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    378 FjRAIT RATBt.

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    ¦ • -«^> — ¦ — Of All The Women Who In G...

    earthly regions , In _picturing to ourselves how we might wander from star to starand the great spirits we should there encounterI was quite

    , , as eager to relate as the children were to listen , and never felt more dissatisfied than when an invitation deprived us of our homely

    evening . How my Wolfgang sat and looked at me with his large black eyes , his angry spirit rising when the tale disappointed his

    expectations , and with what difficulty he restrained his tears ! If I left a story unfinishedI knew that he would anticipate the events ,

    , making his grandmama his confidante , and when on the following night I told him his own tale he would clap his hands in "boundless

    . enthusiasm ! " What a charming picture of mother and son ! The little Wolfgang was a precocious child , and early gave evidence of

    the great faculties with which he was endowed . Both parents were ; aware of his talents , and while the excellent method of his mother

    developed the mental activity of the "boy , the father trained his intellectual faculties . Many striking little anecdotes of the tasks

    which Goethe performed when he was seven years old , and which manifest his advanced understanding , have been preserved to us .

    In summer the family were accustomed to assemble in the garden , and Bettine tells us of a little festival which is so charming that we

    are tempted to describe it here . ' _* Relations and guests had arrived . In the midst of the lawn under a blooming pear-treethe arm-chair

    , of Frau Rath , her usual seat in the evening , was placed , adorned with ribbons and flowers . The little Wolfgang , crowned with a

    wreath and dressed as a shepherd with a pouch , out of which hung , a scroll of golden-lettered paper , stepped forth and made a speech ,

    in which he glorified and described the arm-chair as the source of all the lovely fairy tales of which they were so fond . All present

    entered cordially into the jest , and the youthful Apollo won _considerable applause . "

    In March , 1754 , this cheerful domestic circle sustained a loss through the death of the beloved grandmother . The household

    duties now devolved on Frau Rath , and as the pedantic , parsimonious councillor was difficult to deal with , they were by no means

    easy . But to enable her to meet any inconvenience to which this fault of the councillor might expose herthe old lady had presented

    , her with a special sum of money , and Frau Rath made the most of it .

    About this time the house had to be rebuilt , and when the foundation of the new one was laid , the boy Wolfgang officiated as

    a little mason , handling the trowel with spirit and delight . During this time the parents lodged their two children with some friends

    , and for a long while their cheerful evenings were completely interrupted . Even when all were again united , the father claimed most

    of the time to resume with renewed zeal the studies of his children . They read aloud in the evening , and whatever book was begun had

    to be finished whether they were interested in it or not . " In this manner , " says Goethe , «* we worked our way through Bower ' s History 1 w

    378 Fjrait Ratbt.

    378 _FjRAIT RATBt .

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Feb. 1, 1859, page 378, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01021859/page/18/