Friday, August 19:
Thirteen years ago, in the same wet weather, my wedding day; I did not know what I was then promising, for I never kept to it; if I now know what has assumed control of me, I wish never to forget the sin, but to stare it constantly in the face, in order to learn humility and submissiveness. In the morning R. reads to me from his Beethoven; magnificent the description of the C-sharp Minor Quartet and the comparison with Shakespeare.
The remainder of the day passes in a discussion of the situation; our troops have been fighting for 4 days now; the French are constantly reporting victories, but they do not mention any good results arising from their victories. In Paris one may no longer speak the name of the Emperor, and the shameful way in which these once-feted people are now being treated is utterly disgusting; it is curious how what is happening in Paris, which previously interested everybody, has now become a matter of such complete indifference. They can do what they please as long as they are humbled.
When R. goes to town, he is addressed by a man he does not recognize; he turns out eventually to be one of the Dresden revolutionaries, Metzdorf, who spent the last 20 years in Paris, earning his living by giving lessons, and has now been banished! All in the name of civilization!
We cannot understand the reports of the fighting, but R. thinks it is all designed to give the Crown Prince’s army time to reach the scene. I downright forbid anyone to go in search of news; it is a sin to treat such events as an object of curiosity. R. agrees with me and says, “In such great times individuals deteriorate; they use the excitement and the news as an excuse for spending their time in cafés and strolling the streets.”
Great amusement yesterday over Richter, who sang to us the duet of the two Pharaohs from Rossini’s Moses, the young and the old, and thus exposed the ludicrous nature of this type of art. He had played in it (the horn) in Vienna, in connection with which R. remarks that it is a disgrace to expect Germans to participate in such things.
R. very incensed that his nephew does not reply to him, and sends off a telegram (to Ottilie); I beg him to wait, but he will not.