The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-01-21
BIOGRAPHY.
Extracts From the Life Of Goethe
by A. Hayward.

by A. Hayward.
! JOHANN WOI.TGAEG Won GOETHE was
ho;H At Frankfort-on-.hc-MaIn August 3.
lila. and died March -, !N5L. lie VS. a
prolific author. LIs writings comprising
many poems, rgTIuros. plays and scientific
articles. lie wrote "Gotz Won Rerlichtus-H,'
"Werther.' "ClAy.Eu,' stella" Italian
Journey 'Iphigevil," "TarSo. "EgmoUt. %
Roman Eleg!ss.' Wilhelm Ncister.'
Herman and DOrctlea.' Elective .AtiHI-
ties" and Faust"
In l1t5 Goethe was sent to the University
at IelVs.g, and. instead o. studying JuEis-
prudence. as his father intended. ha de-
Nutea most Of his time 10 poetry. lie went
% Strisb9rg n I76s TO finish his legal
studies. bat attended lectures On anatomy
and chemistry. In liI2. having returned 20
his home. he published Got Won Ke:l!cl-
inSen." and in the following year the novel
of ~ crtter." which III4- him famous.
The Prince OF Woluar invited him tc hls
court IN l,'J, made him n pr!ry councillor
ia ii''. took him 10 Switzerland. and ult.-
2atety Included him II. his ministry. IL Isl
Goethe went 20 Italy and remained there
Tor TWO years. IL declined honorable marks
Of distinction Itotu different suysr,igrS. and
devoted las lite 20 literature, science and
arr. These are -u- bare facts Of GOethc's
life. tIt the man real story IS - romance.
80 $500 N"-5 ~ tHAF -
eats and ancestry. Goethe has put into
verse that Ae inherited his frame OF body
ami the earnest conduct OF Ike from his
father. his Joyous temperament and fond
E-~S Tor storytelling from his mother: his
devotion - the .air s-N from - great
grandfather, and the :gy, o.: -uegy ard
5r"Gaws from d grca;-sraud'Hara-r. He
ovhste mentions int the great-g-arG-
father II question WAS a tailor. and tho
Ereat-ErandmCIner the daughter % one.
IL tine vO.gfne on Goethe In FOREIGN
Classics FOR English Ee-leI>,' Alr. Hay
ward says.
with peculiar reference 70 his UNIVERSAL
=. Goethe has been called the Nyltaire
or Germany. But the comparison IS unjust
10 him. His was 4 genius CT a higher or
Ger; ard he bears 10 German literature as
Il whole the sG,ue relation which EoItat-s
bears 10 the French literature Of the Eight
zenith Century. IN the opening lecture OF s.
remarkable series az the University OF Bsr-
In, X was recently stated. broadly and I'm
eQuivocally. Goethe has created our litera-
ture and our speech. Before him. both wcro
without value Ga the wuTlI-raa-t OF the IA
lions Of Europe Nine. IL Std-l. person
ally acquainted with his most eminent con
te!nryra!4es AID COHvorsaut with their
works, says that lie might represent the
entire literature Of his coUutry-'uot that
there are not other writer's superior 10 him
IL some respects. but that alone he repre-
serts all that listing li5aes the German
mind. and no one is So remarkable Tor a Kind
o: imagination TO which neither ia. Ita..-
ans, the French, nor the English can lay
claim
HIS cou-trymen. she goes on 10 say. are
not satisfied with any qualified admission
OF his superiority. There IS q. crowd Of
people in Germany Who would discover gent
Us in the address of "a letter directed by
him. The admiration Of Goethe is a kind
o? fTeemassury, tie aIcprs in which ara
known To each ly C~tt-Gwuvla. At The
Shakespeare IrlccItcEavy At SJrurford. IL
German gentleman. speaking for a a.puta-
tian, rose and said that h- ana I.s fgicals
had cone {, 90 honor te The SECOND great
est poet thai ever iivel-G0e'ue being 1us
first
Goethe had sne marked peculiarly In
common vita his mother. and that was the
desire for mental calm. AID the dislike ~
agitation and emotion. which both carried
To excess. Goethe's assume OF real iudif-
ference 10 what was passing around with
out personally affecting him confirmed the
charge agains: him In after life tina; he Was
deficient FL public spirit.
HIS seHsIb.Iity To UE.,uess WAS manifest
ed at u very carly age. His mother told
Ee:tina threntaool that he was reluctant
to play with i.ttle children unless they
were good looking. In his third year he
aN~.--- .. C'i- ''.a@ R'-iAN NN''- nc
dark child must be taken away. l can't
endure H. lie did HOT leave of crying tin
We got home. when took him TO task
for his rudenes-. lie could EUt set over
the Child's ugiiEess.'
The earnestness with which Goethe
threw himself upon whatever he undertook.
with his facility in getting UP subject after
subject. or running them abreast, may he
inferred from the interest he inspired in
men OF special vocatiuns OK pursuits. each
Of whom Tegard. q him as a pupil or t0Iiuw-
~. and had 4 career ready for him. one
saw III him a proGcstiu-I man of science;
Il second. q born artist; q third. an erudite
theoIoEian: "a fourth. an accomplished
Courtier, "a hfth a dir.omu,ist; a sixth, IL
jury consult, throwing fresh light on private
obligations and international law. His
father was bent on his following the Law
sufficiently. at al events. TO qualify him for
high Office IN his native t0Wr-bIt unluek-
iLy did not prescribe verse making. insist
ing merely that the verses should he rhvm-
lie had such an antipathy 10 blank
verse that he refused TO admit kiopstUck'S
Messiah iato the house: and it WAS read
b. his wife ana children By stealth.
Carlyle says OF GOethe's "Werther': That
nanleless unrest. the blind struggle Of a
soul in bondage-;hat high. sad longing dis
content, which was aS.tatinS every bosom
had driven Goethe 10 despair. AL felt il;
he alone could give It Voice. And here lies
the secret Of his popularity: in his deep,
sUsceQttye heart. he felt a thousand times
more keenly what every one was feeling;
with tic creative gift which belonged 10
him rs a poet. ne bodied it forth into VS. /
ihlo shape, gave 1t a local L-hijajipu and a
name. and 50 made himself the Spokesman
Of his generation. "We.th.g' is bat the cry
OF that ak. rooted pain under which all