II

FRAGMENT OF A MEMO

RANDUM, CONTAINING AN

EXPLANATION OF HEINE'S

CONNECTION WITH THE "AUGSBURGER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG "

PRELIMINARY REMARK

THE Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung had brought out an unauthorized. translation of Heine's "Bekenntnisse" (Confessions), which had been published in the Revue des Deux Mondes, under the title of "Aveux d'un Poète." Heine, when publishing this little work in the French periodical, had expressly announced that a German version of the text had been prepared by him,

and was about to appear at Hamburg. He was therefore greatly enraged when he heard of the literary theft that had been committed by a paper to which, as the reader of our introduction will remember, Heine had been a contributor for a number of years.

In a letter to Prince Pückler-Muskau, the poet writes in regard to this affair as follows: "What do you say to the incomprehensible baseness of the act that the Allgemeine Zeitung has committed against me, by translating from the Revue des Deux Mondes an article of which I had already announced my German version by translating it, I say, from the already mutilated French into the most clumsy Bavarian, mutilating it still more, and at the same time giving to the reader the assurance that the translation is faithful, and accompanying this translation with the meanest insults, which, it is true, I have not yet read myself, but which, as the reports from Germany say,

surpass in their low language and in their venom

the most vulgar things that have ever been written. It is even said to contain the most infamous allusions in regard to my sickness. Under the very worst circumstances one does not break thus with a person with whom one has been on intimate terms for twenty-five years, or even more. As regards Cotta, he is a gentleman full of loyalty and honor, and he was always so kind to me that it would be wrong for me to accuse him of having had even the slightest knowledge of the affair. . . .'

The desire of publicly paying a tribute of friendship to Baron Cotta, and of explaining his connection with the Allgemeine Zeitung the actual editors of which, as Heine had learned, were not to blame for the article in question probably induced Heine to write the following memorandum, which was, no doubt, intended to be used in one of his works.

MEMORANDUM

Old Baron Cotta was worthy to be the friend of Schiller and Goethe, and he participated in the cosmopolitan views of these two men, which, however, did not prevent him from being a great patriot; for he was not satisfied with an idle approval of the merits of the neighboring nations, but he unweariedly worked in the interest of his countrymen. By means of his enormous wealth, of an acquaintance with the best German authors, and especially of diplomatic relations which brought him in contact with the most celebrated statesmen in all parts of the world, he succeeded in raising the reputation of the Allgemeine Zeitung to the greatest height. This paper was his pride and his joy, the profit was

of little consideration to him. The Allgemeine Zeitung-it was he himself; and whoever loved old Cotta had also to love that paper, which was an incarnation of the old gentleman, and in which even after his death his mind continued to live.

This enchantment also influenced the author of these lines, who transferred his friendship for the old baron to the latter's favorite creation, and was one of the chief reasons why I was for such a long while a contributor to the Allgemeine Zeitung. Through this paper, at the same time, I remained in intellectual contact with my fatherland, and with the dear friends and persons who shared my opinions, and who also contributed to the Allgemeine Zeitung, and some of whom even lived in Augsburg. To a person dwelling in exile such a printed correspondence is a kind of woeful consolation, and to me it was as if I were writing home and to my family. Those friends have since died, and the paper has gradually acquired a color that I do not like, although it cannot be said that the present Baron Cotta, who owns the paper, has not remained faithful to the traditions of his father. I do not know what influences counteract his better understanding. In his direc

tion of the paper he shows, that he has not only great pecuniary but also great intellectual means at his disposal, although from modesty he does not make a display of them. In the last letter with which he favored me, I found the touching remark : I have not inherited the intellect of my father, but I believe I have inherited his heart." He who can write thus must indeed possess intellect.

A peculiar accident induces me to-day, when speaking of the Allgemeine Zeitung, to mention. also how much I esteem the noble character of Herr von Cotta, who up to this moment has proved to me that he has inherited also some of the sympathy with which his deceased father honored me. The newspapers give at present circulation to the rumor that I intend to legally prosecute the Allgemeine Zeitung on account of having been injured by this paper, in regard to my personal character as well as to my pecuniary interests. This rumor is, of course, without the slightest foundation. This false report is based, however, upon a fact which, unfortunately, is not a mere invention; for in this very Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, for which I have