Allusion has already been made to the acquaintance which he formed with
Goethe this summer. That Beethoven had the highest esteem for the poet,
there is no doubt. In speaking of him in after years, he said, "Who can
thank sufficiently a great poet? He is the most precious jewel of the
nation" (kostbarste Kleinod einer Nation), which is much like Carlyle's
remark on the great poet. "The appearance of such a man (Goethe) at any
given era, is in my opinion the greatest thing that can happen in it. A
man who has the soul to think and be the moral guide of his own nation
and of the whole world." Goethe and Beethoven were on friendly terms and
saw a good deal of one another during this summer. The acquaintance must
have made a powerful impression on Beethoven. Goethe, the senior by many
years, whose transcendent intellect had won him a world-wide reputation,
was no doubt the cynosure of all eyes. Toeplitz was full of notabilities.
Thayer gives a long list of prominent persons, from royalty down, who
sojourned there this summer.
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