It did
not seem possible to imagine that a young man capable of bearing arms
could become a teacher of children and boys whose Fatherland he had
refused to defend with his blood and even with his life if need were;
that he who now did not feel ashamed to shrink from blows could exist
without blushing in after years, or could incite his pupils to do
something noble, something calling for sacrifice and for unselfishness,
without exposing himself to their derision and contempt. Such was the
second main reason which influenced me.
Thirdly, this summons to war seemed to me an expression of the general
need of the men, the land, and the times amidst which I lived, and I
felt that it would be altogether unworthy and unmanly to stand by
without fighting for this general need, and without taking my share in
warding off the general danger.
Before these convictions all considerations gave way, even that of my
bodily constitution, which was far too weakly for such a life.
As comrades I selected the Luetzowers; and at Eastertide 1813 I arrived
at Dresden on my road to join the infantry division of Luetzow's corps at
Leipzig.[79] Through the retired nature of my self-concentrated life it
came about naturally that I, although a regularly matriculated student,
had held aloof from the other students, and had gained no settled
acquaintance amongst them; thus, out of all the vigorous comrades whom I
met at Dresden, many of whom were like myself, Berlin students, I did
not find one man I knew.
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