The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 4, April, 1852Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 4, April, 1852
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
"I come from an employment in which you will hardly be able
to fancy me engaged--namely, exercising. Even before the
departure of the French, I began to go through the exercise
in private, but a man can scarcely acquire it without
companions. Since the French left, a party of about twenty
of us have been exercising in a garden, and we have already
got over the most difficult part of the training. When my
lectures are concluded, which they will be at the beginning
of next week, I shall try to exercise with regular recruits
during the morning, and as often as possible practice
shooting at a mark..... By the end of a month I hope to be
as well drilled as any recruit who is considered to have
finished his training. The heavy musket gave me so much
trouble at first, that I almost despaired of being able to
handle it; but we are able to recover the powers again that
we have only lost for want of practice. I am happy to say
that my hands are growing horny; for as long as they had a
delicate bookworm's skin, the musket cut into them
terribly."
And now let us give a view of Niebuhr as Professor in Bonn, together
with a few well-written notes upon his character:
"We have seen that, at Berlin, Niebuhr delivered his
lectures _verbatim_ from written notes. At Bonn, on the
contrary, his only preparation consisted in meditating for a
short time on the subject of his lecture, and referring to
authorities for his data, when he found it necessary, and he
brought no written notes with him to the lecture-room. His
success in imparting his ideas varied greatly at different
times, as it depended almost entirely on his mental and
physical condition at the moment. He always felt a certain
difficulty in expressing himself. He grasped his subject as
a whole, and it was not easy to him to retrace the steps by
which he had arrived at his results. Hence his style was
harsh and often disjointed; and yet he possessed a species
of eloquence whose value is of a high order--that of making
the expression the exact reflection of the thought--that of
embodying each separate idea in an adequate, but not
redundant form. The discourse was no dry, impersonal
statement of facts and arguments, or even opinions; the
whole man, with his conceptions, feelings, moral sentiments,
nay passions too, was mirrored forth in it. Hence Niebuhr
not merely informed and stimulated the minds of his hearers,
but attracted their affections. That he did this in an
eminent degree, was not indeed owing to his lectures alone,
but also to his kind and generous conduct. All who deserved
it were sure of his sympathy and assistance, whether
oppressed by intellectual difficulties, or pecuniary cares.
During the first year, he delivered his lectures without
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