appeal to what was best in them. He refused to canvass for the chair at Jena, or to use the good offices of his friends to clear away possible obstacles. He would not take fees from poor students, yet he always found room for them in his classes. He befriended the distressed in spite of the uncertainty of his own financial position, and imposed no condition on them save that of absolute secrecy. It is not surprising that his influence over the students was so powerful, and that his friendship was regarded as an inestimable gift. Nor is it surprising that, strengthened by the consciousness of the loftiest moral convictions, such a man in early life should have taken as his motto the words which Horace used in praise of Caesar Augustus:—
Si fractus illabatur orbis,
Impavidum ferient ruinae.[1]
He was convinced that this world was a land not of enjoyment, but of labour and toil, and that every joy in life should be only a refreshment and an incentive to greater effort. He felt that he must, therefore, not only think but act, and he confessed to one all-engrossing passion, the desire to influence and ennoble his fellowmen, declaring that the more he acted the happier he seemed to be. His spirit thirsted for opportunity to do great things in the world, to enable him to purchase by deeds his place in the human race.
Unfortunately Fichte showed most of the characteristic defects of these good qualities. He inherited from his mother a violent and impetuous nature which converted his principles into passions and, coupled with his absorbing desire for activity, caused him to be rash and tactless. His passion for the truth made him suspicious
- ↑ Odes, iii, 3, 7-8.
