Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, Vol. II.Freytag, Gustav
History
Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, Vol. II.
Freytag, Gustav
Germany -- Civilization; Germany -- Social life and customs
"I had indeed never been fearful of so unceremonious a proceeding from
the adherents of the 'Black party,' but it was not till now that I was
cheered by a feeling of security. Many small but significant traits
showed me that the people no longer considered me and mine as
strangers, and an approximation was here accomplished which was perhaps
the first for some generations. Before the opening of the institution,
it had been a question of procuring benches and other requisites, and
it was then remarked that these articles should not be supplied by
foreign joiners. A long time afterwards one of these came to me--there
were two brothers--to beg of me to lay a memorial before the
government, stating that they wished to remain at Grenchen, and obtain
the rights of citizens. By a new decree, the mayors were ordered to
examine the papers of settlers, and to send to their own homes all
whose papers were not according to rule. These had no papers, and were
therefore in danger of losing their domicile. On my inquiring how long
they had lived in the place, the man answered, that he and his brother
had been born there, also their father and mother; their grand-parents
had wandered there as young people, and, indeed, not from a foreign
country, or from another canton, but from a Solothurn village, only
four hours from Grenchen, where, however, they would no longer know
anything about them. The community had dealt well with them, giving
them an equal share with the citizens in the communal property, but
they denied them the rights of citizens. The government then signified
to the community, that they had neglected to demand from their sires
the papers, and that the grandchildren must not suffer from it. They
became citizens, but still remained foreign joiners.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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