Charlotte Ackerman : a theatrical romance founded upon interesting facts in the life of a young artist of the last century

Chapter I

One of the many narrow and intricate streets of Hamburg, formerly known under the name of passages, and during the last century, the abode of the most abject poverty and crime, is, to this day, called *' Kugelsort/' There, in the midst of the great city of superfluity and magnificence, the most wretched and sorrowful of mankind, in all their terrible and sad shadows, had built up their own especial city of sickness, misery, and vice, under the firm of " Rabble & Co."

In damp, musty, crumbling houses, or rather sheds and courtyards, the latter forming again into narrower streets and dark, cut-off corners, lived the laboring classes of Hamburg. Their existence was as far removed from the joy and lustre of the upper world as their dark and mouldy cellars were shut off from the glorious sunshine. The pale and melancholy rays shone but rarely upon this scene of destitution and human degradation.

The stranger whose feet wandered for the first time in this curious, tortuous confusion of streets, yards, and passages, scarcely wide enough for a carriage track, sinking one moment into rugged ruts and pitfalls, then rising suddenly into rocky hillocks, would seek in vain for an outlet from these crooked labyrinths. The eyes of the haggard inhabitants would be fixed strangely upon him, showing that he was no less an object of curiosity to them than their wild and gloomy surroundings were to him.

He sees himself suddenly transported, as if by magic, from the noisy, rushing, tumultuous crowd of the great city to a dreary solitude. The busy life, the throng, the activity, has given place to a dread monotony.

The hammering and knocking of the small carpenter, working industriously in his dark room, is sometimes heard in the courtyard, then the cry of a child, then the coquettish tittering and laughing of a painted woman from behind the half-curtained window of a poverty-stricken salle, to which a narrow steep stairs from the street was the only entrance. All this recalled the fact that even here there was life and action, virtue and vice, only in a less attractive and ensnaring form.

Here, then, at Kugelsort, on a dreary afternoon in the fall of 1774, a crowd of men of the lowest class, young and old, of beggarly aspect, were assembled around the door of a miserable dwelling. Notwithstanding the heavy rain and the chilly autumn winds, they stood in tattered clothing and gazed curiously into the interior of the house.

It was the abode of destitution, and the unattractive forms of bold women, portrayed clearly the grade of the assembled mob ; they were wretched, dirty, and abandoned !

Some with dull indifference, some with that expression of frivolous curiosity which coarse, rude natures display even when looking upon the most terrible and heart-rending scenes, these all stared upon the coffin which was placed upon the floor.

A young maiden lay in the coffin, whose suffering and sorrowful features seemed, even in death and before such coarse witnesses, to denounce the rude hand which had bruised and broken so pure a rose.

She looked so innocent in her wretched shroud, this daughter of sorrow and of shame ! with the last decoration of dishonor (in which she, alas ! lived and died), the green rosemary, bound with a black ribbon, crowning her head, that the tender and the pitiful, even without any knowledge of the agony which broke the young heart, would have been moved to ask why so much loveliness and grace might not have been adorned, at least in death, with the maiden myrtle wreath? why the dark rosemary should impress upon the fair brow, even in the coffin, the thorn of contempt. The short life had been laden with guilt, but it had been wept away.

Ah, the rude wild waves of life ! how many pearls do they not cast unwittingly upon the desert shore of death out of the slimy deep !

" So she has come to this," shrieked an old woman from the crowd ! " There is arrogance ! even in her coffin, she must make a display with her assumed innocence. Because her lover was a baron, a fine cavalier, she pictured wonderful things, and the spruce sailor from Heligoland, with the full purse, who made love to her and strove for her favor, was mocked at and despised, and forced to withdraw. Then the girl sickened and her distinguished lover lingered, and lingered away.

" First she sung sad ditties, then tried to throw herself in the water, as if she could not live in her disgrace. At last, however, came the conviction that the Baron was gone for ever, and looking back upon the past, her life went out !"

A disgusting, mocking laugh from the bold women and shameless abuse of the beautiful dead in her rude coffin, was the reply to the old witch, and the pitiless rabble, led by the coarse laugh and cruel jest, had no longer any sympathy with one who had struggled against any communion or fellowship with them, until the mild angel of death had at last released her.

Thus, a gentle custom of the times which prevailed in every rank in Hamburg and was regarded as the last pious duty to the dead, that of laying out the corpse before burial and giving free entrance to friends and acquaintances, was converted, in this rude house, to a scene of the coarsest nature, and even the view of the fair dead, made no impression upon the hearts hardened by destitution and crime. No man pitied her sad fate ; they had no reverence for her memory, or the gravity of the hour.

Yes, the expression of innocence and purity in the dead features seemed yet more to embitter these degraded souis ; perhaps some mysterious feeling whispered to them that the dead girl was better than themselves. At least she had not been able to bear her shame and live.

Just as the pall-bearers from St. Michel arrived, the tall form of a haggard old woman appeared upon the threshold of the dead-house in an almost theatrical costume.

A saflfron-colored handkerchief was bound like a turban around her head, a many colored robe of faded chintz, scarcely decorous in its cut, and a variety of ornaments and ribbons, distinguished her from the other burgher women who were assembled, her painted face with its sharp features and pointed nose, had an unusually bold expression, and her brown eyes had that wandering piercing glance which, with old coquettes, takes the place of the lustre and ardor of lost youth.

With an ugly lapdog under her arm she forced herself unceremoniously and with a commanding bearing through the curious crowd, by whom she was no sooner recognised than a loud cry resounded from every quarter, " Madam Fanny ! Madam Fanny ! make way for Madam Fanny !"

" You shall all bear me witness," cried she passionately and in a strange dialect, as she passed by the coffin, giving it one furtive glance, to the door of the only room on the ground floor, " Where is the woman who has been bold enough to send rue word that I shall take away the child of the dead girl ? What have I to do with her or her guests or boarders ? She will see who takes away the child !"

" I will soon settle that," said a fat vulgar woman, who with short gray hair and a by no means winning aspect, now planted herself in the door.

" She there, who is gone," cried the vicious hostess, pointing to the dead girl, " was brought by you to my house. You paid me for her, poorly enough, it is true, for she brought me nothing but vexation and trouble and expense, and now, forsooth, you will leave the child to my charge also ! You must know the father, Madam Fanny ; who but you was Bertha's confidante ? Turn to him, then, for not another night shall the Httle worm stay under my roof!"

*' The mother is dead, the child is living and must be fed ! So be quick, will you, or will you not? if not, then I will seek for justice where I can obtain it without your help — from the inferior court."

The angry hostess now stuck her two thick arms in her sides with indescribable audacity and listened with sublime indifference to the raging outbreak of her adversary, whose passion knew no bounds.

With diflBculty the pall-bearers withheld Madam Fanny from making a personal attack upon the hostess. She struggled to escape from them, and with clenched fists to fall upon her, while the spectators, in wild uproar, took sides with one or the other rival combatant, and a fearful tumult raged around the still and placid dead. A few considerate persons tried in vain to allay the tempest.

What had been intended as a peaceful funeral now threatened to become a scene of the wildest violence, and a dozen shrieking women called out for the police.

The crowd increased, and people of a better class assembled before the dead-house, and amongst them one, whose appearance in this wretched spot no one could have expected, saw herself forced by the pressure of the crowd even into the room, while her companion, a good-looking, respectable matron, whose dress proved her to be a servant in a wealthy family, could with difficulty maintain her place behind her mistress. Terrified, she turned from side to side and entreated those who were nearest to her not to touch her fraulein.

This was a young lady of distinguished rank, and though visibly confused and alarmed at the hateful forms and malicious countenances surrounding her, her noble appearance sufficed to allay the fierce strife about the child of the dead mother. In one moment amazement and curiosity, light whispers and questions took the phice of the contest which had raged so furiously.

The young lady who saw herself forced so unexpectedly into this strange world of suffering and sorrow, soon recovered her self-control. She advanced firmly to the cofiin and asked with a trembling voice,

"Is this the mother of the poor child? Oh, Lena, look at this beautiful dead girl !

" Who could ever glance upon her fair face without sympathy ? No, no, she shall not be so cruelly treated ] bring me the child, that I may once more show him to the mother before you take her from him for ever and leave him alone and helpless in this cruel world."

The solemn tone and imperious bearing had an irresistible influence, and, as if constrained by a higher power, the rude crowd cried out with one voice,

*' The child ! the child ! bring the child of poor Bertha to the beautiful lady !"

Madam Fanny had drawn near the unknown lady in the rich satin dress. She no sooner gazed curiously under the costly Spanish hat, than she uttered an exclamation of surprise.

" How ! Mademoiselle Ackerman !" she stammered, and before she could be prevented, she kissed the young lady's hand with much aifectation. " Heavens and earth, how did your grace find your way into this house ? I suppose you heard the noise in the street and wished to see the cause of the fierce strife. I swear to your excellence that the hostess is in the wrong, yes, as true as I have the honor to see before me the renowned and respected artist, Charlotte Ackerman I"

<' Be silent and let me go." said Charlotte, in much confusion ; and she with difficulty released herself from the troublesome woman, who had become in a moment as full of humility and small affectations, as she had been bold and presumptuous.

Greatly embarrassed at being recognised, Charlotte did not know whether to remain or to flee rapidly from the house.

Lena seized her robe and begged her, for God's sake, to depart at once. " Oh, Heavens ! what will the people say when they hear that you have been in this house? What will your mother say? and your sister Dorothea? and your Herr brother? Oh, fraulein, go ! go at once ! I am losing my breath from anxiety !"

So whispered the perplexed matron, in the ears of her young mistress, and sought to drag her away by force from the coffin.

At this moment the child of poor Bertha was handed to Charlotte Ackerman; she seized the half-naked and slumbering baby with trembling hands, pressed it softly, tenderly upon the bosom of the dead mother, and said, " Now all is well, good people, close the coffin and consign the poor body to eternal peace. I will take charge of the child, and that it may not freeze wrap it at once in my warm shawl, until I can buy the necessary clothing.

''Dear frau hostess, you will keep the poor little baby and take care of it faithfully, will you not, until I find another lodging for it? Here is gold for all your trouble, and I will willingly pay you more, as much as you ask, only be careful and let no harm come to the child."

The fierce hostess clutched first mechanically towards the purse, and then to the child, wrapped it in the fine cashmere, and promised, in a stammering voice, to do all mademoiselle commanded.

The name of Charlotte Ackerman had struck all present like an electric spark, although, for the most part, they scarcely knew whom it signified ; but the simple utterance of the well-known name had a marked effect upon these people of the lowest class; they forgot at once the touching scene with the child, and gazed with dumb reverence at the renowned wonder of Hamburg.

And now, as Charlotte prepared to leave the house, and with a friendly greeting approached the door, they crowded upon her with stormy zeal, seized and kissed the hem of her robe, and bowed down in reverence as before a heavenly visitant. Those, who a few moments before were uttering frantic curses against each other, were now calling down blessings upon the g0(d angel, and sobbing out the name of Charlotte Ackerman.

With difficulty she reached the street; Lena urging her to hasten. " Quick, quick, we have no time to lose. The comedy will begin in half an hour, and the keeper of the wardrobe is certainly waiting anxiously for you."

"Comedy!" said Charlotte, as if awakening from a dream; "Oh ! Lena, did men but know where the true drama is played, they would not seek the house of dazzling art and wild illusion ; they would not shudder and tremble at words learned by heart, nor allow their sensibilities to be agonized by studied acting !"

Chapter II

Opposite St. Micliers Church, in Kreyenkamp street, and in the neighborhood of the merchants' court, stood in those days a two-story dwelling-house, distinguished from the other buildings in the neighborhood by its great size and more modern style.

The balcony, which was adorned with heavy carvings, was supported by three caryatides, and the window-frames and door-posts were also richly carved in arabesques, which contrasted beautifully with the stone-colored wall.

Two beautiful lindens stood on each side of the door, and wound their branches artistically together; by means of the garden shears they were trained into a wall of green leaves in front of the three middle windows of the third story ; here and there, however, an opening was made so as to give a view of the street.

The heavy oak door was adorned with polished-metal ornaments, and a hammer, handsomely turned from the wood of the box tree, hung from a brass chain to the door. The bells in present use were unknown at that day, and all who desired admittance made the fact known by one or more light strokes of the hammer upon the door.

At this signal appeared generally at the door of the house we have just described a little old man, foppishly dressed, with a snow-white wig, adorned with hundreds of small curls, which formed a striking contrast to the red face and kindly twinkling eyes.

This was no other than Herr Kreyenpater, the former prompter of the Ackerman troupe, and now the faithful shield and protector of the house; well known, not only in the neighborhood, but in half the great city of Hamburg.

No one who crossed the threshold of the Ackerman house could fail to remark Kreyenpater's wonderful and artistic scrape of the foot, his light, childish titter, accompanied by extravagant compliments and greetings, during which the little feet, with the great steel buckles and high heels, were so elegantly pointed you could but think he had passed his life in graceful sarabands and minuets.

Kreyenpater generally wore a large pen, with a long feather, behind his ear, in token of his worthy occupation.

Since old age had made him toothless, and unfitted him for his duties of prompter, his principal service in the house was that of secretary and accountant.

He kept the house expenses carefully, and, besides this, all the written and illustrated copies of the roles prepared for the celebrated daughters of the house came from his artistic pen, and made them objects of envy to all the other members of the troupe.

Only true love of art could have enabled him to paint or draw such elegant characters on paper. They were equal to copperplate; and the better the assiduous and adroit copyist succeeded in his work, the more fully was he convinced that the young mistress, whose business it was to commit the role to memory, would distinguish herself above all others before the public on the evening of the representation.

When Dorothea in comic and Charlotte in tragic roles, achieved those triumphs which made their names so famous in Hamburg, and indeed throughout Gi-ermany, Kreyenpater had the proud consciousness that this result had been attained in a large measure by his incomparable copies ; indeed, he solemnly believed that the two sisters were indebted to him for their celebrity ; that only through the magic power of his pen were they properly impressed with the great thoughts and words of the poets.

This was, as I have said the first appearance which met the stranger on the threshold of the Ackerman house.

The interior arrangements corresponded fully with the description we have given.

Everywhere the spirit of exemplary order and gentle housewifery reigned, combined with pure refined taste and solid

CHARLOTTE ACRE UMAX. 15

prosperity. According to the narrow ideas of that day it would have been difficult to believe that this was the home of the theatre Director.

And yet it was even so ; the house to which we have introduced the reader, was bult by Conrad Ernst Ackerman, who died three years and six months after the completion of his house. He had been summoned by a sudden death from his beloved family and his active artistic life.

Since that time, it had been occupied by the widow Madame Ackerman, her two daughters, and Frederic Ludwig Schroder, the son of a former marriage.

In connection with his mother, he now carried on the direction of the theatre. With his stepfather's worthy calling he had inherited his honored rank as burgher.

With this explanation we resume the thread of our narrative. We find ourselves, the morning after the scene, at Kugelsort, in the large family room of Frau Ackerman, where after breakfast the little family generally assembled for a quiet good-humored hour before the many duties, cares, and distractions of the day were forced upon them. The artist calling, in connection with the Directory, occupied them fully, so that only late in the evening, after the theatre was closed, could the family assemble again around their mother.

It appeared however that the usually confidential, natural, and kindly tone was banished from the family circle, on this morning. Charlotte was not present, and upon the countenance of both the mother and Dorothea there lowered a cloud of discontent.

Schroder, also, did not seem to be taking his breakfast in his best morning mood.

It was apparent that a most disagreeable conversation had just been broken off, but that the discomfort and ill-humor it had produced had not been set aside.

At last Schroder broke the silence, and said in a bitter tone :

" It appears to be Charlotte's fate to make every beautiful and praiseworthy sentiment of her heart disagreeable and. painful in its manifestation to herself and others. Her wish is to do right, but she allows herself to be carried away by the impulse of the moment; she acts without consideration, from the inspiration of enthusiastic feeling, and thus gives to her conduct more the appearance of artificial geniality than of pure, natural goodness of heart. By her adventure of yesterday she has created more prejudice against us than she has done good."

" I grieve to say that I must agree with you," said Madame Ackerman, sighing deeply. " As a maiden, she has acted unpardonably in thus playing with her good name, and she is yet more inexcusable as an artist, as the world is a thousand times more bitter and slanderous against actresses than against any other women. Gracious heaven ! how will our enemies interpret the visit of Mademoiselle Ackerman to Kugelsort ? How will Dr. Dreyer, in his malice, carry this scandal from house to house ! how terribly will he make the actress suffer, in his weekly journal, for the inconsiderate act which the young and inexperienced girl alone should be held responsible for! The merchants will relate the story to their wives and daughters when they go home from the Exchange, and we shall see ourselves received this evening at the theatre with hissing and mockery."

" Dear mother, you surely forget that Charlotte plays Rutland this evening," said Dorothea.

" So much the worse," said her brother, angrily ; " for the tongue of the slanderer will take advantage of the lustre of her talent to place her conduct of yesterday still deeper in shadow. The public will"—

" Honor Charlotte Ackerman, as ever before," said Dorothea, impressively, and fixing her great beautiful eyes firmly upon her brother. " Where are you wandering in your zeal for your sister's honor? It may be that Charlotte has acted hastily, it may be that the wickedness of some men may go so far as to make her noble and generous act an occasion of slander, but let it be so; their satisfaction will not be of long continuance, and as to what relates to Doctor Dreyer, this time, at least, he will Dot thunder out his satires against us ; for he solemnly declared, yesterday evening, in a wine cellar, before many witnesses, that he would never again seek to injure this good and generous girl with a stroke of his pen."

Schroder, whom the last remark of his sister seemed more to embitter than to convince, was about to reply, when Dr. Unzer was announced.

" God be thanked !" said Dorothea. Her mother looked up with surprise, and Schroder asked, with a perplexed air, if any one in the house was ill?

The young physician entered immediately. His exterior was inviting in the extreme, and his bearing and manner betrayed, at the first glance, the man of rank and intellectual capacity. His pale face, sharp profile, and dark, flashing eyes, expressed goodness of heart and clear intellect; his countenance bore the traces of the fatigues incident upon his profession and of persevering study; he was tall, thin, and slightly bent, which gave him sometimes an outward expression of heaviness, which was contradicted, however, by his youthful and active form.

" You come at the right moment," said Schr(5der, advancing to meet him. The ladies received him as a friend of the house, who knows himself to be always welcome, and greeted him gaily, though their perplexity was only half concealed.

" Yes, at the right moment, though uncalled for ; I saw during my third morning visit, that I must commence my day's labor in Kreyencamp street, if I wished to get through my sick list before the sun went down. I, as your physician, ought certainly to know, first of all, what is going on ; so, at least, think all my reasonable patients. They question me, storm me ; I must explain to them ; I must relate minutely, point by point, what all this history is about the Ackermans ; how Charlotte came to be at Kugelsort, what she had to do with this Portuguese Fanny, with the dead girl, with the baby, with the hostess?"

"Now, best Mamma, why do you look so confused — so shocked ? and you, Dorothea, why are you so agitated ? My God ! what has happened ? "

" Nothing, but a new exhibition of the geniality of our little Emilia Galotti," said Schroder, passionately forcing his friend to be seated. 2

"•' There, seat yourself, you Delphic oracle of all the aunts, cousins, scandal-mongers, &c. Listen to me patiently ; a wise man like yourself, makes a good story out of everything; why not, then, of Mademoiselle Charlotte Ackerman, of the Portuguese Fanny, and the Frau hostess of Kugelsort?"

In this bitter tone, and with rapid utterance, he related to his friend the events of Kugelsort, with which we are already acquainted. Schroder did not confine himself, however, to the facts of the case, but allowed his own passions to speak. He was a man of a good heart, but uncommonly hasty and quicktempered ; particularly animated by certain small prejudices.

Schroder belonged to that class of men, who in youth, have too great a respect for the lightly moved judgments of men.

The dignity of art, and the dignity of family, had in his eyes almost the same significance ; and the boundless love which he felt Tor his sisters, did not prevent him, when occasion oflFered, even n innocent and trivial things, from torturing them by his dark humors and sharp peculiarities.

" So is it, when a man is a brother and, at the same time, a theatre director ; " was generally the refrain of his song of sorrow, and he closed his narrative this day with this sigh of complaint, so well known in his family circle.

Unzer had listened to him quietly ; his eyes sparkled from time to time, as was his custom when made gay and happy by any event; with half-closed eyes he listened to the speaker and played restlessly with his finger upon the arms of the chair, from which, in his absence of mind, he tore a velvet tassel.

In answer to Schroder's question as to what he thought of the affair, he looked at him for a long time dreamily, shrugged his shoulders, and gave an indefinite answer.

When Dorothea, without reserve, described the passionate scene which had taken place the evening before, between Charlotte and her brother, and demanded his sincere opinion, he was more decided, shook his head disapprovingly, and said gravely :

" If you ask the opinion of the physician, I must repeat my advice so often given. Charlotte must be left in quiet, the voice of her soul must have liberty of action, and she must be spared all violent excitement. If, however, I must speak as a friend of the house, I must regret with Schroder that this noble act of our high-hearted Charlotte has come to the knowledge of the world, though, I confess, I can scarcely see how she can be misjudged. In truth, I am only fearing the appearance which the story will make, and forgetting that Charlotte stood even in degraded Kugelsort, as pure in her triumph as she stood upon the boards on the evening of her most dazzling success. Yes, even because she is an actress, who, by her skill, through her art and talent, awakens our sensibilities and our wonder, does this gentle and humane act make her more charming. In real life she has followed the impulse of her beautiful soul ! Lookins; now at the whole aflFair, which can in no respect be changed, I am convinced that this praiseworthy and generous deed should be looked at on its best and brightest side.

" Yes, Fritz/' said he, springing up and seizing his hat and stick, "I will at all events prove to you to-day that I deserve to be called the Delphian oracle of Hamburg. I will myself carry the new fairy tale from house to house, and eye to eye will I relate it to our Philistines and city cousins ! We must have the courage to let a noble act speak for itself, and the public judgment will estimate it rightly. Suppose a pair of worthy wigs should shake their heads with displeasure over the affair, or a pair of old women should creep away in a paroxysm of holy zeal, that cannot change the character of this good deed. So I commend you to God, best mamma. I ask for a place in your joys to-night. We shall live to see that our Rutland has as little reason to shrink from the judgment of the world before the footlights as in Kugelsort. Good morning !"

Unzer hastened away, his usually pale face suffused with a soft red. You might have supposed he was hastening to some death-bed, but the wish to win from Charlotte at least the second place in this drama of humanity gave wings to his feet. He soon reached the intricate street. The worthy and skilful physician was as well known here as in the palaces of the rich and distinguished — perhaps even better known. With the wealthy his skill and experience alone were valued, but in this abode of destitution his humanity was often called into action. He reached Kugelsort, and glided unseen into the house of the rude hostess.