in
these letters to the "foregone conclusion" that they will some day be
printed, there is hardly any indication that such a thought was ever
in his mind while writing them. They are, in fact, full of confidences
and confessions, some of which he could not have been very ambitious
to see in print; such as his frequent appeals for "more ducats,"
during his student days, and his sophistically ingenious excuses for
needing so much money, placed side by side with his frank admission
that he had no talent for economy, and was very fond of cigars, wine,
and especially travelling. In one of the most amusing of the letters,
he advances twelve reasons why his mother should send him about $200
to enable him to see Switzerland and Italy. As a last, convincing
argument, he gently hints that it is very easy for a student in
Heidelberg to borrow money at 10 per cent. interest. He got the money
and enjoyed his Swiss tour, mostly on foot and alone; but in Italy
various misfortunes overtook him--he fell ill, his money ran out, and
he was only too glad to return to Heidelberg in the same condition as
when he had first arrived there, on which occasion the state of his
purse compelled him to make the last part of the journey from Leipsic
on foot.

On this trip he enjoyed that unique emotional thrill of the German,
the first sight of the Rhine, with which he was so enchanted that he
went to the extreme forward end of the deck, smoking a good cigar
given him by an Englishman: "Thus I sat alone all the afternoon,
revelling in the wild storm which ploughed through my hair, and
composing a poem of praise to the Northeast wind"--for Schumann often
indulged in poetic efforts, especially when inspired to flights of
fancy by his favorite author, Jean Paul.

At Heidelberg, which he called "ein ganzes Paradies von Natur," he
spent one of the happiest years of his life. Student life at this town
he thus compares with Leipsic:

"In and near Heidelberg the student is the most prominent and
respected individual, since it is he who supports the town, so that
the citizens and Philistines are naturally excessively courteous. I
consider it a disadvantage for a young man, especially for a student,
to live in a town where the student only and solely rules and
flourishes. Repression alone favors the free development of a youth,
and the everlasting loafing with students greatly limits
many-sidedness of thought, and consequently exerts a bad influence on
pr