CHAPTER V.

WERTHER.

Aujourdhui l'homme désire immensément, mais il veut faiblement. In these words Guizot has written an epigraph for Werther, a book composed out of a double history, the history of its author's experience, and the history of one of his friends.

The story of Jerusalem, whom we saw in the Wetzlar circle, furnished Goethe with the machinery by which to introduce his own experience. He took many of the details from Kestner's long letter, sent shortly after the catastrophe: the letter may therefore be here abridged, as an introduction to the novel. Jerusalem, melancholy by temperament, was unhappy during the whole of his Wetzlar residence. He had been denied admittance into the high diplomatic society to which his position gave him claims; he had been in unpleasant relations with his ambassador, whose secretary he was; and he had fallen in love with the wife of his friend. Thus oppressed, he shunned company, was fond of long moonlight walks, and once lost himself in the wood, wandering about the whole night. But he was solitary, even in his grief, told none of his friends the causes of his melancholy, and solaced himself with novels the wretched novels of that day. To these he added all the tragedies he could get hold of;

English writers, especially the gloomy writers; and various philosophical works. He wrote also essays, one on suicide, a subject which greatly occupied him. Mendelssohn's Phadon was his favorite work.* When the rumor reached Wetzlar of Goué's suicide, he said that Goué was not a fit man for such a deed, but defended the act as an act. A few days before his own unhappy end he was talking with Schleimitz about suicide, and said, 'It must be a bad look out, however, if the shot were not to take effect!' The rest of the narrative must be told in Kestner's own words, the simple circumstantial style best fitting such a history.

'Last Tuesday he comes with a discontented look to Kielmansegge, who was ill. The latter asks him how he is ? "Better than I like to be." He also that day talked a good deal about love, which he had never done before; and then about the Frankfurter Zeitung, which had for some time pleased him more than usual. In the afternoon (Tuesday) he goes to Secretary H.'s. Until eight o'clock in the evening they play tarock together. Annchen Brandt was also there; Jerusalem accompanied her home. As they walk, Jerusalem often strikes his forehead, gloomily and repeatedly says: "If one were but dead, if one were but in heaven!" Annchen joked him about it; he bargains for a place by her side in heaven, and at parting he says: "It is agreed, then, that I shall have a place by you in heaven."

'On Wednesday, as there were great doings at the Crown Prince, and everybody invited everybody, he went there to dinner, though he generally dined at home, and he brought Secretary H. with him. He did not behave

* Goethe it will be remembered, made in Strasburg an analysis of this work, contrasting it with Plato's.

there otherwise than usual; if anything, he was more cheerful. After dinner Secretary H. takes him home with him to see his wife. They take coffee; Jerusalem says to Mrs. H.: "Dear Mrs. H., this is the last coffee I shall drink with you." She thinks it a joke, and answers in that tone. The same afternoon (Wednesday) Jerusalem was alone at H.'s: what took place there is unknown; perhaps herein lies the cause of what followed. In the evening, just as it was dark, Jerusalem comes to Garbenheim, into the usual inn, asks whether any one is in the room above? On the answer, No, he goes up, soon comes down again, goes out into the yard, towards the left, comes back after a little while, goes into the garden; it becomes quite dark, he remains there a long time, the hostess makes her remarks upon this, he comes out of the garden, goes past her with hasty steps, all without saying a word, into the yard, hurrying straight away from it.

In the meantime, or still later, something passed between H. and his wife, concerning which, H. confides to a female friend that they quarrelled a little about Jerusalem; and his wife at last desired that he would forbid him the house, whereupon he did so the following day, in a note.

[It is said that Secretary H. has given secret information that on the Wednesday before Jerusalem's death, when he was with H. and his wife taking coffee, the husband was obliged to go to the ambassador. When he returns, he observes an extraordinary seriousness in his wife, and a silence in Jerusalem, which appear strange to him, especially as he finds them so much changed after his return. Jerusalem goes away. Secretary H. makes his observations on the above-mentioned circumstances:

*The passage in brackets occurs in a subsequent letter; it is inserted here to give the story continuity.

he contracts suspicion that something injurious to him may have happened in his absence; for he is very suspicious and jealous. Nevertheless, he puts on a composed and cheerful air, and determines to put his wife to the test. He says: Jerusalem has often invited him to dinner; what does she think of their asking Jerusalem for once to dine with them? She, the wife, answers: No; and she must entirely break off intercourse with Jerusalem; he begins to behave in such a way that she must altogether avoid his society. And she held herself bound to tell him, her husband, what had passed in his absence. Jerusalem had thrown himself at her feet, and had wanted to make a formal declaration of love to her. She was naturally indignant at this, and had uttered many reproaches to him, etc. She now desired that her husband would forbid him, Jerusalem, the house, for she could and would neither see nor hear anything more of him.

Hereupon, it is said, H. the next morning wrote the note to Jerusalem, etc.]

In the night of Wednesday-Thursday he got up at two o'clock, awakened the servant, said he could not sleep, he was not well, has a fire lighted, tea made, yet is afterwards, to all appearance, very well.

Thursday morning, Secretary H. sends Jerusalem a note. The maid will not wait for an answer, and goes away. Jerusalem has just been shaved. At eleven o'clock Jerusalem sends a note to Secretary H., who does not take it from the servant, and says he requires no answer, he cannot enter into any correspondence, and besides they saw each other every day at the office. When the servant brings back the note unopened, Jerusalem throws it on the table and says: Very good. (Perhaps to make the servant believe that it related to some indifferent matter.)

In the middle of the day he dines at home, but takes little some soup. At one o'clock he sends a note to me, and at the same time one to his ambassador, in which he begs the latter to send him his money for this (or the following) month. The servant comes to me. I am not at home, nor is my servant. Jerusalem in the meantime is gone out, comes home about a quarter past three, the servant gives him the note again. Jerusalem asks him why he did not leave it at my house with some maidservant? He replies, because it was open and unsealed. Jerusalem: That was of no consequence, every one might read it; he must take it again. The servant thinks himself hereby warranted to read it also, reads it, and then sends it by a boy who waits in the house. I, in the meantime, had come home; it might be half-past three when I received the following note: "Might I beg of you to lend me your pistols for a journey which I am about to take? -J."* As I knew nothing of all this that I have told you, or of his principles, having never had any particular intercourse with him, I had not the least hesitation in sending him the pistols.

'The servant had read in the note that his master intended to make a journey, and indeed the latter had himself told him so, also had ordered everything for his journey the next morning at six o'clock, even the friseur, without his (the servant's) knowing whither, or with whom, or in what way. But as Jerusalem always kept his engagements secret from him, this did not arouse his suspicion. Nevertheless he thought to himself: " Is master perhaps going secretly to Brunswick, leaving me here.

" Dürfte ich Ew. Wohlgeb. wohl zu einer vorhabenden Reise um ihre Pistolen gehorsamst ersuchen?' The German epistolary forms of civility are not translatable.