PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, IN A COURSE OF LECTURES, DELIVERED AT VIENNA BY FREDERICK VON SCHLEGEL. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR, BY JAMES BARON ROBERTSON, ESQ. SECOND EDITION, REVISED. LONDON: HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. CONTENTS. PAGE Of the Constitution of the Chinese Empire.-The moral and poli- tical condition of China.-The character of Chinese intellect and 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 philo- A comparative view of the intellectual character of the four prin- cipal nations in the primitive world-the Indians, the Chinese, the Egyptians, and the Hebrews; next of the peculiar spirit and Of the Hindoo Philosophy.-Dissertation on Languages.-Of the peculiar political Constitution and Theocratic Government of General considerations upon the Nature of Man, regarded in a his- torical point of view, and on the two-fold view of history. ancient Pagan Mysteries.-Of the universal Empire of Persia... 207 Variety of Grecian life and intellect.-State of education and of the fine arts among the Greeks.-The origin of their philosophy and On the Christian point of view in the Philosophy of History.- The origin of Christianity, considered in reference to the political 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 Chris- Sketch of Mahomet and his religion.-Establishment of the Sara- On the formation and consolidation of the Christian Government in modern times.-On the principle which led to the establish- 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 General observations on the Philosophy of History.-On the cor- rupt state of society in the fifteenth century.-Origin of Protest- Further development and extension of Protestantism, in the period of the religious wars, and subsequently thereto.-On the differ- ent results of those wars in the principal European countries... 410 { ADVERTISEment to the second EDITION. TEN years have elapsed since this translation first issued from the press. A long abode in Germany, and a more extensive acquaintance with German literature, have convinced me, that the estimate I had formed of the genius of the eminent personage who forms the subject of the following memoir, as well as of the moral and intellectual influence he exerted over his age, was not exaggerated. In many departments of letters and philosophy, I perceived the deep traces which this remarkable spirit had left in its passage. From enlightened Germans, Protestant as well as Catholic, in conversation as well as in print, I have heard him styled, "one of the profoundest thinkers our country ever produced." At Bonn, I had the honour of becoming acquainted with his celebrated brother, A. W. von Schlegel, whose recent loss the literary world still deplores, and who had preserved in his advanced age so much of the vigour of his great intellectual powers. There also I formed a friendship with the late excellent Dr. Windischmann,* who had been F. Schlegel's most intimate friend, and whose extensive learning and deep philosophic views, were only equalled by his fervent piety. Later, I learned to know * Dr. Windischmann was Catholic Professor of Philosophy at the university of Bonn. His most celebrated work is the "History of Religion and Philosophy in China and India." He was nominated to the chair of philosophy at Bonn, in the year 1818, when the university was founded; and no nomination reflected more credit on the government of the late King of Prussia, or afforded more satisfaction to his Rhenish subjects. By the statutes of the mixed universities of Bonn and Breslau, the Catholic and Protestant churches, are each entitled to their respective faculties of theology, and to their several chairs of philosophy and history. The other prefessorships may be occupied indifferently by Catholics and Protestants. By an arbitrary measure of the late King of Prussia, the Catholic chair of history at Bonn was allowed to remain vacant for the space of fifteen years; but his enlightened successor, on his accession to the throne, repaired this injustice. |