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There is now little left to be said of Goethe that belongs to his life , exclusively and unconnected with his works . Being placed out of the reach of want , and beginning his career with a fame that usually attends its close , he devoted himself to poetry and the natural sciences , to the fine arts and to criticism .
One of the most important consequences of the situation which Goethe held at the court of the Duke of Saxe Weimar was , the opportunity it afforded him of cultivating the drama . A little German prince , who is excluded from national politics by his insignificance , may devote himself exclusively to the encouragement of the arts , and the Duke of Weimar set a noble example in this respect to his serene brethren . A great number of Goethe ' s dramatic works are to be considered as mere experiments ; but
also many of his noblest works , if not written for , at least appeared on a private theatre erected in the duke ' s castle of Ettersburg . In the year 1779 he made a journey into Switzerland with the duke ; and in the year 1786 appeared the first collection of his works . He had already obtained a patent of nobility in 1782 , which , according to the political etiquette of his country , was indispensable to his residing and travelling with his patron . To the best of our recollection , he has never condescended to allude
to the circumstance in any of his writings , not even in his life . It is even thus early in Goethe's life , that we find him engaged in a course of study altogether distinct from any we have yet spoken of , which he never afterwards abandoned , and for which our readers will not be prepared ; indeed , his own countrymen have taken but little notice of them , and that , as it seems ,, out of respect to the man rather than his works . With the study of art
and of man he combined that of nature , which he fancied he had contemplated from a philosophical point of view hitherto overlooked . With no regard to chronology , we will merely say here that we may not revert to the subject , that he wrote on the metamorphosis of plants , on geology , on osteology , on comparative anatomy , on colours and on optics , we almost fear to add , lest we should excite the wrath of some of our readers , that he
even composed two octavo volumes , with the avowed purpose of disproving Newton ' s theory of light and colours ! to his patron . It is like most of the set , in the spirit of the Greek Anthology , not of the Roman Martial : — ' Small is indeed among the princes of Germany mine , narrow his land and little that he can perform ; but would every one so direct his power in all directions , oh , it were then a festival to be a German with Germans ! But why praise him whom deeds and works announce ? My reverence may perhaps be deemed corrupt : fojr to me he gave what the great seldom grant—inclination , leisure , confidence , nel £ , garden , and house . None have I to thank but him ; and much have I needed , who , as a poet , was ill-versed in the art of gain . Europe has praised me , but what hflJB Europe given me ? Nothing . I have dearly purchased my poems . Germa ny imitated me ; France endured me ; and . England kindly received the forlorn guest : yet what has it profited me , that even the Chinese have , with anxious hand , painted Charlotte and Werter on ghaa ? No emperor has asked after me—no k ' wg tas cared for me—and he was my Augustus and Maecenas . '
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300 Goethe .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1832, page 300, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1812/page/12/
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