judge of a man's criticism by his own productions; but it is surely fair to judge of the comparative value of two opposite systems of criticism, when shown in two similar attempts; and we may therefore compare the Emilia Galotti of Lessing with the Alarcos of Schlegel. Lessing's play has defects, but it has great and positive merits hence it keeps possession of the stage. Schlegel's play is utterly without character-ambitious and vague-a 'forcible feeble' which has long since ceased to excite any curiosity whatever.

the other told him, that nevertheless he walked better without crutches.

Nathan der Weise is not a great poem; it is nevertheless a very remarkable work, imbued with deep and generous feeling, and full of profound thought It is a work that exercises a strong influence on the reader; -a work which, though polemical, is nevertheless so tolerant-because indeed it only contends for tolerance, and contends generously-that all classes, however diversified their opinions, must unite in admiration of it. The leading design is to inculNathan der Weise is a work which still cate tolerance of the opinions of others : excites the deepest admiration in Germany; not by destroying the groundwork of all bein fact, if you mention Lessing to a Ger- lief-(which is too often the method of man, the chances are, that he will at once those who preach tolerance)—but by showrefer to Nathan for a proof of his genius, ing that all creeds, if sincere, and accomas he would to the Faust of Göthe for a panied by benevolence, are to be honored; proof of his. Nathan has not been a favor- because although each cannot be the true ite elsewhere; and this difference in judg- creed, yet each will, in that way, fulfil the ment would show that the work had some object of all religion. This is the moral of charm peculiarly national. In the dearth that beautiful story of the three rings, which of great poems, Nathan is doubtless ranked Lessing has taken from Boccaccio: this high; for, as the Spaniards say en regno moral is further developed by the whole del ciegos el tuerto es Rey (in the land of piece. The dénouement-where Recha and the blind the one-eyed is King.) Perhaps the Templar are discovered to be brother also the nature of the subject, the fine and and sister, Saladin their uncle, and Nathan weighty proua scattered through it, the their spiritual father, the three families grand and beautiful spirit of tolerance united into one family-is a type of the which pervades it, may cause the Germans three religions, Christianity, Judaism, and to forgive its want of poetry. It is un- Mahometanism, harmoniously united ;—of doubtedly a charming work; but not a fine unity of purpose, not excluding diversity of poem. Its conception is philosophical, its character. execution epigrammatic and polemical. A. W. Schlegel, who always speaks of Les sing with quiet malice, says of Nathan that it is curious, as being the only drama not written for the stage; and therefore, being uninfluenced by his critical principles, is more conformable to the genuine rules of Art." What those genuine rules are, we should be happy to learn: he does not explain; and how Lessing could have written any drama without being influenced by his critical principles, we are at a loss to conceive. We notice the passage as a specimen of what Boileau calls

médire avec art, C'est avec respect enfoncer le poignard.

Lessing had avowed himself no poet, and made his critical principles the stronghold of his fame. Whereupon one of the Schlegels asserts that his plays have no poetry; another asserts that he only wrote well, when writing uninfluenced by his critical principles. One told him that he was lame;

This tolerance doubtless springs from a profound skepticism; but a skepticism which has nothing sneering or disparaging in it;-skepticism as to the possibility of man's ever attaining absolute truth; not skepticism as to the virtue of the endeavor, Truth can only be sought, not found; indeed, in a memorable passage, Lessing declares that if the choice were offered him, he should prefer the search after truth to the attainment of truth ;*—thus, according to him, the aims of action are but the fitting stimulants to action, and not otherwise very desirable. In the search of truth he spent his life. In Nathan he teaches us to do the same. Believe sincerely and act uprightly, then no creed will be foolishness. Such was his belief. Connected with this idea, there is another equally needful to be adverted to-we mean the independence of morality on religion. In many passages

Plato, in his dialogue of the Rivals-if it be his-seems to have entertained a similar idea. See p. 134.

has Lessing enforced this; in none more sing's contrast, therefore, is not a new one ; openly than in the following:it is the old antagonism of Philosophy and bigotry.

'Go; but remember

How easier far devout enthusiasm is
Than a good action; and how willingly
Our indolence takes up with pious rapture,
Though at the time unconscious of its end,
Only to save the toil of useful deeds."*

It is curious to turn from the calm and far-reaching tolerance of Nathan der Weise to the impetuous onset upon existing tastes in the Hamburgische Dramaturgie-the work which, of all critical works ever pubThe character of Nathan himself, is by lished, perhaps achieved the most instantacritics considered a masterpiece. He cer- neous victory. It is difficult to appreciate tainly rivets attention, and retains our sym- the sensation' this work caused, now that pathies. He is a fine philosophical figure, its fundamental ideas have been long popuwhose wisdom and tolerance endow him larized in all shapes. But on a slight exwith a dignity which strongly impresses the amination of the state of public opinion at reader. But it seems to us that there is a the time that Lessing wrote, the importance fundamental error in the conception. Na- of his views will only appear equalled by than is meant for a Jew, he is always called their audacity. The German stage wil a Jew, but he is only a Jew in name. His lingly, servilely, submitted to the yoke of sentiments and his religion are not those of France. Voltaire was not only the favorite a Jew; it was therefore worse than super- of Frederick, he was the Dictator of literafluous to give him the name. For let us ture. His tragedies were thought perfect. distinctly understand Lessing's object. Tol- Zaïre was dictated by love itself. Seeration was to be taught. Christian intol-miramis was the consummation of tragic erance was to be shamed by contrast with taste-the highest flight of dramatic imaginJudaic tolerance. The force of the con- ation. Voltaire's reign was undisputed. trast was artistically conceived, but it was But at length a critic, with as much wit in a great degree obliterated by the concep- as audacity, and more sound judgment than tion of Nathan's character; because, by wit or courage, raised his potent voice. that conception, he was exalted from out With an eye to see, and courage to prothe sphere of Judaism, into that of Philo- claim what he saw, Lessing undertook to sophy. If Nathan has none of the bigotry examine the chefs-d'œuvre of the French of his race, he cannot be a perfect type of stage. Great was the astonishment of the If he can regard Christianity' prince of wits,' the 'great master of ridiwith forbearance, he is no longer a Jew; cule,' to find himself the object of ridicule and if he is no longer a Jew, the lesson as sharp and cutting as his own. meant to be conveyed is rendered inept. was the astonishment of the public. 'It All know that Philosophy can be tolerant. is pleasant to introduce Herr Voltaire to Lessing is constantly applauded for having the reader,' said his critic: there is alchosen a representative of the most exclu- ways something to be learned from him, if sive and fiercely bigoted of all races, as the not from what he says, then from what he exemplar of tolerance; but this is surely should have said. I know of no writer either inconsistent or erroneous. Nathan from whom one could better ascertain is an exemplar of tolerance; but assuredly whether one has reached the first stage of his tolerance is not that of a Jew. He wisdom-falsa intelligere-as from Volwould be denounced on all sides by his taire; but also of no writer from whom race; he would be hated by them as a here- one could gain so little assistance in attic. The very qualities which make him taining the second stage, vera cognoscere.' fit to teach intolerant Christians a lesson, are those which separate him from the Jews That which is great in Nathan, is not Jewish; it has grown up in his large soul in spite of Judaism. We are quite aware that Lessing is said to have copied his Nathan from Spinoza and Moses Mendelssohn, but we are also aware that, in respect of mental characteristics, no two men could with less propriety be styled Jews. Les

that race.

* Nathan the Wise; translated by W. Taylor.

Great

In this strain did he banter the great Poet; but the bantering was the smallest part of his polemics. Perhaps no man, except the late admirable and excellent Sydney Smith, ever bantered so much, who did not confine himself merely to banter. With him it was nothing but the pleasantry of argument; never did it stand in place of argument. The grand tragedy of Semiramis did not escape his searching criticism; he stripped it of its tinsel of mock grandeur, and exposed it to the de

est.

rision of all Germany. Voltaire had imi- | declare, that it taught them more about tated Shakspeare in this play; at least art than all the other works they had read he said so. Lessing took him at his word, upon the subject put together. It is a -contrasted Shakspeare's ghost with that book essentially instructive. The admiraof Voltaire; demonstrated the perfect ar- ble analytical sagacity with which the tistic propriety of the one, and the absurdi- boundaries of each art are distinguished, ty of the other; and thus not only shat- opens a vast field of criticism. The clear tered the credit of Voltaire, but turned the and piercing glance thrown upon the fog eyes of his countrymen towards Shak- and vapor of critical prejudice, has the speare-a boon they are thankful for. In aid of keen wit and apposite learning the same spirit he contrasted Othello with in the demolition of grave absurdities. Zaire; and the Merope of Maffei with the The book is made up of digressions; and Merope of Voltaire. The victory was tri- yet these digressions are so well planned as umphant. Lessing hit hard blows, and to form constituent parts. He tacks away they fell where his antagonist was weak- from the port, only to fill his sails with How different from the attack of wind. He gains the summit of a mountain Voltaire upon Shakspeare! Lessing's by winding round it, where direct ascent criticism was not only witty, but destruc- would be impracticable. tive. Voltaire's might indeed excite a There is another little treatise which laugh, but would not stand an examination. may be read in conjunction with the Lessing did not confine himself to Vol- Laokoon, entitled Wie die Alten den Tod taire; Corneille was also his object. Ro- gebildet. It contains much curious matdogune, which was then held to be the ter, and satisfactorily establishes the fact masterpiece of its author, was mercilessly of death never having been represented as handled. By rigid logic, and cutting ridi- a skeleton by the ancients: whenever a cule, did Lessing show his countrymen skeleton is represented, it means a larva, not that Rodogune was not only many degrees from a masterpiece, but was a most pernicious model. From that day the reign of French taste ended. The Dramaturgie has long fulfilled its object, and almost outlived its interest. To the English reader there can be no interest in wading through critiques on German plays, and German actors no longer known; nor can there be much attraction in witnessing the assault upon a tragic system which no living Englishman would pronounce a model. For our own parts we think Lessing unjustly severe on the French poets; and not at all willing to admit their peculiar merits. The critic, however, cannot glance over the Dramaturgie without profit; and scholars no less than critics will do well to read his discussion of Aristotle's definition of Tragedy.

death. Death was held to be the brother of sleep; and, like sleep, was depicted with wings, the feet crossed. He held a torch reversed, and a chaplet of flowers. He was always a young man. It is a mistake to suppose that all young figures with wings meant Cupids. There is a great deal of discussion, philological and critical, in this Essay; but Lessing had, above all men, the art of making such discussions amusing. Moreover, he has enlivened it with vivacious polemics. But as a specimen of how he handled an adversary, his Vade Mecum für den Herrn Lange should be consulted. Herr Lange, a poet of some celebrity in those days, had translated Horace. Lessing criticised this translation in a letter to a friend. The letter got into the Newspapers. Lange, furious, replied in a fiery pamphlet, accusing Lessing Perhaps the characteristics of Lessing's of ignorance, of misrepresentation, of envy, mind are nowhere more distinctly visible of malice. Lessing was not the man to let than in his treatise on the Laokoon. The such an opportunity slip. He dearly loved clearness and the directness of the style, a taste of fighting.' It was wine to him. are qualities so rare in such works, that one He replied in this Vade Mecum-a remarkis apt to think lightly of its ideas; a jour-able specimen of acute criticism, minute ney so easily performed does not seem scholarship, and galling banter. While thus difficult; ideas, so easily grasped, seem with Horace, the reader will do well to give obvious. But, on closing the book, if you compare the state of your opinions on art with those entertained previous to the perusal, you will be able to estimate its value. We have heard very eminent men

his attention to the Rettungen des Horaz. In this Essay, Lessing undertakes to clear Horace from the charges of cowardice and licentiousness. It is paradoxical, but ingenious; and exhibits his usual amazing

power of bringing remote passages to bear very eminent German writer before us. upon his argument. The same quality is For dissent we are at all times prepared, visible in his Life of Sophocles; which still but we have here, we suspect, to fear that remains the best biography of that poet. our opinions may occasionally give offence, There is a peculiarity in these, which by us far from intended; for we have no distinguishes them from all similar works. interest, near or remote, in the subject, but We allude to the supreme contempt of that of truth and free inquiry; and we their learned author for learning. He, of readily give up these opinions to be canwhom it was said that he had read every vassed with the same freedom we have thing worth reading, who knew every used in detailing them. edition of the classics, and every modern work relating to them, was as completely independent of the trammels of authority, and of the prejudices of a book-devourer, as the most confident of unlettered thinkers. If he cites 'authorities,' it is merely to oppose them to the authorities' of some pedant whom he is chastising: willing as he is to meet an antagonist on any ground, and with any weapons, he escapes the reproach of inconsiderate levity, by showing that he is as familiar with texts and commentaries as any professor, without also being a slave to them.

The Wolfenbüttel Fragments made a great noise at the time; but the interest has now almost entirely passed away. Lessing's share in the controversy was valiantly and honorably borne. Those who wish to study the art of controversy,' as Gibbon studied it in Pascal, may do so in this portion of Lessing's writings;-no one else will find them palatable. The Education of the Human Race has had the very questionable honor of having been translated and adopted by the St. Simonians, and by les Humanitaires; but in a sense which Lessing himself would have strongly repelled. Indeed, it is worthy of remark, that with so logical a mind, and with such strong philosophical tendencies, Lessing never gave himself up to what the Germans call Metaphysics. Many a worthy German has deplored that he did not give the world his solution of the problem of Seyn und Denken, and did not venture on the apodictic certainty of the absolute! To us this is but one of the many evidences of his clear and practical mind. He was fond of speculation; but speculation about subjects unintelligible or beyond the reach of human cognizance, was too frivolous for him. Until his countrymen learn to think with him on this subject, they will never be able to imitate the good example he set them.

We shall here close this brief and rapid sketch of the characteristics of German Literature, and more particularly of the

ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION.

"The barque Pago

da, hired by government for a scientific expedition to the Antarctic regions, lately returned to Simon Bay; and the following particulars connected there with may be relied upon as authentic. This vessel, under the command of Lieutenant Moore,

penetrated, we understand, farther to the South120 degrees East) than any other vessel ever atward (between the meridian of Greenwich and tained unto before her; and completed the whole series of magnetic observations left unfinished by H. M. ships Terror and Erebus. The Pagoda very nearly reached the magnetic pole; but the fell in with precluded the possibility of her adquanity of compact ice and icebergs which she vancement. Many important discoveries were made; which will doubtless be laid before the public as soon as the official report shall have

reached home.

"She was at times surrounded by icebergs considerably higher than the mastheads; notwithstanding which, existence of the Antarctic continent, viz. Victoria Land, has been confirmed beyond a doubt. The Aurora Borealis,' or Northbrilliant; so much so, indeed, that at night small ern Luminary, was observed to be exceedingly print was distinctly legible thereby, a truly rare circumstance in a Southern hemisphere. [The Aurora, called also "Australis" or Southern, is well known to occur ] The stores of natural history have been much enriched by collection of birds and fishes previously unknown. On her homeward track, the Pagoda touched at King George's Sound; where the hospitable treatment of the settlers and natives is highly spoken of, and She next made the Mauritius; and returned to every thing was going on well at the settlement. Simon's Bay, after a circuit of nearly fourteen thousand miles, in one hundred and forty days, tended objects: when the vessel was delivered up having in that period fully accomplished the inin excellent condition to Captain H. Byron junior, her original commander, without a single casualty, not a man having been sick all the voyage; which may be mainly ascribed to the great care and atthis bark for her hazardous and solitary task; and tention bestowed by Admiral Percy in fitting out there is no doubt that the scientific world will be benefited by its results."-Cape Town Gazette.