]
[Footnote 224: _Werke, Briefe_, ii. 266.]
[Footnote 225: Cornelia died in June, 1777, when Goethe was settled in
Weimar.]
[Footnote 226: On Cornelia's death he wrote to his mother: "Mit meiner
Schwester ist mir so eine starcke Wurzel die mich an der Erde hielt
abgehauen worden, dass die Aeste von oben, die davon Nahrung haben,
auch absterben muessen."]
It had been Goethe's original intention to end his travels with the
visit to his sister, but, as their main object was as far off as ever,
he decided to rejoin his late companions and to accompany them to
Switzerland. By way of Schaffhausen they proceeded to Zurich, where
Goethe's first act was to seek Lavater. Their talk during his stay in
Zurich mainly turned on Lavater's great work on Physiognomy, to which
Goethe had continuously contributed by help and counsel, though from
the first he was sceptical of its scientific value. Their intercourse
was as cordial as it had been in the previous year, and Lavater was
subjugated more than ever by the personality of Goethe. "Who can think
more differently than Goethe and I," he wrote to Wieland, who was
still suspicious of his youthful adversary, "and yet we are devoted to
each other.
Pages:
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340