"Free is the Bursch!" exclaims a beautiful student-song--a song beaten so threadbare with continual singing, that now we seldom bear it sung by the student himself. And true is the cry; or tell me who is freer than he? Where see we the idea of freedom so beautifully realized as in the German student-life? He who has learnt to know this life, may even doubt the truth of that otherwise so true expression of Schiller's-- Freedom is only in the realm of dreams. The life of the university is an admirable school, which brings the young man quickly to a sense of self-dependence, which in a few years brings him to manly knowledge, and builds him up to a fitness for intercourse with other men. The freedom which the student enjoys in a high degree, is truly a strong touchstone,--a dangerous rock, on which many a one splits,--but it is the only ground on which genuine knowledge can attain its noblest bloom. Suddenly liberated from the fetters of school, from the strict oversight of parents, steps the young man into this life. He is distant from the friends who, as it were, shaped his early being,--from his nearest relatives. His whole life's plan must be now fashioned after his own judgment; he may enjoy his pleasures with a freer, choice, and pursue his studies in a great measure according to his own discretion. He stands free to choose his friends from his numerous fellows; and it is only by his own qualities and endowments, that he can convert them into friends. When entering on this new scene of life, may he never forget the words of Goethe-- No single thing can suit itself to all. Let each look to his ways, Where he goes, and where he stays; And he that stands, take heed he do not fall.