FESTIVAL IN HONOUR OF HEGEL.
[FROM A CORRESPONDENT.]
Berlin, 5th .June, 1871. WE have just had here an occasion in which students of philo- sophy in Britain must feel interest. On Saturday a Festival was held in this city at the unveiling of a colossal bust of Hegel erected in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of his birth- day. It has often been remarked that Berlin has no statues ex- cept in honour of military heroes. Things are changing in this respect. A bust of Hegel has just been uncovered ; and, in a short time more, a magnificent colossal statue of Schiller, with appropriate symbolic figures on the base of the pedestal, will have its covering removed. The capital of now united Germany begins to give some public testimony to the greatness of her philosophers and poets.
The events of Saturday last deserve to be recorded, as affording important evidence of what is doing in Germany in the interests of philosophy. The event of the day was the presentation of the monument to the civic authorities. A large company assembled to witness the ceremonial. The proceedings were begun by the singing of appropriate verses prepared for the occasion by Professor Maercker, of the Philosophical Faculty. These were well rendered by a choir of male voices, with accompaniment of brass instru- ments. Professor Miitzner, President of the Philosophical Society, who had been a student under Hegel, then delivered a most eloquent address in honour of the philosopher, and on concluding formally handed over the monument to the civic authorities. The gift was suitably acknowledged by Biirgermeister liedemann, and then three hearty cheers were given in honour of this important addition to the monuments of Berlin. Two concluding stanzas from Professor Maerker's poem were then sung, as an appro- priate conclusion to these proceedings, conducted in the open air.
The bust, executed by G. Blaeser, of Berlin, is in bronze, and is a fine representation of the noble head of the philosopher. It is set on a polished block of granite, about eight feet in height, and is suitably enclosed. On the bust itself is printed, "(1. W. F. Hegel," on the granite below, in large gold letters, "Hegel." The spot selected for it is the ornamental piece of ground in the Bauhof Platz, just behind the University garden. The monument is so placed that the philosopher is represented as looking directly into the scene of his labours in the University.
The honour of originating the proposal of this memorial of Hegel belongs to the Philosophical Society. The fact is worthy of notice, when it is acknowledged that philosophy does not now awaken that interest in Germany which it once did. Students do not now crowd the rooms where philosophy is taught as German students were wont to do. After the times of Kant and Schelling and Fichte and Hegel, a time of reaction has come. For this many reasons can be given. But in the midst of this it is gratify- ing that the veneration for the lest-named great master is so great among mature thinkers here, and among the most cultivated of young men past the period of college life, that the project for a monument of Hegel has been most successfully carried through by them.
After the open-air proceedings were over, a large company as- sembled in the hall of the Singing Academy to listen to an address from Professor Michelet, a devoted expounder of the Hegelian philosophy. He warmly vindicated Hegel from the charge of favouring a materialistic philosophy, and in a most eloquent ora-
tion pronounced a glowing eulogium on his power as a thinker. Still later in the day another assemblage was convened in honour of the occasion, in the great hall of the University. Dr. Carl G.
Brans, Rector of the University, presided, and the University authorities appeared in their academic costume. Besides those to
whom special invitations had been issued, a large body of students atteaded. The proceedings began by singing the beautiful lines of Goethe, commencing,—
" Des Menschen Seele Gleichet dam Wasser, Von Himmel kommt es, Z1101 Himmel steigt es:"
"The soul of man, like to the water, from heaven comes, and to heaven ascends." Professor Hanns then read a most elaborate paper, in part historical, sketching the career of Hegel, in part analytical and critical. It was given in a constrained, rigidly- judicial manner, which contrasted curiously with the impassioned utterances of the early part of the day. it ascribed honour to Hegel for the large degree in which he had stimulated philosophi- cal thinking, but questioned if he had done much in the discovery of truth. And as if this were not enough by way of trying the feelings of admirers of H.egel on such a day, he pointed to the division of his disciples into two schools so antagonistic that Hegelians had the satisfaction of upholding contradictory systems. As is common in such cases, the address pleased neither party, and rather seriously excited some ardent admirers of the great teacher whose gifts and achievements were that day being celebrated. The proceedings in the University were brought to a close by the choir singing two stanzas from Horace (Od. I., 22), "Integer vitm scelerisque puma," &c.
If any present felt it difficult to restrain themselves in the after- noon, full freedom of speech was enjoyed in the evening, when a dinner was given by the Philosophical Society. Professor Matz- ner, who had begun the proceedings of the day so well, took the chair, as president of the society, having on his right Professor Hegel, son of the philosopher, and on the left the Rector of the University. A large company sat down to dinner, including pro- fessors, members:of Parliament, and several who had come a great distance to be present. That the disciples of Hegel, united in the same society, and combined in the honourable work of erecting a monument to their great master, are really divided into two dis- tinct schools was made abundantly clear by the speaking, which was quite unreserved in its utterance of philosophical opinion. This gave a peculiar interest to the evening meeting, specially for a stranger anxious to discover how the currents of thought were sweeping. Professor Hanns may or may not have acted wisely in referring, on such an occasion, to the division among Hegelians, but it was plain he had not spoken without evidence. The com- pany was so varied that it might be taken as thoroughly repre- sentative. There were professors of philosophy and of theology, clergymen of high position in the Lutheran Church, doctors of philosophy who have carried their love of mental science beyond the University, men of experience in the Senate, in the battle- fields, and in the bustling scenes of commercial life. And though part of the evening was occupied with speeches such as are common on these occasions, the greater part of it was devoted to speeches bearing strictly on philosophical questions. The memory of Hegel was received in silence. Afterwards the speak- ing was free and unrestrained. The philosophy of Hegel was praised on all hands, but for curiously opposite reasons. On the one hand, as freeing the mind from the trammels of theology ; on the other, as affording a firm philosophical basis on which Chris- tian theology could rest. These conflicting opinions were main- tained with the greatest earnestness, and at times with some approach to vehemence. And yet the utmost good-will and friendliness of temper were maintained. Nevertheless, the diver- gence of opinion was so marked, that when Professor Vatke gave "The relation of Hegel's philosophy to theological science," there was a considerable number who refused to respond, and one or two attempted, in a good-humoured way, however, to induce some near them not to acknowledge the sentiment. There are two schools under the one name, the one avowedly spiritualistic, the other strongly antagonistic. Under the banner of Hegel the same battle is raging here which is raging elsewhere between a spiritualistic philosophy and scientific thought, which seeks to separate itself, at least, from a spiritualistic system, if it do not break out into open warfare. Only, here, as it seems, there is more of political bias entering into the anti-spiritualistic school than is commonly found among men of the same position in England and Scotland.
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