Jerusalem called Goethe a _Geck_, a coxcomb, a description which, as
we have seen, was not inapplicable to him in his Leipzig days.
Jerusalem was a friend of Lessing, who highly esteemed him, and after
his death published his MSS.]
But before _Werther_ came to birth, Goethe went through another
experience which was to form an essential part of its tissue. Merck,
to whom Goethe attributes the chief influence over him during this
Frankfort period, was again the intermediary. Before Goethe left
Wetzlar, Merck had arranged that they should meet at Ehrenbreitstein,
where he would introduce Goethe to a family resident there.[128] The
family was that of Herr von la Roche, a Privy Councillor in the
service of the Elector of Trier, and it consisted of himself, his wife
and two daughters. The head of the house, a matter-of-fact man of the
world, plays no part in Goethe's relations to the family. It was Frau
von la Roche to whom, as a desirable acquaintance, Merck specially
wished to introduce his friend, and the sequel proved that he had
rightly divined their mutual affinities. The cousin of Wieland, with
whom she had had a _liaison_ before her marriage, she was now past
forty, but, according to Goethe's description of her, she possessed
all the charm of youth with the dignity and repose of maturity.
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