I was not aware that by
1860 Europe had long passed his works by in favour of more modern
thinking. With a passionate desire to reach a comprehension of the
truth, I grappled with the System, began with the Encyclopaedia, read
the three volumes of Aesthetics, The Philosophy of Law, the Philosophy
of History, the Phenomenology of the Mind, then the Philosophy of Law
again, and finally the Logic, the Natural Philosophy and the Philosophy
of the Mind in a veritable intoxication of comprehension and delight.
One day, when a young girl towards whom I felt attracted had asked me to
go and say good-bye to her before her departure, I forgot the time, her
journey, and my promise to her, over my Hegel. As I walked up and down
my room I chanced to pull my watch out of my pocket, and realised that I
had missed my appointment and that the girl must have started long ago.
Hegel's Philosophy of Law had a charm for me as a legal student, partly
on account of the superiority with which the substantial quality of
Hegel's mind is there presented, and partly on account of the challenge
in the attitude of the book to accepted opinions and expressions,
"morality" here being almost the only thing Hegel objects to.
But it was the book on Aesthetics that charmed me most of all. It was
easy to understand, and yet weighty, superabundantly rich.
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