When the mind of man attempts to subject to itself the world of physical phænomena;—when in meditative contemplation of existing things he strives to penetrate the rich fulness of the life of nature, and the free or restricted operations of natural forces;—he feels himself raised to a height from whence, as he glances round the far horizon, details disappear, and groups or masses are alone beheld, in which the outlines of individual objects are rendered indistinct as by an effect of aerial perspective. This illustration is purposely selected in order to indicate the point of view from whence we design to consider the material universe, and to present it as the object of contemplation in both its divisions, celestial and terrestrial. I do not blind myself to the boldness of such an undertaking. Under all the forms of exposition to which these pages are devoted, the presentation of a general view of nature is the more difficult, because we must not permit ourselves to be overwhelmed by the development of the manifold and the multiform; but must dwell only on the consideration of masses, great either by actual magnitude, or by the place which they occupy in the subjective range of ideas.

This translation of Cosmos was undertaken in compliance with the wish of Baron von Humboldt. The Editor, in common he believes with many others, is indebted to the earlier writings of the Author of Cosmos, for awakening in his mind a taste for pursuits, which have formed a large portion of his interest and added greatly to his enjoyment in life: long cherished feelings of gratitude for this obligation, combined with those of personal regard, have been motives with himself, and with Mrs. Sabine,—by whom the Translation has been made,—to surmount the hesitation which they might otherwise have felt in venturing on a task embracing so extensive a range of subjects. Should this translation be favourably received, it will be a great gratification to them hereafter to reflect, that they have been instrumental in making known to the English reader, the work in which the illustrious Author has embodied the fruits of his active and useful life.

The two introductory discourses, which occupy 48 pages in the German edition, have been rewritten by M. de Humboldt himself in the French language, for the French edition, in which they fill 78 pages. These were communicated to the Editor in their passage through the press, and by the Author's desire have been followed in preference to the corresponding portion of the German text, where modifications or additions had been introduced.

In the late evening of a varied and active life, I offer to the German public a work of which the undefined type has been present to my mind for almost half a century. Often the scheme has been relinquished as one which I could not hope to realise, but ever after being thus abandoned, it has been again, perhaps imprudently, resumed. In now presenting its fulfilment to my contemporaries, with that hesitation which a just diffidence of my own powers could not fail to inspire, I would willingly forget that writings long expected are usually least favourably received.

While the outward circumstances of my life, and an irresistible impulse to the acquisition of different kinds of knowledge, led me to occupy myself for many years, apparently exclusively, with separate branches of science,—descriptive botany, geology, chemistry, geographical determinations, and terrestrial magnetism, tending to render useful the extensive journeys in which I engaged,—I had still throughout a higher aim in view; I ever desired to discern physical phænomena in their widest mutual connection, and to comprehend Nature as a whole, animated and moved by inward forces. Intercourse with highly-gifted men had early led me to the conviction, that without earnest devotion to particular studies such attempts could be but vain and illusory.

ON THE DIFFERENT DEGREES OF ENJOYMENT OFFERED BY THE ASPECT OF NATURE AND THE STUDY OF HER LAWS.

In attempting, after a long absence from my country, to unfold a general view of the physical phenomena of the globe which we inhabit, and of the combined action of the forces which pervade the regions of space, I feel a double anxiety. The matter of which I would treat is so vast, and so varied, that I fear, on the one hand, to approach it in an encyclopædic and superficial manner, and on the other, to weary the mind by aphorisms presenting only dry and dogmatic generalities. Conciseness may produce aridity, whilst too great a multiplicity of objects kept in view at the same time leads to a want of clearness and precision in the sequence of ideas.

But nature is the domain of liberty; and to give a lively picture of those ideas and those delights which a true and profound feeling in her contemplation inspires, it is needful that thought should clothe itself freely and without constraint in such forms and with such elevation of language, as may be least unworthy of the grandeur and majesty of creation.

If the study of physical phænomena be regarded in its bearings, not on the material wants of man, but on his general intellectual progress, its highest result is found in the knowledge of those mutual relations which link together the various forces of nature.