. Stilling
himself relates how, when one at the table directed a gibe at him, it
was Goethe who rebuked the railer. When Stilling was in despair at the
news of the illness of his betrothed, it was to Goethe he flew for
comfort, and he found him a friend in need. At a later date Goethe
published Stilling's Autobiography without his knowledge, and
presented him with the copyright. It was with the lively recollection
of these and other acts of friendship that Stilling wrote the words
which are the finest tribute ever paid to Goethe: "Goethe's heart,
which few knew, was as great as his intellect, which all knew."[73]

[Footnote 72: Goethe's personal appearance made such a remarkable
impression on all who met him that it deserves to be more minutely
described. In stature he was slightly over the middle height, though
the poise of his head, both in youth and age, gave the impression of
greater tallness. Till past his thirtieth year he was notably slender
in figure, a defect in symmetry being the observable shortness of the
legs, and he walked with swift, elastic step. The foot was elegantly
shaped, but the hand was that of the descendant of ancestors who had
been engaged in manual labour. The head was of oval form, the chin
small and feminine, the height of the forehead remarkable. The face,
which (in youth) gave the impression of smallness, was brown in
complexion; the nose was delicately formed and slightly curved; the
hair brown, abundant, and usually dishevelled. The feature which
struck all who met him for the first time was the eyes, which were
brown in colour, large, and widely-opened, with the white conspicuous,
and piercingly bright.--An exhaustive study of the portraits and busts
of Goethe will be found in _Goethes Kopf und Gestalt von Karl Bauer_,
Berlin, 1908.]

[Footnote 73: Stilling elsewhere says: "Schade, dass so wenige diesen
vortrefflichen Menschen seinem Herzen nach kennen!" Others used
similar expressions regarding Goethe's mind and heart.]

Neither in Frankfort, nor in Leipzig, nor in Strassburg had Goethe as
yet met the man in whom he could recognise his intellectual peer. In
the beginning of September, 1770, however, there came to Strassburg
one who, for the first time, impressed him with a sense of
inferiority. This was Johann Gottfried Herder, who, some five years
Goethe's senior, had a career behind him widely different from that of
the fortunate son of the Imperial Councillor of Frankfort. Born o