dhism; and it
surprises me now to discover how well, with the aids then at his command,
he understood the touching charity of Buddha and the deep wisdom and
grandeur of his doctrine.

But he showed us the other religions mainly to place Christianity and its
renewing and redeeming power in a brighter light. The former served, as
it were, for a foil to the picture of our Saviour's religion and
character, which he desired to imprint upon the soul. Whether he
succeeded in bringing us into complete "unity" with the personality of
Christ, to which he stood in such close relations, is doubtful, but he
certainly taught us to understand and love him; and this love, though I
have also listened to the views of those who attribute the creation and
life of the world to mechanical causes, and believe the Deity to be a
product of the human intellect, has never grown cold up to the present
day.

The code of ethics which Middendorf taught was very simple. His motto, as
I have said, was, "True, pure, and upright in life." He might have added,
"and with a heart full of love"; for this was what distinguished him from
so many, what made him a Christian in the most beautiful sense of the
word, and he neglected nothing to render our young hearts an
abiding-place for this love.

Of course, our mother came to attend our confirmation, which first took
place with the peasant boys--who all wore sprigs of lavender in their
button-holes--in the village church at Eichfeld, and then, with
Middendorf officiating, in the hall of the institute at Keilhau.

Few boys ever approached the communion-table for the first time in a more
devout mood, or with hearts more open to all good things, than did we two
brothers that day on our mother's right and left hand.

No matter how much I may have erred, Middendorf's teachings and counsels
have not been wholly lost in any stage of my career.

After the confirmation I went away with my mother and Ludo for the
vacation, and three weeks later I returned to the institute without my
brother.

I missed him everywhere. His greater discretion had kept me from many a
folly, and my need of loving some one found satisfaction in him. Besides,
his mere presence was a perpetual reminder of my mother.

Keilhau was no longer what it had been. New scenes always seem desirable
to young people, and for the first time I longed to go away, though I
knew nothing of my destination except that it would be a gymnasium.

Yet I lov