and, most of all, by the deed of which he stands accused. There might be some sense in misusing the name of Goethe, Schiller, Heine, Geibel, Heyse, Lenau; I can understand that, though I would not condone it; but to misuse the name of Minckwitz as a poet, that, gentlemen of the jury, cannot be accounted for otherwise than by presupposing complete paralysis of the intellectual functions on the part of the accused. My client is a poor, irresponsible creature; his mental condition annuls his penalty. Gentlemen of the jury, I appeal to your heart. You all have children, rosy-cheeked, blooming, happy; imagine what would be your grief if one of your children should suddenly lose his reason; would you punish that child? No, you would not do so, you could not do it, and you will prove it now by fully acquitting my unfortunate client! (_Sensation and weeping. Bell._) _Chairman._ Prisoner, is there anything you have to say for yourself? _The Accused._ Nix. _Chairman_ (_recapitulates the proceedings and closes_). There are these questions then to be submitted to your judgment-- First: Is the accused guilty of having with malice aforethought forged the name of Minckwitz in such manner as to thereby injure Professor Minckwitz’s public reputation? Second: Is the accused sane? (_The jury retire. After a short time they return, and their foreman declares in a strong voice that the jury answered both questions unanimously in the affirmative. Great excitement. The court solicitor repeats his proposition; the defendant does the same. After a half-hour’s debate the bell of the Chairman is heard._) _Chairman._ Considering that the accused has been convicted of the penal offence with which he had been charged, considering further that the mental condition of the accused gives cause for leniency, the Court sentences the accused to the penalty of finding Minckwitz’s poetry excellent reading. _Paul Lindau._ _STUDENTS’ SONGS._ OLD ASSYRIAN-JONAH. IN the Black Whale at Ascalon A man drank day by day, Till, stiff as any broom-handle Upon the floor he lay. In the Black Whale at Ascalon The landlord said: “I say, He’s drinking of my date-juice wine Much more than he can pay!” In the Black Whale at Ascalon The waiters brought the bill, In arrow-heads on six broad tiles, To him who thus did swill. In the Black Whale at Ascalon The guest cried out: “O woe! I spent in the Lamb at Nineveh My money long ago!” In the Black Whale at Ascalon The clock struck half-past four, When the Nubian porter he did pitch The stranger from the door. In the Black Whale at Ascalon No prophet hath renown; And he who there would drink in peace Must pay his money down. _Joseph Victor Scheffel._ HEINZ VON STEIN.