to express it the deep majestic solemn organ of the church may be better fitted than the pipe of a withered trivial that still more that and could on the strength of such put off or put on their religious creed like a new suit of apparel we are far from asserting they are men of earnest hearts and seem to have a deep feeling of devotion it should be remembered that what forms the of their religion is not demonstration but faith and so a theory could not but help to soften the transition from the former to the latter that some such principle in one shape or another in s mind we think we can perceive from several indications among others the to his last tragedy where mysteriously enough under the emblem of a he seems to be forth the history of his own faith and represents himself even then as merely climbing the tree where the of his vanished but not hoping to regain that vision till his eyes shall have been opened by death life and of on the whole we must not pretend to understand or him with scientific acting many times with only half consciousness he was always in some degree an to himself and may well be obscure to us above all there are mysteries and in every heart and that is but a questionable philosophy which so readily to explain them religious belief especially at least when it seems and is no subject for harsh or even investigation he is a wise man that having such a belief knows and sees clearly the grounds of it in himself and those we imagine who have with scrutiny the secret of own will be least apt to rush with violence into that of other men s the good says paul fell like our more vigorous into the poetical our time where all tastes and are foaming through each other and where all is to be found excepting truth diligence and the polish of the file both would have come forth clearer had they studied in s day we cannot justify yet let him be condemned with pity and well ere it could each of us apply to himself those words which in his friendly indignation would thunder in the ears of many a german take thou the beam out of thine own eye then thou see clearly to take the out of thy brother letter to in paul s by s ous writings s � foreign review has rather asserted of that the grand law of his being is to conclude whatsoever he that let him engage in any task no matter what its difficulties or how small its worth he cannot quit it till he has mastered its whole secret finished it and made the result of it his own this surely whatever might think is a quality of which it is far safer to have too much than too little and if in a spirit we admit that it does strikingly belong to these his present occupations will not seem out of harmony with the rest of his life but rather it may be regarded as a singular constancy of fortune which now allows him after so many single to deliberately the details and combination of the whole and thus in his individual works to put the last hand to the highest of all his works his own literary character and leave the impress of it to posterity in that form and accompaniment which he himself for the last two years as many of our readers may know the venerable poet has been employed in a patient and thorough of all his writings an tion of which as the complete and final one was commenced in under external of s hand s works complete edition with his final � first portion i v mo and vo s the most flattering sort and with arrangements for private which as we learn have secured the constant progress of the work against every accident the first of five volumes is now in our hands a second of like extent we understand to be already on its way hither and thus by regular from half year to half year the whole forty volumes are to be completed in to the lover of german literature or of literature in general this undertaking will not be considering as he must do the works of to be among the most important which germany for some centuries has sent forth he will value their and completeness for its own sake and not the less as forming the conclusion of a long process to which the last step was still wanting whereby he may not only enjoy the result but instruct himself by following so great a master through the changes which led to it we can now add that to the mere book also the business promises to be satisfactory this edition avoiding any attempt at splendor or unnecessary ranks nevertheless in regard to accuracy convenience and true simple elegance among the best specimens of german the cost too seems moderate so that on every account we doubt not but that these will spread far and wide in their own country and by and by we may hope be met with here in many a british library hitherto in this first portion we have found little or no alteration of what was already known but in return some changes of arrangement and what is more important some additions of heretofore poems in particular a piece entitled a which some eighty pages of volume fourth it is to this piece that we now propose directing the attention of s miscellaneous writings our readers such of these as have studied for themselves must have felt how little calculated it is either or by its relations and allusions to be rendered very interesting or even very intelligible to the english public and may 