DEAR M.,--I thought it would be a good idea to go to Weimar, the place _par excellence_ to study German, the Germans, and their literature; and, moreover, my boy might go to school there. Mrs. Kingsland had given me a letter to the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and recommended the place, not because she knew the town, but because she knew the Grand Duke. Besides, had I not a dear cousin who had written a most attractive book about Weimar, combined with Liszt and his enchantments? I was all enthusiasm. I decided to go to the hotel which Liszt honored. The proprietor put me into Liszt's very room, where a framed letter of his hung on the wall.... This did not in the least overcome me, as I had several of Liszt's letters at home. But what did overcome me was that I was charged four times the price of any other hotel, on Liszt's account! Weimar may be very pleasant in the season when the little Court sheds its mild light about; but out of the season, especially at this time of the year, when there is nothing but dried and fluttering leaves, students, and dogs in the streets, I found it woeful. It was reeking of Schiller and Goethe. For two marks you can have a pretty good idea of how these great men lived and had their being. Everywhere we turned, and we turned everywhere, there were statues, busts, autographs, writing-desks, beds, and wash-stands which had belonged to them. I admired everything until my vocabulary of exclamations was exhausted and my head whirled. I told Howard, as young as he was, I would not have him Goethed and Schillered, as he certainly would be if he stayed here; so I changed my plans and made up my mind to accept the invitation of my friend the Countess Westphal to make her a visit at her château in Westphalia. We took a train which dropped us at her station, where she met us and drove us to Fürstenberg. Westphalia is renowned for its hams. Perhaps you don't know this, therefore I tell you. It is also renowned for the independent spirit of the Westphalians. FÜRSTENBERG, _1874._ DEAR M.,--This château is a fine old castle, with rounded towers and mysterious passages, and has a village tucked on to it. The family consists of the Countess, the Count, and three children, a tutor, a governess, and everything which belongs to the old families and their traditions. The mysterious passages possessed no ghosts, for which I was sorry, though my maid (a timid and naïve old German maiden) thought that she heard "things" at night when she came up the dark, winding stone staircase which led to my room. Life passed quietly at Fürstenberg. Countess Westphal and I amused ourselves with music and embroidery and listening to the Count's report of his hunting expeditions. One day, in a spasm of energy, she proposed to take me to see a friend of hers, Countess B----, who, she said, lived quite near. We would spend the night, returning the next day. She thought it would be a very pleasant and entertaining little excursion for us.