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    Then came enquiries into the condition of prisoners and criminals ; enquiries into the Rights of Man , and the progressive improvement of the race ; then also came the great democratic principle—the theory of progress ; and the paradoxes oi | hilosophers passed from the salons into the streets , there to become realities . The bourgeoisie aped the court , and were inoculated with the intellectual notions which reigned there . The arbitrary system fell , as it could not but fall . The Revolution was the terrible outbreak which destroyed it . Feudalism and social hierarchy became extinct formulas . Everything was now amenable to the light of Reason .

    The fourth period is that which follows this outbreak , and is purely transitional and reactionary . Out of the many topics which lie embedded in the mass of history we have thus cursorily indicated , there are two which seem to us peculiarly to need philosophic investigation , because they may be said to contain , as in germs , the whole significance of that century . These are—the theory of progress , andHihe ^ theory of Equality . —But we must reserve them for a future number .

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    GOETHB AND ECKERMANN . Convertaiions of Goethe toith Eckermann and Loret . Translated from the German by John Oxenford . S vols . Smith and Elder . We return , according to promise , to these most delightful volumes , for the sake of culling an extract or so . But it is difficult to decide among so many passages which claim attention . For the students of mesmerism we select the two following . His valet says : — " One time he rang in the middle of the night , and when I entered his room I found he had rolled his iron bed to the window , and was lying there , looking out upon the heavens . ' Have you seen nothing in the sky ?' asked he ; and when I answered in the negative he bade me run to the guard-house , and ask the man on duty if he had seen nothing . I went there ; the guard said he had seen nothing , and I returned with this answer to my master , who was still in the same position , Jying in his bed , and gazing upon the sky . ' Listen , ' said he to me ; 4 this is an important moment ; there is now an earthquake , or one is just going to take place ; ' then he made me sit down on the bed , and showed me by what signs he knew this . " I asked the good old man ' what sort of weather it was ?' " ' It was very cloudy , 'he replied ; ' no air stirring ; very still and sultry . ' " I asked if he at once believed there was an earthquake on Goethe ' s word ? " ' Yes , ' said he , ' I believed it , for things always happened as he said they would . Next day he rchi'od his observations at Court , when a lady whispered to her neighbour , " Only listen , Goethe is dreaming . " 15 ut the Duke and all the men present believed Goethe , and tho correctness of his observations was soon confirmed ; for in a few weeks the news came that a part of Messina , on that night , had been destioyed by an earthquake . ' " But here is something still more mesmeric : —

    " ' As I said , we ate all groping among mysteries and wonders Besides , one soul may have a decided influence upon another , merely by means of its silent prcscnei 1 , of which I could relate many instances . It has olten happened to me that , when 1 have been walking with an acquaintance , and have h > id a living image of something in my mind , he has at once begun to speak of that very thinu :. I have also known a iiihii who , without saying a word , could hu idenly silence a party engaged in cheerful conversation , by the mere power oi his mind . Nay , he

    could also introduce a tone which would make everybody feel uncomfortable . We have all something of electrical and magnetic forces within us , and we put forth , like the magnet itself , un attractive or repul-ive power , accordingly as we come in contact with something similar or diiiHiinihtr . It . is poHuible , nay , even probable , that if a younty girl were , without knowing it , to find herself in a din k chamber with a man who designed to murder her , she would have an uneasy sense of his unknown presence , and that , an anguish would come over her , which would drive her from the room to the rest of the household . '

    "' I know n scene in tin opera , returned I , 'in which two lovers , who have long been separated by a . great distance , find themselves together in a dai k room without knowing it ; but they do not remain long together before the magnetic power begins to work ; one feeJH the proximity of the . other—they are involuntarily attracted towards each other—nnd it is not long before the young Ifirl is clanpcd in the arms of the youth . ' •" With lovers , ' answered Goethe , ' this magnetic power is particularly strong , and acts even ut . a distance . In my younger dnjs I have experienced cases enough , ¦ when , during solitary walks , have felt a great desire for the company of a beloved girl , and have thought of her till kIk ) bun raally come to meet me . " I wus ho restless in my room , " uho hnn naid , " thut I could not help coming here . "

    " ' 1 recollect an instance during the first years of my residence here , where I soon fell in love ti ;; ain . I hud taken a long journey , and had returned some days ; but , being detained late , ut night by court affaiiti , I had not been able to visit my mietreH *; beoidcN , our mutuul affection had already attracted attention , nnd I wnsufrnid to psy my vlnits by day , lent I should enoreatic the

    common talk . On the fourth or firth evening , however , I could resist no longer , and I was on the road to her and stood before her house , before I had thought of it . l went softly up-stairs , and was upon the point of entering her room , when I heard , by the different voices , that she was not alone . I went down again unnoticed , and waa quickly in the dark streets , which at that time were not lighted . In an impassioned and angry mood I roamed about the town in all directions , for about an hour , and passed the house onoe more , full of passionate thoughts of my beloved . At last I was on the point of returning to my solitary room , when I ^ nc « more oast her house , and remarked that she had no light .

    " She most hare gone out , " said I , to myself , but whither , in this dark night ? and where shall I meet her ? " I afterwards went through many streets—I met many people , and was often decieved , inasmuch as 1 often fancied I saw her form and size ; but , on nearer approach invariably found that it was not she . I then firmly believed in a strong mutual influence , and that I could attract her to me by a strong desire . I also believed myself surrounded by invisible beings of a higher order , whom I entreated to direct her steps to me , or mine to her . " But what a fool thou art ! " I then Said to myself ; " thou wilt not seek her and go to her again , and yet thou desirest signs and wonders 1 " the

    " In the mean time I had gone ^ lown esplanade , and had reached the smallhouse in which Schiller afterwards lived , when it occurred tome to turn back towards the palace , and then « o down a little street to the right . I had scarcely taken " a hundred steps in this direction , when I saw a female form coming towards me which perfectly resembled her I expected . The street -was faintly lighted by the weak rays which now and then shone from a window , and since t had been already often deceived in the Course of the evening with an apparent resemblance , I did not feel courage to speak to her in doubt . We passed quite close to each other , so that our arras touched . I stood still and looked about me ; she did the same . " Is it you ? " said she , and I recognized

    her beloved voice . " At last ! " said I , and was enraptured even to tears . Our hands clasped each other . " Now , " said I , " my hopes have not deceived toe ; I hare sought you with the greatest eagerness ; my feelings told me thai I should certainly find you ; now I am happy , and I thank God that my forebodings have proved true . " " But , you wicked one ! " said she , " why did you not come ? I heard to-day , by chance , that you had been back three days , and I have wept the whole afternoon , because I thought you had forgotten me . Then , an hour ago , I was seized with a longing and uneasiness on your account , such as I cannot describe . There were two female friends with me , whose visit appeared

    interminable . At last , when they were gone , I involuntarily seized my hat and cloak , and was impelled to go out into the air and darkness , I knew not whither ; you were constantly in my mind , and I could not help thinking that I should meet you . " Whilst she thus spoke truly from her heart , we still held each other ' s hands , and pressed them , and gave each other to understand that absence had not cooled our love . I accompanied her to her door , and into the house . She went up the dark stairs before me , holding my hand and drawing me after her . My happiness was indescribable ; both because I at last saw her again , and also because my belief had not deceived ni »» , and I had not been deluded in my sense of an invisible influence . ' "

    The ornithological observations of Eckermann are extremely interesting , and quite amusing it is to note the ignorance of Goethe on this subject—he who studied nature so extensively and minutely ! The sort of worship all the insect-feeding- birds have for the cuckoo is quite marvellous : — "' I had once caught a young linnet ,. which was too big to be fed by man , but still too young to eat by itself " . 1 took a great deal ot trouble about it for half a day ; but us it would not eat anything * t all , I placed it with an old linnet , a good singer , which I had kept for some time in a cage , and which hung outside my window . I thought to myself , if the young bird sees how the old one eats , perhaps it will ' go to its food and imitate it . However , it did not . do so , but opened its beak towards the old one , and fluttered its wings , uttei ing a beseeching cry ; whereupon the old linnet at onco took compassion on it , and adopting it as a child , fed it as if it had been ita own .

    " ' Afterwards , some one brought me a grey graa-miickc and three young ones , which I put together in a large cage , and which tho old one fed . On the following day , some one brought me two young nightingales already fledged , which I put in with tho ( jras-miicko , and which the mother bird likewise adopted and fed . Some ( lays afterwards I added : i nest , of young miiUerchoi nearly fledged , and then a nest with five young plait-tni ' tnehen . The yran-miickt : adopted all these and led them , and tended them like a true mother . She had her beak always full of ant ' s eggs , and was now in one corner of the roomy cage , and now in tho other , bo that whenever a hungry throat , opened , there she was . Nay , still more . One of the young gras-miic / cen , which had grown up in the mean time , began to feed some of the less ones . This was , indeed , done in rather a playful , childish manner ; but still with a decided inclination to imitate the excellent mother . '

    "' Tliere is certainly something divine in this , ' snid Goethe , ' which creates in me a pleasing sense of wonder If it . were a fact that , this feeding by strangers wun An universal law of nuture , it would unruvel many enigmas , and one could suy with certainty , that God pilieH the deserted young ravena thut call upon him . ' "' It , « ertnliily appears to be ; on universal law , ' returned I ; ' for 1 huve observed this assistance in feeding , and thin pity for the forlorn , even in u wild state .. " ' Last summer , in the , neighbourhood of Tiefurt , I took two young wrens , which had probably only ju » t loft their nent , for they sat upon a bush on a twig with nevin

    other young oneB in a tow , and the old bird feeding them I put the young birds fn tdy silk pocke e-handkerchief and went towards " Weima * , as far ae the Shooting-house ' I then turned to the right towards the meadow , down along the lira , and passed the bathing-place , and then again to the left to the little wood . Here I thought I had a quiet spot to krok once more at the wrens . Bat when I opened my handkerchief they both sli pped out and disappeared in the bushes and grass , so that I sought them in vain . Three dhys afterwards , I returned by chance to the Mm * place , and hearing the note of a robin , guessed there was a nest m the nei ghbourhood which , sifter lookifig about for some time , I really found * But how great was my astonishment , when I saw in thia nest , besides some young robins nearly fledged , my two young wren * , which had established themselves very cotnlortablr , and allowed themselves to be fed by the old

    robins . I was highly delighted at this very remarkable discovery . Since you are so ounning , thought I to myself , and have managed to help yourselves so nicely , and . since the good robins have taken such care of you , I should be very sorry to destroy this hospitable intimacy ; on the contrary , I wish you the greatest possible prosperity . ' 11 « This is one of the best ornithological stories I hate ever heard , ' said Goethe . ' I drink success to you , and good luck to your investigations . Whoever hears that , and does not believe in God , will not be aided by Moses and the prophets . That is what I call the omnipresence of the Deity , who has everywhere spread and implanted a portion of hia endless love , and has intimated even in the brute as a germ , that Which only blossoms to perfection in noble man . Continue your observations and your studies ! Tou appear to be particularly successful with them , and may arrive at invaluable results . ' "

    The following thoughtful passage deserves long meditation : — " Man is born only for the little ; only what is known to him can be comprehended by him , or give him pleasure . A great connoisseur understands a picture ; he knows how to combine the various particulars into the Universal , which is familiar to him ; the whole is , to him , as living as the details . Neither does he entertain a predilection for detached portions ; he a 3 ks not whether a face is ugly or beautiful , whether a passage is light or dark , but whether everything is in its place , according to law and order . But if we show an ignorant man a picture of some compass , we sball see that , as a whole , it leaves him unmoved or confused ; that some parts attract , others repel him ; and that he at last abides by little things which are familiar to him , praising , perhaps , the good execution of a helmet or plume . "

    " But , in fact , we men play more or less the part of this ignorant person before the great destiny-picture of the world . The lighted part , the Agreeable , attracts us , the shadowy and unpleasant parts repel us , the whole confuses us , and we vainly seek the idea of a single being to whom we attribute such contradictions . " Now , in human beings , one may indeed become a great connoisseur , inasmuch as one may appropriate to oneself the art and knowledge of a master , but , in divine things , this is only possible with a being equal to the H ighest . Nay , if the Supreme Being attempted to reveal

    such mysteries to us , we should not understand them or know what to do with them ; but again resemble that ignoramus before the picture , to whom the connoisseur cannot by all the talking in the world impart the premists on which he judges . On this' account it is quite right that forms of religion have not been given directly by God himself , but , as the work of eminent men , have been conformed to the wants and the understanding of a great mass of their fellows If they were the work of God , no man could understand them ; but , being the work of men , they do not express the Inscrutable .

    " The religion of the highly-cultivated ancient Greeks went no further than to give separate expressions of the Inscrutable by particular Deities . As these individualities were only limited beings , and a gap was obvious in the connection of the whole , they invented the idea of a Fate , which they placed over all ; but a » this in its turn remained a many-sided Inscrutable , tho difficulty was rather set aside than , disposed of . " Christ thought of a God , compromising all in one , to whom he ascribed all qualities which he found

    excellent in himself . This God was the essence of his own beautiful soul ; full of love and goodness , like himself ; and every way suited to induce good men to give themnelvea up trustingly to him , and to receive this Idea , as the sweetest connection with a higher sphere . J 3 ut , hh the great Being whom we name the Deity manifests himself not only in tnnn , but in a rich , powerful nature , nnd in mighty world-events , a representation of him , framed from human qualities , cannot of course be adequate , and the attentive observer will soon come to imperfections

    and contradictioiiB , which will drive him to doubt , nay , to despair , unless he be either little enough to let himself be nouthed by an artful evasion , or great enoug h to rise to a higher point of view . " Such a point Goethe early found in Spinoza ; and he acknowledges with joy how much the views of thut gr « ut ; thinker answered the wants of Iuh youth . 1 ^ him '"' found himself , and in him , therefore , could he fortiiy himself to the best ndvantuge . " And hh these viewB were , not of the subjective , sort , but had a foundation in the works and inaniiontniionH "' God through the world , so wen ; they not mere husks which he , after hid own later , deeper search into tuo world and nature , threw aside as uselenn , but were u »

    " llin opponents have oftm accused him of liliving no faith ; but he merely had not theirs , because it was too uinnll for him . If ha npoko out hi « own , they would bn aBtonished ; but they would not bo ublo to co mprehend him .

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    40 8 ' 9 » . »««»**• [ Satphdav ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 11, 1851, page 40, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1865/page/16/