The
spring and autumn fairs brought traders from all parts of Germany and
from the neighbouring countries; and ships from every part of the
globe deposited their miscellaneous cargoes on the banks of the river
Main. In the town itself there were sights fitted to stir youthful
imagination; and the surrounding country presented a prospect of
richness and variety in striking contrast to the tame environs of
Goethe's future home in Weimar. Dr. Arnold used to say that he knew
from his pupils' essays whether they had seen London or the sea,
because the sight of either of these objects seemed to suggest a new
measure of things. Frankfort, with its 30,000 inhabitants, with its
past memories and its bustling present, was at least on a sufficient
scale to suggest the conception of a great society developing its life
under modern conditions. For Goethe, who was to pass most of his days
in a town of some 7,000 inhabitants, and to whom no form of human
activity was indifferent, it was a fortunate destiny that he did not,
like Herder, pass his most receptive years in a petty village remote
from the movements of the great world.[4] In these years he was able
to accumulate a store of observations and experiences which laid a
solid foundation for all his future thinking.
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