exist. The mysteries of Eleusis, the religion of the Egyptians, the system of emanations among the Indians, the Persian adoration of the elements and the sun, the harmony of numbers, which was the basis of the Pythagorean doctrine, are vestiges of some curious attraction which united man with the universe.

Spiritualism, by fortifying the power of reflection, has separated man more from physical influences; and the Reformation, by carrying still further his tendency towards analysis, has put reason on its guard against the primary impressions of the imagination. The Germans promote the true perfection of the human mind, when they endeavor to awaken the inspirations of nature by the light of thought.

Experience every day leads the learned to recognize phenomena, which men had ceased to believe, because they were mingled with superstitions, and had been the subjects of presages. The ancients have related that stones fell from heaven; and in our days the accuracy of this fact, the existence of which had been denied, is established. The ancients have spoken of showers red as blood, and of earth-lightnings; we have lately been convinced of the truth of their assertions in these respects.

Astronomy and music are the science and art which men have known from all antiquity: why should not sounds and the stars be connected by relations which the ancients perceived, and which we may find out again? Pythagoras maintained that the planets were proportionably at the same distance as the seven chords of the lyre; and it is affirmed, that he predicted the new planet which has been discovered be'ween Mars and Jupiter.' It appears that he was not ignorant

the true system of the heavens, the fixedness of the sun; since Copernicus supports himself in this instance upon the opinion of Pythagoras, as recorded by Cicero. From whence then arose these astonishing discoveries, without the aid of

1 M. Prevost, Professor of Philosophy at Geneva, has published a very interesting pamphlet on this subject. This philosophical writer is as well known in Europe as esteemed in his own country.

experience, and of the new machines of which the moderns are in possession? The reason is, that the ancients advanced boldly, enlightened by genius. They made use of reason, on which rests human intelligence; but they also consulted imagination, the priestess of nature.

What we call errors and superstitions may, perhaps, depend upon laws of the universe, yet unknown to man. The relations between the planets and metals, the influence of these relations, even oracles and presages, may they not be caused by occult powers, of which we have no idea? And who knows whether there is not a germ of truth hidden under every apologue, under every belief, which has been stigmatized with the name of madness? It assuredly does not follow that we should renounce the experimental method, so necessary in the sciences. But why not furnish a supreme director for this method in a philosophy more comprehensive, which would embrace the universe in its collective character, and would not despise the nocturnal side of nature, in the expectation of being able to throw light upon it?

It is the business of poetry, it may be answered, to consider the physical world in this manner; but we can arrive at no certain knowledge except by experience; and all that is not susceptible of proof may be an amusement to the mind, but can lead to no solid progress. Doubtless the French are right in recommending to Germans respect for experience; but they are wrong in turning into ridicule the presages of reflection, which perhaps will hereafter be confirmed by the knowledge of facts. Most great discoveries have at first appeared absurd; and the man of genius will never do any thing if he dreads ridicule. Ridicule is nerveless when despised, and ascends in influence when feared. We see in fairy tales phantoms that oppose the enterprises of knights, and harass them until they have passed beyond the weird dominion. Then all the witchcraft vanishes, and the fruitful open country is spread before their sight. Envy and mediocrity have also their sorceries; but we ought to march on towards the truth, without caring for the seeming obstacles that impede our progress.

When Kepler had discovered the harmonic laws that regalate the motion of the heavenly bodies, it was thus that he expressed his joy: "At length, after the lapse of eighteen months, the first dawn of light has shone upon me; and, on this remarkable day, I have perceived the pure irradiation of sublime truths. Nothing now represses me; I dare yield myself up to my holy ardor; I dare insult mankind, by acknowl edging that I have turned worldly science to advantage, that I have robbed the vessels of Egypt, to erect a temple to my God. If I am pardoned, I shall rejoice; if blamed, I shall endure it. The die is cast; I have written this book; whether it be read by posterity, or by my contemporaries, is of no consequence; it may well wait for a reader during one century, when God himself, during six thousand years, has waited for an observer like myself." This bold ebullition of a proud enthusiasm exhibits the internal force of genius.

Goethe has made a remark upon the perfectability of the human mind, which is full of sagacity: It is always advancing, but in a spiral line. This comparison is so much the more just, because at many epochs the improvement of man seems to be checked, and then returns upon its own steps, having gained some degrees in advance. There are seasons when skepticism is necessary to the progress of the sciences; there are others, when, according to Hemsterhuis, the marvellous spirit ought to supersede the mathematical. When man is swallowed up, or rather reduced to dust by infidelity, this marvellous spirit can alone restore the power of admiration to the soul, without which we cannot understand nature.

The theory of the sciences in Germany has given minds an impulse like that which metaphysics had excited in the study of the soul. Life holds the same rank in physical phenomena, that the will holds in moral order. If the relations between these two systems have caused certain persons to interdict them both, there are those who will discover in these relations the double guarantee of the same truth. It is at least certain, that the interest of the sciences is singularly increased by this manner of referring them all to some leading ideas. Poets

might find in the sciences a crowd of useful thoughts, if the sciences held communication with each other in the philosophy of the universe; and if this philosophy, instead of being abstract, was animated by the inexhaustible source of sentiment. The universe resembles a poem more than a machine, and if, in order to form a conception of it, we were compelled to avail ourselves of imagination, or of a mathematical spirit, imagination would lead us nearer to the truth. But again let me repeat, we must not make such a choice; since it is the totality of our moral being which ought to be employed in so important a meditation.

The new system of general physics, which in Germany serves for a guide to experimental physics, can only be judged by its results. We must see whether it will conduct the human mind to new and established truths. But it is impossible to deny the connection which it proves to exist between the dif ferent branches of study. One student usually revolts from the other when their occupations are different, because they are a reciprocal annoyance. The scholar has nothing to say to the poet; the poet to the physicist; and even among savans, those who are differently occupied avoid each other, taking no interest in what is out of their own circle. This cannot be when a central philosophy establishes connections of a sublime nature between all our thoughts. The scientific penetrate nature by the aid of imagination. Poets find in the sciences the genuine beauties of the universe. The learned enrich poetry with the stores of recollection, and the savans with those of analogy.

The sciences, represented as isolated, and as a domain foreign to the soul, attract not exalted minds. The greater part of those who have devoted themselves to the sciences, with some honorable exceptions, have given to our times that tendency towards calculation which so well teaches us, in all cases, which is the strongest. The German philosophy intro duces the physical sciences into that universal sphere of ideas where the most minute observations, as well as the most im portant results, pertain to the general interest.

CHAPTER XI.

INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY UPON THE CHARACTER OF THE GERMANS.

It would appear that a system of philosophy, which attributes an all-powerful action to what depends upon ourselves, namely, to our will, ought to strengthen the character, and to make it independent of external circumstances; but there is reason to believe that political and religious institutions alone can create public spirit, and that no abstract theory is efficacious enough to give a nation energy: for, it must be confessed, the Germans of our days have not what can be called character. They are virtuous, upright, as private men, as fathers of families, as managers of affairs; but their gracious and complaisant forwardness to support the cause of power gives especial pain to those who love them, and who believe them to be the most enlightened speculative defenders of the dignity of man.

The sagacity of the philosophical spirit alone has taught them, in all circumstances, the cause and the effects of what happens; and they fancy, when they have found a theory for a fact, that it is all right. Military spirit and patriotism have exalted many nations to the highest possible degree of energy; but these two sources of self-devotion hardly exist among the Germans, taken as a mass. They scarcely know any thing of military spirit but a pedantic sort of tactics, which sanctions their being defeated according to the rules, and as little of liberty, beyond that subdivision into petty kingdoms, which, by accustoming the inhabitants to consider themselves weak. as a nation, soon leads them to be weak as individuals. Re

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1 I beg to observe that this chapter, like all the rest of the work, was written at the epoch of Germany's complete servitude. Since, the Ger