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be almost as many shows as there were booths, fi he music-hall was still unthought of , and it was only at fairs that wander- ing minstrels, athletes, tumblers , conjurors , and jugglers, trained dors and monkeys and birds and menageries , made their In these days of easy locomotion and widespread ~~ <7 , When every facility is given to every class in every country to indulge in every kind of cheap and good amusermen it is impossible to imagine how great was our excitement an ‘ratification at witnessing the sights of the Fair. There kind of play I then saw which impressed me fearfuily bec- ray f its gruesome and mysterious character, and to this hour I could not explain how it was enacted. It was the pantomimic representation of an ancient trial . The principal actor was sentenced to death , he laid his head on the block , and it was struck off by the executioner with an axe, and held up to the audience while the blood poured from the body . But of all the attractions none equalled the circus . London already had its Astley's but in Germany a circus was only to be seen at the Fairs, and no words of mine could express my ecstacy at the antics sor the iedownss . At that time our house was one of the cheeriest and most popular in Frankfort , for both my Parents liked seeing their at home and appreciated the conversation of clever and accomplished persons whom they welcomed under their roof. As my Sisters g ve ny Mother was anxious to enlarge the scope of her hospitality , but my Father though he was partial to his rubber of whist and often dined out , disliked society in the seneral sense of the word and as he advanced in years