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30 chapters
OF THE LITERARY LIFE
OF THE LITERARY LIFE
In the following sketch of the literary life of the late Frederick Von Schlegel, it is the intention of the writer to take a rapid review of that author's principal productions, noticing the circumstances out of which they grew, and the influence they exerted on his age; giving at the same time a fuller analysis of his political and metaphysical systems:—an analysis which is useful, nay almost necessary to the elucidation of very many passages in the work, to which this memoir is prefixed. Of
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§§ I. The Christian state is without slaves, and honours the sanctity of the nuptial tie.
§§ I. The Christian state is without slaves, and honours the sanctity of the nuptial tie.
Christianity first mitigated, and then abolished slavery. Slavery is incompatible with the spirit of Christianity, not only on account of the maltreatment, injuries, and oppression to which it subjects men; not only on account of the dangers to which it exposes female virtue; but chiefly and especially, because the state of slavery is one inconsistent with the dignity of a being made after the likeness of God. This complete emancipation of the lower classes from the bonds of servitude pre-eminen
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§§ II. Christian justice is founded on a system of equity, and the Christian state has from its constitution, an essentially pacific tendency.
§§ II. Christian justice is founded on a system of equity, and the Christian state has from its constitution, an essentially pacific tendency.
Schlegel observes that the difference between strict law and equitable law is the most arduous problem in all jurisprudence. Strict law is an abstract law, deduced from certain general principles, applied without the least regard to adventitious circumstances. Equity, on the other hand, pays due regard to such circumstances, examines into the peculiar state of things, and the mutual relations of parties; and forms her decisions not according to the caprice of fancy, or the waywardness of feeling
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§ III. The Christian state recognizes the legal existence of Corporations, and depends on their organic co-operation.
§ III. The Christian state recognizes the legal existence of Corporations, and depends on their organic co-operation.
The author has before shown that the Christian religion, following the principle of conciliatory equity, recognizes, without reference to their origin, all existing rights and interests. Hence the Christian religion can coexist, and has in fact coexisted, with every form or species of government. But there are some governments which, from their spirit and constitution, are more congenial than others to Christianity; and it is in this sense we speak of the Christian state. We have already seen th
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AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
The most important subject, and the first problem of philosophy, is the restoration in man of the lost image of God; so far as this relates to science. Should this restoration in the internal consciousness be fully understood and really brought about, the object of pure philosophy is attained. To point out historically in reference to the whole human race, and in the outward conduct and experience of life, the progress of this restoration in the various periods of the world, constitutes the obje
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LECTURE I. INTRODUCTION.
LECTURE I. INTRODUCTION.
"And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; but the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Gen. i. 2. By philosophy of history must not be understood a series of remarks or ideas upon history, formed according to any concerted system, or train of arbitrary hypotheses attached to facts. History cannot be separated from facts, and depends entirely on reality; and thus the Philosophy of history, as it is the spirit or idea of history, must be de
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ON THE DISPUTE IN PRIMITIVE HISTORY, AND ON THE DIVISION OF THE HUMAN RACE.
ON THE DISPUTE IN PRIMITIVE HISTORY, AND ON THE DIVISION OF THE HUMAN RACE.
"In the beginning man had the word, and that word was from God." Thus the divine, Promethean spark in the human breast, when more accurately described and expressed in less figurative language, springs from the word originally communicated or intrusted to man, as that wherein consist his peculiar nature, his intellectual dignity and his high destination.—The pregnant expression borrowed above from the New Testament, on the mystery and internal nature of God, may with some variation, and bating,
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END OF LECTURE II.
END OF LECTURE II.
Of the constitution of the Chinese Empire—the moral and political condition of China—the character of Chinese intellect and Chinese science. "Man and the earth,"—this has been the subject of our previous disquisitions, and might serve as the superscription to this first portion of the work. In the second part, comprised in the four or five following lectures, the subject discussed is sacred Tradition, according to the peculiar form which it assumed among each of the great and most remarkable nat
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END OF LECTURE III.
END OF LECTURE III.
Of the Institutions of the Indians—the Brahminical caste, and the hereditary priesthood.—Of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, considered as the basis of Indian life, and of Indian philosophy. When Alexander the Great had attained the object of his most ardent desires and, realizing the fabulous expedition of Bacchus and his train of followers, had at last reached India, the Greeks found this vast region, even on this side of the Ganges—(for that river, the peculiar object of Alexander
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END OF LECTURE IV.
END OF LECTURE IV.
A comparative view of the intellectual character of the four principal nations in the primitive world—the Indians, the Chinese, the Egyptians, and the Hebrews; next of the peculiar spirit and political relations of the ancient Persians. As, after discord had broken out among mankind, humanity became split and divided into a multitude of nations, races, and languages, into hostile and conflicting tribes, castes rigidly separated, and classes variously divided; as indeed, when once we suppose this
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END OF LECTURE V.
END OF LECTURE V.
Of the Hindoo Philosophy.—Dissertation on Languages.—Of the peculiar political Constitution and Theocratic Government of the Hebrews.—Of the Mosaic Genealogy of Nations. The Indian philosophy, from the place it holds in the primitive intellectual history of Asia, and from the insight it gives us into the character and peculiar tendency of the human mind in that early period, possesses a high, almost higher, interest than that offered by the beautiful and captivating poetry of this ancient people
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END OF LECTURE VI.
END OF LECTURE VI.
General considerations upon the nature of man, regarded in an historical point of view, and on the two-fold view of history.—Of the ancient Pagan Mysteries.—Of the universal Empire of Persia. Instead of the Mosaic genealogy of nations, commented on in a hundred different ways, and interpreted according to the received views of each individual—a genealogy which was considered as the necessary basis of every universal history, and which by the most false and arbitrary methods was violently straine
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END OF LECTURE VII.
END OF LECTURE VII.
Variety of Grecian life and intellect.—State of education and of the fine arts among the Greeks.—The origin of their philosophy and natural science.—Their political degeneracy. It would be difficult to point out a more striking difference, a more decided opposition in the whole circle of the intellectual and moral character and habits of nations, as far at least as the sphere of known history extends, than that which exists between the seclusive and monotonous character of Asiatic intellect—the
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END OF LECTURE VIII.
END OF LECTURE VIII.
Character of the Romans.—Sketch of their conquests.—On strict law, and the law of equity in its application to History, and according to the idea of divine justice.—Commencement of the Christian dispensation. Instead of that astonishing variety in the states, the races, the political constitutions, the manners, styles of art and modes of intellectual cultivation, which divided from its very origin the social existence of Greece—a division which gave a more rich and diversified aspect to Greek ci
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MR. BULWER'S NEW WORK.
MR. BULWER'S NEW WORK.
"Great as is both the power and beauty of Mr. Bulwer's former works, we know none that mark the creative thinker more than the present production—its pages are full of new lights and happy illustrations."— Lit. Gaz....
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M. DE TOCQUEVILLE'S AMERICA.
M. DE TOCQUEVILLE'S AMERICA.
"We recommend M. De Tocqueville's work as the very best in plan on the subject of America we have ever met with, and we think we may claim the same praise for it with reference to its execution."— Blackwood....
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THE HON. MRS. NORTON'S NOVEL.
THE HON. MRS. NORTON'S NOVEL.
"'The Wife,' and 'Woman's Reward,' are full of brilliancy and pathos. In knowledge of society, and of the feelings and passions by which it is actuated, Mrs. Norton has no rival."— John Bull....
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CAPTAIN MARRYAT'S NEW WORK.
CAPTAIN MARRYAT'S NEW WORK.
"Captain Marryat seems to us to stand alone amongst the writers of his century in the power of presenting life as it is."— Spectator....
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NEW WORK BY THE AUTHOR OF "CECIL HYDE."
NEW WORK BY THE AUTHOR OF "CECIL HYDE."
"The scene of this work is laid among the upper ranks of London life, and executed with the skill and spirit of one well acquainted with its varying hues."— Lit. Gaz....
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NEW WORK, BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE COLLEGIANS."
NEW WORK, BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE COLLEGIANS."
"No writer has depicted Irish character and manners with greater truth and effect than this author. His descriptions of scenery are charmingly picturesque; his personal sketches vivid and individual, and his tales well constructed, entertaining, and interesting."— Lit. Gaz....
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THE COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON'S NEW WORK.
THE COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON'S NEW WORK.
"The dignity and sweetness of the female character were never portrayed with more force and truth than in this clever production."— Times....
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PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY;
PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY;
IN A COURSE OF LECTURES, DELIVERED AT VIENNA, TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR, BY JAMES BURTON ROBERTSON, ESQ. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET. MDCCCXXXV. B. BENSLEY, PRINTER. PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. On the Christian point of view in the Philosophy of History.—The origin of Christianity, considered in reference to the political world.—Decline of the Roman Empire. A regular history of the life of our Saviour, recounted like any other histo
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END OF LECTURE X.
END OF LECTURE X.
Of the ancient Germans, and of the invasion of the Northern tribes.—The march of Nature in the historical development of Nations.—Further diffusion and internal consolidation of Christianity.—Great corruption of the world.—Rise of Mahometanism. The idolatry of the ancient Germans, like the less poetical, less artificial, and less elaborate Paganism of all primitive nations, consisted in a simple adoration of Nature, such as existed among the Persians, with whom they had a very close affinity in
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END OF LECTURE XI.
END OF LECTURE XI.
Sketch of Mahomet and his religion.—Establishment of the Saracenic Empire.—New organization of the European West, and Restoration of the Christian Empire. From the earliest period, the pastoral tribes of Arabia have lived under their Emirs, in all the wild independence of Nomade nations; they were not however without cities, as these were created and rendered necessary by the trade of the caravan, which in its journies through the wilderness, and in its passage from one inhabited province to ano
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END OF LECTURE XII.
END OF LECTURE XII.
On the formation and consolidation of the Christian Government in modern times.—On the principle which led to the establishment of the old German Empire. The first three centuries of the Christian era and of modern history compose the epoch when, by a second fiat of creation, the light of Christianity spread through the whole Roman world, and when after undergoing long persecutions, the religion of Christ under Constantine came victorious out of the struggle. The second epoch or the succeeding f
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END OF LECTURE XIII.
END OF LECTURE XIII.
On the struggles of the Guelfs and Ghibellines.—Spirit of the Ghibelline age.—Origin of romantic poetry and art.—Character of the scholastic science and the old jurisprudence.—Anarchical state of Western Europe. The most rapid sketch of the history of the middle age, if it contained but a few lively, characteristic and faithful traits on a subject inexhaustible in itself, would suffice to convince any reasonable man that great characters, (abounding almost more than in any other period of histor
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END OF LECTURE XIV.
END OF LECTURE XIV.
General observations on the Philosophy of History.—On the corrupt state of society in the fifteenth century.—Origin of Protestantism, and character of the times of the Reformation. The Philosophy of History—that is to say, the right comprehension of its wonderful course, the solution and illustration of its mighty problems, and of the complex enigmas of humanity, and its destiny in the lapse of ages—is not to be found in isolated events, or detached historical facts, but in the principles of soc
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END OF LECTURE XV.
END OF LECTURE XV.
Further developement and extension of Protestantism, in the period of the religious wars, and subsequently thereto.—On the different results of those wars in the principal European countries. The true Reformation, loudly demanded in the fifteenth century as the most urgent want of the times, not only by the capricious voice of the multitude, but by the first and most legitimate organs of opinion in church and state, and the nature of which had been long before clearly stated, and fully and gener
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END OF LECTURE XVI.
END OF LECTURE XVI.
Parallel between the religious peace of Germany and that of the other countries of Europe.—The political system of the Balance of Power, and the principle of false Illuminism prevalent in the eighteenth century. The great benefits of the religious peace of Germany, which founded upon, and springing out of a great historical necessity, has struck such deep roots in the public mind, and at last become a second nature to the Germans, may be best appreciated by a comparison with the state of religio
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END OF LECTURE XVII.
END OF LECTURE XVII.
On the general spirit of the age, and on the universal Regeneration of Society. “I come soon, and will renew all things.” There are in the history of the eighteenth century, many phenomena which occurred so suddenly, so instantaneously, so contrary to all expectation, that although on deeper consideration we may discover their efficient causes in the past, in the natural state of things, and in the general situation of the world, yet are there many circumstances which prove that there was a deli
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