AUTHOR'S PREFACE, 



TO THE SECOND AND THIRD EDITIONS, 



THE twofold object of this work, an anxious endeavour 

 to heighten the enjoyment of nature by vivid representations, 

 and at the same time to increase, according to the present 

 state of science, the reader's insight into the harmonious 

 co-operation of forces, was pointed out by me in' the 

 preface to the first edition, nearly half a century ago. I there 

 alluded to the several obstacles which oppose themselves to the 

 aesthetic treatment of the grand scenes of nature. The com- 

 bination of a literary and a purely scientific aim, the desire to 

 engage the imagination, and at the same time to enrich life 

 with new ideas by the increase of knowledge, render the due 

 arrangement of the separate parts, and what is required as 

 unity of composition, difficult of attainment. Notwithstand- 

 ing these disadvantages, however, the public have continued to 

 receive with indulgent partiality, my imperfect performance. 



The second edition of the Views of Nature, was published 

 by me in Paris in 1826. Two papers were then added, one, 

 "An inquiry into the structure and mode of action of Volcanos 

 in different regions of the earth;" the other, "Vital Force, or 

 The Rhodian Genius." Schiller, in remembrance of his youth- 



