ughly be
appreciated by those who were yet at home. The German had been
respected, if he could call himself a Prussian; but now the time had
come when the word _German_ must be an honored name. And if, as some
maintained, the South Germans are the real Germans, let them prove it.

If the Prussians are not yet Germans, they shall, and must, and will
become so. They delivered us from the real Napoleon; they will also be
able to free us from the counterfeit one. The first was not made of
gold, but this one is mere pinchbeck.

"I have fought against negro slavery; now the battle is against the
slavery that French ambition would submit us to."

While Ludwig was speaking, the chairman handed me a little slip of
paper, on which were written the words, "Your son knows how to allow
the heated steed to cool off before tying him."

Ludwig could, indeed, direct the mood of the meeting at will.

To the great amusement of his audience, he said that he had the rare
good fortune of having been born near the boundary line, and that,
consequently, the first object he had become sensible of, were the two
brightly painted posts which stood side by side on the road; and that,
while yet a child, he had often looked up to the trees in the woods, to
see whether they knew to which of the posts they belonged.

"And when I returned, the abject life that we had been leading was
again brought to my mind. On the one side marked by the bright post,
all is Catholic, and on the other side all is Protestant, because in
those times the people were obliged to accept their so-called religion
from their masters.

"Allow me to take a comparison from my own trade. It requires many
strong posts to make the scaffolding of a building. The departed
martyrs for German unity were the scaffolding. It has been torn down,
and now we behold the building, pure and simple, firmly and regularly
built, and appropriately adorned.

"Or another simile: Have you ever observed a raft in the valley stream?
It floats along slowly and lazily, but when it reaches the weir it
hurries; and then is the time to find out whether the withes are strong
and hold the planks firmly together.

"The German logs must now pass through the weir. There is a cracking
and a straining, but they hold fast to each other, and right merrily do
they float down into the Rhine and out into the ocean.

"The bells in the neighboring state have a different tone from ours;
but if the two are in acco