Goethe Reviewed After Sixty Years. By J. R. Seeley, Litt.D.
(Seeley and Co.)—In 1884, fifty-two years, i.e., after Goethe's death, Professor Seeley published three essays on the great poet in the Contemporary Review. These he has reprinted in this volume, revised and enlarged. No more sane and lucid critic than Professor Seeley is to be found, and for a true appre- ciation of Goethe, who is worshipped by many and abhorred by some, such qualities are greatly needed. We would especially direct the attention of our readers to the two last chapters, "The Great Heathen" and "Another Religion," in which Goethe's attitude to Christianity and to religion in general is admirably summed up. Professor Seeley does not err on the side of severity. Possibly some readers may think him too lenient; one can hardly deny that the poet's objection to Christianity was an objection in a great degree to the moral constraint which it claims to exercise ; but the chapters may be read with special interest and profit.
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