BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS

FROM

German and Spanish Authors

BY

CRAUFURD TAIT RAMAGE, LL.D.

author of ‘nooks and by-ways of italy,’ ‘beautiful thoughts from latin authors,’ ‘beautiful thoughts from greek authors,’ ‘beautiful thoughts from french and italian authors,’ etc.

“Nous avons donné à penser.”

Liverpool

EDWARD HOWELL

1868

Printed by R. Clark, Edinburgh.

to the

REV. JOHN DONALDSON, M.A.

this volume is inscribed

as a mark of esteem and respect

for his character

as a clergyman and a scholar.

PREFACE

The favour with which my former volumes continue to be received has induced me to prepare another and final volume from sources which are little known in this country. Germany and Spain abound in literary treasures, which only require to be brought under notice to be fully appreciated; and my object has been to give such specimens of “Beautiful Thoughts” from the authors of these countries as may induce readers to draw for themselves gold from mines comparatively unwrought.

The writers of Germany are especially rich in sentiments which are of world-wide importance, and if I have succeeded in making a collection of these thoughts, I shall have accomplished the task which I set before me. The philosophy of Fichte, the novels and dramas of Goethe, Klopstock’s bright imagination, the pleasing epistolary correspondence of William von Humboldt, Schleiermacher’s religious mysticism, Schiller’s immortal works, the strange and often incomprehensible writings of Paul Richter, have all been laid under contribution to furnish materials for musing to the thoughtful mind. Many authors little known have also been examined, and pearls of value have occasionally been discovered where they could have been least expected.

Spanish writers are perhaps less known than those of Germany, and much more could have been added, but enough will be found to show how rich Spain is in her literary treasures. Calderon’s poetic fancy, the inimitable works of Cervantes, the poem of the Cid, of the Dance of Death, Garcilasso de la Vega, have all furnished specimens of Spain’s peculiar mode of thinking.

As this volume completes the task which I had placed before me, I may be allowed to state that I am sensible how imperfectly I have filled up the picture which my imagination had bodied forth. My object in these volumes has been to address myself not merely to the thoughtful many but to the deep-thinking few, and it has been a gratification to me, in the midst of great labour, to know that my exertions have been appreciated by a wide circle of readers. The four volumes contain a larger mass of wisdom than has ever before been attempted to be brought together from the mighty minds of ancient and modern times. How much will be found there to refine, strengthen, delight, and teach, not merely the young but the thoughtful and educated! They are, in fact, “Books of Wisdom;” and I can speak freely on this point, as I assume no further merit than that of appreciating the wisdom and warming my heart with ...