At Eisenach, my granddaughter Christiane and her affianced awaited me.
He was still walking on crutches, but hoped to lay them aside in a few
months, and to depend upon his wife's arm for support. Christiane had
become quite youthful in appearance. She fairly beamed with happiness,
as she looked now at me, and now at her betrothed.
The others continued on their journey, but Loedinger and I remained
behind to visit a hallowed shrine. I spent the evening with Christiane
and her betrothed. I promised to attend the wedding on my return from
the Reichstag.
At early dawn, Loedinger and I ascended the Wartburg. We knew that each
other's thoughts wandered back to the companions who, more than half a
century ago, had come here, filled with the enthusiasm of youth. An
invisible band of warriors marched at our side.
Silently, we walked through the halls of the castle. When we looked out
over the country, far and wide, Loedinger grasped my hand and said: "It
is hard, after all, that our flag, with its sacred colors, does not
float here in the morning breeze. They should have left us that. There
is great danger in the fact that it is now the banner of the
opposition, and is raised by the hands of those who are against us and
the unity we have labored so hard to win."
While trying to console him, I consoled myself, and the ardor of youth
seemed to return to us.
Descending the mountain, we sang our old student songs, and felt young
again.
Yes, this mountain is the altar of all that is great and pure and
beautiful in our united Fatherland.
When we passed Weimar, where the creators of the unity of German
thought had dwelt and labored, Loedinger said, "We might well cry out:
'Hearken, ye heroes of the mind, your words have become deeds.'"
Doctor Wilhelmi and his wife received me at the railroad depot.
Friend Wilhelmi, once a handsome, slender man, has grown stout, but the
sound of his hearty, musical voice, the warm and kindly glance, the
grasp of his hand, are all unchanged.
Loedinger was lodged with a friend of his, who lived in the
neighborhood, and I soon felt at home with my old friends. The best
people of the city, yes of the whole country, made their house a
rendezvous. I have here made the acquaintance of a great number of men
of distinguished merit. We are well supplied in that respect.
I also made the nearer acquaintance of some of those sharp Prussians. I
felt at first as if they were setting my teeth on edge. But, after
awhile, I recognized their good traits.
Doctor Wilhelmi still has an album of the members of the Frankfort
Reichstag. We renewed our memories of olden days while looking at the
pictures, and supplemented each other's information with what we knew
of this or that old friend.
In every word that Wilhelmi speaks, I recognize his lofty ideality; but
life in America has made him more practical than he once was.
The hospitality of the Greeks is vaunted. We possess it in a new shape;
for a whole city considers itself our host.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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