Here, too, he had the advantage of the society of his friend and fellow-student at Cambridge, Mr. W. G. Lettsom, later Her Majesty's Chargé-d'Affaires at Uruguay, but who was at the period referred to attached to the suite of the English Minister at Weimar. To the kindness of this gentleman he was indebted in a considerable degree for the introductions he obtained to the best families in the town. Thackeray was always fond of referring to this period of his life.
A German fencing bout
The spirited sketch of a German Fencing Bout given on the preceding page, was probably drawn on the spot during the progress of the combat. The collegians enable us to construct a realistic picture of the student of a generation ago.
German student of the period. (Weimar, 1830)
The object of the combatants being to inflict a prick or scratch in some conspicuous part of the face, the rest of the person is carefully padded and protected. In our days the loose cap with its pointed peak has disappeared before its gay muffin-shaped substitute; but the traditional pride in a scarred face is still observable. Even at the present day we find the youths of German University towns rejoicing in a seam down the nose, or swaggering in the conscious dignity of a slashed cheek, as outward and visible evidence of the warlike soul within.
Goethe. A sketch from the Fraser portrait
