136 Account of the Nuremberg Boy, Caspar Hauser. 



the bearer had remained shut up in a dungeon, that he had 

 been baptized, that his name was Caspar Hauser, that he was 

 destined to enter the regiment of Light Horse, and that it was 

 for this reason that the officer was addressed. 



" On being questioned he remained silent, and when further 

 interrogated he wept. The word which he most frequently 

 pronounced was haam, (the provincial pronunciation of heimy 

 home,) to express the desire of returning to his dungeon. 



" When ic appeared evident from the state in which the young 

 man was, that the statement contained in the letter was true, he 

 was confided to the charge of an enlightened professor of the 

 most respectable character, and, by a decree of the magistrates, 

 was declared an adopted child of the city of Nuremberg. 



" Previous to my return to France, I had determined to visit 

 that city, the only large town in Germany which I had not 

 seen. This was about the end of last September. I was fur- 

 nished with a letter to one of the magistrates, who, from the 

 nature of his functions, had the charge of superintending the 

 education of Caspar Hauser. It was this person who brought 

 him to me ; and, by a privilege which I should not have ven- 

 tured to claim, the last moments of a residence devoted to the 

 examination of the curiosities of this great monument of the 

 middle age, afforded me an opportunity of seeing a very rare, 

 if not unique, subject for the study of human nature. We 

 beheld a young man, below the middle stature, thick, and with 

 broad shoulders. His physiognomy was mild and frank. With- 

 out being disagreeable, it was no way remarkable. His eyes 

 announced weakness of sight, but his look, especially when a 

 feeling of internal satisfaction or of gratitude made him raise it 

 towards the skies, had a heavenly expression. He came up to 

 us without embarrassment, and even with the confidence of can- 

 dour. His carriage was modest. He was urged to speak, to 

 give us an account of his emotions, of his observations upon 

 himself, and of the happiness of his condition. 



" We had no time to lose, for our horses were already harness- 

 ed. While I was reading an account composed by himself, in 

 which he had begun to retrace his recollection, he related to my 

 travelling companion whatever had not yet been recorded in it, 

 or replied to his questions. I shall, therefore, first present the 



