By  the  general  bent  of  his  mind  Schiller  was  nearer
to  the  humane  idealism  of  Herder  than  to  the  law-
governed  collectivism  of  Kant.  At  the  same  time  we
can  see  from  many  a  sentence  in  his  inaugural  address
that  the  far  more  rigorous  logic  of  the  Konigsberg
philosopher  had  had  its  effect  upon  him.  In  particular
he  was  captivated  by  the  idea  that  the  individual  exists
for  the  sake  of  the  race,  and  that  the  gruesome  an-
tagonisms of  history  are  therefore  to  be  regarded  with
composure  as  the  birth-pains  of  the  modern  man.  A
striking  passage  of  the  lecture  runs  thus :

History,  like  the  Homeric  Zeus,  looks  down  with  the  same
cheerful  countenance  upon  the  bloody  works  of  war  and  upon
the  peaceful  peoples  that  innocently  nourish  themselves  upon
the  milk  of  their  herds.  However  lawlessly  the  freedom  of  man
may  seem  to  operate  upon  the  course  of  the  world,  she  gazes
calmly  at  the  confused  spectacle  ;  for  her  far-reaching  eye  dis-
covers even  from  a  distance  where  this  seemingly  lawless  free-
dom is  led  by  the  cord  of  necessity.  .  .  .  History  saves  us  from
an  exaggerated  admiration  of  antiquity  and  from  a  childish
longing  for  the  past.  Reminded  by  her  of  our  own  possessions
we  cease  to  wish  for  a  return  of  the  lauded  golden  age  of  Alex-
ander or  of  Caesar.
