literary works, yet forbidden to me within the limits
which I have chosen. But, even after avoiding, as far
as may be possible, historical and philological digres-
sions, I find myself embarrassed by the abundance
of the purely literary material; for the annals of Ger-
many not only extend much further into the past than
those of England, but the research of her scholars has
been longer and more laboriously employed in illumi-
nating the dark corners of her history. The dullest
chronicler, the most mechanical rhymester who ever
turned the hand-organ of doggerel, if he has left but
a paragraph or couplet behind him, is labelled and
placed on his pedestal in the pantheon of early Teu-
tonic letters; but, fortunately, no disguise of language,
no magic of distance or the romance of circumstances,
can wholly bewilder us. When we begin honestly and
earnestly to study the records which have been pre-
served, we soon perceive the relative value of names
and achievements, and it is not difficult to separate the
few original, really creative minds from the crowd of
imitators and secondary intelligences.

I shall, therefore, confine myself to those names and
works which belong, by undoubted right, to the literary
history of Germany,--the landmarks, sometimes wide
apart, which indicate change and progress,--and shall
simplify my task by the omission of many names which
would furnish, at best, only a dry catalogue, difficult to
remember, and of little value when remembered.

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