actually said or done that which it was their duty to say or do in certain circumstances. Others, again, frequently leave their hearers to judge whether their remarks are meant to be sarcastic or serious. Furthermore, _inter pocula_ and in foraging for news, the meanings of words must not be taken in altogether too literal a sense, if one does not wish to make a fool of himself. Although truth may be found in the bowl, it usually contains more alcohol than accuracy; and the scribblers of the press very often thoughtlessly accept appearances for realities when they come from “well-informed circles.” Finally, even those who wilfully mislead serve the truth in so far as they enable the experienced to detect their falsehood. A good deal of what I report and describe will appear to many persons trivial and external. My view of the matter, however, is this. The trifles with which the prætor does not trouble himself often illustrate the character of a man or his temper for the time being more clearly than fine speeches or great exploits. Now and then very unimportant occurrences and situations have been, as it were, the spark which lit up the mind and revealed a whole train of new and fruitful ideas pregnant with great consequences. In this connection I may recall the accidental, and apparently insignificant, origin of many epoch-making inventions and discoveries, such as the fall of an apple from a tree that gave Newton the first impulse towards his theory of gravitation, the greatest discovery of the eighteenth century; the steam from the boiling kettle which raised its lid and ultimately led to the transformation of the world by the locomotive; the brilliant reflection of the sun on a tin vessel which transported Jacob Boehme into a transcendental vision; and the spot of grease upon our table-cloth at Ferrières which formed the starting-point of one of Prince Bismarck’s most remarkable conversations. The morning hours affect nervous constitutions differently to the evening, and changes of weather depress or raise the spirits of persons subject to rheumatism. Indeed it must be remembered that learned theories have been formed which, expressed in a plain and direct way, amount roughly to this--that a man is what he eats. However odd that may sound, we really cannot say how far such ideas are wrong. Finally, it appears to me that everything is of interest and should receive attention which has any relation to the prominent central figure of the great movement which resulted in the political regeneration of our country--to that powerful personality who, like the angel mentioned in the Scriptures, stirred the stagnant pool, and gave health and life after the lethargy and decay of centuries. I followed the Chancellor’s career with the eyes of a future generation. At great epochs trifles appear smaller than they actually are. In later decades and centuries the contrary is the case. The great