The sun., 1890-01-26

between the two that freedom Of Thought and
complete confidence which is the ideal OF
friendship. II not love.
HE.
BY the end Of December. 177B, or early In
January, 1776, Goethe began to pour out his
feelings to Frau Won Stein In the long series OF
| letters Of which mention has been made. As
he jokingly warned her at the outset: II this
| goes on thus from morning to night there Will
be perfect disease Of notes between u.s." Some
| days he wrote to her morning. noon, and night,
and the average for ten years 10 one In four dRys
It is much to be regretted that the correspond
ing letters from Frau Won Stein to him no longer
| exist, but, shortly before her death, she made
him return them 10 her, and remorselessly
destroyed them, together with the autograph
manuscripts OF a number OF poems which he
| had sent her. There is pretty legend that
Goethe retained one OF her letters to him.
| burned It, and preserved the ashes as o
| memorial but this 10 unsupported by evidence
She. on her part, carefully kept his letters to
| her, and they are now In the possession Of her
great grandson. arranged In order. and pasted
into seven large SCRAP books. The first edition
| Of them appeared about 1880, and second
in two largo octave volumes, corrected and i'm
proved, and enriched with valuable mass Of
| notes, was published in 1888.
script collection Ia 1924. but many OF those are
apparently from others than Goethe. Those
published are numbered up to $685. including
| few not from Goethe. The originals are de-
scribed By the editor 40 being mostly on paper
OF letter and OF note size Of various ooors, with
printed borders, and written partly In ink and
partly in pencil. Others are on leaves torn out
Of note books, and on ecraps evidently caught
up from tho desk or table when Goethe was
engaged In his official duties. Many OF them
were sent unseaed, and carelessly folded as
II there was no desire to conceal thoir contents.
Some Of them, too. bear no date. and. although
Frau Won Stein had arranged them in order,
yet. during the plunder Of her house by the
French in 1906. they we're mixed up. and now
their true succession is in many cases q matter
OF conjecture. Still, by patient labor and re-
search an Arrangement OF them has been
made which for practical purposes Is sufficient
UnromRntlcRy enough, the very first Of the
letters, presumably written early in January,
1776. begins with thanks for the gift of-a
sausagel and details OF a hurt to Goethes eve.
caused By the blow OF q whip lash. Indeed, all
through the letters frequent mention is made
OF presents OF fruit, vegetables. game, and even
cooked dishes, with an abundance Of details
respecting the bodily health Of both the lovers.
The next letter. written also in January. is
moro sentimental. though rather obscurely
expressed.
And since never can tell you my love. also
cannot tell you my Joy What grant my sister mine
In than sense. mine But-for tho same
will mover with seAl-and were not worthy of
IhAd not felt It
The next is dated Jan 16 It begins: I am
glad that 1 am coming away. In order to wean
myself from YOU" Other like expressions in
dicats passion that had already reached
trk, .tkn1 In Ae,o 81 kto ha lie
Charlotte his soother" tbesangftigerinnl By
the 2sth Of January he became bolder:
DEAR ANGEL, shall not come 70 the concert for am
well that oaunot people. Dear angel sent for
my letters and It vexed that thore not among
them word from thee not In pencil-no good
night Dear LADY, suffer It that hold thee 80 dear II
can love any more, will tell thea win leave
thee In peacs- Adeu Cold thou not how
love thea
It will be observed that in this letter Goethe
drops from the formal you " into the familiar
thou" q liberty permissible In Germany, as
In France and Italy. only to an intimate friend.
On Feb. ~ he addresses to his lady love his
Wanderers Night Song" which closes with
the words. Sweet peace. come. oh, come. into |
my heart" This little poem Frau Won Stein |
must have shown to her mother. for on the |
back Of the paper Ii written IL that pious adys |
hand these words from tho Gospel Of st. John: |
" Peace leave with you. my peace give unto |
You. Not as the world giveth give 1 unto you. |
Let not your heart be troubled. neither let 1t be
afraid" Indeed. Frau Won Stein herself from |
first to last exhibits religious turn OF mind. |
She went to church regularly every Sunday.
and. as we shall see. although neglected by her
husband and sorely pressed by her impetuous
young lover. seems never for moment. except
perhaps at the very last to have faltered in
strict observance Of her wifely obligations.
She seems even at times to have regarded her
acceptance OF Goethe's devotion as q sin. and.
as We shall see further on, speaks Of It as SUCH
On the 14th of April Goethe sends long
poem. in which occur the lines:
All! thou vert in a former life
Either my sister my wife
And again on the 10th he writes: "Adieu,
dear sister. since so 1t must be-" Evidently
Frau Won Stein had sought to repress the ardor
Of her young admirer. and. as many women
have tried to do In like circumstances. keep
his passion within the bounds OF a Bisterly af-
fection. AS usual. too. she failed at an early
stage of the game. On May her lover breaks
out with: To-day will not see thee. Your
presence yesterday made such wonderful
impression on me that do not know whether
1t be veal or woe with me In the affair. Fare
well. dearest lady"
Toward the end OF February Goethe writes:
" o. that my sister had brother such as l In
thee have sister Think OF me- and press
thy hand to thy lips. for thou will never wean
Gusteln tmeaninR himself from his rudenesses,
which will only end with his unrest and love In
the grave" A month later he says: II see
we'll. dear lady. when one loves thee 1t is as IL
seed were sown and springs unnoticed. un-
Iolds and stands there-and God give his bless
ng to IT."
Failing tn oheok him othArwiea FRAN von
stein must soon after this have appealed to his
regard for her reputation. and have begged
aim to consider what the world would say OF
his attentions In reply he writes May "a, fall
nR back partially into the formal you:"
And So relation the purest the most beautiful the
rueSt that have had with any woman except my
lister that also 10 interrupted prepared for it
suffered infinitely for the past and the future emo for
he poor child Tho bearer OF his offending ettsr who