Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 3. The Reaction in FranceBrandes, Georg
History
Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 3. The Reaction in France
Brandes, Georg
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- History and criticism; Naturalism in literature; Romanticism
When Madame de Krüdener had lived in the edifying company of Fontaines
and Marie Kummer for fully eight months, Fontaines began to feel
that he was no longer safe in Markirch. Tales of his past life were
being circulated. Marie Kummer consequently had a vision in which she
received a divine command to go to Würtemberg and found a colony of
true Christians there. The three at once set out. At their religious
meetings in Würtemberg Fontaines was always dressed in black, Madame
de Krüdener in blue, and Marie in grey. Besides prophesying the
approaching end of the world they incautiously inveighed against the
ungodly sovereign of the country, who had introduced a new liturgy.
This led to Marie's imprisonment and the banishment of the other two.
Marie joined Fontaines and Madame de Krüdener in Baden as soon as she
was released, and there they again lived in intimate companionship,
occupying themselves as before with devotional exercises and
prophesying.
Madame de Krüdener, called to Riga by her mother's last illness, held
meetings there too, at which she interpreted the Book of Revelation
and dispensed the sacrament. At these meetings she was assisted by
the pious shoemaker's pious mother, Frau Blau, in her character of
prophetess. Towards the close of the year 1811 Madame de Krüdener
returned to Karlsruhe. Fontaines had by this time been ordered off,
but she continued to work in company with Marie Kummer, who was looked
up to as a great prophetess because she had foretold the victory of
the white over the black angel, and had announced that the people from
the north of whom Jeremiah had written would presently make their
appearance. The Russian war established her reputation, and after
the news of the conflagration of Moscow came she was regarded as a
positively sacred personage.
There is not the slightest doubt that Madame de Krüdener was entirely
persuaded of the purity of her motives, and that she acted in all
sincerity. She is not merely converted herself; she is possessed by
a passion for converting. Again and again the idea of converting the
very denizens of hell and the devil himself occurs to her. It was
but natural that she had to bear much and painful misunderstanding
on the part of those who were unable to believe in the change that
had taken place in her. Even her own mother despised her and stopped
writing to her. But no misunderstanding cooled her enthusiasm, which
made an impression even upon rationalists. One of these, Sonntag, the
chief dignitary of the Livonian church, who had carefully observed her
behaviour at Riga in 1811, wrote many years afterwards that, though in
his official capacity he had been obliged to sever his connection with
her, he owed it to her to bear witness that she showed the deepest,
purest, most active, most self-forgetful and self-sacrificing sympathy
with every suffering and need of humanity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account