128 



PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



geographically separated It inherited the taste for 

 classical studies, of which Thuringia and Saxony had 

 been the traditional homes. 1 With this it now united 

 the study of English literature and learning. 2 It also 

 stood in intimate connection with the polite literature of 

 Germany, 3 one of the earliest organisations of the new 



1 A beginning had been made in 

 this direction already by the founda- 

 tion of the University of Halle 

 (1693). But "free inquiry" was 

 there still hampered by Wolffs 

 Rationalism on the one side and 

 Fraucke's Evangelicalism on the 

 other. Speaking mainly of philo- 

 logical studies, Professor Ulrich 

 von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff says 

 (Lexis, ' Die Deutschen Univer- 

 sitaten, ' vol. L p. 458 ) : "It was 

 first of all the foundation of the 

 University of Gdttingen (1737) by 

 the electoral House of Hanover, 

 which was at the same time the 

 reigning House of Great Britain, 

 that created an epoch in the history 

 of philology." 



2 This influence was prominently 

 represented at Gcittingen by a re- 

 markable man, who forms a unique 

 figure in German literature. This 

 was G. Chr. Lichtenberg (1742- 

 1799). He was Professor of Natural 

 Philosophy, and his name is pre- 

 served in tbe History of Science 

 through the Lichtenberg figures of 

 Electric Discharge, the memory of 

 which baa been revived in recent 

 times through Lord Armstrong's 

 work on ' Electrical Discharge in 

 Air and Water' (1899). But 

 though a much valued scientific 

 teacher, his importance lies in this, 

 that he is one of the few great 

 humourists in German literature, 

 forming a link between the British 

 humourists Swift, Sterne, Defoe, 

 and others on tbe one side, and 

 Jean Paul on the other. The 

 union of scientific studies with 

 polite literature is rare, especially 



in Germany. But that country 

 possesses another prominent ex- 

 ample in more recent times, in 

 G. T. Fechner a thinker little 

 known in this country except as 

 the founder of psycho - physics. 

 Lichtenberg was a very popular 

 writer, and many of his witticisms 

 have survived in popular literature. 

 Cast into the shade through the 

 creations of the classical literature 

 of Germany, and more or less for- 

 gotten about the middle of the 

 nineteenth century, his memory has 

 been revived again by the republi- 

 cation of his Collected Works, 

 and notably by a collection 

 of extracts from them by Ed. 

 Grisebach (1871), the well-known 

 editor of Schopenhauer, and himself 

 a humouristic writer of merit. It 

 was especially the great actor Gar- 

 rick and the painter Hogarth who 

 became known to Germany through 

 Lichtenberg's ' Letters ' and 'Ex- 

 planations.' It is interesting to see 

 how ideas on the relation of philo- 

 sophy, science, and religion now 

 current, flitted prematurely through 

 the mind of Lichtenberg more than 

 a century ago. 



3 The importance of Gdttingen 

 as a centre of literature, as well as 

 of science, is little appreciated, 

 especially in foreign works dealing 

 with German thought and literat- 

 ure. Nevertheless, what is termed 

 the Gdttingen school marks an im- 

 portant development in the polite 

 literature of the country, from 

 which emanated much that baa 

 been of great value. Histories of 

 German literature, like those of 



