登陆注册
4812600000016

第16章

From this stunning hubbub, a true Babel-like confusion of tongues, we have here selected two Voices; less as objects of praise or condemnation, than as signs how far the confusion has reached, what prospect there is of its abating.

Friedrich Schlegel's Lectures delivered at Dresden, and Mr. Hope's Essay published in London, are the latest utterances of European Speculation:

far asunder in external place, they stand at a still wider distance in inward purport; are, indeed, so opposite and yet so cognate that they may, in many senses, represent the two Extremes of our whole modern system of Thought;and be said to include between them all the Metaphysical Philosophies, so often alluded to here, which, of late times, from France, Germany, England, have agitated and almost overwhelmed us. Both in regard to matter and to form, the relation of these two Works is significant enough.

Speaking first of their cognate qualities, let us remark, not without emotion, one quite extraneous point of agreement; the fact that the Writers of both have departed from this world; they have now finished their search, and had all doubts resolved: while we listen to the voice, the tongue that uttered it has gone silent forever. But the fundamental, all-pervading similarity lies in this circumstance, well worthy of being noted, that both these Philosophies are of the Dogmatic or Constructive sort: each in its way is a kind of Genesis;an endeavour to bring the Phenomena of man's Universe once more under some theoretic Scheme: in both there is a decided principle of unity; they strive after a result which shall be positive; their aim is not to question, but to establish.

This, especially if we consider with what comprehensive concentrated force it is here exhibited, forms a new feature in such works.

Under all other aspects, there is the most irreconcilable opposition;a staring contrariety, such as might provoke contrasts, were there far fewer points of comparison. If Schlegel's Work is the apotheosis of Spiritualism; Hope's again is the apotheosis of Materialism: in the one, all Matter is evaporated into a Phenomenon, and terrestrial Life itself, with its whole doings and showings, held out as a Disturbance (Zerruttung) produced by the Zeitgeist (Spirit of Time); in the other, Matter is distilled and sublimated into some semblance of Divinity: the one regards Space and Time as mere forms of man's mind, and without external existence or reality; the other supposes Space and Time to be 'incessantly created,' and rayed-in upon us like a sort of gravitation.'

Such is their difference in respect of purport: no less striking is it in respect of manner, talent, success and all outward characteristics. Thus, if in Schlegel we have to admire the power of Words, in Hope we stand astonished, it might almost be said, at the want of an articulate Language. To Schlegel his Philosophic Speech is obedient, dexterous, exact, like a promptly ministering genius; his names are so clear, so precise and vivid, that they almost (sometimes altogether) become things for him: with Hope there is no Philosophical Speech; but a painful, confused stammering, and struggling after such; or the tongue, as in doatish forgetfulness, maunders, low, long-winded, and speaks not the word intended, but another; so that here the scarcely intelligible, in these endless convolutions, becomes the wholly unreadable;and often we could ask, as that mad pupil did of his tutor in Philosophy, "But whether is Virtue a fluid, then, or a gas?" If the fact, that Schlegel, in the city of Dresden, could find audience for such high discourse, may excite our envy;this other fact, that a person of strong powers, skilled in English Thought and master of its Dialect, could write the Origin an Prospects of Man, may painfully remind us of the reproach, that England has now no language for Meditation; that England, the most calculative, is the least meditative, of all civilised countries.

It is not our purpose to offer any criticism of Schlegel's Book; in such limits as were possible here, we should despair of communicating even the faintest image of its significance. To the mass of readers, indeed, both among the Germans themselves, and still more elsewhere, it nowise addresses itself, and may lie forever sealed. We point it out as a remarkable document of the Time and of the Man; can recommend it, moreover, to all earnest Thinkers, as a work deserving their best regard; a work full of deep meditation, wherein the infinite mystery of Life, if not represented, is decisively recognised.

Of Schlegel himself, and his character, and spiritual history, we can profess no thorough or final understanding; yet enough to make us view him with admiration and pity, nowise with harsh contemptuous censure; and must say, with clearest persuasion, that the outcry of his being 'a renegade,'

and so forth, is but like other such outcries, a judgment where there was neither jury, nor evidence, nor judge. The candid reader, in this Book itself, to say nothing of all the rest, will find traces of a high, far-seeing, earnest spirit, to whom 'Austrian Pensions,' and the Kaiser's crown, and Austria altogether, were but a light matter to the finding and vitally appropriating of Truth. Let us respect the sacred mystery of a Person; rush not irreverently into man's Holy of Holies! Were the lost little one, as we said already, found 'sucking its dead mother, on the field of carnage,' could it be other than a spectacle for tears? Asolemn mournful feeling comes over us when we see this last Work of Friedrich Schlegel, the unwearied seeker, end abruptly in the middle;and, as if he had not yet found, as if emblematically of much, end with an 'Aber-,' with a 'But-'! This was the last word that came from the Pen of Friedrich Schlegel:

about eleven at night he wrote it down, and there paused sick; at one in the morning, Time for him had merged itself in Eternity; he was, as we say, no more.

同类推荐
  • 台案汇录庚集

    台案汇录庚集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 济公全传

    济公全传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 燕市货声

    燕市货声

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Marriage Contract

    The Marriage Contract

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 河岳英灵集

    河岳英灵集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 军事知识和常识百科全书

    军事知识和常识百科全书

    军事是战争及一切有关武装力量建设事项的总称。军事科学主要探索如何创建、组织、管理一支新型军队;如何使武器装备的的研制、生产和使用能够与时俱进;如何将战略、战术与武装力量、武器装备更好地融合;如何让军事理论更加完善,从而更好地指挥实践……直到今天,这种探索从未停止过。
  • 追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    青涩蜕变,如今她是能独当一面的女boss,爱了冷泽聿七年,也同样花了七年时间去忘记他。以为是陌路,他突然向他表白,扬言要娶她,她只当他是脑子抽风,他的殷勤她也全都无视。他帮她查她父母的死因,赶走身边情敌,解释当初拒绝她的告别,和故意对她冷漠都是无奈之举。突然爆出她父母的死居然和冷家有丝毫联系,还莫名跳出个公爵未婚夫,扬言要与她履行婚约。峰回路转,破镜还能重圆吗? PS:我又开新文了,每逢假期必书荒,新文《有你的世界遇到爱》,喜欢我的文的朋友可以来看看,这是重生类现言,对这个题材感兴趣的一定要收藏起来。
  • 浮沉未艾

    浮沉未艾

    一朝入魔,累世难归。她处天宫之中,受天女之尊,却是他们逆转天命所换。逆天而为,触动生死之盘,天劫将至,万物俱毁。再回首,观三世因果,一切恩怨情仇,俱已放下。她与他,终究是一念之差,殊途万载。【已完结,新书《九溪赋灵》连载中…】
  • 宠妃再嫁

    宠妃再嫁

    新婚一年的相公带着曾经卖身葬父的丫鬟腆着大肚子出现,上官芷一纸和离书解决了这段婚事,原以为一切是新生活的开始,却没想到,曾经的爱人携恨而来,曾经痛苦的记忆也跟着而来,再逃,再跑,满怀希望的上官芷选择再嫁,这是痛苦的开始,还是幸福的开端······PS:更新不及时请查看原网址··········
  • 和珅传

    和珅传

    “满洲青年才俊”堕落蜕变的终极原因;“乾隆第一宠臣”为人处世的生存之术;“史上第一大贪官”爬上高位、聚敛财富的翔实记录。
  • 追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    青涩蜕变,如今她是能独当一面的女boss,爱了冷泽聿七年,也同样花了七年时间去忘记他。以为是陌路,他突然向他表白,扬言要娶她,她只当他是脑子抽风,他的殷勤她也全都无视。他帮她查她父母的死因,赶走身边情敌,解释当初拒绝她的告别,和故意对她冷漠都是无奈之举。突然爆出她父母的死居然和冷家有丝毫联系,还莫名跳出个公爵未婚夫,扬言要与她履行婚约。峰回路转,破镜还能重圆吗? PS:我又开新文了,每逢假期必书荒,新文《有你的世界遇到爱》,喜欢我的文的朋友可以来看看,这是重生类现言,对这个题材感兴趣的一定要收藏起来。
  • 婚宠娇妻

    婚宠娇妻

    他是富二代,一把手,帅气多金。一场荒唐相亲,她摇身一变成为豪门阔太。没想到高富帅老公宠她黏她让她抓狂。“老公,咱们能暂停一下吗?”“那怎么行,老婆,我来了……”她无奈望天,究竟是捡到宝了,还是掉进魔窟了?
  • 锁红颜

    锁红颜

    月光浅浅的撒着,现在,已经入夜了,那洋洋洒洒的月光还是那样,给如梦如幻的感觉,月亮冰盘似的悬在空中,再加上深蓝色的天幕点缀着的三两点寒星,把整个夜衬托得格外的静谧,清幽,以及萧瑟。
  • 30岁前要学会的33堂领导课

    30岁前要学会的33堂领导课

    领导活动是一个不断实践、不断提高的过程,先当好士兵才能当好将军,先管理好自己才能管理好下属,因此对于有志于做领导的员工来说,必须在年轻时代特别是30岁以前就要学习一些重要的基础知识,掌握一些重要的领导能力,为今后走向领导岗位打下坚实的基础。本书结合当今中国的企业现状和管理实践,总结出33堂最重要的领导课,探讨了自我管理、用人、沟通、激励、体制、团队、授权、执行、决策、创新等领导过程中必须涉及的重大课题,提炼出一套切实有效的领导实践方案。通过本书你可以了解中国式领导艺术的精髓,感悟当一个好领导的奥妙所在,还可以学到非常实用的领导方法,为你今后的领导工作奠定基石,创造出非凡的业绩!
  • 这个王爷不太行

    这个王爷不太行

    华凉城里最有权势的王爷当属淮安王慕以梧,武能安邦文能治国,天下人都觉得他是太子的不二人选。但是慕以梧自己知道,这场夺嫡还未开始他就已经输了。不是因为他无能,而是因为他不行……“你是王爷,你有什么不行的?”曦瑶闪着杏眼,不解的看着他。“三年前……本王伤了腰……”【排雷咯,本文无误会,无狗血,不打脸,不圣母,1V1,主治愈甜宠向】