308 ALEXANDER VON HTJMBOLDT. 



viewed in connection with contemporary history, to which we 

 now propose to direct attention. 



Humboldt's first conception of the theory of c Cosmos ' dates 

 from the close of the last century, when, as repeatedly men- 

 tioned in this biography, 1 he wrote to Tictet, in a letter dated 

 January 24, 1796 : 'I have been drawing up a scheme for a 

 universal science ; ' and the vision of this work, ' the work of 

 his life,' floated before his imagination as the goal of all 

 his efforts. How much earlier the idea existed we have no 

 means of ascertaining, but we shall endeavour to trace some- 

 what systematically the story of its birth. We can, scarcely 

 perhaps give a more forcible idea of c Cosmos ' than to say 

 it originated at the close of the eighteenth century, and 

 was first suggested to the mind of Humboldt under the in- 

 fluence -of those gigantic minds forming the centre of the 

 brilliant circle of Weimar and Jena. 2 



The eighteenth century was, especially towards its close, 

 characterised, as is well known, by the spread of universal ideas.. 

 The idea of absolute universality was seized upon with youth- 

 ful ardour by the leading minds, however independent might 

 be the attitude they individually assumed. Immeasurable 

 ideas, such as ' the Universe,' ' Mankind,' words which have 

 since nearly lost their high sound, sank with irresistible power 

 into all hearts, and even called forth tears when expressed in 

 the exulting strains of Schiller's Hymn, or in the caricature, 

 not wholly devoid of grandeur, of the ; Magic Flute,' where the 

 priest-king thanks his brethren in the name of humanity for 

 their encouraging sympathy. Faust, a creation pre-eminently 

 of this age, dwells with delight upon the aspect of the intel- 

 lectual world ; the natural rights of man were the theme of 

 Lafayette and the cry of the French Revolution. It was to be- 

 expected that in science, too, the tendency to generalisation 

 should evince itself, especially as in no previous period of 

 modern history had there ever been displayed so intimate a 

 union of intellectual power with deep feeling, of scientific in- 

 quiry with keen sensibility. While the laws of nations were 



1 Vol. i. p. 197; vol. ii. p. 112. 



2 See vol. i. ch. iv. 



