GOETHE 121 He went to Weimar as the friend of its young sovereign, who was just en- tering on a career which may fairly be called illustrious. Weimar was and is " more like a village bordering a park than a capital with a court, having all courtly environments." The representation it gave of the formalities, the "fuss and feathers " of a court, was on the most minute scale. But with a certain pride, well understood, a German historian has said, that after Berlin there is no one of the countless courts of Germany of which the nation is so proud. Such pride is born from the distinction which this grand duke, Karl August, gave to it, by calling into what was called his service, such men as Klopstock, Wieland, Goethe, and Schiller. This grand duke was himself a remarkable man for one " in his unfortunate position." He now owes all the place he has in history to the fort- unate decision by which he offered to Goethe a home in the little city of Wei- mar, when he was himself a boy. After a gay, not to say wild, introduction to the little social circle of this funny little court, Goethe settled down quite seriously to the work which be- longed to a member of the administration. He had accepted the post of Coun- sellor of the Home Department, with a seat in the council. This carried with it a yearly salary of about nine hundred of our dollars. And in the modest habits of that little court this seems to have been regarded as a competency. With this income it is certain that Goethe kept house, fulfilled the demands which etiquette made on his position, and remitted a sixth part of his money to a poor, broken-winded, and apparently worthless author, whose very name is unknown, who maintained with him a begging correspondence. Goethe proved himself a thorough man of business in the discharge of his official duties. His interest in science made him study the administration of the mines of the duchy with care and in detail, and when, afterward, he gave up other official cares, he retained the administration of the Department of the Mines. To persons studying his style it is worthy of remark, that the best habits of a man of affairs may be noted all through his work, whether scientific, speculative, poet- ical, or indeed, in whatever form it takes. There is never anything which a critic of our time would call "gush," or " padding," or " slip-slop." He advances on his purpose, whatever that purpose is, with the directness of an engineer press- ing the attack of a fortress, or of an architect making the specifications for a building. Meanwhile, for the relaxation or diversion of life, there was a passion, more or less real, which bound him to the Baroness von Stein, the wife of the Master of the Horse ; there was the direction of the theatre and music of the court, and occasional journeys, generally incognito, with the Duke Karl August. A favor- ite entertainment was in private theatricals, which were indeed the rage in the little circle. The duchess acted, and everybody, even of the highest rank, was glad to be enrolled in the troupe, which was directed by Goethe. Eager for the applauses of other audiences than the favored circle at Weimar, the company went about, almost like a troupe of gypsies, from one to another of the country homes of the neighborhood. In all our modern ridicule of the Duchy of Pom-
