Subtilty is a great fault in the affairs of
this world, but certainly the Germans are
not suspected of it.
this world, but certainly the Germans are
not suspected of it.
Madame de Stael - Germany
Schelling pre-
tends, that nothing is more absurd than the
expression, so commonly used--the philoso-
phy of Tlaho -- the philosophy of Aristotle.
Should we say, The geometry of Euler--the
geometry of La Grange? There is but one,
philosophy, according to Schelling, or there
must be none at all. Certainly, if by phi-
losophy we only understand the enigma of
the universe, we may say, with truth, that
there is no philosophy.
The system of Kant appeared insufficient
to Schelling, as it did to Fichte; because he
acknowledges two natures, two sources of
our ideas--external objects, and the faculties
of the soul. But, in order to arrive at that
unity, so much desired; in order to get rid
of that double life, physical and moral, which
gives so much offence to the partisans of
simple ideas, Schelling refers every thing to
nature, while Fichte makes every thing spring
from the soul. Fichte sees nothing in nature
but the opposite of mind: in his eyes it is
only a limit or a chain, from which we are
constantly to endeavour to free ourselves.
i2
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? 116 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS. <
The system of Schelling gives more rest, and
greater delight, to the imagination; never-
theless it necessarily returns into that of
Spinosa; but, instead of sinking the mind
down to the level of matter, which is the
practice in our days, Schelling endeavours to
raise matter up to mind; and although
his theory entirely depends upon physical
nature, it is/ nevertheless, a very ideal one
at the bottom, and still more so in its form.
The ideal and the real supply, in his lan-
guage, the place of intelligence and matter,
of imagination and experience; and it is in
the re-union of these two powers in complete
harmony, that, in his opinion, the single
principle of the organized world consists.
This harmony, of which the two poles and
the centre form the image, and which is
comprised in the number three, so myste-
rious at all times, has supplied Schelling
with the most ingenious applications. He
believes it is to be found* in the fine arts, as
well as in nature; and his works on physical
science are thought highly of, even by those
learned men who confine themselves to the
consideration of facts, and their results. In-
deed, in examining the mind, he endeavours
to demonstrate how sensations and intel-
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 117
lectual conceptions are confounded in the
sentiment which unites Avhatever is involun-
tary and reflective in both of them, and thus
contains all the myitery of life.
What is most interesting in these sys-
tems is their developements. The first basis
of the pretended explanation of the world
is equally true, and equally false, in the
. greater number of theories; for all of them
are comprised in the immense thought,
which it is their object to embrace: but,
in their application to the things of this
world, these theories are very refined, and
often throw great light on many particular
objects.
Schelling, it cannot be denied, approaches
nearly to the philosophers called Pantheists,
that is to say, who attribute to nature all the
attributes of the Divinity. But what dis-
tinguishes him is, the astonishing sagacity
with which he h^s managed to connect his
doctrine with the art? and sciences; he is
instructive, and requires thought, in all his
observations: and the depth of his mind is
particularly surprising when he does not pre-
tend to appljr it to the secret of the universe;
for no man can attain a superiority which
cannot exist between beings of the same
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? 118
PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
kind, at whatever distance they may be
placed from each other.
To kee|>> up the ideas of religion in the
midst of the apotheosis of nature, the school
of Schelling supposes that the individual
within us perishes, but that the inward
qualities which we possess, enter again into
the great whole of the eternal creation.
Such an immortality is terribly like death;
for physical death itself is nothing but
universal nature recalling to herself the gifts
she had given to the individual.
Schelling draws from his system some
very noble conclusions on the necessity of
cultivating in the soul its immortal qualities,
those which are in relation with the uni-
verse, and of despising every thing in us
which relates to our circumstances alone.
But are not the affections of the heart, and
even conscience itself, allied to the relations
of this life? In most situations we feel two
distinct motions--that which unites us with
the general order, and that which leads us to
our particular interests; the sentiment of
duty, and personality. The noblest of these
motions is the universal. But it is, exactly,
because we have an instinct which would
preserve our existence, that it is a fine thing
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 119
to sacrifice that instinct; it is because we are
beings, whose centre is in ourselves, that
our attraction towards the assemblage of all
things is generous; in a word, it is because
we. exist individually and distinctly, that we
can choose out and love one another. What
then becomes of that abstract immortality
which would strip us of our dearest recollec-
tions as mere accidental modifications?
Would you, say they in Germany, rise again
in all your present circumstances ? --Would
you be revived a Baron, or a Marquis?
Certainly not. But who would not rise again
a mother or a daughter? and how could we
be ourselves again, if we had no longer the
same feelings of friendship? Vague ideas of
re-union with nature will, in time, destroy
the empire of religion over our souls; for re-
ligion is addressed to each of us individually.
Providence protects us in all the details of
our lot. Christianity is adapted to every
mind, and sympathizes, like a confidential
friend, with the wants of every heart.
Pantheism, on the contrary, that is, nature
deified, by inspiring religion for every thing,
disperses it over the world, instead of con-
centrating it in ourselves.
This system has at all times had many
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? 120 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
partisans amongst philosophers. Thought is
always tending, more and more, to gene-
ralization; and the labour of the mind, in
extending its boundaries, is often taken for
a new idea. We hope to arrive at a know-
ledge of the universe, as of space, by always
removing fences, and setting difficulties far-
ther from us without resolving them; and
yet we are no nearer to infinity. Sentiment
alone reveals it to us, without explaining it.
What is truly admirable in German philo-
sophy is the examination of ourselves to
which it leads; it ascends even to the origin
of the will, even to the unknown spring of
the course of our life; and then penetrating
the deepest secrets of grief, and of faith, it
enlightens and strengthens us. But all sys-
tems which aspire to the explanation of the
universe, can hardly be analysed with clear-
ness by any expressions: words are not
proper for ideas of this kind, and the con-
sequence is, that, in making use of them, ail
things are overshadowed by the darkness
which preceded the creation, not illuminated
by the light which succeeded it. Scientific
expressions, lavished on a subject in which
every one feels that he is interested, are re-
volting to self-love. These writings, so dif-
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 121
ficult to comprehend, however serious one
may be, give occasion to pleasantry; for
mistakes are always made in the dark. It is
pleasing to reduce, to a few leading and
accessible assertions, that crowd of shades
and restrictions which appear quite sacred
to the author of them, but which the profane
soon forget or confound.
The Orientalists have at all times been
idealists, and Asia in no respect resembles
the south of Europe. The excessive heat
in those countries leads to contemplation, as
the excessive cold of the north does. The
religious systems of India . are very melan-
choly and spiritual, whilst the people of the
south of Europe have always had an inclina-
tion for rather a material kind of Paganism.
The learned of England, who have travelled
into India, have made deep researches about
Asia; and Germans who have not had oppor-
tunities, like the princes of the Ocean, to in-
form themselves with their own eyes, have,
by dint of study alone, arrived at very inte-
resting discoveries on the religion, the lite-
rature, the languages, of the Asiatic nations;
they have been led to think, from many in-
dications, that supernatural light once shone
upon the people of those countries, and that
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? 122 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
the traces of it still remain indelible. The
philosophy of the Indians can only be suffi-
ciently understood by the German idealists;
a similarity of opinion assists them in com-
prehending it.
Frederick Schlegel, not contented with the
knowledge of almost all the languages of
Europe, devoted unheard-of labours to ac-
quiring the knowledge of the country which
was the cradle of the world. The work
which he has just published on the language
and philosophy of the Indians, contains pro-
found views and real information worthy the
attention of enlightened men in Europe.
He thinks, and many philosophers (in the
number of whom Bailly may be reckoned)
have maintained the same opinion, that a
primitive people inhabited some parts of the
world, and particularly Asia, at a period an-
terior to all the documents of history. Fre-
derick Schlegel finds the traces of this people
in the intellectual advancements of nations,
and the formation of their languages. --
He observes a remarkable resemblance be-
tween the leading ideas, and even the words
which express them, amongst many nations
of the world, even when, so far as we are
informed by history, they have never bad any
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 123
connexion with each other. Frederick
Schlegel does Hot adopt the very generally
received opinion,thatmen began inthesavage
state, and that their mutual wants, by degrees,
formed languages. Thus to attribute the
developement of the human mind and soul
to our animal nature, is to give it a very gross
origin, and Reason combats the hypothesis,
as much as Imagination rejects it.
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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tends, that nothing is more absurd than the
expression, so commonly used--the philoso-
phy of Tlaho -- the philosophy of Aristotle.
Should we say, The geometry of Euler--the
geometry of La Grange? There is but one,
philosophy, according to Schelling, or there
must be none at all. Certainly, if by phi-
losophy we only understand the enigma of
the universe, we may say, with truth, that
there is no philosophy.
The system of Kant appeared insufficient
to Schelling, as it did to Fichte; because he
acknowledges two natures, two sources of
our ideas--external objects, and the faculties
of the soul. But, in order to arrive at that
unity, so much desired; in order to get rid
of that double life, physical and moral, which
gives so much offence to the partisans of
simple ideas, Schelling refers every thing to
nature, while Fichte makes every thing spring
from the soul. Fichte sees nothing in nature
but the opposite of mind: in his eyes it is
only a limit or a chain, from which we are
constantly to endeavour to free ourselves.
i2
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? 116 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS. <
The system of Schelling gives more rest, and
greater delight, to the imagination; never-
theless it necessarily returns into that of
Spinosa; but, instead of sinking the mind
down to the level of matter, which is the
practice in our days, Schelling endeavours to
raise matter up to mind; and although
his theory entirely depends upon physical
nature, it is/ nevertheless, a very ideal one
at the bottom, and still more so in its form.
The ideal and the real supply, in his lan-
guage, the place of intelligence and matter,
of imagination and experience; and it is in
the re-union of these two powers in complete
harmony, that, in his opinion, the single
principle of the organized world consists.
This harmony, of which the two poles and
the centre form the image, and which is
comprised in the number three, so myste-
rious at all times, has supplied Schelling
with the most ingenious applications. He
believes it is to be found* in the fine arts, as
well as in nature; and his works on physical
science are thought highly of, even by those
learned men who confine themselves to the
consideration of facts, and their results. In-
deed, in examining the mind, he endeavours
to demonstrate how sensations and intel-
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 117
lectual conceptions are confounded in the
sentiment which unites Avhatever is involun-
tary and reflective in both of them, and thus
contains all the myitery of life.
What is most interesting in these sys-
tems is their developements. The first basis
of the pretended explanation of the world
is equally true, and equally false, in the
. greater number of theories; for all of them
are comprised in the immense thought,
which it is their object to embrace: but,
in their application to the things of this
world, these theories are very refined, and
often throw great light on many particular
objects.
Schelling, it cannot be denied, approaches
nearly to the philosophers called Pantheists,
that is to say, who attribute to nature all the
attributes of the Divinity. But what dis-
tinguishes him is, the astonishing sagacity
with which he h^s managed to connect his
doctrine with the art? and sciences; he is
instructive, and requires thought, in all his
observations: and the depth of his mind is
particularly surprising when he does not pre-
tend to appljr it to the secret of the universe;
for no man can attain a superiority which
cannot exist between beings of the same
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? 118
PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
kind, at whatever distance they may be
placed from each other.
To kee|>> up the ideas of religion in the
midst of the apotheosis of nature, the school
of Schelling supposes that the individual
within us perishes, but that the inward
qualities which we possess, enter again into
the great whole of the eternal creation.
Such an immortality is terribly like death;
for physical death itself is nothing but
universal nature recalling to herself the gifts
she had given to the individual.
Schelling draws from his system some
very noble conclusions on the necessity of
cultivating in the soul its immortal qualities,
those which are in relation with the uni-
verse, and of despising every thing in us
which relates to our circumstances alone.
But are not the affections of the heart, and
even conscience itself, allied to the relations
of this life? In most situations we feel two
distinct motions--that which unites us with
the general order, and that which leads us to
our particular interests; the sentiment of
duty, and personality. The noblest of these
motions is the universal. But it is, exactly,
because we have an instinct which would
preserve our existence, that it is a fine thing
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 119
to sacrifice that instinct; it is because we are
beings, whose centre is in ourselves, that
our attraction towards the assemblage of all
things is generous; in a word, it is because
we. exist individually and distinctly, that we
can choose out and love one another. What
then becomes of that abstract immortality
which would strip us of our dearest recollec-
tions as mere accidental modifications?
Would you, say they in Germany, rise again
in all your present circumstances ? --Would
you be revived a Baron, or a Marquis?
Certainly not. But who would not rise again
a mother or a daughter? and how could we
be ourselves again, if we had no longer the
same feelings of friendship? Vague ideas of
re-union with nature will, in time, destroy
the empire of religion over our souls; for re-
ligion is addressed to each of us individually.
Providence protects us in all the details of
our lot. Christianity is adapted to every
mind, and sympathizes, like a confidential
friend, with the wants of every heart.
Pantheism, on the contrary, that is, nature
deified, by inspiring religion for every thing,
disperses it over the world, instead of con-
centrating it in ourselves.
This system has at all times had many
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? 120 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
partisans amongst philosophers. Thought is
always tending, more and more, to gene-
ralization; and the labour of the mind, in
extending its boundaries, is often taken for
a new idea. We hope to arrive at a know-
ledge of the universe, as of space, by always
removing fences, and setting difficulties far-
ther from us without resolving them; and
yet we are no nearer to infinity. Sentiment
alone reveals it to us, without explaining it.
What is truly admirable in German philo-
sophy is the examination of ourselves to
which it leads; it ascends even to the origin
of the will, even to the unknown spring of
the course of our life; and then penetrating
the deepest secrets of grief, and of faith, it
enlightens and strengthens us. But all sys-
tems which aspire to the explanation of the
universe, can hardly be analysed with clear-
ness by any expressions: words are not
proper for ideas of this kind, and the con-
sequence is, that, in making use of them, ail
things are overshadowed by the darkness
which preceded the creation, not illuminated
by the light which succeeded it. Scientific
expressions, lavished on a subject in which
every one feels that he is interested, are re-
volting to self-love. These writings, so dif-
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 121
ficult to comprehend, however serious one
may be, give occasion to pleasantry; for
mistakes are always made in the dark. It is
pleasing to reduce, to a few leading and
accessible assertions, that crowd of shades
and restrictions which appear quite sacred
to the author of them, but which the profane
soon forget or confound.
The Orientalists have at all times been
idealists, and Asia in no respect resembles
the south of Europe. The excessive heat
in those countries leads to contemplation, as
the excessive cold of the north does. The
religious systems of India . are very melan-
choly and spiritual, whilst the people of the
south of Europe have always had an inclina-
tion for rather a material kind of Paganism.
The learned of England, who have travelled
into India, have made deep researches about
Asia; and Germans who have not had oppor-
tunities, like the princes of the Ocean, to in-
form themselves with their own eyes, have,
by dint of study alone, arrived at very inte-
resting discoveries on the religion, the lite-
rature, the languages, of the Asiatic nations;
they have been led to think, from many in-
dications, that supernatural light once shone
upon the people of those countries, and that
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? 122 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
the traces of it still remain indelible. The
philosophy of the Indians can only be suffi-
ciently understood by the German idealists;
a similarity of opinion assists them in com-
prehending it.
Frederick Schlegel, not contented with the
knowledge of almost all the languages of
Europe, devoted unheard-of labours to ac-
quiring the knowledge of the country which
was the cradle of the world. The work
which he has just published on the language
and philosophy of the Indians, contains pro-
found views and real information worthy the
attention of enlightened men in Europe.
He thinks, and many philosophers (in the
number of whom Bailly may be reckoned)
have maintained the same opinion, that a
primitive people inhabited some parts of the
world, and particularly Asia, at a period an-
terior to all the documents of history. Fre-
derick Schlegel finds the traces of this people
in the intellectual advancements of nations,
and the formation of their languages. --
He observes a remarkable resemblance be-
tween the leading ideas, and even the words
which express them, amongst many nations
of the world, even when, so far as we are
informed by history, they have never bad any
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? GERMAN PHILOSOPHERS. 123
connexion with each other. Frederick
Schlegel does Hot adopt the very generally
received opinion,thatmen began inthesavage
state, and that their mutual wants, by degrees,
formed languages. Thus to attribute the
developement of the human mind and soul
to our animal nature, is to give it a very gross
origin, and Reason combats the hypothesis,
as much as Imagination rejects it.
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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