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not left him; he went at once to his friend | inscriptions, but even the metal plates crumWeyland, the president of the said Collegium. bled away on being fingered, and their in"Friend Weyland," he said, "let not the scriptions were utterly effaced. Damp had dust of Schiller be tossed up in the face of reigned absolute in the Kassengewölbe. Two heaven and flung into that hideous hole! plates only were found with legible characLet me at least have a permit to search the ters, and these were foreign to the purpose. vault; if we find Schiller's coffin, it shall be The utter and unexpected chaos seems to reinterred in a fitting manner in the New have disconcerted the most sanguine. There Cemetery." The president made no difficulty. was no apparent chance of success; and, In 1826 all men would have been glad to when Coudray proposed that they should undo the ignominy of 1805, and a Herr Bür-close proceedings for that day, and defer a germeister was a different sort of person to more searching investigation till another time, deal with from the young clerk whom his he met with a ready assent. Probably every Hochwürden the Oberconsistorialrath Gün- one but the mayor looked on the matter as ther could bully at leisure. Weyland made hopeless. They reascended the ladder and out a formal order to admit the Mayor of shut up the vault. Weimar, and any gentlemen he might bring with him, to inspect the Kassengewölbe.

Meanwhile the strange proceedings in the Kassengewölbe began to be noised abroad. The churchyard was a thoroughfare, and many passengers had observed that something odd was going on. There were persons living in Weimar whose near relatives lay in the Gewölbe; and, though neither they nor the public at large had any objection to offer to the general"clearing out," they did raise very strong objections to this mode of anticipating it. So many pungent things began to be said about violating the tomb, disturbing the repose of the departed, etc., that the Bürgermeister perceived the necessity of going more warily to work in future. He resolved to time his next visit at an hour when few persons would be likely to cross the churchyard at that season. Accordingly, two days later, he returned to the Kassengewölbe at seven in the morning, accompanied only by Coudray and the churchyard officials.

Schwabe invited several persons who had known the poet, and amongst others the man Rudolph who had been Schiller's servant at the time of his death. On March 13th, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the party met at the churchyard, the sexton and his assistants having received orders to be present with keys, ladders, etc. The vault was formally opened; but, before any one entered it, Rudolph and another stated that the coffin of the deceased Hofrath von Schiller must be one of the longest in the place. After this the secretary of the Landschaftscollegium was requested to read aloud, from the records of the said board, the names of such persons as had been interred shortly before and after the year 1805. It was done : on which the gravedigger, Herr Bielke, remarked that the coffins no longer stood in the order in which they had originally been placed, but had Their first task was to raise out of the been much moved at recent burials. The vault altogether six coffins, which it was ladder was then adjusted, and Schwabe, Cou- found would bear removal. By various dray the architect, and the gravedigger were tokens it was proved that none of these could the first to descend. Some others were asked be that which they sought. There were sevto draw near, that they might assist in recog-eral others which could not be removed, but nizing the coffin. which held together so long as they were left The first glance brought their hopes very standing; all the rest were in the direst conlow. The tenants of the vault were found fusion. Two hours and a half were spent in "all over, under, and alongside of each other." One coffin of unusual length having been descried underneath the rest, an attempt was made to reach it by lifting out of the way those that were above; but the processes of the tomb were found to have made greater advances than met the eye. Hardly anything would bear removal, but fell to pieces at the first touch. Search was made for plates with

subjecting the ghastly heap to a thorough but fruitless search; not a trace of any kind rewarded their trouble. No conclusion but one could stare Schwabe and Coudray in the face

their quest was in vain; the remains of Schiller must be left to oblivion. Again the Gewölbe was closed, and those who had disturbed its quiet returned disappointed to their homes. Yet, that very afternoon, Schwabe

went back once more in company with the turf laid down
joiner, who twenty years before had made be lost for over
the coffin; there was a chance that he might His position of M
recognize one of those which they had not
ventured to lift. But this glimmer of hope
faded like all the rest. The man remembered
very well what sort of chest he had made for
the Hofrath von Schiller, and he certainly
saw nothing like it here. It had been of the
plainest sort he believed without even a
plate; and in such damp as this it could
have lasted but a few years.

the means

power, and this time he was resolved to keep his secret. To find the skull was now his utmost hope, but for that he should make a final struggle. The keys were still in the hands of Bielke the sexton, and the sexton, of course, stood under his control. He sent for him, bound him over to silence, and ordered him to be at the churchyard at midnight on the 19th of March. In like manner he summoned three day-laborers in whom he confided, pledged them to secrecy, and engaged them to be at the same place at the same hour, but singly and without lanterns. Attention should not be attracted if he could help it.

When the night came, he himself, with a trusty servant, proceeded to the entrance of Kassengewölbe. The four men were already there. In darkness they all entered, raised the trap-door, adjusted the ladder, and descended to the abode of the dead. Not till then were lanterns lighted; it was just possible that some late wanderer might, even at that hour, cross the churchyard.

The fame of this second expedition got abroad like that of the first, and the comments of the public were louder than before. Invectives of no measured sort fell on the mayor in torrents. Not only did society in general take offence, but a variety of persons in authority, particularly ecclesiastical dignitaries, used great freedom in criticism, and began to talk of interfering. There was, besides the Landschaftscollegium, a variety of high-learned-wise-and-reverend boards and commissions-an Oberconsistorium, an Oberbaudirection, and a grossherzogliche Kirchenund-Gotteskastencommission, with a whole battalion of commissioners, directors, and councillors-all united in one fellowship of Schwabe seated himself on a step of the ladred-tape, and all, in different degrees, in pos-der and directed the workmen. He smoked session of certain rights of visitation and in-hard all the time; it made the horrible atspection in regard of churchyards, which mosphere less intolerable. Fragments of rights they were doubtless capable, when broken coffins they piled up in one corner, much provoked, of putting in force. Schwabe and bones in another. Skulls as they were in commencing had asked nobody's permission but Weyland's, well knowing that the mere question would have involved a delay of months, while a favorable answer would have been very doubtful. But, by acting as a private individual, while making use of his position of Bürgermeister to carry out his schemes, he had wounded every official feeling in Weimar. On an after occasion the chief Church authority found an opportunity to rebuke the chief civic authority in a somewhat pungent fashion. In fact, Schwabe could hardly have ventured on such irregularities, had he not been assured of support, in case of need, in the highest quarters.

He was now much disappointed. He had to acknowledge that hope was at an end. Yet he could not and would not submit even to what was inevitable. The idea of the " clearing out," now close at hand, haunted and horrified him. That dismal hole in the corner of the churchyard once closed and the

found were placed in a heap by themselves. The hideous work went on for three successive nights, from twelve o'clock till about three, at the end of which time twenty-three skulls had been found. These the Bürgermeister caused to be put in a sack and carried home to his house, where he himself took them out and placed them in rows on a table.

It was hardly done ere he exclaimed, "That must be Schiller's!" There was one skull that differed enormously from all the rest both in size and shape. It was remarkable, too, in another way: alone of all those on the table it retained an entire set of the finest teeth, and Schiller's teeth had been noted for their beauty. But there were other means of identification at hand. Schwabe possessed the cast of Schiller's head, taken after death, by Klauer, and with this he undertook careful comparison and measurement. The two seemed to him to correspond; and of the

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twenty-two others, not one would bear jux- to the spot, and found them satisfied with taposition with the cast. Unfortunately the his plan. The remaining members of Schillower jaw was wanting, to obtain which a ler's family-all of whom had left Weimarfourth nocturnal expedition had to be under-signified their assent. They did not detaken. The skull was carried back to Ge- sire," as one of themselves expressed it, "to strive against Nature's appointment that wölbe, and many jaws were tried ere one was man's earthly remains should be reunited found which fitted, and for beauty of teeth with herself;" they would prefer that their corresponded with the upper jaw. When father's dust should rest in the ground than brought home, on the other hand, it refused anywhere else. to fit any other cranium. One tooth alone" was wanting, and this tooth, an old servant of Schiller's afterwards declared, had been extracted at Jena in his presence.

who could not reach Weimar before autumn.

But the Grand Duke and Goethe decided otherwise. Dannecker's colossal bust of Grand Ducal library, where it had been Schiller had recently been acquired for the placed on a lofty pedestal opposite the bust er Having got thus far, Schwabe invited three of Goethe; and in this pedestal, which was of the chief medical authorities to inspect his hollow, it was resolved to deposit the skull. discovery. After careful measurements, they The consent of the family having been obdeclared that amongst the twenty-three skulls tained, the solemn deposition was delayed there was but one from which the cast could only till the arrival of Ernst von Schiller, have been taken. He then invited every per- On September the 17th, the ceremony took son in Weimar and its neighborhood, who had place. A few persons had been invited, been on terms of intimacy with Schiller, and amongst whom, of course, was the Bürgeradmitted them to the room one by one. The meister. Goethe dreaded the agitation and result was surprising. Without an excep- remained at home, but sent his son to repretion they pointed to the same skull as that sent him as chief librarian. A cantata havwhich must have been the poet's. The only ing been sung, Ernst von Schiller, in a short remaining chance of mistake seemed to be speech, thanked all persons present, but esthe possibility of other skulls having eluded had shown to the memory of his father. He pecially the Bürgermeister, for the love they the search, and being yet in the vault. To then formally delivered his father's head into put this to rest, Schwabe applied to the Land- the hands of the younger Goethe, who, revschaftscollegium, in whose records was kept erently receiving it, thanked his friend in a list of all persons buried in the Kassenge-fection that had subsisted between their faGoethe's name, and having dwelt on the af

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wölbe. It was ascertained that since the last clearing out" there had been exactly twenty-three interments.

At this stage the Bürgemeister saw himself in a position to inform the Grand Duke and Goethe of his search and success. From both he received grateful acknowledgments. Goethe unhesitatingly recognized the head, and laid stress on the peculiar beauty and flatness of the teeth. The Oberconsistori

um thought proper to protest, and, as one good effect of what had happened, to direct that the Kassengewölbe should in future be kept in better order.

relic should henceforward be guarded with thers, vowed and guaranteed that the precious anxious care. Up to this moment the skull had been wrapped in a cloth and sealed; the younger Goethe now made it over to the librarian, Professor Riemer, to be unpacked and placed in its receptacle. All present tal having been locked, the key was carried subscribed their names, on which, the pedeshome to Goethe. Any one who is curious may read the speeches and proceedings at length. Chancellor von Müller spoke most to the point. After tarrying so long amid the cerements and corruption of the tomb, his quotation of the poet's own words must have refreshed his hearers like the dew of the

The new cemetery lay on a gentle ris-morning :ing-ground on the south side of the town. Schwabe's favorite plan was to deposit what he had found-all that he now ever dreamed of finding-of his beloved poet on the highest point of the slope, and to mark the spot by a simple monument conspicuous far and near; so that travellers, at their first approach, might know where Schiller lay. One forenoon in early spring he led Frau von Wolzogen and the Chancellor, Herr von Müller,

"Nur der Korper eignet jenen Mächten, Die das dunkle Schicksal flechten; Aber frei von jeder Zeitgewalt, Die Gespielin seliger Naturen Wandelt oben in des Lichtes Fluren, Gottlich unter Gottern, die Gestalt." None doubted that Schiller's head was now at rest for many years. But it had already occurred to Goethe, who had more osteologi

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cal knowledge than the excellent Burgermeis- Grand Duke wrote Goethe a note, proposing ter, that, the skull being in their possession, for his approval that the skull and skeleton it must be possible to find the skeleton. A of Schiller should be reunited and provisvery few days after the ceremony in the li-ionally" deposited in the vault which the brary, he sent to Jena, begging the Professor Grand Duke had built for himself and his of Anatomy, Dr. Schröter, to have the kind- house, until Schiller's family should otherness to spend a day or two at Weimar, and wise determine." No better plan seeming to bring with him if possible, a functionary feasible, Goethe himself gave orders for the of the Jena Museum, Färber by name, who construction of a durable sarcophagus. On had at one time been Schiller's servant. As November 17th, 1827, in presence of the soon as they arrived, Goethe placed the mat- younger Goethe, Coudray, and Riemer, the ter in Schröter's hands. Again the head head was finally removed from the pedestal, was raised from its pillow and carried back and Professor Schröter reconstructed the ento the dismal Kassengewölbe, where the bones tire skeleton in this new and more sumptustill lay in a heap. The chief difficulty was ous abode, which we are told was seven feet to find the first vertebra; after that all was in length, and bore at its upper end the name easy enough. With some exceptions, comparatively trifling, Schröter succeeded in reproducing the skeleton, which then was laid in a new coffin "lined with blue merino," and would seem (though we are not distinctly told) to have been deposited in the library. Professor Schröler's register of bones recovered and bones missing has been both preserved and printed. The skull was restored to its place in the pedestal. There was another shriek from the public at these repeated violations of the tomb; and the odd position chosen for Schiller's head apart from his body, called forth, not without reason, abundant criticism.

SCHILLER

in letters of cast-iron. That same afternoon Goethe went himself to the library and expressed his satisfaction with all that had been done.

At last, on December 16th, 1827, at half past five in the morning, a few persons again met at the same place. The Grand Duke had desired for what reason we know notto avoid observation; it was Schiller's fate that his remains should be carried hither and thither by stealth and in the night. Some tapers burned round the bier: the recesses of the hall were in darkness. Not a word was spoken, but those present bent for an instant in silent prayer, on which the bearers raised the coffin and carried it away. They walked along through the park: the night was cold and cloudy: some of the party had lanterns. When they reached the avenue that led up to the cemetery, the moon shone out as she had done twenty-two years before. At the vault itself some other friends had assembled, amongst whom was the mayor. Ere the lid was finally secured, Schwabe placed himself at the head of the coffin and recognized the skull to be that which he had rescued from the Kassengewölbe. The sarcophagus having then been closed, and a laurel wreath laid on it, formal possession, in name of the Grand Duke, was taken by the marshal, Freiherr von Spiegel. The key was removed to be kept in possession of his excellency, the Geheimerath von Goethe, Chief of the Instistutions for Art and Science. This key, in an envelop addressed by Goethe, is said to be preserved in the Grand Ducal Library, where, however, we have no recollection of having seen it.

Schwabe's idea of a mouument in the new cemetery was, after a while, revived by Carl August, but with an important alteration, which was, that on the spot indicated at the head of the rising-ground there should be erected a common sepulchre for Goethe and Schiller, in which the latter's remains would at once be deposited-the mausoleum to be finally closed when, in the course of nature, Goethe should have been laid there too. The idea was, doubtless, very noble, and found great favor with Goethe himself, who, entering into it, commissioned Coudray, the architect, to sketch the plan of a simple mausoleum, in which the sarcophagi were to be visible from without. There was some delay in clearing the ground-a nursery of young trees had to be removed-so that at Midsummer, 1827, nothing had been done. It is said that the intrigues of certain persons, who made point of opposing Goethe at all times, prevailed so far with the Grand Duke that he became indifferent about the whole scheme. Meanwhile it was necessary to provide for the remains of Schiller. The public voice was The provisional" deposition has proved loud in condemning their present location, more permanent than any other. Whoever and in August, 1827, Louis of Bavaria again would see the resting-place of Goethe and appeared as a Deus ex machina to hasten on Schiller must descend into the Grand Ducal the last act. He expressed surprise that the vault, where, through a grating, in the twibones of Germany's best-beloved should be light beyond, he will catch a glimpse of their kept like rare coins, or other curiosities, in a sarcophagi. The monument on the summit public museum. In these circumstances, the of the cemetery would have been better.

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POETRY.-The Retirement, 530. Seeing, Unseen, 630. Where are the Copperheads? 575. The Land's End, 575. Lead Us, O Father, 575. Warning, 575. New England's Dead, 576. Praying for Rain, 576. In God's Hand, 576.

SHORT ARTICLES.-Seeing an Avalanche go by, 550. Death of Dr. Bartlett, former Editor and Proprietor of the New York Albion, 550. The form of a Drop, 562. Electricity in the Circulation of the Blood, 572. The Star Spangled Banner Parodied, 572.

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