PROSE WRITERS OF GERMANY BY FREDERIC H. HEDGE ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS Die deutsche Nation ist nicht die ausgebildetste, nicht die reichste an Geistes- PHILADELPHIA PUBLISHED BY CAREY AND HART A 4654/3.9 سو AR 8 1910 From the Library Pref. C. C. Everett ENTERED, ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1847, BY IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT PREFACE THE volume of translations which is now offered to the Public, though bearing the title, "Prose Writers of Germany," in conformity with the series of publications to which it belongs, is far from pretending to be a complete exhibition of the prose literature of that nation. The impossibility of representing in adequate specimens, the vast body of writers who might claim to be represented under this title, together with the unsatisfactoriness of brief extracts, has induced the editor to adopt a different course,—to give few writers and large samples, and instead of a "collection," as Mr. Longfellow has characterized his "Poets and Poetry of Europe," to make a selection. Every selection is liable to the charge of partiality; and those who are much conversant with German literature will doubtless miss some favorites who shall seem to them entitled to a place in these pages. It is believed however that the Classics, in the stricter sense, (writers of the first class) are mostly here. With regard to the rest, access or want of access to their writings has had some share, as well as personal preference, in determining the admissions and the omissions. Some difficulty has been found in reconciling a just apportionment of space in our pages to different writers with the prescribed limits of the work. The difficulty, the editor is aware, has not been entirely overcome. While want of room has compelled him to omit altogether some writers whom he would gladly have introduced into the present selection, he regrets that the same necessity has required him in several instances to limit his extracts. The editor avails himself of this opportunity to thank those who have assisted him in the work of translation. Besides his indebtedness to existing publications, especially to Carlyle's German Romance, he has to acknowledge the contributions of J. Elliot Cabot, Esq.,* Rev. J. Weiss,† Rev. C. T. Brooks, Mr. Geo. Bradford, and Mr. Geo. Ripley. The extracts from Möser, with the exception of the first, and that from Hamann, are by the same, anonymous, contribuLikewise the translations from Hegel are by an anonymous friend possessing peculiar qualifications for that difficult task. Above all, his thanks are due to the Rev. Mr. Furness of Philadelphia, who has kindly taken upon himself the general superintendence of the work while passing through the press. tor. BANGOR, MAY, 1847. * In the translations from Kant with the exception of the last, and in the translation from Schelling. † In the translation from Schiller. In the extracts from the Titan of Jean Paul. In the translation from Goethe's Wahlverwandtschaften. Of the Third Principle, or Creation of the Natural World .. Concerning the Supersensual Life .... Letter from an Old Married Woman, &c... . . . How to Attain to an Adequate Expression of Our Ideas. |