five years afterwards, by Frau Cornelia Schellhorn, a widow, blooming with six-and-thirty summers, and possessing the solid attractions of a good property; she kept the hotel Zum Weidenhof, where her new husband laid down the scissors, and donned the landlord's apron. He had two sons by her, and died in 1730, aged seventythree.

One of these two sons, the younger, Johann Caspar, was the father of our poet. Thus we see that Goethe, like Schiller, sprang from the people. He makes no mention of the lucky tailor, or of the Thuringian farrier in his autobiography. This silence may be variously interpreted. At first, I imagined it was aristocratic prudery on the part of von Goethe, minister and nobleman; but it is never well to put ungenerous constructions, when others, equally plausible and more honorable, are ready; and we shall do well here to follow the advice of a thoughtful and kindly writer, to employ our imagination in the service of charity.' We can easily imagine that Goethe was silent about the tailor, because, in truth, having never known him, there was none of that affectionate remembrance which encircles the objects of early life, to make this grandfather figure in the autobiography beside the grandfather Textor, who was known and loved. Probably, also, the tailor was seldom talked of in the parental circle.

Johann Caspar Goethe received a good education, travelled into Italy, became an imperial councillor in Frankfurt, and married, in 1748, Katharina Elizabeth, daughter of Johann Wolfgang Textor, the chief-magistrate (Schultheiss).

The genealogical tables of kings and conquerors are thought of interest, and why should not the genealogy of In the belief that our poet be equally interesting to us ? it will be so, I here subjoin it.

GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE GOETHE FAMILY.

born Feb. 1818. Sept. 18, 1820. 1827. WALTHER WOLFGANG V. GOETHE, WOLFGANG MAX. v. GOETHE, born ALMA V. GOETHE, born Oct.

Citizen of Weickersheim, a small town in the Jaxt district, near Mergentheim.

ANNA CHRISTINA, born Oct. 24, 1743.

Goethe's father was a cold, stern, formal, somewhat pedantic, but truth-loving, upright-minded man. gered for knowledge, and, although in general of a laconic turn, freely imparted all he learned. In his domestic circle his word was law. Not only imperious, but in some respects capricious, he was nevertheless greatly respected, if little loved, by wife, children, and friends. He is characterized by Krause as ein geradliniger Frankfurter Reichsbürgera straightforward Frankfurt citizen,' whose habits were as measured as his gait. From him the poet inherited the well-built frame, the erect carriage, and the measured movement which in old age became stiffness, and was construed into diplomacy or haughtiness; from him also came that orderliness and stoicism which have so much distressed those who cannot conceive genius otherwise than as vagabond in its habits. The lust for knowledge, the delight in communicating it, the almost pedantic attention to details, which are noticeable in the poet, are all traceable in the father.

The mother was more like what we conceive as the proper parent for a poet. She is one of the pleasantest figures in German literature, and one standing out with greater vividness than almost any other. Her simple, hearty, joyous, and affectionate nature endeared her to all. She was the delight of children, the favorite of poets and princes. To the last retaining her enthusiasm and simplicity, mingled with great shrewdness and knowledge of character, Frau Aja, as they christened her, was at once grave and hearty, dignified and simple. She had read most of the best German and Italian authors, had picked up considerable desultory information, and had that 'mother wit' which so often seems to render culture superfluous in women, their rapid intuitions anticipating the tardy conclusions of experience a characteristic also of the

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poetic mind. Her letters are full of spirit: not always strictly grammatical; not irreproachable in orthography; but vigorous with vivacity. After a lengthened interview with her, an enthusiastic traveller exclaimed, 'Now do I understand how Goethe has become the man he is!' * Wieland, Merck, Bürger, Madame de Stael, Karl August, and other great people sought her acquaintance. The Duchess Amalia corresponded with her as with an intimate friend; a letter from her was a small jubilee at the Weimar Court. She was married at seventeen, to a man for whom she had no love, and was only eighteen when the poet was born. This, instead of making her prematurely old, seems to have perpetuated her girlhood. I and my Wolfgang,' she said, have always held fast to each other, because we were both young together.' To him she transmitted her love of story-telling, her animal spirits, her love of everything which bore the stamp of distinctive individuality, and her love of seeing happy faces around her. Order and quiet,' she says in one of her charming letters to Freiherr von Stein, are my principal characteristics. Hence I despatch at once whatever I have to do, the most disagreeable always first, and I gulp down the devil without looking at him. When all has returned to its proper state, then I defy any one to surpass me in good humor.' Her heartiness and tolerance are the causes, she thinks, why every one likes her. I am fond of people, and that every one feels directly — young and old. I pass without pretension through the world, and that gratifies men. I never bemoralize any one- always seek out the good that is in them, and leave what is bad to him who made mankind, and knows how to round off the

* Ephemeriden der Literatur, quoted in Nicolovius über Goethe. † Lovers of parallels will be glad to be reminded that Napoleon's mother was only eighteen when the hero of Austerlitz was born.