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    The opinions current , in different ages of the world , concerning pre-existencc and the transmigration of souls , are well known in the history of philosophy ; though , excluded from the Christian scheme ,, they have ceased to attract attention . Finding these notions adopted by such a man as Goethe , we proceed in our selection , including a burst of characteristic humour .

    * The moment of death , wliich is tlience most appropriately called dissolution , is that in which the chief or ruling nionas dismisses all those subordinate nionades which have hitherto been faithful vassals in her service . I , therefore , regard the quitting life , as well as the risii . ; into it , as a spontaneous act of this chief nionas , which , from its very constitution , is utterly unknown to us " All monades are by nature so indestructible , that even in the moment of dissolution they do not abate or lose anything of their activity , but continue their progress uninterruptedly . " 4

    " Annihilation is utterly out of the question ; but the possibility of being caught on the way by some more powerful , and yet baser monas , and subordinated to it , —this is unquestionably a \^ ry serious consideration ; and I , for my part , have never been able entirely to divest myself of the fear of it , in the way of a mere observation of Nature . " .... At this moment , a dog was heard repeatedly barking in the street . Goethe , who had . a natural antipathy to dogs , sprung hastily to the window , and called out to it , " Take what form you will , vile larva , you shall nut

    subjugate me V A most strange and astounding address to any one unacquainted with the trains of Goethe ' s thoughts , but to those familiar with them , a bursl of humour singularly well-timed and appropriate . I asked him whether he believed that the transition from their actual slate and circumstances into others , were accompanied with consciousness in the monades themselves . To which Goethe replied , " That monades

    may be capable of a general historical retrospect , I will not dispute , any more than that there may be among- them higher natures than ourselves . The progress of the monas of a world can and will elicit many things out of the dark bosom of its memory , wliich seem like divinations , though they be at bottom only dim recollections of some foregone state , just as human genius discovered the laws concerning the origin of the universe ,

    not by dry study , but by a lightning-flash of recollection glowing on the darkness ; because itself was a party to their composition . It would be presumption to set bounds to such flashes in the memory of spirits of a higher order , " or to attempt to determine at what point this illumination must stop . Thus , universally arid historically viewed , the permanent individual existence of the monas of a world appears to me by no means inconceivable /''—vol . i ., pp . 74 , 76 , 79 .

    We will conclude this seductive topic with a sentence which may excite to reflection . 'I am certain , as you see me , that I have been there a thousand times already , and hope to return thither a thousand times again . ' The accidental coincidences of men of genius in extraordinary opinions or feelings are among the most interesting subjects of contemplation . We have personal reasons for believing lhat ( Joethe had never seen Wordsworth's ode ( the sublimest and proibundest of his lyric poems ) ,

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    180 Characteristics of Goethe .

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  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1834, page 180, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2631/page/20/