Joseph asked me to accompany him to Paris, and would listen to no refusal. He wanted to acquaint himself with the new methods of kyanizing railroad ties, and insisted that he could not get along without my aid.
I had not yet escaped from that condition in which it is well to resign one's self to the guidance of others.
I saw Paris for the second time. My first visit was in 1832 or 1833, and was undertaken with the object of making the acquaintance of La Fayette. In those days we fondly believed that Paris was to save the world.
Compared with what I now saw, all that had been done in the Parliament that was held in the High street of our little capital seemed petty and trifling.
Though storms were gathering, Jupiter Napoleon sat enthroned over all Europe, and ruled the thunder and the lightning.
I saw him surrounded by all the European monarchs, and often asked myself whether the world's life is, after all, anything but mummery.
One day, while I was sitting on a bench in the Champs Elysées, and gazing at the lively, bustling throng that passed before me, I was approached by a Turco, who said to me:
"Are you not Herr Waldfried?"
My heart trembled with emotion.
Was it not Ernst's voice? Before I could collect my thoughts, the stranger had vanished in the great crowd that followed in the wake of the Emperor, who was just passing by.