Goethe As A Freemason.

GOETHE AS A FREEMASON .

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , the . most , eminent literary man of t ^ e . lSltlr century , was Born at Frankforton-thq-3 ! # aih , August-28 thy 1749 , and died at Weimar , March 22 nd , 1862 . As a child , Goethe was precocious , very handsome , of a lively disposition , and very sensitive . His early education was wholly domestic , and the

variety of his studies was as remarkable as Ms acquisition of knowledge was prodigious . Before he was ten years of age , ho wrote several languages , meditated poems , invented stories , and had a considerable familiarity with works of art . As a youth , his high animal vigour , beauty , his frank and candid manners , and above

all , his budding and irrepressible genius , made him the delight of every circle ; and while he mastered with an easy grace , the manifold sciences and arts of a German university , he was no less au fait in those wayward and capricious sports , iu the love-makings and the merrymakings which are natural to this period of life . During

his career as a student at the university of Strasburg , he became acquainted with Herder , whose friendship was of the greatest use to him , as it expanded the horizon of his mind , introduced him to the reading of Shakspeare , Goldsmith , and other English classics , and deepened his moral and religious tone , by awakening

within him . a profounder sense of the grand poetry of the Hebrew Scriptures . The Cathedral of Strasbm-g , that master-piece of old Germanic art , shared with Herder the honour of having contributed to the development of his faculties . Impetuous and headlong as he was , there was already a tendency to be observed in the

youth , to valu 5 external objects , human and others , as they assisted in that deep and varied culture which he began to make the principal aim of his existence . His intercourse with Schiller , who divided with him , the

suffrages of the poetic German world , though cold at first , ripened into one of the most enduring and beautiful friendships in literary annals . Schiller ' s influence upon him was both stimulating aud ennobling , and from this time forth , we find him engaged in pz-oducing his grandest works . Finally , after producing numerous poetic and other compositions ,

the great work of his life saw the light , and raised him at once to the highest pinnacle of fame . The fable of Faust had beeu familiar to him as a child ; he had thought of it , and laboured upon it during the AA-hole of his youth , and now iu the ripeness of his manhood , it had taken its final shape , and came forth in tho most wonderfully varied and touching drama that the world

ever saw . It appeals to all minds with the irresistible fascination of an eternal problem , and Avith the charm of endless variety . It has every element—wit , pathos , wisdom , buffoonery , mystery , melody , reverence , doubt , magic , and irony ; not a chord of the lyre is unstrung , not a fibre of the heart untouched . It is at once a problem and a picture—a problem embracing all

questions of vital importance ; a picture representing all opinions , all sentiments , all classes moving on the stage of life . The last years of his life were years of productiveness , labour , contentment , and honour . The stormy and errant impulses of his youth had been subdued ; he had mastered himselfand his circumstances the great problem

, ; of life , which had filled him with strife ancl impatience , lay clear before him . A sombre hue had fallen upon , without clouding , the serenity of his later years ; and a more genial , active , useful , and distinguished old age , has seldom been enjoyed . But it is with Goethe as a Freemason that we have

more particularly to do at this time . In the new hall of tiie lodge at Weimar , is still preserved as a precious relic , the German poet's autograph petition for initiation . It bears the date of -February 13 th , 1780 , and is addressed to the Master of the Lodge " Amalia , " Privy Counsellor von Fritsch , in the following words : — "I take the liberty of importuning your excellency

with a request . Long ago I had occasion to wish that I might belong to the society of Freemasons , and this wisb became more ardent during our last journey . This titleonly was wanting to have enabled me to become more closely intimate with persons whom I had learned to esteem ; and is this social feeling alone that prompts me to seek for initiation . To whom them can I better apply

, than to your excellency ? I shall await the kind instructions you shall be pleased to give me in this matter ,, aud subscribe myself , respectfully , your excellency ' s " Most obedient servant , " GoEIUE . "

On St . John's ere , June 23 , 1780 , Goethe , then thirtyone years of age , was initiated into Masonry , in the-Lodge . "Amalia , " the celebrated Bro . Bode presiding as Master on the occasion . On the 23 rd of June , 1781 , he was passed to the degree of a Fellow Graft , and on the 2 nd of March , 1782 , was raised to the degree of Master - Mason . In the course of the same year , he received

thehigher degrees of the Strict Observance System . Sometime after , the Lodge " Amalia , " became inactive , and was not revived until 1808 , at which time we find Bros . Goethe and Bertuch , zealously co-operating in its re-organisation . At the election of officers , ab which twelve Masters were present , Goethe received , three votesand Bertuch nine . Neverthelesswe find :

, , that Goethe was the soul of his lodge—all the more important discourses , songs , regulations , & c , of the lodge ,, being either composed by him , or submitted to his profound and critical judgment , for approval . He also succeeded in inducing his lodge to adopt the system of the Grand Lodge of Hamburg , iu place of the former system of the Strict Observance .

Many of Goethe ' s works , especially his "Wilhelm-Meister , " and the " Wander-Jahre , " reflect unmistakeable Masonic ideas , and are imbued with the spirit of Masonic fraternity , and Masonic symbolism . Among his poems and songs , are several which were composed by him expressly for his lodge , the principal of which are entitled ,. "Symbolism , " "The Sorrow Lodge , " "The Singer ' s

Thanks , " and " To the Worthy Brother , Feast of St . John , 1830 . " A poem in which he expressed his thanks for the compliment paid him by his lodge , in celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of his initiation . This poem , composed only two years before his death , shows how truly and faithfully he had clung through life to his Masonic connections . He also wrote many other songs and ballads , which , though not intended for the lodge , were evidently composed for social Masonic gatherings .

Great as Goethe Avas in all his works , he was greatest in his songs and ballads . They are the spontaneous out-gushings ofhis minds , in all its moods—a melodious diary of his daily and almost hourly fluctuations of feeling ; the breathings of his inward life , the sparkling perennial jets of his momentary affections and thoughts . There is the perpetual freshness and-bloom about them

of new spring floAvers . Even when they seem most trivial , they ring through us like snatches of music . So perfect is the correspondence of form and substance , that their charm , as a whole , defies analysis . It is felt , but cannot be detected . Then , again , how diversified they are , some as simple as the lisping of a child , others wildgrotesquelveirdand unearthland others again

, , , y ; , lofty , proud , defiant , like tho words of a Titan , heaping ; his scorn on the gods . Goethe died as he had lived , a true-hearted , zealous , and unwearied man , and Mason . His last words , as he calmly and peacefully sunk to rest , were " more light . "