FROM ACCESSION OF FREDERICK WILLIAM IV. TO 1848. 333 



ject so far as to condemn all the great works of this character 

 which have existed in the world, from Plato's Dialogues to 

 6 Cosmos.' Yet we cannot but rejoice that the success attend- 

 ing Humboldt's semi-literary writings, instead of exciting a 

 servile imitation, 1 has given rise to a praiseworthy endeavour 

 to give to works of a purely scientific character the graces of 

 language and a noble form of composition. Nor is there a 

 more successful method of popularising pure science. By 

 means of this indirect influence, and yet more by the powerful 

 charm exerted by Humboldt's idealism, c Cosmos ' marks an 

 important epoch in the history of German literature, intensify- 

 ing the effect of the lectures of 1828 by the introduction of 

 science into the popular literature of the day. 



By no one was this aspect of ' Cosmos ' more clearly recog- 

 nised, or more heartily acknowledged, than by Bessel, who ex- 

 pressed in warm terms his admiration of the work. On July o, 

 1840, he wrote to Humboldt : <I cherish the hope that a time 

 will come when public attention will be aroused to the pheno- 

 mena of Nature. At present it seems confined, in Germany at 

 least, to philology and history. This is keenly felt when any 

 effort is made to bring other matters into notice ; the position 

 is similar to that of a village schoolmaster endeavouring to 

 render his scholars sensitive to a grammatical nicety. One 

 means of hastening on the period to which I am looking for- 

 ward is the popular representation of science, after the manner 

 of Arago, and not after the fashion of those who mistake inac- 

 curacy and shallowness for popularisation. On this account I 

 have felt a strong desire to see " the book of Nature " brought 

 out. It would come within reach of all, and would leap over 

 half a century. It would arouse everywhere, and at the same 

 time gratify, a desire for acquiring a more comprehensive view 

 of a subject.' Four years later, Bessel had the gratification of 

 witnessing the fulfilment of his wishes when the proof-sheets of 

 the first volume were sent by Humboldt for his inspection. He 

 had long entertained the idea of writing a popular treatise 

 upon ' The Art of Observing,' but certainly not in the glowing 

 style of ' Cosmos.' In the perusal of that work the great astro- 



1 I allude to Schleiden'a * Pflanze ' and other similar works. 



