166 HERMANN VON HELMHOLTZ 



this effect was laid before me which I was to sign there and 

 then, as it had to be telegraphed to Berlin in a desperate hurry 

 (which turned out to be mere invention). I rejected this and 

 drew up another document, which I signed, in which everything 

 relating to my own wishes was left out, and it was thrown 

 entirely on the Government to work Baden so that I should 

 be released from my promise. Then, I said, I was prepared 

 to remain in Bonn. So that I made my position circum- 

 stantially plain. I did not for a moment suppose that any 

 one would negotiate, and openly expressed my conviction that 

 I could not see why the Baden Ministry should consent ; but 

 our Prussian officials have far too high an opinion of the 

 importance of their Ministers not to think that one of the lesser 

 German States would not at once acquiesce in their wishes/ 



The negotiations dragged on for some time, as the Prussian 

 Government gave it to be understood that Helmholtz wished 

 to be released from the appointment at Heidelberg, and he 

 was obliged to circulate the drafts of his letters to prove that 

 he was not playing fast and loose with Baden. Finally, he 

 received his conge, and, after three years' connexion, was free 

 to depart from Bonn. 



' These three years/ says his sister-in-law, ' were a con- 

 tinuation of the life at Konigsberg, save that external relations 

 had broadened, and that the indescribable charm of the land- 

 scape made a most poetic background for their daily life. The 

 two children were growing in mind and body, and Helmholtz 

 was a devoted father. They had plenty of friends and social 

 intercourse. Their circle included the families of Heine, Busch, 

 Naumann, Otto Jahn, the biographer of Mozart, the elder 

 Arndt, who was particularly attached to Olga, the surgeon 

 Weber, several English families, and for a short and much 

 appreciated time, Prof. Bonders from Utrecht, who was a great 

 friend of both Hermann and Olga. The old terrace on the 

 Rhine, with its view of the Drachenfels, where they lived in 

 the ancient Vinea Domini, has seen many a gathering of clever 

 and congenial people, and when the garden was illuminated in 

 Donders's honour with coloured lamps, and the children ran 

 about in their merry play, it gladdened one's heart to see this 

 sunny family happiness/ 



Frau Geheimrath Busch, who was a daughter of Mitscherlich, 



