65 chapters
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Selected Chapters
65 chapters
PREFACE TO MY ENGLISH AND AMERICAN READERS
PREFACE TO MY ENGLISH AND AMERICAN READERS
It is a great gratification to me that the story of my life—which I cannot suppose to be of general interest except in so far as it is linked with the story of a world-wide movement—is now put before the great community of the English-speaking nations; for it is in these very nations that the origin of that movement is to be sought, and by them its final victory is being most efficiently hastened. I have been brought to a clear recognition of this fact especially by the days I have spent in the
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I CHILDHOOD My certificate of baptism · The revolution of 1848 · Landgrave Fürstenberg · The Feather Ball · Castle Matzen
I CHILDHOOD My certificate of baptism · The revolution of 1848 · Landgrave Fürstenberg · The Feather Ball · Castle Matzen
What gives me some justification for publishing my experiences is the fact that I have met many interesting and distinguished contemporaries, and that my participation in a movement which has gradually grown to be of historic consequence has given me many glimpses into the political affairs of our time; and that hence, all in all, I have something to say that is really worth publishing. Of course, if I meant to tell only of this period of my life, I should have to confine myself to the history o
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II EARLY YOUTH Elvira · Playing “puff” · My mother’s singing · Clairvoyant Aunt Lotti · Roulette and trente-et-quarante · Castles in the air · My first journey · Season in Wiesbaden · Return · Grillparzer and Ebner-Eschenbach at Elvira’s · Radetzky’s death · A schoolgirl romance
II EARLY YOUTH Elvira · Playing “puff” · My mother’s singing · Clairvoyant Aunt Lotti · Roulette and trente-et-quarante · Castles in the air · My first journey · Season in Wiesbaden · Return · Grillparzer and Ebner-Eschenbach at Elvira’s · Radetzky’s death · A schoolgirl romance
When I was nearly twelve years old I was for the first time vouchsafed the good fortune of getting a companion of almost my own age. A sister of my mother, known to me as Aunt Lotti, came on a visit, accompanied by her only daughter, Elvira. We two girls were fired with friendship for each other. I say “fired,” for our mutual affection was an ardent one, and Elvira in particular showed a real adoration for me. Aunt Lotti was the widow of a Saxon named Büschel, by occupation a gentleman of leisur
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III AN AUTOGRAPH ALBUM Anastasius Grün · Friedrich Halm · Grillparzer · Wagner · Lenau’s sister · Military autographs · King Ludwig of Bavaria · Schiller’s daughter · Liebig · Schücking · Mädler · Körner · Anderssen · Meyerbeer · Rückert · Hebbel · Gregorovius · Lamartine · Victor Hugo · Manzoni · Dickens
III AN AUTOGRAPH ALBUM Anastasius Grün · Friedrich Halm · Grillparzer · Wagner · Lenau’s sister · Military autographs · King Ludwig of Bavaria · Schiller’s daughter · Liebig · Schücking · Mädler · Körner · Anderssen · Meyerbeer · Rückert · Hebbel · Gregorovius · Lamartine · Victor Hugo · Manzoni · Dickens
I will still linger over that album. There sounds forth from the book, as it were, a whole chime of tones from the past; a whole procession of spirits—right illustrious spirits among them—goes by. Ah, that is the fine thing about youth, that it operates with as many hopes as old age does with memories; to it the joyous “will be” beckons from every quarter—to age the gloomy “has been” shows itself at all points. So let us turn the leaves. Here is a letter from Anastasius Grün [4] to Elvira, in it
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IV MORE EPISODES OF YOUTH The War of 1859 · A prank · Elvira’s marriage
IV MORE EPISODES OF YOUTH The War of 1859 · A prank · Elvira’s marriage
So the year 1859 saw us in Wiesbaden again, and there we experienced the episode, so mortifying after our sacrifices made and accepted and after all my puff romances of the past year, of the incomparable Friedrich von Hadeln not wasting on us a word, not a look, beyond the most ceremonial politeness. So far as I now remember, we did not greatly take this mortification to heart: Elvira was perhaps glad that she did not have to witness a rival’s triumph, and I was perhaps relieved at not inflictin
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V ENTERING THE WORLD Engaged · The engagement ended · Baden · Marietta · Season in Rome · Carnival at Venice
V ENTERING THE WORLD Engaged · The engagement ended · Baden · Marietta · Season in Rome · Carnival at Venice
And now I was to be taken “into the world.” Our name might have given us the right to move among the highest aristocracy, for there is doubtless not a family of the high nobility of Austria with which we were not connected by blood or by marriage. But one is ill acquainted with this high nobility if one thinks that name and kinship suffice to get one received. For this there is required (it was especially so in my youth; now they have come to be somewhat less exclusive) first and foremost the po
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VI A SEASON IN HOMBURG VOR DER HÖHE Our way of living · My first singing lessons · The Princess of Mingrelia · Tsar Alexander II · Adelina Patti
VI A SEASON IN HOMBURG VOR DER HÖHE Our way of living · My first singing lessons · The Princess of Mingrelia · Tsar Alexander II · Adelina Patti
1864—that was the year in which the Austrian troops, in conjunction with the German, were waging war against Denmark. When I call up that year in my own memory, this event plays no part in it at all. Doubtless I must have heard something of it, but, as no one near and dear to me was participating in it, what I heard was too faint a tone to leave traces on my psychical phonograph. And in general the naïve conception of martial events which was then mine, and is doubtless widespread even to-day, i
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VII HERACLIUS OF GEORGIA A disappointed dream of love
VII HERACLIUS OF GEORGIA A disappointed dream of love
One day a new figure appeared in the princess’s circle. A man of about forty: elegant figure of medium height, regular features with a melancholy, almost gloomy expression, and a long, narrow black imperial. “My dear cousin, Prince Heraclius of Georgia—my darling Contessina, of whom I have told you so much,” said the princess, as she introduced us. The cousin from Georgia pleased me and I pleased him also. Such a thing is detected instantly. A lively conversation immediately sprang up between us
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VIII NOVITIATE IN ART Back to Baden · Singing lessons · Great hopes · A test before Madame Viardot
VIII NOVITIATE IN ART Back to Baden · Singing lessons · Great hopes · A test before Madame Viardot
However, it was not an inordinately long time before the image of the Georgian prince had grown dim in my memory. And gradually, once more, something quite new became the object of my life, the “one important thing.” We returned to Baden greatly disappointed—my mother in her great hopes of gain, which had to be exchanged for no inconsiderable certainty of loss, and I in my exploded dream of love; and there we proposed to live very quietly and frugally in our country house, and spend the winter t
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IX THE YEAR 1866 Return · Elvira’s death · Fürstenberg’s death · The war · Homburg once more · Back to Baden · Baron Koller
IX THE YEAR 1866 Return · Elvira’s death · Fürstenberg’s death · The war · Homburg once more · Back to Baden · Baron Koller
We journeyed back to our Baden villa. Professor Beranek was indignant at Madame Viardot. For a long time I would sing no more. But at length he brought me to it. “You will not have been the first,” he said consolingly, “who has failed of recognition at a trial and has then put the false prophets to shame through greatness fairly won.” But my self-confidence was too completely crushed. It did not so quickly wake to new force. At the same time a hard sorrow befell me. Word came from Venice that my
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X RESIDENCE IN PARIS Singing lessons resumed · Maître Duprez · The school in the Rue Laval · In the house of the Princess Mingrelia · In the imperial box at the opera · Summer at Duprez’s place in the country · Return to Paris · Princess Salomé’s engagement · Prince Achille Murat · The wedding · With the young couple · Off to Baden-Baden
X RESIDENCE IN PARIS Singing lessons resumed · Maître Duprez · The school in the Rue Laval · In the house of the Princess Mingrelia · In the imperial box at the opera · Summer at Duprez’s place in the country · Return to Paris · Princess Salomé’s engagement · Prince Achille Murat · The wedding · With the young couple · Off to Baden-Baden
At the beginning of the year 1867 we traveled to Paris. But, I remember, of the powerful impression which it must produce on every one to come for the first time to the mighty metropolis about which one has heard and read so much,—of this impression I felt very little, my mind was so full of the “one important thing.” Even the prospect of the pleasure of meeting the Dadiani family of Mingrelia again here did not come so close to me; the only thing that I could think about, that made me tremble w
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XI SEASON IN BADEN-BADEN Resumption of trente-et-quarante · Baroness Seutter · Acquaintance with King William I of Prussia · A letter from the king
XI SEASON IN BADEN-BADEN Resumption of trente-et-quarante · Baroness Seutter · Acquaintance with King William I of Prussia · A letter from the king
We took up our quarters in the large Villa Mesmer, situated opposite the Kursaal, where Queen Augusta of Prussia was accustomed to lodge during her yearly visits to this watering-place. She was not to arrive till a few weeks later, and in the meantime we were assigned to a part of her suite, including the large drawing-room, the windows of which gave upon the park. Impatiently I awaited the arrival of the Murats, who had already engaged rooms at the Villa Stéphanie. The interesting life would be
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XII PARIS AGAIN Return to Paris · Renunciation of an artistic career · A dream of Australian gold · Betrothal of Heraclius of Georgia
XII PARIS AGAIN Return to Paris · Renunciation of an artistic career · A dream of Australian gold · Betrothal of Heraclius of Georgia
The Baden-Baden season was coming to an end. The Princess Murat wrote me that, as her plans for the summer had fallen through, we must return to Paris again in the ensuing winter, and there make up for what had been missed; she would give me many opportunities of enjoyment with her. We obeyed this suggestion, and journeyed back from Baden-Baden to Paris. I refused, however, to go on with my lessons at the Duprez school. Singing had ceased to be the “one important thing.” Now that I had lost the
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XIII THE YEAR 1870–1871 Resumption of music study in Milan · Outbreak of the Franco-German War · My double existence in the world of books · Return of the victorious troops to Berlin
XIII THE YEAR 1870–1871 Resumption of music study in Milan · Outbreak of the Franco-German War · My double existence in the world of books · Return of the victorious troops to Berlin
Prince Achille Murat was an officer in the French army; in this capacity he received orders to take up garrison duty at Algiers. Of course his wife went with him, and consequently Paris once more became empty for me. My heart also was empty, and the plans for the future had gone to wrack and ruin. Our small property had dwindled sadly with all these costly lessons and the other expenses of a luxurious existence ... and so it came about that I turned my attention to singing again. We journeyed to
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XIV PRINCE WITTGENSTEIN Duet practice and betrothal · Art journey and—end · Letters from Castle Wittgenstein
XIV PRINCE WITTGENSTEIN Duet practice and betrothal · Art journey and—end · Letters from Castle Wittgenstein
Now follows another episode from the days of my youth,—again an engagement romance. When I say “days of my youth,” that is relative; for the romance ran its course during the summer of 1872, when I was already twenty-nine years old, and this age is not called “young” in a girl. It was in Wiesbaden. A young man—Adolf, Prince Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein was his name—sought our acquaintance. It appeared that he was favored by nature with a phenomenal tenor voice and was passionately devoted to sin
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XV IN THE SUTTNER HOUSE Resolve to take a position · The Suttner family · Artur Gundaccar von Suttner · Life in the Vienna palais and in Schloss Harmannsdorf · The Exposition year · Secret love · Letters from the Princess of Mingrelia · Marriage of Prince Niko · Zogelsdorf quarry · Three happy years · I tear myself away · Departure
XV IN THE SUTTNER HOUSE Resolve to take a position · The Suttner family · Artur Gundaccar von Suttner · Life in the Vienna palais and in Schloss Harmannsdorf · The Exposition year · Secret love · Letters from the Princess of Mingrelia · Marriage of Prince Niko · Zogelsdorf quarry · Three happy years · I tear myself away · Departure
Summer, 1873. The brief romance was not forgotten, but the sharp pain of it was assuaged. The love borne “on the pinions of song” had not made too deep an impression on my heart; the whole affair had passed swiftly by and vanished like a dream. I spent a few weeks in deep, genuine grief; then the tears began gradually to dry up, and life again made its rights prevail—and all the more powerfully as the necessity was upon me to earn my own livelihood. Our property was quite used up; I was obliged
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XVI THE ZENITH OF HAPPINESS Arrival in Paris · Alfred Nobel’s personality · Unendurable agony of separation · Two dispatches · A plan of action · Arrival at Vienna · Blissful meeting · At last and forever united
XVI THE ZENITH OF HAPPINESS Arrival in Paris · Alfred Nobel’s personality · Unendurable agony of separation · Two dispatches · A plan of action · Arrival at Vienna · Blissful meeting · At last and forever united
I reached Paris early in the morning. Mr. Nobel came to meet me at the station and took me to the Grand Hôtel on the Boulevard des Capucins, where rooms had been engaged for me. He left me at the door and said he would call a few hours later after I was rested. I could not as yet take up my quarters in his little palais in the Rue Malakoff, because the suite that I was to occupy was just being carpeted and furnished for me; so for the time I should have to stay on at the hotel. Alfred Nobel made
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XVII WEDDING JOURNEY On the Black Sea · Jason mood · Arrival in Asia · The hotel in Poti · Kutais· Count Rosmorduc · Reception at Prince Zeretelli’s · National dances · Journey to Gordi · Prince Niko with escort comes to meet us · Arrival at Gordi · Ceremonious reception
XVII WEDDING JOURNEY On the Black Sea · Jason mood · Arrival in Asia · The hotel in Poti · Kutais· Count Rosmorduc · Reception at Prince Zeretelli’s · National dances · Journey to Gordi · Prince Niko with escort comes to meet us · Arrival at Gordi · Ceremonious reception
I see us next on board the steamship that was to take us from Odessa across the Black Sea to the port of Poti. It was My Own’s first sea voyage in all his life; he passionately loved the sea, had always longed to take a voyage, and now he reveled in the fulfillment of his wishes. Our goal was the land whither Jason went in his quest for the Golden Fleece. I think there was much of the Jason mood in us both at that time: a mingling of delight in adventure, confidence of conquest, the intoxication
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XVIII IN KUTAIS (1877) Lessons · Rumors of war and outbreak of war · Red Cross fever · The plague on the horizon · Bad times · Conclusion of peace · Mathilde · Beginning of literary career
XVIII IN KUTAIS (1877) Lessons · Rumors of war and outbreak of war · Red Cross fever · The plague on the horizon · Bad times · Conclusion of peace · Mathilde · Beginning of literary career
Our wedding excursion to the Caucasus lasted nine years. A long honeymoon! The first summer we spent uninterruptedly in Gordi, where we were kept until the family themselves went away—Niko to St. Petersburg, the Dedopali to Zugdidi. But the illusion regarding a position at the Russian court had shown itself to be an illusion. At first Niko took kindly to the idea, but soon it became apparent that if an attempt should be made to turn it into a reality, impossibilities would be encountered. So wha
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XIX TIFLIS Another summer in Gordi · Business projects · Removal to Tiflis · Princess Tamara of Georgia · Our manner of life · Double position · Continued authorship · Illness
XIX TIFLIS Another summer in Gordi · Business projects · Removal to Tiflis · Princess Tamara of Georgia · Our manner of life · Double position · Continued authorship · Illness
In the summer of 1878 we were again guests at the Mingrelian summer residence. The two sons for whom the Dedopali had trembled had now come to Gordi also, decorated with various orders; likewise Prince Niko’s wife Mary. And, in addition to these, Achille Murat with his wife and their two boys. It afforded me great pleasure to see my friend Salomé once more, and we had again a delightful time in this dear and merry circle. Count Rosmorduc contributed not a little to the entertainment. This old Fr
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XX ZUGDIDI The capital of Mingrelia · Our little house · Labors on the Murat estate · Social life at the Murats’ and the Dedopali’s · Lonely summer at Zugdidi · New literary labors · Prototype of Es Löwos · New horizons · Study together
XX ZUGDIDI The capital of Mingrelia · Our little house · Labors on the Murat estate · Social life at the Murats’ and the Dedopali’s · Lonely summer at Zugdidi · New literary labors · Prototype of Es Löwos · New horizons · Study together
We changed our residence from Tiflis to Kutais again, then to Gordi and to Zugdidi, and to many other places; I cannot here recount in chronological order and in detail all the migrations that filled up our nine years of the Caucasus. Nor was it external events that were the “important thing” for us; it was inner experiences, there in our exile, that made of us two wholly new persons,—two happy persons, two good persons. We spent a few lovely years in the little town of Zugdidi, the Mingrelian c
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XXI OUR LAST DAYS IN THE CAUCASUS The Dedopali’s death · Death of my mother · Prospect of coming home · Translation of “The Tiger’s Skin” · Sojourn in a Mingrelian village · A bit of Georgian history · Queen Tamara
XXI OUR LAST DAYS IN THE CAUCASUS The Dedopali’s death · Death of my mother · Prospect of coming home · Translation of “The Tiger’s Skin” · Sojourn in a Mingrelian village · A bit of Georgian history · Queen Tamara
In the summer of 1882 the Dedopali was taken ill. We were just at that time her guests again at Gordi. The physicians whom her son summoned from Tiflis prescribed a “cure” at Karlsbad. But she refused to leave her fatherland. “I hope to get well again,” she said to me, “but if this should really be my last illness I desire to die here near the Convent of Marthvilli, where I shall be buried. I should not like to make the long journey back from Europe in a box.” Her condition gradually grew worse,
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XXII AT HOME Departure from the Caucasus · First destination, Görz · Return to Harmannsdorf · Family life and neighborly visits · Literary correspondence · Writers’ convention in Berlin
XXII AT HOME Departure from the Caucasus · First destination, Görz · Return to Harmannsdorf · Family life and neighborly visits · Literary correspondence · Writers’ convention in Berlin
In May, 1885, nine years after our elopement, we returned home. Not without a pang did we say farewell to the Caucasus; we had grown very fond of the beautiful country, and our friends there also found it hard to let us go. But the delight, after such a long separation, of coming back “to our house” as a happy couple, who had proved their right to such happiness and had fought their way to a self-supporting profession,—this delight outweighed all the grief of leave-taking, and just as jubilantly
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XXIII A WINTER IN PARIS Schriftstellerroman and Das Maschinenzeitalter · Journey to Paris · Renewed acquaintance with Alfred Nobel · The Schnäbele affair · Madame Adam’s salon · Princess Tamara of Georgia in Paris · Max Nordau · A ball in the Palais of the Revue des deux mondes · Victor Cherbuliez · Ludovic Halévy · Alphonse Daudet
XXIII A WINTER IN PARIS Schriftstellerroman and Das Maschinenzeitalter · Journey to Paris · Renewed acquaintance with Alfred Nobel · The Schnäbele affair · Madame Adam’s salon · Princess Tamara of Georgia in Paris · Max Nordau · A ball in the Palais of the Revue des deux mondes · Victor Cherbuliez · Ludovic Halévy · Alphonse Daudet
Now once more followed a long and industrious period of work in our dear Harmannsdorf. We all stayed in the country, even in winter; the palace in Vienna had been sold, for the quarry and other business transactions had turned out badly. But none of us had any yearnings for the city; the social companionship of the numerous members of the family, the sleighing parties on the snow-covered fields, mailtime with its manifold messages from the wide world, the sessions of joyous labor at our common w
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XXIV THERE IS A PEACE MOVEMENT Return from Paris · International Peace Association · Das Maschinenzeitalter by “Jemand” · Anonymity attains its end · Bartholomäus von Carneri · At the Carneri table · In the Hotel Meissl
XXIV THERE IS A PEACE MOVEMENT Return from Paris · International Peace Association · Das Maschinenzeitalter by “Jemand” · Anonymity attains its end · Bartholomäus von Carneri · At the Carneri table · In the Hotel Meissl
In the spring of 1887 we returned home from Paris enriched with many experiences and impressions. One thing especially I had learned there, which had a decisive influence on my after life and work. In a conversation about war and peace—a theme which was already mightily filling my soul—our friend Dr. Wilhelm Löwenthal informed us that there existed in London an “International Peace and Arbitration Association,” the aim of which was to bring about, by creating and organizing public opinion, the e
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XXV DIE WAFFEN NIEDER How the plan for the book originated · Study of sources · The model of my hero · Satisfaction in writing the word “End” · Unanimously rejected by the editors · The publisher’s scruples · Publication · How the book was received · Favorable and hostile criticisms · Personal contact with the peace movement resulting from the novel · The peace congress of 1889 in Paris · Founding of Interparliamentary Union
XXV DIE WAFFEN NIEDER How the plan for the book originated · Study of sources · The model of my hero · Satisfaction in writing the word “End” · Unanimously rejected by the editors · The publisher’s scruples · Publication · How the book was received · Favorable and hostile criticisms · Personal contact with the peace movement resulting from the novel · The peace congress of 1889 in Paris · Founding of Interparliamentary Union
But I no longer had “The Age of Machinery” and its fate so much at heart. I had on the stocks another work, which had taken possession of me; to this all my thoughts and purposes were turned. I wanted to be of service to the Peace League, and how could I better do so than by trying to write a book which should propagate its ideas? And I could do it most effectively, I thought, in the form of a story. I should certainly find a larger public for that than for a treatise. In treatises one can only
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XXVI INTERCOURSE WITH FRIENDS In port · Trip to Vienna · Literary circles · Balduin Groller · Theodor Herzl · Letter from Count Hoyos · Letter from Friedrich Bodenstedt
XXVI INTERCOURSE WITH FRIENDS In port · Trip to Vienna · Literary circles · Balduin Groller · Theodor Herzl · Letter from Count Hoyos · Letter from Friedrich Bodenstedt
After our return from Paris we remained quiet and secluded at Harmannsdorf. An uneventful life, but no empty life. There is no way in which a life can be better filled than with labor and love. Of course there is not much to tell about it. The reminiscences of my youth, with all its betrothals and art-plans and varying adventures, have certainly made more amusing reading. The period of storms was past; we were now in port. The midday sun of youth no longer blazed, and now there lay on our horizo
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XXVII MENTONE AND VENICE The news of the Crown Prince’s death · Sojourn in Mentone · Octave Mirbeau · A winter in Venice · Old acquaintances · Princess Tamara and Marietta Saibante · Visit of Felix Moscheles to the widow “Tillings” · Moscheles as a peace propagandist · Formation of a section in Venice through Marquis Pandolfi · Grelix · The Princess of Montenegro · Princess Hatzfeld, born Von Buch · A memory of Cosima Wagner
XXVII MENTONE AND VENICE The news of the Crown Prince’s death · Sojourn in Mentone · Octave Mirbeau · A winter in Venice · Old acquaintances · Princess Tamara and Marietta Saibante · Visit of Felix Moscheles to the widow “Tillings” · Moscheles as a peace propagandist · Formation of a section in Venice through Marquis Pandolfi · Grelix · The Princess of Montenegro · Princess Hatzfeld, born Von Buch · A memory of Cosima Wagner
In the beginning of the year 1889 (my novel was then still a manuscript in Pierson’s hesitating hands) we once more gave ourselves the treat of a little pleasure trip. And this time our course took us to the Riviera—our destination Mentone. We were caught on the way by the news of Crown Prince Rudolf’s death. The first report spoke of it as a hunting accident; only a little at a time did we learn the terrible contradictory details. The tragedy affected us deeply. From Mentone, our headquarters,
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XXVIII THE AUSTRIAN INTERPARLIAMENTARY GROUP IS FORMED Return · Skeptical reception of my reports · Resumption of our literary labors · Pandolfi suggests enlisting recruits in the Austrian parliament for the conference at Rome · Correspondence with members: Baron Kübeck, Pernerstorfer, Dr. Jaques, Dr. Exner · The group is formed, Baron Pirquet turning the scale
XXVIII THE AUSTRIAN INTERPARLIAMENTARY GROUP IS FORMED Return · Skeptical reception of my reports · Resumption of our literary labors · Pandolfi suggests enlisting recruits in the Austrian parliament for the conference at Rome · Correspondence with members: Baron Kübeck, Pernerstorfer, Dr. Jaques, Dr. Exner · The group is formed, Baron Pirquet turning the scale
On our return from Venice to Harmannsdorf we stopped for a few days in Vienna. On the very first evening we met at the Hotel Meissl a few members of the Reichsrat who were friends of ours, and, still under the influence of our exciting experiences, I told them the whole story of the founding of the Venetian Peace Society through a member of the Italian chamber. I also told them about the Interparliamentary League which had been formed in Paris in the year 1888, had met in London the year before,
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XXIX FOUNDING OF THE AUSTRIAN PEACE SOCIETY Appeal in the Neue Freie Presse · Response from the public · Adhesions and contributions of money · Prosper von Piette sends a thousand florins · Dr. Kunwald · Preliminary meeting · Joining the International League · Circular for the formation of a national union · Letter from the Duke of Oldenburg · Permanent organization · Voices from members of the world’s intellectual aristocracy
XXIX FOUNDING OF THE AUSTRIAN PEACE SOCIETY Appeal in the Neue Freie Presse · Response from the public · Adhesions and contributions of money · Prosper von Piette sends a thousand florins · Dr. Kunwald · Preliminary meeting · Joining the International League · Circular for the formation of a national union · Letter from the Duke of Oldenburg · Permanent organization · Voices from members of the world’s intellectual aristocracy
But how was it with the Peace Congress,—that is, the congress of the private peace society, which was to meet in Rome at the same time,—would Austria be unrepresented in that? Of course, since no peace association existed in Austria. This thought gave me no rest. It must surely be possible to gather adherents for the idea. The result of my excogitations was an appeal which I sent to the Neue Freie Presse on the first of September, 1891, without much hope that the paper would publish it. Great we
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XXX UNION FOR RESISTANCE TO ANTI-SEMITISM A. G. von Suttner, Count Hoyos, Baron Leitenberger, and Professor Nothnagel found the Union · Article in the Neue Freie Presse
XXX UNION FOR RESISTANCE TO ANTI-SEMITISM A. G. von Suttner, Count Hoyos, Baron Leitenberger, and Professor Nothnagel found the Union · Article in the Neue Freie Presse
Before I write of the congress in Rome I want to go back a bit. In the spring of 1891—consequently before the founding of the Interparliamentary Group and the Peace Association in Vienna—my husband had also brought into existence an association of which I wish to tell. We were still in the Caucasus when, at the beginning of the eighties, we were informed of the Anti-Semitic movement started in Prussia, and propagated by Court Chaplain Stöcker. This phenomenon, I need hardly say, aroused lively d
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XXXI THE CONGRESS IN ROME Frame of mind · Life together in the Hotel Quirinal · General Türr and his career · Little revolution against Bonghi · Alsace-Lorraine · The Grelix couple · Baron Pirquet · Opening festival on the Capitol · Ruggero Bonghi as chairman · Weighty words · Founding of the Bern Central Bureau · Echoes · The monthly Die Waffen nieder is launched · A. H. Fried · “The Important Thing”
XXXI THE CONGRESS IN ROME Frame of mind · Life together in the Hotel Quirinal · General Türr and his career · Little revolution against Bonghi · Alsace-Lorraine · The Grelix couple · Baron Pirquet · Opening festival on the Capitol · Ruggero Bonghi as chairman · Weighty words · Founding of the Bern Central Bureau · Echoes · The monthly Die Waffen nieder is launched · A. H. Fried · “The Important Thing”
To Rome! No one can undertake the journey to the Eternal City without being overcome by a certain feeling of awe. There vibrates in the soul a diapason of historic and æsthetic tones, of memories of antiquity and the Renaissance; pictures rise of Forum and Vatican, of gladiators and cardinals, of palaces and churches, of entrancing gardens and dazzling treasures of art. We also, both of us, quivered with this peculiar frisson of joyous expectation when we found ourselves in the train that bore u
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XXXII HOME AND FRIENDS We two · Business troubles · Deaths · Family life at Castle Stockern · Home theater · The twelfth of June · Visit of Prince André Dadiani
XXXII HOME AND FRIENDS We two · Business troubles · Deaths · Family life at Castle Stockern · Home theater · The twelfth of June · Visit of Prince André Dadiani
These pages have of late been very full of Union reports and “movement” news, and it looks as if we both had been immersed in political life and sadly taken up with league-breeding. But when I look back to those days, there rise in my memory a multitude of other recollections connected with our private life, with the family and social life that we led, and especially with our cloudlessly happy married union. The outside world with its mediæval darkness and its pitiable conditions caused us much
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XXXIII LETTERS FROM ALFRED NOBEL
XXXIII LETTERS FROM ALFRED NOBEL
I kept up a regular correspondence with Alfred Nobel. I will quote here some of his letters [35] : If I have not replied sooner to your kind and courteous letter, it is because I was in hopes of bringing you my answer de vive-voix , my respects de vif-cœur . Here I am in Vienna, but you are not, and I am told that you do not often come. On the other hand, if I should go to Harmannsdorf I should be greatly afraid of causing you trouble, and in this respect I am as timid as the most sensitive woma
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XXXIV IN BERLIN AND HAMBURG My review · Invitation to Berlin · A. H. Fried and his plans · The reading · The Berlin Tageblatt on a letter from Frédéric Passy · A banquet · Voices from the Press · Evening at Spielhagen’s · Dinner at Mosse’s · The Empress Frederick · Professor W. Meyer does us the honors of “Urania” · Excursion to Hamburg · An evening tea with Hans Land, Dr. Löwenberg, Otto Ernst, and Detlev von Liliencron · A letter of Liliencron’s
XXXIV IN BERLIN AND HAMBURG My review · Invitation to Berlin · A. H. Fried and his plans · The reading · The Berlin Tageblatt on a letter from Frédéric Passy · A banquet · Voices from the Press · Evening at Spielhagen’s · Dinner at Mosse’s · The Empress Frederick · Professor W. Meyer does us the honors of “Urania” · Excursion to Hamburg · An evening tea with Hans Land, Dr. Löwenberg, Otto Ernst, and Detlev von Liliencron · A letter of Liliencron’s
As aforesaid: on January 1, 1892, began the publication of my review Die Waffen nieder , through the house of A. H. Fried, Berlin. The publisher helped me very zealously in the editing. Distinguished collaborators were represented in the very first numbers: Carneri, Friedrich Jodl, Ludwig Fulda, Björnson, Bonghi, Karl Henckell, Rosegger, Widman, Moritz Adler, and others sent me articles. I published the review for eight years, until the end of 1899. From that time forth its place was taken by th
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XXXV MORITZ VON EGIDY His confession of faith · Further development · Candidacy for the Reichstag · From his address to the electors · On the fear of revolution · Idealists in act · My first meeting with Egidy · Visit at his home · Consistency of preaching and practice · A letter from Egidy
XXXV MORITZ VON EGIDY His confession of faith · Further development · Candidacy for the Reichstag · From his address to the electors · On the fear of revolution · Idealists in act · My first meeting with Egidy · Visit at his home · Consistency of preaching and practice · A letter from Egidy
When the report went through the papers that a lieutenant colonel of the Prussian army had written a pamphlet entitled “Serious Thoughts,” in which he renounced the teachings of the Church, and that as a result of this he had been obliged to send in his resignation, it was regarded as a spicy bit of news. People sent for the pamphlet expecting to find in it the views of an enemy of religion; and behold, they were the thoughts, the serious and quickened thoughts, of one of the most religious and
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XXXVI VARIOUS OPINIONS Letters from Alphonse Daudet, Paul Heyse, the Bishop of Durham, Ruggero Bonghi, and Count Kamarofski
XXXVI VARIOUS OPINIONS Letters from Alphonse Daudet, Paul Heyse, the Bishop of Durham, Ruggero Bonghi, and Count Kamarofski
After our return from Berlin we gave ourselves up once again to our literary and propagandist labors. We exerted ourselves to find out what distinguished contemporaries thought of our purposes, and to utilize their approval if we got it. So it was that I gained the authoritative approval of Björnson and Fulda and Edmondo de Amicis and Émile Zola and many others. But we also encountered opposition and doubt, though only rarely. My husband, who during our stay in Paris had won Alphonse Daudet’s sy
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XXXVII THE BERN SESSIONS Journey to Switzerland · Poem by Count Hoyos · Letter from Prince Camillo Starhemberg · Opening of the Congress · First impulse to arbitration treaties, from America · League of European states · Social life of the Congressists · Arturo de Marcoartu · Alfred Nobel complies with my invitation · On the Lake of Lucerne · A parable by Ruchonnet · Protest against distorted reports · A lively debate · Arrival of the Interparliamentarians · The Conference · A prophetic toast
XXXVII THE BERN SESSIONS Journey to Switzerland · Poem by Count Hoyos · Letter from Prince Camillo Starhemberg · Opening of the Congress · First impulse to arbitration treaties, from America · League of European states · Social life of the Congressists · Arturo de Marcoartu · Alfred Nobel complies with my invitation · On the Lake of Lucerne · A parable by Ruchonnet · Protest against distorted reports · A lively debate · Arrival of the Interparliamentarians · The Conference · A prophetic toast
In August, 1892, we proceeded to Bern, where the fourth World’s Peace Congress and the fourth Interparliamentary Conference were invited to meet. It was our first journey to Switzerland—for us both an intense delight. The name Switzerland awakens in the mind a whole mass of mountain poetry and ideals of freedom: glaciers and Rütli oath, cow bells and Tell’s arrow. To go with this, a highly modern international hotel life. The plainest and most democratic country in Europe, and withal the meeting
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XXXVIII VISIT TO ALFRED NOBEL Arrival at Zurich · Nobel begins to take an interest in the peace movement, and joins us · Trips on the lake · A glimpse into his views of life · His first project for an act in furtherance of the cause of peace
XXXVIII VISIT TO ALFRED NOBEL Arrival at Zurich · Nobel begins to take an interest in the peace movement, and joins us · Trips on the lake · A glimpse into his views of life · His first project for an act in furtherance of the cause of peace
We left Bern a few days before the close of the Conference in order to accept the invitation of Alfred Nobel, who was staying at Zurich. Our host had put at our disposal in the Hotel Bauer au lac , where he himself lodged, a suite of rooms that the Empress Elisabeth had vacated the day before after a short visit. I found still lying on the toilet table a pale faded rose.... Alfred Nobel came to meet us at the railway station and conducted us to the drawing-room prepared for us, and there, a half
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XXXIX ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GERMAN PEACE SOCIETY IN BERLIN
XXXIX ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GERMAN PEACE SOCIETY IN BERLIN
When we came home from Bern much work was waiting for us. The editing of the review, the duties of the presidency in our two Unions, and at the same time uninterrupted literary activity,—all this gave us much to do. My correspondence had greatly increased. It was my ardent wish that a peace society should be established also in Berlin. During my visit there the matter had indeed been broached, but had not come to anything. Now once more I began correspondence with prominent persons in Berlin in
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XL FROM HARMANNSDORF AND FROM CHICAGO
XL FROM HARMANNSDORF AND FROM CHICAGO
So now there existed in the capital of Germany a Peace Society, about which as a center branch societies would presumably group themselves in all the larger German cities. The proposed task of forming a widespread public opinion was, therefore, well underway. I saw with delight, in my imagination, an undeviating development of the movement. I clearly recognized, however, that the beginnings were comparatively insignificant. What were our two or three thousand organized members compared to the th
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XLI VASÍLI VERESHCHÁGIN
XLI VASÍLI VERESHCHÁGIN
Now I will tell about Vasíli Vereshchágin. When I learned that the great Russian painter, who was battling with his brush against the same foe that I was fighting with my pen, was staying in Vienna, where he was exhibiting a number of his pictures, I hastened to the city to see those celebrated paintings,—“All Quiet before Plevna,” the “Apotheosis of War,” and all those other variously named indictments of war. Even in the titles that he gave his pictures the artist expressed the bitterness whic
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XLII THE COMMITTEE MEETING AT BRUSSELS AND ITS RESULTS
XLII THE COMMITTEE MEETING AT BRUSSELS AND ITS RESULTS
It was decided at the Interparliamentary Conference which was held at Bern in the year 1892, that the next one should meet at Christiania; but this intention was frustrated by circumstances. The conflict between Sweden and Norway, which led, twelve years later, to the separation of the two countries, had even then taken such form as to make it clearly inadvisable to select the Norwegian capital as the seat of an international conference. So the Conference itself fell through. As a substitute for
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XLIII FROM DIARY AND PORTFOLIO
XLIII FROM DIARY AND PORTFOLIO
When I look back for further recollections of the year 1893, and turn the leaves of my diary to refresh my memory, I discover that I was not interested in incidents of my own life, but rather in the events of contemporary history, and especially in such political phenomena as appertained to questions of peace and war. Among the complicated doings of the world, the features which I followed—and still continue to follow—with passionate interest were the phases of a battle,—the battle which a new i
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XLIV VARIOUS INTERESTING LETTERS
XLIV VARIOUS INTERESTING LETTERS
My public activity brought numberless voices from all parts of the world into my house. Signed or anonymous letters; letters from my own country; letters from other parts of Europe and from beyond the sea; letters with explosions of admiration or of coarseness; letters requesting information or making all sorts of propositions for the surest and speediest attainment of our object,—a farmer proposed a special manure system, which, through the creation of good harvests and the consequent enrichmen
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XLV PEACE CONGRESS IN ANTWERP AND INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE
XLV PEACE CONGRESS IN ANTWERP AND INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE
My memory retains as the most important events of the year 1894 our participation in the Sixth Peace Congress at Antwerp and in the Interparliamentary Conference which followed immediately at The Hague. Another festal journey into unfamiliar countries, and another stage of progress in the triumphant march of an Idea! Before the assembling of the Congress the Belgian Minister of State, Le Bruyn, laid before King Leopold a report setting forth the remarkable growth of the movement and adducing as
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XLVI VARIOUS RECOLLECTIONS
XLVI VARIOUS RECOLLECTIONS
After our return from Holland to our beloved Harmannsdorf we resumed our quiet, happy, laborious life. My Own began writing his two-volume novel entitled Sie wollen nicht , which was to be his ripest work. Max Nordau wrote to him regarding it: Forgive me for delaying until to-day to thank you for your highly interesting novel Sie wollen nicht . It takes a long time for me to find opportunity, in my over-busy life, to read 730 pages of prose, no matter how very easy and agreeable may be its style
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XLVII FURTHER VARIED RECOLLECTIONS
XLVII FURTHER VARIED RECOLLECTIONS
This year—I am still speaking of 1895, as I turn the leaves of the volume containing my diary for that period—we did not make any journey to a Peace Congress, for the simple reason that no Congress was held. But we did not on that account spend the whole year at Harmannsdorf. Trips were made to Prague, to Budapest (with lectures), to Lussinpiccolo, which I will describe later on; and we visited Vienna a number of times, whither we were called by duty and pleasure. The business of his Union cause
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XLVIII POLITICAL KALEIDOSCOPE
XLVIII POLITICAL KALEIDOSCOPE
Among the letters preserved from the year 1896 I find an interesting one from Gumplowicz, the professor of philosophy. How I came to correspond with him I do not remember. It is not to be supposed that I could have been drawn to his works in admiration and sympathy, for, together with Gaboriau and Joseph Chamberlain, he is one of the most influential defenders of that vicious race theory on which are based Aryan pride and German and Latin conceit, which are so hateful to my very soul. Probably h
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XLIX THE SEVENTH WORLD’S PEACE CONGRESS AND THE SEVENTH INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE IN BUDAPEST
XLIX THE SEVENTH WORLD’S PEACE CONGRESS AND THE SEVENTH INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE IN BUDAPEST
Now we were getting ready to start for Budapest, where, during the Millennial Festival, the Seventh World’s Peace Congress and the Seventh Interparliamentary Conference were to be held. General Türr was chosen as chairman of the Congress. On the twenty-sixth of August we were surprised by a dispatch from Türr announcing that he was coming to Harmannsdorf. He had arrived in Vienna from Rome, and before continuing his journey to Budapest he wanted to fulfill a promise made long before to visit us
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L OTHER EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1896
L OTHER EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1896
Again at Harmannsdorf. The days at Budapest had left a joyous feeling of exultation. The meeting had given conspicuous testimony to the growth of the movement and to the impression that it was making in powerful political circles. Perfectly amusing and indeed comical in its malicious perversion of facts, its absolutely bottomless ignorance, was an article in the jingo press that I found in a mountain of press notices which had collected at home during our absence. The St. James Gazette of Septem
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LI ALFRED NOBEL’S DEATH AND WILL
LI ALFRED NOBEL’S DEATH AND WILL
December 12. Alfred Nobel is dead. I recorded this loss in my diary with this single line. The news—I found it in the newspapers—was a bitter blow to me. The tie of a twenty years’ friendship was snapped. The last letter which I received from Nobel was from Paris, dated the twenty-first of November, and ran as follows: But that will suffice for me and my petty miseries. I am enchanted to see that the peace movement is gaining ground. That is due to the civilizing of the masses, and especially to
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LII FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR 1897
LII FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR 1897
Here let a few specimens from my collections of letters be reproduced. Some weeks before the annual meeting of my Union, which took place early in January, 1897, I applied to various personages, asking for communications to be read; and I received numerous replies, among them the following: Your letter of the fifth instant was duly received, and I thank you most sincerely for the congratulations therein conveyed from the Austrian Society of the Friends of Peace to the Swiss government. The Parli
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LIII SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR 1897
LIII SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR 1897
The enthusiasm for the peace cause which had flamed up at the Millennial Festival in Hungary had not proved to be merely a fire in the stubble, as so many pessimists had predicted it would be. I kept getting news of the progress and growth of the group in that country. The following letter bears witness to the opinions of one of the most brilliant members of the Congress, Count Eugen Zichy: To-morrow our delegations break up, and it has not been my good fortune, during our several weeks’ séjour
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LIV A STIRRING HALF YEAR
LIV A STIRRING HALF YEAR
The beginning of the year 1898 brought me much anxiety. Not domestic anxiety or heart sorrow or worry about money. My troubles—faithfully shared indeed by my husband—were far away from Harmannsdorf; they were on the distant ocean. The United States warship, the Maine , blows up. The suspicion is rife that the ship was destroyed by the Spaniards; can it be true? In heaven’s name, what is not possible among men, who in general regard hate and slaughter as “political” weapons? In American jingo cir
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LV THE TSAR’S RESCRIPT
LV THE TSAR’S RESCRIPT
I was sitting in the summerhouse one beautiful August day, waiting for the arrival of the mail. My Own was in the habit of going himself to the postman to get the letters and newspapers that he brought. This was to me always the most interesting hour of the day. This time he came back with flying steps and shining face and shouted, while still at a distance, “I am bringing the most magnificent, the most surprising news to-day....” “What is it? Have we made a ten-strike?” “Almost—listen! This is
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LVI EVENTS AND MEETINGS
LVI EVENTS AND MEETINGS
The Empress Elisabeth assassinated! An infamous dagger thrust into a quiet, proud, unworldly, and generous heart. Once again mourning and terror flashed through the whole civilized world with lightning speed. More and more it is shown that this civilized world has only one soul. The memory of this princess, so opulent in sufferings, so endowed with beauty, will go down in history as a radiant and poetic vision. And that vision will be haloed with a tragic charm—so shockingly sad though it is, so
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LVII BEFORE THE HAGUE
LVII BEFORE THE HAGUE
Stead told me that the Emperor Nicholas, in speaking to him of his circular, had said: “Have I had a single letter, or has a single person ever represented to me that I exaggerate the danger? Not one! they all agree that I have spoken the truth. ‘But,’ they ask me, ‘what do you propose as a preventive?’ As if it were my affair and mine alone to prescribe a remedy for a disease from which all the nations are suffering!” Even on the peoples’ side there was not that enthusiasm which the author of t
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LVIII THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE
LVIII THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE
In 1900 I published a comprehensive book [30] in which I gathered together all the events of my sojourn at The Hague, all the reports regarding the proceedings, the text of the most important speeches, and the accurate statement of the various conventions. Those who may wish to have a detailed account of the character, the course of events, and the direct results of that historic assemblage I would refer to that publication. Here I shall merely introduce my personal recollections; I shall copy i
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LIX THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (continued)
LIX THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (continued)
May 28. Novikof arrived. What kind of a man do you think is the author of sociological-philosophical works of seven hundred royal-octavo pages each, with such titles as Les luttes entre sociétés humaines et leurs phases successives , La théorie organique des sociétés , and the like? I have read these books and this is the idea of the man which I had in my mind: White bearded, with spectacles, in externalities a trifle neglectful of appearances,—for if a person sticks all day long poring over lea
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LX THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (concluded)
LX THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (concluded)
June 15. In the afternoon a reception given by Monsieur and Madame d’Estournelles. The whole Congress comes and goes. Dr. White is buried in a conversation with Count Münster. Then he comes to me. “If you can bring any pressure to bear on influential persons, Baroness, do it now. Every possible measure must be employed to clear away the difficulties that are springing up.... The most important question before our Congress—that of a court of arbitration—has reached a turning point; that is what I
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LXI AFTER THE HAGUE CONFERENCE
LXI AFTER THE HAGUE CONFERENCE
As soon as we returned to Harmannsdorf I set to work revising my diary from which have been taken, for this autobiography, most of the passages referring to the Conference. I sent the book to the publisher, and it appeared in 1900, but I cannot report any great awakening of interest thereby. The contemporary world is either indifferent or unfriendly in its attitude toward the Hague Conference. We remained at home only a short time. After about three weeks we started forth again, this time for No
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LXII THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
LXII THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
Now we began to write 1900. A new century. To be sure the ancient controversy raged a good deal as to whether the century began with the cipher or with the figure one; but I think that the number 1901 signifies that the first year of the twentieth century is finished, so that it begins with 1900, therefore it already is. [44] To be sure, time runs without figures into the Ocean of Eternity, but such turning points are always impressive. Even the Tsar’s rescript said, “This Conference should be,
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LXIII THE LAST YEAR
LXIII THE LAST YEAR
The last year of him who was my all. On New Year’s Day, 1902, all sorts of trifling annoyances happened to us. “You will see,” said My Own, more in jest than in earnest, for he was not superstitious, “this is going to be a bad year.” During the first week indeed came bad news, a dispatch from Warsaw,—“Johann von Bloch dead of heart disease.” Once more a mighty fellow-combatant gone from us! The war in the Transvaal still kept on. It was now in its third year. At first the English believed that i
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SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER 1904 THREE WEEKS IN AMERICA
SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER 1904 THREE WEEKS IN AMERICA
For the English-American edition of this book I will add a few reminiscences of my visit to the United States as I committed them to paper in October, 1904, while returning to Europe. Here on board the Kaiser Wilhelm II I find time and leisure to set down in my diary some of the multitudinous and vivid impressions whereby the store of my experiences has been increased through my brief, all too brief, sojourn on the other side of the ocean. The thirteenth World’s Peace Congress was opened in Bost
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