It occurred to me to give lessons in Greek and English, for the purpose of earning something, and taking the burthen off my father. I gave daily five lessons. But I have not been paid by one half of my pupils; some have gone away, and have contracted debts, and must again others show no intentions of paying. I have recourse to my father.

folios and quartos, transcribing or selecting. He laboured through some indifferent English and Italian odes, and there are to be found among his papers, translations from Tasso and Ariosto, and little Greek poems, which were never intended for publication. In his latter years he learned the Spanish language, and thus extended that wide field of knowledge the flowers of which he loved to cull upon their native soil.

Hölty was never seen to be discontented or peevish when surprized over his books. He quietly closed the volume, and gave his friend a most cordial welcome. One of his favourite amusements was the writing of rhymed terminations, and parodies in imitation of the noisy poetasters of the day. At some of the social meetings, poems on some prescribed subject were to be given in, and the defaulter was obliged to wear, as a punishment, a paper coronet in the shape of a grenadier's cap. On one occasion, it was by main force that Hölty escaped the superimposition of one of these crowns, formed out of a Göttingen weekly paper, in which a "condemned" poem of his own (a term of disapprobation which he used to affix to those compositions in which he had not succeeded ac

cording to his wishes), had been printed. He was kind and obliging in the extreme, and never, even by a look, evinced any disinclination to form one at their meetings, or rambles through the fields, although, as was often discovered, he had thereby been obliged to postpone very important business, and to repair the lost time by the sacrifice of his night's rest. He instructed Miller in English, Hahn in Greek, Voss in English and Italian,- and Miller in return introduced him to a knowledge of the language of the minstrels, with which he had become acquainted through the medium of the Swabian

dialect.

In the autumn of 1773, Hölty began to teach for money, and in the following summer to translate from the English, in which pursuit Voss co-operated at the beginning, A letter of his, written in April 1774, contains the following passage :

• Bouts Rimés.

Among other pieces which he translated about this period, were Hurd's Dialogues, and the first part of Shaftesbury. It has been asserted, but erroneously, by Miller, that Voss completed the translation of the remaining parts.

Some more passages of the letter above alluded to will convey a more vivid idea of Hölty's mind than a cold description could furnish:

I am still here. Who knows how long the separation will last, when once I shall be severed from my friends? I will stay with them as long as I possibly can. My principal occupations are to be the reading of Greek and the writing of poetry. How sweet is the idea of immortality! Who would not with pleasure endure all the miseries of life when that is to be the recompence? It is a delight incomparable to

look forward to a succession of future be

ings, who will love our memory, and wish themselves transported back to our days, and in whose breasts we shall kindle the love of virtue....I should like to live for a

few years in some great town, and to be introduced into every kind of society, with the view of studying man more attentively, which I feel will be indispensably necessary if I am to make my fortune as a poet. I have spent my years among books....If I father's death would be in want of my ashad no brothers and sisters, who after my sistance, I should not be anxious about obtranslation alone, living sometimes in town, taining any situation, but depend upon sometimes in the country. In the town I would amass knowledge of mankind, and in the country write poems. My desire for rural life is so strong, that I could hardly make up my mind to pass all my days in town; and, in fact, whenever I think of the country my heart begins to beat. A cottage with a wood near it—a meadow with a silvery spring-and a wife earth. Of friends I feel no want, for I to share my cottage-are all I wish for on brighten my sad hours, and my happy possess them already. Their love will ones they will render still more happy. Their letters and works I would read near my spring, and in my wood, and recal

those blissful days when I enjoyed their society.....shall I make more ballads? Perhaps I shall manufacture some more, but they will not be numerous. A writer of ballads appears to me like a harlequin, or the proprietor of a show-box. My predominant inclination is for rural poetry, and the sweet and melancholy musings of the poet. It is in these that my heart takes the most lively interest. I will summon all my powers. I will not be a poet at all, unless I can become a great one. If I cannot produce anything which shall bear the stamp of immortality, and rival the works of my friends, no syllable of mine shall ever be printed. A middling poet is a nonentity!

In another letter, bearing date the 13th of December, 1773, he writes thus:

I have just left the society of our friends. I thank Heaven that brought us together, and shall continue to do so as long as the breath is in me. Sacred friendship, how much hast thou blessed me! I knew nobody-1 could open my heart to nonethou hast united noble hearts to mine thou hast caused me many a happy hour, and wilt contribute to sweeten all the future bitternesses of my life. Laura was born, and has been educated in town. She is the handsomest being I have ever seen; no image of ideal beauty could I create more perfect. She has a tall commanding figure, a fine shape, an oval face, light hair, large blue eyes, a blooming complexion, a grace and charm in all her looks and gestures. Never did I see a female dance with more elegance: my heart has trembled with delight when I have heard her sing a foreign song (for she also understands Italian and French). She takes great pleasure in the works of Kleist and Gessner; whether she reads Klopstock I do not know. When I first became acquainted with her, she was with her sister, who was married in my native place, and died in December 1768. It was a beautiful May evening; the night ingales were beginning to sing, and the twilight shades to close in. She was walking through an orchard of apple-trees in full bloom, clad in the colour of innocence. Pink ribbons waved upon her beautiful bosom, and a beam of the westering sun frequently tinged her white robe and lovely neck. What wonder that such transcendent charms made an impression on me, so deep, that no distance could efface it! I should fill a sheet, were I to tell of all the love-sick fantasies and follies which I

at that time committed. After the lapse

of a twelvemonth she returned to town.

In a year one has time for many a celestial dream, and amatory composition. Neither was wanting...I saw her twice after her

marriage.

When I visited my parents last autumn, I heard that she was ill, and, It is sinful to probably, near her end. fove her any longer. My love is, indeed, extinguished, and nothing remains but a sweet remembrance, and tender heartbeating, when her image appears before my eyes. Still I have, at times, the most ardent wish to see her once more. Might she not have felt a reciprocal attachment for me? I never declared my affection for her, nor was capable of so doing. How could a young man make a declaration of love, and expect a return, who had not yet been at college, and on whose chin the down of manhood is yet scarcely apparent ? Enough of the affairs of the heart.-I am, indeed, ashamed of having written this letter, but, let it be, littera non erubescunt.

It is here necessary to explain the relations which subsisted between the Göttingen friends, as alluded to here, and in subsequent letters. The several poems, separate and collected, which Hölty had published since the year 1769, had gained him the reputation of a youthful genius. From Kästner and Murray he received striking marks of attention. About the year 1771, he became acquainted with Bürger, the then unknown author of some pieces in the, Almanack of the Muses, and with Miller. When, in spring 1772, Voss was conducted out of the obscurity of Mecklenburgh to Göttingen by Boie, the publisher of the Almanack of the Muses, Hölty invited him, through a friend, to a party at which Miller was present. Voss found two well-dressed persons who spoke in an unusual dialect, and a mute dressed in rags, who poured out coffee, and appeared to be a mean domestic of Hölty's. After wish that Voss should hear the new some time, the friend expressed a ballads recited, and, lo! the domestic, who was Hölty himself, with his face brightening up, read aloud Leander and Ismene. The other two were Miller and his cousin. Thus originated a friendship, in which Boie and Frederick Hahn, a man of a noble but gloomy mind, afterwards participated.

On a cheerful autumnal evening the younger friends, who were walking in the fields, became, on approaching a fine oak, in the heat of conversation, suddenly inspired as it were to devote themselves in solema

league to their country. To this society Boie, Count Stollberg, and Christian and Frederick Leopold afterwards acceded. They met every Sunday evening for various literary purposes. Several residents of distant towns attached themselves as honorary members to this society, without actual co-operation. Even Klopstock, to whom Count Stollberg had sent, in 1773, a selection of poems, the joint production of the members, judged favourably of it, and wished to become one himself. Bürger was a friend, but not a member. He sometimes frequented their meetings, and submitted his poems (as for instance, his Lenora, stanza by stanza), to their criticism. The report of Bürger's verses attracted Cramer. The society declared against German iambic verse, and Voss in vain represented to Bürger the unfitness of the language for that sort of metre, by an attempt to translate in it the description of Priam's palace, proving also the facility of composing in hexameters. When the original members separated, Overbeck, and afterwards Sprickmann, acceded to the surviving ones.

The domestic and retired character of this literary union, the cooperation of noblemen of education, and other circumstances, at length excited jealousies, to which the two visits of Klopstock mainly contributed, for, on his journey to and from Carlsruhe, he had devoted a few days to the society exclusively. The masters in a certain academy, which in the beginning was fostered by the muse of Haller, and some other persons, allowed themselves all manner of licence in inveighing against poets and their pursuits. Voss, at one time, intended to rise in defence of the abused Hölty, but, upon consideration, rested his defence upon the uprightness and purity of his character. During this persecution, a story was circulated, which had been fabricated at a drinking-bout, that a society of bards was formed, consisting of a hundred individuals, who, wrapped in the skins of beasts, used to offer sacrifice on the neighbouring hills at midnight, to invoke Odin and Klopstock, to burn in effigy, and to drink, not wine, but strong beer. This tale was tricked out with many other circumstances.

Denina, in his "Literature of the Prussian Monarchy," removes the scene of the solemnity to the neighbourhood of the Blockberg, and states that there is, in the castle of Stollberg, at Wernigerode, a large hall, wherein the bards of Germany, with Gleim as their president, used to celebrate, with beer and tobacco, an annual feast, at which the seat of honour was left vacant for the genius of Klopstock. Gleim pointed out this passage to Voss, and asked him where the confounded Italian had made out the lie.

The following strange fabrication, insignificant as the materials may have been out of which it was composed, must not be passed over in silence. The youths of the society, on fine days, delighted to hold their meetings in remote villages, sometimes in the house of a worthy host, where some new composition, such as Miller's "May is enticing," with Bach's music, was frequently taught in confidence to the young rustics; sometimes in the clean cottage of a peasant, which was Hölty's choice; or on the green sward of a luxuriant orchard, where they drank potations of rich milk. It occurred once or twice, on a moonlight night, that they passed the word, one to another, how agreeable it would be to remain in the country (to " rusticate” was the technical expression), and to compose each a poem. This plan being concerted, Hölty's poem "To Daphne's Canary-bird," that of Voss on André, and Hahn's reminiscence "Burst thy Clouds, O Moon," were composed in Scharf's garden at the same time. The two first had lain down in their clothes to rest, and were breathing the sweets of repose, when Hahn, holding a light and some paper, roused them, and began to write. A continued laugh which struck their ears prevented them from yielding to the melancholy inspiration of the moon-light scene. This proceeded from one of those engaged at the nocturnal worship of Odin, which was, however, unaccompanied by smoking and the invocation of Klopstock.

In the summer of 1773, Klopstock's birth-day was celebrated. All, including Hölty, dressed in their holiday-clothes, assembled in the afternoon at Hahn's, around a table

which sparkled with flasks of Rhenish wine. At the upper end of the chamber lay Klopstock's works, upon an arm-chair. Some of the odes were recited. Klopstock and the Rhenish made the conversation warm; enthusiasm rose to its height; and sentiments were uttered, replete with a noble indignation, against that levity which turns into a jest every serious feeling for the sublime. The judicious Boie endeavoured to excuse it, and the argument became still warmer. One drew forth the Comic Tales. To the flames!' echoed all round the room, and the flames blazed accordingly. 66 Here, with the portrait out of the pocketbook," cried another. A shout of exultation arose as the unoffending print was thrice carried upward by the heat. This affair, which was nothing but a sudden burst of indignation against those who misinterpreted the desipere in loco in which the youths indulged, was terminated by Boie, who, smiling, reproved their disorderly conduct.

There were, however, many of the instructors at Göttingen, who, far from joining in the petty war against those young and ingenuous spirits, favoured them with their countenance and support. To Kästner in particular Hölty was indebted for many substantial kindnesses. After the death of the young bard, some insinuations were thrown out against his multifarious reading, which Kästner resented in a poignant epigram. About Michaelmas 1774, he accompanied Miller to Leipsic. The following is extracted from his jour◄ nal:

We travelled from Nordheim to Rossla, the residence of Count Stollberg, in an open carriage, with the clear starry heavens above us. At Rossla we were transferred to what is called the yellow coach, a vehicle for travelling hung with yellow cloth, in which eight passengers can sit two before, two behind, and two on each side. I chose one of the side seats, on account of the prospect; and gazed out, as from a window, upon the mighty and beautiful world. We passed through Eisleben, where Lu. ther first saw the light, but could neither see the house in which he was born, nor the town itself, as it was midnight when we passed through it. Here we got a

merry travelling companion, an officer. We took our dinner in his company at Merseburg, and drank a great deal of the beer of that place, which Klopstock calls the monarch of malt-drinks. It is the true EINHERIUM OL, and I am firmly persuaded that Odin drinks Merseburg partook so heartily of the divine nectar, beer among his people in Valhalla. We

that our faces became as red as fire, like Uzen's when he ascended to the deity. Between Merseburg and Leipsic we took coffee in a hotel, at the door of which a phaëton had drawn up, which conveyed two lovely young females. The one was remarkably beautiful, and quite captivated my fancy. I stationed myself near the door, when she got out and re-ascended. fine arm touched me a little. With sorShe once passed me so closely, that her row I saw them drive off; but I was glad that my heart was still capable of feeling, What a heaven is love! he is an angel who can live in this heaven; a son of perdition, who has never gained admittance to it. Notwithstanding my matted hair, she would, perhaps, have smiled on me, if she had known that the celebrated poetic dreamer was standing before her.

There is still pointed out at Halle a solitary seat in a rock, called "Hölty's bench;" but Hölty never visited that town, during this or any other journey. The person who originally bestowed the name thought, no doubt, that the feeling poet would have chosen such a seat for his meditations.

Late in the autumn of 1774, Hölty began to spit blood, which he considered merely as the consequence of an obstinate cough, contracted in the first year of his academic course; or, of a stitch of long continuance, with which he had been afflicted. In the beginning of May, 1775, a few weeks after the death of his father, he crossed Hanover from Göttingen, on his return to Mariensee, where he continued to undergo his course of medicine under the care of Zimmermann. On the 8th of May he thus writes to Voss at Wandsbeck:

Zimmermann has informed Leisewitz, that I may, perhaps, recover from my consumption, by the use of the prescribed remedies, and an adherence to the regimen pointed out to me. You perceive, therefore, the danger of my situation, and how narrow the pathway is between life

and death, along which I advance. Láttle as I fear death, I should have wished to survive for a couple of olympiads more, in order to enjoy life with you, my friends, and to avoid being swept away with the great tide of mortality, without ever having risen above the surface. But God's will be done! As to other matters, I live here very agreeably. Mariensee is pleasantly and poetically situated. It is surrounded by woods, corn-fields, and meadows. But what is the beautiful country to me when I have no friend to wander with me through it! I assure you I am grieved to the heart when I think of the social days at Göttingen, and turn myself round to look for friends, and find none. I must remain here until Michaelmas. There is no alternative. I must first submit to the course of medicine, and wait the return of my health. It will be bliss if I can scrape together as much money as will carry me to Wandsbeck at Michaelmas. Perhaps I shall visit you for a few days towards the end of May, if my health improve. How long does Klopstock stay? Is Miller still there? I am yearning for

news from him. It would be sinful for you to leave me long in my solitude without writing to me. O the joy of passing one day in dear Hamburgh! O that we were there that we were there! Send me such of my poems as you consider to want correction, and let me know what improvements may have occurred to you. Remember me to Klopstock, Claudius, Bode, and all friends of the bard's, both male and female. A copy of Asmo omnia sua secum portante would also be very acceptable to me. Lastly, I should wish to have a copy of the song of the gracious dame. Farewell! I eagerly await your answer.

Hölty wrote again on the 11th of May, concerning the state of his disorder, and his hopes of recovery.

I have a longing desire to hear something from you. Write then to me, Voss. Write to me, Miller, if you be there. I should be glad to hear of your domestic affairs; of your arrangements for the Almanack, of Klopstock, of a thousand other things. When I perceive symptoms of convalescence I will also saddle my poetic nag again. I shall send you by the earliest opportunity a couple of convivial songs, which I composed at Göttingen. Have you yet enjoyed yourself at the theatre? Are the poets cried down in Hamburgh also? Have you seen beautiful visions in your dreams, and made a purse of gold by celebrating them in your verses? The Hamburghers must certainly have already begun to go on pilgrimage in crowds to St. Wandsbeck! O you must enjoy golden days! I hope I shall soon see you. Farewell!

The mere opening of these letters agonizes the heart-it seems as if one heard from afar the voice of a departed friend. There certainly are, and will ever be kindred spirits to sympathize with this feeling. On the 25th of May, he states that his health had been improving for the last fortnight, and that he could again breathe freely, and without pain:

That

has fallen in love is quite gratifying to me. I always heartily rejoice when I hear that one of my friends has should wish that all were transported to won the affections of some amiable girl. I that heaven of love, where once a golden Now I totter on the threshold, and the door is shut fast against me. I am desirous to get an explicit account of the English of the whole amour. girl of whom * * is enamoured, and If you wish to do me a favour, devote some time or other one

seat was for a short time conceded to me.

half hour to that subject. Have you seen

the maid? She is, no doubt, handsome and amiable. What are her parents? Has

made a formal proposal for her? Has he no proofs of reciprocal affection on her part? How did he become acquainted with her? I have not yet thought of the translation. But it must soon be resumed

if I think of earning a mite to pay my travelling expenses to Hamburgh. The beautiful May has glided away imperceptibly. I sauntered about the garden the entire morning, or else in the neighbouring wood; or lay in the grass, and read the Messiah, or Shakspeare. Often as I made the attempt to write, the verses would not flow upon me. The novelty of this abode was partly the cause, the headache partly. I will now spread all sails, and you may reckon on numerous contributions. You shall receive from me, if fortune be propitious, some odes and hymns, a terrific, and a tender ballad, a 'fantasy on the state of the human soul before its birth, and perhaps an elegy. I will also collect some of my old compo sitions. I have constant invitations from my readers and admirers here, and pass almost every evening in company. They look with wonder upon me, because my name has occasionally appeared in the newspapers. No one individual is capable of judging of the merits of the pieces themselves. I do not even think that they have all understood your conditions of subscription. The following is the proof. A certain person told me, about two days ago, that I had been praised in the Hamburgh Correspondent, and that it was therein stated, that my future articles were to be signed "T." I believe Prometheus mixed up some improper ingredient in the