beneath the first, and does not seem to have been guessed by the German commentators. The only special reason why Faust appears in the mask of Plutus is the part which Mephistopheles arranges for him to play at the Emperor’s Court—to assist in restoring the shattered finances of the realm by a scheme of paper-money based on buried treasure. At this point, and hence to the close of the Carnival Masquerade, a thread taken from the regular course of the drama is also introduced, and lightly woven into the allegory. There is no difficulty in following both, and we might, if it were really necessary, be satisfied without looking further; but the conversation between Plutus and the Boy Charioteer, on pages 41 and 44, provokingly hints of an additional meaning. When Plutus says “soul of my soul art thou!” it is certainly not Wealth speaking to Art: when the Boy Charioteer says “as my next of kindred, do I love thee!” it is certainly not Art speaking to Wealth.
The Chancellor von Miiller, in his work: “Goethe as a Man of Action,” was the first and only one to discover the key to these expressions. The noble and intimate relation which for fifty years existed between the Grand Duke Karl August and Goethe—the Ruler and the Poet—is here most delicately and feelingly drawn. The manner in which the Grand Duke assisted Goethe in his flight into Italy; the care with which he watched lest the duties of his office should interfere with his poetic and scientific activity; the beautiful renown given by the latter in return for this freedom,—are all indicated in a few lines. When the Herald first describes Plutus, it is neither Faust nor Wealth whom we see, but Karl August as Goethe saw him:—
“Blest those, who may his favor own!
No more has he to earn or capture;
His glance detects where aught’s amiss,
And to bestow his perfect rapture
Is more than ownership and bliss.”
The correspondence between Goethe and the Grand Duke so thoroughly justifies this interpretation, that I do not see how it can be avoided. The strong impression which I have
