t he carried it with him as his
companion in his Egyptian campaign, and that in his interview with
Goethe he made it the principal theme of their conversation. To the
literary youth of Germany, we are told, _Werther_ no longer appeals;
but such statements can be based only on conjecture, and we may be
certain that in all countries there are still to be found readers to
whom the record of Werther's woes seems to have been written for
themselves.[165]

[Footnote 163: Eckermann, _op. cit._, January 2nd, 1824.]

[Footnote 164: The _accidie_ of the Middle Ages was a form of
Wertherism. _Cf._ Chaucer's _Parson's Tale_.]

[Footnote 165: It may be recalled that _Werther_ was throughout his
life one of R.L. Stevenson's favourite books. See his Letter to Mrs.
Sitwell, September 6th, 1873, [Transcriber's Note: corrected error
"1773"] and ch. xix. of _The Wrecker_.]

By a curious coincidence Goethe had hardly made a "general confession"
in the writing of _Werther_ when he was led to make another
"confession" in a work of less resounding notoriety, but equally
interesting as a revelation of himself. In his Autobiography he has
related the origin of the piece. In the spring of 1774 there fell into
his hands the recently published _Memoires_[166] of the French
playwright Beaumarchais, which told a story that reawakened painful
memories of his own past. Beaumarchais had two sisters in Madrid, one
married to an architect; the other, named Marie, betrothed to Clavigo,
a publicist of rising fame. On Clavigo's promotion to the post of
royal archivist he throws his betrothed over, and the news of his
faithlessness brings Beaumarchais to Madrid. In an interview with
Clavigo he compels him, under the threat of a duel, to write and
subscribe a confession of his unjustifiable treachery. To avert
exposure, however, Clavigo offers to renew his engagement to Marie,
and Beaumarchais accepts the condition. Clavigo again plays false, and
obtains from the authorities an order expelling Beaumarchais from
Madrid. Through the good offices of a retired Minister, however,
Beaumarchais succeeds in communicating the whole story to the king,
with the result that Clavigo is dismissed from his post.

[Footnote 166: _Fragment de mon voyage d'Espagne.--Memoires de
Monsieur Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais_, tome ii.]

We see the points in the narrative of Beaumarchais which must have
touched Goethe to the quick. He also had played the false lover to