Klopstock  and  Lessing  had  won  the  religious  and
intellectual  classes ;  so  Wieland  gained  unbounded
popularity  with  the  world  of  elegaut  fashion,  whom
the  greater  writers  were  too  grave  to  reach.  Here-
tofore the  elegant  world  had  recognized  no  culture
but  the  French,  and  not  believed  in  the  possibility


KLOPSTQCK.    WIELAND,   HERDER.  311

of  a  readable  G«rmau  book.  To  Wieland  belongs
the  credit  of  winuing  from  them  aome  respect  for
their  despised  mother-tongue,  and  be  may,  there-
fore, be  mentioned  with  the  grander  names  who  were
preparing  for  the  new  day,  trifling  though  he  may
be  in  comparison.  Hia  popularity  was  immense ;
Napoleon  gave  him  the  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of
Honor ;  Alexander  of  Russia  made  him  a  noble.
He  wrought  his  vein  with  true  German  patience,
doing  some  of  his  best  work  beyond  his  seventieth
year,  showing  to  the  world  at  last  forty-two  solid
volumes  of  accomplishment.  His  sunny,  amiable
nature  made  him  a  favorite,  and  one  is  drawn
toward  him  more  strongly  than  toward  many  of  his
greater  contemporaries,  when  we  read  that  he  was
singularly  free  from  envy  and  unmanly  sensitive-
ness. It  should  be  reckoned  among  his  deserts  that
he  appreciated  and  translated  Shakespeare.
