,” two characters
address one another in Yorick similes. Indeed, in the summer of 1902,
a Berlin newspaper was publishing “Eine Empfindsame Reise in einem
Automobile.”[87]

Musäus is named as an imitator of Sterne by Koberstein, and Erich
Schmidt implies in his “Richardson, Rousseau und Goethe,” that he
followed Sterne in his “Grandison der Zweite,” which could hardly be
possible, for “Grandison der Zweite” was first published in 1760, and
was probably written during 1759, that is, before Sterne had published
Tristram Shandy. Adolph von Knigge is also mentioned by Koberstein as a
follower of Sterne, and Baker includes Knigge’s “Reise nach
Braunschweig” and “Briefe auf einer Reise aus Lothringen” in his list.
Their connection with Sterne cannot be designated as other than remote;
the former is a merry vagabond story, reminding one much more of the
tavern and way-faring adventures in Fielding and Smollett, and
suggesting Sterne only in the constant conversation with the reader
about the progress of the book and the mechanism of its construction.
One example of the hobby-horse idea in this narration may perhaps be
traced to Sterne. The “Briefe auf einer Reise aus Lothringen” has even
less connection; it shares only in the increase of interest in personal
accounts of travel. Knigge’s novels, “Peter Claus” and “Der Roman meines
Lebens,” are decidedly not imitations of Sterne; a clue to the character
of the former may be obtained from the fact that it was translated into
English as “The German Gil Blas.” “Der Roman meines Lebens” is a typical
eighteenth century love-story written in letters, with numerous
characters, various intrigues and unexpected adventures; indeed, a part
of the plot, involving the abduction of one of the characters, reminds
one of “Clarissa Harlowe.” Sterne is, however, incidentally mentioned in
both books, is quoted in “Peter Claus” (Chapter VI, Vol. II), and Walter
Shandy’s theory of Christian names is cited in “Der Roman meines
Lebens.”[88] That Knigge had no sympathy with exaggerated sentimentalism
is seen in a passage in his “Umgang mit Menschen.”[89] Knigge admired
and appreciated the real Sterne and speaks in his “Ueber Schriftsteller
und Schriftstellerei”[90] of Yorick’s sharpening observation regarding
the little but yet important traits of character.

Moritz August von Thümmel in his famous “Reise in die mittäglichen
Provinzen von Frankreich” adopted Sterne’s general idea of sentimental
journeying, shorn largely of the capriciousness and whimsicality which
marked Sterne’s pilgrimage. He followed Sterne also in driving the
sensuous to the borderland of the sensual.

Hippel’s novels, “Lebensläufe nach aufsteigender Linie” and “Kreuz und
Querzüge des Ritters A. bis Z.” were purely Shandean products in which a
humor unmistakably imitated from Sterne struggles rather unsuccessfully
with pedagogical seriousness. Jean Paul was undoubtedly indebted to
Sterne for a part of his literary equipment, and his works afford proof
both of his occupation with Sterne’s writings and its effect upon his
own. A study of Hippel’s “Lebensläufe” in connection with both Sterne
and Jean Paul was suggested but a few years after Hippel’s death by a
reviewer in the _Neue Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_[91] as a
fruitful topic for investigation. A detailed, minute study of von
Thümmel, Hippel and Jean Paul[92] in connection with the English master
is purposed as a continuation of the present essay. Heine’s pictures of
travel, too, have something of Sterne in them.


    [Footnote 1: _Quellen und Forschungen_, II, p. 27.]

    [Footnote 2: Jacobi remarked, in his preface to the “Winterreise”
    in the edition of 1807, that this section, “Der Taubenschlag” is
    not to be reckoned as bearing the trace of the then condemned
    “Empfindeley,” for many authors, ancient and modern, have taken up
    the cause of animals against man; yet Sterne is probably the
    source of Jacobi’s expression of his feeling.]

    [Footnote 3: XI, 2, pp. 16 f.]

    [Footnote 4: For reviews of the “Sommerreise” see _Allg. deutsche
    Bibl._, XIII, i, p. 261, _Deutsche Bibl. der schönen
    Wissenschaften_, IV, p. 354, and _Neue Critische Nachrichten_,
    Greifswald, V, p. 406. _Almanach der deutschen Musen_, 1770,
    p. 112. The “Winterreise” is also reviewed there, p. 110.]

    [Footnote 5: Some minor points may be noted. Longo implies
    (page 2) that it was Bode’s translation of the original
    Sentimental Journey which was re-issued in four volumes, Hamburg
    and Bremen, 1769, whereas the edition was practically identical
    with the previous one, and the two added volumes were those of
    Stevenson’s continuation. Longo calls Sterne’s Eliza “Elisha”
    (p. 28) and Tristram’s father becomes Sir Walter Shandy (p. 37),
    an unwarranted exaltation of the retired merchant.]

    [Footnote 6: Review in the _Jenaische Zeitungen von Gel. Sachen_]

    [Footnote 7: I, pp. 314 + 20; II, 337; III. 330.]

    [Footnote 8: I, p. 156; III, p. 318.]

    [Footnote 9: Schummel states this himself, III, p. 320.]

    [Footnote 10: Tristram Shandy, III, 51-54.]

    [Footnote 11: Pp. 256-265.]

    [Footnote 12: P. 34.]

    [Footnote 13: Shandy, I, p. 75; Schummel, I, p. 265.]

    [Footnote 14: II, p. 117.]

    [Footnote 15: In “Das Kapitel von meiner Lebensart,” II, pp.
    113 ff.]

    [Footnote 16: XVI, 2, pp. 682-689.]

    [Footnote 17: The third part is reviewed (Hr) in XIX, 2, pp.
    576-7, but without significant contribution to the question.]

    [Footnote 18: I, 2, pp. 66-74, the second number of 1772. Review
    is signed “S.”]

    [Footnote 19: Another review of Schummel’s book is found in the
    _Almanach der deutschen Musen_, 1773, p. 106.]

    [Footnote 20: XI, 2, p. 344; XV, 1, p. 249; XVII, 1, p. 244. Also
    entitled “Begebenheiten des Herrn Redlich,” the novel was
    published Wittenberg, 1756-71; Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1768-71.]

    [Footnote 21: XXVIII, 1, pp. 199 ff. Reviewed also in _Auserlesene
    Bibliothek der neusten deutschen Litteratur_, Lemgo, VII, p. 234
    (1775) and _Neue litterarische Unterhaltungen_, Breslau, I, pp.
    660-691.]

    [Footnote 22: Leipzig, Crusius, 1776, pp. 120. Baker, influenced
    by title and authorship, includes it among the literary progeny of
    Yorick. It has no connection with Sterne.]

    [Footnote 23: See _Jahresberichte für neuere deutsche
    Litteratur-geschichte_, II, p. 106 (1893).]

    [Footnote 24: Breslau, 1792. It is included in Baker’s list.]

    [Footnote 25: Frankfurt and Leipzig, pp. 208. Baker regards these
    two editions as two different works.]

    [Footnote 26: Sentimental Journey, pp. 87-88.]

    [Footnote 27: Sentimental Journey, p. 73.]

    [Footnote 28: Pp. 45-50.]

    [Footnote 29: Pp. 106-119.]

    [Footnote 30: Die Gesellschafterin, pp. 131-144.]

    [Footnote 31: Pp. 145-155.]

    [Footnote 32: Die Dame, pp. 120-130.]

    [Footnote 33: V, St. 2, p. 371.]

    [Footnote 34: Anhang to XIII-XXIV, Vol. II, p. 1151.]

    [Footnote 35: Letter to Raspe, Göttingen, June 2, 1770, in
    _Weimarisches Jahrbuch_, III, p. 28.]

    [Footnote 36: _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._, April 27, 1773, pp. 276-8.]

    [Footnote 37: _Hamburgischer unpartheyischer Correspondent_,
    December 31, 1771.]

    [Footnote 38: Other reviews are (2) and (3), _Frankfurter gel.
    Anz._, November 27, 1772; (2) and (3), _Allg. deutsche Bibl._,
    XIX, 2, p. 579 (Musäus) and XXIV, 1, p. 287; of the series, _Neue
    Critische Nachrichten_ (Greifswald), IX, p. 152. There is a rather
    full analysis of (1) in _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._, 1773, pp. 276-8,
    April 27. According to Wittenberg in the _Altonaer
    Reichs-Postreuter_ (June 21, 1773), Holfrath Deinet was the author
    of this review. A sentimental episode from these “Journeys” was
    made the subject of a play called “Der Greis” and produced at
    Munich in 1774. (See _Allg. deutsche Bibl._, XXXII, 2, p. 466).]

    [Footnote 39: Berlin, 1873.]

    [Footnote 40: _Deutsches Museum_, VI, p. 384, and VII, p. 220.]

    [Footnote 41: Reval und Leipzig, 1788, 2d edition, 1792, and
    published in “Kleine gesammelte Schriften,” Reval und Leipzig,
    1789, Vol. III, pp. 131-292. Reviewed in _Allg. Litt.-Zeitung_,
    1789, II, p. 736.]

    [Footnote 42: Leipzig, 1793, pp. 224, 8vo, by Georg Joachim
    Göschen.]

    [Footnote 43: See the account of Ulm, and of Lindau near the end
    of the volume.]

    [Footnote 44: See pp. 21-22 and 105.]

    [Footnote 45: “Geschichte der komischen Literatur,” III, p. 625.]

    [Footnote 46: See “Briefwechsel zwischen Goethe und Schiller,”
    edited by Boxberger. Stuttgart, Spemann, Vol. I, p. 118.]

    [Footnote 47: It is to be noted also that von Thümmel’s first
    servant bears the name Johann.]

    [Footnote 48: “Charis oder über das Schöne und die Schönheit in
    den bildenden Künsten” by Ramdohr, Leipzig, 1793.]

    [Footnote 49: “Schiller’s Briefe,” edited by Fritz Jonas, III,
    pp. 316, 319. Letters of June 6 and June 23 (?), 1793.]

    [Footnote 50: “Briefe von Christian Garve an Chr. Felix Weisse,
    und einige andern Freunde,” Breslau, 1803, p. 189-190. The book
    was reviewed favorably by the _Allg. Litt. Zeitung_, 1794, IV,
    p. 513.]

    [Footnote 51: Falkenburg, 1796, pp. 110. Goedeke gives Bremen as
    place of publication.]

    [Footnote 52: Ebeling, III, p. 625, gives Hademann as author, and
    Fallenburg--both probably misprints.]

    [Footnote 53: The review is of “Auch Vetter Heinrich hat Launen,
    von G. L. B., Frankfurt-am-Main, 1796”--a book evidently called
    into being by a translation of selections from “Les Lunes du
    Cousin Jacques.” Jünger was the translator. The original is the
    work of Beffroy de Regny.]

    [Footnote 54: Hedemann’s book is reviewed indifferently in the
    _Allg. Litt. Zeitung._ (Jena, 1798, I, p. 173.)]

    [Footnote 55: Von Rabenau wrote also “Hans Kiekindiewelts Reise”
    (Leipzig, 1794), which Ebeling (III, p. 623) condemns as “the most
    commonplace imitation of the most ordinary kind of the comic.”]

    [Footnote 56: It is also reviewed by Musäus in the _Allg. deutsche
    Bibl._, XIX, 2, p. 579.]

    [Footnote 57: The same opinion is expressed in the _Jenaische
    Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen_, 1776, p. 465. See also
    Schwinger’s study of “Sebaldus Nothanker,” pp. 248-251; Ebeling,
    p. 584; _Allg. deutsche Bibl._, XXXII, 1, p. 141.]

    [Footnote 58: Leipzig and Liegnitz, 1775.]

    [Footnote 59: The _Leipziger Museum Almanach_, 1776, pp. 69-70,
    agrees in this view.]

    [Footnote 60: XXIX, 2, p. 507.]

    [Footnote 61: 1776, I, p. 272.]

    [Footnote 62: An allusion to an episode of the “Sommerreise.”]

    [Footnote 63: “Sophie von la Roche,” Göttinger Dissertation,
    Einbeck, 1895.]

    [Footnote 64: _Allg. deutsche Bibl._, XLVII, 1, p. 435; LII, 1,
    p. 148, and _Anhang_, XXIV-XXXVI, Vol. II, p. 903-908.]

    [Footnote 65: The quotation is really from the spurious ninth
    volume in Zückert’s translation.]

    [Footnote 66: For these references to the snuff-box, see pp. 53,
    132-3, 303 and 314.]

    [Footnote 67: In “Sommerreise.”]

    [Footnote 68: Other examples are found pp. 57, 90, 255, 270, 209,
    312, 390, and elsewhere.]

    [Footnote 69: See _Auserlesene Bibliothek der neuesten deutschen
    Litteratur_, VII, p. 399; _Almanach der deutschen Musen_, 1775,
    p. 75; _Magazin der deutschen Critik_, III, 1, p. 174;
    _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._, _July_ 1, 1774; _Allg. deutsche Bibl._,
    XXVI, 2, 487; _Teut. Merkur_, VI, p. 353; _Gothaische Gelehrte
    Zeitungen_, 1774, I, p. 17.]

    [Footnote 70: Leipzig, 1773-76, 4 vols. “Tobias Knaut” was at
    first ascribed to Wieland.]

    [Footnote 71: Gervinus, V, pp. 225 ff.; Ebeling, III, p. 568;
    Hillebrand, II, p. 537; Kurz, III, p. 504; Koberstein, IV, pp.
    168 f. and V, pp. 94 f.]

    [Footnote 72: The “_Magazin der deutschen Critik_” denied the
    imitation altogether.]

    [Footnote 73: I, p. 178.]

    [Footnote 74: I, p. 117.]

    [Footnote 75: I, pp. 148 ff.]

    [Footnote 76: I, p. 17.]

    [Footnote 77: III, pp. 99-104.]

    [Footnote 78: II, p. 44.]

    [Footnote 79: For reviews of “Tobias Knaut” see _Gothaische
    Gelehrte Zeitung_, April 13, 1774, pp. 193-5; _Magazin der
    deutschen Critik_, III, 1, p. 185 (1774); _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._,
    April 5, 1774, pp. 228-30; _Almanach der deutschen Musen_, 1775,
    p. 75; _Leipziger Musen-Almanach_, 1776, pp. 68-69; _Allg.
    deutsche Bibl._, XXX, 2, pp. 524 ff., by Biester; _Teut. Merkur_,
    V, pp. 344-5; VII, p. 361-2, 1776, pp. 272-3, by Merck.]

    [Footnote 80: Berlin, nine parts, 1775-1785. Vol I, pp. 128
    (1775); Vol. II, pp. 122; Vol. III, pp. 141; Vol. IV, pp. 198
    (1779); Vols. V and VI, 1780; Vols. I and II were published in a
    new edition in 1778, and Vol. III in 1780 (a third edition).]

    [Footnote 81: XXIX, 1, p. 186; XXXVI, 2, p. 601; XLIII, 1, p. 301;
    XLVI, 2, p. 602; LXII, 1, p. 307.]

    [Footnote 82: See p. 8.]

    [Footnote 83: 1777, II, p. 278, review of Vols. II and III. Vol.
    I is reviewed in _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._, 1775, p. 719-20 (October
    31), and IX in _Allg. Litt.-Zeitung_, Jena, 1785, V,
    Supplement-Band, p. 80.]

    [Footnote 84: See p. 89.]

    [Footnote 85: Briefe deutscher Gelehrten aus Gleims Nachlass.
    (Zürich, 1806.)]

    [Footnote 86: Emil Kuh’s life of Hebbel, Wien, 1877, I,
    p. 117-118.]

    [Footnote 87: The “Empfindsame Reise der Prinzessin Ananas nach
    Gros-glogau” (Riez, 1798, pp. 68, by Gräfin Lichterau?) in its
    revolting loathesomeness and satirical meanness is an example of
    the vulgarity which could parade under the name. In 1801 we find
    “Prisen aus der hörneren Dose des gesunden Menschenverstandes,”
    a series of letters of advice from father to son. A play of
    Stephanie the younger, “Der Eigensinnige,” produced January 29,
    1774, is said to have connection with Tristram Shandy; if so, it
    would seem to be the sole example of direct adaptation from Sterne
    to the German stage. “Neue Schauspiele.” Pressburg and Leipzig,
    1771-75, Vol. X.]

    [Footnote 88: P. 185, edition of 1805.]

    [Footnote 89: See below p. 166-7.]

    [Footnote 90: Hannover, 1792, pp. 80, 263.]

    [Footnote 91: LXVI, p. 79, 1801.]

    [Footnote 92: Sometime after the completion of this present essay
    there was published in Berlin, a study of “Sterne, Hippel and Jean
    Paul,” by J. Czerny (1904). I have not yet had an opportunity to
    examine it.]



CHAPTER VII

OPPOSITION TO STERNE AND HIS TYPE OF SENTIMENTALISM


Sterne’s influence in Germany lived its own life, and gradually and
imperceptibly died out of letters, as an actuating principle. Yet its
dominion was not achieved without some measure of opposition. The
sweeping condemnation which the soberer critics heaped upon the
incapacities of his imitators has been exemplified in the accounts
already given of Schummel, Bock and others. It would be interesting to
follow a little more closely this current of antagonism. The tone of
protest was largely directed, the edge of satire was chiefly whetted,
against the misunderstanding adaptation of Yorick’s ways of thinking and
writing, and only here and there were voices raised to detract in any
way from the genius of Sterne. He never suffered in Germany such an
eclipse of fame as was his fate in England. He was to the end of the
chapter a recognized prophet, an uplifter and leader. The far-seeing,
clear-minded critics, as Lessing, Goethe and Herder, expressed
themselves quite unequivocally in this regard, and there was later no
withdrawal of former appreciation. Indeed, Goethe’s significant words
already quoted came from the last years of his life, when the new
century had learned to smile almost incredulously at the relation of a
bygone folly.

In the very heyday of Sterne’s popularity, 1772, a critic of Wieland’s
“Diogenes” in the _Auserlesene Bibliothek der neuesten deutschen
Litteratur_[1] bewails Wieland’s imitation of Yorick, whom the critic
deems a far inferior writer, “Sterne, whose works will disappear, while
Wieland’s masterpieces are still the pleasure of latest posterity.” This
review of “Diogenes” is, perhaps, rather more an exaggerated compliment
to Wieland than a studied blow at Sterne, and this thought is recognized
by the reviewer in the _Frankfurter Gelehrte Anzeigen_,[2] who
designates the compliment as “dubious” and “insulting,” especially in
view of Wieland’s own personal esteem for Sterne. Yet these words, even
as a relative depreciation of Sterne during the period of his most
universal popularity, are not insignificant. Heinrich Leopold Wagner,
a tutor at Saarbrücken, in 1770, records that one member of a reading
club which he had founded “regarded his taste as insulted because I sent
him “Yorick’s Empfindsame Reise.”[3] But Wagner regarded this instance
as a proof of Saarbrücken ignorance, stupidity and lack of taste; hence
the incident is but a wavering testimony when one seeks to determine the
amount and nature of opposition to Yorick.

We find another derogatory fling at Sterne himself and a regret at the
extent of his influence in an anonymous book entitled “Betrachtungen
über die englischen Dichter,”[4] published at the end of the great
Yorick decade. The author compares Sterne most unfavorably with Addison:
“If the humor of the _Spectator_ and _Tatler_ be set off against the
digressive whimsicality of Sterne,” he says, “it is, as if one of the
Graces stood beside a Bacchante. And yet the pampered taste of the
present day takes more pleasure in a Yorick than in an Addison.” But a
reviewer in the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[5] discounts this
author’s criticisms of men of established fame, such as Shakespeare,
Swift, Yorick, and suggests youth, or brief acquaintance with English
literature, as occasion for his inadequate judgments. Indeed, Yorick
disciples were quick to resent any shadow cast upon his name. Thus the
remark in a letter printed in the _Deutsches Museum_ that Asmus was the
German Yorick “only a better moral character,” called forth a long
article in the same periodical for September, 1779, by L. H. N.,[6]
vigorously defending Sterne as a man and a writer. The greatness of his
human heart and the breadth and depth of his sympathies are given as the
unanswerable proofs of his moral worth. This defense is vehemently
seconded in the same magazine by Joseph von Retzer.

The one great opponent of the whole sentimental tendency, whose censure
of Sterne’s disciples involved also a denunciation of the master
himself, was the Göttingen professor, Georg Christopher Lichtenberg.[7]
In his inner nature Lichtenberg had much in common with Sterne and
Sterne’s imitators in Germany, with the whole ecstatic, eccentric
movement of the time. Julian Schmidt[8] says: “So much is sure, at any
rate, that the greatest adversary of the new literature was of one flesh
and blood with it.”[9] But his period of residence in England shortly
after Sterne’s death and his association then and afterwards with
Englishmen of eminence render his attitude toward Sterne in large
measure an English one, and make an idealization either of the man or of
his work impossible for him.

The contradiction between the greatness of heart evinced in Sterne’s
novels and the narrow selfishness of the author himself is repeatedly
noted by Lichtenberg. His knowledge of Sterne’s character was derived
from acquaintance with many of Yorick’s intimate friends in London. In
“Beobachtungen über den Menschen,” he says: “I can’t help smiling when
the good souls who read Sterne with tears of rapture in their eyes fancy
that he is mirroring himself in his book. Sterne’s simplicity, his warm
heart, over-flowing with feeling, his soul, sympathizing with everything
good and noble, and all the other expressions, whatever they may be; and
the sigh ‘Alas, poor Yorick,’ which expresses everything at once--have
become proverbial among us Germans. . . . Yorick was a crawling
parasite, a flatterer of the great, an unendurable burr on the clothing
of those upon whom he had determined to sponge!”[10]

In “Timorus” he calls Sterne “ein scandalum Ecclesiae”;[11] he doubts
the reality of Sterne’s nobler emotions and condemns him as a clever
juggler with words, who by artful manipulation of certain devices
aroused in us sympathy, and he snatches away the mask of loving, hearty
sympathy and discloses the grinning mountebank. With keen insight into
Sterne’s mind and method, he lays down a law by which, he says, it is
always possible to discover whether the author of a touching passage has
really been moved himself, or has merely with astute knowledge of the
human heart drawn our tears by a sly choice of touching features.[12]

Akin to this is the following passage in which the author is
unquestionably thinking of Sterne, although he does not mention him:
“A heart ever full of kindly feeling is the greatest gift which Heaven
can bestow; on the other hand, the itching to keep scribbling about it,
and to fancy oneself great in this scribbling is one of the greatest
punishments which can be inflicted upon one who writes.”[13] He exposes
the heartlessness of Sterne’s pretended sympathy: “A three groschen
piece is ever better than a tear,”[14] and “sympathy is a poor kind of
alms-giving,”[15] are obviously thoughts suggested by Yorick’s
sentimentalism.[16]

The folly of the “Lorenzodosen” is several times mentioned with open or
covert ridicule[17] and the imitators of Sterne are repeatedly told the
fruitlessness of their endeavor and the absurdity of their
accomplishment.[18] His “Vorschlag zu einem Orbis Pictus für deutsche
dramatische Schriftsteller, Romanendichter und Schauspieler”[19] is a
satire on the lack of originality among those who boasted of it, and
sought to win attention through pure eccentricities.

The Fragments[20] are concerned, as the editors say, with an evil of the
literature in those days, the period of the Sentimentalists and the
“Kraftgenies.” Among the seven fragments may be noted: “Lorenzo
Eschenheimers empfindsame Reise nach Laputa,” a clever satirical sketch
in the manner of Swift, bitterly castigating that of which the English
people claim to be the discoverers (sentimental journeying) and the
Germans think themselves the improvers. In “Bittschrift der
Wahnsinnigen” and “Parakletor” the unwholesome literary tendencies of
the age are further satirized. His brief essay, “Ueber die
Vornamen,”[21] is confessedly suggested by Sterne and the sketch “Dass
du auf dem Blockberg wärst,”[22] with its mention of the green book
entitled “Echte deutsche Flüche und Verwünschungen für alle Stände,” is
manifestly to be connected in its genesis with Sterne’s famous
collection of oaths.[23] Lichtenberg’s comparison of Sterne and Fielding
is familiar and significant.[24] “Aus Lichtenbergs Nachlass: Aufsätze,
Gedichte, Tagebuchblätter, Briefe,” edited by Albert Leitzmann,[25]
contains additional mention of Sterne.

The name of Helfreich Peter Sturz may well be coupled with that of
Lichtenberg, as an opponent of the Sterne cult and its German
distortions, for his information and point of view were likewise drawn
direct from English sources. Sturz accompanied King Christian VII of
Denmark on his journey to France and England, which lasted from May 6,
1768, to January 14, 1769[26]; hence his stay in England falls in a time
but a few months after Sterne’s death (March 18, 1768), when the
ungrateful metropolis was yet redolent of the late lion’s wit and humor.
Sturz was an accomplished linguist and a complete master of English,
hence found it easy to associate with Englishmen of distinction whom he
was privileged to meet through the favor of his royal patron. He became
acquainted with Garrick, who was one of Sterne’s intimate friends, and
from him Sturz learned much of Yorick, especially that more wholesome
revulsion of feeling against Sterne’s obscenities and looseness of
speech, which set in on English soil as soon as the potent personality
of the author himself had ceased to compel silence and blind opinion.
England began to wonder at its own infatuation, and, gaining
perspective, to view the writings of Sterne in a more rational light.
Into the first spread of this reaction Sturz was introduced, and the
estimate of Sterne which he carried away with him was undoubtedly
colored by it. In his second letter written to the _Deutsches Museum_
and dated August 24, 1768, but strangely not printed till April,
1777,[27] he quotes Garrick with reference to Sterne, a notable word of
personal censure, coming in the Germany of that decade, when Yorick’s
admirers were most vehement in their claims. Garrick called him “a lewd
companion, who was more loose in his intercourse than in his writings
and generally drove all ladies away by his obscenities.”[28] Sturz adds
that all his acquaintances asserted that Sterne’s moral character went
through a process of disintegration in London.

In the _Deutsches Museum_ for July, 1776, Sturz printed a poem entitled
“Die Mode,” in which he treats of the slavery of fashion and in several
stanzas deprecates the influence of Yorick.[29]

  “Und so schwingt sich, zum Genie erklärt,
  Strephon kühn auf Yorick’s Steckenpferd.
  Trabt mäandrisch über Berg und Auen,
  Reist empfindsam durch sein Dorfgebiet,
  Oder singt die Jugend zu erbauen
  Ganz Gefühl dem Gartengott ein Lied.
  Gott der Gärten, stöhnt die Bürgerin,
  Lächle gütig, Rasen und Schasmin
  Haucht Gerüche! Fliehet Handlungssorgen,
  Dass mein Liebster heute noch in Ruh
  Sein Mark-Einsaz-Lomber spiele--Morgen,
  Schliessen wir die Unglücksbude zu!”

A passage at the end of the appendix to the twelfth Reisebrief is
further indication of his opposition to and his contempt for the frenzy
of German sentimentalism.

The poems of Goeckingk contain allusions[30] to Sterne, to be sure
partly indistinctive and insignificant, which, however, tend in the main
to a ridicule of the Yorick cult and place their author ultimately among
the satirical opponents of sentimentalism. In the “Epistel an Goldhagen
in Petershage,” 1771, he writes:

  “Doch geb ich wohl zu überlegen,
  Was für den Weisen besser sey:
  Die Welt wie Yorick mit zu nehmen?
  Nach Königen, wie Diogen,
  Sich keinen Fuss breit zu bequemen,”--

a query which suggests the hesitant point of view relative to the
advantage of Yorick’s excess of universal sympathy. In “Will auch ’n
Genie werden” the poet steps out more unmistakably as an adversary of
the movement and as a skeptical observer of the exercise of Yorick-like
sympathy.

  “Doch, ich Patronus, merkt das wohl,
    Geh, im zerrissnen Kittel,
  Hab’ aber alle Taschen voll
    Yorickischer Capittel.
  Doch lass’ ich, wenn mir’s Kurzweil schafft,
    Die Hülfe fleh’nden Armen
  Durch meinen Schweitzer, Peter Kraft,
    Zerprügeln ohn’ Erbarmen.”

Goeckingk openly satirizes the sentimental cult in the poem “Der
Empfindsame”

  “Herr Mops, der um das dritte Wort
  Empfindsamkeit im Munde führet,
  Und wenn ein Grashalm ihm verdorrt,
  Gleich einen Thränenstrom verlieret--
      . . . . . . . .
  Mit meinem Weibchen thut er schier
  Gleich so bekannt wie ein Franzose;
  All’ Augenblicke bot er ihr
  Toback aus eines Bettlers Dose
  Mit dem, am Zaun in tiefem Schlaf
  Er einen Tausch wie Yorik traf.
  Der Unempfindsamkeit zum Hohn
  Hielt er auf eine Mück’ im Glase
  Beweglich einen Leichsermon,
  Purrt’ eine Flieg’ ihm an der Nase,
  Macht’ er das Fenster auf, und sprach:
  Zieh Oheim Toby’s Fliege nach!
  Durch Mops ist warlich meine Magd
  Nicht mehr bey Trost, nicht mehr bey Sinnen
  So sehr hat ihr sein Lob behagt,
  Dass sie empfindsam allen Spinnen
  Zu meinem Hause, frank und frey
  Verstattet ihre Weberey.
  Er trat mein Hündchen auf das Bein,
  Hilf Himmel! Welch’ ein Lamentiren!
  Es hätte mögen einen Stein
  Der Strasse zum Erbarmen rühren,
  Auch wedelt’ ihm in einem Nu
  Das Hündgen schon Vergebung zu.
  Ach! Hündchen, du beschämst mich sehr,
  Denn dass mir Mops von meinem Leben
  Drey Stunden stahl, wie schwer, wie schwer,
  Wird’s halten, das ihm zu vergeben?
  Denn Spinnen werden oben ein
  Wohl gar noch meine Mörder seyn.”

This poem is a rather successful bit of ridicule cast on the
over-sentimental who sought to follow Yorick’s foot-prints.

The other allusions to Sterne[31] are concerned with his hobby-horse
idea, for this seems to gain the poet’s approbation and to have no share
in his censure.

The dangers of overwrought sentimentality, of heedless surrender to the
emotions and reveling in their exercise,--perils to whose magnitude
Sterne so largely contributed--were grasped by saner minds, and
energetic protest was entered against such degradation of mind and
futile expenditure of feeling.

Joachim Heinrich Campe, the pedagogical theorist, published in 1779[32]
a brochure, “Ueber Empfindsamkeit und Empfindelei in pädagogischer
Hinsicht,” in which he deprecates the tendency of “Empfindsamkeit” to
degenerate into “Empfindelei,” and explains at some length the
deleterious effects of an unbridled “Empfindsamkeit” and an unrestrained
outpouring of sympathetic emotions which finds no actual expression, no
relief in deeds. The substance of this warning essay is repeated, often
word for word, but considerably amplified with new material, and
rendered more convincing by increased breadth of outlook and
positiveness of assertion, the fruit of six years of observation and
reflection, as part of a treatise, entitled, “Von der nöthigen Sorge für
die Erhaltung des Gleichgewichts unter den menschlichen Kräften:
Besondere Warnung vor dem Modefehler die Empfindsamkeit zu überspannen.”
It is in the third volume of the “Allgemeine Revision des gesammten
Schul- und Erziehungswesens.”[33] The differentiation between
“Empfindsamkeit” and “Empfindelei” is again and more accessibly repeated
in Campe’s later work, “Ueber die Reinigung und Bereicherung der
deutschen Sprache.”[34] In the second form of this essay (1785) Campe
speaks of the sentimental fever as an epidemic by no means entirely
cured.

His analysis of “Empfindsamkeit” is briefly as follows: “Empfindsamkeit
ist die Empfänglichkeit zu Empfindnissen, in denen etwas Sittliches d.i.
Freude oder Schmerz über etwas sittlich Gutes oder sittlich Böses, ist;”
yet in common use the term is applied only to a certain high degree of
such susceptibility. This sensitiveness is either in harmony or discord
with the other powers of the body, especially with the reason: if
equilibrium is maintained, this sensitiveness is a fair, worthy,
beneficent capacity (Fähigkeit); if exalted over other forces, it
becomes to the individual and to society the most destructive and
baneful gift which refinement and culture may bestow. Campe proposes to
limit the use of the word “Empfindsamkeit” to the justly proportioned
manifestation of this susceptibility; the irrational, exaggerated
development he would designate “überspannte Empfindsamkeit.”
“Empfindelei,” he says, “ist Empfindsamkeit, die sich auf eine
kleinliche alberne, vernunftlose und lächerliche Weise, also da äussert,
wo sie nicht hingehörte.” Campe goes yet further in his distinctions and
invents the monstrous word, “Empfindsamlichkeit” for the sentimentality
which is superficial, affected, sham (geheuchelte). Campe’s newly coined
word was never accepted, and in spite of his own efforts and those of
others to honor the word “Empfindsamkeit” and restrict it to the
commendable exercise of human sympathy, the opposite process was
victorious and “Empfindsamkeit,” maligned and scorned, came to mean
almost exclusively, unless distinctly modified, both what Campe
designates as “überspannte Empfindsamkeit” and “Empfindelei,” and also
the absurd hypocrisy of the emotions which he seeks to cover with his
new word. Campe’s farther consideration contains a synopsis of method
for distinguishing “Empfindsamkeit” from “Empfindelei:” in the first
place through the manner of their incitement,--the former is natural,
the latter is fantastic, working without sense of the natural properties
of things. In this connection he instances as examples, Yorick’s feeling
of shame after his heartless and wilful treatment of Father Lorenzo,
and, in contrast with this, the shallowness of Sterne’s imitators who
whimpered over the death of a violet, and stretched out their arms and
threw kisses to the moon and stars. In the second place they are
distinguished in the manner of their expression: “Empfindsamkeit” is
“secret, unpretentious, laconic and serious;” the latter attracts
attention, is theatrical, voluble, whining, vain. Thirdly, they are
known by their fruits, in the one case by deeds, in the other by shallow
pretension. In the latter part of his volume, Campe treats the problem
of preventing the perverted form of sensibility by educative endeavor.

The word “Empfindsamkeit” was afterwards used sometimes simply as an
equivalent of “Empfindung,” or sensation, without implication of the
manner of sensing: for example one finds in the _Morgenblatt_[35] a poem
named “Empfindsamkeiten am Rheinfalle vom Felsen der Galerie
abgeschrieben.” In the poem various travelers are made to express their
thoughts in view of the waterfall. A poet cries, “Ye gods, what a hell
of waters;” a tradesman, “away with the rock;” a Briton complains of the
“confounded noise,” and so on. It is plain that the word suffered a
generalization of meaning.

A poetical expression of Campe’s main message is found in a book called
“Winterzeitvertreib eines königlichen preussischen Offiziers.”[36]
A poem entitled “Das empfindsame Herz” (p. 210) has the following lines:

  “Freund, ein empfindsames Herz ist nicht für diese Welt,
  Von Schelmen wird’s verlacht, von Thoren wirds geprellt,
  Doch üb’ im Stillen das, was seine Stimme spricht.
  Dein Lohn ist dir gewiss, nur hier auf Erden nicht.”

In a similar vein of protest is the letter of G. Hartmann[37] to Denis,
dated Tübingen, February 10, 1773, in which the writer condemns the
affected sentimentalism of Jacobi and others as damaging to morals.
“O best teacher,” he pleads with Denis, “continue to represent these
performances as unworthy.”

Möser in his “Patriotische Phantasien”[38] represents himself as
replying to a maid-in-waiting who writes in distress about her young
mistress, because the latter is suffering from “epidemic”
sentimentalism, and is absurdly unreasonable in her practical incapacity
and her surrender to her feelings. Möser’s sound advice is the
substitution of genuine emotion. The whole section is entitled “Für die
Empfindsamen.”

Knigge, in his “Umgang mit Menschen,” plainly has those Germans in mind
who saw in Uncle Toby’s treatment of the fly an incentive to
unreasonable emphasis upon the relations between man and the animal
world, when, in the chapter on the treatment of animals, he protests
against the silly, childish enthusiasm of those who cannot see a hen
killed, but partake of fowl greedily on the table, or who passionately
open the window for a fly.[39] A work was also translated from the
French of Mistelet, which dealt with the problem of “Empfindsamkeit:”
it was entitled “Ueber die Empfindsamkeit in Rücksicht auf das Drama,
die Romane und die Erziehung.”[40] An article condemning exaggerated
sentimentality was published in the _Deutsches Museum_ for February,
1783, under the title “Etwas über deutsche Empfindsamkeit.”

Goethe’s “Der Triumph der Empfindsamkeit” is a merry satire on the
sentimental movement, but is not to be connected directly with Sterne,
since Goethe is more particularly concerned with the petty imitators of
his own “Werther.” Baumgartner in his Life of Goethe asserts that
Sterne’s Sentimental Journey was one of the books found inside the
ridiculous doll which the love-sick Prince Oronaro took about with him.
This is not a necessary interpretation, for Andrason, when he took up
the first book, exclaimed merely “Empfindsamkeiten,” and, as Strehlke
observes,[41] it is not necessary here to think of a single work,
because the term was probably used in a general way, referring possibly
to a number of then popular imitations.

The satires on “Empfindsamkeit” began to grow numerous at the end of the
seventies and the beginning of the eighties, so that the _Allgemeine
Litteratur-Zeitung_, in October, 1785, feels justified in remarking that
such attempts are gradually growing as numerous as the “Empfindsame
Romane” themselves, and wishes, “so may they rot together in a
grave of oblivion.”[42] Anton Reiser, the hero of Karl Philipp
Moritz’sautobiographical novel (Berlin, 1785-90), begins a satire on
affected sentimentalism, which was to bring shafts of ridicule to bear
on the popular sham, and to throw appreciative light on the real
manifestation of genuine feeling.[43] A kindred satire was “Die
Geschichte eines Genies,” Leipzig, 1780, two volumes, in which the
prevailing fashion of digression is incidentally satirized.[44]

The most extensive satire on the sentimental movement, and most vehement
protest against its excesses is the four volume novel, “Der
Empfindsame,”[45] published anonymously in Erfurt, 1781-3, but
acknowledged in the introduction to the fourth volume by its author,
Christian Friedrich Timme. He had already published one novel in which
he exemplified in some measure characteristics of the novelists whom he
later sought to condemn and satirize, that is, this first novel,
“Faramond’s Familiengeschichte,”[46] is digressive and episodical. “Der
Empfindsame” is much too bulky to be really effective as a satire; the
reiteration of satirical jibes, the repetition of satirical motifs
slightly varied, or thinly veiled, recoil upon the force of the work
itself and injure the effect. The maintenance of a single satire through
the thirteen to fourteen hundred pages which four such volumes contain
is a Herculean task which we can associate only with a genius like
Cervantes. Then, too, Timme is an excellent narrator, and his original
purpose is constantly obscured by his own interest and the reader’s
interest in Timme’s own story, in his original creations, in the variety
of his characters. These obtrude upon the original aim of the book and
absorb the action of the story in such a measure that Timme often for
whole chapters and sections seems to forget entirely the convention of
his outsetting.

His attack is threefold, the centers of his opposition being “Werther,”
“Siegwart” and Sterne, as represented by their followers and imitators.
But the campaign is so simple, and the satirist has been to such trouble
to label with care the direction of his own blows, that it is not
difficult to separate the thrusts intended for each of his foes.

Timme’s initial purpose is easily illustrated by reference to his first
chapter, where his point of view is compactly put and the soundness of
his critical judgment and the forcefulness of his satirical bent are
unequivocally demonstrated: This chapter, which, as he says, “may serve
instead of preface and introduction,” is really both, for the narrative
really begins only in the second chapter. “Every nation, every age,”
he says, “has its own doll as a plaything for its children, and
sentimentality (Empfindsamkeit) is ours.” Then with lightness and grace,
coupled with unquestionable critical acumen, he traces briefly the
growth of “Empfindsamkeit” in Germany. “Kaum war der liebenswürdige
Sterne auf sein Steckenpferd gestiegen, und hatte es uns vorgeritten;
so versammelten sich wie gewöhnlich in Teutschland alle Jungen an ihn
herum, hingen sich an ihn, oder schnizten sich sein Steckenpferd in der
Geschwindigkeit nach, oder brachen Stecken vom nächsten Zaun oder rissen
aus einem Reissigbündel den ersten besten Prügel, setzten sich darauf
und ritten mit einer solchen Wut hinter ihm drein, dass sie einen
Luftwirbel veranlassten, der alles, was ihm zu nahe kam, wie ein
reissender Strom mit sich fortris, wär es nur unter den Jungen
geblieben, so hätte es noch sein mögen; aber unglücklicherweise fanden
auch Männer Geschmack an dem artigen Spielchen, sprangen vom ihrem Weg
ab und ritten mit Stok und Degen und Amtsperüken unter den Knaben
einher. Freilich erreichte keiner seinen Meister, den sie sehr bald aus
dem Gesicht verloren, und nun die possirlichsten Sprünge von der Welt
machen und doch bildet sich jeder der Affen ein, er reite so schön wie
der Yorick.”[47]

This lively description of Sterne’s part in this uprising is, perhaps,
the best brief characterization of the phenomenon and is all the more
significant as coming from the pen of a contemporary, and written only
about a decade after the inception of the sentimental movement as
influenced and furthered by the translation of the Sentimental Journey.
It represents a remarkable critical insight into contemporaneous
literary movements, the rarest of all critical gifts, but it has been
overlooked by investigators who have sought and borrowed brief words to
characterize the epoch.[48]

The contribution of “Werther” and “Siegwart” to the sentimental frenzy
are even as succinctly and graphically designated; the latter book,
published in 1776, is held responsible for a recrudescence of the
phenomenon, because it gave a new direction, a new tone to the faltering
outbursts of Sterne’s followers and indicated a more comprehensible and
hence more efficient, outlet for their sentimentalism. Now again, “every
nook resounded with the whining sentimentality, with sighs, kisses,
forget-me-nots, moonshine, tears and ecstasies;” those hearts excited by
Yorick’s gospel, gropingly endeavoring to find an outlet for their own
emotions which, in their opinion were characteristic of their arouser
and stimulator, found through “Siegwart” a solution of their problem,
a relief for their emotional excess.

Timme insists that his attack is only on Yorick’s mistaken followers and
not on Sterne himself. He contrasts the man and his imitators at the
outset sharply by comments on a quotation from the novel, “Fragmente zur
Geschichte der Zärtlichkeit”[49] as typifying the outcry of these petty
imitators against the heartlessness of their misunderstanding
critics,--“Sanfter, dultender Yorick,” he cries, “das war nicht deine
Sprache! Du priesest dich nicht mit einer pharisäischen
Selbstgenügsamkeit und schimpftest nicht auf die, die dir nicht ähnlich
waren, ‘Doch! sprachst Du am Grabe Lorenzos, doch ich bin so weichherzig
wie ein Weib, aber ich bitte die Welt nicht zu lachen, sondern mich zu
bedauern!’ Ruhe deinem Staube, sanfter, liebevoller Dulter! und nur
einen Funken deines Geistes deinen Affen.”[50] He writes not for the
“gentle, tender souls on whom the spirit of Yorick rests,”[51] for those
whose feelings are easily aroused and who make quick emotional return,
who love and do the good, the beautiful, the noble; but for those who
“bei dem wonnigen Wehen und Anhauchen der Gottheithaltenden Natur, in
huldigem Liebessinn und himmelsüssem Frohsein dahin schmelzt . . die ihr
vom Sang der Liebe, von Mondschein und Tränen euch nährt,” etc.,
etc.[52] In these few words he discriminates between the man and his
influence, and outlines his intentions to satirize and chastise the
insidious disease which had fastened itself upon the literature of the
time. This passage, with its implied sincerity of appreciation for the
real Yorick, is typical of Timme’s attitude throughout the book, and his
concern lest he should appear at any time to draw the English novelist
into his condemnation leads him to reiterate this statement of purpose
and to insist upon the contrast.

Brükmann, a young theological student, for a time an intimate of the
Kurt home, is evidently intended to represent the soberer, well-balanced
thought of the time in opposition to the feverish sentimental frenzy of
the Kurt household. He makes an exception of Yorick in his condemnation
of the literary favorites, the popular novelists of that day, but he
deplores the effects of misunderstood imitation of Yorick’s work, and
argues his case with vehemence against this sentimental group.[53]
Brükmann differentiates too the different kinds of sentimentalism and
their effects in much the same fashion as Campe in his treatise
published two years before.[54] In all this Brükmann may be regarded as
the mouth-piece of the author. The clever daughter of the gentleman who
entertains Pank at his home reads a satirical poem on the then popular
literature, but expressly disclaims any attack on Yorick or “Siegwart,”
and asserts that her bitterness is intended for their imitators. Lotte,
Pank’s sensible and unsentimental, long-suffering fiancée, makes further
comment on the “apes” of Yorick, “Werther,” and “Siegwart.”

The unfolding of the story is at the beginning closely suggestive of
Tristram Shandy and is evidently intended to follow the Sterne novel in
a measure as a model. As has already been suggested, Timme’s own
narrative powers balk the continuity of the satire, but aid the interest
and the movement of the story. The movement later is, in large measure,
simple and direct. The hero is first introduced at his christening, and
the discussion of fitting names in the imposing family council is taken
from Walter Shandy’s hobby. The narrative here, in Sterne fashion, is
interrupted by a Shandean digression[55] concerning the influence of
clergymen’s collars and neck-bands upon the thoughts and minds of their
audiences. Such questions of chance influence of trifles upon the
greater events of life is a constant theme of speculation among the
pragmatics; no petty detail is overlooked in the possibility of its
portentous consequences. Walter Shandy’s hyperbolic philosophy turned
about such a focus, the exaltation of insignificant trifles into
mainsprings of action. Shandy bristles with such discussions.

In Shandy fashion the story doubles on itself after the introduction and
gives minute details of young Kurt’s family and the circumstances prior
to his birth. The later discussion[56] in the family council concerning
the necessary qualities in the tutor to be hired for the young Kurt is
distinctly a borrowing from Shandy.[57] Timme imitates Sterne’s method
of ridiculing pedantry; the requirements listed by the Diaconus and the
professor are touches of Walter Shandy’s misapplied, warped, and
undigested wisdom. In the nineteenth chapter of the third volume[58] we
find a Sterne passage associating itself with Shandy rather more than
the Sentimental Journey. It is a playful thrust at a score of places in
Shandy in which the author converses with the reader about the progress
of the book, and allows the mechanism of book-printing and the vagaries
of publishers to obtrude themselves upon the relation between writer and
reader. As a reminiscence of similar promises frequent in Shandy, the
author promises in the first chapter of the fourth volume to write a
book with an eccentric title dealing with a list of absurdities.[59]

But by far the greater proportion of the allusions to Sterne associate
themselves with the Sentimental Journey. A former acquaintance of Frau
Kurt, whose favorite reading was Shandy, Wieland’s “Sympatien” and the
Sentimental Journey, serves to satirize the influence of Yorick’s ass
episode; this gentleman wept at the sight of an ox at work, and never
ate meat lest he might incur the guilt of the murder of these sighing
creatures.[60]

The most constantly recurring form of satire is that of contradiction
between the sentimental expression of elevated, universal sympathy and
broader humanity and the failure to seize an immediately presented
opportunity to embody desire in deed. Thus Frau Kurt,[61] buried in
“Siegwart,” refuses persistently to be disturbed by those in immediate
need of a succoring hand. Pankraz and his mother while on a drive
discover an old man weeping inconsolably over the death of his dog.[62]
The scene of the dead ass at Nampont occurs at once to Madame Kurt and
she compares the sentimental content of these two experiences in
deprivation, finding the palm of sympathy due to the melancholy
dog-bewailer before her, thereby exalting the sentimental privilege of
her own experience as a witness. Quoting Yorick, she cries: “Shame on
the world! If men only loved one another as this man loves his dog!”[63]
At this very moment the reality of her sympathy is put to the test by
the approach of a wretched woman bearing a wretched child, begging for
assistance, but Frau Kurt, steeped in the delight of her sympathetic
emotion, repulses her rudely. Pankraz, on going home, takes his Yorick
and reads again the chapter containing the dead-ass episode; he spends
much time in determining which event was the more affecting, and tears
flow at the thought of both animals. In the midst of his vehement curses
on “unempfindsame Menschen,” “a curse upon you, you hard-hearted
monsters, who treat God’s creatures unkindly,” etc., he rebukes the
gentle advances of his pet cat Riepel, rebuffs her for disturbing his
“Wonnegefühl,” in such a heartless and cruel way that, through an
accident in his rapt delight at human sympathy, the ultimate result is
the poor creature’s death by his own fault.

In the second volume[64] Timme repeats this method of satire, varying
conditions only, yet forcing the matter forward, ultimately, into the
grotesque comic, but again taking his cue from Yorick’s narrative about
the ass at Nampont, acknowledging specifically his linking of the
adventure of Madame Kurt to the episode in the Sentimental Journey. Frau
Kurt’s ardent sympathy is aroused for a goat drawing a wagon, and driven
by a peasant. She endeavors to interpret the sighs of the beast and
finally insists upon the release of the animal, which she asserts is
calling to her for aid. The poor goat’s parting bleat after its
departing owner is construed as a curse on the latter’s hardheartedness.
Frau Kurt embraces and kisses the animal. During the whole scene the
neighboring village is in flames, houses are consumed and poor people
rendered homeless, but Frau Kurt expresses no concern, even regarding
the catastrophe as a merited affliction, because of the villagers’ lack
of sympathy with their domestic animals. The same means of satire is
again employed in the twelfth chapter of the same volume.[65] Pankraz,
overcome with pain because Lotte, his betrothed, fails to unite in his
sentimental enthusiasm and persists in common-sense, tries to bury his
grief in a wild ride through night and storm. His horse tramples
ruthlessly on a poor old man in the road; the latter cries for help, but
Pank, buried in contemplation of Lotte’s lack of sensibility, turns a
deaf ear to the appeal.

In the seventeenth chapter of the third volume, a sentimental journey is
proposed, and most of the fourth volume is an account of this
undertaking and the events arising from its complications. Pankraz’s
adventures are largely repetitions of former motifs, and illustrate the
fate indissolubly linked with an imitation of Sterne’s related converse
with the fair sex.[66]

The journey runs, after a few adventures, over into an elaborate
practical joke in which Pankraz himself is burlesqued by his
contemporaries. Timme carries his poignancy and keenness of satire over
into bluntness of burlesque blows in a large part of these closing
scenes. Pankraz loses the sympathy of the reader, involuntarily and
irresistibly conceded him, and becomes an inhuman freak of absurdity,
beyond our interest.[67]

Pankraz is brought into disaster by his slavish following of suggestions
aroused through fancied parallels between his own circumstances and
those related of Yorick. He finds a sorrowing woman[68] sitting, like
Maria of Moulines, beneath a poplar tree. Pankraz insists upon carrying
out this striking analogy farther, which the woman, though she betrays
no knowledge of the Sentimental Journey, is not loath to accede to, as
it coincides with her own nefarious purposes. Timme in the following
scene strikes a blow at the abjectly sensual involved in much of the
then sentimental, unrecognized and unrealized.

Pankraz meets a man carrying a cage of monkeys.[69] He buys the poor
creatures from their master, even as Frau Kurt had purchased the goat.
The similarity to the Starling narrative in Sterne’s volume fills
Pankraz’s heart with glee. The Starling wanted to get out and so do his
monkeys, and Pankraz’s only questions are: “What did Yorick do?” “What
would he do?” He resolves to do more than is recorded of Yorick, release
the prisoners at all costs. Yorick’s monolog occurs to him and he
parodies it. The animals greet their release in the thankless way
natural to them,--a point already enforced in the conduct of Frau Kurt’s
goat.

In the last chapter of the third volume Sterne’s relationship to “Eliza”
is brought into the narrative. Pankraz writes a letter wherein he
declares amid exaggerated expressions of bliss that he has found
“Elisa,” his “Elisa.” This is significant as showing that the name Eliza
needed no further explanation, but, from the popularity of the
Yorick-Eliza letters and the wide-spread admiration of the relation, the
name Eliza was accepted as a type of that peculiar feminine relation
which existed between Sterne and Mrs. Draper, and which appealed to
Sterne’s admirers.

Pankraz’s new Order of the Garter, born of his wild frenzy[70] of
devotion over this article of Elisa’s wearing apparel, is an open satire
on Leuchsenring’s and Jacobi’s silly efforts noted elsewhere. The garter
was to bear Elisa’s silhouette and the device “Orden vom Strumpfband der
empfindsamen Liebe.”

The elaborate division of moral preachers[71] into classes may be
further mentioned as an adaptation from Sterne, cast in Yorick’s
mock-scientific manner.

A consideration of these instances of allusion and adaptation with a
view to classification, reveals a single line of demarkation obvious and
unaltered. And this line divides the references to Sterne’s sentimental
influence from those to his whimsicality of narration, his vagaries of
thought; that is, it follows inevitably, and represents precisely the
two aspects of Sterne as an individual, and as an innovator in the world
of letters. But that a line of cleavage is further equally discernible
in the treatment of these two aspects is not to be overlooked. On the
one hand is the exaggerated, satirical, burlesque; on the other the
modified, lightened, softened. And these two lines of division coincide
precisely.

The slight touches of whimsicality, suggesting Sterne, are a part of
Timme’s own narrative, evidently adapted with approval and appreciation;
they are never carried to excess, satirized or burlesqued, but may be
regarded as purposely adopted, as a result of admiration and presumably
as a suggestion to the possible workings of sprightliness and grace on
the heaviness of narrative prose at that time. Timme, as a clear-sighted
contemporary, certainly confined the danger of Sterne’s literary
influence entirely to the sentimental side, and saw no occasion to
censure an importation of Sterne’s whimsies. Pank’s ode on the death of
Riepel, written partly in dashes and partly in exclamation points, is
not a disproof of this assertion. Timme is not satirizing Sterne’s
whimsical use of typographical signs, but rather the Germans who
misunderstood Sterne and tried to read a very peculiar and precious
meaning into these vagaries. The sentimental is, however, always
burlesqued and ridiculed; hence the satire is directed largely against
the Sentimental Journey, and Shandy is followed mainly in those
sections, which, we are compelled to believe, he wrote for his own
pleasure, and in which he was led on by his own interest.

The satire on sentimentalism is purposeful, the imitation and adaptation
of the whimsical and original is half-unconscious, and bespeaks
admiration and commendation.

Timme’s book was sufficiently popular to demand a second edition, but it
never received the critical examination its merits deserved. Wieland’s
_Teutscher Merkur_ and the _Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_
ignore it completely. The _Gothaische Gelehrte Zeitungen_ announces the
book in its issue of August 2, 1780, but the book itself is not reviewed
in its columns. The _Jenaische Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen_ accords
it a colorless and unappreciative review in which Timme is reproached
for lack of order in his work (a censure more applicable to the first
volume), and further for his treatment of German authors then
popular.[72] The latter statement stamps the review as unsympathetic
with Timme’s satirical purpose. In the _Erfurtische gelehrte
Zeitung_,[73] in the very house of its own publication, the novel is
treated in a long review which hesitates between an acknowledged lack of
comprehension and indignant denunciation. The reviewer fears that the
author is a “Pasquillant oder gar ein Indifferentist” and hopes the
public will find no pleasure (Geschmack) in such bitter jesting
(Schnaken). He is incensed at Timme’s contention that the Germans were
then degenerate as compared with their Teutonic forefathers, and Timme’s
attack on the popular writers is emphatically resented. “Aber nun kömmt
das Schlimme erst,” he says, “da führt er aus Schriften unserer grössten
Schenies, aus den Lieblings-büchern der Nazion, aus Werther’s Leiden,
dem Siegwart, den Fragmenten zur Geschichte der Zärtlichkeit, Müller’s
Freuden und Leiden, Klinger’s Schriften u.s.w. zur Bestätigung seiner
Behauptung, solche Stellen mit solcher Bosheit an, dass man in der That
ganz verzweifelt wird, ob sie von einem Schenie oder von einem Affen
geschrieben sind.”

In the number for July 6, 1782, the second and third volumes are
reviewed. Pity is expressed for the poor author, “denn ich fürchte es
wird sich ein solches Geschrey wider ihn erheben, wovon ihm die Ohren
gällen werden.” Timme wrote reviews for this periodical, and the general
tone of this notice renders it not improbable that he roguishly wrote
the review himself or inspired it, as a kind of advertisement for the
novel itself. It is certainly a challenge to the opposing party.

The _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_[74] alone seems to grasp the full
significance of the satire. “We acknowledge gladly,” says the reviewer,
“that the author has with accuracy noted and defined the rise,
development, ever-increasing contagion and plague-like prevalence of
this moral pestilence; . . . that the author has penetrated deep into
the knowledge of this disease and its causes.” He wishes for an
engraving of the Sterne hobby-horse cavalcade described in the first
chapter, and begs for a second and third volume, “aus deutscher
Vaterlandsliebe.” Timme is called “Our German Cervantes.”

The second and third volumes are reviewed[75] with a brief word of
continued approbation.

A novel not dissimilar in general purpose, but less successful in
accomplishment, is Wezel’s “Wilhelmine Arend, oder die Gefahren der
Empfindsamkeit,” Dessau and Leipzig, 1782, two volumes. The book is more
earnest in its conception. Its author says in the preface that his
desire was to attack “Empfindsamkeit” on its dangerous and not on its
comic side, hence the book avoids in the main the lighthearted and
telling burlesque, the Hudibrastic satire of Timme’s novel. He works
along lines which lead through increasing trouble to a tragic
_dénouement_.

The preface contains a rather elaborate classification of kinds of
“Empfindsamkeit,” which reminds one of Sterne’s mock-scientific
discrimination. This classification is according to temperament,
education, example, custom, reading, strength or weakness of the
imagination; there is a happy, a sad, a gentle, a vehement, a dallying,
a serious, a melancholy, sentimentality, the last being the most poetic,
the most perilous.

The leading character, Wilhelmine, is, like most characters which are
chosen and built up to exemplify a preconceived theory, quite
unconvincing. In his foreword Wezel analyzes his heroine’s character and
details at some length the motives underlying the choice of attributes
and the building up of her personality. This insight into the author’s
scaffolding, this explanation of the mechanism of his puppet-show, does
not enhance the aesthetic, or the satirical force of the figure. She is
not conceived in flesh and blood, but is made to order.

The story begins in letters,--a method of story-telling which was the
legacy of Richardson’s popularity--and this device is again employed in
the second volume (Part VII). Wilhelmine Arend is one of those whom
sentimentalism seized like a maddening pestiferous disease. We read of
her that she melted into tears when her canary bird lost a feather, that
she turned white and trembled when Dr. Braun hacked worms to pieces in
conducting a biological experiment. On one occasion she refused to drive
home, as this would take the horses out in the noonday sun and disturb
their noonday meal,--an exorbitant sympathy with brute creation which
owes its popularity to Yorick’s ass. It is not necessary here to relate
the whole story. Wilhelmine’s excessive sentimentality estranges her
from her husband, a weak brutish man, who has no comprehension of her
feelings. He finds a refuge in the debasing affections of a French
opera-singer, Pouilly, and gradually sinks to the very lowest level of
degradation. This all is accomplished by the interposition and active
concern of friends, by efforts at reunion managed by benevolent
intriguers and kindly advisers.

The advice of Drs. Braun and Irwin is especially significant in its sane
characterization of Wilhelmine’s mental disorders, and the observations
upon “Empfindsamkeit” which are scattered through the book are
trenchant, and often markedly clever. Wilhelmine holds sentimental
converse with three kindred spirits in succession, Webson, Dittmar, and
Geissing. The first reads touching tales aloud to her and they two unite
their tears, a sentimental idea dating from the Maria of Moulines
episode. The part which the physical body, with its demands and desires
unacknowledged and despised, played as the unseen moving power in these
three friendships is clearly and forcefully brought out. Allusion to
Timme’s elucidation of this principle, which, though concealed, underlay
much of the sentimentalism of this epoch, has already been made. Finally
Wilhelmine is persuaded by her friends to leave her husband, and the
scene is shifted to a little Harz village, where she is married to
Webson; but the unreasonableness of her nature develops inordinately,
and she is unable ever to submit to any reasonable human relations, and
the rest of the tale is occupied with her increasing mental aberration,
her retirement to a hermit-like seclusion, and her death.

The book, as has been seen, presents a rather pitiful satire on the
whole sentimental epoch, not treating any special manifestation, but
applicable in large measure equally to those who joined in expressing
the emotional ferment to which Sterne, “Werther” and “Siegwart” gave
impulse, and for which they secured literary recognition. Wezel fails as
a satirist, partly because his leading character is not convincing, but
largely because his satirical exaggeration, and distortion of
characteristics, which by a process of selection renders satire
efficient, fails to make the exponent of sentimentalism ludicrous, but
renders her pitiful. At the same time this satirical warping impairs the
value of the book as a serious presentation of a prevailing malady. The
book falls between two stools.

A precursor of “Wilhelmine Arend” from Wezel’s own hand was “Die
unglückliche Schwäche,” which was published in the second volume of his
“Satirische Erzählungen.”[76] In this book we have a character with a
heart like the sieve of the Danaids, and to Frau Laclerc is attributed
“an exaggerated softness of heart which was unable to resist a single
impression, and was carried away at any time, wherever the present
impulse bore it.” The plot of the story, with the intrigues of Graf. Z.,
the Pouilly of the piece, the separation of husband and wife, their
reunion, the disasters following directly in the train of weakness of
heart in opposing sentimental attacks, are undoubtedly children of the
same purpose as that which brought forth “Wilhelmine Arend.”

Another satirical protest was, as one reads from a contemporary review,
“Die Tausend und eine Masche, oder Yoricks wahres Shicksall, ein blaues
Mährchen von Herrn Stanhope” (1777, 8vo). The book purports to be the
posthumous work of a young Englishman, who, disgusted with Yorick’s
German imitators, grew finally indignant with Yorick himself. The
_Almanach der deutschen Musen_ (1778, pp. 99-100) finds that the author
misjudges Yorick. The book is written in part if not entirely in verse.

In 1774 a correspondent of Wieland’s _Merkur_ writes, begging this
authoritative periodical to condemn a weekly paper just started in
Prague, entitled “Wochentlich Etwas,” which is said to be written in the
style of Tristram Shandy and the Sentimental Journey, M . . . R . . .
and “die Beyträge zur Geheimen Geschichte des menschlichen Herzens und
Verstandes,” and thereby is a shame to “our dear Bohemia.”

In this way it is seen how from various sources and in various ways
protest was made against the real or distorted message of Laurence
Sterne.


    [Footnote 1: I, p. 103, Lemgo.]

    [Footnote 2: 1772, July 7.]

    [Footnote 3: See Erich Schmidt’s “Heinrich Leopold Wagner,
    Goethe’s Jugendgenosse,” 2d edition, Jena, 1879, p. 82.]

    [Footnote 4: Berlin, 1779, pp. 86.]

    [Footnote 5: XLIV, 1, p. 105.]

    [Footnote 6: Probably Ludwig Heinrich von Nicolay, the poet and
    fable-writer (1727-1820). The references to the _Deutsches Museum_
    are respectively VI, p. 384; VIII, pp. 220-235; X, pp. 464 ff.]

    [Footnote 7: “Georg Christoph Lichtenberg’s Vermischte Schriften,”
    edited by Ludwig Christian Lichtenberg and Friedrich Kries, new
    edition, Göttingen, 1844-46, 8 vols.]

    [Footnote 8: “Geschichte des geistigen Lebens in Deutschland,”
    Leipzig, 1862, II, p. 585.]

    [Footnote 9: See also Gervinus, “Geschichte der deutschen
    Dichtung,” 5th edition, 1874, V. p. 194. “Ein Original selbst und
    mehr als irgend einer befähigt die humoristischen Romane auf
    deutschen Boden zu verpflanzen.” Gervinus says also (V, p. 221)
    that the underlying thought of Musäus in his “Physiognomische
    Reisen” would, if handled by Lichtenberg, have made the most
    fruitful stuff for a humorous novel in Sterne’s style.]

    [Footnote 10: I, p. 184 f.]

    [Footnote 11: III, p. 112.]

    [Footnote 12: II, 11-12: “Im ersten Fall wird er nie, nach dem die
    Stelle vorüber ist, seinen Sieg plötzlich aufgeben. So wie bei ihm
    sich die Leidenschaft kühlt, kühlt sie sich auch bei uns und er
    bringt uns ab, ohne dass wir es wissen. Hingegen im letztern Fall
    nimmt er sich selten die Mühe, sich seines Sieges zu bedienen,
    sondern wirft den Leser oft mehr zur Bewunderung seiner Kunst, als
    seines Herzens in eine andere Art von Verfassung hinein, die ihn
    selbst nichts kostet als Witz, den Leser fast um alles bringt, was
    er vorher gewonnen hatte.”]

    [Footnote 13: V, 95.]

    [Footnote 14: I, p. 136.]

    [Footnote 15: I, p. 151.]

    [Footnote 16: See also I, p. 139.]

    [Footnote 17: II, p. 209; III, p. 11; VII, p. 133.]

    [Footnote 18: I, p. 136; II, pp. 13, 39, 209; 165, “Die Nachahmer
    Sterne’s sind gleichsam die Pajazzi desselben.”]

    [Footnote 19: In _Göttingisches Magazin_, 1780, Schriften IV, pp.
    186-227: “Thöricht affectirte Sonderbarkeit in dieser Methode wird
    das Kriterium von Originalität und das sicherste Zeichen, dass man
    einen Kopf habe, dieses wenn man sich des Tages ein Paar Mal
    darauf stellt. Wenn dieses auch eine Sternisch Kunst wäre, so ist
    wohl so viel gewiss, es ist keine der schwersten.”]

    [Footnote 20: II, pp. 199-244.]

    [Footnote 21: V, p. 250.]

    [Footnote 22: VI, p. 195.]

    [Footnote 23: Tristram Shandy, I, pp. 172-180.]

    [Footnote 24: II, p. 12.]

    [Footnote 25: Weimar, 1899.]

    [Footnote 26: These dates are of the departure from and return to
    Copenhagen; the actual time of residence in foreign lands would
    fall somewhat short of this period.]

    [Footnote 27: _Deutsches Museum_, 1777, p. 449, or Schriften, I,
    pp. 12-13; “Bibliothek der deutschen Klassiker,” Vol. VI, p. 652.]

    [Footnote 28: English writers who have endeavored to make an
    estimate of Sterne’s character have ignored this part of Garrick’s
    opinion, though his statement with reference to the degeneration
    of Sterne’s moral nature is frequently quoted.]

    [Footnote 29: _Deutsches Museum_, II, pp. 601-604; Schriften, II,
    pp. 288-291.]

    [Footnote 30: Gedichte von L. F. G. Goeckingk, 3 Bde., 1780, 1781,
    1782, Leipzig.]

    [Footnote 31: I, pp. 94, 116, 160.]

    [Footnote 32: Hamburg, pp. 44.]

    [Footnote 33: Hamburg, Bohn, 1785.]

    [Footnote 34: Published in improved and amplified form,
    Braunschweig, 1794.]

    [Footnote 35: II, Nr. 204, August 25, 1808, Tübingen.]

    [Footnote 36: Breslau, 1779, 2d edition, 1780, by A. W. L. von
    Rahmel.]

    [Footnote 37: See M. Denis, “Literarischer Nachlass,” edited by
    Retzer, Wien, 1801, II, p. 196.]

    [Footnote 38: “Sämmtliche Werke,” edited by B. R. Abeken, Berlin,
    1858, III, pp. 61-64.]

    [Footnote 39: First American edition as “Practical Philosophy,”
    Lansingburgh, 1805, p. 331. Sterne is cited on p. 85.]

    [Footnote 40: Altenburg, 1778, p. 90. Reviewed in _Gothaische
    Gelehrte Zeitungen_, 1779, p. 169, March 17, and in _Allg.
    deutsche Bibl._, XXXVII, 2, p. 476.]

    [Footnote 41: Hempel, VIII, p. 354.]

    [Footnote 42: In a review of “Mamsell Fieckchen und ihr
    Vielgetreuer, ein Erbauungsbüchlein für gefühlvolle Mädchen,”
    which is intended to be a warning to tender-hearted maidens
    against the sentimental mask of young officers. Another protest
    against excess of sentimentalism was “Philotas, ein Versuch zur
    Beruhigung und Belehrung für Leidende und Freunde der Leidenden,”
    Leipzig, 1779. See _Allg. deutsche. Bibl._, XLIV. 1, pp. 128-9.]

    [Footnote 43: See Erich Schmidt’s “Richardson, Rousseau und
    Goethe,” Jena, 1875, p. 297.]

    [Footnote 44: See _Jenaische Zeitungen von Gel. Sachen_, 1780,
    pp. 627, 761.]

    [Footnote 45: The full title is “Der Empfindsame Maurus Pankrazius
    Ziprianus Kurt auch Selmar genannt, ein Moderoman,” published by
    Keyser at Erfurt, 1781-83, with a second edition, 1785-87.]

    [Footnote 46: “Faramonds Familiengeschichte, in Briefen,” Erfurt,
    Keyser, 1779-81. _Allg. deutsche Bibl._, XLIV, 1, p. 120;
    _Jenaische Zeitungen von Gel. Sachen_, 1780, pp. 273, 332; 1781,
    pp. 113, 314.]

    [Footnote 47: Pp. 8-9.]

    [Footnote 48: Goethe’s review of Schummel’s “Empfindsame Reise”
    in _Frankfurter Gel. Anz._ represents the high-water mark of
    understanding criticism relative to individual work, but
    represents necessarily no grasp of the whole movement.]

    [Footnote 49: Frankfurt, 1778, _Allg. deutsche Bibl._, XL, 1, 119.
    This is by Baker incorrectly ascribed J. F. Abel, the author of
    “Beiträge zur Geschichte der Liebe,” 1778.]

    [Footnote 50: P. 15.]

    [Footnote 51: P. 17.]

    [Footnote 52: P. 18.]

    [Footnote 53: I, pp. 313 ff.]

    [Footnote 54: This distinction between Empfindsamkeit and
    Empfindelei is further given II, p. 180.]

    [Footnote 55: Pp. 33-39.]

    [Footnote 56: I, pp. 88 ff.]

    [Footnote 57: See discussion concerning Tristram’s tutor, Tristram
    Shandy, II, p. 217.]

    [Footnote 58: III, pp. 318 ff.]

    [Footnote 59: Vol. IV, p. 12. “Zoologica humana,” and treating of
    Affen, Gekken, Narren, Schelmen, Schurken, Heuchlern, Schlangen,
    Schafen, Schweinen, Ochsen und Eseln.]

    [Footnote 60: I, p. 72.]

    [Footnote 61: I, pp. 225 ff.]

    [Footnote 62: I, pp. 245 ff.]

    [Footnote 63: A substitution merely of another animal for the
    passage in “Empfindsame Reise,” Bode’s translation, edition of
    1769 (2d ed.), I, p. 109.]

    [Footnote 64: pp. 241 ff.]

    [Footnote 65: Vol. II, pp. 333 ff.]

    [Footnote 66: See the record of Pankraz’s sentimental interview
    with the pastor’s wife.]

    [Footnote 67: For example, see Pankraz’s prayer to Riepel, the
    dead cat, when he learns that another has done more than he in
    raising a lordlier monument to the feline’s virtues: “Wenn du itz
    in der Gesellschaft reiner, verklärter Kazengeister, Himnen
    miaust, O so sieh einen Augenblick auf diese Welt herab! Sieh
    meinen Schmerz, meine Reue!” His sorrow for Riepel is likened to
    the Nampont pilgrim’s grief for his dead ass.]

    [Footnote 68: IV, pp. 222-235.]

    [Footnote 69: IV, pp. 253 ff.]

    [Footnote 70: IV, pp. 113 ff.: “Wenn ich so denke, wie es Elisen
    berührt, so wird mir schwindlich . . . . Ich möchte es umschlingen
    wie es Elisen’s Bein umschlungen hat, mögt mich ganz verweben mit
    ihm,” etc.]

    [Footnote 71: IV, pp. 214 ff.]

    [Footnote 72: 1781, p. 573: “Dass er einzelne Stellen aus unsern
    angesehensten Schriftstellern heraus rupfet und in eine
    lächerliche Verbindung bringt.”]

    [Footnote 73: 1781, pp. 265-7.]

    [Footnote 74: LI, I, p. 234.]

    [Footnote 75: LII, 1, p. 149.]

    [Footnote 76: Reviewed in _Almanach der deutscher Musen_, 1779,
    p. 41. The work was published in Leipzig, I, 1777; II, 1778.]



A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LAURENCE STERNE


The Case of Elijah and the Widow of Zerephath considered: A charity
sermon preach’d on Good Friday, April 17, 1747. York, 1747.

The Abuses of Conscience set forth in a sermon preached in the Cathedral
Church of St. Peter’s, York, July 29, 1750. York, 1750.

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, vols. I, II, York, 1759. 2d.
ed. London, 1760. Vols. III, IV, London, 1761. Vols. V, VI, London,
1762. Vols. VII, VIII, London, 1765. Vol. IX, London, 1767.

Sermons of Mr. Yorick. Vols. I, II, London, 1760. Vols. III, IV, London,
1766. Vols. V, VI, VII, London, 1769.

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, 2 vols. London, 1768.

A Political Romance addressed to ----, esq., of York, 1769. The first
edition of the Watchcoat story.

Letters from Yorick to Eliza. London, 1775.

Twelve Letters to his Friends on Various Occasions, to which is added
his history of a Watchcoat, with explanatory notes. London, 1775.

Letters of the Late Reverend Laurence Sterne to his most intimate
Friends with a Fragment in the Manner of Rabelais to which are prefixed
Memoirs of his life and family written by himself, published by his
daughter, Lydia Sterne de Medalle. London, 1775.

Seven Letters written by Sterne and his Friends, edited by W. Durrant
Cooper. 1844.

Unpublished Letters of Laurence Sterne. In Philobiblon Society
Miscellanies. 1855, Vol. II. The Kitty Correspondence.

Works of Laurence Sterne. 10 vols. London, Dodsley, etc., 1793.

Works. Edited by G. E. B. Saintsbury, 6 vols. London, 1894.

  These two editions have been chiefly used in the preparation of this
  work. Because of its general accessibility references to Tristram
  Shandy and the Sentimental Journey are made to the latter.

Illustrations of Sterne, by Dr. John Ferriar. Manchester, 1798. 2d
edition: London, 1812.

Life of Laurence Sterne, by Percy Fitzgerald. 1864. Revised edition,
London, 1896. 2 vols.

Sterne, in English Men of Letters Series, by H. D. Traill. 1883.

Sir Walter Scott. Lives of the Novelists, Vol. I, p. 156-186.

Paul Stapfer. Laurence Sterne, sa personne et ses ouvrages étude
précédée d’un fragment inédit de Sterne. Paris, 1882.

William M. Thackeray. Sterne and Goldsmith, in English Humorists, 1858,
pp. 286-341.

J. B. Montégut, Essais sur la Littérature anglaise. 1883, pp. 279-364.

Walter Bagehot, Sterne and Thackeray, in Literary Studies. 1902, Vol.
II, pp. 282-325.

E. Scherer. Laurence Sterne or the Humorist, in Essays on English
Literature. 1891, pp. 150-173.

Sir Leslie Stephen. Hours in a Library. 1852. Vol. III, pp. 139-174.

Herbert Paul. Men and Letters. 1901. Pp. 67-89.

Whitwell Elwin. Some XVIII Century Men of Letters. 1902. Vol. II,
pp. 1-81.

Sidney Lee. Article on Sterne in the National Dictionary of Biography.



A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF STERNE IN GERMANY


  It cannot be assumed that the following list of reprints and
  translations is complete. The conditions of the book trade then
  existing were such that unauthorized editions of popular books
  were very common.


I. GERMAN EDITIONS OF STERNE’S WORKS INCLUDING SPURIOUS OR DOUBTFUL
WORKS PUBLISHED UNDER HIS NAME.

_a. Tristram Shandy_

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 6 vols. Altenburg,
1772. (Richter.)

The same. Altenburg, 1776.

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. A new edition.
Basil, 1792. (Legrand).

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, 2 vols gr. 8vo. Gotha, 1792.
(Ettinger). Identical with the preceding.

Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, 4 vols. (with 4 engravings). Wien,
1798. (Sammer.)

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, 4 vols. Gotha, 1805-6.
(Stendel and Keil.)

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Schneeburg, 1833. Pocket
edition of the most eminent English authors of the preceding century,
of which it is vols. XI-XIII.

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, 2 vols., gr. 8vo. Basel.
(Thurneisen), without date.


_b. The Sentimental Journey_

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, 2 vols. 8vo. Altenburg,
1771. (Richter.)

The same with cuts, 2 vols, 8vo. Altenburg, 1772. (Richter.)

The same. Altenburg, 1776. (Richter.)

The same. Göttingen, 1779. (Diederich). Pp. 199. No introduction or
notes.

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy in two books. Göttingen,
1787. (Dietrich.)

A Sentimental Journey with a continuation by Eugenius and an account of
the life and writings of L. Sterne, gr. 8vo. Basel, 1792. (Legrand,
Ettinger in Gotha.)

Sentimental Journey through France and Italy mit Anmerkungen und
Wortregister, 8vo. Halle, 1794. (Renger).

A sentimental Journey through France and Italy. 4 parts complete in 2
vols. 2d edition to which are now added several other pieces by the same
author. (With four engravings) 12mo. Wien, 1798. (Sammer.)

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy and the continuation by
Eugenius, 2 parts, 8vo. Halle, 1806. (Hendel).

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy by Mr. Yorick. In Two
Books. Göttingen, 1806. (Dietrich). Pp. 271.

A Sentimental Journey. New edition, 12mo. Altenburg, 1815. (Brockhaus in
Leipzig.)

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, gr. 12mo. Jena, 1826.
(Schmid.)

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, 16mo. Nürnberg, 1828.
(Campe.)

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Schneeberg, 1830. Pocket
edition of the most eminent English authors of the preceding century, of
which it is Vol. IV.

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Basil (Thurneisen),
without date.

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. London. Cooke. Campe in
Hamburg, without date.

Tauchnitz has published editions of both Shandy and the Journey.


_c. Letters, Sermons and Miscellaneous_

Yorick’s letters to Eliza, Eliza’s letters to Yorick. Sterne’s letters
to his Friends. Altenburg, 1776. (Richter.)

Letters to his most intimate Friends, with a fragment in the manner of
Rabelais published by his Daughter, Mme. Medalle. 3 vols., 8vo.
Altenburg, 1776. (Richter.)

Letters written between Yorick and Eliza with letters to his Friends.
Nürnberg, 8vo, 1788. (Schneider.)

Letters written between Yorick and Eliza. 12mo. Vienna, 1795.

Letters between Yorick and Eliza, 12mo. Wien, 1797. (Sammer.)

Letters of the late Rev. Mr. Laurence Sterne, to his most intimate
friends, on various occasions, as published by his daughter, Mrs.
Medalle, and others, including the letters between Yorick and Eliza.
To which are added: An appendix of XXXII Letters never printed before;
A fragment in the manner of Rabelais, and the History of a Watchcoat.
With explanatory notes. 2 vols. Vienna, 1797. (Sammer.)

Letters written between Yorick and Eliza, mit einem erklärenden
Wortregister zum Selbstunterricht von J. H. Emmert. Giessen, 1802.

Sermons by Laurence Sterne. 7 vols. Altenburg, 1777. (Richter) 8vo.

The Koran, or Essays, Sentiments and Callimachies, etc. 1 vol. Wien,
1795. (Sammer.)

The Koran, etc. Wien, 1798. (Sammer). 12mo, pp. 275.

Gleanings from the works of Laurence Sterne. Campe’s edition. Nürnberg
and New York. Without date.


II. GERMAN TRANSLATIONS OF STERNE.

_a. Tristram Shandy_

Das Leben und die Meynungen des Herrn Tristram Shandy. Berlin und
Stralsund, 1763. Parts I-VI. Translation by Johann Friedrich Zückert.

The same. Parts VII-VIII. 1763.

The same. Part IX (spurious). 1767.

Das Leben und die Meynungen des Herrn Tristram Shandy. Nach einer neuen
Uebersetzung. Berlin und Stralsund, 1769-1772. (Lange.) A revised
edition of the previous translation.

Das Leben und die Meinungen des Herrn Tristram Shandy aus dem Englischen
übersetzt, nach einer neuen Uebersetzung auf Anrathen des Hrn. Hofrath
Wielands verfasst. Neun Theile. Berlin, 1774.

Another edition of the same translation.

Tristram Schandi’s Leben und Meynungen. Hamburg, 1774. Bey Bode.
Translation by J. J. C. Bode. Nine parts. I, pp. 185; II, pp. 191; III,
pp. 210; IV, pp. 226; V, pp. 166; VI, pp. 164; VII, pp. 148; VIII, pp.
144; IX, pp. 128.

The same. Zweite verbesserte Auflage. Hamburg, 1776.

The same, 1777.

The same, 1778.

The same. Nachdruck, Hanau und Höchst. 1776-7.

The same. Nachdruck. Berlin, 1778.

Tristram Shandy’s Leben und Meinungen, von neuem verdeutscht. 3 vols.
Leipzig, 1801. (Linke.) A revision of Bode’s translation by J. L.
Benzler.

The same. Hannover. 1810. (Hahn.)

Leben und Meinungen des Tristram Shandy von Sterne--neu übertragen von
W. H., Magdeburg, 1831. Sammlung der ausgezeichnetsten humoristischen
und komischen Romane des Auslands in neuen zeitgemässen Bearbeitungen.
Bd. X, I, pp. 188; II, pp. 192; III, pp. 151; IV, pp. 168; V, pp. 256;
V, pp. 257-264, Ueber Laurence Sterne und dessen Werke. Another revision
of Bode’s work.

Tristram Shandy’s Leben und Meinungen, von Lorenz Sterne, aus dem
Englischen von Dr. G. R. Bärmann. Berlin, 1856.

Tristram Shandy’s Leben und Meinungen, aus dem Englischen übersetzt von
F. A. Gelbcke. Nos. 96-99 of “Bibliothek ausländischer Klassiker.”
Leipzig, 1879. (Bibliographisches Institut.)

Leben und Meinungen des Herrn Tristram Shandy. Deutsch von A. Seubert.
Leipzig, 1881. (Reclam.)


_b. The Sentimental Journey_

Yorick’s emfindsame Reise durch Frankreich und Italien. Hamburg und
Bremen, 1768. Translated by J. J. C. Bode.

The same, with parts III, IV (Stevenson’s continuation), 1769.

The same. Hamburg und Bremen, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1776, 1777, 1804.

The same. Mannheim. 1780.

The same. Leipzig, 1797, 1802. (Rabenhorst.)

Versuch über die menschliche Natur in Herrn Yoricks, Verfasser des
Tristram Shandy Reisen durch Frankreich und Italien. Braunschweig, 1769.
(Fürstliche Waisenhausbuchhandlung), pp. 248. Translation by Hofprediger
Mittelstedt.

Herrn Yoricks, Verfasser des Tristram Shandy, Reisen durch Frankreich
und Italien, als ein Versuch über die menschliche Natur. Braunschweig,
1769. Is a second edition of the former.

The same, 1774.

Yoricks empfindsame Reise von neuem verdeutscht. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1801.
A revision of Bode’s work by Johann Lorenz Benzler.

Empfindsame Reise durch Frankreich und Italien übersetzt von Ch.
C. Meissner. Zwickau, 1825. (Schumann.)

Eine Empfindsame Reise . . . übersetzt, mit Lebensbeschreibung des
Autors und erläuternden Bemerkungen von H. A. Clemen. Essen, 1827.

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Yorick’s Empfindsame
Reise durch Frankreich und Italien, mit erläuternden Anmerkungen von
W. Gramberg. 8vo. Oldenburg, 1833. (Schulze.) Since both titles are
given, it is not evident whether this is a reprint, a translation,
or both.

Laurence Sterne--Yoricks Empfindsame Reise durch Frankreich und Italien.
Halle. (Hendel.) A revision of Bode’s translation, with a brief
introductory note by E. Suchier.

Yorick’s empfindsame Reise durch Frankreich und Italien, übersetzt von
A. Lewald. Pforzheim, 1842.

Yorick’s empfindsame Reise, übersetzt von K. Eitner. Bibliothek
ausländischer Klassiker. Bd. 75. Hildburghausen.

Empfindsame Reise durch Frankreich und Italien Deutsch von Friedrich
Hörlek. Leipzig, 1859. (Reclam.)


_c. Letters, Sermons and Miscellaneous_

Briefe von (Yorick) Sterne an seine Freunde Nebst seiner Geschichte
eines Ueberrocks, Aus dem Englischen. Hamburg, 1775. (Bohn.) Pp. VIII,
144.

Yorick’s Briefe an Elisa. Hamburg, 1775. (Bohn.) Pp. XX, 75.

Briefe von Elisa an Yorick. Aus dem Engl. Hamburg, 1775. Pp. XVI, 64.

Translation of the above three probably by Bode.

Briefwechsel mit Elisen und seinen übrigen Freunden. Leipzig, 1775.
(Weidmann.)

Elisens ächte Briefe an Yorik. Leipzig, 1775.

Briefe an seine vertrauten Freunde nebst Fragment im Geschmack des
Rabelais und einer von ihm selbst verfassten Nachricht von seinem Leben
und seiner Familie, herausgegeben von seiner Tochter Madame Medalle.
Leipzig, 1776. (Weidmann.) Pp. XXVIII, 391. Translation probably by Chr.
Felix Weisse.

The same. 1785.

Yorick’s Briefe an Elisa. Leipzig, 1785. (Göschen.) A new edition of
Bode’s rendering.

Briefe von Lorenz Sterne, dem Verfasser von Yorik’s empfindsame Reisen.
Englisch und Deutsch zum erstenmal abgedruckt. London, 1787. Is probably
the same as “Hinterlassene Briefe. Englisch und Deutsch.” Leipzig, 1787.
(Nauck.)

Predigten von Laurenz Sterne oder Yorick. Zürich. I, 1766; II, 1767.
(Fuesslin und Comp.)

The same, III, under the special title “Reden an Esel.”

Predigten. Zürich, 1773. (Orell.)

Neue Sammlung von Predigten: Leipsig, 1770. (Hahn.) Translation by Prof.
A. E. Klausing.

Reden an Esel. Mit Einleitung und Anmerkungen. Hamburg, 1795. (Herold,
jun.)

Reden an Esel, von Lorenz Sterne. Thorn, 1795.

Lorenz Sterne des Menschenkenners Benutzung einiger Schriftsteller.
Basel, 1781. (Flick.) An abridged edition of his sermons.

Buch der Predigten oder 100 Predigten und Reden aus den verschiedenen
Zeiten by R. Nesselmann. Elbing, 1868. Contains Sterne’s sermon on St.
Luke X, 23-37.

Yorick’s Nachgelassene Werke. Leipzig, 1771. Translation of the Koran,
by J. G. Gellius.

Der Koran, oder Leben und Meinungen des Tria Juncta in Uno, M. N. A.
Ein hinterlassenes Werk von dem Verfasser des Tristram Shandy. Hamburg,
1778. Translation probably by Bode.

Yorick’s Betrachtungen über verschiedene wichtige und angenehme
Gegenstände. Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1769.

Betrachtungen über verschiedene Gegenstände. Braunschweig, 1789.
(Schulbuchhandlung.)

Nachlese aus Laurence Sterne’s Werken in’s Deutsche übersetzt von Julius
Voss. Thorn, 1854.

French translations of Sterne’s works were issued at Bern and
Strassburg, and one of his “Sentimental Journey” at Kopenhagen and an
Italian translation of the same in Dresden (1822), and in Prague (1821).


III. MISCELLANEOUS AUTHORITIES.

  The following list contains (a) books or articles treating
  particularly, or at some length, the relation of German authors
  to Laurence Sterne; (b) books of general usefulness in determining
  literary conditions in the eighteenth century, to which frequent
  reference is made; (c) periodicals which are the sources of reviews
  and criticisms cited in the text. Other works to which only
  incidental reference is made are noted in the text itself.

Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek. Berlin und Stettin, 1765-92. Edited by
Nicolai.

Allgemeine Litteratur Zeitung. Jena, Leipzig, Wien, 1781.

Almanach der deutschen Musen. Leipzig, 1770-1781. Edited by Chr. Heinr.
Schmid.

Altonaer Reichs-Postreuter. 1750. Editor 1772-1786 was Albrecht
Wittenberg.

Altonischer Gelehrter Mercurius. Altona, 1763-1772.

Appell, Joh. Wilhelm. Werther und Seine Zeit. 4 Aufl. Oldenburg, 1896.

Auserlesene Bibliothek der neuesten deutschen Litteratur. Lemgo,
1772-1778.

Baker, Thomas Stockham. The Influence of Laurence Sterne upon German
Literature. In Americana Germanica. Vol. II, No. 4, pp. 41-56.

Bauer, F. Sternescher Humor in Immermanns Münchhausen. Programm. Wien,
1896.

Bauer, F. Ueber den Einfluss Laurence Sternes auf Chr. M. Wieland.
Programm. Karlsbad. 1898.

Behmer, Karl August. Laurence Sterne und C. M. Wieland. Forschungen zur
neueren Literaturgeschichte, No. 9 München, 1899. Ein Beitrag zur
Erforschung fremder Einflüsse auf Wielands Dichtungen.

Berlinische Monatsschrift, 1783-1796, edited by Gedike and Biester.

Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften und der freyen Künste. Leipzig,
1757-65. 12 vol. I-IV edited by Nicolai and Mendelssohn, V-XII edited by
Chr. Felix Weisse.

J. J. C. Bode’s Literarisches Leben. Nebst dessen Bildniss von Lips.
Berlin, 1796. First published in Vol. VI of Bode’s translation of
Montaigne, “Michael Montaigne’s Gedanken und Meinungen.” Berlin,
1793-1795. The life of Bode is Vol. VI, pp. III-CXLIV.

Bremisches Magazin zur Ausbreitung der Wissenschaften, Künste und
Tugend. Bremen und Leipzig, 1757-66.

Büchner, Alex. Sternes Coran und Makariens Archiv. Goethe ein Plagiator?
Morgenblatt, No. 39, p. 922 f.

Czerny, Johann, Sterne, Hippel und Jean Paul. Berlin, 1904.

Deutsche Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften. Halle, 1767-1771. Edited
by Klotz.

Deutsches Museum. Leipzig, 1776-1788. Edited by Dohm and Boie and
continued to 1791 as Neues deutsches Museum.

Ebeling, Friedrich W. Geschichte der komischen Literatur in Deutschland
während der 2. Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts. Leipzig, 1869. 3 vols.

Elze, Frederich Karl. Die englische Sprache und Litteratur in
Deutschland. Dresden, 1864.

Erfurtische Gelehrte Zeitung. Erfurt, 1781-1796.

Frankfurter Gelehrte Anzeigen. Frankfurt. Published under several
titles, 1736-1790. Editors, Merck, Bahrdt and others.

Gervinus, G. G. Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung. Edited by Karl
Bartsch. 5 vols. Leipzig, 1871-74.

Goedeke, Karl. Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung. Dresden,
1884-1900.

Gothaische gelehrte Zeitungen. Gotha, 1774-1804. Published and edited by
Ettinger.

Göttingische Anzeigen von Gelehrten Sachen 1753. Michaelis was editor
1753-1770, then Christian Gottlob Heyne.

Hamburger Adress-Comptoir Nachrichten, 1767. Edited by Joh. Wm. Dumpf.

Hamburgischer unpartheyischer Correspondent. Full title, Staats- und
Gelehrte Zeitung des Hamburgischen unpartheyischen Correspondenten.
Editor, 1763-3, Bode; 1767-1770, Albrecht Wittenberg.

Hédouin, Alfred. Goethe plagiaire de Sterne, in Le Monde Maçonnique.
July, 1863.

Heine, Carl. Der Roman in Deutschland von 1774 bis 1778. Halle, 1892.

Hettner, Hermann. Geschichte der deutschen Literatur im achtzehnten
Jahrhundert. 4te Auflage. Braunschweig, 1893-94. This is the third
division of his Literaturgeschichte des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts.

Hillebrand, Joseph. Die deutsche Nationalliteratur seit dem Anfange des
achtzehnten Jahrhunderts, besonders seit Lessing bis auf die Gegenwart.
2te Ausgabe. Hamburg und Gotha, 1850.

Hirsching, Friedr. Carl Gottlob. Historisch-litterarisches Handbuch
berühmter und denkwürdiger Personen, welche in dem 18. Jahrhundert
gelebt haben. Vol. XIII. Leipzig, 1809.

Jenaische Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen. Jena, 1765-1781.

Jördens, Karl Heinrich. Lexikon deutscher Dichter und Prosaisten.
Leipzig, 1806-1811.

Koberstein, Karl August. Geschichte der deutschen Nationalliteratur.
Leipzig, 1872-73.

Koch, Max. Ueber die Beziehungen der englischen Literatur zur deutschen
im 18. Jahrhundert. Leipzig, 1883.

Kurz, Heinrich. Geschichte der deutschen Literatur. Leipzig, 1876-81.

Leipziger Musen-Almanach. Leipzig, 1776-87. Editor, 1776-78, Friedrich
Traugott Hase.

Longo, Joseph. Laurence Sterne und Johann Georg Jacobi. Programm. Krems,
1898.

Magazin der deutschen Critik. Halle, 1772-1776. Edited by Gottlob
Benedict Schirach.

Mager, A. Wielands Nachlass des Diogenes von Sinope und das englische
Vorbild. Abhandlung. Marburg, 1890.

Meusel, Johann Georg. Das gelehrte Deutschland, oder Lexicon der jetzt
lebenden deutschen Schriftsteller. Lemgo, 1796-1806.

Meusel, Johann Georg. Lexicon der von 1750 bis 1800 verstorbenen
teutschen Schriftsteller. Leipzig, 1802-16.

Neue Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek. Kiel, 1793-1800. Edited by Bohn.
Berlin und Stettin, 1801-1805. Edited by Nicolai.

Neue Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften und der freyen Künste.
Leipzig, 1765-1806. Edited first by Chr. Felix Weisse, then by the
publisher Dyk.

Neue Critische Nachrichten. Greifswald, 1750-1807. Editor from 1779 was
Georg Peter Möller, professor of history at Greifswald.

Neues Bremisches Magazin. Bremen, 1766-1771.

Neue Hallische Gelehrte Zeitung. Founded by Klotz in 1766, and edited by
him 1766-71, then by Philipp Ernst Bertram, 1772-77.

Neue litterarische Unterhaltungen. Breslau, bey Korn der ä 1774-75.

Neue Mannigfaltigkeiten. Eine gemeinnützige Wochenschrift, follows
Mannigfaltigheiten which ran from Sept., 1769 to May, 1773, and in June
1773, the new series began. Berlin. Vol. II, pp. 97-106. Life of Sterne.

Neue Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen. 1715-1785. At the latter date the
title was changed to Neue Litteratur Zeitung. Leipzig.

Schmidt, Julian. Bilder aus dem geistigen Leben unserer Zeit. Leipzig,
1870. Vol. IV, 1875. Vol. IV, pp. 272 ff, Studien über den Englischen
Roman.

Schmidt, Julian. Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur von Leibnitz bis
auf unsere Zeit. Berlin, 1886-96.

Schmidt, Julian. Geschichte des geistigen Lebens in Deutschland von
Leibnitz bis auf Lessing’s Tod, 1681-1781. Leipzig, I, 1862; II, 1864.

Schröder, Lexicon Hamburgischer Schriftsteller. Hamburg, 1851-83, 8
vols.

Springer, Robert. Essays zur Kritik und zur Goethe-Literatur. “War
Goethe ein Plagiarius Lorenz Sternes?” Minden i. W., 1885.

Teutscher Mercur. Weimar, 1773-89. And Neuer deutscher Merkur. Weimar,
1790-1810. Edited by Wieland, Reinhold and Böttiger.

Unterhaltungen. Hamburg bey Bock, 1767-70. Edited by J. J. Eschenburg,
I-IV; Albrecht Wittenberg, V; Christoph Dan. Ebeling, VI-X.

(Der) Wandsbecker Bothe. Edited by Matthias Claudius. Wandsbeck,
1771-75.



INDEX OF PROPER NAMES


  Abbt, 43.
  Abel, J. F., 170.
  Addison, 157.
  Alberti, 26, 27, 46.

  Behrens, Johanna Friederike, 87.
  Benzler, J. L., 61, 62.
  Blankenburg, 5, 8, 139.
  Bock, Joh. Chr., 93, 127, 129-133, 136.
  Bode, J. J. C., 15, 16, 24, 34, 37, 38, 40-62, 67, 76, 90, 94,
      106, 115.
  Bodmer, 75.
  Boie, 59, 131.
  Bondeli, Julie v., 30, 31.
  Bonstetten, 89.
  Böttiger, C. A., 38, 42-44, 48, 49, 52, 58, 77, 81.
  Brandon, J., 82.
  Brockes, 37.
  Burney, Frances, 37.
  Burton, 77.
  Butler, 6, 29.

  Campe, J. H., 43, 164-166.
  Carr, John, 14.
  Cervantes, 6, 23, 26, 60, 168, 178.
  Chappelle, 35, 112.
  Claudius, 59, 133, 157-158.
  Combe, Wm., 69.

  Defoe, 3.
  Denis, 10, 75, 166.
  Draper, Eliza, 64-70, 89, 114, 176.

  Eberhard, 5.
  Ebert, 10, 26, 44-46, 59, 62.
  Eckermann, 98, 101, 104.
  Einsiedel, 59.
  Eschenburg, 2.

  Ferber, J. C. C., 84.
  Ferriar, 77, 78.
  Fielding, 4, 6, 10, 23, 58, 60, 96, 145, 154.
  Forster, 12.
  Frenais, 60.

  Garrick, 66, 161.
  Garve, 22, 135.
  Gay, 92.
  Gebler, 90.
  Gellert, 32, 37, 120.
  Gellius, 76, 92.
  Gerstenberg, 59.
  Gleim, 2, 3, 59, 85-87, 112, 152.
  Göchhausen, 88, 140-144, 181.
  Göchhausen, Fräulein v., 59.
  Goeckingk, 162-3.
  Goethe, 40, 41, 59, 75, 77, 85, 91, 97-109, 126, 153, 156, 167,
      168, 170, 180.
  Goeze, 27, 48.
  Goldsmith, 10, 98.
  Göschen, Georg. Joachim, 134-135.
  Griffith, Richard, 74-75.
  Grotthus, Sara v., 40-41.

  Hamann, 28, 29, 59, 69, 71, 97, 153.
  Hartknoch, 28, 32, 97.
  Hebbel, 88, 153.
  Hedemann, 136-138.
  Heine, H., 103.
  Heinse, 152.
  Herder, 5, 7, 8, 28, 29, 32, 59, 97, 99, 156.
  Herder, Caroline Flachsland, 89, 99, 152.
  Hermes, 2, 8, 109.
  Hippel, 6, 59, 101, 155.
  Hofmann, J. C., 88.
  Hopffgarten, 93.
  Hopfner, 69.
  Hume, 63.

  Ireland, 80.

  Jacobi, 59, 85-90, 112-114, 131, 136, 139, 142, 143.
  Jung-Stilling, 99.

  Kästner, 30.
  Kaufmann, 88.
  Kirchberger, 30.
  Kirsten, 93.
  Klausing, A. E., 72.
  Klopstock, 37, 51, 59.
  Klotz, 21, 114.
  Knebel, 109, 152.
  Knigge, 91, 93, 110, 154, 166.
  Kölbele, 52.
  Koran, 74-76, 92, 95, 103-108, 153.
  Kotzebue, 133-34.
  Krummacher, 153.

  Lenz, 152.
  Lessing, 24-28, 40-46, 59, 62, 77, 97, 109, 156.
  Leuchsenring, 88.
  Lichtenberg, 4, 78, 84, 158-60.
  Liscow, 3, 24.

  Matthison, 60, 89, 152.
  de Medalle, Lydia Sterne, 64, 68, 69.
  Medicus, Wilhelm Ludwig, 69.
  Mendelssohn, 24, 43, 109, 110.
  Merck, 89, 99, 139.
  Meyer, Aug. Wilh., 83.
  Miller, J. M., 168, 170, 173, 180.
  Mittelstedt, 46-47, 55-57, 115.
  Montaigne, 60.
  Moritz, K. P., 168.
  Möser, 7, 166.
  Müchler, K. F., 79.
  Murray, Rev. James, 71.
  Musäus, 10, 91, 138, 152, 153, 158.

  Nicolai, 27, 40, 43, 77, 78, 110;
  Sebaldus Nothanker, 6, 88, 110, 150.
  Nicolay, Ludwig Heinrich v., 158.
  Nonne, 93.

  Opitz, Christian, 127.
  Ossian, 10.

  Paterson, Sam’l, 79.
  Percy, Bishop, 2, 10.

  Raabe, Wilhelm, 153.
  Rabelais, 60.
  Rabenau, A. G. F., 138.
  Rahmel, A. W. L., 166.
  Ramler, 90.
  Richardson, 4, 10, 31, 43, 96, 179.
  Richter, Jean Paul, 75, 91, 155.
  Riedel, 29-30, 32, 54, 109, 125.
  la Roche, Sophie, 139.
  Rousseau, 4, 71.

  Sattler, J. P., 8.
  Schiller, 135, 153.
  Schink, J. F., 80-82.
  Schirach, 109.
  Schmidt, Klamer, 60.
  Schubart, 107.
  Schummel, 59, 93, 114-129, 136, 140.
  Schwager, 138.
  Seidelinn, 153.
  Shadwell, 25.
  Smollett, 63.
  Sonnenfels, 125.
  Stephanie, d. j., 153.
  Stevenson, J. H., 44-53, 57, 64, 81, 105.
  Stolberg, 61.
  Sturz, 160-162.
  Swift, 69, 146, 157, 160.

  v. Thümmel, 93, 135, 155.
  Timme, 168-179.

  Usteri, 30.

  Wagner, H. L., 41, 157.
  Wegener, 150-151.
  Weisse, Chr. Felix, 68.
  Wezel, 110, 138, 144-150, 179-181.
  Wieland, 10, 14, 31, 32, 42, 59, 61, 73, 90, 93-99, 103, 146,
      156, 181.
  Wilkes, 64.
  Wittenberg, 53, 87.
  v. Wolzogen, 153.

  Young, 7, 10, 149-150.

  Zelter, 98, 102.
  Ziegler, Louise v. (Lila), 89.
  Zimmermann, 31, 59.
  Zückert, 12-18, 22, 31, 32, 37, 58-60, 99.


       *       *       *       *       *
           *       *       *       *

Errors and Inconsistencies

German text is unchanged unless there was an unambiguous error, or the
text could be checked against other sources. Most quoted material is
contemporary with Sterne; spellings such as “bey” and “Theil” are
standard.

Missing letters or punctuation marks are genuinely absent, not merely
invisible. Ellipsis (. . .) is shown as printed, as is any adjoining
punctuation.

The variation between “title page” and “title-page” is unchanged.
Punctuation of “ff” is unchanged; at mid-sentence there is usually no
following period. Hyphenization of phrases such as “a twelve-year old”
is consistent.


Chapter I

  the unstored mind  [_unchanged_]

Chapter II

  des vaterländischen Geschmack entwickeln
    [_unchanged: error for “den”?_]
  Vol. I, St. 2, pp. 245-251, 1772  [245-251.]
  Bode, the successful and honored translator  [sucessful]
  sends it as such to “my uncle, Tobias Shandy.”
    [_open quote missing_]
  Ich bin an seine Sentiments zum Theil schon so gewöhnt  [go]
  Footnote 48: . . . . in Auszug aus den Werken  [Auzug]
  Julie von Bondeli[52]  [Von]
  frequent references to other English celebrities  [refrences]
  “How many have understood it?”  [understod]

Chapter III

  He says of the first parts of the Sentimental Journey,  [Journay]
  the _Hamburgische Adress-Comptoir-Nachrichten_;[19]
    [Nachrichten_;” with superfluous close quote]
  Footnote 19: ... prominent Hamburg periodical.]  [perodical]
  eine Reise heissen, bey der  [be]
  It may well be that, as Böttiger hints,[24]  [Bottiger]
  Footnote 24: See foot note to page lxiii.]  [_two words_]
  Bode’s translation in the Allgemeine  [Allegemeine]
  has been generally accepted  [generaly]

Chapter IV

  manages to turn it at once with the greatest delicacy  [delicay]
  the Journey which is here mentioned.”[31]  [mentionad]
  Footnote 34: ... (LII, pp. 370-371)  [_missing )_]
  he is probably building on the incorrect statement  [incorect]
  Footnote 87: ... Berlin, 1810  [810].
  “Die Schöne Obstverkäuferin”  [“Die “Schöne]

Chapter V

  Footnote 3 ... Anmerk. 24  [Anmerk,]
  Animae quales non candidiores terra tulit.”  [_missing close quote_]
  “like Grenough’s tooth-tincture  [_missing open quote_]
  founding an order of “Empfindsamkeit.”  [_missing close quote_]
  Footnote 24 ... “Der Teufel auf Reisen,”  [Riesen]
  Footnote 27 ... _Allg. deutsche Bibl._  [Allg deutsche]
  Sein Seelchen auf den Himmel  [gen Himmel]
  In an article in the _Horen_ (1795, V. Stück,)  [V Stück]
  Footnote 84 ... G. B. Mendelssohn  [G. B Mendelssohn]

Chapter VI

  re-introducing a sentimental relationship.  [relationiship]
  nach Erfindung der Buchdrukerkunst  [_unchanged_]
  “Ueber die roten und schwarzen Röcke,”  [_“Röke” without close quote]
  the twelve irregularly printed lines  [twleve]
  conventional thread of introduction  [inroduction]
  an appropriate proof of incapacity  [incaapcity]
  [Footnote 23 ... Litteratur-geschichte  [_hyphen in original_]
  Footnote 35 ... p. 28.  [_final . missing_]
  [Footnote 38 ... a rather full analysis  [nalysis]
  multifarious and irrelevant topics  [mutifarious]
  Goethe replies (December 30), in approval, and exclaims  [exlaims]
  laughed heartily at some of the whims.”[49]  [_missing close quote_]
  [Footnote 52 ... Hademann as author  [auther]
  für diesen schreibe ich dieses Kapitel nicht  [fur]
  [Footnote 69 ... _July_ 1, 1774  [_italics in original_]
  Darauf denke ich, soll jedermanniglich vom 22. Absatze fahren
    [_“vom. 22. Absatze” with extra space after “22.” as if for
    a new sentence_]
  accompanied by typographical eccentricities  [typograhical]
  the relationships of trivial things  [relationiships]
  Herr v. ** and Herr v. ***  [_asterisks unchanged_]

Chapter VII

  expressed themselves quite unequivocally  [themsleves]
  the pleasure of latest posterity.”  [_final . missing_]
  “regarded his taste as insulted because I sent him “Yorick’s
    Empfindsame Reise.”[3]
    [_mismatched quotation marks unchanged_]
  Georg Christopher Lichtenberg.[7]
    [Lichtenberg.” with superfluous close quote]
  Aus Lichtenbergs Nachlass: Aufsätze, Gedichte, Tagebuchblätter
   [_“Gedichte Tagebuchblätter” without comma_]
  Doch lass’ ich, wenn mir’s Kurzweil schafft  [schaft]
  a poem named “Empfindsamkeiten  [Enpfindsamkeiten]
  A poet cries  [croes]
  “Faramond’s Familiengeschichte,”[46]
    [_inconsistent apostrophe unchanged: compare footnote_]
  sondern mich zu bedauern!’  [_inner close quote conjectural_]
  Ruhe deinem Staube  [dienem]
  the neighboring village is in flames  [nieghboring]
  Footnote 67 ... [_all German spelling in this footnote unchanged_]
  “Die Tausend und eine Masche, oder Yoricks wahres Shicksall,
    ein blaues Mährchen von Herrn Stanhope” [_all spelling unchanged]


[The Bibliography is shown in the Table of Contents as “Chapter VIII”,
but was printed without a chapter header.]

Bibliography (England)

  Life of Laurence Sterne, by Percy Fitzgerald  [Lift]
  b. The Sentimental Journey  [Jonrney]

Bibliography (Germany)

  The Koran, etc. Wien, 1798. [1798).]
  Tristram Schandi’s Leben und Meynungen ... III, pp. 210  [p. 210]
  durch Frankreich und Italien, übersetzt von A. Lewald.  [Italien.]





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