Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-02-16
sCHILLER's TRUE PLACE IN LIT
'ERATURE.

FlNaf4 lAElHf lpllFeFSO lecture on
schiller lasl week, IN -SteilTay Hall,
New York. lie began by asserting that
in this inteHsly practical age there vas
nothing that We more needed than an in
terest in and a just appreciation Of the
ideas tha. uudarldid the works of the great
literary giants, whose iutelleCts had in
vslyeG what had led nations and peoples
on % greatnHss and fame. The educated
American Of to-day reSembled as much his
German as he did his English predecessors
in all that was great in literature. The
German language was the vehi-le Of
thought intensified and sublimated; the
English language was the vehicle Of all
that was practical and expedient. The
German literature gained in breadth and
comprehensive power what it lost in brew
ity and concentrated force. Schiller was
one Of Natures greaI interpreters; and,
through the medium Of his mOthG tongue,
he had captivated all unbiased men who
mad read his works, and reached an immOr-
tai place in the niche Of fame. He was,
however, too generally Y accorded a higher
rank than he vas entitled to. There we're
only four poets who could, unchallenged,
be placed in the first rank; they were
Homer, Shakespeare, Dante, and Goethe
names that would grow greater as the
ages receded. Schiller published "The
Robbers at his own expense, no publisher
being willing TO take the risk, and. like,
Byron when ne published "Childe Harold"
woke to find himself famous. The people
found in il 4 new revelation; il dashed
aside prescriptive rights and gave an in
sight into the grand and possible realities
Mortified thlse who had slumbered in the
old stationary Rip Van Winkle way; and
a German Prince had declared that If be
had power to create a world, and had Tea-
son TO believe that, if he created it, a man
would be born who could write such a
play, he would leave it uncreated. Schil-
ler's age was one Of rebellion against the
cold, formal, classical French school of
COrneifle, Racine, and other stately au-
thOrs, who sacrificed nature to forms.
Schiller crucifed forms and depicted ma
tUre, in accordance with his ideals of
truth, feeling, sentiment, and passion, and
he found that he had struck the electrical
chord that vibrated to the master hand
and made all mankind akin. The reaction
from The formal classical, and cOldly severe
style Of literature produced almost an hys-
terical episode, and in this Schiller was TO
a great extent, a leader. This, however,
was his stage Of assertion; this was follow
ed by the second stage, of develOpement,
and by the grand and final stage Of achieve
ment; when, having had his impulsive
and somewhat reckless spirit tanned, and
rectified by experience and The companion
ship and influence Of Goethe, he produced
those immortal works which so nearly al
lied him to the greatest poets that only
cold and impartial criticism cOult discern
the faint dividing line.
Schiller was not a great genius Of the
first rank; but bis intense devotion TO his
grand ideals raised him so nearly 10 this
pinnacle as TO deceive manV who did not
closely examine his right 10 occupy this
position. Il had been frequently said that
Schiller was not of the people, and that
Goethe was, aud vet Schiller was by far
the most democratic of the two, and this
had been generally recognized by the
French Republic, which had paid hOnOrs
to the author without knowing his name,
simply from catching the true spirit Of his
works Schiller died in 1905 after having
lived life of selEabnegatiOn, devoted to
the highest ideals Of literary effort. Eight
cities erected statues to his memory; a
Schiller fund has been raised in Germany,
the annual interest Of which, amounting to
$4,000, is devoted 10 the help Of struggling
literary men; and every eficrt has been put
forth since his death to recognize the
claims he he'd on POsterity and to realize
the ideals h ch he so sedulOusly sought
to attain. such men were beacOns in the
march of civilization, and a closer study
of the grand ideas which they crystalized
into grand practical inspiration could not
be too closely studied nor sedulOusly fol
lowed in this intensely Utilitarisn and
practical age.