the pleasures and delights of this world, and she gave a zest to the household festivals by the inexhaustible fertility of her ideas in the way of original representations and spectacles. She pleased in society by her amiability and wit; she was the best of mothers; and as the children grew up she was so excellent and untiring a teacher that he, who had never had any confidence in his own ability as a pedagogue, was glad and thankful to resign to her the charge of the mental and moral education of the children. Among them were boys who were hard to govern, yet they all turned out excellently. In matters of charity he gave her entire liberty. The inner being of this rare woman lies plain before us, and we are permitted to follow the life of the Lepsius family almost from day to day. We ourselves visited the house of Lepsius only as a friend and guest, but the diary of its mistress, some twenty volumes, makes us a member of the household. It is honest, simple, and yet written with great intuitive perception. A number of poems are intermingled with the excellent prose. They are mostly of religious tenor, and many of them are distinguished by their lofty strain and beautiful thoughts. The perusal of this journal has therefore afforded us genuine pleasure, and it has exhibited to our soul as well as to our sight, the character of a woman so singular and noble in her love, her activity and her aspiration that we separate from it with sincere admiration, but also with deep regret. It would be to abuse a great trust, were we to yield to the desire to portray the character of its author from the avowals contained in this journal, and yet this would excite quite different, and tenfold greater, interest than that of her husband. For how much less alluring to the psychologist is the calm progress of a man who came early to maturity, his successful contests with the impulses of youth, and his tranquil labors after the goal was attained, than the ceaseless struggles of a woman distinguished above thousands by the ardor of her soul and the keenness of her intellect. Yet we may be at least allowed to extract from the diary all that can serve to give the reader a clear idea of life in the home of Lepsius, its intercourse with the outside world, and the experiences of its head as a husband, and as a member of a select society. Every betrothal has its history. Lilli (Elizabeth) Klein,[92] who was greatly admired, had done some friends the favor to appear at an entertainment as the fourteenth guest. The ominous number thirteen was caused by Lepsius’ declining the invitation at a late moment. But, nevertheless, he appeared, after all the guests were assembled, and it was on this occasion that she made his acquaintance. “Oh Superstition” she wrote in her diary, “for the first time I bless thee.”