uests were assembled; there
he placed himself and Jonathan in the midst of the company, and said,
raising his voice and speaking in a solemn tone, "Before we proceed to
celebrate the sacred rite I invite you all, my honest friends, ladies
and gentlemen, and you too, my virtuous maidens and young men, six
weeks hence to a similar festival in my house; for here I introduce to
you Herr Jonathan Engelbrecht, the advocate, to whom I herewith
solemnly betroth my youngest daughter, Nanni." The lovers sank into
each other's arms. A breath of the profoundest astonishment passed
over the whole assembly; but good old Andreas, holding his little
three-cornered carpenter's cap before his breast, said softly, "A man's
heart is a wonderful thing; but true, honest faith overcomes the base
and even sinful resoluteness of a hardened spirit; and all things turn
out at last for the best, just as the good God wishes them to do."

FOOTNOTES TO "MASTER JOHANNES WACHT":

[Footnote 1: Included in a collection of stories entitled _Geschichten,
Maerchen, und Sagen_, Von Fr. H. v. d. Hagen, E. T. A. Hoffmann, und H.
Steffens; Breslau, 1823.]

[Footnote 2: See Footnote 19 above, for "Master Martin, The Cooper."]

[Footnote 3: The stern inexorable Republican patriot, who kills even
his friend Fiesco when the latter refuses to throw aside the purple
dignity he had assumed. See Schiller's _Fiesko_, act v., last scene
(cf. I. 10-13; III. 1).]

[Footnote 4: A long hilly street in Bamberg.]

[Footnote 5: Pet name for Johannes, the name of Wacht's son.]

[Footnote 6: _Rettel_ and _Rettelchen_ (little Rettel) are pet names
for Margaret.]

[Footnote 7: The anniversary of the consecration of the church is made
the occasion of a great and general festive holiday in many parts of
Germany, particularly in the south.]

[Footnote 8: "Noodles" are long strips of rolled-out paste, made up and
cooked in various ways.]

[Footnote 9: Seehof or Marquardsburg, situated to the north-east of
Bamberg, was formerly a bishop's castle, and was rebuilt by Marquard
Sebastian Schenk of Stauffenberg in 1688.]

[Footnote 10: Stracchino, a kind of cheese made in North Italy,
especially in Brescia, Milan, and Bergamo.]

[Footnote 11: A pet name for Gretchen (Margaret), frequently used also
as equivalent to "sweetheart," "lass," just as we might say, "Every
Johnny has his Jeannie."]

[Footnote 12: A long winding suburb of Bamberg.]

[Footnote 13: Or Bug, as it is