Ubi uber, ibi tuber=--There are no roses without thorns.
Der Gott, der mir im Busen wohnt, / Kann tief mein Innerstes erregen; der uber allen meinen Kraften thront, er kann nach aussen nichts bewegen=--The God who dwells in my breast can stir my inmost soul to its depths; he who sits as sovereign over all my powers has no control over things beyond.
Genug ist uber einer Sackvoll=--Enough excels a sackful.
Besser Rat kommt uber Nacht=--Better counsel comes over-night.
Der kann nicht klagen uber harten Spruch, den man zum Meister seines Schicksals macht=--He cannot complain of a hard sentence who is made master of his own fate.
Ware der Geist nicht frei, dann war' es ein grosser Gedanke, / Dass ein Gedankenmonarch uber die Seele regiert=--Only if the spirit of man were not free, would the thought be a great one that there is a monarch of thought who rules over our souls.
Nur dem vertrau' ich vollig, nur der imponirt nachhaltig, der uber sich zu lacheln fahig ist=--I trust only him perfectly, only he makes a lasting impression on me, who is capable of laughing at himself.
Vom Sein zum Sein geht alles Leben uber--/ Zum Nichtsein ist kein Schritt in der Natur=--All life passes over from being to being. There is no step in Nature into non-being.
Man disputirt mehr uber die Schaale, als uber den Kern=--People dispute more about the shell than the kernel.
Die Geheimnisse der Lebenspfade darf und kann man nicht offenbaren; es gibt Steine des Anstosses, uber die ein jeder Wanderer stolpern muss. Der Poet aber deutet auf die Stelle hin=--The secrets of the way of life may not and cannot be laid open; there are stones of offence along the path over which every wayfarer must stumble. The poet, or inspired teacher, however, points to the spot.
Sich uber das Hoherstehende alles Urtheils zu enthalten, ist eine zu edle Eigenschaft, als das haufig sein konnte=--To refrain from all criticism of what ranks above us is too noble a virtue to be of every-day occurrence.
List geht uber Gewalt-=-Cunning overcomes strength.
Frauen, richtet nur nie des Mannes einzelne Thaten; / Aber uber den Mann sprechet das richtende Wort=--Women, judge ye not the individual acts of the man; the word that pronounces judgment is above the man.
Man lobt den Kunstler dann erst recht, wenn man uber sein Werk sein Lob vergisst=--We first truly praise an artist when the merit of his work is such as to make us forget himself.
Ich bin es mude, uber Sklaven zu herrschen=--I am tired of ruling over slaves.
Guter Rath kommt uber Nacht=--Good counsel comes over-night.
Die vernunftige Welt ist als ein grosses unsterbliches Individuum zu betrachten, das unaufhaltsam das Nothwendige bewirkt und dadurch sich sogar uber das Zufallige zum Herrn macht=--The rational world is to be regarded as a great immortal individuality, that is ever working out for us the necessary (_i.e._, an order which all must submit to), and thereby makes itself lord and master of everything contingent (or accidental).
Der Mensch muss ein Hoheres, ein Gottliches anerkennen--ob in sich oder uber sich, gleichviel=--Man must acknowledge a higher, a divine--whether in himself or over himself, no matter.
Jede Macht, welche wir uber andere Gegenstande ausuben, hangt von der Macht ab, die wir uber uns selbst besitzen=--All the power which we, in every case, exercise over other objects depends on the power we have over ourselves.
Niemand ist frei, der nicht uber sich selbst Herr ist=--No man is free who is not lord over himself.
Ein Gott ist, ein heiliger Wille lebt, / Wie auch der menschliche wanke; / Hoch uber der Zeit und dem Raume webt / Lebendig der hochste Gedanke=--A god is, a holy will lives, however man's will may waver; high over all time and space the highest thought weaves itself everywhere into life's web.
Unter mancherlei wunderlichen Albernheiten der Schulen kommt mir keine so vollkommen lacherlich vor, als der Streit uber die Aechtheit alter Schriften, alter Werke. Ist es denn der Autor oder die Schrift die wir bewundern oder tadeln? es ist immer nur der Autor, den wir vor uns haben; was kummern uns die Namen, wenn wir ein Geisteswerk auslegen?=--Among the manifold strange follies of the schools, I know no one so utterly ridiculous and absurd as the controversy about the authenticity of old writings, old works. Is it the author or the writing we admire or censure? It is always the author we have before us. What have we to do with names, when it is a work of the spirit we are interpreting?
Alle Frachten lichten, sagte der Schiffer, da warf er seine Frau uber Bord=--All freights lighten, said the skipper, as he threw his wife into the sea.
Victory uber allies!
Es giebt Manner welche die Beredsamkeit weiblicher Zungen ubertreffen, aber kein Mann besitzt die Beredsamkeit weiblicher Augen=--There are men the eloquence of whose tongues surpasses that of women, but no man possesses the eloquence of women's eyes.
Omnium rerum, ex quibus aliquid acquiritur, nihil est agricultura melius, nihil uberius, nihil dulcius, nihil homine libero dignius=--Of all pursuits from which profit accrues, nothing is superior to agriculture, nothing more productive, nothing more enjoyable, nothing more worthy of a free man.
Die Kirche hat einen guten Magen, hat ganze Lander aufgefressen, und doch noch nie sich ubergessen=--The Church has a good stomach, has swallowed up whole countries, and yet has not overeaten herself.
Mich drang'st den Grundtext aufzuschlagen, / Mit redlichem Gefuhl einmal / Das heilige Original / In mein geliebtes Deutsch zu ubertragen=--I must turn up the primitive text just to translate the sacred original with honest feeling into my dear German tongue.
Diejenige Regierung ist die beste, die sich uberflussig macht=--That government is best which makes itself unnecessary.
Terra antiqua, potens armis atque ubere gleb?=--An ancient land, powerful in arms and in the fertility of its soil.
Eingestandene Uebereilung ist oft lehrreicher, als kalte uberdachte Unfehlbarkeit=--A confessed precipitancy is often more instructive than a coldly considered certainty.
Lange Ueberlegungen zeigen gewohnlich, dass man den Punkt nicht im Auge hat, von dem die Rede ist; ubereilte Handlungen, dass man ihn gar nicht kennt=--Long pondering on a matter usually indicates that one has not properly got his eye on the point at issue; and too hasty action that he does not know it at all.
Die Einsamkeit ist noth; doch sei nur nicht gemein, / So kannst du uberall in einer Wuste sein=--Solitude is painful; only be not vulgar, for then you may be in a desert everywhere.
Stirb, Gotz, du hast dich selbst uberlebt=--Die, Gotz; thou hast outlived thyself.
Gott ist uberall, ausser wo er seinem Statthalter hat=--God is everywhere except where his vicar is.
Ich mocht mich gleich dem Teufel ubergeben, / Wenn ich nur selbst kein Teufel war=--I would give myself up at once to the devil if only I were not a devil myself.
Religionen sind Kinder der Unwissenheit, die ihre Mutter nicht lange uberleben=--Religions are the children of ignorance, and they do not long outlive their mother.
Die Welt ist vollkommen uberall, / Wo der Mensch nicht hinkommt mit seiner Qual=--The world is all perfect except where man comes with his burden of woe.
Von der Gewalt, die alle Wesen bindet, / Befreit der Mensch sich, der sich uberwindet=--From the power which constrains every creature man frees himself by overcoming himself.
Der gute Mann braucht uberall viel Boden=--The good man needs always large room.
Langes Leben heisst viele uberleben=--To live long is to outlive many.
Gross ist, wer Feinde tapfer uberwand; / Doch grosser ist, wer sie gewonnen=--Great is he who has bravely vanquished his enemies, but greater is he who has gained them.
In der jetzigen Zeit soll Niemand schweigen oder nachgeben; man muss reden und sich ruhren, nicht um zu uberwinden, sondern sich auf seinem Posten zu erhalten; ob bei der Majoritat oder Minoritat, ist ganz gleichgultig=--At the present time no one should yield or keep silence; every one must speak and bestir himself, not in order to gain the upper hand, but to keep his own position--whether with the majority or the minority is quite indifferent.
Wohlgethan uberlebt den Tod=--Well-done outlives death.
Der Menschenkenner steht uberall an seinem Platze=--He who knows man is everywhere in his place.
'ANTARA IBN SHADDAD, Arabian poet and warrior of the 6th century, was famous both for his poetry and his adventurous life. His chief poem is contained in the _Mo'allakât_. The account of his life forms the basis of a long and extravagant romance. His father Shaddad was a soldier, his mother Zabuba a negro slave. Neglected at first, he soon claimed attention and respect for himself, and by his remarkable personal qualities and courage in battle he gained his freedom and the acknowledgment of his father. He took part in the great war between the related tribes of Abs and Dhubyan, which began over a contest of horses and was named after them the war of Dahis and Ghabra. He died in a fight against the tribe of Tai. His poems, which are chiefly concerned with fighting or with his love for Abla, are published in W. Ahlwardt's _The Diwans of the six ancient Arabic Poets_ (London, 1870); they have also been published separately at Beirût (1888). As regards their genuineness, cf. W. Ahlwardt's _Bemerkungen uber die Aechtheit der alten arabichen Gedichte_ (Greifswald, 1872), pp. 50 ff. _The Romance of 'Antar_ (Sîrat 'Antar ibn Shaddad) is a work which was long handed down by oral tradition only, has grown to immense proportions and has been published in 32 vols. at Cairo, 1307 (A.D. 1889), and in 10 vols. at Beirût, 1871. It was partly translated by Terrick Hamilton under the title _'Antar, a Bedoueen Romance_ (4 vols., London, 1820). Entry: ANTARA
The signal for the change came in 1873, and was given unconsciously by one of the most distinguished Jews of his time, Edward Lasker, the gifted lieutenant of Bennigsen in the leadership of the National Liberal party. The unification of Germany in 1870, and the rapid payment of the enormous French war indemnity, had given an unprecedented impulse to industrial and financial activity throughout the empire. Money became cheap and speculation universal. A company mania set in which was favoured by the government, who granted railway and other concessions with a prodigal hand. The inevitable result of this state of things was first indicated by Jewish politicians and economists. On the 14th of January 1873, Edward Lasker called the attention of the Prussian diet to the dangers of the situation, while his colleague, Ludwig Bamberger, in an able article in the _Preussischen Jahrbücher_, condemned the policy which had permitted the milliards to glut the country instead of being paid on a plan which would have facilitated their gradual digestion by the economic machinery of the nation. Deeply impressed by the gravity of the impending crisis, Lasker instituted a searching inquiry, with the result that he discovered a series of grave company scandals in which financial promoters and aristocratic directors were chiefly involved. Undeterred by the fact that the leading spirit in these abuses, Bethel Henry Strousberg (1823-1884), was a Jew, Lasker presented the results of his inquiry to the diet on the 7th of February 1873, in a speech of great power and full of sensational disclosures. The dramatic results of this speech need not be dwelt upon here (for details see Blum, _Das deutsche Reich zur Zelt Bismarcks_, pp. 153-181). It must suffice to say that in the following May the great Vienna "Krach" occurred, and the colossal bubble of speculation burst, bringing with it all the ruin foretold by Lasker and Bamberger. From the position occupied by the Jews in the commercial class, and especially in the financial section of that class, it was inevitable that a considerable number of them should figure in the scandals which followed. At this moment an obscure Hamburg journalist, Wilhelm Marr, who as far back as 1862 had printed a still-born tract against the Jews (_Judenspiegel_), published a sensational pamphlet entitled _Der Sieg des Judenthums uber das Germanthum_ ("The Victory of Judaism over Germanism"). The book fell upon fruitful soil. It applied to the nascent controversy a theory of nationality which, under the great sponsorship of Hegel, had seized on the minds of the German youth, and to which the stirring events of 1870 had already given a deep practical significance. The state, according to the Hegelians, should be rational, and the nation should be a unit comprising individuals speaking the same language and of the same racial origin. Heterogeneous elements might be absorbed, but if they could not be reduced to the national type they should be eliminated. This was the pseudo-scientific note of the new anti-Semitism, the theory which differentiated it from the old religious Jew-hatred and sought to give it a rational place in modern thought. Marr's pamphlet, which reviewed the facts of the Jewish social concentration without noticing their essentially transitional character, proved the pioneer of this teaching. It was, however, in the passions of party politics that the new crusade found its chief sources of vitality. The enemies of the _bourgeoisie_ at once saw that the movement was calculated to discredit and weaken the school of Manchester Liberalism, then in the ascendant. Agrarian capitalism, which had been dethroned by industrial capitalism in 1848, and had burnt its fingers in 1873, seized the opportunity of paying off old scores. The clericals, smarting under the _Kutlturkampj_, which was supported by the whole body of Jewish liberalism, joined eagerly in the new cry. In 1876 another sensational pamphlet was published, Otto Glogau's _Die Börsen und Grundergeschwindel in Berlin_ ("The Bourses and the Company Swindles in Berlin"), dealing in detail with the Jewish participation in the scandals first revealed by Lasker. The agitation gradually swelled, its growth being helped by the sensitiveness and _cacoëthes scribendi_ of the Jews themselves, who contributed two pamphlets and a much larger proportion of newspaper articles for every one supplied by their opponents (Jacobs. _Bibliog. Jew. Question_, p. xi.). Up to 1879, however, it was more of a literary than a political agitation, and was generally regarded only as an ephemeral craze or a passing spasm of popular passion. Entry: ANTI
LITERATURE.--A. Bumm, "Das Grosshirn der Vögel," _Zeitschr. wiss. Zool._, 38, 1883, pp. 430-466, pls. 24-25; F. Leuret and P. Gratiolet, _Anatomie comparée du système nerveux_ (Paris, 1839-1857), with atlas; A. Meckel, "Anatomie des Gehirns der Vögel," in _Meckel's Archiv f. Physiol._ vol. ii.; H.F. Osborn, "The Origin of the Corpus Callosum, a contribution upon the Cerebral Commissures of the Vertebrata," _Morphol. Jahrbuch_, 1886, xii. pp. 223-251, pls. 13-14; M.A. Schulgin, "Lobi optici der Vögel," _Zool. Anzeig._ iv. pp. 277 and 303; E.R.A. Serres, _Anatomie comparée du cerveau_ (Paris, 1824, 4 pls.); L. Stieda, "Studien uber das centrale Nervensystem der Vögel und Säugethiere," _Zeitschr. wiss. Zool._ xix., 1869, pp. 1-92, pls.; J. Swan, _Illustrations of the Comparative Anatomy of the Nervous System_ (London, 1835, 4to, with plates). Entry: LITERATURE
Frederick, having appointed a governor in Rome to watch his Italian affairs, returned to Germany. All the Tuscan and Lombardian Ghibellines, who followed the imperial lead, had recourse to Castruccio for help and counsel, and all promised him the governorship of his country, if enabled to recover it with his assistance. Among these exiles were Matteo Guidi, Nardo Scolari, Lapo Uberti, Gerozzo Nardi, and Piero Buonaccorsi, all exiled Florentines and Ghibellines. Castruccio had the secret intention of becoming the master of all Tuscany by the aid of these men and of his own forces; and in order to gain greater weight in affairs, he entered into a league with Messer Matteo Visconti, the Prince of Milan, and organized for him the forces of his city and the country districts. As Lucca had five gates, he divided his own country districts into five parts, which he supplied with arms, and enrolled the men under captains and ensigns, so that he could quickly bring into the field twenty thousand soldiers, without those whom he could summon to his assistance from Pisa. While he surrounded himself with these forces and allies, it happened at Messer Matteo Visconti was attacked by the Guelphs of Piacenza, who had driven out the Ghibellines with the assistance of a Florentine army and the King Ruberto. Messer Matteo called upon Castruccio to invade the Florentines in their own territories, so that, being attacked at home, they should be compelled to draw their army out of Lombardy in order to defend themselves. Castruccio invaded the Valdarno, and seized Fucecchio and San Miniato, inflicting immense damage upon the country. Whereupon the Florentines recalled their army, which had scarcely reached Tuscany, when Castruccio was forced by other necessities to return to Lucca.
But the merit of the poem does not lie in the allegory, which still connects it with medieval literature. What is new in it is the individual art of the poet, the classic art transfused for the first time into a Romance form. Dante is above all a great artist. Whether he describes nature, analyzes passions, curses the vices or sings hymns to the virtues, he is always wonderful for the grandeur and delicacy of his art. Out of the rude medieval vision he has made the greatest work of art of modern times. He took the materials for his poem from theology, from philosophy, from history, from mythology--but more especially from his own passions, from hatred and love; and he has breathed the breath of genius into all these materials. Under the pen of the poet, the dead come to life again; they become men again, and speak the language of their time, of their passions. Farinata degli Uberti, Boniface VIII., Count Ugolino, Manfred, Sordello, Hugh Capet, St Thomas Aquinas, Cacciaguida, St Benedict, St Peter, are all so many objective creations; they stand before us in all the life of their characters, their feelings, their habits. Entry: 2
Discord among the great families broke out again, and the attempt to put an end to it by a marriage between Buondelmonte de' Buondelmonti and a daughter of the Amidei, only led to further strife (1215), although the causes of these broils were deeper and wider, being derived from the general division between Guelphs and Ghibellines all over Italy. But the work of crushing the nobles of the _contado_ and of asserting the city's position among rival communes continued. In 1222 Florence waged war successfully on Pisa, Lucca and Pistoia, and during the next few years against the Sienese with varying results; although the emperor supported the latter as Ghibellines, on his departure for Germany in 1235 they were forced to accept peace on onerous terms. During the interregnum (1241-1243) following on the death of Pope Gregory IX. the Ghibelline cause revived in Tuscany and imperial authority was re-established. The tumults against the Paterine heretics (1244-1245), among whom were many Ghibelline nobles favoured by the _podestà_ Pace di Pesamigola, indicate a successful Guelphic reaction; but Frederick II., having defeated his enemies both in Lombardy and in the Two Sicilies, appointed his natural son, Frederick of Antioch, imperial vicar in Tuscany, who, when civil war broke out, entered the city with 1600 German knights. The Ghibellines now triumphed completely, and in 1249 the Guelph leaders were driven into exile--the first of many instances in Florentine history of exile _en masse_ of a defeated party. The attempt to seize Montevarchi and other castles where the Guelph exiles were congregated failed, and in 1250 the burghers elected thirty-six _caporali di popolo_, who formed the basis of the _primo popolo_ or body of citizens independent of the nobles, headed by the _capitano del popolo_. The Ghibellines being unable to maintain their supremacy, the city came to be divided into two almost autonomous republics, the _comune_ headed by the _podestà_, and the _popolo_ headed by the _capitano_ and militarily organized into twenty companies; the central power was represented by twelve _anziani_ or elders. The _podestà_, who was always a foreigner, usually commanded the army, represented the city before foreign powers, and signed treaties. He was assisted by the _consiglio speciale_ of 90 and the _consiglio generale e speciale_ of 300, composed of nobles, while the _capitano del popolo_ had also two councils composed of burghers, heads of the gilds, _gonfalonieri_ of the companies, &c. The _anziani_ had a council of 36 burghers, and then there was the _parlamento_ or general assembly of the people, which met only on great occasions. At this time the _podestà's_ palace (the Bargello) was built, and the gold florin was first coined and soon came to be accepted as the standard gold piece throughout Europe. But, although greatly strengthened, the Guelphs, who now may be called the democrats as opposed to the Ghibelline aristocrats, were by no means wholly victorious, and in 1251 they had to defend themselves against a league of Ghibelline cities (Siena, Pisa and Pistoia) assisted by Florentine Ghibellines; the Florentine Uberti, who had been driven into exile after their plot of 1258, took refuge in Siena and encouraged that city in its hostility to Florence. Fresh disputes about the possession of Montepulciano and other places having arisen, the Florentines declared war once more. A Florentine army assisted by Guelphs of other towns was cunningly induced to believe that Siena would surrender at the first summons; but it was met by a Sienese army reinforced by Florentine exiles, including Farinata degli Uberti and other Ghibellines, and by the cavalry of Manfred (q.v.) of Sicily, led by Count Giordano and the count of Arras, with the result that the Florentines were totally routed at Montaperti on the 4th of September 1260. Count Giordano entered Florence, appointed Count Guido Novello _podestà_, and began a series of persecutions against the Guelphs. The Ghibellines even proposed to raze the walls of the city, but Farinata degli Uberti strongly opposed the idea, saying that "he had fought to regain and not to ruin his fatherland." Entry: HISTORY
The early Franciscans flagellated themselves with characteristic rigour, and it is no matter of surprise to find the Franciscan, St Anthony of Padua, preaching the praises of this means of penance. It is incorrect, however, to suppose that St Anthony took any part in the creation of the flagellant fraternities, which were the result of spontaneous popular movements, and later than the great Franciscan preacher; while Ranieri, a monk of Perugia, to whom the foundation of these strange communities has been attributed, was merely the leader of the flagellant brotherhood in that region. About 1259 these fraternities were distributed over the greater part of northern Italy. The contagion spread very rapidly, extending as far as the Rhine provinces, and, across Germany, into Bohemia. Day and night, long processions of all classes and ages, headed by priests carrying crosses and banners, perambulated the streets in double file, reciting prayers and drawing the blood from their bodies with leathern thongs. The magistrates in some of the Italian towns, and especially Uberto Pallavicino at Milan, expelled the flagellants with threats, and for a time the sect disappeared. The disorders of the 14th century, however, the numerous earthquakes, and the Black Death, which had spread over the greater part of Europe, produced a condition of ferment and mystic fever which was very favourable to a recrudescence of morbid forms of devotion. The flagellants reappeared, and made the state of religious trouble in Germany, provoked by the struggle between the papacy and Louis of Bavaria, subserve their cause. In the spring of 1349 bands of flagellants, perhaps from Hungary, began their propaganda in the south of Germany. Each band was under the command of a leader, who was assisted by two lieutenants; and obedience to the leader was enjoined upon every member on entering the brotherhood. The flagellants paid for their own personal maintenance, but were allowed to accept board and lodging, if offered. The penance lasted 33½ days, during which they flogged themselves with thongs fitted with four iron points. They read letters which they said had fallen from heaven, and which threatened the earth with terrible punishments if men refused to adopt the mode of penance taught by the flagellants. On several occasions they incited the populations of the towns through which they passed against the Jews, and also against the monks who opposed their propaganda. Many towns shut their gates upon them; but, in spite of discouragement, they spread from Poland to the Rhine, and penetrated as far as Holland and Flanders. Finally, a band of 100 marched from Basel to Avignon to the court of Pope Clement VI., who, in spite of the sympathy shown them by several of his cardinals, condemned the sect as constituting a menace to the priesthood. On the 20th of October 1349 Clement published a bull commanding the bishops and inquisitors to stamp out the growing heresy, and in pursuance of the pope's orders numbers of the sectaries perished at the stake or in the cells of the inquisitors and the episcopal justices. In 1389 the leader of a flagellant band in Italy called the _bianchi_ was burned by order of the pope, and his following dispersed. In 1417, however, the Spanish Dominican St Vincent Ferrer pleaded the cause of the flagellants with great warmth at the council of Constance, and elicited a severe reply from John Gerson (_Epistola ad Vincentium_), who declared that the flagellants were showing a tendency to slight the sacramental confession and penance, were refusing to perform the _cultus_ of the martyrs venerated by the church, and were even alleging their own superiority to the martyrs. Entry: FLAGELLANTS