To impress its image on the
surrounding
world is
the object for which the living Idea dwelling in the True
Scholar seeks for itself an embodiment.
the object for which the living Idea dwelling in the True
Scholar seeks for itself an embodiment.
Fichte - Nature of the Scholar
Further, in the
development of spiritual existence, Nature itself is gradually
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THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
interpenetrated by life; and it is thus both the obstacle to,
and the sphere of, that activity and outward manifestation
of power in which human life eternally unfolds itself.
This, and absolutely nothing more than this, is Nature in
the most extended meaning of the word; and even man
himself, in so far as his existence is limited in comparison
with the original and Divine Life, is nothing more than this.
Since the perpetual advancement of this second life,--not
original, but derived and human,--and also its finitude and
limitation in order that such advancement may be so much
as possible,--both proceed from the self-manifestation of the
Absolute, so Nature also has its foundation in God,--not
indeed as something that is and ought to be for its own
sake alone, but only as the means and condition of another
being,--of the Living Being in man,--and as^something
which shall be gradually and unceasingly superseded and
displaced by the perpetual advancement of this being.
Hence we must not be blinded or led astray by a philo-
sophy assuming the name of natural* which pretends to ex-
cel all former philosophy by striving to elevate Nature into
Absolute Being, and into the place of God In all ages, the
theoretical errors as well as the moral corruptions of hu-
manity have arisen from falsely bestowing the name of life
on that which in itself possesses neither absolute nor even
finite being, and seeking for life and its enjoyment in that
which in itself is dead. Very far therefore from being a
step towards truth, that philosophy is but a return to old
and already most widely spread error.
6. All truth contained in the principles which we have
now laid down may be perceived by man, who himself is the
Manifestation of the Original and Divine Life, in its general
aspect, as we for example, have now perceived it,--either
through rational conviction, or only from being led to it by
an obscure feeling or sense of truth, or from finding it prob-
able because it furnishes a complete solution of the most
important problems. Man may perceive it; that is, the
* Schelling's " Natur-Philosophie" is here referred to.
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? DEFINITION OF THE DIVINE IDEA. . 151
Manifestation may fall back on its Original, and picture it
forth in reflection with absolute certainty as to the fact;
but it can by no means analyze and comprehend it fully, for
the Manifestation ever remains only a Manifestation, and
can never go beyond itself and return to Absolute Being.
7. We have said that man may perceive this in so far as
regards the fact, but he cannot perceive the reason and
origin of the fact. How and why from the Divine Life, this
and no other Time-Life arises and constantly flows forth, can be understood by man only on condition of fully com-
prehending all the parts of this latter, and interpreting
them all, one by the other, mutually and completely, so as to
reduce them once more to a single idea, and that idea equi-
valent to the one Divine Life. But this forth-flowing Time-
TSfe is infinite, and hence the comprehension of its parts
can never be completed: besides, the comprehender is him-
self a portion of it, and at every conceivable point of time
he himself stands chained in the finite and limited, which
he can never entirely throw off without ceasing to be Mani-
festation,--without being himself transformed into the
Divine Life.
8. From this it seems to follow, that the Time-Life can be
comprehended by thought only as a whole, and according to
its general nature,--i. e. as we have endeavoured to compre-
hend it above,--and then as a Manifestation of the one
Original and Divine Life;--but that its details must be im-
mediately felt and experienced in their individual import,
and can only by and through this Experience be imaged
forth in thought and consciousness. And such is actually
the case in a certain respect and with a certain portion of
human life. Throughout all time, and in every individual
part of it, there remains in human life something which i'does not entirely reveal itself in Idea, and which therefore
cannot be anticipated or superseded by any Idea, but which
must be directly felt if it is ever to attain a place in con-
sciousness ;--and this is called the domain of pure empiri-
cism or Experience. The above-mentioned philosophy ens
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? 152
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
in this,--that it pretends to have resolved human life en-
tirely into Idea, and thus wholly superseded Experience;
instead of which, it defeats its own purpose, and in attempt-
ing to explain life completely, loses sight of it altogether.
9. I said that such was the case with the Time-Life in a
certain respect and with a certain portion of it. For in
another respect and with another portion of it, the case is
quite otherwise,--and that on the following ground, which I
shall here only indicate in popular phraseology, but which is
well worthy of deeper investigation.
The Time-Life does not enter into Time in individual
parts only, but also in entire homogeneous masses; and it is
these masses, again, which divide themselves into the indivi-
dual parts of actual life. There is not only Time, but there
are times, and succession of times, epoch after epoch, and
age succeeding age. Thus, for example, to the deeper
thought of man, the entire Earthly Life of the human race,
as it now exists, is such a homogeneous mass, projected at
once into Time, and ever present there, whole and undivid-
ed,--only as regards sensuous appearance spread out into
world-history. When these homogeneous masses have ap-
peared in Time, the general laws and rules by which they
are governed may be comprehended, and, in their relation
to the whole course of these masses, anticipated and under-
stood; while the obstacles over which these masses must
take their way--that is, the hindrances and interruptions
of life--are only accessible to immediate Experience.
10. These cognizable laws of homogeneous masses of Life,
which may be perceived and understood prior to their ac-
tual consequences, must necessarily appear as laws of Life
itself, as it ought to be, and as it should strive to become,
founded on the self-supporting and independent principle of
this Time-Life, which must here appear as Freedom:--
hence, as laws for the free action and conduct of the living be-
ing. If we go back to the source of this legislation, we shall
find that it lies in the Divine Life itself, which could not
reveal itself in Time otherwise than under this form of a
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? DEFINITION OP THE DIVINE IDEA.
153
law; and, indeed, as is implied in the preceding ideas, no-
wise as a law ruling with blind power and extorting obedi-
ence by force, such as we assume in passive and inanimate
nature,--but as the law of a Life which is conscious of its
own independence, and cannot be deprived of it, without at
the same time tearing up the very root of its being; hence,
as we said above, as a Divine Law of Freedom, or Moral Law.
Further, as we have already seen, this life according to
the law of the original Divine Life, is the only True Life and
ground of all other;--all things else besides this Life are
but hindrances and obstructions thereto, possessing exist-
ence only that by them the True Life may be unfolded and
manifested in its strength:--hence, all things else have no
existence for their own sakes, but only as means for the de-
velopment of the True Life. Reason can comprehend the
connexion between means and end only by supposing a
mind in which the end has been determined. A thoroughly
moral Human Life has its source in God: by analogy with
our own reason, we conceive of God as proposing to himself
the moral Life of man as the sole purpose for which He has
manifested himself and called into existence every other
thing; not that it is absolutely thus as we conceive of it,
and that God really thinks like man, and that Being itself is
in him distinguished from the conception of Being,--but we
think thus only because we are unable otherwise to com-
prehend the relation between the Divine and the Human
Life. And in this absolutely necessary mode of thought, Human Life as it ought to be becomes the idea and funda-
mental conception of God in the creation of a world,--the
purpose and the plan which God intended to fulfil by the
creation of the world.
And thus it is sufficiently explained for our present pur-
pose how the Divine Idea lies at the foundation of the vis-
ible world, and how, and how far, this Idea, hidden from the
common eye, may become conceivable and attainable by
cultivated thought, and necessarily appear to it as that
which man by his free activity ought to manifest in the
world.
x
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? 154
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
Let us not forthwith restrict our conception of this ought,
--this free act of man, to the familiar categorical impera-
tive, and to the narrow and paltry applications of it which
are given in our common systems of Morality,--such ap-
plications as must necessarily be made by such a science.
Almost invariably, and that for causes well founded in the
laws of philosophical abstraction through which systems of
Morality are produced, it has been usual to dwell at great-
est length on the mere^orwj of Morality,--to inculcate sim-
ply and solely obedience to the commandment;--and even
when our moralists have proceeded to its substance, still
their chief aim seems to have been rather to induce men to
cease from doing evil, than to persuade them to do good.
Indeed, in any system of human duties, it is necessary to
maintain such a generality of expression that the rules may
be equally applicable to all men, and for this reason to
point out more clearly what man ought not to do, than
what he ought to do. This, too, is the Divine Idea,--but
only in its remote and borrowed shape--not in its fresh ori-
ginality, original Divine Idea of any particular point
of time remains for the most part unexpressed, until the
God-inspired man appears and declares it. What the
Divine Man does, that is divine. In general, the original
and pure Divine Idea--that which he who is immediately
inspired of God should do and actually does--is (with refer-
ence to the visible world) creative, producing the new, the
unheard-of, the original. The impulse of mere natural exis-
tence leads us to abide in the old, and even when the
Divine Idea is associated with it, it aims at the maintenance
of whatever has hitherto seemed good, or at most to petty
improvements upon it; but where the Divine Idea attains
an existence pure from the admixture of natural impulse,
there it builds new worlds upon the ruins of the old. All
things new, great, and beautiful, which have appeared in the
world since its beginning, and those which shall appear un-
til its end, have appeared and shall appear through the
Divine Idea, partially expressed in the chosen ones of our
race/)
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? DEFINITION OF THE DIVINE IDEA. 155
And thus, as the Life of Man is the only immediate im-
plement and organ of the Divine Idea in the visible world,
so is it also the first and immediate object of its activity.
The progressive Culture of the human race is the object of
the Divine Idea, and of those in whom that Idea dwells.
This last view makes it possible for us to separate the
Divine Idea into its various modes of action, or to conceive
of the one indivisible Idea as several.
First,--In the actual world, the Life of Man, which is in
truth essentially one and indivisble, is divided into the life
of many proximate individuals, each of whom possesses free-
dom and independence. This division of the one Living Existence is an arrangement of nature, and hence is a hin-
drance or obstruction to the True Life,--and exists only in
order that through it, and in conflict with it, that unity of
Life which is demanded by the Divine Idea may freely
fashion itself. Human Life has been divided by nature into
many parts, in order that it may form itself to unity, and
that all the separate individuals who compose it may
through Life itself blend themselves together into oneness
of mind. In the original state of nature, the various wills
of these individuals, and the different powers which they
call into play, mutually oppose and hinder each other. It
is not so in the Divine Idea, amH^shaJLnQtjjpntinue so in
the visible world. The first interposing power (not found-
~e3in nature, but subsequently introduced into the world
by a new creation) on which this strife of individual powers
must break and expend itself until it shall entirely disap-
pear in a general morality, is the founding of States, and of
just relations between them; in short, all those institutions
by which individual powers, single or united, have each
their proper sphere assigned to them, to which they are confined, but in which at the same time they are secured
against all foreign aggression. This institution lay in the
Divine Idea; it was introduced into the world by inspired
men in their efforts for the realization of the Divine Idea;
by these efforts it will be maintained in the world, and con-
stantly improved until it attain perfection.
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? 156
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR
Secondly,--This Race of Man, thus raising itself through
internal strife to internal unity, is surrounded by an inert
and passive Nature, by which its free life is constantly hin-
dered, threatened, and confined. So it must be, in order that
this Life may attain such unity by its]own free effort; and
thus, according to the Divine Idea, must thisTstrength and
independence of the sensual life, progressively and gradual-
ly unfold itself. To that end it is necessary that the powers
of Nature be subjected to human purpose, and (in order that
this subjection may be possible) that man should be ac-
quainted with the laws by which these powers act, and be
able to calculate beforehand the course of their operations.
Moreover, Nature is not designed merely to be useful and
profitable to man, but also to become his fitting companion,
bearing the impress of his higher dignity, and reflecting it
in radiant characters on every side. This dominion over
Nature lies in the Divine Idea, and is ceaselessly extended
by the power of that Idea through the agency of all in
whom it dwells.
Lastly,--Man is not placed in the world of sense alone,
but the essential root of his being is, as we have seen, in
God. Hurried along by sense and its impulses, the know-
ledge of this Life in God may readily be concealed from
him, and then, however noble may be his nature, he lives in
strife and disunion with himself, in discord and unhappiness,
without true dignity and enjoyment of Life. Only when the
consciousness of the true source of his existence first rises
upon him, and he joyfully resigns himself to it till his be-
ing is steeped in the thought, do peace, joy, and blessedness
flow in upon his soul. And it lies in the Divine Idea that
all men must come to this gladdening consciousness,--that
the outward and aimless Finite Life may thus be pervaded
by the Infinite and so enjoyed; and to this end all who have
been filled with the Divine Idea have laboured and shall
still labour, that this consciousness in its purest possible
form may be spread throughout the race of man.
The modes of activity which we have indicated,--Legis-
lation,--Science (knowledge of nature--power over na-
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? DEFINITION OF THE DIVINE IDEA.
157
ture)--Religion,--are those in which the Divine Idea most
commonly reveals and manifests itself through man in the
world of sense. It is obvious that each of these chief
branches has also its separate parts, in each of which, indi-
vidually, the Idea may be revealed. Add to these the
Knowledge of the Divine Idea,--knowledge that there is
such a Divine Idea, as well as knowledge of its import,
either in whole or in some of its parts,--and further, the
Art or Skill actually to make manifest in the world the
Idea which is thus clearly seen and understood,--both
of which, however,--Knowledge and Art--can be acquired
only through the immediate impulse of the Divine Idea,
-- and then we have the five great modes in which the
Jilea-*eveals itself in man.
That mode of culture by which, in the view of any age, a
man may attain to the possession of this Idea or these
Ideas, we have named the Learned Culture of that age; and
those who, by this culture, do actually attain the desired
possession, we have named the Scholars of the age;--and
from what we have said to-day you will be able more easily
to recognise the truth of our position, to refer back to it the
different branches of knowledge recognised among men, or
to deduce them from it; and thus test our principle by its
applications.
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? 158
LECTURE III.
OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR GENERALLY; AND IN
PARTICULAR OF GENIUS AND INDUSTRY.
It is the Divine Idea itself which, by it own inherent power,
creates for itself an independent and personal life in man,
constantly maintains itself in this life, and by means of it
moulds the outward world in its own image. The natural
man cannot, by his own strength, raise himself to the super-
natural; he must be raised thereto by the power of the
supernatural. This self-forming and self-supporting life of
the Idea in man manifests itself as Love;--strictly speaking,
as Love of the Idea for itself; but, in the language of com-
mon appearance, as Love of man for the Idea. This was
set forth in our first lecture.
So it is with Love in general;--and it is not otherwise,
in particular, with the love of the knowledge of the Idea,
which knowledge the Scholar is called upon to acquire.
The love of the Idea absolutely for itself, and particularly
for its essential light, shows itself in those men whom it has
inspired, and of whose being it has fully possessed itself, as
knowledge of the Idea;--in the Finished Scholar, with a well-
defined and perfect clearness,--in the Progressive Scholar,
as a striving towards such a degree of clearness as it can at-
tain under the circumstances in which he is placed. Fol-
lowing out the plan laid down in the opening lecture, we
shall speak, in the first place, of the Progressive Scholar.
The Idea strives, in the first place, to assume a definite
form within him, and to establish for itself a fixed place
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? THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
159
amid the tide of manifold images which flows in ceaseless
change over his soul. In this effort he is seized with a pre-
sentiment of a truth still unknown to him, of which he has
as yet no clear conception; he feels that every new acqui-
sition which he makes still falls short of the full and per-
fect truth, without being able to state distinctly in what it
is deficient, or how the fullness of knowledge which is to
take its place can be attained or brought about. This ef-
fort of the Idea within him becomes henceforward his essen-
tial life,--the highest and deepest impulse of his being,--
superseding his hitherto sensuous and egoistical impulse,
which was directed only towards the maintenance of his
personal existence and physical well-being,--subjecting this
latter to itself, and thereby for ever extinguishing it as the
one and fundamental impulse of his nature. Actual person-
al want does still, as hitherto, demand its satisfaction; but
that satisfaction does not continue, as it has hitherto con-
tinued, even when its immediate demands have been sup-
plied, to be the engrossing thought, the ever-present object
of contemplation, the motive to all conduct and action of
the thinking being. As the sensuous nature has hitherto
asserted its rights, so does emancipated thought, armed
with new power, in its own strength and without outward
compulsion or ulterior design, return from the strange land
into which it has been led captive, to its own proper home,
and betake itself to the path which leads towards that
much wished-for Unlcnown, whose light streams upon it from
afar. Towards that unknown it is unceasingly attracted;
in meditating upon it, in striving after it, it employs its
best spiritual power.
This impulse towards an obscure, imperfectly-discerned
spiritual object, is commonly named Genius;--and it is so
named on good grounds. It is a supernatural instinct in
man, attracting him to a supernatural object;--thus indica-
ting his relationship to the spiritual world and his original
home in that world. Whether we suppose that this im-
pulse, which, absolutely considered, should prompt to the
pursuit of the Divine Idea in its primitive unity and indivi-
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? 160
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
sibility, does originally, and at the first appearance of any
individual in the world of sense, so shape itself that this in-
dividual can lay hold of the Idea only at some one particu-
lar point of contact, and only from that point penetrate gra-
dually to the other parts of the spiritual universe;--or
whether we hold that this peculiar point of contact for the
individual is determined during the first development of the
individual power on the manifold materials which surround
it, and always occurs in that material which chance presents
at the precise moment when the power is sufficiently deve-
loped ;--which of these opinions soever we adopt, still, so far
as its outward manifestation is concerned, the impulse
which shows itself in man and urges him onward, will al-
ways exhibit itself as an impulse towards some particular
side of the one indivisible Idea; or, as we may express it,
after the investigations of our last lecture, without fear of
being misunderstood,--as an impulse towards one particu-
lar idea in the sphere of all possible ideas; or if we give to
this impulse the name of Genius, then Genius will always
appear as a specific Genius, for philosophy, poetry, natural
science, legislation, or the like,--never clothed with an abso-
lute character, as Genius in the abstract. According to the
first opinion, this specific Genius possesses its distinguishing
character as an innate peculiarity; according to the second,
it is originally a universal Genius, which is determined to a
particular province only by the accident of culture. The decision of this controversy lies beyond the limits of our
present task.
In whatever way it may be decided, two things are evi-
dent :--in general, the necessity of previous spiritual culture,
and of preliminary instruction in, and acquaintance with,
ideas and knowledge, so that Genius, if present, may dis-
close itself; and, in particular the necessity of bringing
within the reach of every man, ideas of many different
kinds, so that either the inborn specific Genius may come in-
to contact with its appropriate material, or the originally
universal Genius may freely chose one particular object from
among the many. Even in this preliminary spiritual cul-
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? OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR.
161
ture, future Genius reveals itself; for its earliest impulse is
directed towards Knowledge only as Knowledge,--merely
for the sake of knowing;--and thus manifests itself solely as
a desire to know.
But even when this impulse has visibly manifested itself
either in the active investigation of some attractive problem
or in happy anticipations of its solution, still persevering in-
dustry, uninterrupted labour, are imperatively requisite.
The question has often been raised, whether Genius or In-
dustry be more essential in science. I answer, both must be
united:--the one is but little worth without the other.
Genius is nothing more than the effort of the Idea to as-
sume a definite form. The Idea, however, has in itself
neither body nor substance, but only shapes for itself an
embodiment out of the scientific materials which environ it
in Time, of which Industry is the sole purveyor. On the
other hand, Industry can do nothing more than provide the
elements of this embodiment;--to unite them organically,
and to breath into them a living spirit, is not the work of
Industry, but belongs only to the Idea revealing itself as
Genius.
To impress its image on the surrounding world is
the object for which the living Idea dwelling in the True
Scholar seeks for itself an embodiment. It is to become the
highest life-principle, the innermost soul of the world a-
round it;--it must therefore assume the same forms which
are borne by the surrounding world, establish itself in these
forms as its own proper dwelling-place, and with a free
authority regulate the movements of all their individual
parts according to the natural purposes of each, even as a
healthy man can set in motion his own limbs. As for him
with whom the indwelling Genius proceeds but half-way
in its embodiment, and stops there,--whether it be because
the paths of Learned Culture are inaccessible to him, or be-
cause, from idleness or presumptuous self-conceit, he disdains
to avail himself of them,--between him and his age, and
consequently between him and every possible age and the
whole human race in every point of its progress, an impass-
able gulf is fixed, and the means of mutual influence are cut
Y
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? 1G2
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
off. Whatever may now dwell within him,--or, more strict-
ly speaking, whatever he might have acquired in the course
of his progressive culture,--he is unable to explain clearly
either to himself or others, or to make it the deliberate rule
of his actions and thus realize it in the world. He wants
the two necessary elements of the true life of the Idea,--
clearness and freedom. Clearness ;--his fundamental prin-
ciple is not thoroughly transparent to his own mind, he
cannot follow it securely throughout all its modifications,
from its innermost source where it is poured down imme-
diately from the Divinity upon his soul, to all those points
at which it has to manifest and embody itself in the visible
world, and through the different forms which, under different
conditions, it must assume. Freedom; which springs from
clearness, and can never exist without it;--for he cannot
perceive at a glance, and in each phase of reality which pre-
sents itself, the form which the Idea must there assume, and
the proper means to the attainment of that object;--nor has
he those means at his free disposal. He is commonly called
a visionary,--and he is rightly so called. On the contrary, he
in whom the Idea perfectly reveals itself, looks out upon
and thoroughly penetrates all reality by the light of the
Idea. Through the Idea itself he understands all its related
objects,--how they have become what they are, what in
them is complete, what is still awanting, and how the want
must be supplied; and he has, besides, the means of supply-
ing that want completely in his power. The embodiment of
the Idea is then for the first time completed in him, and he
is a matured Scholar;--the point where the Scholar passes
into the free Artist is the point of perfection for the Scho-
lar. Hence it is evident that even when Genius has dis-
closed itself, and visibly becomes a self-forming life of the
Idea, untiring Industry is necessary to its perfect growth.
To show that at the point where the Scholar reaches per-
fection the creative existence of the Artist begins; that this,
too, requires Industry, that it is infinite;--lies not within
our present inquiry; we only allude to it in passing.
But what did I say ? --that even after the manifestation
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? OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR.
163
of Genius, Industry is requisite? --as if I would call forth In-
dustry by my prescription, my advice, my demonstration of
its necessity, and thus expected to rouse to exertion those in
whom it is wanting! Bather let us say, that where Genius
is really present, Industry spontaneously appears, grows with
a steady growth, and ceaselessly impels the advancing Scho-
lar towards perfection;--where, on the contrary, Industry
is not to be found, it is not Genius nor the impulse of the
Idea which has shown itself, but, in place of it, only some
mean and unworthy motive.
The Idea is not the ornament of the individual (for,
strictly speaking, there is no such thing as individuality in
the Idea), but it seeks to flow forth in the whole human
race, to animate it with new life, and to mould it after its
own image. This is the distinctive character of the Idea;
and whatever is without this character is not the Idea.
Wherever, therefore, it attains an existence, it irresistibly
strives after this universal activity, not through the life of
the individual, but through its own essential life. It thus
impels every one in whom it has an abode, even against the
will and wish of his sensuous, personal nature, and as
thou^h hejwere a passive instrument,--impels him forward
to this universal activity, to the skill which is demanded in
its exercise, and to the Industry which is necessary for the
acquisition of that skilL Without need of outward incen-
tive, it never ceases from spontaneous activity and self-de-
velopment until it has attained such a living and efficient
form as is possible for it under the conditions by which it is
surrounded. Wherever a man, after having availed himself
of the existing and accessible means for the acquirement of
Learned Culture--(for the second case, where those means
do not exist, or are inaccessible, does not belong to our pre-
sent subject)--wherever, I say, in the first case, a man re-
mains inactive, satisfied with the persuasion that he is in
possession of something resembling the Idea or Genius,--
then in him there is neither Idea or Genius, but only a vain
ostentatious disposition, which assumes a singular and fan-
tastic costume in order to attract notice. Such a disposition
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? 1G4
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
shows itself at once in self-gratulatory contemplation of its
own parts and endowments, dwelling on these in compla-
cent indolence, commonly accompanied by contemptuous dis-
paragement of the personal qualities and gifts of others;--
while, on the contrary, he who is constantly urged on by
the Idea has-no time left to think of his own personality;--
lost with all his powers in the object he has in view, he
never weighs his own capacities of grasping it against those
of other men. Genius, where it is present, sees its object only
--never sees itself;--as the sound eye fixes itself upon some-
thing beyond it, but never looks round upon its own bright-
-ness. In such an one the Idea does certainly not abide.
What is it, then, that animates him,--that moves him to
those eager and restless efforts which we behold? It is mere
pride and self-conceit, and the desperate purpose, despite of
natural disqualification, to assume a character which does
not belong to him;--these animate, impel, and spur him on,
and stand to him in the room of Genius. And what is it
which he produces, which appears to the common eye (itself
neither clear nor pure, and in particular incapable of appre-
ciating the sole criteria of all true Ideals--clearness, free-
dom, depth, artistic form) as if it were the Idea ? --what is
it? Either something which he has himself imagined or
which has occurred to him by accident,--which, indeed, he
does not understand, but which he hopes, nevertheless, may
appear new, striking, paradoxical, and therefore blaze forth
far and wide;--with this he commits himself to the chance
of fortune, trusting that in the sequel he himself or some
one else may discover a meaning therein. Or else he has
borrowed it from others,--cunningly distorting, disarrang-
ing, and unsettling it, so that its original form cannot easily
be recognised; and by way of precaution depreciating the
source whence it came, as utterly barren and unprofitable,
lest the unprejudiced observer might be led to inquire
whether he has not possibly obtained from thence that
which he calls his own.
In one word,--self-contemplation, self-admiration, and
self-flattery, although the last may remain unexpressed, and
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? OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR.
165
even carefully shrouded from the eye of every beholder,--
these, and the indolence and disdain of the treasures al-
ready gathered together in the storehouses of learning
which spring from these, are sure signs of the absence of
true Genius; whilst forgetfulness of self in the object pur-
sued, entire devotion to that object, and inability to entertain
any thought of self in its presence, are the inseparable accom-
paniments of true Genius. It follows that true Genius in
every stage of its growth, but particularly during its early
development, is marked by amiable modesty and retiring
bashfulness. Genius knows least of all about itself; it is
there, and works and rules with silent power, long before it
comes to consciousness of its own nature. Whoever is con-
stantly looking back upon himself to see how it stands
with him, of what powers he can boast, and who is himself
the first discoverer of these,--in him truly there is nothing
great
.
Should there then be here among you any opening
Genius, far be it from me to wound its native modesty and
diffidence by any general invitation to you to examine
yourselves, and see whether or not you are in possession of
the Idea,--I would much rather earnestly dissuade you
from such self-examination. And that this advice may not
seem to you the suggestion of mere pedantic school-wisdom,
and perhaps of extravagant caution, but may approve itself
to your minds as arising from absolute necessity, I would
add that this question can neither be answered by your-
selves, nor can you obtain any sure answer to it from any
one else;--that therefore truth is not elicited by such a pre-
meditated self-examination, but, on the contrary, the youth
is taught a self-contemplation and conceited brooding over
his own nature, through which the man becomes at length
an intellectual and moral ruin. There are many signs by
which we may know'that the Genius which possibly lies con-
cealed in a Student has not yet declared itself,--and we
shall afterwards find occasion in the sequel to point out the
most remarkable of these;--but there is only one decisive cri-
terion by which we may determine whether Genius has exis-
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THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
ted or has never existed in him; and that one decisive cri-
terion can be applied only after the result has become ap-
parent. Whoever has really become a perfect Scholar and
Artist, in the sense in which we have used these words,--
grasping the world in his clear, penetrating Idea, and able
to impress that Idea upon the world at every point -- he
has had Genius, he has been inspired by the Idea; and this
may now confidently be said of him. He who, nothwith-
standing the most diligent study, has come to years of ma-
turity without having raised himself to the Idea--he has
been without Genius, without communion with the Idea;
and this may henceforth be said of him. But of him who
is still upon the way, neither of these judgments can be
pronounced.
This disposition of things, which is as wise as it is neces-
sary, leaves but one course open to the youthful student
who cannot know with certainty whether or not Genius
dwells within him;--this, namely, that he continue to act as
though there were latent within him that which must at
last come to light; that he subject himself to all conditions,
and place himself in all circumstances in which, if present,
it may come to light; that, with untiring Industry and true
devotion of his whole mind, he avail himself of all the
means which Learned Culture offers to him. In the worst
case,--if at the termination of his studies he find that out
of the mass of learning which he has accumulated not one
spark of the Idea has beamed upon him, there yet remains
for him this consciousness at least,--which is more indispen-
sable to man than even Genius itself, and without which the
possesor of the greatest Genius is far less worthy than he,--
the consciousness that if he has not risen higher, no blame
can attach to him,--that the point at which he has stopped
short is the place which God has assigned to him, whose law
he will joyfully obey. No one need pride himself upon
Genius, for it is the free gift of God; but of honest Industry
and true devotion to his destiny any man may well be
proud ;indeed this thorough Integrity of Purpose is itself
the Divine Idea in its most common form, and no really
honest mind is without communion with God.
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? OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR.
167
Farther:--the knowledge which he has acquired by
means of this sincere effort after something higher, will ren-
der him always a suitable instrument in the hands of the
more perfect Scholar,--of him who has attained possession
of the Idea. To him he will unhesitatingly submit without
grudge or jealousy,--without any unsatisfied struggle after
an elevation for which he was not formed; his guidance he
will follow with a true loyalty which shall have become to
him a second nature, and thus he will obtain a sure con-
sciousness of having fulfilled his vocation, as the last and
highest destiny to which, in any sphere of life, man can at-
tain.
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? 168
LECTURE IV.
OF INTEGRITY IN STUDY.
He who is to become a True Scholar, so that in him the
Divine Idea of the world may attain to such a measure of
clearness and influence over the surrounding world as is
possible in his circumstances, must be laid hold of by the
Idea itself through its own inherent power, and by it be
urged forward unceasingly towards the wished-for end.
In our portraiture of the Nature of the True Scholar, we
are now engaged with the Progressive Scholar, or the Stu-
dent.
If the Student is really inspired by the Idea,--or, what is
the same thing, if he possesses Genius and true talent, he is
already far above all our counsels; Genius will fulfil its vo-
cation in him without our aid, and even without his own
concurrence:--of this we have spoken sufficiently in our
last lecture.
But, as we have likewise seen in the same lecture, the
Progressive Scholar can never determine for himself whe-
ther or not he possesses Genius in our sense of the term, nor
can any one else determine this for him:--hence there is
nothing left for him but with sincere and perfect Integrity
so to act as if there lay within him Genius which must ul-
timately come to light. True Genius, when present, mani-
fests itself precisely in the same way as does this Integrity
in Study; in appearance, both assume the same form, and
cannot be distinguished the one from the other.
Turning away from the tests of Genius which, in the Pro-
gressive Scholar at least, are inscrutable, we have now only
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? THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
1G9
to exhaust the indications of Integrity in Study, and we
shall then have completed the portraiture of the true fol-
lower of learning. The honest Scholar is to us the only
True Scholar: the two ideas flow into each other.
Integrity in the abstract, as we have also remarked be-
fore, is itself a Divine Idea; it is the Divine Idea in its most
general form, embracing all men. Hence, like the Idea it-
self it acts by its own inherent power;--it forms itself, as
we said before of Genius, without aid from personal feeling,
--nay, even annihilating self-love as far as possible,--into
an independent life in man, irresistibly urging him forward
and pervading all his thoughts and actions. His actions, I
say; for the idea of Integrity is an immediately practical
idea, determining the outward, visible, free doings of man;
--whereas the influence of Genius is, in the first place, in-
ternal,--affecting spiritual insight . He who truly possesses
Genius must be successful in his studies: to him light and
knowledge will spring up on all sides from the objects of his
contemplation. He who possesses Integrity in Study, of him
this success cannot be so surely predicted; but should it not
follow, he will at least be blameless, for he will neglect no-
thing within his power which may enable him to attain it;
and even if he be not at last a sharer in the triumph, he
shall at all events have deserved to be so.
Integrity, as a living and governing principle, rises above
the person of him who is animated by it, and regards this
person as standing under a definite law,--as existing only
for a certain purpose, and as a means to a higher end. Man
shall be and do something; his temporal life shall leave be-
hind it in the spiritual world an imperishable and eternal
result,--a particular result arising from the life of each in-
dividual, belonging to him alone and demanded of him
alone. It is thus that the true-minded man looks upon all
personal Life in Time, and particularly on that life which
lies nearest to him,--namely, his own. He in whom this
Integrity has become a living'idea cannot conceive of
human life in any other way than this;--from this prin-
ciple he sets forth, to it he constantly returns, and by it he
z
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? 170
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
regulates all his other modes of thought. Only in so far as
he obeys this law and fulfils this purpose, which he recog-
nises as his being's end and aim, is he satisfied with him-
self: everything in him which is not directed to this high
end,--which is not evidently a means to its attainment, he
despises, hates, desires to have swept away. He looks upon
his individual person as a thought of the Deity; and thus
his vocation--the design of his being--is to him as a pur-
pose of God himself. This, and nothing else, is the idea of
Integrity, whether he who is ruled by it calls it by this
name or by another.
Success cannot indeed be certainly predicted of mere In-
tegrity as such, either in study or in any other purpose
which it may propose to itself; but in all its pursuits it will
surely display the independent power of the Idea pressing
steadily forward to its mark; and of the true-minded man
it may confidently be said, that in Integrity itself, his de-
fence and support, he will find a noble reward. In advanc-
ing on the path of rectitude, it will become continually less
needful for him to admonish, to arouse himself to the strug-
gle against recurring evil desires; for the true feeling, the
legitimate mode of thought, will spontaneously reveal itself to
him, and become his ruling principle,--his second nature.
Whatever thou doest, do it with Integrity: if thou studiest,
let it guide thy studies; and then, as to whether thou shalt
prosper in what thou doest,--leave that to God;--thou hast
most surely left it to Him, when thou goest to work with
true and honest purpose: with the attainment of that In-
tegrity thou shalt also attain unbroken peace, inward cheer-
fulness, and an unstained conscience;--and in so far thou
shalt assuredly prosper.
We have said that the honest man in general looks upon
his free personal life as unalterably determined by the eter-
nal thought of God;--the honest student in particular looks
upon himself as designed by the thought of God to this end,
that the Divine Idea of the constitution of this universe
may enter his soul, shine in him with steady lustre, and
through him maintain a definite influence on the surround-
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? OF INTEGRITY IN STUDY.
171
ing world. Thus does he conceive of his vocation; for in
this lies the essential Nature of the Scholar :-Vso surely as he has entered upon his studies with Integrity, i. e. with the persuasion that God has given a purpose to his life, and that
he must direct all his free actions towards the fulfilment of
that purpose,--so surely has he made the supposition that
it is the Divine Will that he should become a Scholar. It
matters not whether we have chosen this condition for our-
selves with freedom and foresight, or others have chosen it for
us, placed us in the way of preparation for it, and closed every
other condition of life against us. How could any one, at
the early age at which this choice of a condition usually
occurs, and in most cases must occur, have attained the ma-
ture wisdom by which to decide for himself whether or not
he is possessed of the as yet untried and undeveloped capa-
city for knowledge? When we come to exercise our own
understanding, the choice of a condition is already made,
--it has been made without our aid, because we were in-
capable at the time of rendering any aid in the matter;
and now we cannot turn back,--a necessity precisely similar
to the unalterable conditions under which our freedom is
placed by the Divine Will. If an error should occur in the
choice thus made for us by others, the fault is not ours; we
could not decide whether or not an error had been commit-
ted, and could not venture to presuppose one; if it has oc-
curred, then it is our business, so far as in us lies, to correct
it . In any case, it is the Divine Will that every one, in the
station where he has been placed by necessity, should do all
things which properly belong to that station. We have met
together to study; hence it is assuredly the Divine Will
that we consider ourselves as Students, and apply to our- ,selves all that is comprehended in that idea.
This thought, with its indestructible certainty, enters and
fills the soul of every honest Student:--this, namely--"I,
this sent, this expressly commissioned individual, as I may
now call myself, am actually here, have entered into exist-
ence for this cause and no other,--that the eternal counsel
of God in this universe may through me be seen of men in
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? 172
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
another, hitherto unknown light,--may be made clearly
manifest, and shine forth with inextinguishable lustre over
the world; and this phase of the Divine Thought, thus
bound up with my personality, is the only true living being
within me; all else, though looked upon even by myself as
belonging to my being, is dream, shadow, nothing;--this
alone is imperishable and eternal within me; all else shall
again disappear in the void from which it has seemingly,
but never really come forth. " This thought fills his whole
soul: whether or not it is itself clearly conceived and ex-
pressed, everything else which is there clearly conceived, ex-
pressed, wished, or willed, is referred back to it as to its first
condition, can only be explained by it, and only considered
possible on the supposition of its truth.
Through this fundamental principle of all his thoughts,
he himself, and Knowledge, the object of his activity, be-
come to him, before all other things, honourable and holy.
He himself becomes honourable and holy. Not, by any means,
that he dwells with self-complacent pride on the superiority
of his vocation--to share in some degree the counsel of God
and reveal it to the world--over other less distinguished
callings, invidiously weighing them against each other, and
thus esteeming himself as of more value than other men.
If one form of human destiny appears to him superior to
another, it is not because it offers a better field for personal
distinction, but because in it the Divine Idea reveals itself
with greater clearness. Man has no peculiar value beyond
that of faithfully fulfilling his vocation, whatever that may
be; and of this all can partake, irrespective of the different
natures of their callings, v Moreover, the Progressive Scholar
does not even know whether he shall ultimately attain the
proper end of his studies, the possession of the Idea; nor,
therefore, if that noble vocation be really his;--he is only
bound to suppose the possibility of this. The perfect Scho-
lar--of whom we do not now speak--when he has the com-
pleted result in his possession, can then indeed with certain-
ty recognise his vocation; but even in him the cravings of
the Idea for more extended manifestation still continue, and
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? OK INTEGRITY IN STUDY.
173
shall continue while life endures, so that he can never have
time to muse over the superiority of his vocation, even were
such musings not utterly vain in themselves, All pride is
founded on what we think toe are,--are in attained and per- ,
feet being; and thus pride is in itself vain and contradic- ^tory,--for that which is our true being,--that to which end-
less growth belongs,--is precisely that to which we have not
yet attained. Our true and underived being in the Divine
Idea always manifests itself as a desire of progress, and
hence as dissatisfaction with our present state; and thus the
Idea makes us truly modest, and bows us down to the dust
before its majesty. By his pride itself, the proud man
shows that, more than any one else, he has need of humi-
lity | for while he thinks of himself that he is something, he
shows by his pride that he is really nothing.
Hence, in the thought to which we gave utterance, the
Student is holy and honourable to himself above everything
else,--not in respect of what he is, but of what he ought to be,
and what he evermore must strive to become. The peculiar
self-abasement of a man consists in this,--when he makes
himself an instrument of a temporary and perishable purpose,
and deigns to spend care and labour on something else than
the Imperishable and Eternal. In this view, every man
should be honourable and holy to himself,--and so, too,
should the Scholar.
To what end, then, 0 Student, dost thou give to Know- yledge this attention, which, be it great or small, still costs thee some effort,--wherefore concentrate thy thoughts here, when thou wouldst rather let them rove abroad,--wherefore
deny thyself so many enjoyments, for which, nevertheless,
the appetite is not wanting in thee?
development of spiritual existence, Nature itself is gradually
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? 150
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
interpenetrated by life; and it is thus both the obstacle to,
and the sphere of, that activity and outward manifestation
of power in which human life eternally unfolds itself.
This, and absolutely nothing more than this, is Nature in
the most extended meaning of the word; and even man
himself, in so far as his existence is limited in comparison
with the original and Divine Life, is nothing more than this.
Since the perpetual advancement of this second life,--not
original, but derived and human,--and also its finitude and
limitation in order that such advancement may be so much
as possible,--both proceed from the self-manifestation of the
Absolute, so Nature also has its foundation in God,--not
indeed as something that is and ought to be for its own
sake alone, but only as the means and condition of another
being,--of the Living Being in man,--and as^something
which shall be gradually and unceasingly superseded and
displaced by the perpetual advancement of this being.
Hence we must not be blinded or led astray by a philo-
sophy assuming the name of natural* which pretends to ex-
cel all former philosophy by striving to elevate Nature into
Absolute Being, and into the place of God In all ages, the
theoretical errors as well as the moral corruptions of hu-
manity have arisen from falsely bestowing the name of life
on that which in itself possesses neither absolute nor even
finite being, and seeking for life and its enjoyment in that
which in itself is dead. Very far therefore from being a
step towards truth, that philosophy is but a return to old
and already most widely spread error.
6. All truth contained in the principles which we have
now laid down may be perceived by man, who himself is the
Manifestation of the Original and Divine Life, in its general
aspect, as we for example, have now perceived it,--either
through rational conviction, or only from being led to it by
an obscure feeling or sense of truth, or from finding it prob-
able because it furnishes a complete solution of the most
important problems. Man may perceive it; that is, the
* Schelling's " Natur-Philosophie" is here referred to.
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? DEFINITION OF THE DIVINE IDEA. . 151
Manifestation may fall back on its Original, and picture it
forth in reflection with absolute certainty as to the fact;
but it can by no means analyze and comprehend it fully, for
the Manifestation ever remains only a Manifestation, and
can never go beyond itself and return to Absolute Being.
7. We have said that man may perceive this in so far as
regards the fact, but he cannot perceive the reason and
origin of the fact. How and why from the Divine Life, this
and no other Time-Life arises and constantly flows forth, can be understood by man only on condition of fully com-
prehending all the parts of this latter, and interpreting
them all, one by the other, mutually and completely, so as to
reduce them once more to a single idea, and that idea equi-
valent to the one Divine Life. But this forth-flowing Time-
TSfe is infinite, and hence the comprehension of its parts
can never be completed: besides, the comprehender is him-
self a portion of it, and at every conceivable point of time
he himself stands chained in the finite and limited, which
he can never entirely throw off without ceasing to be Mani-
festation,--without being himself transformed into the
Divine Life.
8. From this it seems to follow, that the Time-Life can be
comprehended by thought only as a whole, and according to
its general nature,--i. e. as we have endeavoured to compre-
hend it above,--and then as a Manifestation of the one
Original and Divine Life;--but that its details must be im-
mediately felt and experienced in their individual import,
and can only by and through this Experience be imaged
forth in thought and consciousness. And such is actually
the case in a certain respect and with a certain portion of
human life. Throughout all time, and in every individual
part of it, there remains in human life something which i'does not entirely reveal itself in Idea, and which therefore
cannot be anticipated or superseded by any Idea, but which
must be directly felt if it is ever to attain a place in con-
sciousness ;--and this is called the domain of pure empiri-
cism or Experience. The above-mentioned philosophy ens
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? 152
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
in this,--that it pretends to have resolved human life en-
tirely into Idea, and thus wholly superseded Experience;
instead of which, it defeats its own purpose, and in attempt-
ing to explain life completely, loses sight of it altogether.
9. I said that such was the case with the Time-Life in a
certain respect and with a certain portion of it. For in
another respect and with another portion of it, the case is
quite otherwise,--and that on the following ground, which I
shall here only indicate in popular phraseology, but which is
well worthy of deeper investigation.
The Time-Life does not enter into Time in individual
parts only, but also in entire homogeneous masses; and it is
these masses, again, which divide themselves into the indivi-
dual parts of actual life. There is not only Time, but there
are times, and succession of times, epoch after epoch, and
age succeeding age. Thus, for example, to the deeper
thought of man, the entire Earthly Life of the human race,
as it now exists, is such a homogeneous mass, projected at
once into Time, and ever present there, whole and undivid-
ed,--only as regards sensuous appearance spread out into
world-history. When these homogeneous masses have ap-
peared in Time, the general laws and rules by which they
are governed may be comprehended, and, in their relation
to the whole course of these masses, anticipated and under-
stood; while the obstacles over which these masses must
take their way--that is, the hindrances and interruptions
of life--are only accessible to immediate Experience.
10. These cognizable laws of homogeneous masses of Life,
which may be perceived and understood prior to their ac-
tual consequences, must necessarily appear as laws of Life
itself, as it ought to be, and as it should strive to become,
founded on the self-supporting and independent principle of
this Time-Life, which must here appear as Freedom:--
hence, as laws for the free action and conduct of the living be-
ing. If we go back to the source of this legislation, we shall
find that it lies in the Divine Life itself, which could not
reveal itself in Time otherwise than under this form of a
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? DEFINITION OP THE DIVINE IDEA.
153
law; and, indeed, as is implied in the preceding ideas, no-
wise as a law ruling with blind power and extorting obedi-
ence by force, such as we assume in passive and inanimate
nature,--but as the law of a Life which is conscious of its
own independence, and cannot be deprived of it, without at
the same time tearing up the very root of its being; hence,
as we said above, as a Divine Law of Freedom, or Moral Law.
Further, as we have already seen, this life according to
the law of the original Divine Life, is the only True Life and
ground of all other;--all things else besides this Life are
but hindrances and obstructions thereto, possessing exist-
ence only that by them the True Life may be unfolded and
manifested in its strength:--hence, all things else have no
existence for their own sakes, but only as means for the de-
velopment of the True Life. Reason can comprehend the
connexion between means and end only by supposing a
mind in which the end has been determined. A thoroughly
moral Human Life has its source in God: by analogy with
our own reason, we conceive of God as proposing to himself
the moral Life of man as the sole purpose for which He has
manifested himself and called into existence every other
thing; not that it is absolutely thus as we conceive of it,
and that God really thinks like man, and that Being itself is
in him distinguished from the conception of Being,--but we
think thus only because we are unable otherwise to com-
prehend the relation between the Divine and the Human
Life. And in this absolutely necessary mode of thought, Human Life as it ought to be becomes the idea and funda-
mental conception of God in the creation of a world,--the
purpose and the plan which God intended to fulfil by the
creation of the world.
And thus it is sufficiently explained for our present pur-
pose how the Divine Idea lies at the foundation of the vis-
ible world, and how, and how far, this Idea, hidden from the
common eye, may become conceivable and attainable by
cultivated thought, and necessarily appear to it as that
which man by his free activity ought to manifest in the
world.
x
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? 154
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
Let us not forthwith restrict our conception of this ought,
--this free act of man, to the familiar categorical impera-
tive, and to the narrow and paltry applications of it which
are given in our common systems of Morality,--such ap-
plications as must necessarily be made by such a science.
Almost invariably, and that for causes well founded in the
laws of philosophical abstraction through which systems of
Morality are produced, it has been usual to dwell at great-
est length on the mere^orwj of Morality,--to inculcate sim-
ply and solely obedience to the commandment;--and even
when our moralists have proceeded to its substance, still
their chief aim seems to have been rather to induce men to
cease from doing evil, than to persuade them to do good.
Indeed, in any system of human duties, it is necessary to
maintain such a generality of expression that the rules may
be equally applicable to all men, and for this reason to
point out more clearly what man ought not to do, than
what he ought to do. This, too, is the Divine Idea,--but
only in its remote and borrowed shape--not in its fresh ori-
ginality, original Divine Idea of any particular point
of time remains for the most part unexpressed, until the
God-inspired man appears and declares it. What the
Divine Man does, that is divine. In general, the original
and pure Divine Idea--that which he who is immediately
inspired of God should do and actually does--is (with refer-
ence to the visible world) creative, producing the new, the
unheard-of, the original. The impulse of mere natural exis-
tence leads us to abide in the old, and even when the
Divine Idea is associated with it, it aims at the maintenance
of whatever has hitherto seemed good, or at most to petty
improvements upon it; but where the Divine Idea attains
an existence pure from the admixture of natural impulse,
there it builds new worlds upon the ruins of the old. All
things new, great, and beautiful, which have appeared in the
world since its beginning, and those which shall appear un-
til its end, have appeared and shall appear through the
Divine Idea, partially expressed in the chosen ones of our
race/)
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? DEFINITION OF THE DIVINE IDEA. 155
And thus, as the Life of Man is the only immediate im-
plement and organ of the Divine Idea in the visible world,
so is it also the first and immediate object of its activity.
The progressive Culture of the human race is the object of
the Divine Idea, and of those in whom that Idea dwells.
This last view makes it possible for us to separate the
Divine Idea into its various modes of action, or to conceive
of the one indivisible Idea as several.
First,--In the actual world, the Life of Man, which is in
truth essentially one and indivisble, is divided into the life
of many proximate individuals, each of whom possesses free-
dom and independence. This division of the one Living Existence is an arrangement of nature, and hence is a hin-
drance or obstruction to the True Life,--and exists only in
order that through it, and in conflict with it, that unity of
Life which is demanded by the Divine Idea may freely
fashion itself. Human Life has been divided by nature into
many parts, in order that it may form itself to unity, and
that all the separate individuals who compose it may
through Life itself blend themselves together into oneness
of mind. In the original state of nature, the various wills
of these individuals, and the different powers which they
call into play, mutually oppose and hinder each other. It
is not so in the Divine Idea, amH^shaJLnQtjjpntinue so in
the visible world. The first interposing power (not found-
~e3in nature, but subsequently introduced into the world
by a new creation) on which this strife of individual powers
must break and expend itself until it shall entirely disap-
pear in a general morality, is the founding of States, and of
just relations between them; in short, all those institutions
by which individual powers, single or united, have each
their proper sphere assigned to them, to which they are confined, but in which at the same time they are secured
against all foreign aggression. This institution lay in the
Divine Idea; it was introduced into the world by inspired
men in their efforts for the realization of the Divine Idea;
by these efforts it will be maintained in the world, and con-
stantly improved until it attain perfection.
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? 156
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR
Secondly,--This Race of Man, thus raising itself through
internal strife to internal unity, is surrounded by an inert
and passive Nature, by which its free life is constantly hin-
dered, threatened, and confined. So it must be, in order that
this Life may attain such unity by its]own free effort; and
thus, according to the Divine Idea, must thisTstrength and
independence of the sensual life, progressively and gradual-
ly unfold itself. To that end it is necessary that the powers
of Nature be subjected to human purpose, and (in order that
this subjection may be possible) that man should be ac-
quainted with the laws by which these powers act, and be
able to calculate beforehand the course of their operations.
Moreover, Nature is not designed merely to be useful and
profitable to man, but also to become his fitting companion,
bearing the impress of his higher dignity, and reflecting it
in radiant characters on every side. This dominion over
Nature lies in the Divine Idea, and is ceaselessly extended
by the power of that Idea through the agency of all in
whom it dwells.
Lastly,--Man is not placed in the world of sense alone,
but the essential root of his being is, as we have seen, in
God. Hurried along by sense and its impulses, the know-
ledge of this Life in God may readily be concealed from
him, and then, however noble may be his nature, he lives in
strife and disunion with himself, in discord and unhappiness,
without true dignity and enjoyment of Life. Only when the
consciousness of the true source of his existence first rises
upon him, and he joyfully resigns himself to it till his be-
ing is steeped in the thought, do peace, joy, and blessedness
flow in upon his soul. And it lies in the Divine Idea that
all men must come to this gladdening consciousness,--that
the outward and aimless Finite Life may thus be pervaded
by the Infinite and so enjoyed; and to this end all who have
been filled with the Divine Idea have laboured and shall
still labour, that this consciousness in its purest possible
form may be spread throughout the race of man.
The modes of activity which we have indicated,--Legis-
lation,--Science (knowledge of nature--power over na-
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? DEFINITION OF THE DIVINE IDEA.
157
ture)--Religion,--are those in which the Divine Idea most
commonly reveals and manifests itself through man in the
world of sense. It is obvious that each of these chief
branches has also its separate parts, in each of which, indi-
vidually, the Idea may be revealed. Add to these the
Knowledge of the Divine Idea,--knowledge that there is
such a Divine Idea, as well as knowledge of its import,
either in whole or in some of its parts,--and further, the
Art or Skill actually to make manifest in the world the
Idea which is thus clearly seen and understood,--both
of which, however,--Knowledge and Art--can be acquired
only through the immediate impulse of the Divine Idea,
-- and then we have the five great modes in which the
Jilea-*eveals itself in man.
That mode of culture by which, in the view of any age, a
man may attain to the possession of this Idea or these
Ideas, we have named the Learned Culture of that age; and
those who, by this culture, do actually attain the desired
possession, we have named the Scholars of the age;--and
from what we have said to-day you will be able more easily
to recognise the truth of our position, to refer back to it the
different branches of knowledge recognised among men, or
to deduce them from it; and thus test our principle by its
applications.
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? 158
LECTURE III.
OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR GENERALLY; AND IN
PARTICULAR OF GENIUS AND INDUSTRY.
It is the Divine Idea itself which, by it own inherent power,
creates for itself an independent and personal life in man,
constantly maintains itself in this life, and by means of it
moulds the outward world in its own image. The natural
man cannot, by his own strength, raise himself to the super-
natural; he must be raised thereto by the power of the
supernatural. This self-forming and self-supporting life of
the Idea in man manifests itself as Love;--strictly speaking,
as Love of the Idea for itself; but, in the language of com-
mon appearance, as Love of man for the Idea. This was
set forth in our first lecture.
So it is with Love in general;--and it is not otherwise,
in particular, with the love of the knowledge of the Idea,
which knowledge the Scholar is called upon to acquire.
The love of the Idea absolutely for itself, and particularly
for its essential light, shows itself in those men whom it has
inspired, and of whose being it has fully possessed itself, as
knowledge of the Idea;--in the Finished Scholar, with a well-
defined and perfect clearness,--in the Progressive Scholar,
as a striving towards such a degree of clearness as it can at-
tain under the circumstances in which he is placed. Fol-
lowing out the plan laid down in the opening lecture, we
shall speak, in the first place, of the Progressive Scholar.
The Idea strives, in the first place, to assume a definite
form within him, and to establish for itself a fixed place
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? THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
159
amid the tide of manifold images which flows in ceaseless
change over his soul. In this effort he is seized with a pre-
sentiment of a truth still unknown to him, of which he has
as yet no clear conception; he feels that every new acqui-
sition which he makes still falls short of the full and per-
fect truth, without being able to state distinctly in what it
is deficient, or how the fullness of knowledge which is to
take its place can be attained or brought about. This ef-
fort of the Idea within him becomes henceforward his essen-
tial life,--the highest and deepest impulse of his being,--
superseding his hitherto sensuous and egoistical impulse,
which was directed only towards the maintenance of his
personal existence and physical well-being,--subjecting this
latter to itself, and thereby for ever extinguishing it as the
one and fundamental impulse of his nature. Actual person-
al want does still, as hitherto, demand its satisfaction; but
that satisfaction does not continue, as it has hitherto con-
tinued, even when its immediate demands have been sup-
plied, to be the engrossing thought, the ever-present object
of contemplation, the motive to all conduct and action of
the thinking being. As the sensuous nature has hitherto
asserted its rights, so does emancipated thought, armed
with new power, in its own strength and without outward
compulsion or ulterior design, return from the strange land
into which it has been led captive, to its own proper home,
and betake itself to the path which leads towards that
much wished-for Unlcnown, whose light streams upon it from
afar. Towards that unknown it is unceasingly attracted;
in meditating upon it, in striving after it, it employs its
best spiritual power.
This impulse towards an obscure, imperfectly-discerned
spiritual object, is commonly named Genius;--and it is so
named on good grounds. It is a supernatural instinct in
man, attracting him to a supernatural object;--thus indica-
ting his relationship to the spiritual world and his original
home in that world. Whether we suppose that this im-
pulse, which, absolutely considered, should prompt to the
pursuit of the Divine Idea in its primitive unity and indivi-
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? 160
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
sibility, does originally, and at the first appearance of any
individual in the world of sense, so shape itself that this in-
dividual can lay hold of the Idea only at some one particu-
lar point of contact, and only from that point penetrate gra-
dually to the other parts of the spiritual universe;--or
whether we hold that this peculiar point of contact for the
individual is determined during the first development of the
individual power on the manifold materials which surround
it, and always occurs in that material which chance presents
at the precise moment when the power is sufficiently deve-
loped ;--which of these opinions soever we adopt, still, so far
as its outward manifestation is concerned, the impulse
which shows itself in man and urges him onward, will al-
ways exhibit itself as an impulse towards some particular
side of the one indivisible Idea; or, as we may express it,
after the investigations of our last lecture, without fear of
being misunderstood,--as an impulse towards one particu-
lar idea in the sphere of all possible ideas; or if we give to
this impulse the name of Genius, then Genius will always
appear as a specific Genius, for philosophy, poetry, natural
science, legislation, or the like,--never clothed with an abso-
lute character, as Genius in the abstract. According to the
first opinion, this specific Genius possesses its distinguishing
character as an innate peculiarity; according to the second,
it is originally a universal Genius, which is determined to a
particular province only by the accident of culture. The decision of this controversy lies beyond the limits of our
present task.
In whatever way it may be decided, two things are evi-
dent :--in general, the necessity of previous spiritual culture,
and of preliminary instruction in, and acquaintance with,
ideas and knowledge, so that Genius, if present, may dis-
close itself; and, in particular the necessity of bringing
within the reach of every man, ideas of many different
kinds, so that either the inborn specific Genius may come in-
to contact with its appropriate material, or the originally
universal Genius may freely chose one particular object from
among the many. Even in this preliminary spiritual cul-
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? OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR.
161
ture, future Genius reveals itself; for its earliest impulse is
directed towards Knowledge only as Knowledge,--merely
for the sake of knowing;--and thus manifests itself solely as
a desire to know.
But even when this impulse has visibly manifested itself
either in the active investigation of some attractive problem
or in happy anticipations of its solution, still persevering in-
dustry, uninterrupted labour, are imperatively requisite.
The question has often been raised, whether Genius or In-
dustry be more essential in science. I answer, both must be
united:--the one is but little worth without the other.
Genius is nothing more than the effort of the Idea to as-
sume a definite form. The Idea, however, has in itself
neither body nor substance, but only shapes for itself an
embodiment out of the scientific materials which environ it
in Time, of which Industry is the sole purveyor. On the
other hand, Industry can do nothing more than provide the
elements of this embodiment;--to unite them organically,
and to breath into them a living spirit, is not the work of
Industry, but belongs only to the Idea revealing itself as
Genius.
To impress its image on the surrounding world is
the object for which the living Idea dwelling in the True
Scholar seeks for itself an embodiment. It is to become the
highest life-principle, the innermost soul of the world a-
round it;--it must therefore assume the same forms which
are borne by the surrounding world, establish itself in these
forms as its own proper dwelling-place, and with a free
authority regulate the movements of all their individual
parts according to the natural purposes of each, even as a
healthy man can set in motion his own limbs. As for him
with whom the indwelling Genius proceeds but half-way
in its embodiment, and stops there,--whether it be because
the paths of Learned Culture are inaccessible to him, or be-
cause, from idleness or presumptuous self-conceit, he disdains
to avail himself of them,--between him and his age, and
consequently between him and every possible age and the
whole human race in every point of its progress, an impass-
able gulf is fixed, and the means of mutual influence are cut
Y
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? 1G2
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
off. Whatever may now dwell within him,--or, more strict-
ly speaking, whatever he might have acquired in the course
of his progressive culture,--he is unable to explain clearly
either to himself or others, or to make it the deliberate rule
of his actions and thus realize it in the world. He wants
the two necessary elements of the true life of the Idea,--
clearness and freedom. Clearness ;--his fundamental prin-
ciple is not thoroughly transparent to his own mind, he
cannot follow it securely throughout all its modifications,
from its innermost source where it is poured down imme-
diately from the Divinity upon his soul, to all those points
at which it has to manifest and embody itself in the visible
world, and through the different forms which, under different
conditions, it must assume. Freedom; which springs from
clearness, and can never exist without it;--for he cannot
perceive at a glance, and in each phase of reality which pre-
sents itself, the form which the Idea must there assume, and
the proper means to the attainment of that object;--nor has
he those means at his free disposal. He is commonly called
a visionary,--and he is rightly so called. On the contrary, he
in whom the Idea perfectly reveals itself, looks out upon
and thoroughly penetrates all reality by the light of the
Idea. Through the Idea itself he understands all its related
objects,--how they have become what they are, what in
them is complete, what is still awanting, and how the want
must be supplied; and he has, besides, the means of supply-
ing that want completely in his power. The embodiment of
the Idea is then for the first time completed in him, and he
is a matured Scholar;--the point where the Scholar passes
into the free Artist is the point of perfection for the Scho-
lar. Hence it is evident that even when Genius has dis-
closed itself, and visibly becomes a self-forming life of the
Idea, untiring Industry is necessary to its perfect growth.
To show that at the point where the Scholar reaches per-
fection the creative existence of the Artist begins; that this,
too, requires Industry, that it is infinite;--lies not within
our present inquiry; we only allude to it in passing.
But what did I say ? --that even after the manifestation
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? OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR.
163
of Genius, Industry is requisite? --as if I would call forth In-
dustry by my prescription, my advice, my demonstration of
its necessity, and thus expected to rouse to exertion those in
whom it is wanting! Bather let us say, that where Genius
is really present, Industry spontaneously appears, grows with
a steady growth, and ceaselessly impels the advancing Scho-
lar towards perfection;--where, on the contrary, Industry
is not to be found, it is not Genius nor the impulse of the
Idea which has shown itself, but, in place of it, only some
mean and unworthy motive.
The Idea is not the ornament of the individual (for,
strictly speaking, there is no such thing as individuality in
the Idea), but it seeks to flow forth in the whole human
race, to animate it with new life, and to mould it after its
own image. This is the distinctive character of the Idea;
and whatever is without this character is not the Idea.
Wherever, therefore, it attains an existence, it irresistibly
strives after this universal activity, not through the life of
the individual, but through its own essential life. It thus
impels every one in whom it has an abode, even against the
will and wish of his sensuous, personal nature, and as
thou^h hejwere a passive instrument,--impels him forward
to this universal activity, to the skill which is demanded in
its exercise, and to the Industry which is necessary for the
acquisition of that skilL Without need of outward incen-
tive, it never ceases from spontaneous activity and self-de-
velopment until it has attained such a living and efficient
form as is possible for it under the conditions by which it is
surrounded. Wherever a man, after having availed himself
of the existing and accessible means for the acquirement of
Learned Culture--(for the second case, where those means
do not exist, or are inaccessible, does not belong to our pre-
sent subject)--wherever, I say, in the first case, a man re-
mains inactive, satisfied with the persuasion that he is in
possession of something resembling the Idea or Genius,--
then in him there is neither Idea or Genius, but only a vain
ostentatious disposition, which assumes a singular and fan-
tastic costume in order to attract notice. Such a disposition
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? 1G4
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
shows itself at once in self-gratulatory contemplation of its
own parts and endowments, dwelling on these in compla-
cent indolence, commonly accompanied by contemptuous dis-
paragement of the personal qualities and gifts of others;--
while, on the contrary, he who is constantly urged on by
the Idea has-no time left to think of his own personality;--
lost with all his powers in the object he has in view, he
never weighs his own capacities of grasping it against those
of other men. Genius, where it is present, sees its object only
--never sees itself;--as the sound eye fixes itself upon some-
thing beyond it, but never looks round upon its own bright-
-ness. In such an one the Idea does certainly not abide.
What is it, then, that animates him,--that moves him to
those eager and restless efforts which we behold? It is mere
pride and self-conceit, and the desperate purpose, despite of
natural disqualification, to assume a character which does
not belong to him;--these animate, impel, and spur him on,
and stand to him in the room of Genius. And what is it
which he produces, which appears to the common eye (itself
neither clear nor pure, and in particular incapable of appre-
ciating the sole criteria of all true Ideals--clearness, free-
dom, depth, artistic form) as if it were the Idea ? --what is
it? Either something which he has himself imagined or
which has occurred to him by accident,--which, indeed, he
does not understand, but which he hopes, nevertheless, may
appear new, striking, paradoxical, and therefore blaze forth
far and wide;--with this he commits himself to the chance
of fortune, trusting that in the sequel he himself or some
one else may discover a meaning therein. Or else he has
borrowed it from others,--cunningly distorting, disarrang-
ing, and unsettling it, so that its original form cannot easily
be recognised; and by way of precaution depreciating the
source whence it came, as utterly barren and unprofitable,
lest the unprejudiced observer might be led to inquire
whether he has not possibly obtained from thence that
which he calls his own.
In one word,--self-contemplation, self-admiration, and
self-flattery, although the last may remain unexpressed, and
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? OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR.
165
even carefully shrouded from the eye of every beholder,--
these, and the indolence and disdain of the treasures al-
ready gathered together in the storehouses of learning
which spring from these, are sure signs of the absence of
true Genius; whilst forgetfulness of self in the object pur-
sued, entire devotion to that object, and inability to entertain
any thought of self in its presence, are the inseparable accom-
paniments of true Genius. It follows that true Genius in
every stage of its growth, but particularly during its early
development, is marked by amiable modesty and retiring
bashfulness. Genius knows least of all about itself; it is
there, and works and rules with silent power, long before it
comes to consciousness of its own nature. Whoever is con-
stantly looking back upon himself to see how it stands
with him, of what powers he can boast, and who is himself
the first discoverer of these,--in him truly there is nothing
great
.
Should there then be here among you any opening
Genius, far be it from me to wound its native modesty and
diffidence by any general invitation to you to examine
yourselves, and see whether or not you are in possession of
the Idea,--I would much rather earnestly dissuade you
from such self-examination. And that this advice may not
seem to you the suggestion of mere pedantic school-wisdom,
and perhaps of extravagant caution, but may approve itself
to your minds as arising from absolute necessity, I would
add that this question can neither be answered by your-
selves, nor can you obtain any sure answer to it from any
one else;--that therefore truth is not elicited by such a pre-
meditated self-examination, but, on the contrary, the youth
is taught a self-contemplation and conceited brooding over
his own nature, through which the man becomes at length
an intellectual and moral ruin. There are many signs by
which we may know'that the Genius which possibly lies con-
cealed in a Student has not yet declared itself,--and we
shall afterwards find occasion in the sequel to point out the
most remarkable of these;--but there is only one decisive cri-
terion by which we may determine whether Genius has exis-
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? 160
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
ted or has never existed in him; and that one decisive cri-
terion can be applied only after the result has become ap-
parent. Whoever has really become a perfect Scholar and
Artist, in the sense in which we have used these words,--
grasping the world in his clear, penetrating Idea, and able
to impress that Idea upon the world at every point -- he
has had Genius, he has been inspired by the Idea; and this
may now confidently be said of him. He who, nothwith-
standing the most diligent study, has come to years of ma-
turity without having raised himself to the Idea--he has
been without Genius, without communion with the Idea;
and this may henceforth be said of him. But of him who
is still upon the way, neither of these judgments can be
pronounced.
This disposition of things, which is as wise as it is neces-
sary, leaves but one course open to the youthful student
who cannot know with certainty whether or not Genius
dwells within him;--this, namely, that he continue to act as
though there were latent within him that which must at
last come to light; that he subject himself to all conditions,
and place himself in all circumstances in which, if present,
it may come to light; that, with untiring Industry and true
devotion of his whole mind, he avail himself of all the
means which Learned Culture offers to him. In the worst
case,--if at the termination of his studies he find that out
of the mass of learning which he has accumulated not one
spark of the Idea has beamed upon him, there yet remains
for him this consciousness at least,--which is more indispen-
sable to man than even Genius itself, and without which the
possesor of the greatest Genius is far less worthy than he,--
the consciousness that if he has not risen higher, no blame
can attach to him,--that the point at which he has stopped
short is the place which God has assigned to him, whose law
he will joyfully obey. No one need pride himself upon
Genius, for it is the free gift of God; but of honest Industry
and true devotion to his destiny any man may well be
proud ;indeed this thorough Integrity of Purpose is itself
the Divine Idea in its most common form, and no really
honest mind is without communion with God.
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? OF THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOLAR.
167
Farther:--the knowledge which he has acquired by
means of this sincere effort after something higher, will ren-
der him always a suitable instrument in the hands of the
more perfect Scholar,--of him who has attained possession
of the Idea. To him he will unhesitatingly submit without
grudge or jealousy,--without any unsatisfied struggle after
an elevation for which he was not formed; his guidance he
will follow with a true loyalty which shall have become to
him a second nature, and thus he will obtain a sure con-
sciousness of having fulfilled his vocation, as the last and
highest destiny to which, in any sphere of life, man can at-
tain.
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? 168
LECTURE IV.
OF INTEGRITY IN STUDY.
He who is to become a True Scholar, so that in him the
Divine Idea of the world may attain to such a measure of
clearness and influence over the surrounding world as is
possible in his circumstances, must be laid hold of by the
Idea itself through its own inherent power, and by it be
urged forward unceasingly towards the wished-for end.
In our portraiture of the Nature of the True Scholar, we
are now engaged with the Progressive Scholar, or the Stu-
dent.
If the Student is really inspired by the Idea,--or, what is
the same thing, if he possesses Genius and true talent, he is
already far above all our counsels; Genius will fulfil its vo-
cation in him without our aid, and even without his own
concurrence:--of this we have spoken sufficiently in our
last lecture.
But, as we have likewise seen in the same lecture, the
Progressive Scholar can never determine for himself whe-
ther or not he possesses Genius in our sense of the term, nor
can any one else determine this for him:--hence there is
nothing left for him but with sincere and perfect Integrity
so to act as if there lay within him Genius which must ul-
timately come to light. True Genius, when present, mani-
fests itself precisely in the same way as does this Integrity
in Study; in appearance, both assume the same form, and
cannot be distinguished the one from the other.
Turning away from the tests of Genius which, in the Pro-
gressive Scholar at least, are inscrutable, we have now only
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? THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
1G9
to exhaust the indications of Integrity in Study, and we
shall then have completed the portraiture of the true fol-
lower of learning. The honest Scholar is to us the only
True Scholar: the two ideas flow into each other.
Integrity in the abstract, as we have also remarked be-
fore, is itself a Divine Idea; it is the Divine Idea in its most
general form, embracing all men. Hence, like the Idea it-
self it acts by its own inherent power;--it forms itself, as
we said before of Genius, without aid from personal feeling,
--nay, even annihilating self-love as far as possible,--into
an independent life in man, irresistibly urging him forward
and pervading all his thoughts and actions. His actions, I
say; for the idea of Integrity is an immediately practical
idea, determining the outward, visible, free doings of man;
--whereas the influence of Genius is, in the first place, in-
ternal,--affecting spiritual insight . He who truly possesses
Genius must be successful in his studies: to him light and
knowledge will spring up on all sides from the objects of his
contemplation. He who possesses Integrity in Study, of him
this success cannot be so surely predicted; but should it not
follow, he will at least be blameless, for he will neglect no-
thing within his power which may enable him to attain it;
and even if he be not at last a sharer in the triumph, he
shall at all events have deserved to be so.
Integrity, as a living and governing principle, rises above
the person of him who is animated by it, and regards this
person as standing under a definite law,--as existing only
for a certain purpose, and as a means to a higher end. Man
shall be and do something; his temporal life shall leave be-
hind it in the spiritual world an imperishable and eternal
result,--a particular result arising from the life of each in-
dividual, belonging to him alone and demanded of him
alone. It is thus that the true-minded man looks upon all
personal Life in Time, and particularly on that life which
lies nearest to him,--namely, his own. He in whom this
Integrity has become a living'idea cannot conceive of
human life in any other way than this;--from this prin-
ciple he sets forth, to it he constantly returns, and by it he
z
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? 170
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
regulates all his other modes of thought. Only in so far as
he obeys this law and fulfils this purpose, which he recog-
nises as his being's end and aim, is he satisfied with him-
self: everything in him which is not directed to this high
end,--which is not evidently a means to its attainment, he
despises, hates, desires to have swept away. He looks upon
his individual person as a thought of the Deity; and thus
his vocation--the design of his being--is to him as a pur-
pose of God himself. This, and nothing else, is the idea of
Integrity, whether he who is ruled by it calls it by this
name or by another.
Success cannot indeed be certainly predicted of mere In-
tegrity as such, either in study or in any other purpose
which it may propose to itself; but in all its pursuits it will
surely display the independent power of the Idea pressing
steadily forward to its mark; and of the true-minded man
it may confidently be said, that in Integrity itself, his de-
fence and support, he will find a noble reward. In advanc-
ing on the path of rectitude, it will become continually less
needful for him to admonish, to arouse himself to the strug-
gle against recurring evil desires; for the true feeling, the
legitimate mode of thought, will spontaneously reveal itself to
him, and become his ruling principle,--his second nature.
Whatever thou doest, do it with Integrity: if thou studiest,
let it guide thy studies; and then, as to whether thou shalt
prosper in what thou doest,--leave that to God;--thou hast
most surely left it to Him, when thou goest to work with
true and honest purpose: with the attainment of that In-
tegrity thou shalt also attain unbroken peace, inward cheer-
fulness, and an unstained conscience;--and in so far thou
shalt assuredly prosper.
We have said that the honest man in general looks upon
his free personal life as unalterably determined by the eter-
nal thought of God;--the honest student in particular looks
upon himself as designed by the thought of God to this end,
that the Divine Idea of the constitution of this universe
may enter his soul, shine in him with steady lustre, and
through him maintain a definite influence on the surround-
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? OF INTEGRITY IN STUDY.
171
ing world. Thus does he conceive of his vocation; for in
this lies the essential Nature of the Scholar :-Vso surely as he has entered upon his studies with Integrity, i. e. with the persuasion that God has given a purpose to his life, and that
he must direct all his free actions towards the fulfilment of
that purpose,--so surely has he made the supposition that
it is the Divine Will that he should become a Scholar. It
matters not whether we have chosen this condition for our-
selves with freedom and foresight, or others have chosen it for
us, placed us in the way of preparation for it, and closed every
other condition of life against us. How could any one, at
the early age at which this choice of a condition usually
occurs, and in most cases must occur, have attained the ma-
ture wisdom by which to decide for himself whether or not
he is possessed of the as yet untried and undeveloped capa-
city for knowledge? When we come to exercise our own
understanding, the choice of a condition is already made,
--it has been made without our aid, because we were in-
capable at the time of rendering any aid in the matter;
and now we cannot turn back,--a necessity precisely similar
to the unalterable conditions under which our freedom is
placed by the Divine Will. If an error should occur in the
choice thus made for us by others, the fault is not ours; we
could not decide whether or not an error had been commit-
ted, and could not venture to presuppose one; if it has oc-
curred, then it is our business, so far as in us lies, to correct
it . In any case, it is the Divine Will that every one, in the
station where he has been placed by necessity, should do all
things which properly belong to that station. We have met
together to study; hence it is assuredly the Divine Will
that we consider ourselves as Students, and apply to our- ,selves all that is comprehended in that idea.
This thought, with its indestructible certainty, enters and
fills the soul of every honest Student:--this, namely--"I,
this sent, this expressly commissioned individual, as I may
now call myself, am actually here, have entered into exist-
ence for this cause and no other,--that the eternal counsel
of God in this universe may through me be seen of men in
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? 172
THE NATURE OF THE SCHOLAR.
another, hitherto unknown light,--may be made clearly
manifest, and shine forth with inextinguishable lustre over
the world; and this phase of the Divine Thought, thus
bound up with my personality, is the only true living being
within me; all else, though looked upon even by myself as
belonging to my being, is dream, shadow, nothing;--this
alone is imperishable and eternal within me; all else shall
again disappear in the void from which it has seemingly,
but never really come forth. " This thought fills his whole
soul: whether or not it is itself clearly conceived and ex-
pressed, everything else which is there clearly conceived, ex-
pressed, wished, or willed, is referred back to it as to its first
condition, can only be explained by it, and only considered
possible on the supposition of its truth.
Through this fundamental principle of all his thoughts,
he himself, and Knowledge, the object of his activity, be-
come to him, before all other things, honourable and holy.
He himself becomes honourable and holy. Not, by any means,
that he dwells with self-complacent pride on the superiority
of his vocation--to share in some degree the counsel of God
and reveal it to the world--over other less distinguished
callings, invidiously weighing them against each other, and
thus esteeming himself as of more value than other men.
If one form of human destiny appears to him superior to
another, it is not because it offers a better field for personal
distinction, but because in it the Divine Idea reveals itself
with greater clearness. Man has no peculiar value beyond
that of faithfully fulfilling his vocation, whatever that may
be; and of this all can partake, irrespective of the different
natures of their callings, v Moreover, the Progressive Scholar
does not even know whether he shall ultimately attain the
proper end of his studies, the possession of the Idea; nor,
therefore, if that noble vocation be really his;--he is only
bound to suppose the possibility of this. The perfect Scho-
lar--of whom we do not now speak--when he has the com-
pleted result in his possession, can then indeed with certain-
ty recognise his vocation; but even in him the cravings of
the Idea for more extended manifestation still continue, and
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? OK INTEGRITY IN STUDY.
173
shall continue while life endures, so that he can never have
time to muse over the superiority of his vocation, even were
such musings not utterly vain in themselves, All pride is
founded on what we think toe are,--are in attained and per- ,
feet being; and thus pride is in itself vain and contradic- ^tory,--for that which is our true being,--that to which end-
less growth belongs,--is precisely that to which we have not
yet attained. Our true and underived being in the Divine
Idea always manifests itself as a desire of progress, and
hence as dissatisfaction with our present state; and thus the
Idea makes us truly modest, and bows us down to the dust
before its majesty. By his pride itself, the proud man
shows that, more than any one else, he has need of humi-
lity | for while he thinks of himself that he is something, he
shows by his pride that he is really nothing.
Hence, in the thought to which we gave utterance, the
Student is holy and honourable to himself above everything
else,--not in respect of what he is, but of what he ought to be,
and what he evermore must strive to become. The peculiar
self-abasement of a man consists in this,--when he makes
himself an instrument of a temporary and perishable purpose,
and deigns to spend care and labour on something else than
the Imperishable and Eternal. In this view, every man
should be honourable and holy to himself,--and so, too,
should the Scholar.
To what end, then, 0 Student, dost thou give to Know- yledge this attention, which, be it great or small, still costs thee some effort,--wherefore concentrate thy thoughts here, when thou wouldst rather let them rove abroad,--wherefore
deny thyself so many enjoyments, for which, nevertheless,
the appetite is not wanting in thee?
