The bringing up of her four
children, and of the old days in Hanover, before the Prussians
took possession.
She described to me the brilliant Hanoverian Court, the endless
festivities and balls, the stately elegance of the old city, and
the cruel misfortunes of the King. And how, a few days after the
King's flight, the end of all things came to her; for she was
politely informed one evening, by a big Prussian major, that she
must seek other lodgings - he needed her quarters. At this point
she always wept, and I sympathized.
Thus I came to know military life in Germany, and I fell in love
with the army, with its brilliancy and its glitter, with its
struggles and its romance, with its sharp contrasts, its
deprivations, and its chivalry.
I came to know, as their guest, the best of old military society.
They were very old-fashioned and precise, and Frau Generalin
often told me that American girls were too ausgelassen in their
manners. She often reproved me for seating myself upon the sofa
(which was only for old people) and also for looking about too
much when walking on the streets. Young girls must keep their
eyes more cast down, looking up only occasionally. (I thought
this dreadfully prim, as I was eager to see everything). I was
expected to stop and drop a little courtesy on meeting an older
woman, and then to inquire after the health of each member of the
family. It seemed to take a lot of time, but all the other girls
did it, and there seemed to be no hurry about anything, ever, in
that elegant old Residenz-stadt. Surely a contrast to our
bustling American towns.
A sentiment seemed to underlie everything they did. The Emperor
meant so much to them, and they adored the Empress. A personal
feeling, an affection, such as I had never heard of in a
republic, caused me to stop and wonder if an empire were not the
best, after all. And one day, when the Emperor, passing through
Hanover en route, drove down the Georgen-strasse in an open
barouche and raised his hat as he glanced at the sidewalk where I
happened to be standing, my heart seemed to stop beating, and I
was overcome by a most wonderful feeling - a feeling that in a man
would have meant chivalry and loyalty unto death.
In this beautiful old city, life could not be taken any other
than leisurely. Theatres with early hours, the maid coming for me
with a lantern at nine o'clock, the frequent Kaffee-klatsch, the
delightful afternoon coffee at the Georgen-garten, the visits to
the Zoological gardens, where we always took our fresh rolls
along with our knitting-work in a basket, and then sat at a
little table in the open, and were served with coffee, sweet
cream, and butter, by a strapping Hessian peasant woman - all so
simple, yet so elegant, so peaceful.
We heard the best music at the theatre, which was managed with
the same precision, and maintained by the Government with the
same generosity, as in the days of King George. No one was
allowed to enter after the overture had begun, and an absolute
hush prevailed.
The orchestra consisted of sixty or more pieces, and the audience
was critical. The parquet was filled with officers in the gayest
uniforms; there were few ladies amongst them; the latter sat
mostly in the boxes, of which there were several tiers, and as
soon as the curtain fell, between the acts, the officers would
rise, turn around, and level their glasses at the boxes.
Sometimes they came and visited in the boxes.
As I had been brought up in a town half Quaker, half Puritan, the
custom of going to the theatre Sunday evenings was rather a
questionable one in my mind. But I soon fell in with their ways,
and found that on Sunday evenings there was always the most
brilliant audience and the best plays were selected. With this
break-down of the wall of narrow prejudice, I gave up others
equally as narrow, and adopted the German customs with my whole
heart.
I studied the language with unflinching perseverance, for this
was the opportunity I had dreamed about and longed for in the
barren winter evenings at Nantucket when I sat poring over
Coleridge's translations of Schiller's plays and Bayard Taylor's
version of Goethe's Faust.
Should I ever read these intelligently in the original ?
And when my father consented for me to go over and spend a year
and live in General Weste's family, there never was a happier or
more grateful young woman. Appreciative and eager, I did not
waste a moment, and my keen enjoyment of the German classics
repaid me a hundred fold for all my industry.
Neither time nor misfortune, nor illness can take from me the
memory of that year of privileges such as is given few American
girls to enjoy, when they are at an age to fully appreciate them.
And so completely separated was I from the American and English
colony that I rarely heard my own language spoken, and thus I
lived, ate, listened, talked, and even dreamed in German.
There seemed to be time enough to do everything we wished; and,
as the Franco-Prussian war was just over (it was the year of
1871), and many troops were in garrison at Hanover, the officers
could always join us at the various gardens for after-dinner
coffee, which, by the way, was not taken in the demi-tasse, but
in good generous coffee-cups, with plenty of rich cream. Every
one drank at least two cups, the officers smoked, the women
knitted or embroidered, and those were among the pleasantest
hours I spent in Germany.
