sermons about God and the divine quality in man, during which,
now and again, suddenly lowering her voice in a rather funny way,
she would interrupt herself in order to rebuke one of us. After
the death of our stepfather she used to assemble us all round her
bed every morning, when one of us would read out a hymn or a part
of the Church service from the prayer-book before she took her
coffee. Sometimes the choice of the part to be read was hardly
appropriate, as, for instance, when my sister Clara on one
occasion thoughtlessly read the 'Prayer to be said in time of
War,' and delivered it with so much expression that my mother
interrupted her, saying: 'Oh, stop! Good gracious me! Things are
not quite so bad as that. There's no war on at present!'

In spite of our limited means we had lively and--as they appeared
to my boyish imagination--even brilliant evening parties
sometimes. After the death of my stepfather, who, thanks to his
success as a portrait painter, in the later years of his life had
raised his income to what for those days was a really decent
total, many agreeable acquaintances of very good social position
whom he had made during this flourishing period still remained on
friendly terms with us, and would occasionally join us at our
evening gatherings. Amongst those who came were the members of
the Court Theatre, who at that time gave very charming and highly
entertaining parties of their own, which, on my return to Dresden
later on, I found had been altogether given up.

Very delightful, too, were the picnics arranged between us and
our friends at some of the beautiful spots around Dresden, for
these excursions were always brightened by a certain artistic
spirit and general good cheer. I remember one such outing we