30 GrUTOT on Carl Bitter. 



the mother to intrust to him her young Carl, then five years 

 old ; and Carl became the first pupil of the just opened and 

 since celebrated school at Schnepfenthal, near Gotha, in Sax- 

 ony, which still glories in having reared that great scholar. 

 Under the enlightened guidance and loving care of Salzman 

 and his associate, the noble-hearted G-utsmuths, the former 

 family instructor of Dr. Bitter's children, and a system of 

 education, the object of which was to develop and invigorate 

 the body as well as the mind and heart, the child grew to a 

 happy, amiable, pure-minded young man. In that lovely 

 valley, which Eitter always considered as his true home, at the 

 foot of the Thuringian forest, far from the artificial life of 

 cities, but surrounded by a charming and most varied scenery, 

 he formed, at an early age, that intimate acquaintance with 

 nature, and imbibed that love for the beauties of God's cre- 

 ation, which breathes in all his works. At the age of sev- 

 enteen, when the question of his immediate future began to be- 

 come an earnest one, Providence again provided for him. A rich 

 merchant from Frankfort-on-the-Main, Mr. Hollweg, a partner 

 in the large firm of Bethman, visited the school, and became 

 so much interested in the young Bitter that he offered to send 

 him for two years to the University, on condition that he 

 would, after that time, take charge, in his own house, of the 

 instruction of his children. The offer was accepted, and Bitter 

 became, in November, 1796, a student at the University of Halle. 



In 1798, he entered upon his duties in Mr. Hollweg's house 

 in Frankfort, and with his characteristic, upright earnestness 

 devoted to the work before him his best energies. The most 

 signal success crowned his efforts, and the strong ties of mu- 

 tual affection which were formed between him and his pupils 

 and lasted to the day of his death, a just and sweet reward for 

 his devotion, honor both the pupils and the instructor. Of the 

 two sons of Mr. Hollweg the elder died in his youth ; the 

 other, a worthy pupil of such a teacher, is now the Minister of 

 Public Instruction and Worship in Prussia, the noble-minded 

 Von Bethman-Hollweg, the representative, in this high and 

 influential position, of the liberal and enlightened tendencies 

 of our age. In the education of a third pupil, the son of the 

 celebrated S. Th. Soemmering, he met with equal success. 



The situation of Bitter in Frankfort, and his connec- 

 tion with that wealthy and highly cultivated family, had a 

 great influence on his life and his general development. 

 Opportunities for improvement, rarely enjoyed to an equal 

 degree by one placed in his early circumstances, opportiv 



