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FICHTE: A BIOGRAPHY.

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the middle of the eighteenth century, at the village of Rammenau, contemporaries a certain manufacturer of ribbons, named Christian Fichte. He, recently married, and reputably established in trade there, paying rates and taxes, and other like dues and imposts, cheerfully fronted the world, and took thankfully from fortune whatever benefits she sent him.

Among the most memorable of these was a first-born son, who struggled into existence on the 19th of May 1762. This is he who, being subsequently baptised according to orthodox prescription, was thereafter called by the name of Johann Gottlieb Fichte-a name since considerably well known, and not indifferently respected, by all persons who are anywise acquainted with German Transcendentalism.

As the boy grew up he shewed signs of extraordinary capacity, and waxed steadily in favour with all who were interested in his welfare. Long before he was old enough to be sent to school his father had taught him to read; taught him also a number of pious songs and proverbs, and initiated him somewhat into the higher mysteries of Bible-history and the Catechism. Often, by way of entertaining his curiosity, the father would relate to him the story of his personal wanderings in Saxony and Franconia, whither, in conformity with a well-known German usage, he had gone in former years for improvement in his calling. To these recitals young Gottlieb listened with exceeding interest, and was thereby awakened into some vague sympathy with the existing outward world. The wonder and manifold train of feelings thus excited fostered in the boy a fondness for solitary rambles, and often impelled him forth into the lonely and quiet fields, where for many hours he would hold a still communion with his thoughts. A quiet, pensive child, he was already receiving influences and forming habits which were afterwards to grow to great results.

Among the persons whose attention young Fichte very soon attracted was the clergyman of the village, who, perceiving his talents, often assisted him with instruction. Happening one day to ask him how much he thought he could remember of the last Sunday's sermon, the boy astonished the good pastor by giving a very correct account of the course of argument pursued in the discourse, and also of the several texts of Scripture quoted in illustration. This circumstance was subsequently mentioned incidentally to a nobleman residing in the village; and when, a short time afterwards,

a certain Baron von Miltitz, who was on a visit at the castle, chanced to express his regret at having arrived too late for sermon on the Sunday morning, he was half-jestingly apprised that it was of very little consequence, as there was a boy in the neighbourhood who was capable of repeating it from memory, and might easily be sent for, if desired, to reproduce it for the baron's edification. A messenger was presently despatched for little Gottlieb, who very soon appeared, dressed in a clean smock-frock, and bearing in his hand a most enormous nosegay, as a token of respect from his mother to the mistress of the castle. He answered all questions put to him with a quiet and natural simplicity; and on being requested to repeat as much as he could recollect of the morning's sermon, he proceeded to deliver a long and eloquent discourse, which, from its grave and impressive tendency, threatened rather to discompose the gaiety of the company. Desiring to escape this consummation, the count thought it necessary to interrupt him, signifying doubtless that, of an admirable memory and good natural powers of elocution, a sufficient proof had been exhibited. The young preacher, however, interested his auditory greatly, and more especially the baron, who, after making some inquiries of the clergyman, which were favourably answered, determined to undertake the charge of the boy's education. The consent of the parents having been with difficulty obtained, young Fichte was shortly consigned to the care of his new patron, and departed with him, as it seemed, for foreign parts.

His destination was the castle of Siebeneichen, a country seat of the baron, situated on the Elbe, near Meissen. Here the heart of the poor boy sank within him, as he daily contemplated the gloomy grandeur of the baronial hall, and the mountains and dark forests by which it was surrounded. His first sorrow, his earliest trial, had come to him in the shape of what a misjudging world might regard as a singular piece of good fortune; and so deep a dejection fell on him, as seriously endangered his health. His kind fosterfather, entering into the feelings of the child, prudently removed him from the lordly mansion to the residence of a country clergyman in the neighbourhood, who, though himself without family, was greatly attached to children. Under the care of this worthy pastor and his wife, Fichte passed some of the happiest years of his life, and ever afterwards looked back upon them with tenderness and gratitude. Here he received his first instruction in the ancient languages, in which, however, he was left pretty much to his own efforts, seldom receiving what might be called a regular lesson from his teacher. This plan, though it might invigorate and sharpen his faculties, left him imperfectly acquainted with grammatical principles, and retarded to some extent his subsequent progress. He, nevertheless, made rapid advances; and his preceptor soon perceived the insufficiency of his own attainments for furthering the studies of a pupil so promising, and therefore urged upon his patron the desirability of sending him to some public school. He was accordingly sent, first to the town school of Meissen, and afterwards to a higher seminary at Pforta, near Raumburg.

This latter establishment retained many traces of a monkish origin: the teachers and pupils lived in cells, and the boys were permitted to leave the interior only once a week, and then under inspection, to visit a particular play-ground in the neighbourhood. The stiffest formality pervaded the

whole economy of the place; the living spirit of knowledge was unrecognised in its antiquated routine, and the generous desire of excellence excluded by the petty artifices of jealousy. The system of fagging existed in full force, and with it the usual consequences-tyranny on the one side, and cunning and dissimulation on the other. Fichte's native strength of character guarded him somewhat from the evil influences around him, yet he confessed that his life at Pforta was anything but favourable to his integrity. He found himself gradually reconciled to the constraint of ruling his conduct by the opinion of his companions, and compelled to practise occasionally the same artifices as others.

Fichte was scarcely thirteen years of age when he entered this seminary. Most painful was the transition to its gloomy monastic buildings from the joyous freedom of fields and woods, where he had been accustomed to wander at will; but still more painful were the solitude and aridity of the moral desert into which he was introduced. His sadness and tears exposed him to the derision of his schoolfellows; and he, shy and retiring, shrunk within himself, restrained his tears, or suffered them to flow only in secret. Here, however, he learned the useful lesson of self-reliance—so well, though so bitterly taught, by the absence of sympathy in those around us; and from this time to the close of his life it was never forgotten. The wretchedness of his situation, meanwhile, led him to contemplate escape. He had met with a copy of 'Robinson Crusoe,' and his imagination was so fascinated by the wild solitary life therein depicted, that he conceived the project of seeking out some similar seclusion. On some far-off island of the ocean, beyond the reach of men and pedagogues, and of the sneering students that mocked at his distress, he would fix his solitary dwelling-place, and live golden days of happiness and freedom! The manner in which he attempted to carry his notion into execution favourably illustrates the bent of his character. Nothing could have been easier for him than to have departed unperceived on one of the days when the scholars went out to the playground; but he scorned to steal away in secret; he wished to make it evident that his departure was occasioned by necessity, and was taken with deliberate determination. He therefore made a formal declaration to his superior, a lad who had made a cruel and oppressive use of the brief authority intrusted to him, that he would no longer endure the treatment he received, and that if not amended, he would leave the school on the first opportunity. This announcement, as may be supposed, was received with laughter and contempt, and Fichte thenceforth considered himself in honour free to fulfil his resolution.

Accordingly, one morning he departs, having previously studied his intended route upon the map. He is off on the highway to Raumburg: the world is all before him, and the desert island in the distance. But now, as he walks along, he remembers a saying of his dear old friend the pastor, that one should never begin an important undertaking without a prayer for Divine assistance. He turns, therefore, and kneeling down on a hillock by the side of the road, in the innocent sincerity of his heart he implores the blessing of Heaven on his wanderings. As he prayed it occurred to him that his disappearance must occasion great grief to his parents: 'never, perhaps, might he see them again!' This terrible thought overcame him; the joy which he had felt in his emancipation was changed into

contrition; and he resolved to return, and meet all the punishments that might be in reserve for him, so that he should be able to look once more on the face of his mother.' On his way back he met those who had been sent in pursuit of him; for as soon as he had been missed, the conversation between him and his superior had been reported to the authorities. When taken before the rector, Fichte immediately admitted that it had been his intention to run away, but at the same time related the whole story of his persecutions, and of the motives which had influenced him in taking the step, with such straightforward simplicity and openness, that the rector became interested in his behalf, and not only remitted his punishment, but selected for him, from among the elder scholars, another senior, who treated him with the greatest kindness, and to whom he became warmly attached, the two being subsequently friends at the same university.

From this time Fichte's residence at Pforta was rendered gradually more tolerable to him. He entered zealously upon his studies, and by continued industry supplied the defects of his previous education. In 1780, at the age of eighteen, he entered the university of Jena. He attached himself to the theological faculty, his inclinations at this time being towards the calling of a clergyman. Subsequently he removed to Leipsic, and there attended a course of dogmatic lectures, though, as it afterwards appeared, with little satisfaction. In attempting to obtain a clear comprehension of the theological doctrine of the Divine attributes, the creation, freedom of the will, and other like questions, he encountered unexpected difficulties, which led him into a wider circle of inquiry, and finally resulted in his abandoning theology for philosophy. Some hints of the early direction of his philosophical studies may be gathered from his letters written at this period. The question which chiefly engaged his attention appears to have been the very common one of Liberty and Necessity; in regard to which he seems to have rejected the doctrine of free-will, considered as absolute indifferent self-determination, and to have adopted the view which, to distinguish it from Fatalism, has been named Determinism. According to this, every complete and consistent philosophy exhibits a deterministic side; the idea of an ultimate and all-directing Unity being the beginning and end of metaphysical investigation. Thus while Fatalism sees in this highest unity only an unconscious and mechanical necessity, Determinism recognises it as the highest disposing reason-the infinite originative influence to which the determination of each living being is not only to be referred, but in which it is fundamentally subsistent.

On communicating his opinions to a Saxon preacher who had considerable reputation for his philosophical attainments, Fichte was told that he had adopted Spinozism. Up to this time he was unacquainted with Spinoza's writings, and his first knowledge of them was subsequently derived through Wolff's refutation. His attention being turned in this direction, he applied himself to the study of Spinoza's Ethics, which made a powerful impression upon his mind, and confirmed him for a time in the opinions he had adopted. In afteryears, however, the deterministic theory left him dissatisfied; the indestructible feeling of independence and freedom of which he was inwardly conscious, and which was also powerfully confirmed by the energy of his own character, not being explainable on exclusively deterministic principles, he was constrained to abandon that

point of view, and accept the doctrine of free self-determination as the only true and intelligible basis of being. This is the ground-principle of his philosophic creed, which so far stands opposed to the doctrine of Spinoza, although a general harmony of details is observable in the two systems; both, nevertheless, shewing marks of individual character, and each being properly the 'scientific expression of the spiritual life of its originator.'

Whilst engaged in these lofty speculations, Fichte received intelligence of the death of his benefactor, and found himself thrown upon his own resources. These, unhappily, were of the most unpromising description. Nevertheless he adjusted himself to his fortunes, and for four years earned a precarious livelihood as an occasional tutor in various houses in Saxony. His studies were desultory, and subject to continual interruption; he had no means for procuring books, no opportunities of intercourse with persons of cultivated and matured mind: his life was daily little better than a sacrifice to the mere necessity of living. He had, however, a very sufficient fund of courage, an iron resolution, and a hopeful elasticity of disposition, that would not readily yield to disappointment. He learned to regard the privilege of existence apart from its contingencies, and manfully determined to live obediently to the high and imperative law of his conscience, and abide by the result. 'It is our business,' said he, 'to be true to ourselves; the consequence is altogether in the hands of Providence.' Diligent in business, fervent in spirit, he went on his way doing what came to hand; thankful for the day of small things, and trustful for the future.

His favourite plan of life at this period, and for some time afterwards, was to become a village clergyman in Saxony, and amid the leisure which such an occupation would afford him, to prosecute without disturbance his own intellectual culture. But this scheme could not be carried into practice, inasmuch as he had not completed his theological studies, and was without the means required for continuing them. With a view to supply his deficiencies in this respect, he, in 1787, addressed a letter to the president of the Consistory of Leipsic, requesting to be allowed a share of the support often granted to poor students at the Saxon universities, until the following Easter, at which time he promised to present himself before the Consistory for examination. 'Without this,' said he, 'my residence at Leipsic is of no avail to me, for I am compelled to give all my time to extraneous pursuits, in order to obtain a livelihood.' No notice, however, was taken of his request: that blissful Saxon parsonage, with its abundant leisure for cultivating literature, so pleasant to contemplate, remained, unhappily, or perhaps happily, incapable of being realised.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in any president of Consistory, for, as thou perceivest, dear Fichte, there is no help in them! That selfsame 'poverty' of thine, which thou sayest can be so 'clearly proved,' is, as matters go, no recommendation to preferment. For the present thou must continue to make that thin resource of private teaching serve thee, and crush into annihilation all thy prouder aspirations. Fichte contrives to make it serve him for a time; but alas! that also, like every feeble soil that is much wrought in, runs more and more into barrenness. The 'precarious subsistence' which he had for some time gained in this way

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