Margherita, _Memorandum storico-politico_ (Turin, 1851).

CHARLES AUGUSTUS [KARL AUGUST] (1757-1828), grand-duke of Saxe-Weimar,
son of Constantine, duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and Anna Amalia of
Brunswick, was born on the 3rd of September 1757. His father died when
he was only nine months old, and the boy was brought up under the
regency and supervision of his mother, a woman of enlightened but
masterful temperament. His governor was Count Eustach von Gorz, a German
nobleman of the old strait-laced school; but a more humane element was
introduced into his training when, in 1771, Wieland was appointed his
tutor. In 1774 the poet Karl Ludwig von Knebel came to Weimar as tutor
to the young Prince Constantine; and in the same year the two princes
set out, with Count Gorz and Knebel, for Paris. At Frankfort, Knebel
introduced Karl August to the young Goethe: the beginning of a momentous
friendship. In 1775 Karl August returned to Weimar, and the same year
came of age and married Princess Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt.

One of the first acts of the young grand-duke was to summon Goethe to
Weimar, and in 1776 he was made a member of the privy council. "People
of discernment," he said, "congratulate me on possessing this man. His
intellect, his genius is known. It makes no difference if the world is
offended because I have made Dr Goethe a member of my most important
_collegium_ without his having passed through the stages of minor
official professor and councillor of state." To the undiscerning, the
beneficial effect of this appointment was not at once apparent. With
Goethe the "storm and stress" spirit descended upon Weimar, and the
stiff traditions of the little court dissolved in a riot of youthful
exuberance. The duke was a deep drinker, but also a good sportsman; and
the revels of the court were alternated with break-neck rides across
country, ending in nights spent round the camp fire under the stars.
Karl August, however, had more serious tastes. He was interested in
literature, in art, in science; critics, unsuspected of flattery,
praised his judgment in painting; biologists found in him an expert in
anatomy. Nor did he neglect the government of his little state. His
reforms were the outcome of something more than the spirit of the
"enlightened despots" of the 18th century; for from the first he had
realized that the powers of the prince to play "earthly providence" were
strictly limited. His aim, then, was to e