tion; and was made happy by
the possession of a fac-simile of it, engraved on stone, which he
considered a precious memorial.

The noble Lord, however, did not abandon his purpose of proclaiming
to the world his valued kindness towards his German contemporary and
brother poet, a precious evidence of which was placed in front of the
tragedy of Werner. It will be readily believed, when so unhoped for
an honour was conferred upon the German poet,--one seldom experienced
in life, and that too from one himself so highly distinguished,--he
was by no means reluctant to express the high esteem and sympathising
sentiment with which his unsurpassed contemporary had inspired him.
The task was difficult, and was found the more so, the more it was
contemplated;--for what can be said of one whose unfathomable
qualities are not to be reached by words? But when a young gentleman,
Mr. Sterling, of pleasing person and excellent character, in the
spring of 1823, on a journey from Genoa to Weimar, delivered a few
lines under the hand of the great man as an introduction, and when
the report was soon after spread that the noble Peer was about to
direct his great mind and various power to deeds of sublime daring
beyond the ocean, there appeared to be no time left for further
delay, and the following lines were hastily written[1]:--

[Footnote 1: I insert the verses in the original language, as an
English version gives but a very imperfect notion of their meaning.]

"Ein freundlich Wort kommt eines nach dem andern
Von Sueden her und bringt uns frohe Stunden;
Es ruft uns auf zum Edelsten zu wandern,
Nich ist der Geist, doch ist der Fuss gebunden.

"Wie soil ich dem, den ich so lang begleitet,
Nun etwas Traulich's in die Ferne sagen?
Ihm der sich selbst im Innersten bestreitet,
Stark angewohnt das tiefste Weh zu tragen.

"Wohl sey ihm doch, wenn er sich selbst empfindet!
Er wage selbst sich hoch beglueckt zu nennen,
Wenn Musenkraft die Schmerzen ueberwindet,
Und wie ich ihn erkannt moeg' er sich kennen.

"The verses reached Genoa, but the excellent friend to whom they were
addressed was already gone, and to a distance, as it appeared,
inaccessible. Driven back, however, by storms, he landed at Leghorn,
where these cordial lines reached him just as he was about to embark,
on the 24th of July, 1823. He had barely time to answer by a
well-filled page, which the possessor has preserved among his most
precious papers