Book Description

Excerpt from Inaugural Discourse: Delivered in the Chapel of Columbia College, March 7, 1848 In entering upon the station to which I have been appointed at this institution, established usage requires me to commence my career of duty by pronouncing an address on some subject connected with the department of literature in which I am to give instruction. I have chosen the first subject that presented itself to my mind; for it occurred to me immediately that none could be more suitable for the present occasion, than a comparison, personal and literary, of the two men, in whom German poetry has attained its highest development; who are regarded, in their native land, as the most illustrious votaries of the German muse: I speak, of course, of Schiller and Goethe. In choosing this subject, I was by no means ignorant of its difficulties and perplexities; for I am well aware that the opinions which I shall utter arc totally at variance with that public opinion, and with that almost unanimous suffrage of German and foreign critics, which have placed Goethe at the head of all German poets, and describe him as unrivalled and unattainable in his glorious art. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.