atus, were written
at that time; but I owe The Poem of the World special gratitude, for it
kept me from many a folly, and often held me for weeks at my desk during
the evening hours which many of my comrades spent in the tavern. Besides,
it attracted the new head-master's attention to my poetical tastes, for a
number of verses had been left by mistake in an exercise-book. He read
them, and asked to see the rest. But I could not fulfil the wish, for
they contained many things which could not fail to offend him; so I gave
him only a few of the tamest passages, and can still see him smile in his
peculiar way as he read them in my presence. He said something about
"decided talent," and when preparations for the celebration of the
birthday of King Frederick William IV were made he gave me the task of
composing an original poem. I gladly accepted it. Writing was a great
pleasure, and though my productions at school were far too irregular for
me to call them good, I was certainly the best declaimer.

THE NEW HEAD OF THE SCHOOL.

Before passing on to other subjects, I must devote a few words to the
remodelling of the school and its new head.

At the end of my first term in the first class we learned that we were to
have a new teacher, and one who would rule with a rod of iron. Terrible
stories of his Draconian severity were in circulation, and his first
address gave us reason to fear the worst, for the tall man of forty in
the professor's chair was very imposing in his appearance. His smoothly
shaven upper lip and brown whiskers, his erect bearing and energetic
manner, reminded one of an English parliamentary leader, but his words
sounded almost menacing. He said that an entirely new house must be
erected. We and the teachers must help him. To the obedient he would be a
good friend; but to the refractory, no matter what might be their
position, he would----What followed made many of us nudge one another,
and the young men who attended the school merely for the sake of the
examination left it in a body. Many a teacher even changed colour.

This reorganizer, Professor Tzschirner, had formerly been principal of
the Magdalen Gymnasium at Breslau. In energy and authoritative manner he
resembled Barop, but he was also an eminent scholar and a thorough man of
the world. The authorities in Berlin made an excellent choice, and we
members of the first class soon perceived that he not only meant kindly
by us, but that we had