pronouncing a judgment which was wholly without results, as in the case
of Sonnenkamp.

The Major, however, begged so urgently that he consented, and Fraeulein
Milch began:--

"You, Herr Professor, are just like my father, and yet you are very
different! He, too, was a learned man, but in a very different sphere.

"You have many of his habits, and, if you accompany me to the altar, it
will seem as though my father were with me, although you are much
younger. And you, my friends,--you, Frau Professorin, who have honored
me before knowing my life, and you, Fraeulein Manna, who, after
conquering a strong prejudice, have given me your rich love,--you shall
now be made really acquainted with me. But you (turning to the Banker),
you will best be able to pass sentence upon me; for you are a Jew, as I
am a Jewess."

All were astounded.

Fraeulein Milch waited quietly until her auditors had recovered from
their amazement, then continued:--

"I am the daughter of a learned Hebrew, and an only daughter. I had one
brother, of whom we shall hear later. My father was a noble and pious
man; he was considered a scholar of great discernment, with fine
polemical gifts; but in life he was childishly simple and--why should I
not say it?--shiftless. He read the sacred books from morning till
night.

"My mother sprang from a wealthy house, had once been blessed in early
childhood by the hands of Moses Mendelssohn; from this it was predicted
that she would one day marry a man of great knowledge. This proved
true. According to the will of her parents she became the wife of my
father, on account of his piety and learning.

"Such was the way in which the opulent Israelites formerly exhibited
their gratitude and respect for a learned man of their faith, as the
Christians bestowed gifts upon the convents. The Jews could found no
establishments. They had no protection; all their goods were movable,
and thus they devoted a portion of their wealth to the support of our
scientific men.

"My mother's whole being was absorbed in her adoration of my father.
The quiet and uniformity of life; the calm content which reigned in my
parental abode; how the poor were fed; how our entire existence was
nought save the pause between one pious deed and another, between one
festival and another, no one present can know but you (turning towards
the Banker), you alone can conceive of it. I myself often recall it as
a dream. In winter, when my father was