Whether those
who have believed that Humanity must ever advance in a
course of ceaseless improvement, and that the great ideas of
its order and dignity were not empty dreams, but the pro-
phetic announcement and pledge of their own future reali-
zation ;--whether those--or they who have slumbered on in
the sluggish indolence of a mere vegetable or animal exis-
tence, and mocked every aspiration towards a higher World
--have had the right,--this is the question upon which it
has fallen to your lot to furnish a last and decisive answer.
who have believed that Humanity must ever advance in a
course of ceaseless improvement, and that the great ideas of
its order and dignity were not empty dreams, but the pro-
phetic announcement and pledge of their own future reali-
zation ;--whether those--or they who have slumbered on in
the sluggish indolence of a mere vegetable or animal exis-
tence, and mocked every aspiration towards a higher World
--have had the right,--this is the question upon which it
has fallen to your lot to furnish a last and decisive answer.
Fichte - Nature of the Scholar
Thou wert recovering,
although thy lines are feeble; at least I trust to thy own as-
surance rather than to that of friends who would reach me
Q
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? 114 MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
the cup of despondency in measured doses. Thou knowest
me;-- thou knowest that untruth does not suit me;--thou
wilt continue truthful towards me. This letter will find thee
living and in health. "
*>>** *
"One passage of Bernhardi's letter has deeply touched
me;--that where he speaks of our Hermann. Let the boy
be pure and noble,--(and why should he not, since he has
certainly not one drop of false blood from thee, and I know
that there is no such thing in me which he could inherit ? )
--and let him learn what he can. If I but had you both,
--you who are my riches,--in my arms again, that I might
try whether I could improve the treasure! Live thou to love
me and thy boy;--I and he, if he has a drop of my blood in
his veins, will try to recompense thee for it. "
***? ?
"Again, thou dear one, had I to struggle against the an-
guish which secretly assailed me because I had no tidings
of thee yesterday, when I received your letter of the 15th,
delayed probably in its transmission . God be praised that
your recovery goes on well! You receive now regular and
good news from me; our friend also must now have been
with thee for a long time; and when you receive this letter
you will probably find yourself enabled to prepare for your
journey to me. You will, indeed, certainly not receive it be-
fore the close of this so sorrowful year. God grant to thee,
and to all brave hearts who deserve it, a better new one! "
**** ?
"Do not come here, but stay where thou art, for I am very
dissatisfied here, and with good grounds; and if, as seems
probable, a favourable change of affairs should take place, I
shall endeavour to return to my old quarters, and so be with
you again. This was the meaning of what I wrote to you
in my last letter,--but I had not then come to a settled re-
solution about it.
"Live in health and peace, and in hope of better times,
as I do. I bless thee from my inmost heart, am with thee
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? REMOVAL TO COPENHAGEN.
115
in spirit, and rejoice in the happy anticipation of seeing thee
again. Ever thine. "--
The hopes which were founded on the result of the battle
of Eylau (8th February 1807), and which seem to be referred
to in the preceding letter, were speedily dispelled; and the
subsequent progress of the war rendered Fichte's residence
at Konigsberg no longer safe or desirable. His communi-
cations with his family had also become very irregular and
uncertain . He consequently determined on a removal to
Copenhagen, there to await the termination of the war. He
left Konigsberg in the beginning of June, and, after a short
stay at Memel, arrived at the Danish capital about the middle
of the following month. The impossibility of engaging in
any continuous occupation during this period of uncertainty
and hazard seems to have exposed him, as well as his family,
to considerable pecuniary difficulties and privations. On the
other hand, his unswerving devotion to his country, and the
sacrifices he had cheerfully made for her sake, had gained
for him the sincere esteem of the Prussian Government, and
no inconsiderable influence in its counsels. At the end of
August 1807 peace was concluded, and Fichte returned to
his family after a separation of nearly a year.
With the return of peace, the Prussian Government deter-
mined to repair the loss of political importance by fostering
among its citizens the desire of intellectual distinction and
the love of free speculation . It seemed to the eminent men
who then stood around the throne of Frederick-William, that
the temple of German independence had now to be rebuilt
from its foundations; that the old stock of liberty having
withered, or been swept away in the tornado which had just
passed over their heads, a new growth must take its place,
springing from a deeper root and quickened by a fresher
stream. One of the first means which suggested itself for
the attainment of this purpose, was the establishment at
Berlin of a new school of higher education, free from the im-
perfections of the old Universities, from which, as from the
spiritual heart of the community, a current of life and energy
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? 116
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
might be poured forth through all its members. Fichte was
chosen by the Minister as the man before all others fitted
for this task, and unlimited power was given him to frame
for the new University a constitution which should ensure
its efficiency and success. No employment could have been
more congenial to Fichte's inclinations;--it presented him
at last with the long-wished-for opportunity of developing a
systematic plan of human instruction, founded on the spirit-
ual nature of man. He entered with ardour upon the under-
taking, and towards the end of 1807 his plan was completed
and laid before the Minister. Its chief feature was perfect
unity of purpose, complete subordination of every branch of
instruction to the one great object of all teaching,--not the
inculcation of opinion, but the spiritual culture and elevation
of the student. The institution was to be an organic whole;
--an assemblage, not of mere teachers holding various and
perhaps opposite views, and living only to disseminate these,
but of men animated by a common purpose, and steadily
pursuing one recognised object. The office of the Professor
was not to repeat verbally what already stood printed in
books, and might be found there; but to exercise a diligent
supervision over the studies of the pupil, and to see that he
fully acquired, by his own effort, and as a personal and in-
dependent possession, the branch of knowledge which was
the object of his studies. It was thus a school for the scien-
tific use of the understanding, in which positive or historical
knowledge was to be looked upon only as a vehicle of in-
struction, not as an ultimate end:--spiritual independence,
intellectual strength, moral dignity,--these were the great
ends to the attainment of which everything else was but
the instrument. The plan met with distinguished appro-
bation from the Minister to whom it was presented; and if,
when the University was actually established some time
afterwards, the ordinary and more easily fulfilled constitu-
tion of such schools was followed, it is to be attributed to
the management of the undertaking having passed into
other hands, and to the difficulty of finding teachers who
would cooperate in the accomplishment of the scheme.
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? "REDEN AN DIE DEUTSCHEN. " 117
But the misfortunes ofhis country induced Fichte to make
a yet more direct attempt to rouse the fallen spirit of liberty,
and once more to awaken in the hearts of his countrymen
the desire of independence which now lay crushed beneath
a foreign yoke. Prussia was the last forlorn hope of German
freedom, and it now seemed to lie wholly at the mercy of
the conqueror. The native government could be little else
than a mockery while the capital of the country was still
occupied by French troops. Fichte was well aware of the
dangers attending any open attempt to excite a spirit of op-
position to the French, but he was not accustomed to weigh
danger against duty; with him there was but short pause
between conviction and action. "The sole question," said
he to himself, "is this:--canst thou hope that the good to
be attained is greater than the danger? The good is the re-
awakening and elevation of the people; against which my
personal danger is not to be reckoned, but for which it may
rather be most advantageously incurred. My family and my
son shall not want the support of the nation,--the least of
the advantages of having a martyr for their father. This is
the best choice. I could not devote my life to a better end. "
Thus heroically resolved that he, at least, should not be
wanting in his duty to his fatherland, he delivered his cele-
brated "Reden an die Deutschen"--(Addresses to the German
People)--in the academical buildings in Berlin during the
winter 1807-8. His voice was often drowned by the trum-
pets of the French troops, and well-known spies frequently
made their appearance among his auditory; but he continued,
undismayed, to direct all the fervour of his eloquence against
the despotism of Napoleon and the system of spoiling and
oppression under which his country groaned. It is somewhat
singular, that while Davoust threatened the chief literary
men of Berlin with vengeance if they should either speak or
write upon the political state of Germany, Fichte should have
remained unmolested--the only one who did speak out,
openly and fearlessly, against the foreign yoke.
The " Reden an die Deutschen " belong to the history of
Germany, and in its literary annals they are well entitled to
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? 118
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
a distinguished and honourable place. Among the many
striking phenomena of that eventful period there is none
that exceeds in real interest and instructiveness this one of
a literary man, single-handed and surrounded by foreign
troops, setting before him, as a duty which he of all others
was called upon to fulfil, the task of a people's regeneration.
Uniting the patriot's enthusiasm with the prophet's inspira-
tion, Fichte raised a voice whose echoes rang through every
corner of Germany, and summoned to the rescue of his coun-
try all that remained of nobleness and devotion among her
sons. It was to no vain display of military glory that he
roused and directed their efforts:--he sought to erect the
structure of his country's future welfare and fame on a far
deeper and surer foundation. In strains of the most fer-
vid and impassioned eloquence he pointed out the true re-
medies for the national degradation,--the culture of moral
dignity, spiritual freedom, and independence. In these Ad-
dresses he first announced the plan and delineated all the
chief features of that celebrated system of Public Education
which has since conferred such inestimable benefits on Prus-
sia, and raised her, in this respect, to a proud pre-eminence
among the nations of Europe. * Never were a people called
* " Fichte may thus be regarded as the originator of the well-known Prus-
sian system of Education. Baron von Stein, the great Minister of Prussia
at this time, no doubt took the first steps towards its practical realization;
but it is not the less true that to Fichte alone belongs the honour of hav-
ing first given utterance to the great idea of a common Education as the
basis of a common Nationality among the German people. This noble
scheme of national regeneration, which has since borne such wonderful fruit,
is comprehensively set forth in the "Reden an die Deutschen. " In later
times, Germany has not been forgetful of those who thus, in evil days, laid
the foundations of her future unity and greatness. On the Centenary of
Fichte's birth, 19th May 1862, a Festival was celebrated at Berlin, under
the auspices of the National Verein, in honour of his memory. The Time*' correspondent, writing the following day, says:--" Yesterday morning, very
early, a great number of Fichte's admirers assembled at his grave in the old Dorotheenstadt churchyard outside the Oranienburg gate. The place
had been put in order, the monument repaired, the grave decked with
flowers and garlands. They sang there the first verse of the fine old chorale
Ein'feKte Burg itt unter Gott, and a clergyman delivered an appropriate dis-
course. The house on the New Promenade, in which Fichte for many years
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? "REDEN AN DIE DEUTSCHEN. "
119
upon to arouse themselves to a nobler enterprize, and
never was such a summons pealed forth in tones of more
manly and spirit-stirring energy. The last Address is a
noble appeal to the several classes of society in Germany
to unite, heart and hand, in forwarding the great work of
national regeneration. We quote the peroration:--
"In these addresses the memory of your forefathers speaks
to you. Think that with my voice there are mingled the
voices of your ancestors from the far-off ages of gray anti-
quity, of those who stemmed with their own bodies the tide
of Roman domination over the world, who vindicated with
their own blood the independence of those mountains,
lived, was decorated by the care of the committee for the celebration of the
anniversary with wreaths and laurels, and with draperies of black, red, and
gold, and of black and white, the German and Prussian colours. A memorial
slab was also set up against it--a temporary one to be presently replaced by
one of marble. At the University, Professor Trendelenburg made an excel-
lent speech. Fichte was the first rector of this University. From him, his
eulogist said, it had inherited the obligation to defend independence of
thought and opinion. The Crown Prince was present at the speech, and
afterwards complimented Trendelenburg upon it. The students, the workmen,
and various other corporations celebrated the day; but its most remarkable
feature was unquestionably the grand ceremony at the Victoria Theatre, got
up by the National Verein. The spacious stage, common to both the sum-
mer and the winter theatre, was completely cleared. In the centre of this
platform was a truncated column supporting a colossal bust of Fichte. Be-
hind and on either side of this was a numerous band of chorus singers,
and, behind them, some instrumentalists. At its foot was a slightly-
raised standing-place for the speakers. Dr. Veit, president of the committee,
opened the proceedings in a short speech. M. Berthold Anerbach, better
known as a literary man than as a politician, read a well-composed sketch
of Fichte's life. Deputy Franz Duncker read some very interesting personal
sketches and incidents, furnished by one of Fichte's oldest friends and dis-
ciples. Dr Loewe made a long spech, referring to the tendency of his writ-
ings, and chiefly of a political character. With a few more remarks from
the President, and another chorus by the singers, an evening terminated
which was remarkable for the excellence of its arrangements, and for the
gratification it apparently afforded to all present. " On the same day, a
granite column erected in honour of Fichte at his native village of Ram-
menau, and bearing four marble slabs with appropriate inscriptions, was
inaugurated by a public ceremony. --Ten years later, a memorial to Baron
Stein, erected at Nassau his birth-place in acknowledgment of the debt
which Prussia owes to him, was unveiled on 9th July 1872, in presence
of the Emperor, Empress, and Prince Imperial of Germany.
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? 120
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
plains, and streams, which ye have suffered to fall a prey
to the stranger. They call to you,--'Be you our defenders! --
'hand down our memory to future ages, honourable and
'spotless, as it has come down to you, as you have gloried in
'it, and in your descent from us. Hitherto our struggle has
'been deemed noble, great, and wise;--we have been looked
'upon as the consecrated and inspired ones of a Divine
'World-Plan. Should our race perish with you, then will
'our honour be changed into dishonour, our wisdom into
'folly. For if Germany were ever to be subdued to the Em-
'pire, then had it been better to have fallen before the elder
'Romans than their modern descendants. We withstood
'those, and triumphed; these have scattered you like chaff
'before them. But, as matters now are with you, seek not
'to conquer with bodily weapons, but stand firm and erect
'before them in spiritual dignity. Yours is the greater des-
'tiny,--to found an empire of Mind and Reason,--to destroy
'the dominion of rude physical power as the ruler of the
'world. Do this, and ye shall be worthy of your descent
'from us! '
"With these voices mingle the spirits of your later fa-
thers,--of those who fell in the sacred struggle for freedom
of Religion and of Faith:--' Save our honour too! ' they calL
'To us it had not become wholly clear what it was we fought
'for;--besides our just determination to suffer no outward
'power to control us in matters of conscience, we were also
'led onward by a higher spirit which never wholly unveiled
'itself to our view. To you this spirit is no longer veiled,
'if your power of vision transcend the things of sense;--it
'now regards you with high, clear aspect . The confused
'and intricate combination of sensous and spiritual impulses
'with each other shall no longer govern the world: Mind
'alone, pure from all admixture of sense, shall assume the
'guidance of human affairs. In order that this spirit should
'have liberty to develope itself, and rise to independent
'existence, our blood was shed. It lies with you to give a
'meaning and a justification to the sacrifice, by establishing
'this spirit in its destined supremacy. Should this result
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? "REDEN AN DIE DEUTSCHEN. "
121
'not ensue, as the ultimate end of the previous develop-
'ment of our nation, then were our struggles but a forgotten
'farce, and, the freedom of mind and conscience for which
'we fought, an empty word, since neither mind nor con-
'science should any longer have a place among us. '
"The races yet unborn plead with you:--' You were proud
'of your forefathers,' they cry,--'and gloried in your descent
'from a noble line of men. See that with you the chain is
'not broken;--act so that we also may be proud of you, and
'through you, as through a spotless medium, claim our des-
'cent from the same glorious source. Be not you the cause
'of making us revile our ancestry as low, barbarous, and
'slavish;--of causing us to hide our origin, or to assume a
'foreign name and a foreign parentage, in order that we
'may not, without farther proof, be cast aside and trodden
'underfoot . According as the next generation which pro-
'ceeds from you shall be, so shall be your future fame:
'honourable, if this shall bear honourable witness to you;
'deservedly ignominious, if ye have not an unblemished
'posterity to succeed you, and leave it to the conqueror to
'write your history. Never has a victor been known to 'have either the inclination or the means of passing a just 'judgment on the subdued. The more he degrades them,
'the better does he justify his own position. Who can
'know what great deeds, what excellent institutions, what
'noble manners of many nations of antiquity may have 'passed away into oblivion, because their succeeding genera- 'tions have been enslaved, and have left the conqueror, in
'his own way, and without contradiction, to tell their story? '
"Even the stranger in foreign lands pleads with you, in
so far as he understands himself and knows aright his own
true interest . Yes! there are in every nation minds who can
never believe that the great promises to the human race of
a Kingdom of Law, of Reason, and of Truth, are idle and
vain delusions, and who consequently cherish the conviction
that the present iron-handed time is but a progression to-
wards a better state. These, and with them the whole later
races of humanity, trust in you. A great part of these trace
R
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? 1-2-2
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
their lineage from us; others have received from us religion
and all other culture. Those plead with us, by the common
soil of our Fatherland, the cradle of their infancy, which they
have left to us free,--these by the culture which they have
accepted from us as the pledge of a higher good,--to main-
tain, for their sakes, the proud position which has hitherto
been ours, to guard with jealous watchfulness against even
the possible disappearance, from the great confederation of
a newly-arisen humanity, of that member which is to them
more important than all others; so that when they shall
need our counsel, our example, our cooperation in the pur-
suit and attainment of the true end of this Earthly Life,
they shall not look around for us in vain.
"All Ages,--all the Wise and Good who have ever breathed
the air of this world of ours,--all their thoughts and aspi-
rations towards a Higher Good,--mingle with these voices,
and encompass you about, and raise supplicating hands to-
wards you;--Providence itself, if we may venture so to speak,
and the Divine Plan in the creation of a Human Race,--
which indeed exists only that it may be understood of men,
and by men be wrought out into reality,--plead with you
to save their honour and their existence.
Whether those
who have believed that Humanity must ever advance in a
course of ceaseless improvement, and that the great ideas of
its order and dignity were not empty dreams, but the pro-
phetic announcement and pledge of their own future reali-
zation ;--whether those--or they who have slumbered on in
the sluggish indolence of a mere vegetable or animal exis-
tence, and mocked every aspiration towards a higher World
--have had the right,--this is the question upon which it
has fallen to your lot to furnish a last and decisive answer.
The ancient world, with all its nobility and greatness, as well
as all its deficiencies, has fallen,--through its own unworthi-
ness and the might of your forefathers. If there has been
truth in that which I have spoken to you in these Addresses,
then it is you to whom, out of all other modern nations, the
germs of human perfection are especially committed, and on
whom the foremost place in the onward advance towards
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? "REDEN AN DIE DEUTSCHEN. "
123
their development is conferred. If you sink to nothing in
this your peculiar office, then with you the hopes of Hu-
manity for salvation out of all its evils are likewise over-
thrown. Hope not, console not yourselves with the vain
delusion, that a second time, after the destruction of an
ancient civilization, a new culture will arise upon the ruins
of the old, from a half-barbaric people. In ancient times,
such a people existed fully provided with all the requisites
for this mission; they were well known to the cultivated
nation, and were described in its literature; and that na-
tion itself, had it been able to suppose the case of its own
downfall, might have discovered the means of renovation in
this people. To us also the whole surface of the earth is
well known, and all the nations who dwell upon it. Do we
know one, like the ancestral tribe of modern Europe, of
whom like hopes may be entertained? I think that every
man who does not give himself up to visionary hopes and
fancies, but desires only honest and searching inquiry,
must answer this question--No! There is, then, no way
of escape :--if ye sink, Humanity sinks with you, without
hope of future restoration! "--Seldom indeed has the cause
of a nation's independence been pled on grounds so truly
noble and elevating as these!
This spirit-stirring course of public activity was inter-
rupted by a severe illness, which attacked him in the spring
of 1808. It was his first illness, and it took so determined
a hold of his powerful constitution, that he never thoroughly
got rid of its effects. Deep-seated nervous disease, and par-
ticularly an affection of the liver, reduced him to great
weakness, and for a time it seemed doubtful whether his
life could be saved. It was only after some months of suf-
fering that the disease settled down upon a particular limb,
and left him with a rheumatic lameness of the left arm and
right foot, which, with an accompanying inflammation in
the eyes, hindered him for a long time from resuming his
habits of active life. He was removed several times to the
baths of Teplitz with beneficial effect. The tedium of con-
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? 124
MEMOIR OV KICHTE.
valescence was relieved by study of the great authors of
Italy, Spain, and Portugal. At an earlier period of his life
he had made himself acquainted with the languages of these
countries, and had produced many translations from their
poets, particularly an entire version of the first canto of
Dante's Divina Commedia,* and one of the most beautiful
episodes in the Lusiad of Camoens. And now, in the sea-
son of debility and pain, the noble thoughts handed down by
the great poets of the south as an everlasting possession to
the world, became to him the springs of new strength and
dignity. Nor did he cease altogether from literary exer-
tion. During his confinement he undertook a thorough re-
vision of his philosophical lectures, and made extensive pre-
paration for his future academical labours. Much of his
time, too, was occupied in the education of his only son, who
speaks with deep reverence and thankfulness of the instruc-
tions thus imparted to him. Amongst his letters written
during his sickness, we find a touching correspondence with
Ernst Wagner, a true and warm-hearted friend of his coun-
try and of all good men, but whose spirit was crushed al-
most to hopelessness by the pressure of disease and penury.
To him Fichte found means of affording such relief and en-
couragement as prolonged, for some short period at least,
a valuable and upright life.
Of his domestic life during this period, and the manner
in which it too bore the impress of his high soul-elevating
philosophy, we obtain the following interesting and in-
structive glimpse:--" We had a family meeting for worship
every evening, which closed the day worthily and solemnly;
in this the domestics also were accustomed to take a part.
When some verses of a chorale had been sung to the accom-
paniment of the piano, my father began, and discoursed upon
a passage or chapter of the New Testament, especially from
his favourite Evangelist John; or, when particular household
circumstances gave occasion for it, he spoke also a word of
reproof or of comfort. But, as far as I remember, he never
* Printed in the "Vesta" for 1807.
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? UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN.
125
made use of ordinary practical applications of his subject, or
laid down preceptive regulations for conduct; but the ten-
dency of his teaching appeared rather to be to purify the
spirit from the distractions and vanities of common life, and
to elevate it to the Imperishable and Eternal. "--So truly
was his life, in all its relations, the faithful counterpart of
the noble doctrine which he taught.
On Fichte's return to active life he found himself placed,
almost at once, in a position from which he could influence
in no slight degree the destinies of his fatherland. Doubts
had arisen as to the propriety of placing the new University
in a large city like Berlin. It was urged that the metropolis
presented too many temptations to idleness and dissipation
to render it an eligible situation for a seminary devoted to
the education of young men. This was the view entertained
by the Minister Stein, but warmly combated by Wolff,
Fichte, and others. Stein was at length won over, and the
University was opened in 1810. The King gave one of the
finest palaces in Berlin for the purpose, and all the appli-
ances of mental culture were provided on the most liberal
scale. Learned men of the greatest eminence in their re-
spective departments were invited from all quarters,--Wolff,
Fichte, Muller, Humboldt, De Wette, Schleiermacher, Nean-
der, Klaproth, and Savigny,--higher names than these cannot
easily be found in their peculiar walks of literature and
science. By the suffrages of his fellow-teachers, Fichte was
unanimously elected Kector.
Thus placed at the head of an institution from which so
much was expected, Fichte laboured unceasingly to establish
a high tone of morality in the new University, convinced
that thereby he should best promote the dignity as well as
the welfare of his country. His dearest wish was to see
Germany free,--free alike from foreign oppression and from internal reproach. He longed to see the stern sublimity of
old Greek citizenship reappear among a people whom the
conquerors of Greece had failed to subdue. And therefore
it was before all things necessary that they who were to go
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MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
forth as the apostles of truth and virtue, who were to be
the future representatives among the people of all that is
dignified and sacred, should themselves be deeply impressed
with the high nature of their calling, and keep unsullied the
honour which must guide and guard them in the discharge
of its duties. He therefore applied himself to the reforma-
tion of such features in the student-life as seemed irrecon-
cilable with its nobleness,--to the suppression of the Lands-
mannschaften, and of the practice of duelling. Courts of
honour, composed of the students themselves, decided upon
all such quarrels as had usually led to personal encounters.
During his two years' rectorship, Fichte laboured with un-
remitting perseverance to render the University in every
respect worthy of the great purposes which had called it
into existence, and laid the foundation of the character
which it still maintains, of being the best regulated, as well
as one of the most efficient, schools in Germany.
The year of 1812 was an important one for Europe, and
particularly for Germany. The gigantic power of Napoleon
had now reached its culminating point. Joseph Bonaparte
reigned at Madrid, and Murat at Naples;--Austria was sub-
dued, and the fair daughter of the House of Hapsburg had
united her fate to that of the conqueror of her race;--Prus-
sia lay at his mercy;--Holland and the Free Towns were
annexed to the territory of France, which now extended from
Sicily to Denmark. One thing alone was wanting to make
him sole master of the continent of Europe, and that was
the conquest of Russia. His passion for universal dominion
led him into the great military error of his life,--the at-
tempt to conquer a country defended by its climate from
foreign invasion, and which, even if subdued, could never
have been retained. He rushed on to the fate which sooner
or later awaits unbridled ambition. The immense armies of
France were poured through Germany upon the North, to
find a grave amid the snows of Smolensk and in the waters
of the Berezina.
And now Prussia resolved to make a decisive effort to
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? WAR OF LIBERATION.
127
throw off a yoke which had always been hateful to her. The
charm was now broken which made men look on the might
of Napoleon as invincible;--the unconquerable battalions
had been routed; fortune had turned against her former
favourite. The King entered into an alliance with the Rus-
sian Emperor, and in January 1813, having retired from
Berlin to Breslau, he sent forth a proclamation calling upon
the youth of the country to arm themselves in defence of
its liberty. Nobly was his appeal responded to. The nation
rose as one man; all distinctions were forgotten in the high
enthusiasm of the time; prince and peasant, teacher and
scholar, artizan and merchant, poet and philosopher, swelled
the ranks of the army of liberation.
Fichte now renewed his former application to be permit-
ted to accompany the troops in the capacity of preacher or
orator, that he might share their dangers and animate their
courage. Difficulties, however, arose in the way of this ar-
rangement, and he resolved to remain at his post in Berlin,
and to continue his lectures until he and his scholars should
be called personally to the defence of their country. The
other professors united with him in a common agreement
that the widows and children of such of their number as fell
in the war should be provided for by the cares of the survi-
vors. It is worthy of remark, that amid this eager enthu-
siasm Fichte resolutely opposed the adoption of any proceed-
ings against the enemy which might cast dishonour on the
sacred cause of freedom . While a French garrison still held
Berlin, one of his students revealed to him a plan, in which
he himself was engaged, for firing their magazine during the
night. Doubts had arisen in his mind as to the lawfulness
of such a mode of aiding his country's cause, and he had
resolved to lay the scheme before the teacher for whose
opinion he entertained an almost unbounded reverence.
Fichte immediately disclosed the plot to the superintendent
of police, by whose timely interference it was defeated. The
same young man, who acted so honourably on this occasion,
afterwards entered the army as a volunteer in one of the
grenadier battalions. At the battle of Dennewitz his life
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MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
was preserved in a very remarkable manner. A musket
ball, which struck him during the fight, was arrested in its
fatal progress by encountering a copy of Fichte's "Religions-
lehre," his constant companion and moral safeguard, which
on this occasion served him likewise as a physical ^Egidus.
On examining the book, he found that the ball had been
stopped at these words (p. 249)--"denn alles, was da kommt,
ist der Wille Gottes mit ihm, und drum das Allerbeste,
was da kommen konnte "--(" for everything that comes to
pass is the Will of God with him, and therefore the best that
can possibly come to pass. ")
During the summer of 1813, Fichte delivered from the
Academical chair those views of the existing circumstances
of his country, and of the war in which it was engaged, which
he was prevented from communicating to the army directly.
These lectures were afterwards printed under the title of
"Ueber den Begriff des wahren Kriegs"--(On the Idea of a
true War. ) With a clearness and energy of thought which
seemed to increase with the difficulties and dangers of his
country, he roused an irresistible opposition to proposals of
peace which, through the mediation of Austria, were offered
during the armistice in June and July. The demands of
Napoleon left Germany only a nominal independence; a
brave and earnest people sought for true freedom. "A
stout heart and no peace," was Fichte's motto, and his
countrymen agreed with him. Hostilities were recom-
menced in August 1813.
In the beginning of the winter half-year, Fichte resumed
his philosophical prelections at the University. His subject
was an introduction to philosophy upon an entirely new
plan, which should render a knowledge of his whole sys-
tem much more easily attainable. It is said that this, his
last course of academical lectures, was distinguished by un-
usual freshness and brilliancy of thought, as if he were ani-
mated once more by the energy of youthful enthusiasm,
even while he stood, unconsciously, on the threshold of an-
other world. He had now accomplished the great object of
his life,--the completion, in his own mind, of that scheme
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? WAR OF LIBERATION.
129
of knowledge by which his name was to be known to pos-
terity. Existing in his own thought as one clear and com-
prehensive whole, he believed that he could now communi-
cate it to others, in a simpler and more intelligible form
than it had yet assumed. It was his intention to devote the
following summer to this purpose, and, in the solitude of
some country retreat, to prepare a finished record of his phi-
losophy in its maturity and completeness. But fate had
ordered otherwise.
The vicinity of Berlin to the seat of the great struggle on
which the liberties of Germany were depending rendered it
the most eligible place for the reception of the wounded and
and diseased. The hospitals of the city were crowded, and
the ordinary attendants of these establishments were found
insufficient in number to supply the wants of the patients.
The authorities therefore called upon the inhabitants for
their assistance, and Fichte's wife was one of the first who
responded to the calL The noble and generous disposition
which had rendered her the worthy companion of the philo-
sopher, now led her forth, regardless of danger, to give all
her powers to woman's holiest ministry. Not only did she
labour with unwearied assiduity to assuage the bodily suf-
ferings of the wounded, and to surround them with every
comfort which their situation required and which she had
the power to supply; she likewise poured words of consola-
tion into many a breaking heart, and awakened new strength
and faithfulness in those who were "ready to perish. "
For five months she pursued with uninterrupted devotion
her attendance at the hospitals, and although not naturally
of a strong constitution, she escaped the contagion which
surrounded her. But on the 3d of January 1814 she was
seized with a nervous fever, which speedily rose to an alarm-
ing height, so that almost every hope of her recovery was
lost . Fichte's affection never suffered him to leave her side,
except during the time of his lectures. It is an astonishing
proof of his self-command, that after a day of anxious
watching at the deathbed, as it seemed, of her he held
s
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MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
dearest on earth, he should be able to address his class in
the evening, for two consecutive hours, on the most pro-
found and abstract subjects of human speculation, uncertain
whether, on his return, he might find that loved one still
alive. At length the crisis of the fever was past, and Fichte
received again the faithful partner of his cares, rescued from
the grave.
But even in this season of joy, in the embrace of gratula-
tion he received the seeds of death. Scarcely was his wife
pronounced out of danger than he himself caught the in-
fection, and was attacked by the insidious disease. Its first
symptom was nervous sleeplessness, which resisted the ef-
fects of baths and the other usual remedies. Soon, however,
the true nature of the malady was no longer doubtful, and
during the rapid progress of his illness, his lucid moments
became shorter and less frequent. In one of these he was
told of Blucher's passage of the Rhine, and the final expul-
sion of the French from Germany. That spirit-stirring in-
formation touched a chord which roused him from his un-
consciousness, and he awoke to a bright and glorious vision
of a better future for his fatherland. The triumphant ex-
citement mingled itself with his fevered fancies:--he ima-
gined himself in the midst of the victorious struggle, strik-
ing for the liberties of Germany; and then again it was
against his own disease that he fought, and power of will
and firm determination were the arms by which he was to
conquer it. Shortly before his death, when his son ap-
proached him with medicine, he said, with his usual look of
deep affection--" Leave it alone; I need no more medicine:
I feel that I am well. " On the eleventh day of his illness,
on the night of the 27th January 1814, he died. The last
hours of his life were passed in deep and unbroken sleep.
Fichte died in his fifty-second year, with his bodily and
mental faculties unimpaired by age; scarcely a grey hair
shaded the deep black upon his bold and erect head. In
stature he was low, but powerful and muscular. His step
was firm, and his whole appearance and address bespoke the
rectitude, firmness, and earnestness of his character.
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? ESTIMATE OF HIS CHARACTER.
131
His widow survived him for five years. By the kindness
of the Monarch she was enabled to pass the remainder of
her life in ease and competence, devoting herself to the
superintendence of her son's education. She died on the
29th January 1819, after an illness of seven days.
Fichte died as he had lived,--the priest of knowledge, the apostle of freedom, the martyr of humanity. He belongs to
those Great Men whose lives are an everlasting possession
to mankind, and whose words the world does not willingly
let die. His character stands written in his life, a massive
but severely simple whole. It has no parts;--the depth
and earnestness on which it rests, speak forth alike in his
thoughts, words, and actions. No man of his time--few
perhaps of any time--exercised a more powerful, spirit-stir-
ring influence over the minds of his fellow-countrymen.
The impulse which he communicated to the national
thought extended far beyond the sphere of his personal in-
fluence ;--it has awakened,--it will still awaken,--high
emotion and manly resolution in thousands who never
heard his voice. The ceaseless effort of his life was to rouse men to a sense of the divinity of their own nature;--to fix
their thoughts upon a spiritual life as the only true and real
life;--to teach them to look upon all else as mere show and
unreality; and thus to lead them to constant effort after the
highest Ideal of purity, virtue, independence, and self-denial.
To this ennobling enterprise he consecrated his being;--to it
he devoted his gigantic powers of thought, his iron will, his
resistless eloquence. But he taught it also in deeds more
eloquent than words. In the strong reality of his life,--in
his intense love for all things beautiful and true,--in his in-
corruptible integrity and heroic devotion to the right, we
see a living manifestation of his principles. His life is the
true counterpart of his philosophy;--it is that of a strong,
free, incorruptible man. And with all the sternness of his
morality, he is full of gentle and generous sentiments; of
deep, overflowing sympathies. No tone of love, no soft
breathing of tenderness, fall unheeded on that high royal
? ?
although thy lines are feeble; at least I trust to thy own as-
surance rather than to that of friends who would reach me
Q
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? 114 MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
the cup of despondency in measured doses. Thou knowest
me;-- thou knowest that untruth does not suit me;--thou
wilt continue truthful towards me. This letter will find thee
living and in health. "
*>>** *
"One passage of Bernhardi's letter has deeply touched
me;--that where he speaks of our Hermann. Let the boy
be pure and noble,--(and why should he not, since he has
certainly not one drop of false blood from thee, and I know
that there is no such thing in me which he could inherit ? )
--and let him learn what he can. If I but had you both,
--you who are my riches,--in my arms again, that I might
try whether I could improve the treasure! Live thou to love
me and thy boy;--I and he, if he has a drop of my blood in
his veins, will try to recompense thee for it. "
***? ?
"Again, thou dear one, had I to struggle against the an-
guish which secretly assailed me because I had no tidings
of thee yesterday, when I received your letter of the 15th,
delayed probably in its transmission . God be praised that
your recovery goes on well! You receive now regular and
good news from me; our friend also must now have been
with thee for a long time; and when you receive this letter
you will probably find yourself enabled to prepare for your
journey to me. You will, indeed, certainly not receive it be-
fore the close of this so sorrowful year. God grant to thee,
and to all brave hearts who deserve it, a better new one! "
**** ?
"Do not come here, but stay where thou art, for I am very
dissatisfied here, and with good grounds; and if, as seems
probable, a favourable change of affairs should take place, I
shall endeavour to return to my old quarters, and so be with
you again. This was the meaning of what I wrote to you
in my last letter,--but I had not then come to a settled re-
solution about it.
"Live in health and peace, and in hope of better times,
as I do. I bless thee from my inmost heart, am with thee
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? REMOVAL TO COPENHAGEN.
115
in spirit, and rejoice in the happy anticipation of seeing thee
again. Ever thine. "--
The hopes which were founded on the result of the battle
of Eylau (8th February 1807), and which seem to be referred
to in the preceding letter, were speedily dispelled; and the
subsequent progress of the war rendered Fichte's residence
at Konigsberg no longer safe or desirable. His communi-
cations with his family had also become very irregular and
uncertain . He consequently determined on a removal to
Copenhagen, there to await the termination of the war. He
left Konigsberg in the beginning of June, and, after a short
stay at Memel, arrived at the Danish capital about the middle
of the following month. The impossibility of engaging in
any continuous occupation during this period of uncertainty
and hazard seems to have exposed him, as well as his family,
to considerable pecuniary difficulties and privations. On the
other hand, his unswerving devotion to his country, and the
sacrifices he had cheerfully made for her sake, had gained
for him the sincere esteem of the Prussian Government, and
no inconsiderable influence in its counsels. At the end of
August 1807 peace was concluded, and Fichte returned to
his family after a separation of nearly a year.
With the return of peace, the Prussian Government deter-
mined to repair the loss of political importance by fostering
among its citizens the desire of intellectual distinction and
the love of free speculation . It seemed to the eminent men
who then stood around the throne of Frederick-William, that
the temple of German independence had now to be rebuilt
from its foundations; that the old stock of liberty having
withered, or been swept away in the tornado which had just
passed over their heads, a new growth must take its place,
springing from a deeper root and quickened by a fresher
stream. One of the first means which suggested itself for
the attainment of this purpose, was the establishment at
Berlin of a new school of higher education, free from the im-
perfections of the old Universities, from which, as from the
spiritual heart of the community, a current of life and energy
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? 116
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
might be poured forth through all its members. Fichte was
chosen by the Minister as the man before all others fitted
for this task, and unlimited power was given him to frame
for the new University a constitution which should ensure
its efficiency and success. No employment could have been
more congenial to Fichte's inclinations;--it presented him
at last with the long-wished-for opportunity of developing a
systematic plan of human instruction, founded on the spirit-
ual nature of man. He entered with ardour upon the under-
taking, and towards the end of 1807 his plan was completed
and laid before the Minister. Its chief feature was perfect
unity of purpose, complete subordination of every branch of
instruction to the one great object of all teaching,--not the
inculcation of opinion, but the spiritual culture and elevation
of the student. The institution was to be an organic whole;
--an assemblage, not of mere teachers holding various and
perhaps opposite views, and living only to disseminate these,
but of men animated by a common purpose, and steadily
pursuing one recognised object. The office of the Professor
was not to repeat verbally what already stood printed in
books, and might be found there; but to exercise a diligent
supervision over the studies of the pupil, and to see that he
fully acquired, by his own effort, and as a personal and in-
dependent possession, the branch of knowledge which was
the object of his studies. It was thus a school for the scien-
tific use of the understanding, in which positive or historical
knowledge was to be looked upon only as a vehicle of in-
struction, not as an ultimate end:--spiritual independence,
intellectual strength, moral dignity,--these were the great
ends to the attainment of which everything else was but
the instrument. The plan met with distinguished appro-
bation from the Minister to whom it was presented; and if,
when the University was actually established some time
afterwards, the ordinary and more easily fulfilled constitu-
tion of such schools was followed, it is to be attributed to
the management of the undertaking having passed into
other hands, and to the difficulty of finding teachers who
would cooperate in the accomplishment of the scheme.
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? "REDEN AN DIE DEUTSCHEN. " 117
But the misfortunes ofhis country induced Fichte to make
a yet more direct attempt to rouse the fallen spirit of liberty,
and once more to awaken in the hearts of his countrymen
the desire of independence which now lay crushed beneath
a foreign yoke. Prussia was the last forlorn hope of German
freedom, and it now seemed to lie wholly at the mercy of
the conqueror. The native government could be little else
than a mockery while the capital of the country was still
occupied by French troops. Fichte was well aware of the
dangers attending any open attempt to excite a spirit of op-
position to the French, but he was not accustomed to weigh
danger against duty; with him there was but short pause
between conviction and action. "The sole question," said
he to himself, "is this:--canst thou hope that the good to
be attained is greater than the danger? The good is the re-
awakening and elevation of the people; against which my
personal danger is not to be reckoned, but for which it may
rather be most advantageously incurred. My family and my
son shall not want the support of the nation,--the least of
the advantages of having a martyr for their father. This is
the best choice. I could not devote my life to a better end. "
Thus heroically resolved that he, at least, should not be
wanting in his duty to his fatherland, he delivered his cele-
brated "Reden an die Deutschen"--(Addresses to the German
People)--in the academical buildings in Berlin during the
winter 1807-8. His voice was often drowned by the trum-
pets of the French troops, and well-known spies frequently
made their appearance among his auditory; but he continued,
undismayed, to direct all the fervour of his eloquence against
the despotism of Napoleon and the system of spoiling and
oppression under which his country groaned. It is somewhat
singular, that while Davoust threatened the chief literary
men of Berlin with vengeance if they should either speak or
write upon the political state of Germany, Fichte should have
remained unmolested--the only one who did speak out,
openly and fearlessly, against the foreign yoke.
The " Reden an die Deutschen " belong to the history of
Germany, and in its literary annals they are well entitled to
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? 118
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
a distinguished and honourable place. Among the many
striking phenomena of that eventful period there is none
that exceeds in real interest and instructiveness this one of
a literary man, single-handed and surrounded by foreign
troops, setting before him, as a duty which he of all others
was called upon to fulfil, the task of a people's regeneration.
Uniting the patriot's enthusiasm with the prophet's inspira-
tion, Fichte raised a voice whose echoes rang through every
corner of Germany, and summoned to the rescue of his coun-
try all that remained of nobleness and devotion among her
sons. It was to no vain display of military glory that he
roused and directed their efforts:--he sought to erect the
structure of his country's future welfare and fame on a far
deeper and surer foundation. In strains of the most fer-
vid and impassioned eloquence he pointed out the true re-
medies for the national degradation,--the culture of moral
dignity, spiritual freedom, and independence. In these Ad-
dresses he first announced the plan and delineated all the
chief features of that celebrated system of Public Education
which has since conferred such inestimable benefits on Prus-
sia, and raised her, in this respect, to a proud pre-eminence
among the nations of Europe. * Never were a people called
* " Fichte may thus be regarded as the originator of the well-known Prus-
sian system of Education. Baron von Stein, the great Minister of Prussia
at this time, no doubt took the first steps towards its practical realization;
but it is not the less true that to Fichte alone belongs the honour of hav-
ing first given utterance to the great idea of a common Education as the
basis of a common Nationality among the German people. This noble
scheme of national regeneration, which has since borne such wonderful fruit,
is comprehensively set forth in the "Reden an die Deutschen. " In later
times, Germany has not been forgetful of those who thus, in evil days, laid
the foundations of her future unity and greatness. On the Centenary of
Fichte's birth, 19th May 1862, a Festival was celebrated at Berlin, under
the auspices of the National Verein, in honour of his memory. The Time*' correspondent, writing the following day, says:--" Yesterday morning, very
early, a great number of Fichte's admirers assembled at his grave in the old Dorotheenstadt churchyard outside the Oranienburg gate. The place
had been put in order, the monument repaired, the grave decked with
flowers and garlands. They sang there the first verse of the fine old chorale
Ein'feKte Burg itt unter Gott, and a clergyman delivered an appropriate dis-
course. The house on the New Promenade, in which Fichte for many years
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? "REDEN AN DIE DEUTSCHEN. "
119
upon to arouse themselves to a nobler enterprize, and
never was such a summons pealed forth in tones of more
manly and spirit-stirring energy. The last Address is a
noble appeal to the several classes of society in Germany
to unite, heart and hand, in forwarding the great work of
national regeneration. We quote the peroration:--
"In these addresses the memory of your forefathers speaks
to you. Think that with my voice there are mingled the
voices of your ancestors from the far-off ages of gray anti-
quity, of those who stemmed with their own bodies the tide
of Roman domination over the world, who vindicated with
their own blood the independence of those mountains,
lived, was decorated by the care of the committee for the celebration of the
anniversary with wreaths and laurels, and with draperies of black, red, and
gold, and of black and white, the German and Prussian colours. A memorial
slab was also set up against it--a temporary one to be presently replaced by
one of marble. At the University, Professor Trendelenburg made an excel-
lent speech. Fichte was the first rector of this University. From him, his
eulogist said, it had inherited the obligation to defend independence of
thought and opinion. The Crown Prince was present at the speech, and
afterwards complimented Trendelenburg upon it. The students, the workmen,
and various other corporations celebrated the day; but its most remarkable
feature was unquestionably the grand ceremony at the Victoria Theatre, got
up by the National Verein. The spacious stage, common to both the sum-
mer and the winter theatre, was completely cleared. In the centre of this
platform was a truncated column supporting a colossal bust of Fichte. Be-
hind and on either side of this was a numerous band of chorus singers,
and, behind them, some instrumentalists. At its foot was a slightly-
raised standing-place for the speakers. Dr. Veit, president of the committee,
opened the proceedings in a short speech. M. Berthold Anerbach, better
known as a literary man than as a politician, read a well-composed sketch
of Fichte's life. Deputy Franz Duncker read some very interesting personal
sketches and incidents, furnished by one of Fichte's oldest friends and dis-
ciples. Dr Loewe made a long spech, referring to the tendency of his writ-
ings, and chiefly of a political character. With a few more remarks from
the President, and another chorus by the singers, an evening terminated
which was remarkable for the excellence of its arrangements, and for the
gratification it apparently afforded to all present. " On the same day, a
granite column erected in honour of Fichte at his native village of Ram-
menau, and bearing four marble slabs with appropriate inscriptions, was
inaugurated by a public ceremony. --Ten years later, a memorial to Baron
Stein, erected at Nassau his birth-place in acknowledgment of the debt
which Prussia owes to him, was unveiled on 9th July 1872, in presence
of the Emperor, Empress, and Prince Imperial of Germany.
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? 120
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
plains, and streams, which ye have suffered to fall a prey
to the stranger. They call to you,--'Be you our defenders! --
'hand down our memory to future ages, honourable and
'spotless, as it has come down to you, as you have gloried in
'it, and in your descent from us. Hitherto our struggle has
'been deemed noble, great, and wise;--we have been looked
'upon as the consecrated and inspired ones of a Divine
'World-Plan. Should our race perish with you, then will
'our honour be changed into dishonour, our wisdom into
'folly. For if Germany were ever to be subdued to the Em-
'pire, then had it been better to have fallen before the elder
'Romans than their modern descendants. We withstood
'those, and triumphed; these have scattered you like chaff
'before them. But, as matters now are with you, seek not
'to conquer with bodily weapons, but stand firm and erect
'before them in spiritual dignity. Yours is the greater des-
'tiny,--to found an empire of Mind and Reason,--to destroy
'the dominion of rude physical power as the ruler of the
'world. Do this, and ye shall be worthy of your descent
'from us! '
"With these voices mingle the spirits of your later fa-
thers,--of those who fell in the sacred struggle for freedom
of Religion and of Faith:--' Save our honour too! ' they calL
'To us it had not become wholly clear what it was we fought
'for;--besides our just determination to suffer no outward
'power to control us in matters of conscience, we were also
'led onward by a higher spirit which never wholly unveiled
'itself to our view. To you this spirit is no longer veiled,
'if your power of vision transcend the things of sense;--it
'now regards you with high, clear aspect . The confused
'and intricate combination of sensous and spiritual impulses
'with each other shall no longer govern the world: Mind
'alone, pure from all admixture of sense, shall assume the
'guidance of human affairs. In order that this spirit should
'have liberty to develope itself, and rise to independent
'existence, our blood was shed. It lies with you to give a
'meaning and a justification to the sacrifice, by establishing
'this spirit in its destined supremacy. Should this result
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? "REDEN AN DIE DEUTSCHEN. "
121
'not ensue, as the ultimate end of the previous develop-
'ment of our nation, then were our struggles but a forgotten
'farce, and, the freedom of mind and conscience for which
'we fought, an empty word, since neither mind nor con-
'science should any longer have a place among us. '
"The races yet unborn plead with you:--' You were proud
'of your forefathers,' they cry,--'and gloried in your descent
'from a noble line of men. See that with you the chain is
'not broken;--act so that we also may be proud of you, and
'through you, as through a spotless medium, claim our des-
'cent from the same glorious source. Be not you the cause
'of making us revile our ancestry as low, barbarous, and
'slavish;--of causing us to hide our origin, or to assume a
'foreign name and a foreign parentage, in order that we
'may not, without farther proof, be cast aside and trodden
'underfoot . According as the next generation which pro-
'ceeds from you shall be, so shall be your future fame:
'honourable, if this shall bear honourable witness to you;
'deservedly ignominious, if ye have not an unblemished
'posterity to succeed you, and leave it to the conqueror to
'write your history. Never has a victor been known to 'have either the inclination or the means of passing a just 'judgment on the subdued. The more he degrades them,
'the better does he justify his own position. Who can
'know what great deeds, what excellent institutions, what
'noble manners of many nations of antiquity may have 'passed away into oblivion, because their succeeding genera- 'tions have been enslaved, and have left the conqueror, in
'his own way, and without contradiction, to tell their story? '
"Even the stranger in foreign lands pleads with you, in
so far as he understands himself and knows aright his own
true interest . Yes! there are in every nation minds who can
never believe that the great promises to the human race of
a Kingdom of Law, of Reason, and of Truth, are idle and
vain delusions, and who consequently cherish the conviction
that the present iron-handed time is but a progression to-
wards a better state. These, and with them the whole later
races of humanity, trust in you. A great part of these trace
R
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? 1-2-2
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
their lineage from us; others have received from us religion
and all other culture. Those plead with us, by the common
soil of our Fatherland, the cradle of their infancy, which they
have left to us free,--these by the culture which they have
accepted from us as the pledge of a higher good,--to main-
tain, for their sakes, the proud position which has hitherto
been ours, to guard with jealous watchfulness against even
the possible disappearance, from the great confederation of
a newly-arisen humanity, of that member which is to them
more important than all others; so that when they shall
need our counsel, our example, our cooperation in the pur-
suit and attainment of the true end of this Earthly Life,
they shall not look around for us in vain.
"All Ages,--all the Wise and Good who have ever breathed
the air of this world of ours,--all their thoughts and aspi-
rations towards a Higher Good,--mingle with these voices,
and encompass you about, and raise supplicating hands to-
wards you;--Providence itself, if we may venture so to speak,
and the Divine Plan in the creation of a Human Race,--
which indeed exists only that it may be understood of men,
and by men be wrought out into reality,--plead with you
to save their honour and their existence.
Whether those
who have believed that Humanity must ever advance in a
course of ceaseless improvement, and that the great ideas of
its order and dignity were not empty dreams, but the pro-
phetic announcement and pledge of their own future reali-
zation ;--whether those--or they who have slumbered on in
the sluggish indolence of a mere vegetable or animal exis-
tence, and mocked every aspiration towards a higher World
--have had the right,--this is the question upon which it
has fallen to your lot to furnish a last and decisive answer.
The ancient world, with all its nobility and greatness, as well
as all its deficiencies, has fallen,--through its own unworthi-
ness and the might of your forefathers. If there has been
truth in that which I have spoken to you in these Addresses,
then it is you to whom, out of all other modern nations, the
germs of human perfection are especially committed, and on
whom the foremost place in the onward advance towards
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? "REDEN AN DIE DEUTSCHEN. "
123
their development is conferred. If you sink to nothing in
this your peculiar office, then with you the hopes of Hu-
manity for salvation out of all its evils are likewise over-
thrown. Hope not, console not yourselves with the vain
delusion, that a second time, after the destruction of an
ancient civilization, a new culture will arise upon the ruins
of the old, from a half-barbaric people. In ancient times,
such a people existed fully provided with all the requisites
for this mission; they were well known to the cultivated
nation, and were described in its literature; and that na-
tion itself, had it been able to suppose the case of its own
downfall, might have discovered the means of renovation in
this people. To us also the whole surface of the earth is
well known, and all the nations who dwell upon it. Do we
know one, like the ancestral tribe of modern Europe, of
whom like hopes may be entertained? I think that every
man who does not give himself up to visionary hopes and
fancies, but desires only honest and searching inquiry,
must answer this question--No! There is, then, no way
of escape :--if ye sink, Humanity sinks with you, without
hope of future restoration! "--Seldom indeed has the cause
of a nation's independence been pled on grounds so truly
noble and elevating as these!
This spirit-stirring course of public activity was inter-
rupted by a severe illness, which attacked him in the spring
of 1808. It was his first illness, and it took so determined
a hold of his powerful constitution, that he never thoroughly
got rid of its effects. Deep-seated nervous disease, and par-
ticularly an affection of the liver, reduced him to great
weakness, and for a time it seemed doubtful whether his
life could be saved. It was only after some months of suf-
fering that the disease settled down upon a particular limb,
and left him with a rheumatic lameness of the left arm and
right foot, which, with an accompanying inflammation in
the eyes, hindered him for a long time from resuming his
habits of active life. He was removed several times to the
baths of Teplitz with beneficial effect. The tedium of con-
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? 124
MEMOIR OV KICHTE.
valescence was relieved by study of the great authors of
Italy, Spain, and Portugal. At an earlier period of his life
he had made himself acquainted with the languages of these
countries, and had produced many translations from their
poets, particularly an entire version of the first canto of
Dante's Divina Commedia,* and one of the most beautiful
episodes in the Lusiad of Camoens. And now, in the sea-
son of debility and pain, the noble thoughts handed down by
the great poets of the south as an everlasting possession to
the world, became to him the springs of new strength and
dignity. Nor did he cease altogether from literary exer-
tion. During his confinement he undertook a thorough re-
vision of his philosophical lectures, and made extensive pre-
paration for his future academical labours. Much of his
time, too, was occupied in the education of his only son, who
speaks with deep reverence and thankfulness of the instruc-
tions thus imparted to him. Amongst his letters written
during his sickness, we find a touching correspondence with
Ernst Wagner, a true and warm-hearted friend of his coun-
try and of all good men, but whose spirit was crushed al-
most to hopelessness by the pressure of disease and penury.
To him Fichte found means of affording such relief and en-
couragement as prolonged, for some short period at least,
a valuable and upright life.
Of his domestic life during this period, and the manner
in which it too bore the impress of his high soul-elevating
philosophy, we obtain the following interesting and in-
structive glimpse:--" We had a family meeting for worship
every evening, which closed the day worthily and solemnly;
in this the domestics also were accustomed to take a part.
When some verses of a chorale had been sung to the accom-
paniment of the piano, my father began, and discoursed upon
a passage or chapter of the New Testament, especially from
his favourite Evangelist John; or, when particular household
circumstances gave occasion for it, he spoke also a word of
reproof or of comfort. But, as far as I remember, he never
* Printed in the "Vesta" for 1807.
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? UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN.
125
made use of ordinary practical applications of his subject, or
laid down preceptive regulations for conduct; but the ten-
dency of his teaching appeared rather to be to purify the
spirit from the distractions and vanities of common life, and
to elevate it to the Imperishable and Eternal. "--So truly
was his life, in all its relations, the faithful counterpart of
the noble doctrine which he taught.
On Fichte's return to active life he found himself placed,
almost at once, in a position from which he could influence
in no slight degree the destinies of his fatherland. Doubts
had arisen as to the propriety of placing the new University
in a large city like Berlin. It was urged that the metropolis
presented too many temptations to idleness and dissipation
to render it an eligible situation for a seminary devoted to
the education of young men. This was the view entertained
by the Minister Stein, but warmly combated by Wolff,
Fichte, and others. Stein was at length won over, and the
University was opened in 1810. The King gave one of the
finest palaces in Berlin for the purpose, and all the appli-
ances of mental culture were provided on the most liberal
scale. Learned men of the greatest eminence in their re-
spective departments were invited from all quarters,--Wolff,
Fichte, Muller, Humboldt, De Wette, Schleiermacher, Nean-
der, Klaproth, and Savigny,--higher names than these cannot
easily be found in their peculiar walks of literature and
science. By the suffrages of his fellow-teachers, Fichte was
unanimously elected Kector.
Thus placed at the head of an institution from which so
much was expected, Fichte laboured unceasingly to establish
a high tone of morality in the new University, convinced
that thereby he should best promote the dignity as well as
the welfare of his country. His dearest wish was to see
Germany free,--free alike from foreign oppression and from internal reproach. He longed to see the stern sublimity of
old Greek citizenship reappear among a people whom the
conquerors of Greece had failed to subdue. And therefore
it was before all things necessary that they who were to go
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? 126
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
forth as the apostles of truth and virtue, who were to be
the future representatives among the people of all that is
dignified and sacred, should themselves be deeply impressed
with the high nature of their calling, and keep unsullied the
honour which must guide and guard them in the discharge
of its duties. He therefore applied himself to the reforma-
tion of such features in the student-life as seemed irrecon-
cilable with its nobleness,--to the suppression of the Lands-
mannschaften, and of the practice of duelling. Courts of
honour, composed of the students themselves, decided upon
all such quarrels as had usually led to personal encounters.
During his two years' rectorship, Fichte laboured with un-
remitting perseverance to render the University in every
respect worthy of the great purposes which had called it
into existence, and laid the foundation of the character
which it still maintains, of being the best regulated, as well
as one of the most efficient, schools in Germany.
The year of 1812 was an important one for Europe, and
particularly for Germany. The gigantic power of Napoleon
had now reached its culminating point. Joseph Bonaparte
reigned at Madrid, and Murat at Naples;--Austria was sub-
dued, and the fair daughter of the House of Hapsburg had
united her fate to that of the conqueror of her race;--Prus-
sia lay at his mercy;--Holland and the Free Towns were
annexed to the territory of France, which now extended from
Sicily to Denmark. One thing alone was wanting to make
him sole master of the continent of Europe, and that was
the conquest of Russia. His passion for universal dominion
led him into the great military error of his life,--the at-
tempt to conquer a country defended by its climate from
foreign invasion, and which, even if subdued, could never
have been retained. He rushed on to the fate which sooner
or later awaits unbridled ambition. The immense armies of
France were poured through Germany upon the North, to
find a grave amid the snows of Smolensk and in the waters
of the Berezina.
And now Prussia resolved to make a decisive effort to
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? WAR OF LIBERATION.
127
throw off a yoke which had always been hateful to her. The
charm was now broken which made men look on the might
of Napoleon as invincible;--the unconquerable battalions
had been routed; fortune had turned against her former
favourite. The King entered into an alliance with the Rus-
sian Emperor, and in January 1813, having retired from
Berlin to Breslau, he sent forth a proclamation calling upon
the youth of the country to arm themselves in defence of
its liberty. Nobly was his appeal responded to. The nation
rose as one man; all distinctions were forgotten in the high
enthusiasm of the time; prince and peasant, teacher and
scholar, artizan and merchant, poet and philosopher, swelled
the ranks of the army of liberation.
Fichte now renewed his former application to be permit-
ted to accompany the troops in the capacity of preacher or
orator, that he might share their dangers and animate their
courage. Difficulties, however, arose in the way of this ar-
rangement, and he resolved to remain at his post in Berlin,
and to continue his lectures until he and his scholars should
be called personally to the defence of their country. The
other professors united with him in a common agreement
that the widows and children of such of their number as fell
in the war should be provided for by the cares of the survi-
vors. It is worthy of remark, that amid this eager enthu-
siasm Fichte resolutely opposed the adoption of any proceed-
ings against the enemy which might cast dishonour on the
sacred cause of freedom . While a French garrison still held
Berlin, one of his students revealed to him a plan, in which
he himself was engaged, for firing their magazine during the
night. Doubts had arisen in his mind as to the lawfulness
of such a mode of aiding his country's cause, and he had
resolved to lay the scheme before the teacher for whose
opinion he entertained an almost unbounded reverence.
Fichte immediately disclosed the plot to the superintendent
of police, by whose timely interference it was defeated. The
same young man, who acted so honourably on this occasion,
afterwards entered the army as a volunteer in one of the
grenadier battalions. At the battle of Dennewitz his life
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? 128
MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
was preserved in a very remarkable manner. A musket
ball, which struck him during the fight, was arrested in its
fatal progress by encountering a copy of Fichte's "Religions-
lehre," his constant companion and moral safeguard, which
on this occasion served him likewise as a physical ^Egidus.
On examining the book, he found that the ball had been
stopped at these words (p. 249)--"denn alles, was da kommt,
ist der Wille Gottes mit ihm, und drum das Allerbeste,
was da kommen konnte "--(" for everything that comes to
pass is the Will of God with him, and therefore the best that
can possibly come to pass. ")
During the summer of 1813, Fichte delivered from the
Academical chair those views of the existing circumstances
of his country, and of the war in which it was engaged, which
he was prevented from communicating to the army directly.
These lectures were afterwards printed under the title of
"Ueber den Begriff des wahren Kriegs"--(On the Idea of a
true War. ) With a clearness and energy of thought which
seemed to increase with the difficulties and dangers of his
country, he roused an irresistible opposition to proposals of
peace which, through the mediation of Austria, were offered
during the armistice in June and July. The demands of
Napoleon left Germany only a nominal independence; a
brave and earnest people sought for true freedom. "A
stout heart and no peace," was Fichte's motto, and his
countrymen agreed with him. Hostilities were recom-
menced in August 1813.
In the beginning of the winter half-year, Fichte resumed
his philosophical prelections at the University. His subject
was an introduction to philosophy upon an entirely new
plan, which should render a knowledge of his whole sys-
tem much more easily attainable. It is said that this, his
last course of academical lectures, was distinguished by un-
usual freshness and brilliancy of thought, as if he were ani-
mated once more by the energy of youthful enthusiasm,
even while he stood, unconsciously, on the threshold of an-
other world. He had now accomplished the great object of
his life,--the completion, in his own mind, of that scheme
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? WAR OF LIBERATION.
129
of knowledge by which his name was to be known to pos-
terity. Existing in his own thought as one clear and com-
prehensive whole, he believed that he could now communi-
cate it to others, in a simpler and more intelligible form
than it had yet assumed. It was his intention to devote the
following summer to this purpose, and, in the solitude of
some country retreat, to prepare a finished record of his phi-
losophy in its maturity and completeness. But fate had
ordered otherwise.
The vicinity of Berlin to the seat of the great struggle on
which the liberties of Germany were depending rendered it
the most eligible place for the reception of the wounded and
and diseased. The hospitals of the city were crowded, and
the ordinary attendants of these establishments were found
insufficient in number to supply the wants of the patients.
The authorities therefore called upon the inhabitants for
their assistance, and Fichte's wife was one of the first who
responded to the calL The noble and generous disposition
which had rendered her the worthy companion of the philo-
sopher, now led her forth, regardless of danger, to give all
her powers to woman's holiest ministry. Not only did she
labour with unwearied assiduity to assuage the bodily suf-
ferings of the wounded, and to surround them with every
comfort which their situation required and which she had
the power to supply; she likewise poured words of consola-
tion into many a breaking heart, and awakened new strength
and faithfulness in those who were "ready to perish. "
For five months she pursued with uninterrupted devotion
her attendance at the hospitals, and although not naturally
of a strong constitution, she escaped the contagion which
surrounded her. But on the 3d of January 1814 she was
seized with a nervous fever, which speedily rose to an alarm-
ing height, so that almost every hope of her recovery was
lost . Fichte's affection never suffered him to leave her side,
except during the time of his lectures. It is an astonishing
proof of his self-command, that after a day of anxious
watching at the deathbed, as it seemed, of her he held
s
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MEMOIR OF FICHTE.
dearest on earth, he should be able to address his class in
the evening, for two consecutive hours, on the most pro-
found and abstract subjects of human speculation, uncertain
whether, on his return, he might find that loved one still
alive. At length the crisis of the fever was past, and Fichte
received again the faithful partner of his cares, rescued from
the grave.
But even in this season of joy, in the embrace of gratula-
tion he received the seeds of death. Scarcely was his wife
pronounced out of danger than he himself caught the in-
fection, and was attacked by the insidious disease. Its first
symptom was nervous sleeplessness, which resisted the ef-
fects of baths and the other usual remedies. Soon, however,
the true nature of the malady was no longer doubtful, and
during the rapid progress of his illness, his lucid moments
became shorter and less frequent. In one of these he was
told of Blucher's passage of the Rhine, and the final expul-
sion of the French from Germany. That spirit-stirring in-
formation touched a chord which roused him from his un-
consciousness, and he awoke to a bright and glorious vision
of a better future for his fatherland. The triumphant ex-
citement mingled itself with his fevered fancies:--he ima-
gined himself in the midst of the victorious struggle, strik-
ing for the liberties of Germany; and then again it was
against his own disease that he fought, and power of will
and firm determination were the arms by which he was to
conquer it. Shortly before his death, when his son ap-
proached him with medicine, he said, with his usual look of
deep affection--" Leave it alone; I need no more medicine:
I feel that I am well. " On the eleventh day of his illness,
on the night of the 27th January 1814, he died. The last
hours of his life were passed in deep and unbroken sleep.
Fichte died in his fifty-second year, with his bodily and
mental faculties unimpaired by age; scarcely a grey hair
shaded the deep black upon his bold and erect head. In
stature he was low, but powerful and muscular. His step
was firm, and his whole appearance and address bespoke the
rectitude, firmness, and earnestness of his character.
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? ESTIMATE OF HIS CHARACTER.
131
His widow survived him for five years. By the kindness
of the Monarch she was enabled to pass the remainder of
her life in ease and competence, devoting herself to the
superintendence of her son's education. She died on the
29th January 1819, after an illness of seven days.
Fichte died as he had lived,--the priest of knowledge, the apostle of freedom, the martyr of humanity. He belongs to
those Great Men whose lives are an everlasting possession
to mankind, and whose words the world does not willingly
let die. His character stands written in his life, a massive
but severely simple whole. It has no parts;--the depth
and earnestness on which it rests, speak forth alike in his
thoughts, words, and actions. No man of his time--few
perhaps of any time--exercised a more powerful, spirit-stir-
ring influence over the minds of his fellow-countrymen.
The impulse which he communicated to the national
thought extended far beyond the sphere of his personal in-
fluence ;--it has awakened,--it will still awaken,--high
emotion and manly resolution in thousands who never
heard his voice. The ceaseless effort of his life was to rouse men to a sense of the divinity of their own nature;--to fix
their thoughts upon a spiritual life as the only true and real
life;--to teach them to look upon all else as mere show and
unreality; and thus to lead them to constant effort after the
highest Ideal of purity, virtue, independence, and self-denial.
To this ennobling enterprise he consecrated his being;--to it
he devoted his gigantic powers of thought, his iron will, his
resistless eloquence. But he taught it also in deeds more
eloquent than words. In the strong reality of his life,--in
his intense love for all things beautiful and true,--in his in-
corruptible integrity and heroic devotion to the right, we
see a living manifestation of his principles. His life is the
true counterpart of his philosophy;--it is that of a strong,
free, incorruptible man. And with all the sternness of his
morality, he is full of gentle and generous sentiments; of
deep, overflowing sympathies. No tone of love, no soft
breathing of tenderness, fall unheeded on that high royal
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