Mr. Carlyle has described the present work and the character of Fichte with his peculiar force, insight and truth, both in his lectures on "Heroes and Hero-worship," and in his admirable essay on the "State of German Literature," as fo lows:

"Fichte, the German philosopher, delivered, some forty years ago, at Jena, a highly remarkable course of lectures on this subject: 'Neber das Wesen des Gelehrten (on the Nature of the Literary Man).' Fichte, in conformity with the transcendental Philosophy, of which he was a distinguished teacher, declares, first: That all things which we see or work with in this earth, especially we ourselves and all persons, are as a kind of vesture or sensuous appearance: that under all there lies, as the essence of them, what he call the Divine Idea of the World;' this is the reality which lies at the bottom of all appearance.' To the mass of men no such divine idea is recognisable in the world; they live, merely, says Fichte, among the superficialities, practicalities, and shows of the world, not dreaming that there is anything divine under them. But the man of letters is sent hither specially that he may discern for himself, and make manifest itself in a new dialect; and he is there for the purpose of doing that. Such is Fichte's phraseology; with which we need not quarrel. It is his way of naming what I here, by other words, am striving imperfectly to name; what there is at present no name for; the unspeakable Divine Significance, full of splendour, of wonder and terror, that lies in the being of every man, of every thing- -the presence of the God, who made every man and thing.

"Fichte calls the man of letters, therefore, a prophet, or as he prefers to phrase it, a priest, continually unfolding the godlike to men: Men of letters are a perpetual priesthood, from age to age, teaching all men that a God is still present in their life; that all' appearance,' whatsoever we see in the world, is but as a vesture of the Divine Idea of the World,' for 'that which lies at the bottom of appearance.' In the true literary man there is thus ever, acknowledged or not by the world, a sacredness: he is the light of the world; the world's priest;-guiding it, like a sacred pillar of fire, in its dark pi grimage through the

waste of Time. Fichte discriminates with sharp zeal the true literary man, what we here call the hero as man of letters, from multitudes of false un-heroic. Fichte even calls him elsewhere a 'nonentity,' and has in short no mercy for him, no wish that he should continue happy among us! This is Fichte's notion of the man of letters. It means, in its own form, precisely what we here mean."-Heroes and Hero-worship, by Thomas Carlyle.

"From this bold and lofty principle the duties of the literary man are deduced with scientific precision, and stated, in all their sacredness and grandeur, with an austere brevity more impressive than any rhetoric. Fichte's metaphysical theory may be called in question, and readily enough misapprehended; but the sublime stoicism of his sentiments will find some response in many a heart.

"But above all, the mysticism of Fichte might astonish us. The cold, colossal, adamantine spirit, standing erect and clear, like a Cato-major among degenerate men; fit to have been the teacher of the Stoa, and to have discoursed of beauty and virtue in the groves of academe! Our reader has seen some words of Fichte: are these like words of a mystic? We state Fichte's character as it is known and admitted by men of all parties among the Germans, when we say that so robust an intellect, a soul so calm, so lofty, massive, and immoveable, has not mingled in philosophical discussion since the time of Luther. We figure his motionless look, had he heard this charge of mysticism! For the man rises before us, amid contradiction and debate, like a granite mountain amid clouds and wind. Ridicule, of the best that could be commanded, has been already tried against him; but it could not avail. What was the wit of a thousand wits to him? The cry of a thousand choughs assaulting that old cliff of granite; seen from the summit, these, as they winged the midway air, showed scarce so gross as beetles, and their cry was seldom even audible. Fichte's opinions may be true or false; but his character as a thinker can be slightly valued only by such as know it ill; and as a man, approved by action and suffering, in his life and in his death, he ranks with a class of men who were common only in better ages than ours."-State of German Literature, by Thomas Carlyle.

3

"These Letters stand unequalled in the department of Esthetics, and are so esteemed even in Germany, which is so fruitful upon that topic. Schiller is Germany's best Esthetician, and these letters contain the highest moments of Schiller. Whether we desire rigorous logical investigation or noble poetic expression, whether we wish to stimulate the intellect or inflame the heart, we need seek no further than these. They are trophies won from an unpopular, metaphysical form, by a lofty, inspiring, and absorbing subject."-Introduction.

"During this important (philosophical) controversy, in 1795, Schiller published the present Letters, and with the large and profound estimation of things that peculiarly marked his time and country, perceived and maintained that Esthetics were a portion of morals, and that their foundation was co-existent with nature and the human soul. With his truly poetic spirit and grand moral feeling, poetry and the fine arts were a part of politics; not in the petty sense of the term, as a mere exposition of any peculiar dogmas, but as a part of the directing influence of men's passions and conduct. In this view are the arts treated of in the Letters on the Esthetic Culture of Man,' and in these hitherto, to us, unknown essays will be found the true arguments of many questions now agitating our political world. The mode of really civilizing large masses of men; the regulation of the play-impulse,' and the stimulation of the work-impulse," and many other matters, which will employ the last half of the nineteenth century.

"It is not possible, in a brief notice like the present, to do more than intimate the kind of excellence of a book of this nature. It is a profound and beautiful dissertation, and must be diligently studied to be comprehended. After all the innumerable efforts that the present age has been some time making to cut a Royal road to everything, it is beginning to find that what sometimes seems the longest way round, is the shortest way home; and if there be a desire to have truth, the only way is to work at the windlass one's self, and bring up the buckets by the labour of one's own good arm. Whoever works at the present well, will find ample reward for the labour they may bestow on it:

the truths he will draw up are universal, and from that pure elementary fountain 'that maketh wise he that drinketh thereat.""-Douglas Jerrold's Magazine.

"The Philosophical Letters,' which are in the form of a correspondence, were written at an earlier period than those on Esthetic Culture,' and present a phasis in Schiller's thought, which in some respects we believe he outgrew. They exhibit an application of the pantheistic doctrine to various inieresting and absorbing subjects, and contain views to the truth of which we should hesitate to subscribe; nevertheless, they are exceeding valuable for what they are. The thoughts set forth in them are remarkable for their beauty, noble disinterestedness, and clearness of expression; as specimens of style, fraught with ease, grace, and dignity, they will bear comparison with the finest pieces in the book. It is difficult, if not impossible, to give a brief, and at the same time faithful, summary of the ideas affirmed by Schiller in this volume. Its aim is to develop the ideal of humanity, and to define the successive steps which must be trodden in order to attain it. spirit aspires after human improvement, and seeks to indicate the means of its realization. Schiller insists upon the necessity of æsthetic culture as preliminary to moral culture, and in order to make the latter possible. According to the doctrine here set forth, until man is æsthetically developed, he cannot be morally free, hence not responsible, since there is no sphere for the operation of the will.

Its

"The style in which the whole volume is written is particulary beautiful; there is a consciousness of music in every page we read; it is remarkable for the condensation of thought and firm consistency which prevails throughout; and so far as we are able to judge, the translation is admirable, and faithfully rendered. The twenty-seven letters upon the

Esthetic Culture of Man' form the most prominent, and by far the most valuable, portion of the work. They are not letters to be read after a hearty dinner, when the mental powers are impaired by the process of digestion; for they will demand much clearness and insight to be fully apprehended and understood. But to all persons capable and willing to comply with this demand, they will be

found full of interest and the choicest riches, which will abundantly repay any amount of labour bestowed upon them." -Inquirer.

"This is a book which demands and deserves study. Either to translate or to appreciate it, requires a somewhat peculiar turn of mind. Not that any body could read it without profit, but to gain from it all that it is capable of yielding, there must be some aptitude for such studies, and some training in them too. To be appreciated it must be studied, and the study will be well repaid."-Christian Examiner.

"Here we must close, unwillingly, this volume, so abounding in food for thought,

so fruitful of fine passages, heartily commending it to all of our readers who desire to make acquaintance with the philosophy of art. The extracts we have taken will prove what a treasure is here, for they are but a fraction of the gems that are to be gathered in every page. We make no apology for having so long lingered over this book; for, albeit, philosophy is somewhat out of fashion in our age of materialism, it yet will find its votaries, fit though few; and even they who care not for the higher regions of reflection cannot fail to reap infinite pleasure from the eloquent and truthful passages we have sought to cull for their mingled delight and edification."--Critic.

"Richter has an intellect vehement, rugged, irresistible, crushing in pieces the hardest problems; piercing into the most hidden combinations of things, and grasping the most distant; an imagination vague, sombre, splendid, or appalling; brooding over the abysses of Being; wandering through infinitude, and summoning before us, in its dim religious light, shapes of brilliancy, solemnity, or terror; a fancy of exuberance literally unexampled; for it pours its treasures with a lavishness which knows no limit, hanging, like the sun, a jewel on every grass-blade, and sowing the earth at large with orient pearl. But deeper than all these lies Humour, the ruling quality of RICHTER; as it were the central fire that pervades and vivifies his whole being. He is a humorist from his inmost soul; he thinks as a humorist. he imagines, acts, feels as a humorist: Sport is the element in which his nature lives and works."-THOMAS CARLYLE.

"With such a writer it is no common treat to be intimately acquainted. In the proximity of great and virtuous minds we imbibe a portion of their nature-feel, as mesmerists say, a healthful contagion are braced with the same spirit of faith, hope, and patient endurance-are furnished with data for clearing up and working out the intricate problem of life, and are inspired, like them, with the prospect of immortality. No reader of sensibility can rise from the perusal of these volumes without becoming both wiser and better."-Atlas.

"We find in the present Biography much that does not so much amuse and instruct, as, to adopt a phrase from the religious world, positively edify the reader. The life of Richter is indeed a moral and a religious, as much as a

literary treat, to all who have a sense exercised to discern religion and morality as a thing essentially different from mere orthodoxy and asceticism. The two volumes before us cannot be seriously read without stimulating the reader, like a good sermon, to self-amelioration; and in this respect they are invaluable.

"Richter is a thorough Christian, and a Christian with a large, glowing human heart. The appearance of his biography in an English form cannot, therefore, but be regarded as a great boon to the best interests of the country."-Tait's Magazine.

"Apart from the interest of the work, as the Life of Jean Paul, the reader learns something of German life and German thought, and is introduced to Weimar during its most distinguished period, when Goethe, Schiller, Herder, and Wieland, the great fixed stars of Germany, in conjunction with Jean Paul, were there-surrounded by beautiful and admiring women, of the most refined and exalted natures, and of princely rank. It is full of passages so attractive and valuable, that it is difficult to make a selection as examples of its character."-Inquirer.

"This book will be found very valuable as an introduction to the study of one of the most eccentric and difficait writers of Germany. Jean Paul's writings are so much the reflex of Jean Paul himself, that every light that shines upon the one inevitably illumines the other. The work is a useful exhibition of a great and amiable man, who, possessed of the kindliest feelings and the most brilliant fantasy, turned to a high purpose that humour of which Rabelais is the great grandfather, and Sterne one