ld of Germany, and
a figure of prime interest to its leading representatives. Hitherto,
nevertheless, with the exception of Herder, he had come into personal
contact with no men of outstanding note who might hold intercourse
with him on anything like equal terms. In the summer of 1774, however,
when _Clavigo_ and _Werther_ were on the eve of publication, he was
brought into contact with three men, all of whom had already achieved
reputation in their respective spheres; and all of whom had visions as
distinct from each other as they were distinct from Goethe's own. As
it happens, we have records of their intercourse from the hands of
three of the four, and, taken together, they present a picture of the
youthful Goethe which leaves little to be desired in its fidelity, in
its definiteness, in its vividness of colour. During the greater part
of two months (from the last week in June till the middle of August)
he comes before us in all the splendour of his youthful genius, with
all his wild humours, his audacities, his overflowing vitality.

The first of these three notabilities who came in Goethe's way was one
of whom he himself said, "that the world had never seen his like, and
will not see his like again." He was Johann Kaspar Lavater, born in
Zurich in 1741, and thus eight years older than Goethe. Lavater had
early drawn the attention of the world to himself. In his sixteenth
year he had published a volume of poems (_Schweizerlieder_) which
attained a wide circulation, and a later work (_Aussichten in die
Ewigkeit_) found such acceptance from its vein of mystical piety that
he was hailed as a religious teacher who had given a new savour to the
Christian life. At the time when he crossed Goethe's path he was
engaged on the work on Physiognomy with which his name is chiefly
associated, and it was partly with the object of collecting the
materials for that work that he was now visiting Germany. But the
personality of Lavater was more remarkable than his writings. By his
combination of the saint and the man of the world he made a unique
impression on all who met him, on Goethe notably among others. That
his religious feelings were sincere his lifelong preoccupation with
the character of Christ as the great exemplar of humanity may be
taken as sufficient proof. To impress the world with the conception he
had formed of the person of Christ was the mission of his life, and it
was in the carrying out of this mission that his re