Then Ludwig cried out, in a voice so powerful that the very walls seemed to tremble, "If you are men, listen! My father wishes to speak." "Hurrah for the King of the Turners! Let old Waldfried speak! Silence! Order! Let old Waldfried speak!" It was a long while before the shouting and the cheering ceased, and I think I spoke the right word at the right time. I had a right to refer to my past, and to explain to them that it would only create disturbance and confusion to adopt such violent measures before anything had really been decided upon. If I were the Prince, I would not yield to their wishes until the voice of the representatives of the people had been heard. The temper of the meeting changed, and I received many signs of approval. When I had finished, there were shouts of, "We want to hear the King of the Turners speak!" Ludwig mounted the rostrum; but so great was the applause, that it was several minutes before he could speak. At last he began, in a cheerful tone, saying that we Germans were still full of the haughty arrogance of youth, and that this very meeting was a proof of it. Then, with words that carried conviction to all who listened, he told them how the events of the last year had been a blessing to the emigrants in America; a blessing, indeed, which could not thoroughly be appreciated by those who were yet at home. The German had been respected, if he could call himself a Prussian; but now the time had come when the word _German_ must be an honored name. And if, as some maintained, the South Germans are the real Germans, let them prove it. If the Prussians are not yet Germans, they shall, and must, and will become so. They delivered us from the real Napoleon; they will also be able to free us from the counterfeit one. The first was not made of gold, but this one is mere pinchbeck. "I have fought against negro slavery; now the battle is against the slavery that French ambition would submit us to." While Ludwig was speaking, the chairman handed me a little slip of paper, on which were written the words, "Your son knows how to allow the heated steed to cool off before tying him." Ludwig could, indeed, direct the mood of the meeting at will. To the great amusement of his audience, he said that he had the rare good fortune of having been born near the boundary line, and that, consequently, the first object he had become sensible of, were the two brightly painted posts which stood side by side on the road; and that, while yet a child, he had often looked up to the trees in the woods, to see whether they knew to which of the posts they belonged. "And when I returned, the abject life that we had been leading was again brought to my mind. On the one side marked by the bright post, all is Catholic, and on the other side all is Protestant, because in those times the people were obliged to accept their so-called religion from their masters.