of autographs have ever ready for celebri ties. He wrote : "Wahrheit besteht. Luge vergeht." ' Bismarck for his turn subjoined : "Wohl moglich, dass in jener Welt Die Wahrheit stets den Sieg behalt; Doch mit der Luge dieses Lebens Kampft selbst ein Feldmarschall vergebens." * For a closing character sketch I have se lected Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, a very prominent poet of the " Romantic School." He was born in 1788 in Lubowitz, near Ratibor in Silesia, and educated in a Catholic Gymnasium at Breslau. From 1805 he studied law at Halle, and later at Heidel berg. In 18 1 3 he entered the Prussian army as volunteer. After the war, in 18 16, he became Referendar at the government offices in Breslau, and in 1821 he was Kegierungsrath in Danzig; in 1824 in a sim ilar position in Kdnigsbcrg, and in 1831 in Berlin, where in 1841 he became Geheimer Regierungsrath im Ministerium der geistlichen Angelegenheiten. In 1844 he left the civil service and located at Neisse where he died in 1857. He was the last, and cer-
tainly the most talented and conspicuous, of the so-called Romantic School. He wrote many romantic stories, fairy tales, plays, etc., and a goodly number of poems. One of them has attained in Germany a popu larity not even rivaled by Goethe's " Erlkonig" or Heine's " Loreley." I quote the poem which has become so immensely popular through the music of Friedrich Gliick. "Where two or three Germans are gathered together " they will immediately start a " quartette" on this famous rolkslicd. DAS ZLRBROCHENF. RINGLEIN. In einem kiihlen Grunde, Da geht ein Miihlenrad —, Mein Liebchen ist verschwunden, Das dort gewohnet hat. Sie hat mir Treu- versprochen, Gab mir ein'n Ring dabei; Sie hat die Treu gebrochen; Das Ringlein sprang entzwei. Ich mocht' als Spielmann reisen Weit in die Welt hinaus, Und singen meine Weisen Und gehn von Haus zu Haus. Ich mbchf als Reiter fliegen Wohl in die blut'ge Schlacht, Urn stille Feuer liegen Im Feld bei dunkler Nacht.
1 Truth will subsist; lie will wane away. 2 Quite likely that in worlds to come The truth always will hold its own; But 'gainst this life's great lie — what stain! — A field-marshal e'en fights in vain.
Hbr ich das Muhlrad gehen : Ich weiss nicht, was ich will — Ich mocht' am liebsten sterben. Da war's auf einmal still.
