"On the 17th of October I arrived in Eisenach, and was chosen on the
festival-committee. I here helped to keep order; heard the speeches on
the Wartburg, but did not speak myself; I went in the evening to the
fire, and saw the books burnt. On the following morning I heard
speeches for the reconcilement of the disputes of many of the
student-quarrels of former years, and listened to the splendid orations
on the Fatherland. I accompanied the Burschen to the church, and
partook of the sacrament; then was the festival ended, and I returned
to Jena." He adds, that it had been a festival simply for the elevation
of the sacred cause, and that no determinate object besides had been
contemplated.
In Jena, Sand continued to educate himself, in order, as he expressed
himself, the better to look about himself, and to ground himself fairly
in the different departments of knowledge; till suddenly the inner call
for ever summoned him away. His teachers there gave their testimony
that he always appeared as a grave, quiet, and discreet man, zealously
striving after excellence. That he was accustomed to speak little,
since speaking appeared a difficulty to him; but that what he did say,
was always prudent, well-considered, and sensible, and that his
deportment had nothing displeasing in it, although it was energetic and
firm. During his abode in Jena, he was a member of the so-called
Burschenschaft, but at the same time also of another company, which he
termed a Literary Union. He made from Jena a journey into North
Germany, and visited many of the most celebrated battle-fields of both
past and modern times. After his return he proceeded again with his
studies with unremitting diligence, and had obtained permission from
his parents to continue another half-year in Jena, when he suddenly
broke off, on the 9th of March, 1819, at four o'clock in the morning,
and set out on his last fatally eventful journey towards Mannheim.
We have thus followed the thread of Sand's history to this period with
sufficient minuteness, and we have permitted ourselves to sketch it
with the more exactness, since it is particularly interesting to trace
all the causes which could conduct a character, otherwise so excellent,
to such a crime;--as, moreover, conjectures respecting these causes can
only be rightly founded on a real knowledge of the circumstances of the
case, and from these only can those conclusions be drawn, which were,
though without effect, employed in the defence of this singular man. In
his history we behold the fac-simile of the history of the whole
Burschenschaft to which he belonged. A description of his person, from
that officially drawn up, may precede the relation of his unhappy deed.
In the protocol it stands thus:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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