[12] In his old age Goethe said of himself that
he was conscious of an innate feeling of aristocracy which made him
regard himself as the peer of princes; and we need no further
explanation of his contempt of public opinion. Yet if the worship of
heroes has the moulding influence which Carlyle ascribed to it, in
Goethe's youthful admiration of Frederick this influence could not be
wanting. To the end Frederick appeared to him one of those "demonic"
personalities, who from time to time cross the world's stage, and
whose action is as incalculable as the phenomena of the natural world.
"When such an one passes to his rest, how gladly would we be silent,"
were his memorable words when the news of Frederick's death reached
him during his Italian travels, and the remark proves how deeply and
permanently Frederick's career had impressed him.
[Footnote 12: His remark to Eckermann (1828) is well known: "Meine
Sachen koennen nicht populaer werden; wer daran denkt und dafuer strebt,
ist in einem Irrthum."]
More easily realised is the direct influence on Goethe's youthful
development of another event of his boyhood. As a result of the Seven
Years' War, 7,000 French troops took possession of Frankfort in the
beginning of 1759, and occupied it for more than three years.
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