ge Chap was one of the
most devoted adherents of the society.

Thus the teacher gradually learned to understand men and to govern
them. He made efforts to gain the support of the old teacher and of the
Jewish schoolmaster. What the former wanted in zeal the latter richly
atoned for. Some Jews, who, being engaged in agriculture or in
mechanical trades, were always at home, also took an active part.

The selection of the books was not easy. Our friend soon found that
didactic reading, or that which aimed immediately at moral instruction
and improvement, must not be allowed to preponderate. Without degrading
the matter to mere amusement, he read extracts from the Limpurg
Chronicles, Gleim's poems, and the lives of Schubart, Moser, Franklin,
and others. Particular success attended the reading of Paul and
Virginia, and of Wallenstein's Camp, to which were added some chapters
from Simplicissimus. The greatest attention, however, was excited by
the reading of K[oe]rner's "Hedwig, the Bandit's Bride," by the
teacher, the College Chap, and the Jewish teacher. The exalted diction
and wonderful incidents produced a great impression. At the close of
the piece, Mat inquired, "What became of the robbers in the cellar?
Were they burned or hanged?"

The teacher could not repress a laugh at this sympathetic question, but
he knew not what to answer. Perhaps one of our readers will have the
goodness to inform him.

Sometimes the old popular books were read likewise: the Schildburgers
aroused especial merriment.

The teacher now rarely found time to enter general reflections into his
note-hook: what he thought was at once communicated to those around
him, and what he felt was expressed to Hedwig. We find one or two
observations, however, in those half-forgotten leaves:--

"When I look at these lucubrations, it occurs to me that I used to be a
great egotist: I meant to swallow the whole world, instead of giving
the world any benefit from my being in it. What is the value of all
this selfish refinement of feeling compared to a single sound thought
imparted to the mind of another! How glad I am to have all this behind
me!"

"How easy it is to appear great, learned, and superior, if you withdraw
from intercourse with the people, build a private palace of knowledge
and thought, a castle on a hill, far from the denizens of the valley!
But the moment you descend to mingle with the inhabitants of the plain,
the moment you live among them