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    organs * ( i ; e ., if the directions are not determinatel y such as will produce organs , ) and if in the germ , of organs there exists no capacity of ultimately becoming organs , no Chicken at all is produced . This capacity , this predisposition (»' € «> this possible direction ) must be present in the molecules , otherwise the heat necessary for hatching would be insufficient to produce germs of organs , iri the first place , and organs afterwards , ( i . e ., the direction being different , the result would be different . ) This is the only reason why the embryo of the Egg will not produce an Oak ^ nor an Acorn a Chicken . " To this I anticipate the answer , that the cause of this predisposition to form organs is the latent " vital principle , " or Chicken-forming force .

    But I ask— -Why assume the presence of this mysterious entity ? How , if the egg be addled , and no organs are produced , where is the vital principle then t What evidence have you for its existence ? The fact that chickens and oaks dfo necessarily result from the process ? But there is in this process nothingmore than we see in the analogues of the inorganic world : in crystals , for example ; a solution is before me , having none of the appearances or properties of crystals , yet by a touch with a feather , the whole mass becomes crystalized , and that , too , in crystals as definite in form and properties as the Chicken or the Oak . Is there a Crystal-forming Forcea Crystal Principle latent in that solution ? Again : evaporate a solution of sulphate of soda in water , and you get prisms . Are we to suppose that the sulphate of soda exists as minute prisms in the solution , or that a Prism Principle is latent therein ? '

    I hope these illustrations will suffice to make clear the fundamental proposition , that Life is an evolution , not a separate creation , and is thus essentially connected with the great Life of the Universe . No thinking man will imagine anything is explained by this . The great mystery of Life and Being remains as inaccessible as ever . i But a grander conception of Nature as one whole , and a more philosophic attitude of mind , in contemplating the varieties of that whole , will result from the restitution of the homogeneity of Nature , when we learn with Goethe , Schelling , and Coleridge , to see Life everywhere , and nowhere Death .

    Be that as it may , I think it indispensable to the true understanding of Biology , that we should familiarize ourselves with the truth , that , between the Inorganic and Organic there is no absolute essential difference , but only a great p henomenal difference , arising ^ from the complexity of the lines of directjfin of force ; and also with the necessity—as a scientific artifice—of dividing the so-called Organic Chemistry into Chemistry and Biology . Next week , I will set forth Comte ' s views on that crown and summit of all physical science , to which all the others lead , and which itself directly leads to Social Science , — -I mean Biology , the science of Life strictly called .

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    PASSAGES FROM A BOY'S EPIC . IV . Bacchus consoles Ariadne in a dream . Again the vision changed , and lo ! a shape , Like what we dream of god or genius , came , Appareled with the thousand shifting lights Of rainbow clouds that gleam along the skies , When the dead sun droops his majestic head , And falls all fire into the burning waves . He knelt , and leaning o ' er her as he knelt , Whispered her name . She did but lift her eyes , And as a cloud all pale and colourless Is touched by the gold fingers of the morn , And smiles for that first gladness , so her face , Faded and white before , now brightened fast , And flushed with a new daybreak of delight . Then from the dreamer ' s parted lips escaped A pleasurable cry j the echo ran Trembling thro' all the airy caves of sleep , And her eyes saw the light . At once she rose , 4 &nd fixed as by some wise enchanter ' s spell , Gazed down the glimmering length of woven boughs , That arch on arch through all the emerald aisle Wavered and floated like a fairy bridge , That woos to far off amber palaces Beyond the sunset . Fountains , trees , and flowers , With a ] l the mighty depths of forest shape , Transfigured shone . Low in the kindling west The sun was setting , and the sylvan floor , With lovely shadows cast by wandering clouds , Resplendent lay , while all the charmed air . Was haunted with the breath of vernal flowers , And the blind joy that hides within the breeze When lilac blossoms fall ; nor loss entranced Murmured the ocean like a thousand shells , That at the feasts of gods in sapphire halls , At twilight seen beneath the glassy sea , Harmonious play , and calm the smiling waves ; And high o ' er all , the blue and pendulous space Showed like the awful Presence that wo know . M .

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    EMILIA GALOTTI . - , "I am neither a dramatist nor a poet , " said the wise and Honest Leasing "It is true , that people often do me the honour to account me the latter But this is simply because they do not know me . From the few dramatic attempts I , have made , so flattering a conclusion must not be drawn . Ij > is not every one who takes a brush and daubs canvass , that can be called a . painter . The earliest of these my attempts were written at that period

    of my life when facility is so readily mistaken for genius . And whatever is tolerable in my later attempts , is , I am perfectly certain , owing to my critical judgment . I do not feel within me the living fountains bubbling upwards by their own force , and by their own force gushing , out in pure ; , fresh , and sparkling streams . I am forced to pump out everything . I should be so cold , so poor , so short-sighted , had I not fortunately learned modestly to borrow the treasures of others , to warm myself by the fire of others , and to strengthen my eyesight by using the critical glasses of

    art . I am , therefore * always vexed and ashamed when I hear anything spoken against criticism . It is said to stifle genius ; yet I flatter myself to have obtained something from it which comes very near genius . I am one of the lame , and cannot consent to hear crutches vilified . " ¦¦ ¦ , Brave , and honest , and modest words , which could only come from so f-eat and truthful a man as that most British of Germans—Gottlob pliraim Lessing ! I think Schiller might have said the same ; for—you will hate me for the heresy—he seems to me not a whit more of a dramatist , and only something more of a poet , than Lessing . He had more poetic enthusiasm and sensitiveness , perhaps a more delicate delight in beauty , but he was scarcely more of the born singer than Lessing was . However , that heresy is too great to be argued here , and Emiha Galot %% demands attention . .

    I do not agree with the Germans in ranking Emilia Galotti above Minna von Bamhelm , which . " comes very near genius ; " but \ t has certain decided merits , and being a German classic , its production , on Saturday , was proper , although the effect was immensely wearisome ^ - greatly owing to the bad acting . Emilia Galotti is a modernized form of the story of Virginius , and I must express my surprise at the mistake into which Lessing , the admirable critic , has fallen into m this critical play , viz . —transplanting a story , essentially Eoman in its motives , to q , modern Italian principality , he . has forgotten that the motives becom ? false by the change of time and place . That Virginius should slay m daughter to preserve her from slavery , is quite consistent with Roman feelings : but that Odoardo should slay his daughter to saveiior from witnin t

    being dishonoured , moved thereto by her entreaties , is not ne range of modern sympathy . The modern father would kill the prince not his daughter ; the modern daughter would kill herself , she would never bid her father stain , his hands with her blood . _ ; The story moves slowly , otherwise it is dramatically evolved . The characters are drawn with clear , sharp outlines , well contrasted . The weak vacillating Prince , eager to profit by Marinelli ' s villanies , yet afrajd to meet the consequences—prone to crime , yefc throwing the blame on others—signing a death warrant with the same levity as if it were a billef doux—is , capitally studied . But Herr Grans gave a most stagey and u ^ o-ainly representation of it . Marinelli—the original of Wurni in Kdbalf und Liebe : and the Countess Orsina—the original of the Princess Ebol %

    in- Don Karlos—are both admirably drawn . Herr Kulin was quiet _ and effective in the one , Frau 3 ? lindt wholly incompetent to the other . Her * Lehfeld murdered Odoardo , before ho murdered his daughter . A word of praise , however , to Herr Noetel , for liis picturesquo malce-up as . the Brigand ; and nothing but Tpraise for the quiet , gentlemanly , dignified ^ performance of Ajopiani , by Herr Emil Dovricnt , who has only one scene , but played it more thoroughly , to my taste , than anything ho has ye $ done . The truth is , emotion jjes beyond Herr Devrient ' s capacity . Give him a scene in which his handsome person , quiet manner , and beautifm delivery of the text arc untroubled by any of the intense ? demands of passion , and he is admirable . v

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    FAUST . Of this , incomparably the greatest pooni of modern times , I have so much I wish to say that I will flay nothing because I cannot say all . ' And yet , on second thoughts , I will allude to the immenso variety and dramatic interest of the scenes which it contains . Every ono knows iliow ; truly it presents the eternal problem of our intellectual life ; but nq pn © seems to have been distinctly aware of how truly it reflects the yaijied ; lineaments of our social life . Faust is at once a problem and a pioturo ; tho problem embracing questions of universal importance ; the picturo representing all classes , all sontiments , all i ^ assions . Tho great prqbjpnt of lifo is stated in all its nudity ; the picture of life is painted in . all tffif But Faust , as Gootho wrote it , ia one thing , and Faust , as tho Germans performed it on Tuesday , ia another . I say nothing of tho arrango , mon , t , alterations , transpositions , and abbreviations of the piece , ovoiy lino of which has its place ; I say nothing of tlio miserable attempts at ropveson ,

    fcing what might , in such a theatre as tho Lyceum , liavoueon a beautiful and imposing spectacle ; X confino myHolt' to tho German acting , * whiqty was accopliod as excellent because Gorman . Tho ili-at remark I hayq to , make is , on tlio vulgarization of this groat poem by tho want of poetry ] ; in tho actors . It was an Adelpui version of Faust without" Adolphi oflocNIlcrr Emjl Dovricnt as Faust Holtlod for ever in my oyos his claims as an actor . His merits I havo olroady ungrudgingly udnuttod ; but that ho m an actor I fool compelled most distinctly to < lony . In tho iirafc plttoe k % is commonplace in conception ; in tlio second place , his fiuie and voiqo or ? incapablt ) of expression . Fine as the voice is , and beautiful the nooontqf his Gorman , there aro nono of those exquisite modulations wliioU . giVft music to vorso and passionate vibration to oloquonco ; nor cloos tUo facft supply tho want , for it is as immovable as Charloa Koan ' a . Tlioso aro not

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    J ^ ne 26 , 1852 . ] Tfl % L E A D E R . 617

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 26, 1852, page 617, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1941/page/21/