GOETHE. 439 



powerful attraction which in the present day is attached to 

 the study of all branches of natural science. This secret 

 charm, excited by a deep insight into organic life, is not 

 limited to the tropical world. Every portion of the earth 

 offers to our view the wonders of progressive formation and 

 development, according to ever-recurring or slightly devi- 

 ating types. Universal is the awful rule of those natural 

 powers, which amid the clouds that darken the canopy of 

 heaven with storms, as well as in the delicate tissues of 

 organic substances, resolve the ancient strife of the elements 

 into accordant harmony. All portions of the vast circuit of 

 creation from the equator to the coldest zones wherever 

 the breath of spring unfolds a blossom, the mind may rejoice 

 in the inspiring power of nature. Our German land is espe- 

 cially justified in cherishing such a belief, for where is the 

 southern nation who would not envy us the great master of 

 poesy, whose works are all pervaded by a profound veneration 

 for nature, which is alike discernible in The Sorroivs of 

 Werther, in the Recollections of Italy, in the Metamorphoses 

 .of Plants, and in so many of his poems ? Who has more 

 eloquently excited his cotemporaries to " solve the holy pro- 

 blem of the universe," and to renew the bond which in the 

 dawn of mankind united together philosophy, physics, and 

 poetry? Who has drawn others with a more powerful attrac- 

 tion to that land, the home of his intellect, where, as he sings, 



Ein sanfter Wind vom blauem Himmel weht, 

 Die Myrte still, and hoch der Lorbeer steht ! 



