terling nature that might be led in the ways of
wise rulership. For the nonce this was mission enough. He took his
seat in the Council in June, 1776, with the title of Councilor of
Legation. At first there was not very much for him to do except to
familiarize himself with the physical and economic conditions of the
little duchy. This he did with a will. He set about studying
mineralogy, geology, botany, and was soon observing the homologies of
the vertebrate skeleton. Withal he was very attentive to
routine business.

[Illustration: 1. GOETHE'S GARDEN HOUSE IN WEIMAR]

[Illustration: 2. GOETHE'S HOUSE IN WEIMAR]

One after another important departments of administration were turned
over to him, until he became, in 1782, the President of the Chambers
and hence the leading statesman of the duchy.

All this produced a sobering and clarifying effect. The inner storm
and stress gradually subsided, and the new Goethe--statesman,
scientific investigator, man of the world, courtier, friend of
princes--came to see that after all feeling was not everything, and
that its untrammeled expression was not the whole of art. Form and
decorum counted for more than he had supposed, and revolution was not
the word of wisdom. Self-control was the only basis of character, and
limitation lay at the foundation of all art. To work to make things
better, even in a humble sphere, was better than to fret over the
badness of the world. Nature's method was that of bit-by-bit progress,
and to puzzle out her ways was a noble and fascinating employment. In
this general way of thinking he was confirmed by the study of
Spinoza's _Ethics_, a book which, as he said long afterwards, quieted
his passions and gave him a large and free outlook over the world. In
this process of quieting the passions some influence must be ascribed
to Charlotte von Stein, a woman in whom, for some twelve years of his
life, he found his muse and his madonna. His letters often address her
in terms of idolatrous endearment. She was a wife and a mother, but
Weimar society regarded her relation to Goethe as a platonic
attachment not to be condemned.

The artistic expression of the new life in Weimar is found in various
short poems, notably _Wanderer's Nightsong_, _Ilmenau_, _The Divine_,
and _The Mysteries_; also in a number of plays which were written for
the amateur stage of the court circle. The Weimarians were very fond
of play-acting, and Goethe became their purveyor of d