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 1848 
 
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INAUGURAL DISCOURSE 
 
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 CHAPEL OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. H. I. SCHMIDT, A. M. 
 
 QebhartI Profrssor of the Oennav I.aiiguiige and literature. 
 
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ADDRESS. 
 
 In entering upon the station to which I have been 
 appointed at this institution, established usage requires 
 me to commence my career of duty by pronouncing an 
 address on some subject connected with the department 
 of literature in which I am to give instruction. I have 
 chosen the first subject that presented itself to my mind; 
 for it occurred to me immediately that none could be 
 more suitable for the present occasion, than a compari- 
 son, personal and literary, of the two men, in whom 
 German poetry has attained its highest development ; 
 who are regarded, in their native land, as the most illus- 
 trious votaries of the German muse : I speak, of course, 
 of Schiller and Goethe. In choosing this subject, I was 
 by no means ignorant of its difficulties and perplexities ,* 
 for I am well aware that the opinions which I shall utter 
 are totally at variance with that public opinion, and with 
 that almost unanimous suffrage of German and foreign 
 critics, which have placed Goethe at the head of all 
 German poets, and describe him as unrivalled and unat- 
 tainable in his glorious art. It may not be irrelevant to 
 state, that these opinions have not been recently formed ; 
 
they have been long entertained, being the result of 
 increasing intimacy with Goethe's writings ; and thev 
 were published to theyvorld, in a literary magazine, lon^ 
 before I had the satisfaction of seeing the same views 
 fearlessly avowed, and triumphantly sustained, by the 
 distinguished critic, Wolfgang Menzel, in his brilliant 
 work on German literature. And I may further obviate 
 the charge of singularity by stating, that in Germany 
 itself many wise and good men have, from the begin- 
 ning, loudly protested against the absurd claims set up 
 in behalf of Goethe, by his enthusiastic and indiscrimi- 
 nating admirers, many of whom have not scrupled to 
 make him an object of idolatrous worship.* 
 
 Before we proceed to discuss the distinctive charac- 
 teristics, and to contrast the respective merits, of the 
 two celebrated men whom we have named, it will be 
 necessary to state the grounds on which we shall judge 
 them : or, in more general terms, to set forth what we 
 require, what ought, at all times, to be required, of him, 
 who lays claim to the exalted title of poet. What, then, 
 is the mission, what the office, of the poet ? In one 
 sense there cannot be a greater mission on earth, than 
 that of a true and Christian poet; of one who, thoroughly 
 imbued with the love of God, and of man, and of nature, 
 has received the glorious gift of pouring forth his lofty 
 conceptions, his fervid emotions, in sweet and glowing 
 song, adapted to awaken in others the thoughts and 
 feelings that agitate his soul. Not that there could be 
 
 * See at the close. 
 
an office intrinsically as great and holy as his, who 
 has been duly called and authorized to preach the word 
 of the kingdom. But the poet's office is the greatest in 
 this sense, that none has as wide a scope as his. For 
 while he who ministers immediately in holy things sel- 
 dom finds a very extensive sphere, and is generally con- 
 fined to a narrow one, the poet comes to all, the lofty 
 and the mean, the wise and the simple, the virtuous and 
 the vile : he speaks to all alike, and not of his nation 
 alone, but of the whole great family of man ; and thou- 
 sands will pore enraptured over his pages, who would 
 not hear the professed moralist, or the sober preacher of 
 righteousness. Hence the force of the poet's declara- 
 tion : " I care not who makes the nation's laws, provided 
 I may write its songs." 
 
 It is absurd and ridiculous to limit the poet to the 
 fictitious and unreal, as many, and even poets them- 
 selves, have done. Not one good reason can be assigned 
 why, as a recent writer* expresses it> "the province of 
 poetry should be the unreal against the veal, the fictitious 
 uninclusive of the true ;" and it cannot be that those 
 who utter such opinions can ever have devoutly read and 
 pondered the inspired hymns of the sweet singer of Is- 
 rael, or the poetic effusions of the old covenant prophets. 
 " Poetry," says the writer just quoted, "is universal. It 
 includes every subject; and can no more be restricted 
 in its range, than the Intellect, the Hope, and the Faith 
 of man, of which it is the grandest exponent, and the 
 
 * Charles Mackay, in " The People's Journal." 
 
6 
 
 most sublime expression— making Intellect more intellec- 
 tual, Hope more hopeful, and Religion more religious." 
 It is the poet's office, not only to depict the grand 
 and awful, the beautiful and agreeable, or to lead the 
 less gifted to their true enjoyment; but to search into 
 the nature, and to explore the hidden meanings, of 
 things, of the various affairs, relations, and vicissitudes 
 of human life ; to pierce the deep recesses of the human 
 heart, and bring to light its evil and its good ; its base 
 desires, its guilty passions; its purest aspirations, and 
 its holiest hopes, and to give them utterance appropriate 
 and expressive. No subject can be too little or too 
 mean for the poet ; none, if due reverence and fear 
 guide his pen, too exalted and glorious. But- — and this 
 is a requirement to be inexorably insisted on — he must 
 never mix his colors so as to produce incongruities, such 
 as Horace describes in his epistle to the Pisos, — never 
 place his subjects in a false light. He may exaggerate 
 the little and the mean, and make vileness doubly vile, 
 and paint sin with undiluted blackness ; he may invest 
 all things beautiful, and noble, and good, with every at- 
 tractive grace, and exhaust his fancy to cover them with 
 winning charms ; but he must be unswervingly faithful 
 to truth, to the real nature and fitness of things. Let 
 him beware how he renders wisdom, or virtue, or be- 
 nevolence, an object of suspicion, if not of dislike and 
 contempt: while he seeks to inspire us with pity toward 
 the corrupt and guilty, let him never attempt to palliate, 
 to cover with deceptive tinsel, their corruption and guilt: 
 
and, above all, let him beware how he invests impuihy 
 and vice, wickedness and crime, with attractions, adapt- 
 ed to deceive and pervert the innocent and pure, to 
 allure and charm the prurient and vicious, and to supply 
 the guilty with a cloak of falsehood. 
 
 Whatever the poet's genius may originate, whatever 
 his fancy may create, in the secret recesses of his own 
 soul, he comes before the public sulyect to the same 
 laws as other artists. If the painter or the sculptor 
 should exhibit to the gaze of men lewd scenes, and ob- 
 scene groups, and then seek to apologize for the immoral 
 character of his works, by saying that they are executed 
 with matchless skill, that they are perfect achievements 
 of art, we should tell him that he who asks us to ac- 
 cept of beauty of form, and elegance of attitude, as an 
 excuse for moral deformity and vileness, insults the 
 common sense, and every nobler feeling of mankind. 
 Man lives for greater, higher, better ends, than mere 
 amusement at the expense of every other consideration 
 and interest. Nay, the form is truly valuable only as it 
 subserves these greater and nobler ends. And hence 
 the poet greatly, wofuUy errs, who imagines that his 
 genius may be exercised, his artistic skill displayed, with 
 a view simply to amuse and delight his age, without re- 
 gard to that culture of the heart, which is to help man 
 onward in his pursuit of those great and momentous 
 purposes for which he lives. And therefore, while it 
 were folly to deny that the poet should, nay must, aim 
 at the highest excellence of artistic representation, at 
 
the utmost finish and elegance of form or style, these 
 are yet to be ranked as subordinate requisites ; — requi- 
 sites, indeed, but only subsidiary to the more favorable 
 accptance of what they are designed to embody and 
 transmit, the thoughts and feelings of which they are 
 the vehicles. 
 
 No beauty of form can ennoble vice, but goodness 
 and virtue, although extraneous attractions may serve to 
 commend them more readily to the favor of men, shine 
 bv iheir own light, and win the admiration and esteem 
 of the wise and good, nay, often command the respect 
 of the corrupt and vicious, even though they present 
 themselves in the homeliest guise. 
 
 The poet, then, has no right to plead the perfection 
 of artistic skill as a justification of the debasing and 
 demoralizing tendency of his productions : he has no 
 right to debauch the public mind, to corrupt the moral 
 sense of mankind, and then come forward, and attempt 
 to vindicate his fiendlike achievements, on the ground 
 that they have been accomplished with all the matchless 
 ingenuity, and skill, and power, that genius could in- 
 spire. The poet's great mission is to instruct mankind ; 
 to exalt, to beautif)^, to ennoble human life. He must 
 unfold to men's minds the inward and more mysterious 
 life and relations of nature, animate and inanimate, in 
 the most sublime and magnificent, in the most minute 
 and delicate objects of this glorious creation. He must 
 arouse, and guide man's mind to the perception 
 of the more hidden and spiritual meanings of this 
 
9 
 
 his wonderfully varied life on earth. He must give 
 sweetly gentle, or mightily gushing utterance, to the 
 kindliest affections and sympathies, or the loftiest aspi- 
 rations, the purest desires, the holiest hopes of the hu- 
 man soul. He must teach his fellow-man to hear the 
 voice of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, as it 
 speaks to every attentive ear in the language of universal 
 nature ; and to trace the operations of infinite justice, 
 guided by unerring wisdom, tempered by boundless be- 
 nevolence, in the dealings of Providence with individual 
 and social man. He must aim to render truth lovely 
 and attractive, and to set forth virtue in all her native 
 charms and winning graces ; and to portray the unvar- 
 nished and ungilded deformity of vice, only that it may 
 be abhorred, both in its inward nature, and its outward 
 manifestations. A vates in a higher and better sense 
 than the ancients knew, he should lead onward and 
 upward his race to increasing admiration, reverence and 
 love for Him that sitteth on the throne of the universe, 
 to more devoted attachment and allegiance to Him who 
 tabernacled among men, full of grace and truth. And 
 to the prosecution and attainment of these great and 
 glorious ends he must bend all the powers of his genius, 
 and apply all the discoveries of science, and direct all 
 the contrivance and skill of art. It matters little how 
 lavish he be of the adornments of his noble art, if only 
 they be employed to render what is beautiful, sublime, 
 and glorious, more appreciable and attractive, more 
 lovely and delightful to man, or that which is mean and 
 vile, an object of deeper horror and disgust. 
 
10 
 
 AVe shall conclude this statement of Wiiat we deem 
 essential to poetry, with what Dr. Johnson beautifully 
 says, in his Rasselas, concerning its instrumentalities 
 and adornments. "In a poet no kind of knowledge 
 is to be overlooked. To a poet nothing can be use- 
 less. Whatever is beautiful, and whatever is dreadful, 
 must be familiar to his imagination. He must be con- 
 versant with all that is awfully vast or elegantly little. 
 The plants of the garden, th« animals of the wood, the 
 minerals of the earth, the meteors of the sky, must all 
 concur to store his mind with inexhaustible variety ; for 
 every idea is useful for the enforcement or decoration of 
 religious truth ; and he w^ho knows most will have most 
 power of diversifying his scenes, and of gratifying his 
 readers with remote allusion and unexpected instruc- 
 tion." Now, if it be conceded that the views which we 
 have here advanced, and which, we cannot but believe, 
 coincide with those of the great moralist and poet whom 
 we have just quoted, are correct and just, it will not be 
 difficult to decide on the respective claims of Schiller 
 and of Goethe, to the admiration and gratitude of man- 
 kind. 
 
 Thus much must be acknowledged, at the outset, 
 that in the views just expressed we have, for ourselves, 
 entirely renounced that stand-point from which the ma- 
 jority of critics, and among them Thomas Carlyle, who 
 have found every thing to admire and applaud, and no- 
 thing to censure and condemn, in Goethe, have viewed 
 that poet. Those men, obviously, consider him solely 
 
w^ 11 
 
 as an artist, and cannot, if thej would, ascribe to Iiim 
 any higher purpose than the attainment of the utmost 
 artistic excellence. Carlyle, indeed, ventures to talk of 
 his ethics, and his religious belief; of his moral and reli- 
 gious character; but his lucubrations on this subject are 
 so replete with that flippant latitudinarianism, that loose- 
 robed, slipshod, all-justifying charity, which have found 
 such general favor among the literary men of our day, as 
 to disgust all sober-minded men, to whom morality and 
 religion are words of deepest and holiest meaning. For 
 ourselves, we know of neither morality nor religion,- 
 other than the sacred Scriptures teach ; and what is not 
 derived from and conformed to this divine standard, we- 
 most explicitly repudiate. With the heathen poets of 
 classic antiquity we have here nothing to do; although, 
 when we consider the light which they had, the piety 
 and morality of many of them are immeasurably superior 
 to those of many, who flourished within the last two 
 centuries. We are speaking of a poet, who wrote among, 
 and for, a people professedly Christian, and who has 
 exerted, and continues to exert, a boundless influence- 
 not only on the public mind of Germany, but of other 
 enlightened nations. And our present inquiry is, what 
 is the nature of this influence ? On its religious aspect 
 we intend to be brief. We decidedly take the ground 
 that the poet, who either entirely ignores the volume of 
 inspiration, or treats its great doctrines, and its exalted 
 characters with disrespect, and even perverts and dis- 
 torts them, that they may harmonize with his philoso- 
 
12 
 
 phic notions, and his pliant ethics, cannot be esteemed 
 a Christian poet, and that his influence on the religious 
 character of the community is, as far as it goes, a 
 mischievous one. But, if Goethe explicitly denied the 
 divine inspiration of the Scriptures, viewing them as 
 the repeatedly revised productions of erring men, and 
 summarily rejecting, as apocryphal, whatever in them he 
 could not perfectly understand or approve ; if he repre- 
 sented their fundamental doctrines as sectarian jargon, 
 or dismissed them, authoritatively, as absurdities ; if he 
 repulsed, even in his old age, every effort of faithful 
 friendship to induce him to give the greatest of all sub- 
 jects his serious consideration, with either silent con- 
 tempt, or a biting epigram ; if he publicly declared that 
 religious books were productive of illiberal opinions con- 
 cerning human and divine things, and only worried him; 
 and if, lastly, he substitutes for the great body of divinity 
 contained in the sacred volume, a rude conglomeration 
 of the transcendental and the practical, which he styles 
 the ethnical and the philosophical religions, " for the 
 former of which the pictures have been composed from 
 the Old Testament, for the latter from the New ;" 
 if all this is unquestionably true of Goethe, in what 
 sense can we regard him as a Christian poet ? The 
 truth, undoubtedly, is, that Goethe, like so many learned 
 men of our age, was a pantheist ; and as it was his deli- 
 berately announced opinion, that " religion, among other 
 moral influences, rules only the surface of civil society," 
 so he, quite consistently, gave himself no farther concern 
 
13 
 
 about its doctrines or its duties. For ourselves, we 
 would rather encounter the frivolous drollery of Biirger, 
 and the daring impiety of Byron, than the sardonic 
 sneer, the haughty condescension, and the self-compla- 
 cent smirk of Goethe, when he deals with sacred sub- 
 jects. 
 
 On his poetic genius, in general, we shall not dwell 
 at any lengtii, as it is our main object to exhibit the in- 
 fluence which his life and writings are calculated to exert 
 on society. We have not the slightest inclination to deny 
 that Goethe possessed extraordinary poetic talent. He 
 was gifted with nearly every requisite to form a great 
 poet. With the most profound, clear, and comprehensive 
 perception of the poetical phases of nature and of human 
 life, of the material available for poetic representation, 
 inherent in whatever objects, or scenes, or social devel- 
 opments met his observation ; with an imagination of 
 inexhaustible wealth, and a fancy of boundless fertility, 
 vast in its breadth, though by no means in its upward 
 tendencies ; with an intuitive recognition of secret sym- 
 pathies, and of concealed connections, between objects 
 and manifestations seemingly wholly dissimilar ; with a 
 calm judgment, a severely correct taste, which -enabled 
 him to arrange in harmonizing groups poetic elements, 
 that to many would appear discordant and antagonistic; 
 and with a discrimination, which seldom failed to detect 
 whatever was purely prosaic and intractable ; with a cau- 
 tious coolness, which does not lose its equilibrium even 
 in stormy scenes of excitement, he combines a skill of 
 
14 
 
 representation, a command of language, an easy flow of 
 style, unrivalled in its simple beauty and its calm repose, 
 a power over all the various forms of poetic representa- 
 tion, perhaps never excelled. Viewing him merely as a 
 poet, it seems to us that his chief defect is, that he is too 
 unimpassioned ; he has no enthusiasm, no fire ; he ap- 
 pears every where as the unconcerned, shrewd observer, 
 speculating in the poetic material of every nation under 
 the sun, himself unmoved by the emotions to which he 
 gives utterance, or the stirring scenes which he por- 
 travs; — excepting always when his subjects are sensual, 
 licentious, and obscene : — for in such he seems to have 
 taken the most intense delight, introducing them on 
 every convenient occasion ; or ever and anon making 
 occasion for them, to gratify the vile propensities of his 
 impure soul. 
 
 It is with sorrow that we say such bitter things of a 
 poet, whose extraordinary gifts might have made him 
 the greatest benefactor of his age. But, as we have 
 already said, we are not singular in our opinion of 
 Goethe. Among the numerous writers, who have fear- 
 lessly exposed the corrupt character, and the demora- 
 lizing tendency of his writings, the most recent, and 
 perhaps the most discriminating and just in his un- 
 sparing severity, is the distinguished German critic, 
 Wolfgang Menzel ; and to his profound, elaborate, and 
 brilliant work on German literature, we refer those who 
 would see Goethe's poetic character drawn, in all its 
 -variety of feature and expression, by a master hand. 
 
15 
 
 Under different circumstances we might consider it 
 a duty to show, in detail, that we have not unadvisedly 
 and unjustly charged Goethe with an intense predilec- 
 tion for the impure, the licentious, and ohscene, in 
 thought and imagination, in principle and life. But our 
 hearers need not fear, that, while we condemn, we shall 
 shock their taste or modest}-, by retailing what we cen- 
 sure. We shall neither specify nor analyze, but merely 
 indicate localities. Goethe's lyrics, epics, ballads, and 
 other* minor poems, are comparatively free from the 
 moral blemishes, which so often startle and offend the 
 reader of his writings, though even here they are suffi- 
 ciently abundant. It is chiefly in his novels, his dra- 
 matic pieces, and even in his travels, that the pruriency 
 of his imagination, and the utter corruptness of his 
 heart, are manifested. Distinguished as these produc- 
 tions are for artistic excellence, and elegance of style, 
 they either present frequent and gross offences against 
 common decency and morality, or entire works set at 
 defiance evvjy thing like correct principle, and cast off 
 all respect for those lovely virtues, those sacred duties, 
 whose strict observance is all-essential to human life, if 
 it is to be, we shall not say beautiful and pure and holy, 
 but barely human, and which the Creator has constituted 
 the very foundation, not only of the happiness, but of 
 the very existence of domestic and social life. We have 
 been much gratified to find, that on this subject Menzel, 
 in his profound criticism on Goethe, has expressed, often 
 in almost our own words, the same views which we for- 
 
16 
 
 merly ourselves made public. And, in order to afford 
 our opinions the countenance of such high German 
 authority, we shall now, in preference to any minute 
 discussion of our own, quote a few passages from the 
 work of Menzel. We shall merely say that to us his 
 Faust, which is universally regarded as Goethe's greatest 
 work, appears to be an infamous canonization of the 
 genius of wickedness, in the person of Dr. Faust. The 
 great and grave charge which we have often felt con- 
 strained to urge against Goethe, is not only that his 
 morality is baseless, hollow, and spurious ; not only, 
 that corrupt principle, audacious licentiousness, and un- 
 bridled libertinism are rife in his writings, but, that so 
 far from any where expressing any reprehension and 
 detestation of such vices, he revels in their exhibition 
 with the most intense relish ; and that he ever seeks to 
 throw around his vicious and wicked characters all that 
 grace, elegance, and fascination, with which poetic 
 genius ought to invest only what is in itself beautiful 
 and good. The vicious and the vile are his favorite 
 heroes. That such a delineation of such characters 
 was simply the result of Goethe's own character, all 
 who know how disgusting was his own private life, will 
 admit ; and hence it is distinctly and broadly asserted 
 by Menzel. A very few citations* from that critic 
 must suffice. " Talent," says he, " is universal by its 
 nature, and must prove itself so by the greatest variety 
 of applications. There is nothing in the world to which 
 
 * We quote from Prof. C, C. Felton's admirable, translation of Menzel's 
 German Literature. 
 
17 
 
 talent cannot give a poetical coloring. The musician 
 very justly affirmed that every thing could be set to 
 music, even a list of names. A poet of talent can per- 
 form equal wonders with language. Hence, also, 
 Goethe was so many-sided. He could make every thing, 
 even the smallest and meanest, delightful by the magic 
 of his representation. 
 
 " Here, however, we strike upon the first great sin of 
 the poetry of Goethe. Art must be like an enlightened 
 religion, that makes only what is really sublime, noble, 
 and pure, what is really godlike, the object of worship ; 
 it must not resemble a whimsical Felichism, which 
 turns the little, the vulgar, and the obscene, every thing, 
 in short, into a vehicle of adoration, into an idol. The 
 form must be proportioned, and congenial to the subject. 
 Comic poetry alone is permitted, and only for the sak e 
 of comic effect, to travesty what is sublime, and to dis- 
 tinguish a vulgar subject with a grotesque elevation. 
 On the other hand, every seriously intended sentimental 
 embellishment of vulgarity, by means of a pathetic dress, 
 is wholly inadmissible. But Goethe was the first to de- 
 lineate feeble and infamous characters as interesting, 
 amiable, and even sublime, and to excite a sympathy for 
 the conceited Werther, the mean-spirited worthless Cla- 
 vigo, the effeminate and coquettish Wilhelm Meister, 
 the sentimental Don Juan Faust, as if these were 
 really the ideals of a manly soul. Since this example 
 was set, German poetry has been overrun with weak- 
 lings and scoundrels who pass for heroes. 
 
 8 
 
18 
 
 " To this highly unpoetical difference between the 
 beautifying form and the ugly substance belongs also the 
 manner, which had its origin with Goethe, of represent- 
 ing common, vulgar, and little matters, or things that 
 are absolutely dry, prosaic, and tedious, by means of an 
 affected air of importance, as full of meaning, and cap- 
 tivating to the senses. I will here only allude to the 
 ' Toilet of the Man of Forty Years.' Goethe was fond 
 of mystifying his readers by such means, and of putting 
 them, as it were, to the proof how much they could 
 bear without grumbling. 
 
 " Beautiful nature is the only object, the imitation of 
 which by the serious poet pleases us, and deformed na- 
 ture ought to be exclusively the subject of comic and 
 humorous poetry ; but Goethe staked his whole reputa- 
 tion upon making deformed nature, with all seriousness, 
 pass for beautiful, by the aid of his powers of represen- 
 tation ; and we need onlj^ read the work written by 
 Talk, on Goethe's life, or the Tame Xenia and aphorisms 
 of Goethe, and some passages of his ' Faust,' to be con- 
 vinced what diabolical fun his readers made him, when 
 they allowed themselves to be so easily duped, and were 
 rapt into wondering admiration and reverence, if Goethe 
 mysteriously thrust out his tongue, twisted his features 
 into a grimace at the highly respectable assembly, and, 
 like Mephistophiles, made an indecent gesture. 
 
 " Nothing characterizes him better than the poem 
 with which the Musen Almanach of 1833 was opened. 
 He there insults his senseless worshippers by a strain of 
 
19 
 
 coarseness and indecency which is too vile to be repeated 
 here. To this length of impudence Goethe ventured to 
 go with the German people." — Vol. III. pp. 30-32. 
 
 In another place the same writer sajs : " Even Plato 
 reprobates, with severe earnestness, the desecration of 
 poetry by laying open unnatural lusts. He reproaches 
 Hesiod and Homer for relating so many obscene and 
 disgusting things of the gods. He says with perfect 
 truth, ' Even if such things exist in nature, they ought 
 not to be related in the hearing of young people, but 
 should be silently passed over, more than any thing else 
 whatever. If a necessity should ever occur to speak of 
 them, these things must be heard not otherwise than as 
 mysteries, by as few as possible, who should have 
 brought beforehand for sacrifice, not a miserable pig, 
 but some great and costly offering, to the end that as 
 few as possible may have an opportunity of hearing 
 about such matters.' It is true that the mysterious af- 
 finity of choice, the principle of conjugal infidelity, — it 
 is true that licentious enjoyments, such as are described 
 in ' Stella,' — really occur in nature, but they are excres- 
 cences ; and we should not allow ourselves to be deceived 
 about nature, or rather about the nature of these things, 
 by a captivating poetical embellishment, by confound- 
 ing them with the most sacred feelings of pure love ; 
 for, as Plato proceeds to say, ' No one is willing to ad- 
 mit a lie into the noblest part of himself, and with re- 
 spect to the highest things.' 
 
 " We have yet to speak of the cruelty which accom*- 
 
20 
 
 panies refined pleasures. Goethe has a predilection for 
 painting human weaknesses and prejudices, and feasts 
 upon the sufferings that have their origin there. It is so 
 with ' Werther,' ' Clavigo,' ' Tasso,' ' The Natural 
 Daughter,' ' Elective Affinities,' and others. The cruel 
 pleasure consists in this, that the poet amuses himself 
 with crimes and sufferings, and makes not the least 
 atonement for them whatever. This cruelty oftentimes 
 seems aimless, often merely involuntary, as the conse- 
 quence of the indifference with which the poet contem- 
 plated the world. The calmness and clearness with 
 which Goethe draws his pictures, look frequently like 
 perfect indifference, and not like the godlike repose which 
 springs from the fullness of the idea. It has the effect, 
 therefore, of the lifeless laws of nature, and not of the in- 
 ward satisfaction of the soul . Hence Goethe offers so many 
 discords which have no solution." — Vol. III. pp. 43-45. 
 Many other striking passages might be cited from 
 Menzel, but we are already trespassing on the patience 
 of our hearers, and we must bring this part of our dis- 
 cussion to a close. We shall abstain from all remarks 
 on his own life, which, as we have good reason to assert, 
 was positively infamous. Nor can we dwell on other 
 objectionable features of his character, either negatively 
 or positively displayed in his writings : on his utter heart- 
 lessness, his profound egotism, his superlative vanity, his 
 supreme and contemptible selfishness, his self-exaltation 
 and self-worship, his aristocratic hauteur and insolence, 
 his languid effeminacy. To one most bitter reproach he 
 
im 21 
 
 lies open, — an utter want of patriotism, which led him 
 to maintain a cold, stiff, silent reserve, at a time when 
 his country was trodden into the dust by the foreign 
 invader and oppressor, when the whole great heart of 
 Germany was swelling and bursting with wounded 
 pride, nationality, resentment, and ardent aspirations for 
 the recovery of freedom ; when the whole land resound- 
 ed with the voice of the noble and the brave, with the 
 tramp and thunder of armies, and the indignant strains 
 of patriotic poets. Amid, the convulsions that shook 
 Germany from the Rhine to the Vistula, the voice of 
 her first poet was not heard. It was heard only in fee- 
 ble and drivelling commonplaces, when the storm was 
 overpast.* 
 
 Had Goethe realized the exalted and momentous 
 nature of the poet's office and vocation, how great and 
 glorious might he shine on the literary firmament, re- 
 volving among orbs of like magnitude and splendor, 
 around the sun of truth and wisdom ; but now, how 
 dark and sinister is his aspect, how lawless his orbit, 
 how malign his influence ! 
 
 We gladly turn from this contemplation, to gaze 
 awhile at another luminary of a far purer and brighter 
 light. 
 
 Schiller was not made, as Goethe in a great mea- 
 sure was, by outward circumstances and influences, but 
 his genius developed itself, and struggled upward to 
 the commanding position which it attained, in spite of 
 
 * See Note at the end. 
 
circumstances the most depressing, of influences the 
 most adverse. He was not, as Goethe often was, an 
 imitator, but he chose his own ground ; evolved, by the 
 independent exertion of the gifts and strength that were 
 given him, his peculiar poetic characteristics, his own ar- 
 tistic principles and excellences ; and his very first and 
 youthful appearance before the public was a stern, 
 though rash and ill-judged, antagonism to existing ten- 
 dencies. Looking at the whole man, as he presents 
 himself in his life and writings, he was one of the 
 noblest and brightest appearances in the literary world. 
 The sins of Goethe can in no wise be laid at his door. 
 Modest, unassuming, and retiring, he arrogated no lofty 
 and insolent airs, paraded no egotistical self-worship, 
 nor ever usurped an overbearing dictatorship over the 
 republic of letters. Animated by an ardent love of 
 truth, and of virtue, and of his race, he was ever an 
 earnest man, pursuing, with steadfast purpose, the noble 
 and the true. He was never guilty of levity or frivolity ; 
 for this he had too much self-respect, too serious a re- 
 gard for the sacredness of virtue, too profound a convic- 
 tion of the grave significance of human life and human 
 relations. His own life had for him too deep a mean- 
 ing, that he should ever have wasted his time and 
 strength on capricious trifling, or in impertinent frivolity. 
 With intense ardor, and indefatigable industry he studied 
 the great principles of his noble art ; and strove, Avith 
 sleepless activity, to attain the highest excellence in 
 their application, in the production of imperishable 
 
23 
 
 works. It is true that, considered as an artist, Schiller 
 was inferior to Goethe. He had not the same command 
 of material, nor the same ready skill in arrangement and 
 combination. His prose has not the easj flow, the magic 
 melody of Goethe's; it is throughout more elaborate 
 and ambitious, perhaps too uniformly majestic and 
 stately, but, at the same time, decidedly more correct, 
 and, in general, admirably adapted to the important 
 subjects of which he treats, full of life, and vigor, and 
 idiomatic nerve, abounding in great thoughts, striking 
 comparisons, and happy metaphors. But he ever had 
 a purpose beyond the perfection of art, greater than the 
 attainment of mere literary fame. He sought to instruct, 
 to ennoble, and to elevate mankind. His aim was, to 
 make the beautiful, whether in nature, or in humanity, 
 more attractive ; to awaken admiration of the powerful 
 and sublime ; to set forth the influence of the mightiest 
 affections and passions that rule the heart of man ; to 
 portray earnest men and women, characters full of en- 
 ergy, whether of vice and wickedness, of bold and ruth- 
 less ambition, of dark and remorseless tyranny, of gloomy 
 and bitter despair ; or of disinterested friendship, of 
 true and self-devoting love, of single-minded philan- 
 thropy, of pure and fervent patriotism, of unshrinking 
 loyalty to human rights, and liberty, and happiness. 
 He aims to move deeply and strongly, but always in 
 the right direction. He is always serious, and desires 
 that you should be so. The love of the beautiful, and 
 lofty, and virtuous, the abhorrence of meanness, and 
 
 4 
 
24 
 
 frivolity, and vice, which fill his soul, he aims to excite 
 and cherish in his reader. He never sinks into the 
 apologist of vulgarity, and baseness, and crime. He 
 never seduces us into admiration of vicious characters, 
 never prostitutes his poetic powers to invest them with 
 spurious attractions, never condescends to sophistry to 
 palliate their unhallowed deeds ; he never leaves us any 
 choice but to admire and love his purer, nobler, and bet- 
 ter creations. The brilliant and fascinating princess 
 Eboli never wins our sympathy or esteem ; the gloomy 
 but majestic Wallenstein, however much we may admire 
 his grandeur, never gains our applause ; the bigoted and 
 malignant Philip commands our utmost detestation ; 
 Franz von Moor excites our deepest abhorrence, and his 
 unhappy brother Karl, though we commiserate his mis- 
 fortunes, never tempts us to approve his crimes ; and on 
 the other hand, the generous and high-minded Marquis 
 Posa, that beau-ideal of a patriot and philanthropist ; 
 the sturdy and stalwart Tell ; the heroic Max Piccolo- 
 mini, whose manly rectitude would not yield to the 
 strongest temptation ; the artless, confiding, but strong- 
 minded Thekla, whose inflexible regard for the right 
 and good, leads her to sacrifice to duty even her pure 
 and ardent love ; the maid of Orleans, strong and sub- 
 lime in her heroic enthusiasm, are all objects that invite 
 our liveliest admiration, our warmest sympathy, our sin- 
 cerest respect and esteem. Whether great in misfor- 
 tune, or great in power and prosperity, they are truthful 
 embodiments of a genuine and exalted humanity, and 
 
25 
 
 as such they claim from us the exercise of every truly 
 human sympathy and affection. 
 
 Let it be remembered that it is not our object to 
 defend either of these celebrated men ; but that we sim- 
 ply intend to compare their respective literary merits, 
 and to attempt a comparative estimate of their moral 
 character, but especially of that influence which their 
 writings are respectively calculated to exert on the reli- 
 gious opinions, and the morals of the community. And, 
 therefore, as we have spoken of Goethe's religious opin- 
 ions and character, we must not omit this point in our 
 estimate of Schiller. Unlike his celebrated contempo- 
 rary in this, as in other respects, he gave to this all-im- 
 portant subject his most serious attention. His childhood 
 was passed in a pious home, and the influence of his 
 early education never faded from his heart, however 
 deeply his mind was afterwards imbued with error. 
 Unfortunately, he early became involved in the mazes 
 of a skeptical and false philosophy, and in the prosecu- 
 tion of his philosophic speculations he struggled man- 
 fully and anxiously for truthful, solid, and firm convic- 
 tions; but he never reached a satisfactory result. Schiller 
 lost his faith and his hope, and doubtless remained a 
 skeptic to the end of his days. As this philosophy exalts 
 human reason into a judge of revelation, so Schiller, in 
 treating of Scriptural subjects, boldly assumed that the 
 sacred writings are uninspired, the work of erring mor- 
 tals alone. We do not recollect that he says so, but he 
 simply takes it for granted, and deals with Scripture 
 
26 
 
 accordingly. He never shrugs his shoulders, or laughs 
 in his sleeve, or sneers, and then again prates, in the 
 language of mysticism, about religious experiences, as 
 Goethe often does, but betakes himself, with all sober 
 seriousness, to the setting forth of his ov\^n vieAvs, on 
 the establishment and elucidation of which he bestows 
 a good deal of elaborate reasoning, and no less imagina- 
 tive surmise, and of wild conjecture. Schiller has writ- 
 ten but two treatises on subjects, with reference to which 
 we have no sources of information except the Mosaic 
 records : and of these papers Carlyle speaks in a lan- 
 guage of approval and admiration, which is to us quite 
 unaccountable, when we consider what he has elsewhere 
 written of men whose soundness in doctrine, and lofty 
 consistency in practice, have never been open to ques- 
 tion. Schiller loved the truth and sought it, and he 
 wrote what, doubtless, he conceived to be true ; but it 
 would be difficult to point out any where a more deplora- 
 ble exhibition of the result at which a mind will arrive, 
 which inclines to philosophic speculation and utterly re- 
 jects the sure foundation of faith, and substitutes its own 
 supposed discoveries for the teachings of infinite intelli- 
 gence and wisdom. Besides the dissertations here spo- 
 ken of, we recollect but two other pieces, and these are 
 poems, in which Schiller very strongly displays the same 
 spirit, but in an entirely different manner, with respect 
 to the truths of revealed religion. His mind was deeply, 
 violently agitated by that greatest of all inquiries that 
 can employ the human intellect, but we do not believe 
 
#. 
 
 27 
 
 that, amid the rolling billows of skepticism, he ever 
 reached the rock of faith, or found safe moorings for the 
 anchor of his hope. As regards the influence upon others 
 of the productions which we have had in view, we doubt 
 whether it ever has been, or ever will be, extensive or 
 deep. 
 
 If we consider, in the next place, the poetic genius 
 of Schiller in its entire manifestation, we cannot but 
 admit that it was not as comprehensive or universal as 
 Goethe's ; but in the sphere in which he lived and 
 wrought, it far surpassed, in piercing vision, in depth 
 and fervor of feeling, in power of utterance, that of his 
 supercilious friend. He did not diffuse his energies over 
 so large a surface as Goethe, but he dug vastly deeper, 
 and built incomparably higher. Strength and splendor 
 are the characteristics of his imagination. He penetrated 
 into the hidden depths of the human heart, and rent 
 away the veil that often hides human character ; and he 
 brought forth what is pure and good in men, that he 
 might commend it to the esteem, and love, and imitation 
 of the world, and dragged their corruptions and vices to 
 the light, that he might loudly proclaim his abhorrence, 
 and speak to the conscience his stern rebuke, and his 
 earnest warnino;. And here we see the effect of his 
 early training, which inspired him with a profound rev- 
 erence and love of Christian virtue : for, although he 
 stood on false grounds of belief, his morality is obviously 
 based on principles of Christian ethics. So steadfast 
 was his purpose to exert a salutary influence on society. 
 
28 
 
 that when the public misapprehended the design of his 
 novel, " The Ghostseer," conceiving it intended only to 
 excite surprise and terror, he threw it aside and never 
 resumed it, so that we have it in an unfinished state. 
 
 Although we admit that Schiller's genius had not the 
 universality of Goethe's, it would be doing him great 
 injustice if we were to represent his mental character as, 
 in any sense, inferior, or the empire of his mind as at all 
 contracted. He was a man of great and varied learn- 
 ing ; his mind was of the highest order, and of rich and 
 many-sided culture. The difference between him and 
 Goethe is striking. While the latter seems at home 
 every where, and handling, with plastic skill, any and 
 every subject that presents itself, and often, indeed, 
 throwing away his skill on subjects purely indifferent 
 and trifling, or even contemptible, Schiller is distin- 
 guished for prompt sagacity to discern, and consum- 
 mate ability to embody the beautiful and the good,; for 
 a vastness of power to grapple with all things great, and 
 noble, and strong, and to subdue them into willing sub- 
 serviency to the exalted purposes of his poetic genius. 
 We may liken Goethe to the botanist, who roves over 
 the whole face of the earth, and gathers into his garden 
 trees and plants of every sort, the beautiful and the 
 uncomely, the fruitful and the useless, the sweet and 
 the nauseous, the salutary and the poisonous, arranging 
 them, with admirable art, in beautiful groups, and in strik- 
 ingly contrastive juxtaposition, but leaving the thought- 
 less and unheeding wanderer in its mazes, unguarded 
 
29 
 
 and unwarned to shun the hurtful odor of these plants, 
 to abstain from the death-bearing poison of those trees ; 
 while Schiller resembles the horticulturist, who no less 
 assiduously searches out the floral riches of the globe, 
 but selects only those productions of nature which are 
 distinguished for their lofty growth, their potent energy, 
 their attractive beauty, or their inviting sweetness, 
 transferring them to his magnificent park, his garden 
 disposed in gleaming terraces and fresh with gushing 
 fountains, and his elegant greenhouse, arranging all in 
 beauteous order and harmony, and labelling every nox- 
 ious tree, and shrub, and plant, to warn the unwary to 
 avoid their touch, to flee their noxious odors and their 
 pestiferous fruits. Schiller's poetry is the worthy expo- 
 nent of deep and intense feeling ; of lofty principle and 
 energetic purpose; of strong volition and of vigorous 
 action ; of patient endurance and of calm submission ; 
 of mighty motive and of earnest life whether good or 
 evil, and sometimes of dark and dismal despair ; in a 
 word, of human nature in its most exalted and beautiful, 
 or in its strongest and sternest manifestations. But his 
 aim always is to instruct, and warn, and benefit man- 
 kind, to beautify and ennoble human life. iVnd the 
 character of his genius is profoundness, strength, bold- 
 ness, a perfectly balanced harmony of force, and withal, 
 a full and gushing ardor of youth that never cools or 
 flags. And thus, while Goethe has been the " lion of 
 coteries," and the idol of a learned sect, Schiller has been 
 the favorite of the people, of true men and women from 
 
 # 
 
so 
 
 the throne to the cottage ; for all found in his writings 
 the forcible utterance of the feelings and aspirations that 
 dwell in every human heart. 
 
 Schiller gloried in ideal contemplations, and in the 
 creation of great and noble ideal characters. Goethe 
 was no more capable of conceiving and bringing out 
 such characters as Schiller's lofty and glorious Posa, or 
 his ardent and heroic maid of Orleans, or his chivalrous 
 and high-souled Max-Piccolomini, or his pure, generous, 
 self-forgetting Thekla, than he was of achieving the 
 Pallas Parthenos of Phidias, or one of Raphael's Ma- 
 donnas. Some have found fault with Schiller's poetry, 
 because, as they say, there is in it too much philosophy, 
 and too much morality. These complaints are fre- 
 quently raised by the impure admirers of Goethe's mer- 
 etricious muse; they deprecate Schiller's mighty influence 
 on the literature and character of his nation ; they 
 would have unrestrained license to revel in impure 
 indulgences, under the potent patronage of Goethe, 
 whom, as Menzel declares, Schlegel even presumed to 
 call a igod ; and " hinc illae lachrymse." What has 
 thus been made a matter of reproach, we gratefully 
 accept as the result of Schiller's clear and strong appre- 
 hension of the greatness and sacredness of the poet's 
 province. He has never pandered to vicious appetite ; 
 he has ever done homage to purity and virtue. What 
 gives him his strongest claim to the admiration and 
 gratitude of mankind is his earnest spirit ; his earnest 
 warfare against tyranny, wrong-doing, wickedness, and 
 
31 
 
 corruption ; his earnest vindication and assertion of 
 human rights and liberty ; his earnest advocacy of right, 
 of true nobleness, and of rigid virtue. We have said 
 that his love of truth was intense, his pursuit of it 
 ardent and unceasing. In his uninterruptedly advancing 
 self-culture, he strove to realize a lofty and glorious 
 ideal. And it was his intense application to this great 
 object, his sleepless efforts in the expansion, and culture, 
 and enrichment of his powerful mind, that so speedily 
 wore out his feeble frame, and consigned him to an early 
 grave, when he was yet far short of the' exalted aim 
 which he had proposed to himself. And with reference 
 to this trait of his character and life, Goethe has beauti- 
 fully said : 
 
 " Er wendete die Bltithe hdchsten Strebens, 
 Das Leben seibst, an diese.s Bild des Lebcns."' 
 
 And we need only add, that, in accordance with his 
 exalted principles of thought and action, his life, his 
 personal character, was all that is pure, and noble, and 
 estimable; distinguished for dignified simplicity, amiable 
 gentleness, modest strength, unswerving integrity, and 
 diffusive benevolence. Though we lament the errors of 
 Schiller the philosopher, and deplore that he never pen- 
 etrated into the shrine of holiest truth, who can but 
 admire Schiller the man, the poet of honor and of virtue, 
 the faithful and powerful asserter of the rights, the 
 duties, the interests of mankind ? 
 
 Gilfillan says, in a recent production : " Another 
 security for the future triumphs of Poetry is to be found 
 
 m 
 
in the spread of the Earnest Spirit. That such a spirit 
 is coming over the age, men feel as by a general and 
 irresistible intuition. There are, besides, many distinct 
 evidences, and in nothing more so than in the present 
 state of Poetry. Its clouds, long so light and gay, are 
 rapidly charging with thunder, and from that black 
 orchestra, when completely filled, what tones of power 
 and music may be expected!" We believe that this is 
 true, and we hail the omen with joyful expectation. But 
 that, at a time when feeble drivelling, or shameless fri- 
 volity, or unblushing libertinism were rife in European 
 literature, Schiller took the lead in this purifying and 
 reforming movement, and first sounded the trumpet to 
 summon the poets of Christendom to aid him in this 
 magnificent concert, and that not from accident, or cal- 
 culation, and expediency, but because his strong and 
 noble spirit disdained all other work or companionship, 
 this is the greatest glory of his imperishable name. 
 
w 
 
 NOTES 
 
 Page 2. For various reasons the writer deems it necessary to 
 state, that he has never seen any unfavorable critique on Goethe's 
 works, except Menzel's : but that there has been in Germany, much 
 and severe censure of his character, and the tendency of his writings, 
 appears abundantly from the bitter complaints and the indignant 
 rejoinders of his worshippers. 
 
 P. 21. To the fact that Goethe lies open to this reproach, the 
 writer's attention was, many years ago, directed by a friend and dis- 
 tinguished German scholar. Having afterwards found the accusa- 
 tion broadly made and satisfactorily sustained, by Menzel, he pro- 
 ceeded to strengthen his conviction of its justness, and sought, in vain, 
 to discover in any of Goethe's writings, a spark of true philanthropy, or 
 genuine patriotism. But to this chargCj the accomplished American 
 translator of Menzel's German Literature replies, in his preface, as 
 follows : " The example he set of devotion to all the interests of 
 civilization, — of an industry that never tired, — of a watchfulness that 
 never slumbered, — in the regions of art, and poetry, and science, — 
 ought to be received as some compensation for the indifference he is 
 accused of having shown towards what are called the great political 
 interests of the world ; for it may well be a question to the reflecting 
 man, whether he cannot minister more successfully to the happiness 
 of the race by recalling their thoughts to the humanizing influence of 
 letters and art, than by plunging headlong into every political contro- 
 versy which agitates his age." This, and more to the same effect, 
 is doubtless, on the whole, true. We would, however, venture respect- 
 
34 
 
 fully to say in reply, that, while the poet is assuredly not to emulate 
 Sir Matthew Meddle, in perpetually interfering in affairs that do not 
 concern him, we can see no reason why he should, on the other hand, 
 be a Rip Van Winkle, or even a Fontenelle, unconscious of aught 
 passing around him, equally indifferent whether the world be going 
 backward or forward, in prosperous repose, or distracted by tumults, 
 or groaning under oppression. And though it be, and is admitted, 
 that in the ordinary course of affairs the poet should not be found 
 mingling and engaging in the conflicts and the turmoil of the political 
 world, yet circumstances certainly sometimes arise, in which none 
 but drowsy drones, or mere plodding book-worms, or selfish syco- 
 phants, can remain silent and inactive ; and we do think that the con- 
 dition, the sufferings of Germany, arising from the wars of Napoleon, 
 were so extraordinary, so highly calculated to rouse every manly and 
 ° patriotic spirit, that we cannot conceive how any man, not destitute 
 of every noble feeling, of every generous sympathy, could refrain 
 from the utterance of intense indignation, — ^from the manifestation of 
 the most devoted attachment to the interests of his bleeding country. 
 But, from a selfish voluptuary like Goethe this was not to be 
 expected. The same dispensation which remiis to the poet the debt 
 of patriotism, nay excludes him from all interest and participation 
 in his country's affairs, would, of course, embrace all men devoted to 
 letters, or the pursuit of science. And then it should have been said 
 to many, who, in past days, exerted a most salutary influence on pub- 
 lic affairs : " You have gone beyond your appropriate sphere, — you 
 must coiifine yourselves to the seclusion and the occupations of your 
 study." But, not to notice more recent cases, was Franklin less a 
 philosopher — were Davies, and Witherspoon, and D wight, less rever- 
 end and useful divines, because they manifested a deep and active 
 interest in the welfare of this nation, anS'^e success of our great 
 
 revolution ? 
 
 " Rectius vives, Licini, neque ahum 
 
 Semper urguendo, neque, dum procellas 
 
 Cautus Ij^rrescis, nimium premendo 
 
 Litus iniquum." 
 
 HoR. Cann. x. lib. ii. 
 
-itMlfe^Hie^e 
 
 in b e r 
 
 ^apelle hs CQlnmtita College 
 
 am 7. Wl at i 184S, 
 
 gc^altcn eon 
 ^, % ©c^mibt, M. A., 
 
 ®«b^orb = 5Ptofeffoi: itv beutfc^en <Sipva^t unb Sitetatur. 
 
 
 Find. 01. 1. 32, sq. Bockh. 
 
 ^ttf IJefeljl ber (Hitratordt gebrudit. 
 
 JJ'itD-'Sork: 
 ©cbrucft bet ^. Cubmtg u, So., 
 
 18 4 8. 
 
r tt) r t. 
 
 5Dic l^icr folgcubc Olcbc hjurbe bor cinem biitc^gangig cng* 
 lifc^rebenbcu 5liibitovtum gcl)alten, alfo urf^niuglic^ in engltfc^cr 
 ©)}ra(^e abgefa^t. (Eineu SOJoiiat fvciter :6ef(^Ioffen bie (Sura* 
 toreu be^ Solinnfcia (Sottcgtv btefelbe in 2)ru(! erfc^einen §u 
 laffen, xmb forberten jugteit^ ben SScrfaffer, ii)m i)6l(ig imijer* 
 mut^et, auf, dm beutf^e Ue:6erfe^ung beifcl:6eu auS^ufcrttgen. 
 2)iefeg 5(ufuc^eu g(au:6te er uic^t aljlet)ueu §u biirfeu. @§ 
 hjurbe t^m obex fel)r I)alb beutlic^, toic [(^tuierig e§ oft [et, feiue 
 eigenen @ebaufeu an^ etner Spxa^c in cim aubcre ju liter* 
 tragen. 3)af bie I)ier auggef^roc^cueu 5tuft^teu ufceratt 33cifall 
 ftnbeu hjerbeu, ba§ Id^t er fi(^ ni^t in ben <3iun fommen. 
 SBemi a:6er, in S3etrac^t ber <B)()xa^c, bicfe 5(rteit oft fteif imb 
 unfce!^olfeu nuSgefalleu tft, fo niuf er, in biefer SSejie^ung, um 
 SRa(^fi(^t fcitten, f(^ou beS^alt, hjeil bieg HoS eiue Uctjerfe|ung 
 ift, fobaitn a^ber au^, iueit e§ 511 gro^erer Umftc^t imb ©orgfalt 
 Bet ber Sdi^arbeitiiug an S^t gebrac^, iubem e^ mtt ber 5tB* 
 lieferung (Site l^atte. 
 
 6r fiigt mir noc^ ^iuju ba§, oljiuo!^! er in feinem Urt^eile 
 ufcer @5t^e me^rmalS barauf Jjiuiuetft, baf biefer 3!)t(^ter auc^ 
 in ^eutf(^Ianb oft fet)r Btttercu, ater gere(^teit ^abel eingeerntet, 
 i^m ijou ben bieleu uugiiuftigeu Oiejeuftonen, mit %n§naf)me 
 SDienjetS, niemalS auc^ mir eiue ju @eft(^te gefommeu : er feunt 
 bergleic^en nut au§ ben 3f'^f«ii«i'f» unb (Sc^md^fc^riften, bie 
 t>on @6t:^e3 ^nUtmi ^ertoorgegangen fmb. 
 
^tttrttt^-Hfie. 
 
 3nbem i^ ^eute bag 2lmt antrete, tt>elc^c3 man mix an biefer 
 Stnfialt aiiijertraut ^at, ift e§ tnir §ur Dbliegen^eit gelnorbeu, 
 toor biefer gce^rku SSetfammlung, liber irgcnb cineii ©egeuftaub, 
 bcr auf bag mtr augehjtefene i^et)rfac^ i8ejte!)uiig Ijat, eiuc Oiebe 
 ju ^alten. Urn biefer ^^fli^t auf bie jtuecfrnd^igfte SBeife na^^ 
 §ii!ommen, ern)dt)lte i^ ben erftcu, ben fceften ©egenftanb, eiue 
 ttergteid^eube S^arafteriflif, in))erfdnli(^ev,fDtt)ot)l alg literarif^er 
 SBejiel^ung, ber fceibeu 9)?duucr, in bereii ©eiftegevjeuguiffeu bie 
 beutf(^e i)id;tfunft fic^ jur l^crrli^cu S3lutl)e cutfaltet Ijat] bcr 
 I6eibeu Mimer, bie i^r SSatcrlaub aU bie iDiirbigfteu ^ricfter bcr 
 bcutfcjieu 3}Zufe feiert. ©g i)erftel)t fic^, ba§ ijou ©fitter uub 
 @bti)t bie 9iebe ift. ^abe i^ mm f)iemit ben ©egenftaub gegeu* 
 tDdrtiger 9iebc angebeutct, fo mii§ i(^ ^ugtei^ erHdren, ba§ ic^ 
 mir, iet ber SBa^I bcffelfceu, ber (Sc^iuierigfeiteu mib ber mian* 
 gene^meu Oiucffid^tcu, bie fcei ber J8e!j)aubhmg beffelljeu in S3c* 
 trac^t fommeiv hJo^t :belt>u§t luar; bemi i(^ crfemtc aufg beut* 
 lic^fte, baf bie 2(nfi(^teu, bie i^ augf^ret^eu njerbe, in miaug^' 
 glei(^fcarent Soiiflifte ftel)eu mit ber fel)r aHgemeiii ^erbreiteten 
 5tufi(^t, mit bem faft eiuftimmigeu Uxtljcil beutfc^er uub auc^ 
 augh)drtiger ^uuftric^ter uub <S^riftuer, bie (^btl)c an bie (5^)i^e 
 atler beutfc^cu ^ic^ter ftetleu uub il^u alg luiijergleic^Iic^ iu feiuet 
 ^errli(^eu ^uuft, ja alg iu berfelbeu uuerrei^bar fc^ilberu uub 
 lot):preifeu. — @g biirftc hjo^t ni^t uu^jaffeub feiu, I)ier uoc^ ju 
 fcemerfeu, ba§ biefe meiuc 5tufi^teu feiuegtoegg ucuertuorlbeuc 
 ftnb ; feit laugeu 3«^tcu feftget)atteu, fcefefligeu \ic fic^ j[c mcl^r 
 uub me:^r iu ^olgc geuauerer S3efauutf(^aft mit @otl)e'g (S(^rif=» 
 tcu, uub (tub fie in ciuer litcrarifc^eu 3fitf<^vift Dcri^ffeutlic^t 
 iDorbeu, lauge ei)c mix bag SScrgm'igeu §u 5^t)cit tuarb, in 2B, 
 JKcujclg toortrcpc^em SBerfe iifcer bie bcutf^e ^ittxaUix, gan^ 
 
6 
 
 d^uli(^e rittt fmfttgen SBorten au§geft)ro(^en, imb mit fc^tagcn* 
 ben SSctceifen belegt §ii fe^eu. Uub i^ barf too^^I, urn no$ 
 befttntmter ben SSortourf jiuiicf^utDeifen, al§ i^offe t(^ finger fetn 
 alg 2(ubere, barauf l)nibeiiteu, baj ja im beutfc^eu SSaterlaube 
 felbft ijiele aufgelldrte, ijerftdubige nub re(|t[(^affeue SOMnuer 
 gletd; t)ou Dome ^ereiu eruftlid; tt)re (Bttmme er^oben tutber bie 
 iibevtrieBeneu ^orbenmgeu, bte 511 @i3t:^e'g ©imfteii ijou fetiieu 
 mmidjngeu 33etoimbereru [tub aufgeftetlt icorben, bereu ^ide 
 i^n gerabeju p ttergotteru fic^ ntc^t eutblobet ^aBeu. 
 
 (Sf)e iDir al&er mm jur iuirflic^eu (ErCrtenmg ber Befouberen 
 (Sigeufc^afteu mtb jiir S}erglct(^mig ber etgent^iimlic^eu SSer* 
 bieufte jeiier betbeu ^o^gcfeievtcn 2)Mimer [(^retten, miiffen tuir 
 no(^ ijorldiiftg bte ©rimbfdj^^e feftftetteu, na<^ iuelc^eu \mx fie 
 beiirtl}ei[eii irevben, ober, in aubereu SBorteu, bart^im, ^^S toir 
 ^u jeber Beit i)ou bem|eiugeu forbenx imb forbern muffcii, ber aiif 
 ben ftol^eu Oiu^m etneS 3)t(^terg 2(uf:prii(| mac^t (E§ fragt fi(| 
 alfo : 2Ba§ ift be§ ^oeteu ©eubmig 5 ioa^ tft be§ 3)tc^ter§ 
 aSeruf? 
 
 3it getotffer ^ejtel^mtg Btetet ba§ (SrbeuleBen feiue I)oI)ere 
 (Seubmig bar, aU bte etueS dc^ten mib toa!)rf)aft c^rtftltc^en 
 2)tc^ter§ : feiueu erl)aBenent SSeruf at§ ben ehieS @etfte§, ber, t)on 
 ber ^ieOe §u ®ott mib 3)?enfd)eu mib jur ^errlt(^en ^atiix tmitgji 
 bur(^brimgcu, bte foftlic^e @abe ctii:pfaiigeu l^at, in beg ©du* 
 gerg fii^en mib l^iurei^eiibcu SBetfeii, femeit cx^abcnm (Sr^eug* 
 niffen ©eftatt, feiueu glu^eubeti (Em^ftitbmtgeu (5^ra(^e §11 t>er^ 
 Ieit)en, mib mit ergretfeiibeii ^oiieii in 5(iibern bte ©ebaiifeii mib 
 @eful)Ie 511 erlnedeii, bte [eiue (Seele burc^fc^auerm — 3)amit fott 
 beim freilic^ !eiue§it)eg§ gefagt feiii, bag e§ irgeiib etueii SSeriif 
 gdlje, ber ait mib fi'ir fi(^ eri)abeiier mib !)eiliger iudre, ai§ ber 
 SSeriif beffeii, ber na(| aUerl^iJc^fter SSerorbiumg bie ^efugiiif 
 er^atteii ^at, ba§ SBort ijou ber SSerfot)mmg ju :prebigen. — 5t!6er 
 c6 ift be§ 3)t(^tcr§ 33eruf in biefer ^^tnfi^t ber grogte, bag fein 
 5liiberer eiu fo umfaffeiibeS ®chkt fcel)errf(^t 5Denu e§ iDirb 
 bemieiiigeii, ber mimittelljar bem 3)ieiifte beg .§eiligt!^mti8 oB* 
 liegt, felteii eiu auggebel^uter S5?(rfmig§frei§ ^u ^'i)tii, mib ge* 
 tt)ot)iili(^ ift er auf eiueu eugeu ]()ef(f;rduft j ber 5)i(|ter ^iugegen, 
 
finbet Si^i^itt uub 5(nHaug hci ^UUn : Bci ,§oT)en nub ^Jicbrigcn, 
 hci ^higen uub ^mfdfttgeii, Ui .5'iigcub()afteu nub SSeviDorfcueu ; 
 gu ^ikn uub 3cbem ^al^ut cr fid) ^^cg ; fctu 3Bort brhigt ju 
 5(ricn, nt(^t nur fcincS cigciicu SSolfeS, foiibcvn bcv gan^en 
 9)ienfc(;f)cif; uub ,5'aufcubc, bic bcui cvuftcu ©ttteu[ct)rcr, bcm 
 eutfc^icbcucu ^Prcbtger beS t)ei[t>vtugcubcu ilBovtcS eiu taubeS 
 D^r jufc{)vcu, fd;iDeIgcu im ©euuffe feiuer ^iurei^eubeu ^ieber. 
 2Gie ;6ebcutuug§i>oU i]t be§f)alb bev 5(u§[^h-u(^ jcuc§ 5Di^tcrg : 
 „9)(tr ift'g gletc(;yicl, Ji?cr bcm SSoffc ©cfc^e Dovfc^vciOt, lucuu 
 man mix uur yerguuut, beffeu IMebcv ju bic^tcu!" 
 
 2lll?eru ift cS imb Id(^cv(ic^, beu 3)ic^tcv nuS bcm ©cluctc beg 
 2Ba!f)vcu uub 5Gtvf[id;cu ,5;u i^cvbauucu, \mc fdiou toou SStcIcu, j.a 
 toou 3)tc()tcru fclbft, gcfcBcI)cu ift. (S§ Id^t fid; buv^auS fctu 
 l^altl>avcr Oruub augcbcu, it)cf^i)aU>, Wic \id) ciu cuglifc^cr ©c^n-tft* 
 ftcKcr au^briicft, „bcr 3)id)tcr fief; bcr 3)arftcnuug bc§ 3©ai)tcn 
 uub SBirflic^cu burc^auS cutl)a(tcu uu'i^tc;" uub fid;cr Ijat fctucr, 
 bcr fotc^c 9)?ciuuugcu auS^uf^ncc^cu ijctmag, jcmalg bic ^icbcr 
 bcS (SdugcrS in 3^vacf, obcr bic im crl)aljcuftcu ^^octifd^cu @cifte 
 ijcrfa^tcu (Sc^riftcu bcr ^ro).il)ctcu bc§ altcu JBuubcS mit 3(uba^t 
 gclcfcu uut) bct)cr5igt. „3)cr 5D{d?tfuuft Ocbict," fagt bcr fo 
 ebcu augcjogeue (Bd;riftftc((cr, „i\t uutcgrdujt; c§> fd;Iic§t fciucn 
 ©egcuftaub an§, uub mau barf bcr 5]3ocfic cbcu fo U3cujg ©d;rau* 
 feu t>orfd;rciC»cu, at§ bcm 3)cufiicruiogcu, bcr ^offiumg uub bcm 
 @IauI)cu bc§ 9)(cufd;cu, bcrcu l)i3d)ftcr (Sr^oucut uub crbatcuftcr 
 5(u§bru(f fie i^tj bcuu burc^ fie tutrb geifti^olfcr ber @cift, l;o[f* 
 HuugSreic^cr bie ^ojfmmg uub aubdd;tigcr bic Oicligiou." 
 
 3)cr 3!)i(^ter foU uiiS uic^t uur ba§ @ro|le uub @d;rc(fli(^c, 
 baS <S(^due uub ©cfdlltgc aufc6auli(| mnc^cu uub beu: 9i)?tubcr* 
 Begabtcu beu @cuu§ bereitcu, beu bicfc (Stgcufd)nftcu gcuxit^rcu, 
 foubcru cr foK ciubriugeu iu bag 2Bcfcu ber 2)iugc, foil bereu 
 gel)cimui^i)o((e (Bprac^c cutjiffcru uub bereu iicf\k ©cbcutuug cr* 
 griiubcu, uub uu§ jluubc gebcu \3ou beu mauuigfaltigeu 5(ugelc= 
 gcul)ciieu uub 93ert)d[tuiffeu uub bcm uuauft)orIi(^eu ^cc^fet beS 
 meufc^lid)cu !?ebcu3; bic 3"iefcu bc8 9}?eufd)euf)er5cu3 fott cr 
 burc^f)3dl)eu, uub au'S ^id)t forbcru baS 33o[e, baS c§ blrgt, bag 
 ®nk, bag eg bcf)erl)crgt ; fott beffeu uicbrigc 33cgicrbeu uub 
 
8 
 
 jlrafbare MUn^a^tm, 'ooxm1)m\i^ aUt feme temften SCBiin* 
 f(^e, feine :^eiligften ^offumtgcu Ijeleu^ten, unb jebem 3SerIangen, 
 jeber c^offmntg, jcbet ©e^nfui^t, bie angemeffeite (Bpxa^c, baS 
 iebeutuuggijoffe SSort 'onkii)m, — 2)em 5Dtc^ter barf fetit @e* 
 genftanb 5:1 germg ober i)erd(^tlt($ fc^einen, unb leitet bte get)u^= 
 tenbe (S:f)rfur(|t imb Qtnbac^t feme ^eber, fo ift feiner fo er^a^ben 
 imb ^enli^, baj er t:^u nt(^t beftugeu biirfte. 5t6er — imb biefc 
 govberungntujmitunetljtttt^er ©trenge gelteub gema(^t merben 
 — obex er barf niemalg fot^ergeftalt bte ^^arten mif(|en, ba§ 
 Ungeretmt^etten entfte^^eu, tuie fie img ^oxa^ in feinem S3riefe 
 an bte ^tfonen fc^tlbert; ntemal§ barf er bte ©egenftdnbe, bie 
 er Be^anbett, in ein falf(^e§ Sid^t ftelien. — (S§ fei ii)m gerne ijer* 
 gonnt, bag ©emeine unb Uneble mit iifcertriefcener ©trenge ^u 
 §u(^tigen, bem @(^Ie$ten etne jiriefac^e S5ertDerf[i(^fett §uju* 
 fc^reiben, unb bie (Siinbe mit ben f(|todr§eften ^^arfcen a^juf(^it== 
 bem; eg lt)irb it)m gerne fcetDttligt, ja e§ toirb i»on i1)m t)ertangt, 
 ba§ er alle§ (5(^one, (Sble unb @ute mit ber ©rajie l^olber %n^ 
 mut^ befteibe, unb feine ^^antafte erfc^o^jfe, 5(tte§ !^iefcli(^e unb 
 5((^tung§tt)ert^e mit feffelnben Oteijen ju fc^miitfen; a^er er 
 Wibc immer unb iiberall ber SBal)rl)eit untoanbelbar getreu, unb 
 niemalg trete er ber iuirfli^en 33ef(^affen^eit, ben ein fiir attemal 
 feftgeftettten SSer^dlttiiffen feiner ©egeitftdnbe §u na^e. (Sr l^iite 
 ft(^, ba^ er ni(|t bie ^d^dt, bie ^ugenb, bie 3!}?enf(^enIieBc 
 berbd(^tig ma^e, ober gar in ein i)erd(|tli(^eg unb gel)dffigeg 
 ^i^t fteKe. ^iegt eg if)m an, ung 9)?itleib gegen bie SSerbor^enen 
 unb (Straffcaren einjuffo^en, fo iuolle er bo^ begiregen i:^re SSer=* 
 toorfen^eit mtb if)re ©c^utb nid;t mit trugli(^em ^tttterftaate Be* 
 mdnteln; ijor 2tttem afcer fe^^e er fi(^ S)ox, baj er bem ©^dnbli== 
 ^en mtb Safter^afteit, ber 9f{u(^tofigfeit uttb bem SSerbrec^en 
 ni(^t §auBerif(^e Oteije anbt(^tet, bie geeignet icdreit, bie Unfi^ul* 
 bigen mtb Un^erborBenen §u tdufc^en mtb ju Derfiil^reit, bie ^u=^ 
 flernen mtb Safter^aften §u locfen, unb ben ©efallenen mtb UefccI* 
 tl^dtern ein Sitgengehjattb umju^dngen. 
 
 95on ber itmerften Sffielt ber 2)i(^terfeele ift ^ier bie 9?ebe ni^t 
 9l6er toon ml^cx S3cf^affen^eit W (Srjeugttiffe beg 5£)i(^terg 
 nun immer fein miJgen, unb t>on tuelc^er 5lrt bie ^robucte, bie 
 
9 
 
 fciue fc^o^ferifc^c ^^autafte in fciueS @eifieg 3^icfm ^cx'ooxhxhiQt, 
 fo uiiterlicgt er boc^, [obalb er mit beufclbeu ijor bag ^^iil?(ihim 
 txitt, ben udmlic^en ©efe^eu h)ie anbetc ^liuftler. SGodte ber 
 9)?aler obcr ber 33ilbl)auer uujuc^tige 33ilbcr imb obfcdue ®xnp' 
 :|)cn §ur 'Bdjan ftcden, in ber .^offiumg, ftc| mit bem iu'rle|jteu 
 fitttic^eu @efiil)Ie tugeubf)after 9}2enf(^eu mit ber (Sutfc^iUbigmig 
 a^jiifiuben, ba§ feiiie aufto^igeu (Srjeuguiffe eiiie imi)erglei(J)(t^c 
 t^ertigfcit fceurfuiibeu, nub aU Jlunfttuerfe mitabel()aft mib "ooU^ 
 fommen feieii, fo mii^teu iuir il)m muimiDUubeii erfldreii, ba^ ber 
 Mufttcr, ber mig ba§ fitttid) ^d^lit^e iiub SSeratjfc^emuiggtDur* 
 bige burc^ (Sc^onl^eit ber ^orm, bur^ elegante (Btelhmg mib 
 fimireic^e ^altuiig em^fel)teu h^id, imferu gefuubeu S0?eiif(l;eu^er* 
 ftaub mib jebeS eblere @efuf)l beleibigt — 3)e3 2)?eufd;eu Seben 
 'i)at ju I)ol)cu 2Bert^, aU ba§ er uur nac^ Uuterl)altmig trad^ten 
 follte, auf Jtoftcu jeber anbereu OJiicfftc^t, jebeS ^bijcxcn ^ebiirf* 
 niffeg. Uub getrif?, uur banu l^at ba§ 5(eu§ere, ba§ gormale ge« 
 hjic^tigeu SBertI), toemi eS ieneu iniubigercu mib eblereu Si^frffn 
 bieiiftljar mib forberIi(^ i\t Uub beS^alb irrt ber 2)i(^ter gelualtig 
 uub leibet au ber ^eflageugtuertl^efteu SSerbfeubuug, ber \i^ mx' 
 mai ber 5lufic^t i^iugegebeu \)ai, bag e§ ii)m frei fte^e, feiue ]^err* 
 lic^eu ®abm ju feiuem auberu ^ub^tuecfe §u fceuu|eu, [eiuc 
 ^miftfertigfeit in feiuer auberu 5(bft(^t iu 5tu§ubuug ju Ijriugen, 
 alS uur [eiueii 3eitgeuoffeu Uuter{)a[tuug uub ^etuftiguug §u ijer* 
 fd^affeu, ol)ue erufte 9?u(f ftc^t §u ue^meu auf bie ^er^^euSbitbuug, 
 bie bem 9)?euf(^eu mimiterbrod^eu 9}orf(^uI) leifteu fo(t iu fciuem 
 ©trebeu na^ ber (Erfuttuug ber grojeu uub hjic^tigeu S^^de, 
 beueu feiu ^chcn geiuei^t feiu foil — SSeuu eg aber mm ^icar 
 ber grellfte llufiuu icdre, bariiber f>ier in 5l6rebe feiu §u iuoffeiv 
 ba^ e§ bem 3)i(^ter imertd^tic^e -li>fli^t i\i, in ber 2)arfte(Iuugg* 
 fuuft f'eiueu erreic^bareu @rab ber SSortrefffict^feit mierftrebt §u 
 laffeu, uub uac^ ber du§erfteu (5c§out)eit ber ^orm uub ^(egauj 
 beg (BtX)[^ ^n trac^teu, fo fiiib bieg boc^ immer uur uutergeorbuete 
 (Srforberuiffe — ©rforberuiffe, allerbiugg, a:6er boc!^ Uo^ .§ulfg* 
 mittel, ben ©ebaufeu uub (Em))fiubuugeu, bereu 3^rdger fie fiub, 
 atteutf)alkn dm giiuftigere 2iufual)me uub SSea^tuug ^u gc* 
 toiuuen. 
 
10 
 
 ^kxnaU fann ©^ou^eitber ?^orm ba§ Rafter ijerebein; abet 
 iDcmt an^ cin aumutl)tgc§ uub reijeubeS ^leu^ere ber d(^ten 
 Otec^tfc^affcu^eit uub ^Tugeub etu freubtgereg ^ffiillfommeu imter 
 SO^eufc^eu Bereiteu !auu, fo bebiirfeu bod^ btefe be§ frembeu ^i(^* 
 te§ utd^t; ja iibcralt U)ivb it)ueu ui^t uur bie SSeUjuuberuug uub 
 bie tuuigfte Stuerfeumnig alter ebleu ©eeleu, fouberu oft mi^ bie 
 5((|tung ber 9?o^eu uub :?afterl)afteu §u Z^di, felbft hjeuu fie in 
 ber xmf(^etuBarfteu ©eftalt auftreteu. (^§ fauu atfo ui(|t§ ben 
 3)i(|ter f)ere^ttgeu, bie uul)eilbriugeube, i)erberBli(^e ^eubeuj 
 feiuer ©eiftee^robucte mit fetuer ijolteubeteu 3)arftelluuggfuuft 
 §u rei^tfertigeu : iljm gel^ort ebeu fo iceuig al§ aubereu bie S3e* 
 fugui^, beuS^oIfggcift ju eutuerioeu imb ^u berberbeu, ba§ ftttti(|e 
 SSehju^tfeiu ber 2)?eufc^l)ett ^u jerrutteu uub ju ijerhjiifteu, uub 
 ^erua(^,U3euu totr uuS iilber fetu teufiif^eg^^reibeu t)eHageu, uu§ 
 Tuit berfred;ai3lugflu(^tabjuf^eifeu,bag er mit uui>ergleid;(ic^em 
 ©(f)arffiuue, mit tabetlofer Jtuuftfertigfeit, ntit alter ^raft feiueS 
 3)ic^tergeuieggefveoeCtl)abe. — @§ ift be§3)i(^ter§ n^abnux S3e* 
 nif, ber9}?eufd;t)eit tiefyerborgeue (Sc^d^e beS^iffeug §u eutl)u(* 
 leu 5 ba§meuf(^li(^elH'beu5utierf^5ueru, ju i^erebetu imb in jeber 
 S3e5iet)uug5uyevl}err[i(^en. (SrfolIuugbaSiuuere uub get)eimui§= 
 ijolle ^efeu ber belebteu uub ber leblofeu Sdatur eutfalteu, im§ iiber 
 berborgeue SSerl)d[tuiffe uub ^^ed^fetoirfuugeu 2(uff(^lu§ gebeit, 
 uuSbiegroj^artigfteu uub erl^abeufteu, mib uid^t uiiubcr bie fc^ou* 
 fteu, bie^ier[i(^fteu, bie lieblici^fteu (Srf(^eiuuugeu biefcr f)errli(^en 
 (£(^o:pfuug aufd)aulic^ mai^eu. — (Sr foil iu Wm, bie feiu bc^' 
 geifierteg ^ort »eruei)rneu, beu <Bmi eru^edeu fiir bie tiefe uub 
 l?e5ief)uug0i3D(Ie SSebeutfauifeit biefeS uufereg Ujuuberfcar uian^ 
 uigfaltigeu ;^eBeu§ auf (Srbeu. — (Sr beftrebe fic^ beu faufteftcn 
 Slietguugeu, beu ebelfteu .^riebeu, beu reiufteu ©i}ui:patl)ieu, fo 
 h3te au^ beu ^eiligfieu ^offuuugeu, ber ftetg auf bag UuiDan* 
 belbare uub (Si^ige gertc^teteu (2et)ufu(^t ber 9)?euf(^eufeele, eut* 
 toeber iu faufteu imb fi'i^eu ober iu md(^tig ^iurei^eubeu 3"ouen, 
 5(uSbruc! 5u i^erlei^eu, — (Sv foil feiue a)?it^i[ger burd; bieg ge* 
 l^eimui^ijolte ^eBeu aufmerffam ma^m auf bie (Stimme ber 
 3(tlmad;t, ber uueub[i(^eu ®ei0l)cit uub ^khc, bie ba§ ^'eltatt 
 l^ier fauft burd;fdufelt, bort md(^tig imb ergreifeub burc^tout, 
 
11 
 
 uub fic aittctteu in bem (Iutii3t(fcliing§gangc beS ^e6euS (Siujet* 
 ncr, bc§ ^aniiticiH bc§ SSoffSlckuS uub bev 5Celtgefci;ic^tc, bem 
 SBattcu ber gottlid^cu 9Sorfct)uug uad)ju|>iivcu, uub §u erfcuueu 
 tote uberaH eiu l^ciftgciv l^ou uutrugUc[;cv iIBet^t)ett geleitctcv, mit 
 uueublic^eui ^^ol}[toDl[cu i;cvbuubeucr SBiffe bie <3d;icffa[c Pilfer 
 uub ;3ebev Icuft uub auovbuet — ^n bcr gcfalligcu uub ))o^ni[dveu 
 2)arftelfuuc}§art bcS ^Dic^terS foil ba§ 5Bal)re bent 2)?eufd;eu Iic= 
 BeuStoiubii] uub au^iel)eub erfd;ciueu : bie ^ugeub, bie 9Jeb(i(^!eit 
 foU er uu§ iu il)ver uugefd^uuKcvteu uub eigeutl;um[tc^eu (Bd)oiu 
 ^cit uub ^crrlid;feit f^ilbevu, uub bag Rafter iu feiuer gaujeu, 
 uutievftedteu SScrtocvfiic^feit baifteHeu, uur baniit c§, kibeS uac^ 
 feiuer iuuercu 3Befeul)eit uub feiuer tt)atii3eu (^rfd^eiuuug, 2(|)= 
 fc^eu errege. — (§in Vates iu l}i31)erem uub beffereui Siuue, aU 
 jemalS bie 3((teu al)ueteu, foil er bur(^ feiueg @efauge§ 2)iacl;t 
 baS SOJeufd^eulyer^ ju intmer fteigeuber, ju immer aubd(i;tigcrer 
 S3etouuberuug uub 35erel)ruug be^ er^et)eu, ber aU ^errfc^er 
 ber 3Bett iu ber .§i31)euub iui .§eilii3tl)uute U3Dl)Ut; er foil mit 
 ^3ricfter[id;er »lpaub iu bemfe[l)eu udl)reu bie l)eilige (^[amuie bet 
 tuuigfteu ^iebe ju bem eiugeOorueu (Sol)ue i)om 3Sater, ber uutcr 
 uu§ )Dol)uete ijoller ©uabc uub ilBal)rt)ett Uub toill ber ^id)ttx 
 biefeu erl)al)eueu uub l)errlicl;eu (Sub^toecfeu uiit g[ucf[iii)eut ^r^ 
 fotgc uac^ftreBeu, fo hick er alle .trdfte feiueS @dftc§ anf, mac^c 
 fid) mit bcu O^efuttateu aller toiffcufc^afttii^eu ^^orfc^uug i)er= 
 traut, bamit ba§ gau^^e ®dnct be§ 2Biffeu§ il)m ^iu^bar luerbe, 
 uub i^eratfdume fctuS ber ^^iipmittel feiuer ebfeu ^uuft. (So 
 freigebig er and) immer mit bem li3ftltd;eu (Bc^mude feiueS .R'uuft* 
 reic^tt)umS feiu mag, wix tocvbcu bes^alb uid;t mit i^m red;teu, 
 fo er il)u uur ba^u yertocubet, ba§ uuS baS (5d)oue, (Srl)at)eue 
 uub (Stite aufd}au[id)er uub aujicljcuber, ba§ ©d}led;te uub S5er== 
 toerflid)e ater iribriger uub i>erat)fd;euuugeu.nirbiger trerbe. 
 
 35>ir befc^lie^eu biefe flud)tige ltcl)erfid;t ber ^orberuugeu, btc 
 toir uuttebiugt au bcu 3)id)ter uiad)eu miiffeu, uiit fotgeubeu 
 trcffeubeu Sorteu beS Dr. 3ol)ufou ufcer bie ^lilfSmittel ber 
 3)id)tfuuft. „5)em 2)i(^tev barf feiu ®cUct beg ®i[feug fremb 
 feiu, beuu ba i]i uid^tg, ba§ il)m uid)t uii^eu fouute. 9}iit allem 
 (Bd)bnm, mit allem ^urd;tt)areu mu^ feiue (Siubilbuuggl'raft 
 
12 
 
 tocrtraut fetn. ©em @eifl er^eBe fi(^ ju bem urtenblt(^ @ro^en, 
 uBerfe^^e obex au<^ ni^t ba§ jierlic^ Metne. 5Dte ^fKan^en be8 
 @arten§, bte ^T^iere be§ SSalbeS, bie ©efteiue beg @rbret^§, bie 
 (Srfc^etnungeu ber Suft muffcu i?eremt feinen @etft mit uner= 
 f(|5^flt(^en ©litem Beretc^ern; benn jebeS getfttge 33eft|tt)iim 
 bieut §ur 33e!rdfttgung unb ^rldutenmg reltgtofet S33at)r^ett ; 
 unb berjenige, ber fi(^ bie meifteu ^eimtuiffe erttorBen ^at, ^at 
 fiber bie gro^te SDJauuigfaltigfeit in ber* ^Darftetlung ju geBieten, 
 unb h)ei§ am Befteu ben ^efer mit fimireit^en ^luf^ieluugeu unb 
 unertcarteter 33ele:^rung ^u erfreuen f)." 
 
 S[Benn unl nun imfere geneigten 3u^orer einrdumen ii?oEen, 
 baj bie l)ier au§gef^3ro(^enen 5tnfi(^ten, toel(^e, iuie un§ bdu^t, 
 mit beneu be§ gro^en fo cben angejogenen 3}?DraIiften imb 2)i(^* 
 terS ijoHlommeit iiBereinftimmen, giiltig finb, fo tcirb e§ feine 
 [(^tDierige 5(ufgabe fein, §u entfi^eiben, toe^er ijon unferen beiben 
 2)i(^tern, ©(filler ober @ot^e, bie gegriinbetften 5lnf^ru(^e ^at 
 auf bie SSctouuberung unb bie ^anfbarfeit ber 3[)2enf(^^eit. 
 
 3)ieg mu^ benn freili(^ bon toorne iierein jugegeBen toerben, 
 ba^ iuir, bur(^ bie l^ier toorgetragenen 5(nfi(^ten, einen ©tanb* 
 :|3un!t eingenommen ^aBen, ber bemjenigen t)ottig entgegengefe^t 
 tft, i»ott toetc^em au§ bie meiften ^unftric^ter, unb namentli(^ 
 (Sarl^te, benen Sltteg toa§ ijon @dt^e ^errii^^rt, Beiuimberng* 
 unb lobenSiDert:^, ni(|t§ aBer tabelnSlDiirbig unb toerhjerflic^ er* 
 f^eint btefen 3)i^ter Beurt^eilt ^abm. — ^ene Sc^riftner fel^en 
 untoerfennBar in @ot:^e ni^tg aU ben Mnftler, unb fte biirfen 
 i^m, au6) mit bem Beften Stiffen, feinen J)o^eren ^toed Beimef* 
 fen, aU ben, bie du^erfte artiftift^e S5ott!ommen^ eit §u erftre* 
 Ben. — 3'^ax hjilt (Sarl^te M i»on feiner ^Woral tciffen, unb 
 t»on feinem religiofen @IauBen; t>on feinem tugenb^aften unb 
 frommen SBanbel. 5(Ber an§ feiner (SalBabereiiiBerbiefen^unft 
 leuc^tet fo beutlic^ |ene fre(|e ?^reigeifterei, bie ftc^ in ber mober* 
 nen Siteratur fo anmajenb geBerbet, jeneS ft^totternbe, f(^lar* 
 fenbe, alteS re(^tfertigenbe3errBilb berSieBe l^eriJor, t)or bem bie 
 ffierniinftler unfer§ Seitalterg fo anbd(^tig ba§ ^nie Beugen, bag 
 jeber ernfte ^m\^, bem <Bittli^tdt unb Oteligion SGBorte tiefjlet 
 
 t) 2lu5 So^nfon'S 3injfel«8 frei iibevfefet. 
 
13 
 
 unb l^ctligfier S3ebeutimg fmb, niir SCibcrtuitfen cm^ftnben fann. 
 — SBtr toiffeu unferfettg toon feiucr aiiberu 9)?oraI no(!^ Ole(> 
 gion, aU ber, fo ba§ 2Bort @otteg le^ret, uub lutr ijetttjerfeu aiif g 
 (Sutfc^iebeufte 5UIe§, ma§ mit biefem ilBort tm 3Biberf^)ruc^ ifl. 
 @§ »erftef)t fic^, ba^ toon ben I)e{bntfc^eu 2)tc^tern be§ f[affif(^en 
 3(ltcrt^umg f)ier gar iu(^t bie 9^ebe feiu faun ; aber net)meu hjir 
 {I)r Befc^rdnfteg Stiffen in 23etrac^t, fo fc^d^cu hjir ben refigidfen 
 uub fittlid^eu (^i)axafUx SSieler berfelbeu uuglei(^ ^of)er, alg btc 
 lum^tgeu 2)?a§feu, bie ft(^ [(^aareuireiS feit beu Ie|teu ^iuei 3«^t* 
 l^uubertcu iumitteu c^riftfic^er 9S5l!erfc^afteu l)erumtummclu. — 
 (E0 ^aubett ftc^ J)ier ijou eiueni 3)ic^ter, bcr einem S5ol!e augc* 
 l^orte, uub fiir baffelte f^rieb, hjelc^eS fic^ boc^ geiui^ uo(^ jum 
 6!^rifleut!^um befauutc, uub ber auf bie 5Deu!U)eife uic^t aUein 
 be3 beutf(^eu SSoIfeS, fouberu auberer aufgeHdrteu SSijIfer eiuen 
 uuermejlic^eu 6iuflu§ auSiibte, imb uo(^ lauge duf eru iuirb. — 
 Uub ba ift eg ebeu bie ?5rage: toiefte^t e§ um biefeu (Siuflup 
 2Bag {)at er l^ertiOTgebra(|t, uub luaS h)irfet er je^t uo^? 33et 
 ber religiofeu 9ii(^timg beffelbeu ^abm h3ir ui(^t uot^ig, uuS 
 lauge ju berhjeiteu. — SBir Ibe^au^jteu fc^le(^terbiug§, baj bcr 
 2)i(^ter, ber bie ^eilige (S(^rift eutlueber gauj iguorirt, obcr il)re 
 toic^tigfteu Se^reu uub it)re er^abeueu ^erf6uli(^feiteu mit 9Ser= 
 ac^tuug be^aubelt ober fie fogar mi^beutet uub toerjerrt, um fie 
 mit feineu l^^itofo^^ifi^eu 5(ufi(^teu, uub feiuer gcf(^meibi* 
 geu SOZoral in Uebereiuftimmung ju !6riugeu, uimmerme^^r fur 
 mm c^riftlic^eu 3)i(^ter gelteu fauu, uub ba^ feiu (Eiuflu§ auf 
 beu religi5feu 6f)arafter ber ^^efeiuett, ua^ 9}?a^gabe feiueS Um* 
 faugS, eiu ijerberblic^er feiu mu§. — Uub lueuu eg uuu auSgc* 
 ma^t ift, ba§ @ot^e ber l^eiligeu (Sc^rift i^xm g5ttlic^eu Ur* 
 fpruug f(^tec^t:^iu abf^rac^, biefelbe fiir eiu Ujieber^^olt retoibirteg 
 uub Derbefferteg (Sr§eugui§ fattibter 9)?euf(^eu erildrte, uub atteg 
 bagfeuige, toelc^eg er in berfelbeu uid^t i^ottfommeu begrei* 
 feu ober bittigeu fouute, aU uutergef^obeu t>erh)arf; hjeuu er 
 in t)erf(^iebeueu ^au))tle^reu ber (Sc^rift eutiueber uur ^utt)eri* 
 f(J^eg ^aubertodtfc^, ober abgefc^macfteu Uufum fiubeu fouute: 
 tocnn er in feiueu le^teu ;?ebeugjta^reu jebe 5(ufforberuug ijon 
 Siitm U3oI)Imeiueuber ?5teuube, bod^ eublic^ eiumal bem toic^tig* 
 
14 
 
 flen alkx @egeu|ldube feme ernfte 3(ufmer!fant!eit §u f^enfen, 
 entoeber mit ftitler SSerac^tiuig, ober mtt mum bei^enbcn (?^)t= 
 gramme t»ou ftc^ irteS; iveim er offeutlt(^ erildrte, „man miiffc 
 f{(^ t)ou folc^eu [teltgtofen] S3u(|ern nic^t fufyteu laffen; mail ur* 
 t^eile bana(^ ixbtx meuf(^li(|e unb gottlic^e S^iiige, mib am 
 mel)rften iibcx eigeue 3iiftdiibe fei)i: l6efangen. 3t)n migftige bet* 
 glei(|en:" tDcun er eubtt(^ ftatt be§ grofeu ^et)TgeBdiibe§ ber l)d^ 
 Itgen ©(^vift, -ctu ro^eS Soiiglomerat be§ ^raufceubentaleu imb 
 be§ ^raftifc^eii 3u[ammenfto))))eIt it)el^e§ ben 3'ttel bet ett>mf(|en 
 unb ber ))l)i[Dfo^t)tf(^eu Sftcligtoueu ful)rt, §u bereu erfterer bie 
 S3tlber au§ bem ^tfteii, ^u ber Ie|teren au§ bem S^ieueu entle^nt 
 fetu tDotteu; toemi bte§ 3trfeS uiileugBar feftftei^t, it>ie faun benn 
 ®bfi)c no^ fiir eineu c^viftlic^eu 3){(^tcr gelteu? 3ii-^fifft§ol)nc 
 iuar @ot^e, lute fo biele @elet)rte uuferer 3fit c»i !paut^eift. 
 Unb ba e§ feme ^eftimmt auggef^ro(^ene 9)?etmmg trar, ba^ ,,bte 
 9f{ettgion, iuie anbere moralifc^e (Stufiiiffe, nur bie £)berfld(^e ber 
 menf(^lt(^en @efettf(^aft Bef)err[(^e/' fo tear e§ ja ganj in ber 
 Drbuung, ba§ er fic^ urn bie ^eljreu nub ^fltc^teu berfelfceu fer== 
 Iter ni^t ^eMmmerte. — 2Bir gefte!)en e§, ba§ 33urger'§ frbole 
 @(^na!eu, imb SS^rouS fuf)ne S^dtterei, mt§ iu(^t fo fel)r juiDi* 
 ber ftub, al§ @dtl)e§ farboiuf(^e§ ^eic^fen, mib felbftgefdlttge^ 
 '^o^nla^dn, luenn er ^etltge (Segeuftdnbe be^aubelt 
 
 UeBer feineu ^oettf(^en ©eiiiuS im 5tffgemeinen biirfeu iDir un3 
 litest ijertueitlduftigeu, tubem e§ gegeutodrtig mtfere etgentlic^e W>* 
 ft(^t {ft, ben ^tnfluf, ben fetn ^et>en unb feine (S(^riften ju du== 
 fern geeignet ftub, tn§ gel)drtge ^i(|t ju ftellen. ^sir finb e§ !et* 
 ne^iregg in ^Ibrebe, ba^ @ot^e§ :poetif(^e§ talent etn felten iifcer* 
 troffene§ tuar. 9tei(|Itc^ toar er mit ben @a:6en auSgeftattet, Ut 
 jum grofen 3)i(^ter erforberli(| finb. ^it einem griuibli(|en, 
 Haren unb umfaffenben ©c^arftlic!, ber fi^uell ber 9Jatur unb 
 bem 9}?enf(^enle6en i^re ))oetif(^e <Bdk a^blaufc^te, unb raft^ aU 
 Ie§ I)erau§fanb, it>a§ in ben @egenftdnben, ben @rf(^einungen, 
 ben (^ntJDirfelnngen be§ gefelfigen ^e^eng, bie fi$ i^^m barBo* 
 ten, ber ^oetifc^en 2)arftettimg fdt)ig tear; mit einer (RhibiU 
 bung§!raft t>on imermeflic^em 9Jei(^t^um, unb einer ^J^antafic 
 'oon unerf^6))fli(^er JProbuctiDitdt, i)on unbegrdn^ter 33reite, abet 
 
15 
 
 femegt»cg§ t>on gleic^md^ig aufirdrtS ftrefceubcr ^raft; mtt ci* 
 Tiem5(nf^amiug§t)ermdgcu, hjelc^eS bie gel^eimfteu (St;ni))att)ien, 
 bie i^crborgeuftcu 3nfflt"nteut)duge entbccfte, nub an^ jtuifc^cn 
 fi^ciiibar hjiberfprec^eubeu (Slemeuteu tiefliegeiibe Sufanimeus 
 flange f)erau§^Drte; mit eiucm ru^igcu Urt^eif, eiuem corvef= 
 ten ^uuftgef(^macf, bcr fic^ erfu{)neu burfte, mit fefter Ǥaiib ^u 
 orbueu, §u i^crehieu, imb aufS ubcrra[(f)eiibfte fd)ou §u gru^))i= 
 ten, tcag fi^ ju meibeii, la 1do1)[ aujufeiubcit [c^icu; mit ciucm 
 Uuterfc^eibmigSijevmiJgen, bem ba^ rein ^vofaifc^e nub iffiiber* 
 f^euftige fe[teu entgiug ; mit eiuer tuf)igeu SSorfic^tigfeit, bie an^ 
 in fturniifi^cu 5(uftritteu if)r ©leic^getuic^t bei)ie[t; mit atfeu bie* 
 feu l)b^\i iuic^tigeu ©igeufc^aftcu ijerl)aub ex me 2)avftc(fmig^= 
 fuuft, eineu SBortreic^t^^um, eiucii fauft ba^iu ftie^eiibcii, in fciuer 
 ciufac^eu (Sc^oue mib feiuer ftiHeu diiiijc imi?crg[cic^licl;cu (St^I, 
 cine il^errfc^ergetoatt im @eljiet :^oetif(^er ?^ormeu, bie i)ief(ei(^t 
 niemalS iitertroffeu tuerbeu famt. — ^etra(^teu luir i\)n uur aU 
 leiu aB ^i^kx, fo l}abm iuir an ii)m t)ovuel)mli^ bie§ eiue §u 
 tabeln, baj er §u Ieibeii[(^aftlo§ ift; ba^ i:^m ber iuai^re Snt^u* 
 fiaSmug fe^lt ; ba§ fciu ^ic^tergenie jtuar I^ette leuc^tet, aber 
 mc^t evJudrmt. @r erf(^eiut iiberatt afg glei(^gultigev, fc^arffic()ti* 
 get 33eol6a(^ter, ber mit bem :^ioetif(^eu Stoff aikx ^ibenijotfer 
 toiK^ert, aljer oou ben @emut!^0£>eii?eguiigen, beneu cr .^one uub 
 5lu§bru(f gieljt, felbft feiue em^jfinbet, mib an ben 5(uftvitten mib 
 Jgaublmigen, bie er fc^itbert, felOft feineu 2tntl)eif uimmt; eg fei 
 beuu, ba^ eS fi(^ i?ou fiuntii^eii, uu^iic^tigeu uub uufeufc^eu @e* 
 geuftdubeu ^aubelt; beuu iu ber 5(uf(l)auuug imb 33e^aubluug 
 folc^er f(^eiut er fic^ tjorjiiglic^ ju gefaKeu, ja re(^t eigeutlic^ ^u 
 fc^tuelgeu. SJJit foli^eu bebieut er uu§ bei jebcr @elegeuf)eit; 
 uub bietet fic^ bie SSerauIaffuug ba^u uid;t ijou felbft bar, fo toei^ 
 er fie fc^ou I)eri)or5urufeu, bamit er feiuem liifterueu ©emiit!^ ei* 
 neu (Sc^mauS bereite. 
 
 ^iur fel^r uugeru bebieueu irir un§ folc^er bittereu SBorte 
 gcgeu eiueu ^i^ter, ber mit feiueu felteueu ®abm ber grojte 
 2Co^It()dter feiuer ^dt ^aik feiu fOuueu. 5(ber eg ift fc^on 
 auggefvroc^eu hjorbeu, ba§ Ujir uug feiuegtregg eiubitbeu, ber 
 ©iujige ju feiu, ber fi^ dn uugiiuftigeg Urt:^eil iiber ®ot^c'^ 
 
16 
 
 aSirffamfeit exlaiiU ^at Unter ben ijtelen Otccenfenten, irelc^c 
 bie bemoraliftrenbe ^eubcnj femer ©^riften eiuet jiir^tlofen 
 dtuQC iintertrorfen ))ahmr ^xi)xi iuot)! SBoIfgang SDJeujel, auf 
 beffen gebtegeueS SBerf iiBer bie beutf^e ^iteratiir totr ^ier toer* 
 ttjeifen, mit fii^uer .!panb bie ^erOfte ^ebet. 
 
 5tnber§ti30 moc^ten iuir e§ irof)! fiir ^toecfrndjig era^ten, au§== 
 
 fiit)rli^ nac^^utoeifen, ba§ totr ©ot^e ni^t u:6ereilter= uub imge* 
 
 te(|tertDeife eiuer uberhjiegenbeu SSorlielje fiir bag :?u[tetue, Un* 
 
 jii^tige uub DbfciJne gejie^en ^ahm. 5l6er uufere Bw^orer ^a^^ 
 
 Ben uic^t nbi^Q ^u fcefurc^teu, ba§ tuir i^r ftttlt(|e§ @efii^l burc^ 
 
 eiuc iu§ 3!)etail ge^eube, ^erglieberube 5(u§eiuauberfe|img be§ @e= 
 
 tabelten §u Beleibigeu gefonueu [tub. SKir Begniigen im§ mit att= 
 
 gemeiueu ^iubeutungen. @0tl)eg ^ieber, e))if(^e @ebi(^te unb 
 
 aSaKaben, h^ie tm ^ur(^f(^nttt feiue fleiueren @ebi(^te, (tub i)er* 
 
 gleii^unggmd^ig i?on ben SSerftoJeu gegeu bie ©itttic^f eit frei, bie 
 
 im§ Bei ber ^efuug feiuer (Sc^tifteu oft fo immtge»el)m iiberra* 
 
 fc^en unb anefetn, hjietDO^I axi^ I)ier an fol^en fein SDJangel ifi 
 
 5tm me^^tften a^er Ijric^t bie l^uftern^eit feiner ^i)antafie, nnb ber 
 
 ©iinbenityuft feineS ^erj^enS, in feinen Oiomanen, feinen btamati* 
 
 fc^en (Stiicfen, lutb fellbft in feinen 9?eifeljef^reibungen ^cx'oox. 
 
 (5o fe^t au(^ biefe ^robucte jeber artiftifc^en ^orbenmg ©eniige 
 
 leiften mogen, fo fe^^r fie fi(^ but(| bie @(^dul)eit i^rcr (Bpxa^t 
 
 an^d^nm, fo UcUn fie bo(^ enttoeber an f)dufigen (SteUen grofic 
 
 aSerfto^e gegen ben 5(nftanb unb bie (Sittli(^leit bar, ober gan^c 
 
 2Ber!e treten, in i^rer 5tnlage imb 5lu§fii^rung, gegen atte ge== 
 
 fuuDe ^oxal ^o:^nf^re(^enb in bie (S(|ran!en, unb ftam^fen mit 
 
 gii^en atte jene liebenStoiirbigen 3^ugenben, jene :^eiligen ^fHic^* 
 
 ten, beren ftrenge SBeac^tung imb getoiffen^afte 5lugubung, im 
 
 gan^en Sefcen, in atten Buftdnben unb aSeri)dltniffen beg SOJenfc^en 
 
 \)on ber duf erften a^efent[i(^feit ifi, ioenn baffelBe nur blog 
 
 menf(^Ii(^, gefi^tueige benn anmutl)ig, ftttli(^ rein, ebel imb ei* 
 
 neg e^riften hjurbig fein fott, unb bur^ beren attgemeine imb 
 
 ijollige ^intanfe^img bag ^amilieu= unb @efetlf(^aftgleben nic^t 
 
 nur einer gdn^lic^en Berriittung anl)eimfat(eit, fonbern fi(^ ge* 
 
 rabeju auflofen mii^te. — (Sg ^at ung feine getinge ?^reube ge* 
 
 hjd^rt, bie unertoartete (Sntberfung ju mac^en, baj 9)knjel, in 
 
17 
 
 fehter treffeuben Gitti! u:6er ®btf)c, gerabc u:6er btcfen ^uu!t 
 bie ndmlt(^e 5(iificf;t, unb oft faft mit benfelljeu SGorteu aug* 
 ft)rt(^t bie h?ir i^or Dieleu 3^1)^011 f^oii im 3)nicf evf^eiucn 
 lie^eii. — Urn mm bie 9fiid^tigfeit miferg Urtl)cil3 bur^ ein 
 fo acfctmig§ircrtl)e3 3fitgnif an§ bem SSaterlanbe 511 !6e!rafti= 
 gen, irerbeu it)ir foglcic^ ciuigc (Btdim aug 9}?cu5c[g SBer! 
 mitt^eifcu. — SBir :6cmcr!eu mir no^, ba^ uuS ber ^^nuft, tvcU 
 ^c^ 2Berf allgemein fiir @dtI)eS gro^tcg cvfamit Juivb, eiue 
 fc^im^ffic^e (Sauouifatiou bc§ @euiu§ ber ©ottlofigfcit, i^xmiU 
 telft ber ^immelfal)rt beS grauen (SiuiberS, 511 feiit f(^eiut. 
 5Die 5(nHage, bie iuir oft gegeu @ot!^e 511 urgireu mt§ gebrim= 
 gen fiii^Iten, Iduft iiic^t alleiu ba^inau§, baf feine Wloval f eiue 
 @rmibfd|e ^at, mit^iu eiue midc^te ifi] ba§ ein ruc^fofer @eifl 
 freezer (Sitteulofigfett imb (^iuaugtofer 2B olh'iftigf eit in feiueu 
 (Sc^rifteu feiu triifteS SBefeu treibt; fouberu ba^ ber 5)ic^ter, 
 iteit baijon emfernt, fol(^e tafter^afte (Srfc^eimmgen mit gebiil^* 
 reubem UiilDiffeu mib 5(bfc^eu 511 ljet)aubefu, in ber 2)arftet== 
 Imig berfelbeu ben ^5(^fteu @rab be§ ©emiffeS finbet, unb 
 ba§ er jeberjeit bemiil)t i]i, feiueu fc^te^teu imb toerirorfeueu 
 ^erfo ulic^feiteu atte beu jauberifc^eu (S(^mucf ber reijeubften 
 5lumut!^ §u ^erleil^eu, iuomit ber 3)i(^ter uur bag tua^r^aft 
 ©(^oue uub 95ortrep(^e befteibeu fottte. (Sr f(^etut au fei^ 
 neu lafiert)afteu imb lieberlic^eu 6^ ar after en eiu befoubereS 
 2Go^[gefatteu gel)a:6t ju f)abc\i. — 3)a§ eiue fofc^e ^DarfteHuugg^' 
 toeifc fotc^er ^erfouti^feiteu eiufac^ ba§ Oiefuttat S)on @ot^e§ 
 cigeuem (5t)ara!ter iuar, ba§ irerbeu alk, bie um bie aufto^i* 
 gen 95er!)dltuiffe feiueS eigeueu ;^ebeu§toaubeI§ toiffeu, ui(^t leug* 
 neu fouueu; imb beS^alb fpric^t fi^ auc^ ^m^d gauj im* 
 umtuuubeu iiber biefeu ^uuft aug. 2Gir tl)eileu uuumet^r ^oU 
 geubeg au3 SWeu^elS beutf^er Siteratiir mit. — ,,3)a3 ^aleut ifl 
 „au fi(^ imitoerfetf, imb mu§ ft(^ aU fol(^eS iu ber gro^teu SSiel:* 
 „feitig!eit ber 5tutoeubuug er^robeu. ^§ gibt uic^ta in ber 
 „aQ3elt, bem uic^t baS ^^aleut eiueu :poetif(^eu 5luftri(^ geben 
 „!6uute. iffiic jeuer ^ouMuftler mit a?e(^t hd)an)(>UUr eg liege 
 „ft(^ atleS iu 9)Jufi! fe^eu, felbft ein ^^or^ettel, fo fauu eiu ta^ 
 „ieuti)ofler ^i^kx mit ber ©^rac^e ni^t meuiger SBuuber t^im. 
 2 
 
18 
 
 „^a^er mar an^ ®bff)c fo ijtelfeittg. dx foimU alU§, an^ 
 „t)a§ ©eringfte imb @enieiufte buvt^ ben BauBer feiuer 3)atftel* 
 „Iung rel^eub madden. 
 
 ,,^ier obex fto^eu toix auf bie erfte grojc SSerfimbigung ber 
 ,,@ot:^ef(^eu ^oefie. 3)te Jvuuft nuij? etuer geldiitevteu 9?eltgion 
 „gtetd;en, toelc^e mir ba§ mtrftid) ©i1)at)ne, (Eble, 9fJeine, bag 
 „toal)il)aft @ottIt(^e i^ergiitleit, lui^t eiiiem Iamicnl)aftett 
 „^ettfc^i§mu8, ber auc^ bag ^[em(i(^e, ©emehte, (2d)miiljigc, 
 „!uv5 atle§ §um S5el)t!el ber ^(iitetmig, ^u emem @o^en ma(^t. 
 „5){e ^orm muj niit bcm 3u^)att ^ro^jortionirt imb toeilt)anbt 
 „feiu. S^tur ber fomif(i;eu ^oefte tft e§ ijergomit, nub uur nm be6 
 „!om{f(^eu (?ffeft§ tDtlleu, bfi§ ^r^aljeue §ii trai)eftireu nub ba0 
 „@emetue in groteSfer ^rl)abent)ett 511 jetd;iieu. — 5Dur(^au§ 
 „nuftattl)aft bagegen tft jebe tin (Snift gemetute feitttmeutale 
 „33efc^ouiguug be§ ©etriemeu biird; etue rul)reube ^titfleibiiitg. 
 „@otl)e afcer Icar ber erfte, ber uu8 n)e{(^li^e, e^rlofe (S^a= 
 „raftere aU mtereffaut, Itel>eii§tourbig, ja Ido^I gar erl)a]6en 
 „f(J)i[berte, ber fur beii eitetit S[Bertl)er, ben feigeii, ntd)tgn3iir= 
 „bigeu (5fat)igo, ben toeibif^ fofetteu ^t[t)etiTt 9}?etfter, ben feit= 
 ,,thneittalen 3)ou 3iiau=^auft k. etue 3'f)ei[ual)ttte ertcecfte, aU 
 „oB bte§ toirHtd; ^"i^i^ak etuer mauuli(^en (Beele U)dreu. ^rfl 
 „feit biefein SSorgaug iDtrumelt eS in ber ^Deutfc^en ^oefie soon 
 „(£^U.Hi(^[iugeu uitb S35fel»t(^teru, bie fiir ^elbeu gelten. — 
 
 ,,'^n biefe l}D(^ft iiit:pDetif(^e 3)tffereuj jtoifc^eu ber ^efd;6* 
 „itigeubeii ^orm nub bem uufcJ^oueu Si^^^tt get)i3rt an^ bie 
 „t)on @otf)e auSgegaugeue SJiauier, ba§ 5U(tdgIt(^e, @emeiue 
 „uitb ^leiue, ober ba§ aBfoIut ^rocf ue, ^rofaif(^e nub SaitglBei* 
 Jige biir(^ etue affeftirte ^Ni(^ttgt:^uerei al§ etUjaS SSebeutfa^ 
 „me§, ben @iuu ^effehtbe§ I^iujiiftetten. 3<^ i^itt uur an bie 
 „^oi[ette beg 3i)?auueS "oon 40 3a{)reu eriuueru. @5tl)e tieBtc 
 „e§, ba§ ^ii:6Iifiim burd; bergtei(|eu §u ru^ftiftctreu, nub eS 
 „glei(^fant auf bie ^robe §u ftelleu, h)ie i)iel e§ bertrageu fiJuue, 
 „D!f)ue §u mitrreu. 
 
 „®dt)reitb eS immer uur bie fc^due ^tatiir i% bereu SRa(^=* 
 „a^muug xiu§ am erufteu 5Dii^ter gefdtit, uitb bie ^d^lic^e 
 „auSf(^Iie5Ii(^ nur ©egeuftaub ber !omif(^eu uub l)UTUorifti* 
 
19 
 
 „f(^cn 5pDcfic fclu barf, \nd)k @i)t"^e fetncu gaujcii dlixi)m baviii, bic 
 „'^a|}nd;e 9iatuv buvcf) [chic 3)aiftcnung in allcm (Snift n(§ cine 
 „f(^dnc gcltciib juma^cii; nub unr bi'ufcu imr bag ^cvf, ba^ 
 „^alf liter @i)il)c8 i^cbcii gefi^ricbcii l)at, obcr iiur bie 5al)iiicu 
 „3imim iiub 5(:pl)ort§nicii @i3tt)cS luib gciinffc (StcHcu in fei* 
 „uciii Baiift Icfcn, iim uiiS jii iibcr^cugcn, incfc^cn biabolifc^eu 
 ,f^^a^ iijm ba§ ^^ublifiim macule, i»ciin eS fic^ fo Icii^t tdu== 
 „fcbcn lic^, inib in ftainicnbc ^cUnmbcinng luib 5(ut)ciung yer* 
 „faiif, hjo @ctl)e l)cmiltc^ bie S^mc^c l)crcm§firccftc, bcr 1)d(^= 
 „anfel)nn^cn SSerfammliing cine ^xa^^c \d)mtt, mib iuic 3)?c* 
 ,4"»l)ifto:pI)ele§ cine imanftdubige ©clu'ibe ma^tc. 
 
 „S((ic^tS ^araftcrifirt ii)n ieffcr, alS ba§ @cbid;t, hjoinit bcr 
 „9)?iifcnalmanad) ^on 1833 erojfnct n.nubc, nnb luorin cr fcincu 
 „biimmcn S3crgi3ttcvern iiiii^ci1}o[cn [agt: *****-j-). 5DaS bniftc 
 „@ott)e bcm bciitf(|cn 95olf bielen!" ifi^ir jicl)cn niir nod) fol* 
 genbe (Stcllc anS 9)?cn,5cl§ 3Bcrf an. — „'Bd)on '"^^iaio ta^ 
 „bclt mit ftrcngcni @riift bie ©ntirci^nng bcr 3)id)tfnnft bnrc^ 
 „bic 6*ntl)ii((ung iinnatur[i(^^cr ©eliiftc. (?r Irirft c^ bcni ^o* 
 „fiob unb ^onicr sor, ba^ fie fo ijiclc ol>fcone nnb natnitci^ 
 „brige ^inge i>on ben @i3ttcrn crjdl)Icn. — (Sr fagt mit i>o((cm 
 „dicd)t: ,h3enn fic^ bcrg{ci(f)cn au^ in bcr Sftatiir yovfdnbc, fo 
 „niu^ man ftc boc^ unmiuibigen nnb jnngen ^l^cntcn md)t yor* 
 ^erjd^Icn, fonbern nicl)r alS irgcnb etlt>aS i^erfc^mctgcn. — 
 ff'BolUc bo(^ irgcnb cine 5RDtl)n)cnbigfeit cintrcten, ba^on ^ii re* 
 „bcn, fo mii^tcn btcfc ^inge \\id)t anber§ benn ai^ 9}ii;fterieu 
 „gei)i3rt iDcrben, ^on fo hjcnigcn al§ moglic^, \mid)c ba,^n DorI)er 
 ;,nid^t ciii f(^(cd)teS 8ci^h)cinfcrfcl, fonbern cin gclDiffcS gro^eg 
 „iuib foftbareS £)))fcr gc:6rac^t i)abm niii^tcn, bamtt fo hjcnigc 
 „alS moglii^ "oon fold^en ©ac^cn §n I)orcn @e[egciit)ett l)dttcn. 
 „(S§ ift h3al)r, ba§' fid) jenc gel)eimni§iioItc ^al)bcrn)anbt* 
 „fc^aft, bag ^^rin^i^ be§ (St)cbrn(^S, e§ ift \va\)x, ba§ fid) @e* 
 „in\kf bcrgleic^cn in bcr <BuUa gefc^ilbcrt finb, wixUid) in bcr 
 „2IJatnr ^orfinbcn, aBcr alo 5tnSit)n(^fc, unb lr>tr foKcn un3 
 filter bie ^atnx biefer 3)inge nic^t burc^ cine einncl)menbc 
 
 t) 2)ief« StcIIe etfc^etnt tu ber ^nglifcficn UftKrfcfeung ganj umflcfinltet : mit ®bti)ti 
 etgenfieit SBovtcn butfeit wit biefe (Seiteti gar ni^t tefubeln. 
 
20 
 
 „^octif(^e S5efc^5nigung, biirc^ cine S5etiDe(| Stung bevfelfcen mit 
 „ben ^eingfteu @efu^len teiuer SieBe tdiif^eu laffeu, benn, )i^it 
 ,,^lato luetter fortfd^rt: 9?iemaub toill in feiuem I)errli(^ften 
 f,^^eik imb ixbtx bie l^o(^ften ^inge gem eiuer ^iige Ofaum 
 „geBen/ 
 
 ^S'^oi^ miiffen tr>ir jener ©raufamfett gebenfcu, iretc^e mit 
 „§um femeu @enii§ ge^6rt @Dti)e [(filbert mit SSorlietje bie 
 „meuf(^Ii(^en (B^M^m imb SSonirt^eilc, imb iDetbet fi^ an 
 „ben .barau§ entf^ringenbeu ^eibeu, fo toie im SBett^er, (Sla* 
 ,,'oiQO, 3^affo, bcr natiirlii^en .^^oc^tev, ben 2Ga^Ii>ertDanbtf(^af:* 
 „ten 2C. 2)ie graufame SBoffuft liegt barin, ba^ ber 2)i(^tet 
 „ft(^ an ben 9Serf(^uIbungen unb !Beiben erg5^t d^"^ fi^ ^"^^ 
 „irgenb ettrag §u ijerfd^^nen. — Dft erfc^eint biefe ©ranfam* 
 Jdt ah\i^tli^, oft nur nnttjillfiirtii^ aU ^olge bet @Iei(^gut* 
 „tigfeit, mit ti^elc^er ber ^ic^ter bie 2BeIt iifeetfa^. 3)ie Oiu^c 
 „unb ^lar^^eit, mit meti^er @otl)e feine ©d^ilberimgen entiritft, 
 „erf(^eint oft aU ijotlige ^nbifferenj, ni^t al§ bie gottlii^c 
 fr^iii)c, bie au§ ber ^iitte ber 3bee entf^ringt (5ie toirft alfo 
 „an^ nur mie ba§ tobte 5fJaturgefe|, nid^t trie bie innere 
 „S3efriebigung ber ©eele. 3)a^er !£>ei @ot^e fo t)iele SO?i^tone, 
 „bie ni(^t aufgeBft finb." 
 
 (S§ f'onnte l^ier noc^ manege treffenbc (Steffe au§ SDZenjelS 
 2Ber! angejogen tuerben, a:6er bamit toir bie 3eit unferer Bu'^'J* 
 rer ni(|t attjufe^r in 5(nf^ru(^ ne^men, eilen tuir mit biefem 
 3^^eil imferer ^Ib^^anblung jum (S(|lu^. Ue^&er @5tf)e§ eigeue^ 
 ^et>en, beffen (S(|dnbli(^!eit fi(^ geniigenb crmeifen Id§t, mi^aU 
 ten it>ir un§ atter tueiteren (Srorterung. f) — 3(u(^ ijertreilen mir 
 nic^t Idnger M ben anfto^igen 3«g^« f^i^i^^ (5f)arafter§, tuie 
 fie in feinen 8(^riften, fceibeS in negatitoer unb in ^ofitiijer 
 ©eftalt, an§ ^i^t treten: imb gebenfen be§^alb nur Beitduftg 
 feiner ^erjtofigfeit, feiner gretfen @ell)ftfu(^t unb (Sitelfeit, fei* 
 ner ©efbfter:f)6^img unb (BetbftauBetung, feiner ariftofratifd^en 
 ^(rroganj imb UnV)erf(^dmt]f)eit, feiner fd^ma^tenben Ue:|3^ig!eit 
 
 t) SBir entinern Iiier nur beilaitftg «n eiiit gewiffe 3J?abflme 35. — 9Iiibertt)citige (Sc^flnb= 
 9cfd)ic^ten, wie fie neA) jcbcr 3fncnfcr vom ©nbe bcS lefetcn unb bem '^Infang beJ 
 laufeubcn 3a^j:^unbevt8 im ©ebii^tni^ ^abeti wirb, W^^^ »ii' «n8 wo^t nii()er }« 'te* 
 riibveu. 
 
21 
 
 2)iefcni :6ittcru"5rabel aba miterliegt cr, bag iljm aller toa^xc 
 ^atriott^niuS fel)ltc, uub bcmjufolge bef)ai4>tete cr eiu fvoftigeg 
 (StiUfd^iDcigeu, in eiucr ^dt, too ber gadifd^e Ufur^ator imb 
 3)cgpot fetit SSoIf hi ben ^Btanh ixai, too baS ganje gro^e 
 ,§crj 3)eiitfd;Ianb§ i)ou ycvte|3tem ©to(,^ luib ycvl)ot)Uter 5Ra= 
 tionalitdt, Don t)ittcrm 3"9vtmm imb gliil}cuber @ef)nfuc^t uac^ 
 bcr geraut»tcn ^rei^eit fc^iuoH imb am33crfteu toar; too bag 
 gaii^e ^aub i^ou ben fui)neu 5Borteu ber Gblcn imb 3^a:pfcni, 
 »ou bein Stan^^fcu imb 2)oimev ^a^Uofcr ^ricg§[(l;aaveii, imb 
 ben ^erjevgretfeiibcu ^iebeni ^atriotifd^cr 5Dt(^ter cvfc^oU. — ^\u 
 mittm bcr ^ouinilftoucii, bic 3)eutf(^taub i)oin 0?^ciii Oi§ an bie 
 SS5eid;fet crfd;i"ittcrten, tourbe 5Dcutfc^(aub§ gvo^teu 3)id)ter3 
 (Stiuinic ui(^t ijcniommcn. — Sic Iic§ fid) baim crft, imb jtoar 
 hi cibarmlid)cn ^a)?^^aUcii, I)ovcu, atS fid) ba§ ^Better gclcgt 
 i)aik. t) r^dttc @i3t{)c n.nrfli(^ crfaimt imb iimigft cni^^fimbcii, 
 iric ci1)atcn imb toic^tig bic (Scubimg, bcv 33cnif bc§ 3)i^tcr§ 
 fei, toic l)ci)x imb ^errtic^ Iciic^tciib toiiibc cr baiiii am litcrari* 
 fc^cii ©tcriieii^immcl fid; imtcr aiibcru ^laiicten miiibcrer @r6gc 
 imb ^Pra^t umbic ©omic bcr ^^at)x^dt imb 2Gci§I)eh brcl)cir, 
 ftatt bcffcii afccr, h)ic fiiiftcr imb imgimftig Hi fciu %\pdt, trie ge* 
 fe^IoS fciiic S3a^ii, toie malijiog imb iml)cilljringeiib fciu @iiif(ii§. 
 — @crne tocubcii toir imS "oon bcr ^etrac^timg bcffctbcu tocg, 
 urn je|t iio^ ciiieSBcilc imfcruS3Iicf aiif ciii ©cftirii »ou imgtei^ 
 teiiicrcm imb l)cffcrcm ^i^t §u ric^tciu 
 
 ©c^ider toiirbe ni^t, toie eg @ot^e in fccbcutenbcm SOJaJe 
 toarb, burc^ dujerc Umftdnbc m:b 3Scrf)dItniffc gcbiibet, fonbern 
 feiu @cift enttoidelte fic^ §u ber @ro^c, imb erfdm^fte fi»^ bie tm* 
 ))onireiibe .§ot)e, bie er errei^te, tro| bcr briidcnbftcn Umftdnbc, 
 uub ber ungimftigftcn ^hitoirfungcn toon auf en. — (Sr toar wi^t, 
 
 t) 3Bte fe'^r ©Ptfie fciefcm 95lorn}urf iintfrliecjf, barniif tvarb bcS 3Serfaffer3 SJufmerffams 
 fcit fdipii yor siclcii 3al)rcn biird) ctiifit bciitfd)fii ®flet)rtcu flcric{)tct; iinb tfl perfclbf eiit 
 .. fo oiiffalloiibcr, bafj ev ft* g<ir iiictt uicglciigitfit laflt. 5)e9hfllb buvfte per llinftanb, ba§ 
 
 "^j*V ajieiijel, beffcn SBtvE nut cvft \ano,i hami) jii ®efid)t kfaiiieii ' Mu w , biefeit i«pnvuvf 
 part uviiiit, 11118 iiicftt vcr^iiibcrn, bciifclbcit t)'"" iiochmaU geltciib jii nin^cn. — 93iclc bee 
 nfitcrcit Tifbter 2'cutfd)(aiib§ fitfiiteit tii btcfer QScjiebimg v^oii flmij nnbevcm SctjiPt uiib 
 Jtorii 511 fe\)n, uub au bcu SScbriicfuugcu beS SScitfrla«b« ben Ifbeubiijflcn uub tfiiitigileit 
 Sluthcil ju ucbincn. Sjiefe t)abcu has 2hv\^t gctbon. Sie (lateu tin %tim- gcfitiirt, <iua 
 fccffeu Icbcvutcu glammcn ein befferes I)ei-?oriuvufeit wicbcvum il)vc ^eiliofie 5Iufijabe feitt 
 fcUle. 
 
22 
 
 tote oft @otI)e, em ^a(^ai)mcx ] foubern er etoBerte ft(^ ein etge= 
 ne§ ®chm, euttoicfelte iiiit felBftftdnbtgem ©trebeu bie @aben 
 imb ^rdfte, bte tf)m t>erlte{)en mareiv nub feiue etgeutl)untlt(^c 
 :^oettfd)e ^vfd;etiumg ^eugt i^on ctgeiifteit artiftif(^en @nmbfd|en 
 unb SSortrejf lt(|!eiten ; ja fetit cvfteg j[ugeublt(^e§ ^liiftveteu "oox 
 bem ^iibltfum toar ein eniftcS, obex fret[i(^ uberetlteS imb mi§* 
 Iimgcne§ 5(ufdm:pfen gegen beniialtge 9f?ic^timgen be§ 3fitgeifte0. 
 S3ettad)ten toir ben gaujen ©driller, toie er fi(^ m\§> in feiuem 
 ;?ekn nub [emeu (5d;vtfteu bailnetet, fo erbltcfen totrtii ii)m etiie 
 ber cbe[ften mib l)errltd)ftcu (Sifi^etuungen in bet litetavi[cl;en 
 2Belt. 3l)^t fami man Mm ©itubeu, tote @ot^e§ toareu, jur 
 ^aft legett. Seft^etben, faiiftiniitl^tg, i)DU aUa ^(uma^img fret, 
 triig er fic^ ittrgeubS mit l)od;miil!)iger ©eberbe, forberte er be= 
 miitt^igc (S()rerbtetigieit i^oii fetuem, mib fii(^te ni^t ftc^ eiiier un== 
 8et>iil)reubeu 5XtIeml)errf(^aft iiBer bte ©ele^rteiire^piiBItf §u l?e= 
 Tndcl;ligen. 9Sou eiiter gliii^eitbeu ^leBe fiir baS SQ3aI)re unb 
 @ute, unb ctiter eblen 3}?enf(^eitltebe befeett, toar e§ i^m jeberjeit, 
 tntt alleiu toa6 er "ooxnaf^m, grunblic^ ^.rnft, unb mit bem 5(ugc 
 un*oertoanbt auf fctnen ^ubjtoecf ge^eftet, ftreBte er bem (Ebleu 
 unb ^sat}ren nac^. ^et4)tfiun unb ^ritiolttdt toareu tl)m fremb, 
 (§r l)atte i?or ft(^ fetbft eine ju reine 5(^tung, bie ^ugenb toar 
 t!^m ju I)eilig, ^u ttef erfannte er bte erttfte 23ebeut[am!eit be§ 
 menffl)[ic[)en ^eBenS unb menfc(;Ii(^er SSerl^dltniffe, unb er fc^d^te 
 ^u !)o(^ ben 3Bertf) feineS etgenen ^ef>enS, a(§ ba^ er I}dtte ^dt 
 utib ^^rdfte in Iaunent)aften ^dnbeleien, ober gemeinen unb toibrt* 
 gen ^risolitdten ijergeuben fonnen. — ^it g(iil)enbem @tfer unb 
 rafttofem ^let§ ftreBte er fi*^ ber @runbfd|e feiner eblen ^unft ju 
 bemeiftern ] mib mit nimmer ftrauc^elnber ^f)dtigfeit toar er, in 
 unijerge§[id;en 2Bcr!eit, 6emiif}t, bie I)od;fte 9Sori!ommenI)eit in 
 ber^lntoenbungberfelbenju erringen. — ^a'^r tft eg atterbingg, 
 baj^V aU Mnftler, (Sd)iHer @dt;^en na^ftef)t. 8ein @eift gebot 
 iitjer fein fo unerme^[i^eg ®cWt toie btefer, unb e§ fel)lte it)m 
 @otI)e§ ljel)enbe ^ertigfett in ber 5(nlage unb ^Se'^attblimg bc§ 
 ©toffeS. 8eine ^rofa ^at nid)t ben Ieid;ten ?^fu^', unb ba§ jau* 
 berifd;e, melobtfd^e 3)al)tnriefe[n, toorin @ot{)e imiiljertroffen ba^^ 
 fte^t; feiue ©^rac^e ift Siicildc^ ju burd;gdngig ma|eftdtifd; unb 
 
23 
 
 )3runfi-*otr ; bcmio(^ aljcr cotveftcr aU ®bfi)c§, nub burct)auS ben 
 tDtc^tigcii djcgeuftdubciv bic cr Del^aubclt, augcntcffen, ijoii tebeu* 
 biger ^xaft burd^bnniqeu, ibtoinattf(| fenil)aft, mit gro^eii @e* 
 banfcn, trcffeubcn SSergtcic^niugen uub g(iicf[t(^cn 9)cetiUil)eni 
 gefd)lttaiu3cvt. 3(kr immcr lag fciu ^id Ijbijcx IjinaiiQ, aU t)(o§ 
 ^uuft^D(rfonniicul)ctt 511 cxxci^m, ober litcravifcf^m 9fJut)in ju 
 erfan4>fcu. iffia()vl)eitcu ii3Dnte cr ijcrfimbigcn, uub uiittDtrfcn 
 an bcr SScvbcffcruug uub SScrcbluug bcr 9[)?cufd;l)cit. (Sciu 
 (Stvebcu gtug bal)iuau^, baS (3(^i3uc, ۤ [ct uuu in bcv S^Ja* 
 tur, obcr in uicufd)ftd)cu 2?crl)d[tuiffcu uub 3iiftv'i"bcu, mit 
 iicueu OJet^cu ju fc()Uu'icfcu ; 93ctou:ibevuug ju evliu'cf cu fiir bag 
 (Starfe uub (Sil)al)cue ; bic ^rjcugutffe bcv mdd)ttgftcu ^J^eiguu* 
 geu uub ^eibcu[(^af(cu, bic tut SOZcufcl)cut)cvjcu lualtcu, barju= 
 ftcHcu ] 9)?duucv uub ^raucu, bic \naQ (SvuftcS itJoKcu, ju ^d)iU 
 bcru; frafti^oKc 61)araftcvc aufjufiil^rcu ; (5f)araftcrc, iu h3cl== 
 (^eu bic iut»ol)ucubc ^ucrgic bcS mcufd)[i(^cu 233i((cu3 uub bcr 
 mcufd;Iic^cu ^cibcufd)aft, [auftcr uub liebcuSiDi'ivbigcv 9lciguu:= 
 gcu, uub ftuftcrcr, nu^Iofcr Tricbc, fvoI)cr uub uufctigcr 5(f* 
 fcftc, uiit cigcutl)iim(i(^icr iH^irffamfcit tl}dtig iu§ ^cl^cu I)cr* 
 auStritt. — 9Soruct)mli(f) abcv gcfiel fi^ ©chiller iu bcr ^ar* 
 ftcduug tDaT)rcr, uucigcuuii^igcr ^rcuubfc^aft, bcr rciuftcu, fic^ 
 fclbft aufo^fcrubcu !^tcbc, bcr aufiic^tigftcu Sl}?cufc(;cu=, bcr ghV 
 l)cubftcu QSatcrlaubSlicbc, uub ciucr uinimcr icaufcubcu, uut)c= 
 ftcc[;[i4icu ^'rcuc gcgcu bic dicdjk, bic ^rci^cit, uub bic atU 
 gcmciue 5Gol)(fal)rt bc^ 3!}?cufc^cugcfc^tc(i;tS. (Sciuc 5(ljftc(;t ift, 
 §u rut)rcu, ticf uub geU3attig, imuicr aljcr bur(^ rctue uub \mx^ 
 bigc 0}?otiDc. — (Sr uunut c8 ftctS cruft()aft, uub barum ijcr* 
 laugt cr auc^, ba§ \mx mit cruftcui @iuu fciuc 2l^ortc t)cr* 
 ncl)mcu foKcu. 9?ic ijcrlicrt cr bcu gro^cu ^W^ anS bcu 
 2tugcu, iu mig ju criuccfcu uub §u udt)rcu bic 93elDuubcruug 
 bc§ (B^bnm, bcS ^iirbigcu uub bc§ 9SortrcffIic(;cu, bic SScr^* 
 afcfc^cuuug bc§ ©cuiciucu, 9ticbcrtrd^tigcu uub ^aftcrl)aftcu, 
 bic fciuc ©ccte crfiiKt. (S3 fommt it)ut uicmalS and) uur ci* 
 ucu 2(ugcut)[icf iu bcu ©iuu, bcm 5(iicbrigcu, bcm UuiDiirbtgcu 
 uub Sct}[ccl)tcu ba8 2Bort ju fu{)rcu. 9(icuiat3 Bcftrcbt cr \id), 
 uu§ 5ur S3cJx)uubcruug gcmciucr uub fd;Iccl;tcr 61;ara?tcre ju 
 
24 
 
 ijerlettcn; nietiialS iDiirbigt er feme ^i^kxQobcn ba§u ^eratj, 
 fcl(|eu (S^arafteren etue nm^k S^bixi)cit ^u tievtei^eu; ober 
 mit ^uuftgviffeu uub ©aufelfpiel tf)re UuMfoeu §u bemdiiteluj 
 — obex er Id^t im§ au(^ niemalS etue mibere 5Bal)I, al§ fei^ 
 neii retneu, liel^euglDurbigeu, ebleu uub re(^tf(^ajfeueu 6^ara!* 
 teveu uufere 5l(^tuug uub tuuigfte 5;.^etlual)me ^u f(^eu!eu. — 
 2)ie gtau^ijotte imb ret^eube ^iirftiuu (SBoIi eroBett uk uufere 
 5ri)eilua^me uub 5l($tuug ; ber ftuftcre aBer majeftdttfd;e 2Bat* 
 leuftetu gehJtuut, fo fel)r tuir au(^ fetue @ro^e Bemuuberu, boc^ 
 ute luiferu a3etfa((; ber bigotte uub graufame ^l)ifi^^ ^eifc^t 
 t)ou uu§ uic^tS alg 2lbf(^eu ; ?5rau§ t)ou 9)?Dor erfudt uug mit 
 uuau§fVred)It(^em SBibericideu, imb feiu imgtuc!Ii(^er 33ruber 
 M.axl fo fe^r U)tr iljn tmuier Beutitleibeu, fii^rt im§ boc^ ute 
 iu bie SSerfu^uug, feiue 9Serbre(^eu, ^u Billtgeu : ber eble uub 
 f)0(^l)erjtge 9}tarqut§ ^ofa aber, |eue§ beau-ideal eiue§ ^a* 
 trtoteu uub 2)2euf(^eufreuube§ ; ber Inebere uubf)aubfefte.5'ell; 
 ber l)elbeumiitl}tge Max ^tccolomiut, beffeu mduult(^e ^'ugeub 
 au^ tu ber ftdrffteu SSerfu^uug utc^t uuterlag ] bie faufte uub 
 ijertraueuSijoIIe, aber bD(^ befouueue uitb ebel beufeube ^f)efla, 
 W i^rem uuerfc^i'ttterlic^eu ^f(i(^tgefu{)l felbft beu fu§eu .5^raum 
 ii)xcx juugeu uub reiueu ^iebe §um £)pfcx briugt; bie iu i^== 
 rer I)erDifc^eu 23egeifteruug Ijo^e uub l)errli(i;e ^nngf^'^u icon 
 CrIeauS ; biefe ^e^tereu ftub iuSgefaittmt (Srjeuguiffe eiuer 
 f(^oueu, l)0{|ebleu 3)i(^terfeele, bie luifere icdrutfte ^^eilun^me, 
 uufere iiuiigfte ^odja^Um^ in 5tuf:pru^ uel^meu. — £)h ft(^ 
 miu ii)re (SeeleugriJ^e im Uugtucf, ober iu beu gimftigfteu SSer= 
 l^dituiffeu ben?dl)rt, iiberall fiub fie treue uub gebiegeue ^ar== 
 ftetluugeu eiuer dc^teu uub erl)abeueu ^eufc^euuatur, uub ^ei* 
 f(|eu beS^atb toou uu8 oik bie 5^l)eilua^me uub ^oi^ac^tuug, 
 bie atleui reiu meuf(^iic^ (3c|i3ueu uub ©bleu gebii!)rt. 
 
 Man Wolk obex ni(^t i^ergeffeu, ba§ e§ uufere 5lbfi(^t !et* 
 tieSmegS ifi, bie 533irffam!eit be§ eiueu ober be§ auberu ber 
 l^ier befprod^eueu uub fo I)o(^gefeierteu SOMuuer uubebiugt §u 
 red^ifertigeu : fouberu ba§ e§ uufere ^tufgabe ift, ii)re refuel* 
 tiueu ltterarif(J)eu SSerbteufte gegcu etuauber ab^iimdgeu; uub 
 jtuifdjeu bem fittli(|eu ©^arafter beiber, befouberg aber bem 
 
25 
 
 ^influf , ben t^te @(^riftcn auf tie 3)euftueife xmb btc mora* 
 Itf(^e ^ilbiuig 5tuberev ju iibm geeiguet fiub, eine SSerglcic^ung 
 aii^ufteUeu. — Uub ^aini tcix im§ alfo iibex @ot^e§ tetigiofc 
 SDJeimuigen unb Buftdube au§gef))ro(^en, [o biirfcu irir au^ 
 in inifcrm Urtl)eil liljcr ©critter biefeu ^un!t uid)t imUxn^xt 
 laffeu. — 3u biefer, lute and) in auberu 33cjte:^imgeu, ^on feU 
 tiem grof eu 3eitgeuoffeu i?erf(i;leben, iDibmetc er biefcm aller* 
 totc^tigften ©cgcuftaube feiue eruftef^c 5(ufntevffamfeit. (Seine 
 frii^efte ^x^ici)imQ letteten fvcmme ©Item, unb nid)td fonntc 
 f|3dtev^in bte l^ier en^^fangenen (Stnbriicfe i^eriuifc^cn, [o tief er 
 and) 'i)cxnad) in t!^eoretif(^eu 3Yttl)um gerictf). @r i^erftet lei* 
 ber fe^r frul)e in einen oben (Sce^iti^iSnuiS, unb tocrirrte \id) in 
 bie Sa!lj^rintt)engdnge einer ungcniigenben 5p![)i[ofo^f)te ; unb in* 
 bent er mit ©ifer feine :j3{)i[o[o^t)ifc^en ^ovfc^ungen fortfiil)rte, 
 fireljte er niit atler ^Ud)t, \id) ma^r^aftige, bauerf)afte, fefic 
 Ucfcerjeugungen ^u crringen; ai>cx nie erreid;te er baS cvfet)nte 
 3teL ©(fitter tii^te feinen ©lauben unb feine .ipoffnung ein, 
 unb Be^arrte in feinen 3h)fifelu U§> an§ ©nbe. ^a fi^ jenc 
 ^>:^i[Dfo))^te jur 9Ji(^terinn aller Dffenbarung aufrcirft, fo fe^te 
 ©(fitter fcei ber 33el^anblung biblif(^er ©egenftdnbe unb ^i)at^ 
 ^ad)m iid)n toorauS, ba^ bie i)ei(lge (Bd)xift md)t i>on gottti* 
 c^em Urf))rung, fonbern baS (Srjeugni^ unjutoertdffiger 3)2en* 
 fc^en fei. — 2Benn er gleid) biefe 9)?einung nivgenbg fceftimmt 
 auSf^ric^t fo fte^t fie boc^ unt»erfennl?ar in feiner ©eele feft, 
 unb bemgemd^ beurt{)etlt er bag im 2Borte @otte§ 2)iitge* 
 t^eitte. ^reifid; tuie @ot:^e oft bie ©(^uttern ^ie{)tf ober m^ 
 ?5duft(^en lad)t, ober bie S^Jafe ritni^ft, unb bann it>ieber mit 
 m^ftifc^em 2Bort!ram iihn religiofe (Smpfinbungen, ©rfal)run* 
 gen luib Suftdnbe fal^abert, fo ma^t eS ber reblic^e ©fitter 
 ni^t: fonbern mit botiem drnft ge!^t er an§ ilBerf, feine 2tn* 
 fid)kn ju enttnicfehi; unb auf bie S3egri"mbung unb ©eleu^* 
 tung biefer toeriuenbet er feinen geringen QUifmanb ijon diai^' 
 fonnemcnt, jugleic^ aljer auc^ ein bebcutcnbeS SO?a§ i?on )pnxn 
 imagination imb toottig ungegriinbeter 9)hit{)ma§ung. Ueber 
 ©egenftdnbe, beren Urfunben nirgenbS alS in ber l^eiL ©c^rift 
 ju fiuben, l)at ©c^itler nur jtuei afcgef^loffeue 5l&^anblungen 
 
26 
 
 gcltefert; imb iibtx bie 33eirunbentng, tt)el(^e (5arli;te btefen Bet^ 
 mi^t, Unnm t»tr nidjt iim^tu 511 erftaimeu, iDeuu \nix feiuer 
 anbertodrtS au§gef^ro(^eueii 5lufic^teu gebeufen. — (B^ilkx^ 
 ^cx^ g,ixii)k fiir bie S33a:^rl)ett, nub na(^ ber ©vfeuutut^ ber* 
 felBeu rang cr mtt alien Jtrdften: imb hjag er I)ier uteber* 
 [(^vtelv l^atte er Dl)ne 3rt)etfel fiir tua^r erf aunt ; aBer c§» biirfte 
 hjoJ)l ni(^t Iet(|t [etn, ein inel Ijeflagen§h)ert!^ere§ 33eif^tel auf* 
 gutDcifen t>on bem Oiefultat ju toelc^em ein p ^^t[ofo:pf)if^em 
 ^orf^en genetgter @etft, ber bie ©runbfefte beg @lauDen§ i^er* 
 f(^nidf)t iinb feiue eigenen i)ermeintlid;en (Siitbecfungeu ben Df* 
 fenBarungen beg unenblict;en unb a(Iit»eifen ®d\k8 ijorjte^t, ge^ 
 langen mu§. — 5(u^er ben I)ter berucffi(^tigten 5(uffd|en ertU:* 
 nern trir nnS nur ^'md anberer ©tiicfe, unb bieg finb @ebt(^tc, 
 in n3el(^en (Schiller, i^erfte^t ft(^ auf ganj i^erfd^iebene SBeife, 
 jene @eiftegrid)tung in 33ejug auf bie geoffeubarie 9JeIigion fet)r 
 bcflimmt augf^ri^t. S^ue gro^te aKer ^ragen, bie bienienf(^* 
 lic^e SSernuuft befd^dftigen faun, betoegte lt)eftlg, in if)reu tu= 
 nerften 3^iefen, ©c^illerg @eele, aber roo1)\ erreit^te er, inmit* 
 ten ber raftfofen SBogen beg ©ce^tijigmug, nic ben ?^elg beg 
 @laubeug, fanb nie ben fi^ern @runb, ber ben 5(nfer ber .§off^ 
 nung etolg I)d[t. — 3)ag jene (Sc^riften, ijon tt)eW;en fo eben 
 bie 0?ebe geiuefen, bigl)er auf bie 3)eu!njetfe anberer einen be* 
 beutenben Glnflu^ gel^abt I)abcu, ober uocb dufern li^erbeu, be* 
 jtueifelu U3ir fe!)r. 
 
 ^etrac^ten tt»ir aber nun ben ^oetif^eu @euiug ©(^itferg, tote 
 biefer fic^ ung in [einen reiferen xmb ijodeubetften ^eiftungen bar* 
 bietet, fouuiffentoiralferbinggjugeben, ba^ toir i^m benUntfang, 
 bieUnioerfalitdt,bie an @orl)e fo fe^r bctounbert toivb, abfiprecben 
 muffeu. 3)at)ingegenragt(2(^i(fer liber biefenT^o(^f)inaug; unb in 
 ber (5^l)dre, in toelc^er fein @eift lebte unb iuirfte, libertraf biefer 
 tndt, in bur(|bringenbem(S(I;arfbli(f,ininniger5'tefe unbSBdrme 
 beg ©efii^lg, in ber ^^raft beg 5lugbiu(fg, ben feiucg auina^eu* 
 ben ^reuubeg. (§x hcaxhdick fein fo grof eg ^elb une ©otT^e, 
 aber er braug ungleid; tiefer ein; er ful)rte ni^t, tote ^mn, dn 
 tmuberfel)barcg SSautengemengfel auf; aber toag cr hank, ragt, 
 toie ber ©tiapurger SJtunfter, \Gdt unb l^errlid; iibcr afle Urn* 
 
27 
 
 GcBungcu :^mau^. (Sr haljnk \i^ 29cg in bie ticrBorgeuflcu 
 ^icfcii beg Tneufcf;n(^cu ^evjcug, vt^ ben (Bd)imx IjiiWrnq, ber 
 ba§ tmicve ^efcn uub lliiiiu'fcii bc§ 9}?eiifc^cu hi bcr OJcgct oer* 
 l^iilU, uub cv 6ra(l)te auS ^tcf;t I}cvyov, luaS ba§ SDicuf^cuI^er^ 
 OfciueS uub @ute§ ju btctcu Ijat, urn 2(((e jur gct)ut)veubcu 
 2Ccrtt)fd;a^uug uub ■i}?ad;at)uuuig aufjufovberu uub ju ernum* 
 teru; uub ut4)t miubcv forbcrtc er ba§ (Sd;(cc^tc uub Rafter* 
 l^aftc im 35c\'ufd;cu uub in fciucm .^rciku au beu ^aQ, urn fet* 
 ueu 2(bfc^eu laut ju iH'vMublgcu, uub mit ftieugev 9}ial;i:uug 
 uub crufter 31>aruuug juut ©citnffcu ju rcbeu. — Hub bicfcu (5r* 
 folg gtaubcu mx fctucv fiu()cftcu uub frommcu (Fr^iel^uug bci* 
 Tucffeu jubiivfeu, auS l»c[4)cr cr, a(S uuijcilriifttict;c 5(ucl)cutc, bie 
 tuutgftc ^od;ad;tuug uub 1-tcbc fiiv d;vtftltd;e .Tugcub buvc^ baS 
 gau^e l^ebcu utitua{)m; bcuu ol3f(^ou er fi^ fatfd^cu fvefu(ati»eu 
 9i)?ctuuugeu gcfaugeu gcgcbcu l)attc,fogvuubete fid) borf; [clue 9)?o= 
 rat auf bie ©vuubfa^e ber c^riftUc^eu ©itteulel^re. — Uub fo treu 
 hiich er feiuer 5l6fid)t auf bie SWeufc^i^eit eiueu gefuubeu (Siufiug 
 §u iibeu, ba§ er feiueu augefaugeueu.Oiouiau, „3)er@eifterfe{)er/' 
 uuijolfeubct lief?, tpei( ii)u bag ^uOIifum babei nii^oerftaubeu l)atte. 
 Dh iDtr uuu fieitic^ ,5ugcge6eu I)abeu, baf' ©(^ifferS @euiu3 
 bie Uuii'>erfalitdt ®otl)cQ maugete, fo lijiirbeu toir i!^m boc^ fel)r 
 Uurc(^t t^uu, tueuu trir feiuem ®ci{k eiueu uutergeorbueteu 
 9?aug uub eiu bcfd)raufte§ ©cbict auiueifeu irotfteu. (Bd)iikx 
 hjar eiu 9}?auu vou griiubltd^er uub mauuigfaltiger @elel)rfam= 
 Mt uub i^ietfeitiger 33i[buug ; feiu ©ebaufe griff mdt um \id), 
 uub fd}tDaug fic§ ijod) empor. Hub 'Dod) i\t ber 5lbftic| jtui* 
 f^eu if)m uub @utl)e eiu fd)(agcuber. iIBai}reub @btljc iiberatt 
 eiuf)eimifc^ crfc^eiut, uub mit piaftifd^er Jtuufifertigfcit atle uub 
 jebc Oegeuftdube, bie it)u au^ict)en, be^aubeit, ya fid) fogar 
 oft jum Oiei^giUtigeu uub Jlteiu^ic^eu ober gar §um SSerdc^t* 
 lic^eu I)erablt3urbigt, jeic^uet \id) Sc^ider au§ burc^ flaren 
 uub fic^ercu ©c^arffiuu, uljcra[[ ba§ (Bd^bm, 5tuuiui^ige uub 
 @ble I)crauSjufiubeu, uub iu I)err[ic^eu (Seftalteu i^or uuS l)iu* 
 jufteileu; bur^ eiue 9?iefcufraft fid) aiieS ©roj^artigeu, (Sbleu 
 uub @clDa[tigeu ju beuteiftcru, uub beu er!)abeueu ^ub,5iiu'cfeu 
 feiuc3 poetifc^eu Oeifteg forberlic^ §u mad;eu. — (So;t)e g(eid;t 
 
28 
 
 bcm S3otant!cr, bcr ben mitm @tb!ret§ itmjte^^t, imb fi(^ ^^^an^ 
 §en ijon jeber @attiiitg in feiueu @arteu fammelt, f(^5ue uub 
 imfcebeutenbe, fru(^t:6are unb unfriK^tBare, lieBIt(^biiftcubc imb 
 efelerrcgeubc, ^eilfame unb t»CTbevbIi(^e, xmb btefe fobaun, mit 
 ^ei»unberu§toertl)er.^uiift, in eiuer Tna9tf(|eu3u[aTnmeuftc(hing, 
 bte tmmer einS bent anbern jur ^olte ^beiovbuet, auf§ Slumu* 
 t^igfte §u gtu^^iteu iuei^ ; baBei aha ben forglofen !^ufit»anbter 
 uugetuarnt Id^t, t:^n ^ou bent tserbert lichen 5Dnft btefer ^flanjen, 
 »Dn bem tobtltcJ;en @tft jener SSdume nic^t aBma^nt — <B^iU 
 kx, ba!t)ingegen, glet(^t bem ©artenfunftter, ber mit ni^t min* 
 berem ©ifer ben ^flanjen* nnb S3Iutl)enre{(^t'()um be§ (Srbtei(^§ 
 bur(^f^cii)et, liBerall abet biejenigen ^iatiiver^engniffe au§tt»dt)lt, 
 bte ft(| bur(^ fc^Ianfen 3i3n(^§ ober im^jontrenbe @r6^e, buv(^ 
 Mftige, ^etlbringenbe ©tgenfc^aften, bnrc^ anjie^enbe @^on* 
 ^eit unb angene^men ©evnc^ au§§ei(^nen, nnb bann feine au§== 
 erlefenen ©^d^e in fetnen ))rd(^ttgen ^axf, in fetnen i)on ^ran* 
 genben S^erraffen bur(|frenjten, »on riefelnben 23d(^en xmb 
 fanftranfc^enben @:|}ringbnmnen bnrc^ti3nten @arten, nnb in 
 fein anmutl)tgeg ^reibf)an§ ijerfe|t, 5(fleg in frennblic^er 3(nlage 
 unb gemiit^Ii^er ©ni^ipimng in ein f(^on aBgerunbete§ @anjc 
 orbnet unb etnet; baBei ahn nic^t t>ergi§t, ben UnBeba(^tfamen 
 i)or jeber giftigen ^fian^e, "oox jeber tcbtlic^en ^xn^t §u toarnen. 
 3n (Bc^itterg ^oefie finben bie leb^^afteften 5(ffe!te, bie tief= 
 [ten @efui)Ie, bie er^^abenften ©nmbfdl^e, bte ebelften (Sntfi^liiffe, 
 bie unerf^iitterlic^fte aBi(Ien§fraft, bie riiftigfte 5Dir!fam!eit, 
 bie gebulbigfte 5(ugbaner, bte freubigfte ©eltftaufo^ferung, bie 
 tu^igfte Oiefignation, tonrbtgen 5tn§brucf; fie mac^t un§ an* 
 fc^auli(|, h)ie bie geiraltigften ^oti^oc, bie bag 9}2enf(^en^er§ 
 l^e^errf^en, ^inauStreten ing rege ^eben, ^kx in l^eilbringen* 
 ber, bort in i)eiberbli(^er ^i)dtigfeit, oft ater an^ ben (Srben* 
 [o^n Iiinalbftur^en in ^^nimer unb SSevjiDeiffnng ; fie ma^t un6, 
 mit einem 5Gorte, bettrant mit ber menfi^ttc^en S^atur, in it)xe\x 
 er^abenften unb ^errlic^ften ^if^eimmgen, ober aber in ii)xcn 
 l^drteftenunb fur^tbarften 5teu^erungen. — 3mmer aberbeftrebt 
 fi(^ uufcr 2)i(|ter, ben SOienfi^en beS S3efferen gu bele^ren, bor 
 bem S(|lc(^ten ju toaximx, jum SSortrepi^enau^uIeiten, unb aU 
 
29 
 
 Icutl^albcn ba§ ?eBcn 511 toerfc^ouern uub p ^erebeln. Unb ber 
 (Sf)arafter fciiieS @cniii§ ift ^tefe, .^raft, Mt)u{)eit, eiue toottig 
 a!6gemogenc ®ki^l)dt bcr ©ctfteSfrdfte, uub jumat eiu glul)eu* 
 be§, 3ebem 2Gdnue f^cubcubeg, uuauSlofc^lic^egSiigf^^ffitf^t)- 
 
 — Uub ttjeuu uuu auc^ @otf)e tu getoiffcu abgef(i)Ioffcueu ^ix^ 
 Mu liljer oik @e6uf)r gefeiert, uub i>ou eiuer gelet;rteu (Bc^ule 
 ^ergottcrt iDurbc, fo mar uub ift ©fitter ber ^tcbltug beS SSoI* 
 feg, ber ^tebltuggbic^tcr defter Muuer uub ?5i*^ueu uuter alien 
 Glaffeu, i)ou ber I)o(i)fteu jur uiebrigfteu; beun 5ltte faubeu in 
 feiueu ^eiftuugeu bie @efui)Ie uub .Ipoffmutgeu, bie in jebem 
 ^erjeu fic^ regeu, mit ergreifeubeu uub tieffiuuigeu Shorten au8* 
 gefproc^eu. 
 
 2)ie grof eu, ebleu, ]^etrlic^eu 3^f«lf^ bie <B^ilUx^ [(^o^feri* 
 f(^er ®n\t Bilbete, uub in beu tciirbigfteu ©eftalteu uu§ toorfiil)rt, 
 trerbeu fortlebeu uub Iie^ei)o(Ie 5luer!euuuug fiubeu, fo lauge 
 ber 9J?euf(^ uo(^ ©iuu l)at fur ba§ ©c^oue uub SSortreffIi(^e. 
 
 — @i3t^e hjar efceu fo iueuig im (Btaube fi(^ foI(^e (S^arafterc 
 ju beufeu uub barjuftetleu, rt)ie Sc^iderS ebler uub lyerrlic^er 
 5Pofa, ober feiue tjegeifierte, ^eIbeumutf)ige3ol)auua, ober feiu rit* 
 terli(^=t>ieberer, ^oc^^erjiger ^ax ^'iccotomiui, ober feiue reiue, 
 ebelmiit^ige, big in beu ^ob getreue :5^()eHa, aU ex toermo(^te 
 bie ^^aila^ ^art^euoS beg ^^i)ibia§, ober eiue i>on ffta)(>^atU 
 2)?abouueu mit eigeuer ^aub ^u fc^affeu. 
 
 ^an ^at eg ber (S^iUerf^eu !l?oefie oft jum SSortuurf ge* 
 mac^t ba§ fie ^u fe^r im 3)ieufte ber ^^ilofo^?:^ie fte^^e uub §u 
 toiel moralifire. ^iifterue 33eh)uuberer toon @otI)eg buf)terif(^er 
 9)Zufe erl)eljeu ni^t feiteu biefe ^lageu; folc^^eu ift ©c^itterg 
 md(^tiger (Eiuflu§ auf bie Siteratur uub beu (S^arafter feineS 
 3Sotfeg eiu 5(ergerui§; i^nm ift mit ui^tg ©eriugerem gebieut, 
 aU bem uubef(^rdu!teu ^riwilegium iu hjodiiftigeu ^reubeu ju 
 f(i()ti3elgeu, uac^ bem SSorbilbe i^reg @ot^e, ben, toic 3}Jeu§el 
 erftdrt, ©(^legel fogar eiueu ®ott uauute; xmb "liinc illae 
 lachrymae." 2Bag atjer ^mcn ^lagcu aug))regt, bag bient 
 
 f ) 2;teffenb btfagt btefeS ®iUf)e in but 3ftlen : 
 
 68 glii^te feine ^Batiflc rot^ unb rotter 
 SSoii jencr Sujciib, bie un« nie vcrfliegt it. 
 
30 
 
 mx§> sum erfreut{(|cn S3eiDetfe, ba§ (Sc^ttter beutlii^ erfamttc, )Dte 
 cx^aim imb ))niiQ be§ 5Dt(^ter§ S3enif fet, nub ba^ t{)m ber 
 S[>?ut^ nt^t fei)Ite, feiuer UeBerjeuguug getteu ^u feiu. 5^ie ^at 
 er bur(| ^^ort ober ^^at iin'ifteu ©eliiften gefvo()iit; uljeralt 
 J)iilbigte er ber Uu[(^utb nub ber tetiieu •^iigeitb f). Uub loot* 
 jiigti^ ^at er babur(^ feme 5(uf^ru(^e auf bie SSetimubeumg 
 mib bie 5Dniift)arfett ber 9)2ciif^i)ett gelteub gema(^t baf er mit 
 ernftem (Sifer mtb mierf^rocfeuem 3}?ut:^e gegen ^'^ramiei mib 
 Uugerei^ttgfett, gegen aik§ <S(^dubt{(^e mib ^afterl)afte mmBldf* 
 ftgfdm^fte; ben @ere4)tfameu beS 3[^euf(^eii, ber i^m aiigeBor^ 
 iteu ^reil)eit, baS SBort rebete, inib fiir ba§ 9ffe(^te, bag i»al)r!t)aft 
 ®ble uub 5rugeubi)afte in bie (Sc^raufeu trat 
 
 aCir ^abm fc^ou barauf l)iugetr>te[eu, it»ie feiu ^cx^ fiir bie 
 SBaI)rI)eit gtul)te, U)ie er bemilBa^reu uuermiibet ua(i;ftre!6te, mib 
 iu feiuer uuauf^altfam fortf^reiteubeu 3lu§biibuug feiueS @ei* 
 fte§ eiu ^errli(|e§ S^eal ju i)erU)ir!li(^eu befliffeu it)ar. Uub 
 efceu biefeS raftlofe 9fiugeu toax e§, biefeS uuabldffige ^Btxcbm 
 feiueS geicattigeu @eifte§ auf ber Betreteueu 33al)u imuter toor* 
 todrtS 5U fc^reiteu uub ueue (Sroberuugeu ju mac^eu, lr>a§ feiueu 
 frdufelubeu ^dr^er fo fcalb aufriel? uub fo frii!^ auf bie SSa^re 
 ftrecfte, ba er ba§ ijorgeftecfte ^ki uo(^ lauge uit^t erreic^t 'i^atk, 
 — Uub l^ou biefer ®igeutl)um{i(^feit feiueS (Sf)ara!ter§ uub 2Bir== 
 !eu§ fagt @i3tf)e fe^r f(^ou: 
 
 f/Si- weiiiJete bie 35Iiitl)c tocf)(len ©treben§, 
 S)a§ Sebeit fe(b(T, an biefe§ SSttt) UeS CebeiiS." 
 
 Uub uuu :^aBeu ir»ir ^um <Si^Iug uur uoi^ ^iu^u^ufiigeu, ba§ 
 8(^ifIerS ))erfouli(^er (Sl)ara!ter "oolltommni beu (Srtcartungen 
 eutf^rac^, §u iuefc^eu feiue 3)eufit>eife uub feiue (Sruubfd^e uu§ 
 terec^tigteu. ©eiu ^ebeu giet)t iiberatt 3eugui§ ijou feiuem reiuen 
 uub tugeubliefceubeu ^er^eu, uub iu feiuem Umgauge mit dTcnu 
 
 t) ^cv 35erfaffer wei^ fehr wofel, ba^ in Sc|)itler§ 9^aubern fc^mu^ige iinb aiibcre 
 wibrtge Singe oovfommen. <2ie wcvben aber utc^t betm Stta^en f)iiicingffd)Ievpt, fon= 
 bern fiiib, iu jeitem Xvauerfpiele, gaiij am gebbrigen DvU. SBal (ibcv l)ifi- eigcntltc^ 
 gcfagt wcvbeit foil, ift, ba§ in covliegenbcr SBesiehiing bie JRaiiber gar nic^t in 93etrac^t 
 fomnieu. Sic ftnb ctn jugcnblic^cS, uurcife« ^JSrobuct, m\<i)(S ?liemanb ftrcngev al« 
 ©c^ifler felbit beuvtf)et[t l)at. ©r Itefj fic|) ntema(« in fetnem 3)tanne«altei- iibeneben, 
 in« Zi)tcitn ju gefccn, menu biefe« ©(iicE auf bie 5?ut)ue gcbracfit tuurbf, uub Vfffgte ju 
 fagcu, er inoge ftc^ mit ber vo^en ^oft feiuer Sugeub nic^t beu SDJageu serbcrkit. 
 
31 
 
 f(^en .^eic^uetc er ftd; fletS burd) fc^tic^te, anma§img§Iofe SBiirbc, 
 iietu'ueimiubtgc ©anftmutt), bcfc^eibciie ^iicvgtc, uie ftrauc^chibe 
 Otcc^tfic^fert iinb freiiublid)e ^o:^Itt)dttgfctt aiiS. ©o fc^r hJir 
 au(^ @(^if(er§ :^^t(D[o^t)if(^e3 3vrcgel)eu beHagcn, iiub e8 l)e* 
 bauevii niogen, bafj cr iu§ imierc ^ei(tgt{)um I}oc()ftcr 3Baf)rl)eit 
 nic^t etugebvuugeii, fo mujj boc^ ^cber in il)m bcu ebteu 3[)?eu* 
 fc^eii, ben iikvad bev 9fie(^tf(J)affcul)ett uub ^ugeub ^utbigcuben 
 ^i^UXf ben getreucu uub t)aubfeftcu SSerfec^ter ber ^reil)cit uub 
 aller meuf^li(f;eu dic^k uub 3utt-'veffcu Ijctouubevu uub I)0(^* 
 fc^a^eu. 
 
 3u eiuem »ou @ilfitlau§ ueucfteu ^fuffdl^eu ^ei^t eS: „?5ur 
 bte :6eoorf c!)eubcu ©tege bcr ^oefic i)a^m ictr uod) eiue @e* 
 h)af)r iu bem llmftaube, ba§ bcr SSoIfSgctft ubcvaK bcu I)o^cn 
 SEcrtt), btc ua^I)a[ttge uub ch)tge S3ebcutuug bc§ ^vbcu(ct)cu§ 
 mel)r uub ute^r §u iciirbigcu Ijegiuut. ^a^ uufer Bcitafter etn 
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