Ulrich Middeldorf 
 
Halin . ptnx-'. 
 
 JiIAwinl^ofie.sc. 
 
THE 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 OF 
 
 TBE EARLY YEARS OF TEE 
 WORLD-FAMOUS 
 
 John George Wille 
 
 " GRAVE UR DU ROI. " 
 Tkanslated from the French, 
 
 BY 
 
 (engraver) 
 SOMERS TOWN: 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 Privately Printed; — Fifteen Copies. 
 
 1872. 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE EARLY YEARS OF 
 THAT WORLD-FAMOUS ENGRAVER: 
 
 J.-G. WILLE; 
 
 " Gbaveub du Roi." 
 
 m 
 
 RRIVED at the age of nearly eighty years, 
 it seems to me now time, my dear son, 
 to write, according to your desires, such 
 passages of my life as I can still call to 
 mind. I must at first tell you, that my father, John 
 Philip Wille, was a citizen of Koenigsberg, a very 
 ancient place, the chief seat of a bailiwick, and situ- 
 ated upon the confines of Wetteravia : — my mother's 
 name was Anne Elizabeth Zimmerman. My father 
 did not live precisely in Koenigsberg itself, but in the 
 Bieberthal; — his dwelling was near the source of the 
 Bieber; — and it was in that neighbourhood that he 
 cultivated his rural property, which was tolerably ex- 
 tensive, and there I was Born, upon the Fifth day of 
 November, in the year 1715. I was the eldest of 
 seven children, six sons and one daughter, born to my 
 father by his two wives . My health was perfect ; — 
 and it was observed of me that my natural turn was 
 cheerful, but I was restless, self-willed, and sometimes 
 even capricious, — without being ill-disposed. 
 
2 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 At the age of between two and three years, it was 
 my supreme happiness to find myself, with a piece of 
 white chalk in my hand, lying on the floor of the par- 
 lour, and sketching in birds, trees, or any other objects 
 which may have struck me. Woe betide any one who 
 had the temerity to walk over my productions ! In the 
 meanwhile, my father, having remarked my liveliness 
 and sharpness, and that I was always restless and do- 
 ing something, resolved to teach me to read and write, 
 nor were the lessons I had without their fruit. 
 
 My father did not choose to send me to school until 
 I was between six and seven years of age, on account 
 of the difficulty w^hich there would have been for a 
 child, while too young, to ascend the hill upon which 
 Koenigsberg is situated, and which was a quarter of a 
 league from our habitation. My father, then, at the 
 before -named age, sent me to school, and, over and 
 above my lessons in our own language, I was obliged 
 to add lessons in Latin. This was double work, from 
 whence, nevertheless, owing to my happy memory, I 
 extricated myself pretty creditably. My master even 
 gave me some commendation, nor was he dissatisfied 
 either with my writing in the two languages, but he 
 did not at all approve of seeing the margins of my 
 books loaded with, scrawls of drawings. I often drew 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 3 
 
 in the faces of any of my school -fellows who appeared 
 to me to be at all comical,, and I represented them 
 upon paper by such ridiculous forms, that some were 
 by no means pleased ; while others only laughed at 
 these things. Besides this, I also diverted myself by 
 composing ironical verses, suitable to my portraits. Up- 
 on our play-days, I used to perambulate the remains 
 of the ancient Castle of Koenigsberg, which had been 
 dreadfully ruined by the Swedes during the Thirty- 
 YEARs' War, and from which castle I used to make 
 sketches. From this time I date the beginning of that 
 pleasure which I have always felt in drawing landscape. 
 During these times there used to come regularly into 
 our parts of the world, in quest of provisions, a Friar 
 who was also the gardener of the Capuchin Convent 
 of Wetzler. My father valued this Friar, for he 
 discoursed learnedly concerning the grafting of certain 
 plum-trees, the planting of cabbages and radishes, and 
 the growth of cucumbers in dry or damp grounds. 
 
 This good Friar happening to be with us one day, 
 just at the time that my father had bought, to please 
 me, some figures from a Tyrolese print -chapman, who 
 was in the house, when the Friar — having remarked 
 what pleasure this acquisition gave me, took from the 
 pocket of his frock, a large portfolio, well furnished 
 
4 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 with figures from the manufactory of Jerome Wolf, of 
 Augsburg, at the same time requesting my acceptance 
 of them. This gift consisted of six large sheets of 
 paper, each sheet containing eighteen figures. Thus I 
 became the possessor, in an instant, without having 
 dreamed of such a thing, of a fine collection of one 
 hundred and eight subjects, to be numbered up, and 
 did I not, likewise, take pleasure in contemplating 
 the abundance of their staring colours of green, blue, 
 and red? Nor did the Friar remain unrewarded, for 
 on this occasion he was compensated with a string of 
 black -puddings, instead of a pot of butter, or a dozen 
 of eggs. At this he was visibly touched; joy shone 
 upon his face when he deposited the present, above- 
 named, in his wallet; which as yet was empty. He 
 carried his gratitude still further, for he invited me to 
 come and see him at Wetzlar, assuring me that he 
 would show me pictures admired by everybody, and 
 which the Friars had the good fortune to possess in 
 the cloisters of their Convent. It was objected to this, 
 that I was very young to undertake a journey of two 
 leagues, but the Friar replied, " His dear aunt here 
 will be so good as to come with him, " which my aunt 
 promised to do, the more willingly as she had some 
 female friends in that village. Some days afterwards, 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 5 
 
 upon one of my holidays, my aunt took me with her, 
 but the Friar was absent. Nevertheless, after an hour 
 he returned from a journey which he had been making 
 to the villages of Hiittenberg, and he was laden with 
 potatoes and dry garden -beans ; — however, as soon as 
 he was disencumbered of his useful burthen, he came 
 forward to receive us, with the most remarkable friend- 
 liness. He took me by the hand, and conducted me 
 into the Cloisters, saying to me ; " Look at this row 
 of arches, of which the glass windows are charged and 
 ornamented with the arms of sundry Lords who had 
 had those arms painted, some from devotion, some from 
 good -nature, and some from vanity ! " He spoke to 
 me much about the colours of Heraldry, of which I 
 comprehended nothing. At length, at the last arch, 
 he bade me remark some very curious arms! "Those," 
 said the Friar, " belonged to a Lord, a great warrior, 
 who w^as killed in the battle of Miihlberg, against the 
 Emperor Charles the Fifth. Look here, my friend," 
 continued the Friar, " above those arms, at the two 
 blue harquebuses, accompanied with lighted matches ! 
 It was Maurice of Saxony who added those two pieces 
 to the arms of this Lord, who was slain in the field 
 of honour ! But look at those two golden battering- 
 rams upon a field of azure ! Do you like those batter- 
 
6 
 
 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 ing-rams ? " A slight inclination of my head was the 
 answer. " Well then," resumed the Friar, " I must 
 tell you the history of them. Amongst the ancestors 
 of our slain hero, there w^ere two brothers, very active, 
 strong, and licentious men, but pious. They went to 
 the Crusades, like many others in the eleventh century, 
 partly from zeal, and partly for the remission of their 
 sins, which had multiplied extremely. They sold their 
 possessions to the anchorites in the mountains of Bo- 
 hemia, in order to procure money, and by that means 
 live freely upon their way to the East, with the army 
 of the Christians. They distinguished themselves in 
 that country by incredible deeds of arms, and above all 
 by the taking of Joppa, the gates of which they broke 
 open with heavy blows from clubs, made in the shape 
 of a ram. After such a remarkable action, they re- 
 ceived from the chiefs of the army, permission, not 
 only for themselves, but for their descendants, to bear, 
 as significant arms, these rams, the instruments of 
 their glory; likewise, they had the exclusive privilege 
 of breaking open the gates of the strong places in the 
 East. These admirable arms," continued the Friar, 
 " have since been sent to us, we know not by whom; 
 — but they must have been painted long ago ; — some 
 think they were done by Lucas Kranach, and others 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 7 
 
 think they were done by Albert Diirer." As I then 
 knew nothing of those masters, I made no reply, and 
 the Friar, perceiving that I began to grow tired, and 
 perhaps beginning to be tired himself, embraced me 
 cordially, saying, "Farewell, my child; I hope that 
 you have been well pleased with the pictures, and with 
 me. Come again, and see me in the next autumn, 
 when I will give you pears, and nuts, and rolls glared 
 with the yolk of eggs ! " 
 
 I thanked the Friar for all his kindnessess, at the 
 same time making him a most profound bow, with my 
 hat in my hand ; and then I returned, awkwardly 
 enough, to bow to him again ; but he was gone. My 
 aunt, during my absence, had made some calls; but, 
 upon my return, I found her already seated upon a 
 bench at the door of the Convent. I at once told her 
 how much I was suffering from hunger. She was com- 
 passionate, and immediately bought a cake sprinkled 
 over with grains of salt and cumin, which I caused to 
 disappear in an instant. My aunt herself felt an ap- 
 petite, for she took me to one of her female friends, 
 who, for more than thirty years past, had sold Span- 
 ish chocolate, made at Wetzlar, without cocoa or va- 
 nilla, and of an exquisite flavour, as affirmed. This 
 worthy tradeswoman invited us to dinner, and she at 
 
8 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 first offered us a vermicelli of that country ; then some 
 lettuces dressed in their ovm. liquor, with sausages — 
 grilled upon the coals. Two bottles of wine; one, red, 
 from the hills of the Larne, and another, from the 
 banks of the Rhine, appeared upon the table. To me 
 was given one very little glass of each, and the two 
 ladies drank the rest. At length coffee made its ap- 
 pearance, and this seemed to me to be made with 
 grains from the Westerwald Forest, where aeons are 
 not very scarce, and although it was plentifully mixed 
 up with pounded sugar, this coffee displeased me ex- 
 tremely. At last my aunt took leave of her friend, as 
 I did also, making my obeisances after the manner of 
 scholars who are new to the world, and we did not 
 arrive home until night -fall. My father desired to 
 have an account of my picturesque pilgrimage, and of 
 what advantage I had reaped from it ; — at which 
 account he laughed heartily, but at the same time 
 advising me to make no more of such excursions, and 
 then he sent me back to my books, to study my les- 
 sons. Nevertheless, during the next year, after making 
 supplications, I obtained from my father the permission 
 to set out again, upon some new travels. The stories 
 which I had heard told of the wonders to be seen in 
 the Church of Saint Elizabeth, at Marburg, kindled 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 9 
 
 my imagination very strangely ; I desired , and sought 
 with ardour for, some occasion to go there, and one 
 soon presented itself to me. In our valley is found a 
 white marble, which the peasants of the district re- 
 duced into lime, and then annually carted it for sale 
 to Marburg, where it is in esteem. It was now re- 
 solved that I should be sent along with some of these 
 worthy people, who were all known to us. Sometimes, 
 in this journey, I went on foot, and sometimes I was 
 seated upon one or other of the waggons, when at last, 
 on the second day, ( having accomplished our six lea- 
 gues ), we arrived at the place of our destination, after 
 having slept very comfortably, one night, in a barn, 
 upon a heap of hay. As soon as we found ourselves 
 in Marburg, I quitted my conductors. I walked past 
 the Town -Hall, of which the pediment had niches, 
 furnished with figures the size of life, which figures 
 some internal mechanism caused to act, and make a 
 noise, — moving as many times as the clock struck. 
 However, though all this was new to me, I scarcely 
 made any stay, but ran on further, seeking for the 
 Church, which I soon found, but it was not open. I 
 was directed to a verger who obtained the keys, and 
 by the means of some money which I gave to him, he 
 eajerly opened one of the doors, and let me go in. I 
 
10 
 
 AuTOBIOGrwVPIIY OF J. G. WiLLE. 
 
 saw at first, upon the right and left of tlie door, tlie 
 sufficiently -gotliic statues of the " Land " Commanders 
 of orders who had possessed that dignity at Marburg 
 since the institution of the Teutonic Order. They 
 seemed to be in a dress, half- monkish, half- military, 
 and I regretted, while contemi^lating these figures, that 
 I had neither chalk, nor paper, nor time, to draw 
 some of them, although I was certainly not competent 
 to do so with the smallest degree of correctness. Upon 
 proceeding forwards, and on my right hand, I beheld, 
 with pleasure and respect, in a grated niche, — the 
 statue of Saint Elizabeth, who had been the daughter 
 of a King of Hungary, and married to a Landgrave; 
 Lewis; who was not the best prince of his age. She 
 had a crown upon her head, and the model of that 
 Church which she had built, was in her right hand. 
 Before her statue were several steps, which, as well as 
 the pavement, were much worn with the genuflexions 
 and the bowings made by the numerous Pilgrims who 
 formerly resorted there to pay their devotions. Upon 
 the left-hand, and opposite to the Statue of Saint 
 Elizabeth, there was a Chapel, in which the ancient 
 Landgraves of Hesse had their burying -i:)lace. 
 
 My mentor, upon our entering this chapel, made me 
 take notice of the life-size statues of those who there 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 11 
 
 lie buried. He told me their names, and surnames; 
 and gave me some account of the chief event in the 
 life of each of them. They were all standing up, and 
 completely armed, according to the use of the times in 
 which they had lived. There was one, lying on its 
 back, upon the ground, and as if gnawed by reptiles. 
 I was astonished at this figure, and almost frightened. 
 My conductor perceived this, and told me its history. 
 " This prince," said he, " was one of the most impious 
 of men ; one , who instead of regarding the festivals 
 and the Sundays of the Church, attended only to the 
 chase ! Therefore , he was most severely punished ; — 
 for he broke his neck by a fall from his horse, in a 
 forest far away from his attendants, and his body was 
 not found till long after this accident, gnawed as it is 
 rej^resented in this sculpture which you now see before 
 you." Opposite to these statues were to be seen re- 
 presented, in several little compartments, the virtuous 
 actions and miracles of Saint Elizabeth ; they were all 
 carved in relief upon wood, and variously painted, ac- 
 cording to the custom of those remote ages. In the 
 last compartment, the husband of the Saint, who with 
 a number of the Noblesse, had gone to the Crusades, 
 appeared upon horseback, and followed by his brave 
 Hessians, proceeding on his way for the conquest of 
 
12 
 
 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 the Holy Land, from whence he never returned. In 
 the center of the Church, and over the pulpit of the 
 preacher, there hung a piece of drapery, formed like a 
 pavilion, which we were assured was the work of Saint 
 Elizabeth's own hands. I should have desired to have 
 stayed some time longer in this Church, in order to 
 see the rest of the curiosities, which appeared to me 
 numerous, but the hour of noon sounded, and I was 
 obliged to quit, for the waggoners had apprized me 
 that about this hour they should set forth upon their 
 way back again to their own homes. I could, there- 
 fore, only cast a look at the outside of this venerable 
 building, and then ran to rejoin my conductors, who 
 were coming from a good dinner. They appeared to 
 me very well satisfied, but for my part, I felt my head 
 to be far more full of figures, than my stomach was of 
 viands. I found means, however, although very hastily, 
 to satisfy this last want, and my conductors then set 
 forth upon their journey, and by the same road which 
 had taken us to Marburg. Upon the journey home, I 
 talked much less with my conductors than I had done 
 before ; — I did nothing but pass and repass through 
 my mind, the objects which had struck me so much in 
 the Church, and which I contemplated in my thoughts 
 with most infinite pleasure. Nevertheless, one of our 
 
AUTOBIOGRAniY OF J. G. WiLLE. 13 
 
 waggoners often interrupted my reflections \:j songs in 
 a language and to a music which was onewhile gay, 
 and onewhile melancholy; and composed, according 
 to all appearances, in the time of Otho the Great ! 
 These songs are now known only to the country-folks, 
 from the account given to me by the Mayor of the 
 village where we lodged for the night, ( for he was an 
 Inn -keeper ), and they were songs which turned upon 
 the amours, the deeds of arms, the misfortunes, and 
 even the fatal ends of the ancient Chevaliers. This 
 induced me to consider attentively the ruined Castles 
 situated upon the hills lying right and left of our 
 road, in which Castles those ancient warriors, — who 
 were now being treated of, — had formerly ensconced 
 themselves. " After all, what objects these would be to 
 make draivings from,'' I said to myself ! 
 
 Upon the next day I arrived at my father's house, 
 and he received me most kindly, saying, after I had 
 embraced him, " It seems to me, my Son, that you are 
 very loell, and that I am glad to see'' Then he gave 
 plenty of drink to my conductors, and thanked them 
 for the care they had taken of me during the journey, 
 for all which they made their obeisances after their 
 manner, and then returned very well satisfied, to their 
 own village. " Well, noiv, my Son, " said my father, 
 
14 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 " tell me a little of what you have seen and observed, and 
 then I shall he able to judge ivhether you ought to consider 
 yourself as better satiffied with having been to 3Iarbury 
 than to Wetzlary These words gave me great encou- 
 ragement, and I played the part of orator and story- 
 teller with all the enthusiasm of a school -hoy who had 
 never seen anything interesting before, and who con- 
 founds himself from the quantity of matter with which 
 his head is filled ! 
 
 My Father, — having listened to me very patiently, 
 seemed tolerably well satisfied; — But 7iow,'' said he, 
 " all this is very good ; still here are noiv some fine days, 
 during which you have been absent from school; go again 
 to your books; learn your lessons, and make up for the 
 time you have lost in travelling.'" 
 
 I felt that it was only right of me to submit to this 
 paternal advice, and upon the next day, accompanied 
 by two of my brothers, and by some children of the 
 neighbourhood, I was once more threading the way to 
 our mountain. ''Alas! " said I to myself, " what 
 pleasure should I not have, if our school was at Marburg, 
 instead of being at Kcenigsberg ! After all, I might 
 have been consoled, for I quickly regained all that I 
 had a little neglected, and, even independently of my 
 duty, I was occupied with the idea, founded upon what 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 15 
 
 I had seen , of carving — in relief — some figures upon 
 wood; but many things necessary for the execution of 
 my project I was absolutely without. I was obliged 
 then, after reflection, to seek for some other means 
 of satisfying myself, and I was so fortunate as to find 
 upon the banks of the Canal, ( by which the waters 
 that take their rise from the Bieber, * are forced to 
 flow towards the mills ), some potter's earth, which I* 
 at once made use of to model some ridiculous heads, 
 or masques with. I made them with squinting eyes, 
 wrinkled foreheads, and gaping mouths; their forms, 
 in general, were indifl"erent; their destination was fixed 
 beforehand, and I placed them at the little doors of 
 our bee -hives, of which my father possessed a certain 
 number. Nothing could well have been more laughable 
 than the cut -goings and the in -comings of these fly- 
 ing insects , through the mouths of my masques ; but 
 all this was but of short duration ; my masques were 
 
 * This little river falls into the Larne, near Giessen ; its 
 course is only one league and a half. Upon its banks there 
 are twelve mills , a foundry, and an iron - forge ; a hamlet , 
 some villages, and four or five houses of nobles. Besides 
 this, towards the upper part of the valley, there were six 
 or seven lime -kilns. [ Note hy J. G. Wille. J 
 
16 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 soaked by the rain, dried up by the sun, and, falling 
 into ruin, were no more thought of by me. And now 
 that winter was making its approach, and the evenings 
 were becoming long, I thought that it would be infi- 
 nitely agreeable, if, after learning my lessons, which 
 did not take me very long, I could employ myself ac- 
 cording to my own fancies. In my father's collection 
 of books, there was a large Bible, filled with prints, 
 which prints I often pleased myself with looking at, 
 and several times already, the thought had come to 
 me of making, (without copying the prints,) drawings 
 similar to those events related in the Bible, which 
 were susceptible of being represented, I spoke of this 
 idea to my father, who, to my great delight, approved 
 of it, and I thereupon gave him a detail of the things 
 which would be necessary to me for the execution of 
 my project. My father, having listened to me very 
 calmly, then said, " My so?i, will you be persevering in 
 doing this that you are proposing f " Of that I assured 
 him in the most lively manner, and after this assur- 
 ance, he had the goodness to buy for me himself some 
 drawing-paper, out of which I made a quarto volume; 
 some brushes; some of those boxes of colours which 
 are manufactured at Nuremberg, and even cut several 
 pens for me with great dexterity. 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 17 
 
 No one in the world could have been more happy 
 than all this made me, and, with impatience, I got 
 myself ready to make my designs, but I did not care 
 to set about them until everyone had supped, and had 
 gone to bed ; for I wanted to be alone with my lamp ! 
 At length the time came! I then read a chapter, 
 and thinking over the event therein recorded, I com- 
 posed the arrangement of my figures according to such 
 small conceptions as I then had. I began, of course, 
 with the Creation, and when I had driven Adam 
 and Eve out of Paradise, and had made Abel to 
 be slain by Cain, I began to break into the order 
 of the chapters; for one chapter presented to me cir- 
 cumstances more attractive than another. For instance 
 — I designed, with satisfaction, Moses striking the 
 rock from which the water rushes forth to quench the 
 thirst of the Jews; then came Sampson vigour - 
 ously killing the thousand Philistines ; Abraham 
 preparing to sacrifice his Son; Potiphar' s wife 
 holding Joseph by his garments; in short, it was 
 all disorder ; then a dislike began to ensue , so that 
 my grand resolution of designing the Historical facts 
 of the Bible, from the beginning of the Old Testa- 
 ment up to the end of the Apocalypse in the New, 
 was very much weakened. Nevertheless, every night 
 
18 
 
 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 one of my drawings was completed, and, in the morn- 
 ing, before I went out to school, I shew the drawing 
 to my father, who, indeed, encouraged me; but, at 
 length, perceiving the disorder which there was in my 
 distribution of subjects, he told me, with some degree 
 of vexation, that he had foreseen my unsteadiness. I 
 was afflicted at this, but said nothing; my father's 
 friendship was precious and necessary to me, and al- 
 though I had left off this kind of designs, I still went 
 on with fancy -pieces, or, again, I read old Romances 
 which were esteemed by the people, such as the Four 
 Sons of Aymon, the Beautiful Melusina, Duke 
 Ernest, and others; but this amusement did net 
 last long; variety was necessary for me, and I had 
 my father's permission to rummage amongst his books 
 at my will ! Could I fail to make my use of them ? 
 I found large volumes on Botany, in which the plants 
 — although engraved upon wood, seemed to me very 
 beautifully executed , and most exactly represented ; — 
 and also the virtue or unwholesomeness of each thing 
 clearly explained. This inspection gave me a longing 
 to go forth simpling ! especially as the Spring was 
 now come, and the month of May not far off. In 
 the meanwhile, and first of all, I amused myself in 
 our gardens by grafting several kinds of shrubs which 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 19 
 
 were fit for that operation, and with which grafting I 
 succeeded, if not completely, at least well enough for 
 me to pride myself upon it ! 
 
 At this same period it recurred to my mind, that 
 the Friar, who was also the gardener of the Wetzler 
 Convent, had told my father, ( I being by, ) that it 
 was quite possible to engraft the apple-tree upon the 
 willow, and the pear-tree upon the hawthorn, and 
 that this practice was not only a good one, but its 
 success absolutely certain ! 
 
 Such a practice as this appeared to me to be very 
 curious, and it ran so much in my head, that I put 
 it quickly to the test, and with the most particular 
 care. " What an excellent discovery is this,'' I said to 
 myself; " the willows upon the hanks of our rivers, and 
 the hawthorns in our hedges, will, in the long run, hear 
 
 * Some light is thrown upon young Wille's disappoint- 
 ments, when we learn that in grafting, " the stock and 
 scion must not be of species extremely dissimilar." . Further- 
 more, we are told that " no credit is due to the statements 
 of ancient authors, about vines grafted on fig-trees, apples 
 on planes , &c . — the semblance of which can only have been 
 brought about by some delusive artifice; for all attempts at 
 grafting fail, except among plants of the same genvs, or, 
 at the least, of the same natural family. 
 
20 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 useful fruits ! " Every day I went to look at my 
 engraftings ; — my work delighted me , and from one 
 moment to another I was hoping for the foliage to 
 appear ; and when , after infinite expectation I saw 
 that everything had so well succeeded, I was quite 
 ashamed of the facility with which I had fallen into 
 the trap ! 
 
 After this excellent undertaking, I prepared myself 
 for my herhalizing, and already I had clean rooted 
 up several sorts of plants growing by the side of the 
 pathway. These plants my brothers helped me to 
 carry into the house, — where I desired to compare 
 them with their printed representations ! But this 
 did not suffice, and soon I rambled about the val- 
 leys, the woods, and the mountains ^ where I saw 
 plants in the greatest variety, and all of different 
 species, the most beautiful and interesting of which 
 I drew. I was always carrying a load of such to 
 the house, where, being thrown pell-mell, I often 
 found myself in error with respect to the classifica- 
 tion of species according to their gender or parent- 
 age. In the meanwhile I desired to be useful, and, 
 following the directions contained in our volumes, I 
 compounded liquors by the infusion of plants desig- 
 nated for that purpose, and also medicaments from 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 21 
 
 others. After these operations, and with ample con- 
 fidence, I offered my drugs, even gratis, to everyone 
 whom I thought in need of them ; but none would 
 deign to make use of my compounds. I was made 
 game of, to my mortification ; and even worse still 
 was insinuated ; for I was told that I pretended to 
 be a healer of maladies, and that, perhaps, I was 
 only a young Poisoner, who imagined that he had 
 the privilege and the science, to do that which the 
 old doctors do by habitude, or by chance, in order 
 to gain a livelihood, and strengthen their reputation. 
 My trouble, although agreeable to myself, was thus 
 once more thrown away. At last, my father, seeing 
 my unsteadiness, and the variety of my occupations, 
 told me, — that if I wished to study thoroughly, — 
 he would place me at the University. I answered 
 him, with submissiveness , that I desired to become 
 an Artist, and that Painting would please me 
 the most. " Well, my son,'' replied he, " we will fix 
 ujpon that, and we shall see what will come of it ! It is 
 proper to he useful, " pursued my father, " both to one's 
 self and to others in this world, hy means of some honest 
 calling, whatever it may he; hesides, it is necessary that 
 our conduct should he well-regulated ; and would it not he 
 shamefid to he without social virtue f But at this present 
 
22 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 time,'' still continued he, "J tJimk that it will he ne- 
 cessary for you to learn arithmetic, and for that purpose, 
 I shall send you to Giessen.'' 
 
 I thanked my father for his kindness, and in a few 
 days afterwards he actually sent me off to one of my 
 uncles, who was an owner and inspector of mills in 
 that city. This uncle, with whom I was now lodged, 
 loved me like a son . He was an excellent man ; — 
 good-humoured, agreeable in society, a little ironical, 
 but esteemed by everybody. From my uncle's house 
 I used to go every day to a professor of calculation, 
 named M. Grollmann, who taught arithmetic, either 
 at his own place, or in the City, and this worthy 
 man often exprest himself as satisfied with me, on 
 account of my quickness in understanding. During 
 this study, I had formed an acquaintance with an 
 amiable young man, who was studying at the Uni- 
 versity, and who possessed some geographical charts 
 which he allowed me to use for my instruction. He 
 knew, moreover, a little of geometry, and some rules 
 of perspective, of which, likewise, I availed myself, 
 and they all became useful to me in the end. Also, 
 in order to let this young student see how much I 
 felt his course of action towards me, I presented to 
 him several of my drawings, which he accepted very 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 23 
 
 gladly, and admired them, for he was not at all a 
 connoisseur. After a while, my father judged it quite 
 necessary to call me home again, and, as I could 
 not be idle, the idea struck me of exercising myself 
 in mechanics, — and I began by hydraulic machines, 
 without completing them ; also , I tried to construct 
 a clock upon the principles of that belonging to the 
 Church at Kcenigsberg, which I had most carefully 
 examined ; — but all this labour, begun with so much 
 ardour, I abandoned from my customary inconstancy, 
 and without regret. At last, my father, seeing the 
 variety of my occupations, and knowing the intention 
 which I had of studying Painting, began seriously 
 to inform himself whether there was not, in some one 
 of the neighbouring towns, any Painter of repute, 
 who was in a position to teach the principles of an 
 Art which must have innumerable difficulties. 
 
 Several Artists were named to my father, and a- 
 mongst the rest a portrait -painter, who was said to 
 be a superior genius, and whose reputation had pass- 
 ed through the gates of the city, even to the extent 
 of two leagues round about; — where, however, the 
 number of amateurs was not great, but that circum- 
 stance was not the fault of the Painter in question. 
 In consequence of this eulogium, although somewhat 
 
24 
 
 Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 
 
 of an equivocal one, my father undertook the requi- 
 site journey, and waited upon this Painter, to whom 
 he explained that amongst his sons, he had one who 
 earnestly desired to study the Art of Painting under 
 such a celebrated master, and that, acting upon the 
 advice of connoisseurs, he, my father, — had thought 
 he could not do better than address himself to him. 
 
 " You are right," answered the master; " I am 
 able to contend with the best of those in my own 
 department; but as to what concerns History, Land- 
 scape, Sea-pieces, or those caricatures of Merry- 
 makings, I do not meddle with them, nor do I care 
 for them. I have travelled much," continued he, "I 
 have been slandered ; I have been held up as an 
 impudent quack, who imposes only upon the ignorant 
 and the stupid; but it was jealousy which howled 
 against me ! " 
 
 " And that is a monster who never sleeps I be- 
 lieve," answered my father. " But, Sir, I desire 
 to know whether my son may have the good -fortune 
 to gain profit by your lessons, and, also, upon what 
 terms ? " 
 
 " I will tell you in a moment," replied the master, 
 with a certain degree of that hauteur which always 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 25 
 
 so ill becomes a superior man. " First of all, con- 
 sider some of my productions. Look at this portrait; 
 it is that of one of our city -council, a Taw- maker 
 by trade, and he pays me for my art with excellent 
 goat-skinsful of whale oil; a commodity always very 
 useful in good housekeeping. And this other portrait; 
 it is that of a Brazier, who is also one of the city- 
 council. I lodge with him, as you perceive, and by 
 way of recompense for my labours, I have paid him 
 no rent for a whole year. Confess, that these gen- 
 tlemen have a certain noble severity in their looks, 
 which is in conformity with their position ! " 
 
 My father replied, I do confess it." After this 
 eulogium rendered by the Painter to himself, — and 
 this exposition of the advantages he derived from his 
 Art, — he drew forth from one of the corners of his 
 apartment a Picture, from which he removed the 
 dust, at the same time saying to my father, " Here 
 is a child of my genius ! It is a fox scranching up 
 a hen; and although I have never seen a fox in my 
 life, I have painted it so well, that he might ap- 
 pear to be speaking to you ! " 
 
 " Ah ! this is a Fox, " said my father, adding, " I 
 have occasionally seen one, hut I am no connoisseur.''* 
 
 " I see that," replied the Painter, who also added, 
 
26 
 
 AUTOEIOGRAPHY OF J. G. WiLLE. 
 
 *' My Fox is a sublime Fox; — but as to Hens, I 
 know them, — and have eaten them in nature, and 
 with pleasure too, when the occasion has arisen; be- 
 sides," continued he, "I am esteemed hereabouts! 
 As a proof of all this ! Every time, when, having 
 nothing else to do, I walk along the streets, in a 
 hat edged with gold, my red laced -vest of the same 
 length as my brown habit; my square-toed shoes, 
 and my sword by my side, everybody gives me the 
 salute, cap -in -hand ! " 
 
 " I congratulate you upon such things. Sir," said 
 my father, anew repeating the enquiry, whether he 
 might hope the good fortune for his son, of being 
 admitted as a pupil, and upon what conditions ! " 
 
 " Nothing is more easy for you to accomplish," 
 answered the Painter. " Each year you shall pay me 
 a sum upon which we will agree, and, by a regular 
 engagement, your son shall remain with me during 
 seven consecutive years." 
 
 " That, Sir, Avould seem to me to be a kind of 
 slavery, " replied my father; " for, " continued he, 
 " I had always thought that the privilege of a libe- 
 ral Art was Liberty; and that in consequence, the 
 Master could dismiss his Pupil whenever he thought 
 proper, and that the Pupil might quit the Master, 
 
Autobiography of J. G. Wille. 27 
 
 if he were not satisfied with that Master. " "I cannot 
 alter anything of that which I have verbally explained 
 to you," answered the Painter; — and thereupon my 
 father took his leave.