And you will be for ever
plaguing me with evidences! And to what end? Do I require evidence
that I exist? evidence that I feel? I treasure, cherish, and revere
only such evidences as prove to me that thousands, or even one, have
felt that which strengthens and consoles me. And, therefore, the word
of man is for me the word of God, whether by parsons or prostitutes
it has been brought together, enrolled in the canon, or flung as
fragments to the winds. And with my innermost soul I fall as a brother
on the neck of Moses! Prophet! Evangelist! Apostle! Spinoza or
Machiavelli! But to each I am permitted to say: 'Dear friend, it is
with you as it is with me; in the particular you feel yourself grand
and mighty, but the whole goes as little into your head as into
mine.'"
[Footnote 177: The letter is addressed to Heinrich Pfenninger, an
engraver in Zurich, who engraved some of the plates in Lavater's book
on Physiognomy.--_Werke, Briefe_, Band ii. pp. 155-6.]
On June 23rd Lavater arrived in Frankfort, where during four days he
was entertained as a guest in the Goethe household. The news of his
coming had created a lively interest in all sections of the community,
and during his stay he was besieged by admiring crowds, especially of
women, who insisted even on seeing the bedchamber where the prophet
slept.
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