"Thus should it be," he cried; "let Germany be fully and entirely its own, and then send the messengers of its intellectual life to all the world. The ancients carried their gods of marble and bronze, wherever they went; we carry divine thoughts over the whole inhabited globe." Offenheimer whispered something to Richard, who pressed his hand gratefully. I sat there quietly and felt unutterably happy, because my children possessed new ideals so different from our own. Their clear, organizing minds stretched into the far distance, and their schemes embraced the welfare of all mankind. When in Strasburg, I felt deeply pained that such men as Ludwig and Wilhelmi should be driven into exile. Not always does our life give an answer to such questions. I received one now. We were interrupted by Ikwarte, who begged to be excused. He had noticed his brother among the marching soldiers. He was sergeant and had received the Iron Cross; he had recognized him, and called out to him from the procession. Ikwarte now asked permission to go and seek his brother. Ludwig granted it of course. We were all pleased with Ikwarte's firm sense of duty, to which even his brotherly love had to yield. As Ikwarte was leaving the room, Julius entered with his wife. She carried my great-grandson on her arm. For a while, every one turned to them. Then Ludwig began: "It is well that you have come, Julius! We are here among friends; are you ready to answer a question regarding your future?" In a quiet tone, Julius answered, he would first have to know what it was all about. Smiling, Ludwig said: "Allow me to tell you that I am a Colonel." Julius bowed, and Ludwig continued: "How grand it was that the American officers, at the end of their war, returned to civil life, while here in Germany a standing army draws our best energies away from productive labor." Quietly but not without confidence, Julius replied: "It seems to me that Uncle Ludwig is still thinking of the revolutionary times, of the long forgotten stone age of German history. There is no separation now between soldier and citizen, and it is very questionable whether any one has the right to call us soldiers unproductive laborers. Our work creates a race of men who give firmness and character to our political life. What the schools are unable to finish, we perfect. To cultivate the great forest of men, is a higher aim than to reclaim a forest of trees." "Oh," interrupted Wolfgang, and Julius turned to him and said: "Dear Wolfgang, I do not think meanly of that either; it is also a part of the work that society has before it. But each one must choose his post and guard it faithfully."