No More Learning

We can hardly conceive by what grada-
tion it would be possible, from the cry of
the savage, to arrive at the perfection of the
Greek language; it would be said, that, in
the progress necessary to traverse such an
infinite distance, every step would: cross an
abyss; we see, in our days, that savages do
not civilize themselves, and that it is from
neighbouring nations that they are taught,
with great labour, what they themselves are
ignorant of. One is much tempted, there-
fore, to think, that a primitive nation did
establish the human race; and whence was
that people formed, if not from revelation?
All nations have, at all times, expressed regret
for the loss of a state of happiness which
preceded the period in which they existed:
whence arises this idea, so widely spread?
will it be said, it is an error? Errors that are
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? 124 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
universal are always founded upon some
truth, altered and disfigured perhaps, but
bottomed on facts concealed in the night of
ages, or some mysterious powers of nature.
Those who attribute the civilization of the
human race to the effects of physical wants
uniting men with one another, will have
difficulty in explaining how it happens, that
the moral culture of the most ancient nations
is more poetical, more favourable to the fine
arts, in a word, more nobly useless, in the
relations of materialism, than all the refine-
ments of modern civilization. The philo-
sophy of the Indians is ideal, and their reli-
gion mystical: certainly it is not the neces-
sity of maintaining order in society, which
has given birth to that philosophy, or to that
religion.
Poetry has almost every where existed
before prose; and the introduction of metres,
rhythm, and harmony, is anterior to the
rigorous precision, and consequently to the
useful employment of languages. Astronomy
has not been studied for the service of agri-
culture alone: but the Chaldeans, Egyp-
tians, &c. have carried their researches much
beyond the practical advantages which are
to be derived from it; and the love of heaven,
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 125
and the worship of time, are supposed to
be shown in these profound and exact obser-
vations, respecting the divisions of the year,
the courses of the stars, and the periods of
their junction.
In China, the kings were the first astro-
nomers of their country. They passed nights
in contemplating the progress of the stars,
and their royal dignity consisted m those
exalted species of knowledge, and in those
disinterested occupations, which raised them
above the vulgar. The magnificent system,
which considers civilization as having for its
origin a religious revelation, is supported by
an erudition, of which the partisans of the
materialist doctrines are seldom capable: to
be wholly devoted to study, is to be almost
an idealist at once.
Men accustomed to deep and solitary
reflections, penetrate so forward into truth,
that, in my opinion, a man must be ignorant
or conceited to despise any of their writings,
without having long considered them. There
were formerly many errors and "supersti-
tions, which were attributable to want of
knowledge; but when, with the light of our
times, and the immense labours of indivi-
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? 126 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
duals, opinions are propounded which are
beyond the circle of our daily experience,
it is a cause of rejoicing to the human
race; for its actual treasures are very scanty,
at least if one may judge by the use
made of it.
In reading the account which I have
given of the principal ideas of some of the
German philosophers, on the one hand, their
partisans will discover, with reason, that I
have noticed, very superficially, researches
of great importance; and, on the other
hand, the world will ask, Of what use is all
this? But of what use are the Apollo Bel-
videre, the pictures of Raphael, the tragedies
of Racine? Of what use is every thing fine,
if not to the mind? It is the same with
philosophy; it is the beauty of tliought, it
attests the dignity of man, who is able to
occupy himself with what is external and
invisible, although the gross particles of his
nature would remove him from them.
I might cite many other names justly dis-
tinguished in the lists of philosophy; but it
appears to me, that this sketch, however
imperfect, is sufficient to serve as an intro-
duction to the examination of the influence
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 137
which the transcendant philosophy of the
Germans has exercised over the develope-
ment of the mind, and over the character
and morality of the nation in which that
philosophy prevails; and that, above all, is
the object I propose to myself.
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? 128 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
CHAPTER VIII.
Influence of the new German Philosophy over
the Developement of the Mind.
Attention is, perhaps, the most powerful
of all the faculties of the human mind; and
it cannot be denied, that the ideal system of
metaphysics strengthens it in a surprising
manner. BufFon pretended that genius might
be acquired by patience; that was saying
too much; but the homage thus rendered to
attention, under the name of patience, does
great honour to a man of so brilliant an ima-
gination. Abstract ideas require grea t efforts
of meditation; but when to them is joined
the most exact and persevering observation
of the inward actions of the will, the whole
power of intelligence is at once employed.
Subtilty is a great fault in the affairs of
this world, but certainly the Germans are
not suspected of it. The philosophical sub-
tilty, which enables us to unravel the mi-
nutest threads of our thoughts, is exactly
the best calculated to extend the genius; for
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? NEW GERMAN PHILOSOPHI". 129
a reflection, from which the sublimest in-
ventions, the most astonishing discoveries
may result, passes unperceived within us, if
we have not acquired the habit of examining
with sagacity the consequences and con-
flexions of ideas apparently the most remote
from each other.
In Germany, a superior man seldom con-
fines himself to one line. Goethe has made
discoveries in science; Schelling is an excel-
lent writer; Frederick Schlegel, a poet full
of originality. A great number of different
talents cannot, perhaps, be united; but the
view of the understanding ought to embrace
every thing.
The new German philosophy is necessa-
rily more favourable than any other to the
extension of the mind; for, referring every
thing to the focus of the soul, and consider-
ing the world itself as governed by laws,
the type of which is in ourselves; it does
not admit the prejudice which destines every
man exclusively to such or such a branch of
study. The idealists believe, that an art, a
science, or any other subject, cannot be
understood without an universal knowledge,
and that from the smallest phenomenon up
to the greatest, nothing can be learnedly
vol. in. K
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? 130 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
examined, or poetically described, without
that elevation of mind which sees the whole,
while it is describing the parts.
Montesquieu says, that wit consists in
knowing the resemblance of things which dif-
fer, and the difference of things which are
alike. If there could exist a theory which
would teach a man how to become a wit, it
would be that of the understanding as the
Germans conceive it; there is no one more
favourable to ingenious approximations be-
tween external objects and the faculties of
the mind ; they are the different radii of the
same centre. Most physical axioms corre-
spond with moral truths; and universal phi-
losophy, in a thousand ways, represents
Nature always the same, and always varying;
who is reflected, at full length, in every one
of her works, and gives the stamp of the
universe to the blade of grass, as well as to
the cedar.
This philosophy gives a singular attraction
to all kinds of study. The discoveries which
we make within ourselves are always inte-
resting; but if it is true that they would
enlighten us, on the mysteries even of a
world created in our image, what curiosity
do they not inspire? The conversation of a
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? NEW GERMAN PHILOSOPHY. 131
German philosopher, such as those I have
named, calls to mind the dialogues of Plato;
and when you question one of these men,
upon any subject whatever, he throws so
much light on it, that, in listening to him,
you seem to think for the first time, if to
think be, as Spinosa says, to identify one's self
with Nature by intelligence, and to become one
with her.
So many new ideas, on literary and philo-
sophical subjects, have, for some years past,
been in circulation iu Germany, that a
stranger might very well take a man, who
should only repeat these ideas, for a superior
genius. It has sometimes happened to me,
to give men, ordinary enough in other re-
spects, credit for prodigious minds, only be-
cause they had become familiarized with the
system of the idealists, the day-star of a new
life. ^
The faults for which the Germans are com-
monly reproached in conversation, slowness
and pedantry, are remarked infinitely less in
the disciples of the modern schools persons
of the first rank, in Germany, have formed
themselves, for the most part, according to
good French manners; but now there is ,
established amongst the philosophers and
K3
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? 132 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
men of letters, a sort of education, also in
good taste, although of quite^another kind.
True elegance is considered as inseparable
from a poetical imagination, and love for the
fine arts, and politeness, as united to know-
ledge, and to the appreciation of talents and
natural qualities.
It cannot, however, be denied, that the
new philosophical and literary systems have
inspired their partisans with great contempt
for those who do not understand them.
The wit of the French always aims at hu-
miliating by ridicule; its plan is to avoid the
idea, in order to attack the person, and the
substance, in order to laugh at the form.
The Germans of the new school look upon
ignorance and frivolity as diseases of pro-
longed infancy: they do not confine them-
selves to contests with strangers, but they
attack each other with bitterness; and to
hear them, one would suppose, that to pos-
sess a single additional degree, either of ab-
straction or of profundity, conferred a right
to treat as vulgar and narrow-minded all those
who would not or could not attain it.
When men's minds are irritated by ob-
stacles, exaggeration becomes mixed with
that philosophical revolution, which, in other
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? NEW GERMAN PHILOSOPHY. 133
respects, is so salutary. The Germans of the
new school penetrate into the interior of the
soul, with the torch of genius. But when
they are required to introduce their ideas
into the minds of others, they are at a loss
for the means, and begin to affect contempt
for their hearers, because they are ignorant,
not of the truth itself, but of the means of
imparting it. Contempt, except for vice,
argues almost always a limited mind; for,
with a greater share of understanding, we^
could make ourselves understood even by
vulgar minds, or at least we might sincerely
eiideavour to do so.
The talent of methodical and clear ex-
pression is very rare in Germany: it is not
acquired by speculative studies. We must
(as it were) place ourselves without our
own thoughts, to judge of the form which
should be given to them. Philosophy teaches
the knowledge of man, rather than of men.
Habits of society alone teach us the relation
our minds bear to those of others. Sincere
and serious philosophers are led, first by
candour, and then by pride, to feel irritated
against those who do not think or feel as
they do. The Germans seek for truth con-
scientiously; but they have a very warm
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? 134 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS,
spirit of party in favour of the doctrine which
they adopt; for, in the heart of man, every
thing degenerates into passion.
But notwithstanding the diversity of opi-
nions, which, in Germany, form schools in
opposition to one another, they tend equally,
for the most part, to display activity of
mind; so that there is no country where
every man makes more advantage of him-
self, at least in regard to intellectual labours.
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? NEW GERMAN PHILOSOPHY. 135
CHAPTER IX.
Influence of the new German Philosophy on
Literature and the Arts.
WjiAxI have just said on the developement
of the mind, applies likewise to literature;
yet it may be interesting to add some parti-
cular observations to these general reflec-
tions. ' .
In those countries where it is supposed
that all our ideas have their origin in exter-
nal objects, it is natural to set a higher value
on the observance of graces or forms, the
empire of which is placed without us: but
where, on the other hand, men feel con-
vinced of the immutable laws of moral ex-
istence, society has less power over every
individual; men treat of every thing with
themselves; and what is deemed essential,
as well in the productions of thought as
in the actions of life, is, that they spring
from inward conviction and spontaneous
feeling. >
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? 136 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
There are, in style, some qualities which
are connected with truth in the sentiment
expressed, and there are others which de-
pend on grammatical correctness. It would
be difficult to make the Germans understand,
that the first thing to look for in a work, is
the manner in which it is written, and that
the execution of it should be of more im-
portance than the conception. In experi-
mental philosophy, a work is esteemed, above
all things, according to the ingenious and
lucid form, under which it is presented; in
ideal philosophy, on the contrary, where all
attraction is in the focus of the mind, those
writers only are admired who approach the
^nearest to that point.
/ It must be admitted too, that the habit of
searching into the most hidden mysteries of
our being, gives the mind a taste for what
is deepest, and sometimes for what is most
obscure in thought. Thus the Germans too
i often blend metaphysics with poetry.
The new philosophy inspires us with the
necessity of rising to thoughts and senti-
ments without bounds. This impulse may be
favourable to genius, but it is so to genius
alone, and it often gives to those who are
destitute of genius very ridiculous pretensions.
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? NEW GERMAN PHILOSOPHY. 137
In France, mediocrity finds every thing loo
powerful and too exalted; in Germany, it
finds nothing so high as the new doctrine.
In France, mediocrity laughs at enthusiasm;
in Germany, it despises a certain sort of rea-
son. A writer can never do enough to con-
vince German readers that his ideas are not
superficial, that he is occupied, in all things,
with the immortal and the infinite. But as
the faculties of the mind are not always
correspondent to such vast desires, it often
happens that gigantic efforts produce but
common results. Nevertheless, this general
disposition assists the flight of thought; and
it is easier, in literature, to set bounds, than
to give emulation.
The taste which the Germans show for
what is playful and simple, and of which I
have already had occasion to speak, seems
to be in contradiction to their inclination for
metaphysics--an inclination which arises
from the desire of knowing and of analysing
one's self: at the same time, it is to the in-
fluence of a system that we are to refer this
taste for playful simplicity ; for, in Germany,
there is philosophy in every thing, even in
the imagination. One of the first charac-
teristics of simplicity is to express what is
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? 138 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
felt or thought, without reflecting on any
result, or aiming at any object; and it is in
that respect that it agrees with the theory of
the Germans on literature.
In separating the beautiful from the useful,
Kant clearly proves, that it is not in the na-
ture of the fine arts to give lessons. Un-
doubtedly, every thing that is beautiful ought
to give birth to generous sentiments, and
those sentiments excite to virtue; but when
the object is to put in proof a precept of
morality, the free impression produced by
masterpieces of art is necessarily destroyed;
for the object aimed at, be it what it will,
when it is known, limits and confines the
imagination. It is related, that Louis XIV.
once said to a preacher, who had directed a
sermon against him, "I am ready enough to
"take to myself my share, but I will not
"have it allotted for me. " These words
might be applied to the fine arts in general:
they ought to elevate the mind, and not to
school it.
Nature often displays her magnificence
without any aim, and often with a profuse-
ness, which the partisans of utility would
call prodigal. She seems to delight in giving
more splendour to the flowers to the trees
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? NEW GERMAN PHILOSOPHY. 139
of the forest, than to the vegetables which
serve for the food of man. If what is useful
held the first rank in nature, would she not
adorn the nutritious plants with more charms
than roses, which are only beautiful? And
whence comes it, that to deck the altar of
the Divinity with flowers which are useless,
should be preferred to doing it with the pro-
ductions which are necessary to us? How
happens it, that what serves for the support
of our lives, has less dignity than beauties
which have no object? It is because the beau-
tiful recalls to our minds an immortal and di-
vine existence, the recollection and the regret
of which live at the same time in our hearts.
It certainly is not from a want of under-
standing the moral value of what is useful,
that Kant has separated it from the beauti-
ful; it is to ground admiration of every . kind
on absolute disinterestedness; it is in order
to give sentiments which render vice impos-
sible, the preference over the lessons which
only serve to correct it.
The mythological fables of the ancients
were seldom intended as moral exhortations,
or edifying examples; and it does not at all
argue that the moderns are better than the
ancients, that they oftener endeavour to give
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? 140 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
an useful result to their fictions; it is rather
because they have less imagination, and carry
into literature the habit which business gives,
of always aiming at some object. Events,
as they exist in reality, are not calculated
beforehand, like a fiction, the winding up of
which is moral. Life itself is conceived in
quite a poetical manner; for it is not, in
general, because the guilty man is punished,
and the virtuous man rewarded, that it makes
a moral impression upon us; it is because it
developes in the mind indignation against the
guilty, and enthusiasm towards the virtuous.
The Germans do not, according to the
common notion, consider the imitation of
nature as the principal object of art; it is
ideal beauty which appears to them the prin-
ciple of all masterpieces; and their poetical
theory accords, in this respect, with their
philosophy. The impression made on us by
the fine arts has nothing whatever in com-
mon with the pleasure we feel from any
imitation: man has in his soul innate senti-
ments which objects of reality will never
satisfy, and it is to these sentiments that
the imagination of painters and poets gives
form and life. Of what is music, the first
of all arts, an imitation? And yet, of all
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? NEW GERMAN PHILOSOPHY. 141
the gifts of the Divinity, it is the most noble;
for it may be said to be a superfluous one.
The sun gives us light--we breathe the air
of a serene atmosphere--all the beauties of
nature are, in some wav, serviceable to man;
music alone has a noble inutility, and it is
for that reason that it affects us so deeply;
the more it is without an object, the nearer
it approaches to that inward source of our
thoughts, which application to any object
whatever checks in its course.
The literary theory of the Germans differs
from all others, in not subjecting writers to
customs, nor to tyrannical restrictions. It
is a creative theory, a philosophy of the
fine arts, which, instead of confining them,
seeks, like Prometheus, to steal fire from
heaven, to give it to the poets. Did Homer,
Dante, or Shakespeare, I shall be asked,
know any thing of all this? Did they stand
in need of aH this metaphysical reasoning to
be great writers? Nature, undoubtedly, has
not waited for philosophy; which means
only, that the fact preceded the observation
of the fact; but, as we have reached the
epoch of theories, should we not be on
our guard against those which may stifle
talent?
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? 142 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
It must, however, be allowed, that many
essential inconveniencies result from the ap-
plication of these systems of philosophy to
literature. German readers, accustomed to
peruse Kant, Fichte, &c. consider a less
degree of obscurity as clearness itself; and
writers do not always give to works of*art
that striking clearness which is so necessary
to them. Constant attention may, nay ought
to, be exacted where abstract ideas are the
subject; but emotions are involuntary. In
the enjoyment of the arts, indulgence, effort,
and reflection can have no place: what we
have to deal with there is pleasure, and not
reasoning: philosophy may require attentive
examination, but poetical talent ought to
carry us away with it.
Ingenious ideas, derived from theories,
cause illusion as to the real nature of talent.
They prove, with wit, that such or such a
piece ought not to have pleased, but still it
did please: and then they begin to despise
those who like it. They prove, that another
piece, composed according to certain prin-
ciples, ought to interest; and yet, when
they would have it performed, when they
say to it, "Arise, and walk," the piece does
not go off; and then they despise those who
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? NEW GERMAN PHILOSOPHY, 145
are not amused with a work composed ac-
cording to the laws of harmony, between the
ideal and the real. People are generally
wrong when they rind fault with the judg-
ment of the public in the arts, for popular
impressions are more philosophical than
even philosophy itself; and when the ideas
of men of information do not agree with this
impression, it is not because they are too
profound, but rather because they are not
deep enough.
It appears to me, however, infinitely better
for the literature of a country, that its poetical
system should be founded upon philosophi-
cal notions, even if they are a little abstract,
than upon simple external rules; for these
rules are but wooden bars, to prevent chil-
dren from falling.
In their imitation of the ancients, the
Germans have taken quite a different di-
rection from the rest of Europe. The con-
scientious character, from which they never
depart, has prevented their mixing together
modern and ancient genius; they treat fiction
in some respects like truth, for they find
means to be scrupulous even in regard to
that; they apply the same disposition to ac-
quire an exact and thorough knowledge of
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? 144 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
the monuments which are left us of past
y. ages. In Germany, the study of antiquity,
like that of the sciences and of philosophy,
unites the scattered branches of the human
mind.
Heyne, with a wonderful quickness of ap-
prehension, embraces every thing that relates
to literature, to history, and to the fine arts.
From the most refined observations Wolf
draws the boldest inferences, and, disdaining
all submission to authority, adopts an opinion
of his own of the worth and authenticity of
the writings of the Greeks. In a late com-
position by M. Ch. de Villers, whom I have
already mentioned with the high esteem he
deserves, it may be seen what immense works
are published every year in Germany on the
classical authors. The Germans believe
themselves called in every thing to act the
part of observers; and it may be said that
they are not of the age they live in, so much
do their reflections and inclinations turn
towards another epoch of the world.
It may be that the best time for poetry
was during the age of ignorance, and that
the youthful season of the human race is
gone for ever; but, in the writings of the
Germans, we seem to feel a new youth again
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? NEW GERMAN PHILOSOPHY. 145
reviving and springing up from the noble
choice which may be made by those to
whom every thing is known. The age of
light has its innocence, as well as the golden
age; and if man, during his infancy, believes
only in his soul, he returns, when he has
learnt every thing, to confide in nothing else.
vol. in.
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? 146
PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
CHAPTER X.
Influence of the new Philosophy on the
Sciences.
There is no doubt that the ideal philosophy
leads to the augmentation of knowledge;
and by disposing the mind to turn back upon
itself, increases its penetration and perse-
verance in intellectual labour. But is this
philosophy equally favourable to the sciences,
which consist in the observation of nature?
It is to the examination of this question that
the following reflections are destined:--
The progress of the sciences in the last
century has generally been attributed to the
experimental philosophy; and as the ob-
servation is of great importance to this sub-
ject, men have been thought more certain of
attaining to scientific truths, in proportion as
they attached more importance to external
objects; yet the country of Keppler and
Leibnitz is not be despised for science.
The principal modern discoveries, gunpow-
der and the art of printing, have been made
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? INFLUENCE OP THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 147
by the Germans; and, nevertheless, men's
minds in Germany have always tended
towards idealism.
Bacon compared speculative philosophy
to the lark, who mounts to the sky, and
descends again without bringing any thing
back from her flight; and experimental phi-
losophy to the falcon, who soars as high, but
returns with his prey.
Perhaps in our days Bacon would have
felt the inconveniencies of philosophy purely
experimental; it has turned thought into
sensation, morality into self-interest, and
nature into mechanism; it tends to degrade
all things. The Germans have com batted
its influence in the physical sciences, as well
as in science of a higher order; and while
they submit Nature to the fullest observation,
they consider her phenomena, in general, in
a vast and animated manner: the empire of
an opinion over the imagination always af-
fords a presumption in its favour; for every
thing tells us, that beauty, in the sublime.
conception of the universe, is truth.
The new philosophy has already exerted
its influence, in many respects, over the phy- %
sical sciences in Germany. In the first place,,
the same spirit of universality, which I have
l2
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? 148 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS-
remarked in the men of literature and the
philosophers, also discovers itself among the
men of science. Humboldt relates, like an
accurate observer, the perilous travels which
he undertook like a brave chevalier; and
his writings are equally interesting to na-
turalists and to poets. Schelling, Bader,
Schubert, &c. have published works, in
which the sciences are presented under a
point of view that captivates both our re-
flection and our imagination; and, long
previous to the existence of modern meta-
physicians, Keppler and Haller knew the
art of observing Nature, and at the same
time of conjecturing her operations.
ft The attraction of society is so great in
I France, that it allows nobody much time for
labour. It is natural then not to place re-
liance upon those who attempt to unite many
studies of different denominations. But, in
a country where the whole life of a man may
be given up to meditation, it is reasonable to
^encourage the multifariousness of knowledge;
--the student eventually confines his atten-
tion to that pursuit which he prefers; but it
is, perhaps, impossible to attain a thorough
comprehension of one science, and not to
touch upon all. Sir Humphry Davy, al-
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 14Q
though the first chemist in England, studies
literature with as much taste as success. Li-
terature and science reflect alternate light
upon each other; and the connexion which
exists between all the objects in nature, must
also be maintained among the ideas of man.
Universality of knowledge necessarily
leads to the desire of discovering the general
laws of the order of nature. The Germans ? *
descend from theory to experience; while
the French ascend from experience to theory.
The French reproach the Germans with
having no beauties but those of detail in their
literature, and with not understanding the
composition of a work. The Germans re-
proach the French with considering only
particular facts in the sciences, and with not
referring them to a system; in this consists
the principal difference between the learned
men of the two countries.
In fact, if it was possible to discover the
principles which govern the universe, this
would be the point, indisputably, from which
we ought to commence in studying all that
is derived from those principles: but we are
almost entirely ignorant of the collective cha-
racter of every thing, excepting in what
detail teaches us; and nature, for the eye
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? 150 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
of man, is but the scattered Sibyl's leaves,
out of which, even to this day, no human
being has composed a book. Nevertheless,
the learned men of Germany, who are phi-
losophers at the same time, diffuse a sur-
prising interest over the phenomena of this
world: they do not examine nature fortui-
tously, or according to the accidental course
of what they experience; but they predict,
by reflection, what observation is about to
confirm.
Two great general opinions serve them for
guides in studying the sciences;--Hthe one,
that the universe is made after the model of
the human soul; the other, that the analogy
of every part of the universe, with its whole,
is so close, that the same idea is constantly
reflected from the whole in every part, and
from every part in the whole.
It is a fine conception, that has a tendency
to discover the resemblance between the laws
of the human understanding and those of na-
ture, and that considers the physical world as
the basso-relievo of the moral. If the same
genius was capable of composing the Iliad,
and of carving like Phidias, the Jupiter of
the sculptor would resemble the Jupiter of
the poet. Why then should not the supreme
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