76 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CHAP. 



in the history of the University were got up with 

 characteristic German accuracy. The Castle was, of 

 course, illuminated, and a reception was held in one of 

 the Castle halls by the Grand Duke. To this Bunsen 

 and myself were invited, but he expressed great un- 

 willingness to put on his gala costume with his orders 

 pinned on to his coat, but at my serious insistence he 

 agreed to accompany me. As we walked up to the 

 Castle, as luck would have it, the Royal carriage con- 

 taining the Grand Duke and Duchess and her brother 

 the Prince Frederic of Prussia could not get through 

 the crowd and came to a stand directly at the point 

 which Bunsen and I had reached. He, of course, was 

 at once recognised and addressed by the Grand - 

 Ducal party, a rencontre which my friend especially 

 wished to avoid. 



On another day I had the honour of being intro- 

 duced to the Prince of Prussia and had a long conver- 

 sation with him in English. He was, as all the world 

 knows, a man of splendid presence and also of great 

 geniality and simplicity. I noticed that his hand was 

 bound up, and on inquiring the cause he replied, " Oh 

 yes, a little accident occurred to me the other day ; a 

 box of matches exploded in my hand and burnt me 

 slightly," treating the whole matter as a mere 

 triviality. 



Among other incidents which occurred on that occa- 

 sion I remember that the formal oration was given by 

 Professor Kuno Fischer before the Grand- Ducal party 

 in the large Protestant church in the Hauptstrasse. 

 The temperature being high and the address very 

 long and tedious, the effect upon the audience was, as 

 might be expected, soporific. Bunsen lapsed into a 

 calm state of unconsciousness, but on a more than 

 usually impressive sentence disturbing his rest he 



