The Philosophy of History, Vol. 1 of 2Schlegel, Friedrich von
Philosophy
The Philosophy of History, Vol. 1 of 2
Schlegel, Friedrich von
History; History -- Philosophy
dignified moderation, which according to the express acknowledgment of
German Liberals, it carries into the discussion of political
matters--that aversion from all extreme and violent parties and measures
in politics, which distinguishes this journal, betray the illustrious
hand which first set it in motion.
Nothing, in fact, can be more dissimilar than the policy long
followed by the Austrian government, and that which Schlegel would
have recommended, and did in fact recommend. What, especially since
the time of the Emperor Joseph II., has characterized the general
policy of this government? In respect to ecclesiastical matters, we
still see (though the evil was mitigated by the piety of the late
emperor), we still see that government, by a restless, encroaching
spirit of jealousy, hamper the jurisdiction, and cramp the moral and
intellectual energies of the clergy. In relation to the people, its
sway is mild and paternal, indeed, but at the same time, intrusive,
meddling and vexatious--it is, in short, a dead, mechanical
absolutism, where all spontaneity of popular action has been
destroyed--all equilibrium of powers overturned--and where royalty,
by an irregular attraction, has disturbed, deranged, or compressed
the movements of the other social bodies. With respect to science,
those best acquainted with the policy of this government affirm,
that its patronage is too exclusively confined to the mechanical
arts and the physical sciences. In short, no where has the political
materialism of the eighteenth century attained a more systematic
development than in the Austrian government. Yet in that empire are
to be found all the elements of a great social regeneration; and to
a minister desirous of earning enduring fame, to a monarch ambitious
of living for ever in the hearts of a grateful people, the noblest
opportunity is presented for reviving, renovating, and bringing to
perfection the free, glorious, but now alas! mutilated and
half-effaced institutions of the middle age.
If such is the policy of the Austrian government in relation to the
church, to liberty, and to science, it is needless to observe how
entirely opposed it was to the views of Schlegel. His whole life was
devoted to the cultivation and diffusion of elegant literature and
liberal science; and any policy which tended to obstruct their
progress, or shackle the energies of the human mind, must have been
most adverse to his feelings and wishes. As a sincere friend to
religious liberty, as well as a good Catholic, he must have deplored
the bondage under which the church groaned; and how ardently
attached he was to the cause of popular freedom, how utterly averse
from any thing like absolutism in politics, the reader will soon
have an opportunity of judging for himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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