CONCLUSION. 397 



" Was kann der Mcnsch im Leben mehr gewiniien 

 Als dass sich Gott-Natur ihm offonbare, 

 Wie sich das Festo liisst zu Gcist verrinnon, 

 Wie sich das Goisterzeugto fost bewahre." * 



All the forms and facts of Nature carry with them a deep 

 spiritual significance, and cannot be reverently studied with- 

 out revealing it ; for are they not the manifestations of the 

 Universal Life ? Unreflecting minds often deem it a trivial 

 occupation for serious men to devote themselves with patience 

 to the study of anatomical details, and the scnitiny of facts 

 which seem to have no practical bearing on the great affairs 

 of life. These details, like all other facts of Nature, may, 

 indeed, be studied in a trivial spirit, uninspired by a loftier 

 aim ; but mider theii- lowest aspect they have still the 

 inalienable value attendant upon all truth ; and under their 

 highest aspect they teach us something of a noble wisdom 

 which profoundly affects the practical affairs of life, by 

 affecting the direction and the temper of our thoughts. 



* Goethe : Bei Betrachtung von Schiller's Sckddel. 



