Tuesday, August 25:
The King’s birthday; he is spending it in Versailles. I go to church and am very moved by the few words the parson says on this occasion, taking as his text the words of Solomon concerning the felicity of a nation with a noble king.
R., to whom I say how salutary it was to experience a divine service without a sermon, says, "Every divine service should be linked to some such event, harvest, peace, etc." R. is warned by Herr Feustel not to open the cases, but nevertheless he does it in the evening with the help of Herr Brandt and Herr Bruckner from Coburg, and he comes to the conclusion that much will have to be rejected entirely. Herr Hoffmann’s willfulness is extremely aggravating. Herr Feustel tells us several sad tales about our King. Will he visit the battlefields where his soldiers lie buried? Disturbing news about Bismarck’s health. He is said to be excessively irritable. I have to envy people who can look cheerfully into the future.
Prof. Overbeck cheered us up a great deal recently with the report that the newspaper had to put up with a reprimand because the stamp duty had been remitted. Our wedding day, but poor Parson Tschudi is dead.