All sorts of correspondence. R. reads me a paper intended for an American; as the German princes were mentioned therein, I ask him not to send it, he tore it up with displeasure, and I ask myself whether the success is worth the labour, whether indeed any success can outweigh a moment’s disquiet!—Yet soon cheerfulness is restored, and we undertake a longer walk: first stop Angermann’s cellar—there a picture after Teniers and Shakespearean discourse; after that a glorious sunset, continued onward through the charming landscape. In the evening, in Berlioz’s Memoirs, we sought the passages concerning Devrient; amazement at the short-sightedness and narrowness of such a man, who could not perceive the greatness of that woman beneath shortcomings that time, a melancholy environment, and an unworthy profession had fastened upon her.
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.