rvels of the Renaissance, might well exclaim: "Who
hath begotten me these?" and many a pious mind must have reverted to the
ancient words of consolation: "I remember unto thee the kindness of thy
youth, the love of thy espousals, thy going after me in the wilderness,
through a land that is not sown."

In the face of so radical a transformation, Herder, poet and thinker,
reached the natural conclusion that "such occurrences, such a history
with all its concomitant and dependent circumstances, in brief, such a
nation cannot be a lying invention. Its development is the greatest poem
of all times, and still unfinished, will probably continue until every
possibility hidden in the soul life of humanity shall have obtained
expression."[77]

An unparalleled revival had begun; and in Germany, in which it made
itself felt as an effect of the French Revolution, it is coupled first
and foremost with the name of Moses Mendelssohn.

Society as conceived in these modern days is based upon men's relations
to their families, their disciples, and their friends. They are the
three elements that determine a man's usefulness as a social factor. Our
first interest, then, is to know Mendelssohn in his family.[78] Many
years were destined to elapse, after his coming to Berlin, before he was
to win a position of dignity. When, a single ducat in his pocket, he
first reached Berlin, the reader remembers, he was a pale-faced, fragile
boy. A contemporary of his relates: "In 1746 I came to Berlin, a
penniless little chap of fourteen, and in the Jewish school I met Moses
Mendelssohn. He grew fond of me, taught me reading and writing, and
often shared his scanty meals with me. I tried to show my gratitude by
doing him any small service in my power. Once he told me to fetch him a
German book from some place or other. Returning with the book in hand, I
was met by one of the trustees of the Jewish poor fund. He accosted me,
not very gently, with, 'What have you there? I venture to say a German
book!' Snatching it from me, and dragging me to the magistrate's, he
gave orders to expel me from the city. Mendelssohn, learning my fate,
did everything possible to bring about my return; but his efforts were
of no avail." It is interesting to know that it was the grandfather of
Herr von Bleichroeder who had to submit to so relentless a fate.

German language and German writing Mendelssohn acquired by his unaided
efforts. With the desultory assistance of a Dr.