THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
whom many regarded as the ideal man of the people; and the little shriveled figure of the old poet, Ludwig Uhland, whose songs we had so often sung, and who with such touching fidelity stood by that which he believed to be the good right of his people!
In the evening we traveled on to Eisenach, and soon I found myself in the midst of a company that could not have been more congenial.
The pleasant little town of Eisenach, at the foot of the Wartburg, where Luther translated the Bible into good German and threw his inkstand at the head of the devil, had repeatedly been selected by the old Burschenschaft as the theater of its great demonstrations. The object of the present student-congress consisted mainly in the national organization of German university men with an executive committee to facilitate united action. There were also to be discussed various reforms needed at the universities, of which however, so far as I can remember, nobody could give an entirely clear account. We organized ourselves according to parliamentary rules so that our oratorical performances might begin at once. All the German universities, including those of Austria, having sent delegations to this congress, the meeting was large in numbers and contained many young men of uncommon gifts. Those who attracted the most attention both within and without our assembly were the Viennese, of whom nine or ten had reported themselves. They wore the handsome uniform of the famous “academic legion”—black felt hats with ostrich plumes, blue coats with black shining buttons, tricolored, black-red-gold sashes, bright steel-handled swords, light gray trousers, and silver-gray cloaks lined with scarlet. They looked like a troop of knights of old. When the citizens of Eisenach, who had received us with most cordial kindness,
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