s own account, his second dinner with the natural philosophers, which
took place the day before the close of the congress, and was very lively
and entertaining:--

Many appropriate songs were sung in which every one joined with more
or less energy. Zelter conducted; he had standing before him on a red
pedestal as a sign of his exalted musical dignity a large gilt goblet,
which seemed to give him much pleasure. On this day the food was much
better than usual. People say the natural philosophers had at their
meetings been specially occupied with the amelioration of roasts,
sauces, soups, and the like.

"The Berliners are such an impertinent race," says Goethe, "that to keep
one's self above water one must have Haare auf den Zahnen, and at times
be rude." Such a judgment prepares one for much, but not for what Chopin
dares to say:--

Marylski [one of his Warsaw friends] has not the faintest
shadow of taste if he asserts that the ladies of Berlin dress
prettily. They deck themselves out, it is true; but it is a
pity for the fine stuffs which are cut up for such puppets!

What blasphemy!

After a fortnight's stay in the Prussian capital Professor Jarocki and
Chopin turned homeward on September 28, 1828. They did not, however,
go straight to Warsaw, but broke their journey at Posen, where they
remained two days "in gratiam of an invitation from Archbishop Wolicki."
A great part of the time he was at Posen he spent at the house of Prince
Radziwill, improvising and playing sonatas of Mozart, Beethoven, and
Hummel, either alone or with Capellmeister Klingohr. On October 6 the
travellers arrived in Warsaw, which Chopin was so impatient to reach
that the professor was prevailed upon to take post-horses from Lowicz.
Before I have done with this trip to Berlin I must relate an incident
which occurred at a stage between Frankfort on the Oder and Posen.

On arriving at Zullichau our travellers were informed by the postmaster
that they would have to wait an hour for horses. This announcement
opened up an anything but pleasing prospect. The professor and
his companion did the best that could be done in these distressing
circumstances--namely, took a stroll through the small town, although
the latter had no amenities to boast of, and the fact of a battle having
been fought there between the Russians and Prussians in 1759 would
hardly fire their enthusiasm. Matters, however, became desperate when
on their return there w