past, and where some historical
event is connected with every corner of a street. In addition to all
this, conceive not the Paris of a dull, spiritless time, but the
Paris of the nineteenth century, in which, during three generations,
such men as Moliere, Voltaire, Diderot, and the like, have kept up
such a current of intellect as cannot be found twice in a single spot
in the whole world, and you will comprehend that a man of talent like
Ampere, who has grown up amid such abundance, can easily be something
in his four-and-twentieth year.

"You said just now," said Goethe, "that you could well understand how
any one in his twentieth year could write pieces as good as those of
Merimee. I have nothing to oppose to this; and I am, on the whole, quite
of your opinion that good productiveness is easier than good judgment in
a youthful man. But, in Germany, one had better not, when so young as
Merimee, attempt to produce anything so mature as he has done in his
pieces of _Clara Gazul_. It is true, Schiller was very young when he
wrote his _Robbers_, his _Love and Intrigue_, his _Fiesco_; but, to
speak the truth, all three pieces are rather the utterances of an
extraordinary talent than signs of mature cultivation in the author.
This, however, is not Schiller's fault, but rather the result of the
state of culture of his nation, and the great difficulty which we all
experience in assisting ourselves on our solitary way.

"On the other hand, take up Beranger. He is the son of poor parents, the
descendant of a poor tailor; at one time a poor printer's apprentice,
then placed in some office with a small salary; he has never been to a
classical school or university; and yet his songs are so full of mature
cultivation, so full of wit and the most refined irony, and there is
such artistic perfection and masterly handling of the language that he
is the admiration, not only of France, but of all civilized Europe.

"But imagine this same Beranger--instead of being born in Paris, and
brought up in this metropolis of the world--the son of a poor tailor in
Jena or Weimar, and let him commence his career, in an equally miserable
manner, in such small places--then ask yourself what fruit would have
been produced by this same tree grown in such a soil and in such an
atmosphere.

"Therefore, my good friend, I repeat that, if a talent is to be speedily
and happily developed, the great point is that a great deal of intellect
and sound culture