, life had ceased to be aught but duty, and I
would have been ready, at any time, calmly to leave the world. But now
my only desire was to live long enough to witness the fruition of the
hopes which, during my whole life, had filled my soul.

My children and grandchildren, each in his own way, showed their love
of country.

Society at large was now like one great family, united in sentiment.

The vicar was the first of my family to visit me. He came to offer his
services as chaplain to the troops. Julius followed soon after. It had
gone hard with him to leave his wife, but he was happy to know that he
could at last serve his country. It moved me deeply when he told me of
the courage and resignation his wife had shown at parting. He was
accompanied by his brother-in-law, the lieutenant, who joyously
confessed that he was filled with hopes of glory and rapid advancement.
He drew his sword a few inches from its scabbard, and said, "This blade
has lost patience--it is all athirst."

My grandson Wolfgang returned from the forester's school.

"Grandfather, have my pine-seeds sprouted?" was his first question.

"They do not grow so fast, my child; the bed is still covered with
brushwood."

He wanted to enter the army as a volunteer, and was quite sad when we
told him that foreigners would not be accepted, and that it would,
moreover, take a good while before he could learn the drill. He could
with difficulty reconcile himself to the fact that he was not permitted
to take part in the war, and with a voice full of emotion, exclaimed,
"Although my name is growing on its soil, I am not allowed to fight for
Germany!"

Wolfgang was accompanied by Annette's nephew, the son of Offenheimer
the lawyer. He desired to offer his services as a volunteer. He was a
comrade of Wolfgang's, and a student in the agricultural department of
the forester's school. His face was marked by several scars, and
although he was not of a quarrelsome disposition, he had been in
several duels. He had served in the Young Guard, which, during the past
few years, had been recruited from the students of Gymnasiums and
polytechnic schools.

I inquired whether his father consented to his entering the service,
and he answered me in the affirmative.

Shortly afterward, his father entered the room. In a few words he told
us that he had expected this war, and then, turning to his sister, he
remarked that his son Alfred had entered the regiment which had
fo