To the
literary youth of Germany, we are told, _Werther_ no longer appeals;
but such statements can be based only on conjecture, and we may be
certain that in all countries there are still to be found readers to
whom the record of Werther's woes seems to have been written for
themselves.[165]
[Footnote 163: Eckermann, _op. cit._, January 2nd, 1824.]
[Footnote 164: The _accidie_ of the Middle Ages was a form of
Wertherism. _Cf._ Chaucer's _Parson's Tale_.]
[Footnote 165: It may be recalled that _Werther_ was throughout his
life one of R.L. Stevenson's favourite books. See his Letter to Mrs.
Sitwell, September 6th, 1873, [Transcriber's Note: corrected error
"1773"] and ch. xix. of _The Wrecker_.]
By a curious coincidence Goethe had hardly made a "general confession"
in the writing of _Werther_ when he was led to make another
"confession" in a work of less resounding notoriety, but equally
interesting as a revelation of himself. In his Autobiography he has
related the origin of the piece. In the spring of 1774 there fell into
his hands the recently published _Memoires_[166] of the French
playwright Beaumarchais, which told a story that reawakened painful
memories of his own past.
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