might be led in the ways of wise rulership.  For the nonce this was mission enough.  He took his seat in the Council in June, 1776, with the title of Councilor of Legation.  At first there was not very much for him to do except to familiarize himself with the physical and economic conditions of the little duchy.  This he did with a will.  He set about studying mineralogy, geology, botany, and was soon observing the homologies of the vertebrate skeleton.  Withal he was very attentive to routine business.

[Illustration:  1.  GOETHE’S GARDEN HOUSE IN WEIMAR]

[Illustration:  2.  GOETHE’S HOUSE IN WEIMAR]

One after another important departments of administration were turned over to him, until he became, in 1782, the President of the Chambers and hence the leading statesman of the duchy.

All this produced a sobering and clarifying effect.  The inner storm and stress gradually subsided, and the new Goethe—­statesman, scientific investigator, man of the world, courtier, friend of princes—­came to see that after all feeling was not everything, and that its untrammeled expression was not the whole of art.  Form and decorum counted for more than he had supposed, and revolution was not the word of wisdom.  Self-control was the only basis of character, and limitation lay at the foundation of all art.  To work to make things better, even in a humble sphere, was better than to fret over the badness of the world.  Nature’s method was that of bit-by-bit progress, and to puzzle out her ways was a noble and fascinating employment.  In this general way of thinking he was confirmed by the study of Spinoza’s Ethics, a book which, as he said long afterwards, quieted his passions and gave him a large and free outlook over the world.  In this process of quieting the passions some influence must be ascribed to Charlotte von Stein, a woman in whom, for some twelve years of his life, he found his muse and his madonna.  His letters often address her in terms of idolatrous endearment.  She was a wife and a mother, but Weimar society regarded her relation to Goethe as a platonic attachment not to be condemned.

The artistic expression of the new life in Weimar is found in various short poems, notably Wanderer’s Nightsong, Ilmenau, The Divine, and The Mysteries; also in a number of plays which were written for the amateur stage of the court circle.  The Weimarians were very fond of play-acting, and Goethe became their purveyor of dramatic supplies.  It was to meet this demand that he wrote Brother and Sister (Die Geschwister), The Triumph of Sentimentalism, The Fisher-maid, The Birds, and other pieces.  Much more important than any of these bagatelles, which were often hastily composed for a birthday celebration or some other festive occasion, are the two fine poetic dramas, Iphigenie and Tasso.  The former was first written rather rapidly in stately rhythmic prose and played by the amateurs, with Goethe