Tuesday, May 23:
Slept sweetly. In the morning further birthday greetings from the King, from Lindner the engraver, very original, and many from Berlin, Vienna, etc. The weather is splendid; I work with the children in the garden. How beautiful this country and this home of ours! How difficult it would be to take leave of it if the population were not so malicious!
Two evenings ago R. came home quite agitated; as he was walking over the Am Rhyn hill our nasty milkman shouted two horrible French swearwords after him. The cowardice of it, then the French innuendo, the malice; all this made us deeply indignant, and the peasants, who are well disposed toward us, just stood there and said nothing.
In the afternoon a letter from Marie Schleinitz: my father is joining the committee and desires a few lines from me and a meeting in a neutral place!
In the evening discussion about two letters which Bismarck and Moltke have written to Oskar von Redwitz about his “German Song”! R. says the aesthetic outlook of these great men is terrible. But Moltke’s letter is remarkable for his refusal to accept a comparison with the heroes of ancient times, on the grounds that the latter always held their own in misfortune, whereas the German warriors had simply enjoyed good luck.