ried us to Easter, the close
of the school year, and was interrupted only by the carnival with its
merry masquerade.

All sorts of examinations closed the term of instruction. On Palm Sunday
the confirmation services took place, which were attended by the parents
of many of the pupils, and in which the whole institute shared.

Then came the vacation. It lasted three weeks, and was the only time we
were allowed to return home. And what varied pleasures awaited us there!
Martha, whom we left a young lady of seventeen, remained unaltered in her
charming, gentle grace, but Paula changed every year. One Easter we found
the plump school-girl transformed into a slender young lady. The next
vacation she had been confirmed, wore long dresses, had lost every trace
of boyishness, even rarely showed any touch of her former drollery.

She did not care to go to the theatre, of which Martha was very fond,
unless serious dramas were performed. We, on the contrary, liked farces.
I still remember a political quip which was frequently repeated at the
Konigstadt Theatre, and whose point was a jeer at the aspirations of the
revolution: "Property is theft, or a Dream of a Red Republican."

We were in the midst of the reaction and those who had fought at the
barricades on the 18th of March applauded when the couplet was sung, of
which I remember these lines:

"Ah! what bliss is the aspiration
To dangle from a lamp-post
As a martyr for the nation!"

During these vacations politics was naturally a matter of utter
indifference to us, and toward their close we usually paid a visit to my
grandmother and aunt in Dresden.

So the years passed till Easter (1852) came, and with it our confirmation
and my separation from Ludo, who was to follow a different career. We had
double instruction in confirmation, first with the village boys from the
pastor of Eichfeld, and afterwards from Middendorf at the institute.

Unfortunately, I have entirely forgotten what the Eichfeld clergyman
taught us, but Middendorf's lessons made all the deeper impression.

He led us through life to God and the Saviour, and thence back again to
life.

How often, after one of these lessons, silence reigned, and teachers and
pupils rose from their seats with tearful eyes!

Afterwards I learned from a book which had been kept that what he gave us
had been drawn chiefly from the rich experiences of his own life and the
Gospels, supplemented