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Article BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES ← Page 2 of 13 →
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Biographical Sketches
of humanity . To this special knowledge of mankind , he superadded an extensive acquaintance Avith the ancient classics . Quick in apprehension , cool in judgment , and acute in application , he was filled Avith the idea to oppose purity of manners ancl a lively religious feeling , to the hypocritical or cold theories , or to the vain scholastic disputations of his cotemporaries . With
this vieAV , ancl in his endeavours for this laudable purpose , he was always ready to offer the exertions of an entire life , and to oppose himself to every clanger , Avith any sacrifice of self , and from the purest disinterestedness . It was with feelings of tlie deepest sorrow that he vieAved the misfortunes and errors of his times , in Avhich , on one side , the horrors of the Thirty Years' War
raised their social disturbances and party factions to the highest pitch ; and Avhich , on the other hand , the prevailing theological opinions , sunk rather in unnecessarily balancing the theoretical meanings of their dogmas than in putting forivard to vieAV the charity ancl hope which pervade the belief of the evangelists , ivere utterly unable to counteract . With force and confidence
, undeterred by the insinuations ancl disquietude he Avas exposed to , Andre * undertook the conflict against this prostration of intellect . He opposed to this theological nullity his pious zeal , and to their empty formulas his genuine feeling for religion ,
raised by certain mystical views , and proved himself the champion of truth ancl virtue , not only personally in the immediate circle of his duties , but by an extended epistolary correspondence , and a number of small tracts , replete , as occasion required , with bitter irony or sparkling wit ; UOAV dignified in manner , IIOAV persuasive with paternal suggestions .
Herder ' s opinion of his writings is as follows : — " He has Avritten much ancl in a peculiar manner . His AA'ritings are not works , but diminutive tracts ; small snuggeries , not large empty halls , but occasionally full of the most curious , unexpected rarities ; essays , ivhich the commonalty of his age looked on with wonder , and which sometimes astonish those of
the present clay ; they are occasionally impossible to interpret , and . may often be considered but as fantastical children of his brain ; all , however , give evidence of their author ' s creative and imaginative powers , of true feeling ancl acute judgment , and of a no mean , though badly developed , talent for poetry . He clothes everything he writes in fablesdialoguesand other
, , ingenious mediums ; he tells us truths that even now , after the farther progress of a century , we scarcely dare venture to promulgate ; but he tells them with as much sweetness ancl honesty as terseness ancl wit , so that he appears in his contentious and anathematizing century as a rose am one thorns , ivhich may be
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches
of humanity . To this special knowledge of mankind , he superadded an extensive acquaintance Avith the ancient classics . Quick in apprehension , cool in judgment , and acute in application , he was filled Avith the idea to oppose purity of manners ancl a lively religious feeling , to the hypocritical or cold theories , or to the vain scholastic disputations of his cotemporaries . With
this vieAV , ancl in his endeavours for this laudable purpose , he was always ready to offer the exertions of an entire life , and to oppose himself to every clanger , Avith any sacrifice of self , and from the purest disinterestedness . It was with feelings of tlie deepest sorrow that he vieAved the misfortunes and errors of his times , in Avhich , on one side , the horrors of the Thirty Years' War
raised their social disturbances and party factions to the highest pitch ; and Avhich , on the other hand , the prevailing theological opinions , sunk rather in unnecessarily balancing the theoretical meanings of their dogmas than in putting forivard to vieAV the charity ancl hope which pervade the belief of the evangelists , ivere utterly unable to counteract . With force and confidence
, undeterred by the insinuations ancl disquietude he Avas exposed to , Andre * undertook the conflict against this prostration of intellect . He opposed to this theological nullity his pious zeal , and to their empty formulas his genuine feeling for religion ,
raised by certain mystical views , and proved himself the champion of truth ancl virtue , not only personally in the immediate circle of his duties , but by an extended epistolary correspondence , and a number of small tracts , replete , as occasion required , with bitter irony or sparkling wit ; UOAV dignified in manner , IIOAV persuasive with paternal suggestions .
Herder ' s opinion of his writings is as follows : — " He has Avritten much ancl in a peculiar manner . His AA'ritings are not works , but diminutive tracts ; small snuggeries , not large empty halls , but occasionally full of the most curious , unexpected rarities ; essays , ivhich the commonalty of his age looked on with wonder , and which sometimes astonish those of
the present clay ; they are occasionally impossible to interpret , and . may often be considered but as fantastical children of his brain ; all , however , give evidence of their author ' s creative and imaginative powers , of true feeling ancl acute judgment , and of a no mean , though badly developed , talent for poetry . He clothes everything he writes in fablesdialoguesand other
, , ingenious mediums ; he tells us truths that even now , after the farther progress of a century , we scarcely dare venture to promulgate ; but he tells them with as much sweetness ancl honesty as terseness ancl wit , so that he appears in his contentious and anathematizing century as a rose am one thorns , ivhich may be