toward her has
been extinguished in me. I can think of her as of one dead. May she
find peace in the sphere she has voluntarily chosen--as far as such a
being ever can find or bear peace.

"And now let us at least hear from you again, my dear old boy. All we
have heard about you has rejoiced our hearts. You are about to enter
upon a new phase of life, and to put in order that part of the world
which has been assigned to you. I wish you all success. After all, it
is your proper calling; and if the wise saying of our friend Rossel is
correct, that real happiness is merely that condition in which we are
most keenly conscious of our individuality, you certainly must be
esteemed happy, and will make happy the noble heart that has
surrendered to you. Dear old fellow, what a splendid prize each of us
has drawn! That we had to work hard to deserve it, is all the better.
All that is not deserved humiliates. And we still have an excess of
happiness given us by the gods, whom we ought not to be too proud to
thank.

"But here I am talking about our own fates, and passing by, without a
single word, the great and mighty event in the world's history which
has just been concluded. Though, to be sure, there are no words capable
of expressing its greatness and importance. In the consciousness of
this dumb amazement the feeling can scarcely be avoided that the Muses,
who are usually silent mid the clash of arms, will not recover their
voices very soon. You men of action have the lead for some time to
come; for the revolution that has taken place in the public mind, and
the movement which has extended to all conditions of life and of civil
society, is far more wonderful, far more pregnant with consequences
than you, who took an active part in it, can appreciate in the first
pause after your final blows. We who are lookers-on are in a position
to get a more comprehensive view, for we can also see how the recoil,
of whose force you can have no conception, acts upon our neighbors.

"The truth is, this is a period of reconstruction of all political and
social conditions; whatever is essential asserts itself, and whatever
is _real_ clamors everywhere for the place that belongs to it by
nature. Consequently, those who are called upon to rearrange our new
life have the first and last word; while those who, like us artists,
have to do with dreams, stand aloof and thank fortune if their names
are still mentioned now and then. You know that, wit