Extract from the Westminster Review, October, 1868.

From biographical notices of Spielhagen in German periodicals,^[1] we gather that he was born in Magdeburg, in 1829, and is the son of a Prussian functionary of considerable rank (Regierungsrath). His youth was passed in the romantic old town of Stralsund, to which his father was removed in 1835, and the scenery of that neighborhood, and of the near lying island RÜgen, appears to have become so deeply impressed on the opening mind of the boy, that he subsequently painted it with enthusiasm in several of his romances. His course of "gymnasial" education in Stralsund having been completed in 1847, he went in that year to the University of Berlin, intending to study medicine. But his poetical nature soon caused him to give up all thoughts of the medical profession, and the following year he removed to Bonn to study philology. He remained at Bonn till 1850, when he returned to Berlin, continuing his studies partly at that university and partly at that of Greifswald. Whilst at these universities he appears to have studied a variety of subjects, but discursively rather than with reference to any regular profession--for which both his poetical vein and his thirst for observations of actual life seem to have disqualified him. After serving his allotted time in the Prussian army, and occupying the post of tutor in the family of a Pomeranian nobleman, he went to Leipzig, in 1854, to devote himself to general literature, and he afterwards became a teacher (Privat Docent) of modern literature and Æsthetics.

His first romance, "Clara Vere," was published in 1857, and in the following year a short romance, "Auf der DÜne" ("On the Downs"), appeared, and attracted considerable attention. In the six years Spielhagen resided at Leipzig he wrote many critical essays for periodicals, translated a considerable number of French, English, and American works^[2]--particularly of American poets, and published there two more short romances, one of which, "RÖschen vom Hofe," a charming idyl, rapidly passed through four editions. In 1860 he went to Hanover, where he married; and the following year he removed to Berlin, where he has since resided, displaying great activity in connection with a leading periodical, and as romance writer. In 1861 his first large romance, "Problematische Naturen," appeared, and at once established for the writer a great reputation. It was followed the next year by a continuation, "Durch Nacht zum Lichte" ("Through Night to Light"). In 1864 another long romance, "Die von Hohenstein," was published, and lastly, in the autumn of 1866, "In Reih' und Glied" ("In the Ranks"), a romance in six volumes.^[3]

The scenes of all Spielhagen's romances, with the exception of his first, "Clara Vere," are laid in the Baltic provinces or islands, in the Prussian capital, or on the Rhine.... The heroes in many of Spielhagen's romances are not made of common stuff. They are very unusual natures, gifted with more than the average of intellectual power, even for our intellectual age. A few have even Titanic qualities,--towering ambition, insatiable cravings, and overwhelming passions, which bring them to a miserable end. That the heroes in romances--which have been styled the modern epics--should stand at least a foot higher than ordinary men is but what we have a right to expect. It can interest none but the most unrefined minds, to be occupied chiefly in works of fiction with commonplace, vulgar natures and their unpoetical surroundings, or with stilted heroes clothed in tinsel, and talking in high-flown fashion amidst scenes of extravagant conception. In Spielhagen's heroes psychological truth is never violated. The principal personages in his romances live before us and fix our interest. Their dispositions are not described, but impressed upon our minds in action. The plots of his romances too, despite the great number of scenes and characters introduced, are nevertheless skilful, consistent, and artistic. He makes no extravagant use of improbable coincidences, nor is the reader kept on the tenter-hooks of suspense whilst the intricacies of a plot are unravelled. It was Schiller, we believe, who called the romancist the half-brother of the poet. To Spielhagen's glowing descriptions of nature, which are never tediously minute, and are invariably brought into harmony with, or made to enhance by contrast, the moods and actions of his personages, a true poetical charm is given. In this respect they may be said to occupy a happy position between the vague and shadowy pictures formerly met with in German romances, and the photographic realism or word-painting, so wearisome to readers of taste in many of our modern English novels. With a skilful hand, too, he paints the tender emotions and longings of the heart, particularly in his female characters. Though the interest in his stories is generally well sustained, yet in many of them the dÉnoÛments are sad, a foreboding of which, as the consequences of vices, errors, or weaknesses in the actors, too soon perhaps arises in the reader's mind.... But the comic elements, satire, wit, and humor, are not wanting to afford amusement to the reader. Apart from the national coloring pertaining to his characters, their peculiar qualities are shown to have little to do with external circumstances. We see the hereditary influences of temperament and other organic conditions indicated; and in descriptions of bodily gestures, and expressions of the countenance, much knowledge of human nature, in its morbid as well as healthy state, is displayed. But enough of general observation on this author. We have before us numerous criticisms of his works in well-accredited German periodicals, which could be cited in proof that we have not overestimated his powers nor his popularity. Indeed, in Germany he is generally acknowledged to occupy the foremost rank amongst modern writers of fiction; an opinion, moreover, confirmed to some extent by the publication of his romances in a collected form.

In agreement with German critics, we consider "Problematic Natures" to be the most interesting and poetical of our author's productions.^[4] ...

Goethe says in his "Dichtung und Wahrheit": "There are problematic natures who are not equal to any situation in which they are placed, and for whom no situation is good enough. A fearful conflict results therefrom, which consumes life without enjoyment." These pregnant words of the great German poet are placed as motto on the title-page of the work before us, and Spielhagen has built upon them a tale full of poetry and psychological interest. In the course of the romance the author, through one of his personages, more specifically characterizes problematic natures as "beings for the most part liberally endowed by nature with good qualities; whose feelings and endeavors in general are directed to what is good, yet who all, without exception, come to a sad end, because they understand, either never or too late, that the most enthusiastic efforts and the loftiest aims not only remain uncrowned by success, but at length destroy the struggler himself if he overlooks the conditions of our earthly existence. Such people are not satisfied with anything--with themselves least of all. Possessed of endless susceptibilities, they seize everything with avidity, cast it, however, away as soon as its limited nature becomes clear to them. The world does not satisfy them, and they do not satisfy the world. The world lets those who despise it fall, despair, die of hunger, as may be; and it is right it should be so, for naturally those only can be rewarded who, sacrificing their egotistical desires, strive to serve the world earnestly and diligently."

... Detestation of the aristocracy is prominent in all Spielhagen's romances. The aristocracy in general--though there are several most favorable exceptions--is shown in them to be rotten and out of date. In some of his romances, a very pandemonium of "Junker" arrogance, frivolity, and debauchery--particularly of the military "Junker"--is painted, perhaps in colors somewhat too dark. In the people, including the BÜrger class, healthy virtues and high intelligence are shown to dwell almost as prerogatives. Still, as regards the citizen classes, he has guarded himself against the reproach of one-sidedness, for several of his low-born characters are innately weak and vicious, and amongst his political democrats he has sketched popularity-hunting demagogues, actuated likewise by motives entirely base and selfish. Amongst the distinguished and good personages our author introduces, young physicians, and other students of science and nature occupy the foremost places. They are some of them evidently painted after life; and in his great appreciation of physical sciences, and the men who devote to them their energies, he does but give expression to sentiments now-a-days prevailing in Germany. And in his low estimate of the nobility, he forms no exception to modern writers of fiction in Germany. Indeed, Immermann, in his village tales, and even Goethe, in "Wilhelm Meister" and the "Wanderjahre," display anti-aristocratic sympathies. To these great writers of fiction the names of Gutzkow, Auerbach, Freitag, Schloenbach, and many others may be added.

One chief cause of the antipathy of the citizen classes in Germany to the nobility we have already mentioned in speaking of "Problematical Natures." Another cause may be found in the circumstance that the nobility, since 1848, has in general used whatever political influence it possesses in a reactionary, ultraconservative spirit. As a consequence, however, of the strict line of demarcation, based on pedigree, between nobles and the citizen classes in Germany, the vulgar conceit and mean struggles for social position, so well known in this country, and so fertile a theme with our satirical novelists, are but seldom experienced in that country. The characters in Spielhagen's romances most resembling our snobs are worldly-minded, sycophantic clergymen and the low-born nouveaux riches....

Although in some respects this popular German romance-writer displays subjective biases; yet, on the whole, he is objective, and most decidedly reflects opinions now prevalent in his country. In fact, one of his critics avers, that "a psychological historian of the future may turn to his works for valuable data on many aspects of social life in the present times." As a delineator of individual characters--many of them types of different classes of society; as a painter of various situations, scenic and social, he appears to us unequalled by any other modern German writer of fiction.

Problematic Characters.

Part First.