Schiller's Life And Writi...
The Times, 1824-01-01T00:00:00

If to know MWisdom wlPere t prctise it,-it tame broigbt true dig- nity and peace of mitnd,-or happniness consisted in nourishing the intelect wVith its appropriate food, and surrounding the imaginatian with ideal beauty,-a literary lifc wvould be the most enviahle wlich the lot of this wvorld affords. But the tzutlh is far -oterwise. The mnan of icttvrs has no immatable all conqueritig volition, moretban othermen ; to understand and toperform,are two very diff'erenittelings with him ns with every one. Ilis fame rarely exerts a favourable iis- fluence on Iiis dignity of' character, sand never on his peace of'nuind ; its glitter is external, for the eves of oihers; within, itis butthe ali- meiit of unrest, the oil cast upon th1e ever.griawinu tire of ambition, quickening inato fresh vehemence the blaze which it stills for a mo- meint. lMioreover, tllis man of' letters is not wholly made of spirit, but of clay and spirit nmixed : his thinkin)e fiactilties mav be no- bly trained and exercised, butt he mtust have afFections as' well as thoughts to nmake himn happy, anal food and raiment must begiven him, or he dies. Far from beaing the most enviable, Iiis wav of life is, perhaps, among the many mnodes by which an ardenit mind endea- vours to exprcss its activity. the most thickly beset with sufferin- and degradation. Look ai the biography of authors ! Except the " Newgare Calendar," it is tht mnost sicr;ening cliapter in tFie histo- ry of m an. The calamaities otf these people arc a furtile topic ; and too often their faults antI vices have kept pace with their cailamities. Nor is it difficult to see how this has laappened. Talent of'any sort is gencrally accompanied witla a laeculiar fineness of' sensibilit) of genius this is the most essential constituent; and life in anry shat e has sorrows etiough for leatrts so fsraneai. T'ie cin)tloyanents of literatatre sharpen this natural tendenrcy the vexations that acconipany them trequently exasperate it into nmorbid soreness. The eares and toils of literature are the business of lite; its delights are too ethereal anal too transient to furnish th at pereisnial ftim of satisfaction, coarse, but plenteoats and substantial, of which happiness itn this world ot' ours as made. 'I'he most finisbled efforts of' the ntind give it little pleasure, frequetatly they give it pain; tfr anen's airts are ever far beyond their strength. And the outward recompense of these on- dertaxkings. the distinctioni ilmey onfer, is of still smalle. value- such desires are insatiable even when successful: sahd when baffled, they issue in jealousies and easv, and every pitiful and nainful feel- ing. So keen a temperamelat witsi so little to restrain or satisfy, sc much to distress or tem pt it, prodcaies conttrrsictiona which few are adequate to reconcile. 1ence the unhapainess of literary men, hence their faults anal follies I'et among these men are to be focanal the brighitest-specian-ens and the clief benefactors of osankita-I ! It is tiscy that keep sawake the filier parts of our souls ; that give us better ainis thain poswer or Dlea- saare, atld withstarnd the totai sovereignty of .Marnllon in this earth. They aic the van-guard ia the msrcfi of mindl ; the biaellectual Baclkwoa:o'mea, reclaiming frot the idle wilderness new territories for thle thought and the activitv of their happier brethiren. Pity that fromn all their conquests so rics in benefits to others, theanselves should reap so little! But it is vain to murmuar. T'iey are voluii- tears in this cause; they weighed the charms of it against thi perils and they ntust abide tma results of their decision as all mtist. 'I'_he haraashaias o the easlsey follow are formidable, bast not all inevitatble; ial to such a is pursue it rigotly it is not witliouit its great rewarads. If an autbor's life is mssore agitatea and aitwre pamful tiasi that ofiathers, it miay also be iatade maore spirit-stir ritag and exaltead tortaine assay render Iiir unhappy ; it is only him. self t1!at cats n aake hia despicable. The history of gensIis lias, in fact, its brighat side as well salts dark. And if it is distressing to sar'ey fis tilisery, alisa what is worse, the debasemenst of so many gifted mcaen, it is dainubly cheerinig on the other hanai to refiect on the few, wlo, amnid the temptations and sorrows to whaichl life in all its provances, and most in theirs, is liable, have travelled through it in salaa anal virtuous majesty, atid are now hallowed in otar memories, not less for their coniductathan their writings. Such men are the flower of this lourr world: to saicha alone can the epithet of " great" Ibeapplied its true eniphb;is. There is a congruity in their ro- w one evtes to calsltelalplate: " He who would v;rite heroic poemas, should make hiis whiole lite a hieroic poem." So ltlouglat otar iilton, and, what was mlsore difficult he acted so. To ilton, liha moral king of authors, an heroic multitude out of osany ages and countries might be joined; a " cloltd of witnesses," thlat encoenpass the true literary man tharoughout his pilgrimnage, in- spiring him tO lofty emulation, cheering his solitary thoughts with hoge teachin. hhsi to struggle, to enadutre-to conquer difticulties, or, en.il d avy suflerhgs, to "em th'obdured breast with stub- bogrne ptie nce osfwith trilpllestnee" Tothis august series, in isis own dere h sns f_hle myb idd SCIIILL A?R'S LIIA. ANi) if INGS. FROMI 13IS SE TTrLEMEN'I' A'l' 3AXHSEIM.TOlIIS SE'l'rr.EME:NT I'AT JEN A, 1783-1790.