The Life of Friedrich Schiller Comprehending an Examination of His Works

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                           THOMAS CARLYLE'S

                           COLLECTED WORKS.


                           LIBRARY EDITION.

                         _IN THIRTY VOLUMES._


                                VOL. V.

                      LIFE OF FRIEDRICH SCHILLER.


                  LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL (LIMITED),
                  11 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.


[Illustration:

From a Miniature in the Possession of the Hofdame Fräulein von Kalb,
in Berlin, taken while Schiller lived with the Körners in Dresden.

London. Chapman & Hall.]




                                  THE

                      LIFE OF FRIEDRICH SCHILLER

                             COMPREHENDING

                     AN EXAMINATION OF HIS WORKS.

                                  BY

                            THOMAS CARLYLE.


          Quique pii vates et Phœbo digna locuti. VIRGIL.

                                [1825.]


                      _WITH SUPPLEMENT OF 1872._


                  LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL (LIMITED).




                               CONTENTS.


                                                              PAGE

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION                                      vii

PART I.
SCHILLER'S YOUTH. (1759-1784)                                    1

PART II.
FROM HIS SETTLEMENT AT MANNHEIM TO HIS SETTLEMENT AT
JENA. (1784-1790.)                                              49

PART III.
FROM HIS SETTLEMENT AT JENA TO HIS DEATH. (1790-1805.)         117

SUPPLEMENT OF 1872.
SCHILLER'S PARENTAGE, BOYHOOD, AND YOUTH                       241

APPENDIX I.
NO. 1. DANIEL SCHUBART                                         341
    2. LETTERS OF SCHILLER                                     354
    3. FRIENDSHIP WITH GOETHE                                  371
    4. DEATH OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS                              375

APPENDIX II.
GOETHE'S INTRODUCTION TO GERMAN TRANSLATION OF THIS LIFE
OF SCHILLER                                                    379

SUMMARY AND INDEX                                              417




                      PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

                                [1845.]


The excuse for reprinting this somewhat insignificant Book is, that
certain parties, of the pirate species, were preparing to reprint it
for me. There are books, as there are horses, which a judicious owner,
on fair survey of them, might prefer to adjust by at once shooting
through the head: but in the case of books, owing to the pirate
species, that is not possible. Remains therefore that at least dirty
paper and errors of the press be guarded against; that a poor Book,
which has still to walk this world, do walk in clean linen, so to
speak, and pass its few and evil days with no blotches but its own
adhering to it.

There have been various new _Lives_ of Schiller since this one first
saw the light;—great changes in our notions, informations, in our
relations to the Life of Schiller, and to other things connected
therewith, during that long time! Into which I could not in the least
enter on the present occasion. Such errors, one or two, as lay
corrigible on the surface, I have pointed out by here and there a Note
as I read; but of errors that lay deeper there could no charge be
taken: to break the surface, to tear-up the old substance, and model
_it_ anew, was a task that lay far from me,—that would have been
frightful to me. What was written remains written; and the Reader, by
way of constant commentary, when needed, has to say to himself, "It
was written Twenty years ago." For newer instruction on Schiller's
Biography he can consult the _Schillers Leben_ of Madame von Wolzogen,
which Goethe once called a _Schiller Redivivus_; the _Briefwechsel
zwischen Schiller und Goethe_;—or, as a summary of the whole, and the
readiest inlet to the general subject for an English reader, Sir
Edward Bulwer's _Sketch of Schiller's Life_, a vigorous and lively
piece of writing, prefixed to his _Translations from Schiller_.

The present little Book is very imperfect:—but it pretends also to be
very harmless; it can innocently instruct those who are more ignorant
than itself! To which ingenuous class, according to their wants and
tastes, let it, with all good wishes, and hopes to meet afterwards in
fruitfuler provinces, be heartily commended.

T. CARLYLE.

_London, 7th May 1845._




                                PART I.

                     SCHILLER'S YOUTH (1759-1784).




                              PART FIRST.

                             [1759-1784.]


Among the writers of the concluding part of the last century there is
none more deserving of our notice than Friedrich Schiller.
Distinguished alike for the splendour of his intellectual faculties,
and the elevation of his tastes and feelings, he has left behind him
in his works a noble emblem of these great qualities: and the
reputation which he thus enjoys, and has merited, excites our
attention the more, on considering the circumstances under which it
was acquired.