《我的生平——第一卷》

Swept up in revolutionary fervor, Wagner wrote a popular verse appeal calling on German princes to launch a crusade against reactionary Russia, sent it to Mannheim journalist Berthold Auerbach, and never heard back. Inspired by the Viennese people’s successful defense against reactionary troops in May, he wrote another unsigned political essay for the Österreichischen Zeitung, signing his name to it. In Dresden, two political clubs formed: the moderate German Union and the more radical Patriotic Union, where his friend Röckel had become a leading agitator, a radical shift from the disillusioned, underpaid musical director who’d once planned to emigrate to America and take up farming. Wagner attended a Patriotic Union meeting where he was appalled by the triviality of the debate over “Republic or Monarchy?” (the consensus was a republic was ideal, but a well-run monarchy was acceptable), and incensed, wrote an unsigned essay for the Dresdener Anzeiger arguing that the form of government mattered less than its commitment to serving the people, even portraying an ideal king more dedicated to republican values than any noble, and pointing to the King of Saxony as the figure to lead the way. Röckel loved the essay, and begged Wagner to read it aloud at the next Patriotic Union meeting. After listening to terrible speeches from a barrister and a furrier the crowd revered as great orators, Wagner stood and gave a fiery reading to 3,000 people. The crowd fixated only on his attack on court sycophants, the story spread like wildfire, and theater directors feared violent demonstrations at the next Rienzi performance. The press launched a storm of derision at Wagner, court officials plotted to get him fired, and the Communal Guard of Saxony demanded a formal apology. Wagner wrote a letter to the King explaining the speech was a thoughtless indiscretion, not a crime, and asked Lüttichau to deliver it and grant him leave to let the fuss die down. Lüttichau seemed sympathetic at first, but Wagner later learned the director only acted kindly because the King had forbidden anyone to punish him for the speech; still, the incident gave Wagner hope the King had actually understood his point.