Lawill impressed me most vividly; I, too, longed for such a ring, which
by its warning pressure on my finger could hinder my hand from effecting
unworthy purposes, and I was very angry with the youthful owner of the
ring in the story, who threw it away in irritation because it pressed
him right hard at a moment when he wished to commit a passionate
deed.[16]

My confirmation, and the preparation for it, all conducted by my uncle,
was over. I had received from it the most impressive and the most
far-reaching influence in my whole life, and all my life-threads found
in it their point of union and repose. I had now to be prepared for some
business calling, and the question was raised, for which? That I should
not study at the university had already been decided long before by the
express determination of my step-mother. For since two of my
brothers[17] had devoted themselves to study, she feared that the
further additional expense would be too heavy a burden upon my father's
means. It may be that this intention had already influenced and limited
my whole course of instruction; and probably only the little narrow
circle of future business aims had been considered; the eye had not
looked upon the boy as a future man. Possibly from this cause I was kept
so little to Latin; it was enough if I learnt, as our mode of expression
ran, to "state a _Casus_" (that is, to decline a noun). From my own
experience it was thus shown to me how eminently injurious it is in
education and in instruction to consider only a certain circle of future
activities or a certain rank in life. The wearisome old-fashioned
education _ad hoc_ (that is, for some one special purpose) has always
left many a noble power of man's nature unawakened.

A career in our country frequently chosen by the worthiest and most
anxious parents for their sons is that of a post in the Treasury and