Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 14.djvu/27

11 mere phrase thrown in the air. All his letters speak of the suffering he endured from the sight of so much want in the people. " The world is narrow," he writes, " and not every spot of earth bears every tree ; man- kind suffers, and one is ashamed to see oneself so favoured above so many thousands. We hear constantly how poor the land is, and daily becomes poorer ; but we partly think this is not true, and partly hurry it away from our minds when once we see the truth with open eyes, see the irremediableness, and see how matters are always bungled and botched ! " That he did his utmost to ameliorate the condition of the people in general, and to ameliorate particular sorrows as far as lay in his power, is strikingly evident in the concurrent testimony of all who knew anything of his doings. If he did not write dithyrambs of Freedom, and was not profoundly enthusiastic for Fatherland, let us attribute it to any cause but want of heart.

The stillness and earnestness of his life seem to have somewhat toned down the society of Weimar. He went very rarely to court ; and he not being there to animate it with his inventions, the Duchess Amalia complained that they were all asleep ; the duke also found society insipid : " the men have lived through their youth, and the women mostly married." The duke altered with the rest. The influence of his dear friend was daily turning him into more resolute paths ; it had even led him to the study of science, as we learn from his letters. And Herder, also, now occupied with his great work, shared these ideas, and enriched himself with Goethe's friendship. Jacobi came to Weimar, and saw his old friend again, quitting him with real sorrow. He was occupied at this time with the dis- pute about Lessing's Spino2dsm, and tried to bring Goethe into it, who very characteristically told him, "Before I write a syllable μετα τα φυσικα, I must first have clearly settled my φυσικα." All contro-