found--all that he now ever dreamed of finding--of his beloved poet
on the highest point of the slope, and to mark the spot by a simple
monument, so that travellers at their first approach might know
where the head of Schiller lay. One forenoon in early spring he led
Frau von Wolzogen and the Chancellor von Muller to the spot. They
approved his plan, and the remaining members of Schiller's family--
all of whom had left Weimar--signified their assent. They 'did not
desire,' as one of themselves expressed it, 'to strive against
Nature's appointment that man's earthly remains should be reunited
with herself;' they would prefer that their father's dust should
rest in the ground rather than anywhere else. But the Grand Duke
and Goethe decided otherwise.

"Dannecker's colossal bust of Schiller had recently been acquired
for the Grand Ducal library, where it had been placed on a lofty
pedestal opposite the bust of Goethe; and in this pedestal, which
was hollow, it was resolved to deposit the skull. The consent of
the family having been obtained, the solemnity was delayed till the
arrival of Ernst von Schiller, who could not reach Weimar before
autumn. On September the 17th the ceremony took place. A few
persons had been invited, amongst whom, of course, was the
Burgermeister. Goethe, more suo, dreaded the agitation and remained
at home, but sent his son to represent him as chief librarian. A
cantata having been sung, Ernst von Schiller, in a short speech,
thanked all persons present, but especially the Burgermeister, for
the love they had shown to the memory of his father. He then
formally delivered his father's head into the hands of the younger
Goethe, who, reverently receiving it, thanked his friend in Goethe's
name, and having dwelt on the affection that had subsisted between
their fathers vowed that the precious relic should thenceforward be