consciousness of his own goodness of purpose, he believed that he deserved such a distinction, which in truth was neither lawful nor customary. Therefore, when his proposal was rejected, he fell into ill-humour and disgust, vowed that he would never accept any office, and in order to make it impossible, obtained for himself the title of an imperial councillor, which the chief magistrate and seniors of the court bear as a special honour. Thus he had made himself the equal of the highest functionaries, and could not begin again at the bottom. The same motive also induced him to propose for the eldest daughter of the chief magistrate, by which he was excluded also on this side from the council. He now belonged to the retired, who never can combine into a society. They stand as isolated with regard to each other as to the whole; and the more because in this separation the peculiarity of each character becomes always harsher and harsher. My father had perhaps been able to gain in his travels, and in the open world which he had seen, the conception of a more elegant and liberal mode of life than perhaps was common among his fellow-citizens. In this, however, he had forerunners and companions.
The name of Uffenbach is known. A magistrate, Von Uffenbach, lived at that time in good repute. He had been in Italy, had applied himself particularly to music, sung an agreeable tenor; and as he had brought back with him a fine collection of music, concerts and oratorios used to be performed at his house. Now, as he sung in these himself, and favoured musicians, it was thought not altogether worthy of his station; and the invited guests, as well as the other neighbours, permitted themselves many jocose remarks on the subject.
I remember, moreover, a Baron Von Hackel, a rich nobleman, who being married but childless, inhabited a handsome house in the Antoniusgasse, furnished with all the appurtenances of a dignified existence. He also possessed good pictures, engravings, antiquities, and much else which usually accumulates in the hands of collectors and amateurs. From time to time he invited the more distinguished persons to dinner, and was beneficent in a thoughtful way of his own, clothing the poor in his house, but retaining their former rags, and giving them a weekly alms, only under the condition that they would always present themselves clean and neat in the clothes which he had bestowed on them. I remember him but indistinctly, as a friendly, well-made man. But I recall far more clearly his auction, which I attended from the beginning to the end; and partly by my father's direction, partly from my own impulse, bought many things which are still in my collections.
Earlier, so that I scarcely saw him, John Michael Von Loen gained a good deal of attention in the literary world as well as in Frankfort. Not a native of the city, he had settled himself there, and was married to the sister of my grandmother Textor, whose family name was Lindheim. He knew the world of courts and politics, enjoyed a revived nobility, and obtained a name by having the courage to take a part in the different excitements which arose in Church and State. He wrote the Count of Rivera, a didactic romance, the contents of which are obvious from the second title, or the Honest Man at Court. This work was well received, because it required morality even at a court, where in general only prudence is at home; and thus his labour brought him applause and estimation. A second work would, therefore, be the more dangerous for him. He wrote The only True Religion, a book which had for its object to promote toleration, especially between Lutherans and Calvinists. By this he got into controversy with the Theologians, and a Dr Benner of Giessen wrote particularly against him. Von Loen answered; the controversy became violent and personal, and the unpleasantness springing from it led the author to accept the place of President at Lingen, which Frederick II. offered him, thinking he discerned in him an enlightened man, not disinclined to the novelties which had already gone much further in France, and one free from prejudices. His former fellow-townsmen, whom he had left in some anger, maintained that he was not contented there, nay, could not be so, because a place like Lingen bore no comparison to Frankfort. My father also doubted the happiness of the President, and asserted that his good uncle would have done better not to connect
