The Emperor conferred the Cross of the Legion of Honour on Wieland, a mark of Imperial favour which he likewise showed to Goethe. The interview between Napoleon and the latter took place on the 2nd October 1808, in the presence of Talleyrand, Daru, Berthier, and Savary. “You are a man!” he exclaimed, either in a burst of admiration or of flattery, and then he asked the poet his age and particulars of his work, adding that he had read “Werther” seven times and had taken the volume to Egypt. “After various remarks, all very just,” says Goethe, “he pointed out a passage, and asked me why I had written so, it was contrary to nature. This opinion he developed in great clearness. I listened calmly, and smilingly replied that I did not know whether the objection had been made before; but that I found it perfectly just.... The Emperor seemed satisfied and returned to the drama, criticising it like a man who had studied the tragic stage with the attention of a criminal judge, and who was keenly alive to the fault of the French in departing from nature. He disapproved of all pieces in which Fate played a part. ‘Those pieces belong to a dark epoch. Besides, what do they mean by Fate? Politics are Fate!’” Even more interesting perhaps, because it so essentially reveals Napoleon’s outlook on life, was a remark he made at a later meeting at which both Wieland and Goethe were present. He wished the latter to treat of the “Death of Cæsar.” “That,” he said, “should be the great task of your life. In that tragedy you should show the world how much Cæsar would have done for humanity, if only he had been allowed time to carry out his great plans.” When we reflect on the events which had immediately preceded this notable utterance, on the grandiose schemes which were then being actively promulgated by the speaker for the conquest of Europe and the advancement of his Empire of the West, we can understand why Napoleon wished to woo this literary giant to his cause. “Come to Paris,” Napoleon said in his abrupt, commanding way, “I desire it of you. There you will find a wider circle for your spirit of observation; there you will find enormous material for poetic creations.” But it was not to be; Goethe had other wishes and ideals. Had he acceded to the despot’s request the result would have been no more felicitous than that which had attended Voltaire’s removal to the Court of Frederick the Great. Goethe loved Prussia too well to desert her, and while he admired Napoleon in some ways he did not admire him in all.