66 Goethe's Visit to Beireis. [JAN. 



juggleries, and everywhere find proselytes? Is it too much to say, that 

 a certain superstitious Belief in Daemonic Men will never cease ; nay, that 

 in every time it will find itself a habitation, where the problematically 

 True, for which, in theory alone, we have respect, may, in practice, 

 marry itself, with all convenience, to the designedly False ? 



The agreeable society had kept us longer in Helmstadt than we pur- 

 posed. Hofrath Beireis had shewn himself, in every sense, kindly and 

 communicative ; yet of his main treasure, the Diamond, far from exhibit- 

 ing it, he had not so much as spoken. No one of the Helmstadt uni- 

 versity men had seen it ; and an oft-repeated tale, that this invaluable 

 Stone was no longer in its place, served him, as we heard, for an excuse 

 to strangers also. He was wont, it appeared, to state, with a confiden- 

 tial air, that he had caused twelve sealed caskets, perfectly alike, to be 

 made, in one of which the Jewel lay. These twelve caskets he had dis- 

 tributed among distant friends, each of whom fancied himself in posses- 

 sion of the Treasure ; while he alone knew who had it. We had reason 

 to fear, therefore, that our inquiry after this wonder of nature would 

 likewise be refused. Happily, however, shortly before our departure, 

 there occurred what follows. 



One morning he shewed us, in a volume of Tournefort's Travels, the 

 figures of various natural diamonds, which, in the egg shape, with par- 

 tial transition into the kindney and pap shape, had been found among 

 the treasures of the Orientals. After having well impressed the form 

 on us, he, without further ceremony, brought out, from his right breeches- 

 pocket, the remarkable Production itself. In size like a moderate goose- 

 egg ; it was completely clear, transparent, yet without trace of having 

 been polished; on the side you observed a slight hump, a kidney- 

 shaped excrescence, whereby the Stone had a perfect resemblance to 

 those figures. 



With his customary staid composure, he then shewed some ambi- 

 guous experiments, that were to prove the genuineness of the Diamond ; 

 with a little rubbing the Stone attracted paper- clippings ; the English 

 file seemed not to harm it ; yet he hurried over these tests, and told us 

 the oft-repeated story, how he had tried it under a muffle ; and at the 

 glorious spectacle of the rising flame, had quite forgotten to moderate 

 and extinguish the fire, whereby the Stone had, in a few moments, lost 

 above a million crowns in value. Notwithstanding which, he reckoned 

 himself happy that he had seen a fire- work, such as kaisers and kings 

 might long for in vain. 



While he held forth loquaciously on this point, I, mindful of chomatic 

 proofs, was holding up the Wonder-egg before my eyes, to view the 

 horizontal window-bars through it : but found the stripes of colour not 

 broader than a rock-crystal would have given them ; whereby I might 

 henceforth privily have my doubts whether this world-renowned trea- 

 sure was quite genuine. And so, by the head rhodomontade of our 

 wondrous friend, may this visit of ours be fitly crowned. 



Such is Goethe's account of Hofrath Beireis, himself a more remark- 

 able Product of Nature and Art, than any item in that Seven- wonder 

 Museum of his. We have learned elsewhere that he departed this life 

 in the year 1809 ; and, in spite of boiled Crabs, and the universale, and 

 all his cunning spagiric food, was snapt up by the Undertaker, and con- 



