The Republican journal., 1871-10-26
Caught in his own Trap.

YOUR own, upon which You may pay duty
to no man living, and within the compass
of which, if you be a scholar, no one can
plague YOU about the date of the Ilegra
or ''exact political significance' of the
Licinian Rogations; nor any shock fall
upon you. if you be a man of business,
from alarming kilograms respecting the
fall of Utopian Consols, or the unhealthy
depression" Of the Cloudland- Atlantis
Grand Central Railway Surely there is
no one living who does not appreciate
such Il furlough, from the fourth form
boy who oyereats himself at Warwick or
kenilworth on the half-yearly holiday
damped only by the horrid recollection
that work begins again next day, up to
the wearied merchant prince who follows
out his doctors prescription of complete
change of scene" by making Rome or
Switzerland as like London as possible
for two months every wear.
Somewhat after this fashion chad felt
incined) might have so)iloquised, rs
sat looking down upon the good town Of
Heidelbeig from the terrace OF the ''Mol-
ken-Kur," "a little wooden aiiberge,
rerchcd upon projecting bluff, in which
q few sodisant invalids play at curing
themselves by eating the greatest possible
amount OF eurds and whey. And, GER
tainly the scene before me deserved more
than a passing glance. Above rose the
green, sloping crest of the konigstuhl
with all its waving woods, upon which
the fading sunshine fingered lovingly;
all around lay the lcafy hilsdes, between
which, like u thread OF gold, glittered the
winding stream of the Neckar; imme di-
| ately below me lay the narrow streets
and tall, grim houses of the quaint little
town, above which the vast red towers Of
the castle stood out in the glow OF sunset
like pillars of fire; and far out in the
plain beyond breaking with its shining
curves the monotony of the vast green
| level, could Just descry the broad, smooth
| flow Of the parent Rhine.
! But at this moment my reflections are
broken in 4 sufficiently unromantic way
by the concussion of a huge steeple-crown-
ed hat, which, driven by the wind,
ricochets off my shoulder, and is Just
| rolling over the brow of the hill, when !
spring forward and clutch it. Turning
to look for the owner, find myself face
to face with a quiet, pleasant-looking old
gentleman III frilled shirt and black silk
! stockings, the very image of the Glass
Dwarf in Wilhelm Hauff's ''Kates Herr; :"
evidently a man Of some note by the re-
spect with which the habitues make way
| tor him.
''Many thanks, mein Herr says the
old man, as | restored his errant head
gear. ''l'm not quite so supple now rs |
was when took the prize ut the Fryeburg
NOlkest, forty years AFRO, before ! "v.;;"
thought .f hr,ulnlnga professor, It's only
you English who can keep up Your train
ing forever"
GLOW did you guess that / was an
Englishman % asked 1, somewhat sur
prised for. indeed, with Il beard like a
pacha's. and face bronzed by the sun
! Of Egypt and Syria. my appearance is
| anything but Anglo-SaXon.
mo one but an Englishnan would
have caught that hat as you did, answer
ed the professor, with q little chucklin9
laugh; Its Just in their nature to jump
up and run after anything that passes.
All. if you English would only employ
your irrepressible energies in the cause of
science. what might you not achieve. but
no. YOU DO not care 10 learn
''Do us the Justice to believe. Herr Pro-
fessOr, that the nation which produced
Bacon and Newton has still some rever-
enCe for science"
They were mighty men, replies the
old gentleman with a revcrential bend of
his grey head; 'but | am speaking of the
nation at large. not of Il few exceptional
celebrities Ach lIimmcll. what a set
they are, those English! A fine lite they
led me when first began to practice
medicine down yonder in Saxony The
first thing in the morning, king king
at my door. what is it?' AN English
man, who has broken his leg in irving to
climb the Tutels-il0rn, which no one ever
ascended yet set the Herr England
er's leg, and leave him pretty comforta-
| BILE, Not halfa hour later. king king
again. 'What now?' An Englishman
who has been halt drowned in swimming
across the Elbe against the current for Il
wager | roll tie Herr Englander in
warm blankets and bring him round.
Before | have we'll settled in my chair
again, king king once more. 'Mein
| Gott, what's the matterp An English
man, who has tried to run twelve miles
within the hour, because some one said
he couldn't, and has broken down under
| the strain Mein Herr, | am sorry to
have to say it-but your countrymen are
equally devoid of fear and of reason
There is but one man in England whom |
can truly reverence, and his name is
Herr Carlyle -
"Mr Carlyle, why, he's an old friend
of mine l saw him the last time | was
in England. I'm glad YOU admire him.
"Did you, mein Herr? did you really ?"
says the old man, with unmistakable in
terest. ''Tell me all about him, | beseech
you; he is great man-worthy to have
been born a German -
And for nearly twenty minutes we sit
| in Judgment upon the biographer of Fred
erick the Great. till the strokes of seven,
booming from the town below, warn the
professor that it is time to be going home.
"You must come withme mein Herr"
says he rising from his seat ''no excuses,
| beg of you. 1t shall never be said that
Justus Weissenbart met with friend of
the Herr Carlyle without making him
welcome; and, besides, I've got some
thing to show you, which | think will in
| terest you"
The old mans hearty manner was not
to be resisted; and IL quarter of an hour
later | stood before the door of a tall,
grim-looking stone house at the corner of
the Markt-Platz, the curiously carved
| front of which showed that it had seen
more than one century. But if its out
| sue was stern anu unpfOmlSlng, us III
side was comfortable in the highest de-
gree and so thought when found my
self seated over substantial German sup
per in the professors little snuggery, and
heard the old gentleman's CHEEKY voice
bidding me "fall to and spare nothing"
While eating, l found time to glance
round the room, which (save for its an
tique furniture and heavy cross beams of
dark oak) differed but little from the
countless other laboratories that 1 had
seen IN various towns of Southern Ger
many; but one object arrested my atten-
tion-a human skeleton planted upright
in corner, presenting q pistol menacing
ly with its tleshless hand. The professor
noticed the direction of my eyes, smiled
significantly.
"That's the curiosity was speaking
Of" said he; "it has u history OF its own
| which is worth hnorinu When wa hav