On Christmas Eve came tidings of the convocation of the Senate,
simultaneously with a change of Ministry which placed Monrad at the head
of the country, and in connection with this a rumour that all young men
of twenty-one were to be called out at once. This last proved to be
incorrect, and the minds of the young men alternated between composure
at the prospect of war and an enthusiastic desire for war, and a belief
that there would be no war at all. The first few days in January,
building on the rumour that the last note from England had promised help
in the event of the Eider being passed, people began to hope that the
war might be avoided, and pinned their faith to Monrad's dictatorship.
Frederik Nutzhorn, who did not believe there would be a war, started on
a visit to Rome; Jens Paludan-Mueller, who had been called out, was
quartered at Rendsborg until the German troops marched in; Julius Lange,
who, as he had just become engaged, did not wish to see his work
interrupted and his future prospects delayed by the war, had gone to
Islingen, where he had originally made the acquaintance of his fiancee.
Under these circumstances, as a twenty-one-year-old student who had
completed his university studies, I was anxious to get my examination
over as quickly as possible. At the end of 1863 I wrote to my teacher,
Professor Broechner, who had promised me a short philosophical summary as
a preparation for the University test: "I shall sit under a conjunction
of all the most unfavourable circumstances possible, since for more than
a month my head has been so full of the events of the day that I have
been able neither to read nor think, while the time of the examination
itself promises to be still more disquiet.
Pages:
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225