MEMOIRS OF GOETHE.*

THERE is no living man who has filled so great a space in the literature of the last half-century, and that in such varied, and to appearance, inconsistent departments, as Goëthe. The author of Faust, and Werther, and Götz von Berlichingen, has set his strong impress on the genius of the age. We accordingly hail with much pleasure the appearance of his Memoirs-the work and amusement of his old age-in an English dress.

This present translation † is respectably executed, though occasionally a few foreign idioms-a fault difficult to be avoided-have crept in. The translator has judiciously struck out those passages which in the original contained the accounts of his travels in Italy, France, &c. which do not fairly come under the head of biographical narrative, and consist chiefly of antiquated details.

Goëthe opens the account of his life with the description of his horoscope.

"It was on the 28th of August, 1749, exactly at noon, that I came into this world, at Frankfort on the Maine. I was born under fortunate auspices; the sun was in the sign of the Virgin at the utmost degree of elevation. The aspects of Jupiter and Venus were favourable to the day. Mercury testified no signs of hostility; Saturn and Mars were neutral. The moon, however, then near the full, was an important obstacle; and the more so, as the labour which attended my birth coincided with the hour of her new phase. She retarded my entrance into the world until that moment had elapsed."

He dwells with the most agreeable minuteness on the feelings of his childhood, and describes with a lingering eloquence the walks, haunts, and amusements of these early days. He gives us even graphic descriptions of the rooms of the house he was born in-its furniture-its books-its pictures. He justly considers the almost unremembered events of that period as the materials for the thoughts and actions of future life. His childish imagination was filled with deep reflections on the objects of the highest and most mysterious nature-such as the existence, government, and providence of the Deity, [p. 17.] and with glowing contemplations of the gorgeous days gone by. [p. 8. 11. &c.] In these early indications we may trace the line adopted by the future poet.

His habits even then were solitary, but he received an excellent education by means of home instruction-a system which he most pointedly condemns. [p. 19.] He recalls with delight the recollection of his first reading Robinson Crusoe, which truly is an event in a man's life, and dwells with rapture on the happiness which was imparted to him by the Contes Bleus, Fortunatus, the Wandering Jew, &c.-tales which are the common property of Europe, and which will continue to delight the

• Translated from the original German. 8vo. 1824.

↑ We have before taken a concise notice of the present Memoirs, prior to their translation. See vol. v. page 521.

"Here Goethe, in imitation of Sterne, alludes to the reveries of the astrologers. Our readers are aware that, according to their system, the revolutions and movements of the stars in their course have a decisive influence over the birth and destiny of every individual. To determine this influence, according to the position of the stars at the moment of birth, is what they call drawing the horoscope."

rising mind long after the trashy stories which are now forced into the nursery, under the pretext of utility and instruction, shall be forgotten. From the beginning of his life he had the enthusiasm and the whim sicality of genius, both of which are eminently shewn in his original method of adoration. The passage is eloquently written.

"My attention had been particularly fixed on our first article of faith. God, in intimate union with nature, which he cherishes as his work, appeared to me to be undoubtedly the same God who is pleased to maintain habitual relations with man. In fact, why should not this Omnipotent Being interest himself in our proceedings as well as in the motion of the stars which regulates the order of days and seasons, as well as in the care of plants and animals? Several passages of the gospel contain posi tive expressions on this subject. Being unable to form an idea of the Supreme Being, I sought him in his works, and resolved to erect an altar to him, after the manner of the patriarchs. Certain productions of nature were to represent the world, and a flame was to arise, figurative of the human soul ascending towards its Creator I therefore chose the most valuable articles in the collection of natural curiosities which I had at hand. The difficulty was to arrange them in such a manner as to compose a little edifice. My father had a handsome music-desk of red lacquer, adorned with golden flowers, in form of a four-sided pyramid, with ledges, to execute quartettos. This desk had not been used for some time. I took possession of it, and laid my specimens of natural history upon it in gradation, some above others, in regular and significant order. I wished to offer my first act of adoration at sunrise. I had not yet determined on the manner in which I should produce the symbolical flame, which I intended at the same time to emit a fra grant odour. At length I succeeded in securing these two conditions of my sacrifice. I had in my possession a few grains of incense. If they would not produce a flame, they might at least give light, and spread an agreeable perfume in burning. This mild light, shed by burning perfumes, expressed what passes in our minds at such a moment, even more perfectly than a flame. The sun had long risen above the horizon, but the neighbouring houses still intercepted his rays. At length he rose high enough to allow me, by means of a burning-glass, to light my grains of incense, scientifically arranged on a fine porcelain cup. Every thing succeeded according to my wishes. My piety was satisfied. My altar became the principal ornament of the apartment in which it stood. Others perceived in it nothing but a collection of natural curiosities, distributed with regularity and elegance: I alone knew its real intention. I wished to repeat my pious ceremony. Unluckily, when the sun appeared I had no porcelain cup at hand; I placed my grains of incense on the top of the desk: I lighted them; but I was so absorbed in my contemplations, that I did not perceive the mischief which my sacrifice had done, until it was too late to remedy it. The grains of incense, in burning, had covered the fine red lacquer, and the gold flowers, with black spots; as if the evil spirit, driven away by my prayers, had left the indelible traces of his feet on the desk. The young pontiff now found himself in sad perplexity. He succeeded in concealing the damage by means of his pile of natural curiosities; but he never afterwards had the courage to attempt to repeat his sacrifice, and he thought he saw in this accident, a warning of the danger of attempting to approach the Deity in any manner whatsoever."

The flames of the seven years' war occasioned some discord in his family, one party espousing the cause of Austria, another that of Prussia. His great-grandfather, as senator of Frankfort, had carried the crown at the election of Francis the First, and, as became the bearer of such a precious weight, was Austrian, and carried with him part of the family his father had been nominated Imperial Counsellor by Francis's rival, Charles VII., and inclined to the Prussian interest. Goethe himself was

dazzled by the talents of Frederic, and, without entering into the merits of the dispute between the states, made him his hero. He quarrelled accordingly with his grandfather, and other disputes on different grounds which he had with his schoolfellows estranged him from society. To these quarrels and their consequences he attributes his indifference for the public opinion of him, which, he truly remarks, has been a striking feature of his life. His studies continued unabated; and he particularly notes the effect Klopstock's Messiah had on him at its first appearance. His father, however, would not allow it to be a poem at all, it being unfortunately without rhyme; a circumstance which "stumbled" as many in Germany, as a similar want in Paradise Lost did the reading public of the days of Charles; but the other members of the family paid it the national tribute of admiration.

An unexpected event introduced him to the theatre. The French entered Frankfort in 1759, and of course brought with them their drama. Goëthe became acquainted with the players, and entered with much interest into all their affairs. His father's house was occupied by the Count de Thorane, who behaved with the politeness which at that time characterized the French army, but was unable to conciliate old Goëthe, whose conduct certainly was rather brusque. The circumstance of having such a guest improved his knowledge of French, to which he soon added English and Hebrew. The reason of his learning Hebrew is singular enough:--he had composed a little romance in which he introduced a ridiculous character speaking the jargon of the German Jews, and this whimsically suggested to him the idea of ascending to pure Hebrew. His studies were hence naturally directed to the Bible, and

"This study of the sacred books concentrated on one single point all my scattered acquirements-all the powers of my understanding and judgment. I am unable to describe the sensation of internal peace which I experienced, when I could penetrate into the profound meaning of these wondrous writings. When my too active imagination led me astray when fable and history, mythology and religion, mingling in my mind, left my ideas confusedI took refuge in those ancient Oriental countries; I plunged into the first books of Moses and amongst those races of shepherds who peopled Asia, I found at once the charms of the deepest solitude, when my fancy wandered in the wilderness; and those of the most agreeable and sweetest society, when I imagined myself beneath the tents of the patriarchs."

Under these feelings he wrote the history of Joseph in a poetical kind of prose, which certainly was a great exertion for a boy scarcely advanced beyond childhood.

His studies continued, and his circle of acquaintances increased. Nothing can be better, or more dramatic, than his character of the friends of the family, Oehlenschlager, Reinecke, Malapart, &c. How graphic particularly is the picture of the interview between the two latter, and their dispute about touching a tulip! But we soon find him in a different situation. He falls in love, and describes the interview in which he ventured to declare his passion, with a pencil worthy of Werther. He met the lady at a supper-party given by a relation, for whom he had written a love-song to pass a jest on an acquaintance. He got but one glance, and his love was fixed. He discloses his affection in the most delicate and graceful way in the world. A flirtation of the most refined kind follows, even after he has discovered that his Margaret is of much inferior rank. On these scenes Goëthe dwells with a rapturous and minute eloquence,

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which proves that length of years has not weakened their impression After all, it has an unhappy ending. Margaret's relations become implicated in disgraceful transactions of forgery and swindling. Goethe's constant visits to their private haunts induce a belief that he is connected with their proceedings, from which suspicion he of course frees himself; but his quondam associates, of whose desperate proceedings he knew nothing, are banished, and Margaret, though innocent, quits the town. He is inconsolable for a long time, but is at last cured by learning that his mistress had sworn in her declarations before the magistrates that she only regarded her lover as a child, and permitted him but childish liberties. This rouses his pride: He, almost a man but three years her junior-to be called a child! The thought is insupportable, and he banishes from his heart the fair author of so truculent an affront. Contrary to his wishes, which directed him to Gottingen, he was sent to study law at Leipsig, where he was put under the care of Boehme. Here he made great progress in various branches of literature, and continued to cultivate his poetical powers. He met here also some of the most celebrated men of that day in Germany, and on them and their works he makes most acute and ingenious remarks. His introduction to Gottsched (p. 198) is particularly amusing. Of course he fell in love, and wrote dramas-neither of which were destined to make any great impression, or last any long period, for we find that on his leaving Leipsig he forgot the one and burnt the other. On coming home he was afflicted with an abscess of the neck, and assailed by the mysticism of an enthusiastic female disciple of Count Zinzendorf. He was cured by his physician in a manner which he evidently half considers as miraculous, and his mind did not wholly escape from the influence of the mystic doctrines preached to him. He fell to reading alchymy, astrology, and cabalism; and he gives (p. 259) a long and most interesting >>account of his ideas as to the objects which are beyond the reach of our bsenses. He appears to have been even affected by omens; of which we give one specimen, as it relates to her whose death and misfortunes have, in spite of the errors of her life and government, made her one of the most interesting women of the last century,-Marie Antoinette. She passed through Strasburg while Goëthe was there, and was received with much pomp. An edifice was erected in an isle of the Rhine for her reception, and its grand hall was decorated by most brilliant and rich tapestries, executed after pictures of the French artists of that period.

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I should, in all probability, have seen something to admire in the style of these artists; for neither my judgment nor my imagination was inclined to exclusive prejudices. But the subject of these paintings shocked me. It was no other than the history of Jason, Medea, and Creusa; that is to say, the picture of the most disastrous of all marriages. To the left of the throne was seen the unfortunate bride, expiring in the agonies of the most cruel death. To the right was the distracted Jason, deploring the death of his children, who lay dead at his feet; whilst the Fury who had destroyed them Aled through the air in her car drawn by dragons.

"Alb the maxims of taste which I had imbibed from Oëser were fermenting in my head. The placing of Christ and his apostles in one of the apartments of an edifice devoted to a nuptial ceremony, was a breach of propriety in my estimation. There could be no doubt but that this singular choice had been dictated solely by the size of the room. I excused this, however,

in consideration of the pleasure I had received from the tapestries. But the enormous blunder committed in the principal room quite astonished me. I loudly called on my companions to witness this flagrant attack on good sense and taste.What!' 1 exclaimed, regardless of the bystanders, will they actually set before the eyes of the young Queen, at the very first step she makes in her new dominions, the representation of the most horrible of marriages? Is there nobody amongst the French architects and decorators able to understand that a picture is a representation; that it acts on the senses and the mind; that it must produce an impression; that it excites' preséntiments? Had they nothing more appropriate than these frightful spectres to exhibit to their beautiful and amiable Queen on her first arrival? I know not how much more I said; but my friends were anxious to prevail on me to be silent, and to hurry me away, for fear of some unpleasant occurrence. They assured me that people did not lose their time in looking for the meaning of pictures; and that nobody in the whole population of Strasburg and its vicinity, nor even the Queen herself, or her court, would think of any such

matter.

"I still well remember the beautiful and noble countenance, the gay yet majestic air, of this young princess. We saw her very plainly through the glasses of her coach. She seemed to be conversing in a very affable manner with the ladies who accompanied her, and to be much amused with the sight of the crowd which thronged around her.

"The Queen pursued her way. The crowd dispersed, and the town resumed its usual tranquillity."

"Scarcely had the echo of the news of the Queen's arrival in the capital ceased to resound, when we were thunderstruck by the report of the dreadful event which had attended her marriage fêtes. Owing to the neglect of the police, a multitude of men, horses, and carriages had been precipitated amongst heaps of building-materials which encumbered the public road; and these royal nuptials had plunged the whole city in mourning and affliction. Every endeavour was used to conceal the real extent of this disaster from the world and from the royal couple. Numbers of individuals who had perished were secretly interred. Many families were only convinced of their share in this fatal event by the indefinitely prolonged absence of their relations. Need I say that this disaster forcibly reminded me of the terrific images which had been presented to the Queen in her grand drawing-room at Strasburg?

His career as an author was soon about to commence. "Certain subjects," he says, "had in a manner rooted themselves in my soul, and were by degrees taking a poetical aspect. These were Götz von Berlichingen and Faust. The life of the former had made a deep impression upon me. The rough and honourable character of this independent man, at a period of savage anarchy, inspired me with the liveliest interest. In the popular drama of which Faust is the hero, I found more than one tone which vibrated strongly in my very soul. I also had passed through the circle of the sciences, and had early convinced myself of their vanity. All my endeavours to find felicity in life had hitherto proved fruitless. I delighted in meditating on these subjects in my solitary hours, although as yet without writing any thing." With these feelings he read the Vicar of Wakefield, which appears to have strongly affected him, and on which he makes some admirable reflections; and about the same time Shakspeare became the idol of his soul. From this moment he threw off the trammels of French authority and renounced Voltaire, though he pays due tribute to the talents of that extraordinary man.

In preparing for Werther he endeavoured to free his mind from all