Page:The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz (Volume One).djvu/112

 CHAPTER IV

LTHOUGH not yet regularly immatriculated at the university at Bonn, I received a warm welcome from a group of fine young men, the Burschenschaft Franconia—one of that class of students' associations which after the wars of liberation of 1813, '14 and '15 had been organized at various German universities, in obedience to a patriotic impulse. My admission to this fellowship I owed to my Cologne friends, Petrasch and von Weise, who had preceded me at the university and had spoken a good word for me to their brethren of the Franconia society, probably with an exaggerated account of my literary capabilities. This I discovered upon the occasion of my first appearance at the Franconia “Kneipe,” when it was the evident intention of both my friends to make a show of my talents. But I was at that time an extremely bashful youth, always silent and awkward in the presence of strangers. I shall never forget the feeling of utter helplessness that came over me when Petrasch introduced me to the presiding officer of the society, Johannes Overbeck, a self-poised young man several years my senior, and a brilliant student who had already published a volume of original poems. All this I knew and it had impressed me greatly. In answer to the friendly greeting he gave me I blushed and stammered and only managed to articulate an occasional yes or no. I was quite conscious of the sorry figure I was cutting, and what was worse, aware that Petrasch and Weise were disappointed and ashamed of me. It was the first occasion in life when I was brought in contact with men from other parts