of conduct greatly deprecated by Kant. Socrates, and after him Plato, had however too much scientific intuition to be misled by the liberty which they allowed to others.

With regard to the practical part of their philosophy there is this difference between Socrates and Kant, that the former as a teacher of unprecedented moral doctrines was compelled to explain and illustrate them by his own actions, both public and private; while Kant had nothing to do but direct public attention to that law, for obedience to which a thousand martyrs had perished. The Greeks were a young people, principally characterized by their emulative spirit. Their Olympic games were typical of their uniform disposition. The continuance of their best citizens in the paths of sobriety, moderation, and justice, was rather the result of competition than of any higher motive. Thus with their philosophical theories, gymnastic exercises were introduced in the public arena, and made the theme of public discussion. The ancient philosopher was obliged in a great measure to elucidate his creed by his life; but in our own days, in consequence of the general development of perception, mental doctrines need no sensuous interpretation; and theories which effect the greatest mutations in society may owe their parentage to men who never leave the quiet of the cell or the seclusion of the hermitage for personal intercourse with man

kind.

We may anticipate that Kant's philosophy will exercise on the future development of science, an influence analogous to that exerted by Socrates at an earlier period. The fruit it has already borne during the brief interval which has elapsed since his death justifies us in this expectation. As in the days of antiquity Socrates brought forward a system entirely novel for the development of ideas, and one which nevertheless revived in some degree the preceding doctrines of Parmenides, Pythagoras, Heracles, and Democritus, so did the theory of Kant, though in itself perfectly original, re-introduce to mankind the doctrines of Spinoza, Leibnitz, Plato, and Jacob Böhme. Indeed it is the noble prerogative of genius to discern the truth that exists in all creeds, how much soever they may differ from each other. The wise architect does not reject the Doric order or the Ionic order in favour of the Corinthian, but he finds in each class an adaptation to a particular portion of the edifice. The fragmentary and divers specimens of the various philosophic orders Kant has combined together with the judgment of a sage, and with the taste of an artist; and has constructed for us a mental temple accordant with the simple but imposing solem

nity of feelings inherent in the breasts of devout and earnest worshippers.

The theory of Leibnitz as to a supernatural intellectual world has been embodied in Kant's system, as that state of reason wherein we spiritually live, while as physical beings we belong to the realms of space and time. This theory is moreover recognized by Hegel, who asserts "that the kingdom of God is realized in the history of the world."

The spirit of Spinoza is exhibited by Kant, who laboured to found a strict metaphysical system upon pure notions; and he may in this respect be associated with Schelling, who considered the various appearances of nature as so many different aspects of mental perception.

The attempt of Locke to bring the imagination under the control of experience is, in so far as valuable, wrought out successfully by Kant, who separated and distinguished the elements of knowledge into classes, material and spiritual. This doctrine is indicated in the Psychology of Herbart and Benek, which subjects the attractive and repulsive powers of the imagination to a demonstrative ordeal.

The dialectics of Plato, which treat with wonderful ingenuity of the contradictions and labyrinths in the ideal world, are reflected in Kant's doctrine of the Autinomies and Paralogisms; wherein he shows how blind and powerless is reason out of her proper sphere. As to this, Kant's influence may be traced in the attempt of Hegel to reconcile the difficulties contained in the Antinomies, and in the endeavour of Herbart to correct them.

The construction of nature by Des Cartes, who said "give me extension and motion, and I will create nature," is represented in Kant as a physical DYNAMIC from the attractive and repulsive powers, and is assented to in the philosophy of Oken, who proves the act of self-consciousness to be the same in the simple form of the atom, and in the organization of the thinking brain.

The doctrines of Grotius and Hobbes Kant involves in his idea of natural right, which he has developed in theories of stateeconomy, and which men like Hegel and Krause held to be superior even to the ideal of Plato's Republic.

The theological rationalism originated by Abelard, and which transfers faith from the realm of external authority into that of man's inward conscience, Kant described as a religion within the limits of pure reason, where faith is generated by the vivid operation of our feelings and sympathies. This doctrine has found an able and successful advocate in Schleiermacher,

The philosophy of the present day resembles a vast edifice,

which as an entirety is beyond the comprehension of the beholder. Most of our modern thinkers are familiar with but one wing or section. It was for Kant to sketch the plan of the whole building. Every one after him has chosen a certain department; one the categories, another the à priori views, a third the investigation of objects, and a fourth the absolute subject. Thus the general survey has been gradually lost. The knowledge of modern philosophers is profound and rich in experience, but at the same time limited and partial; that of Kant, on the other hand, though abstract and poor in experience, was nevertheless allembracing and ideally distinct. It is impossible at the present time to be a thorough adept in philosophy, without becoming familiar with those principles which are developed in Kant's Criticism on Pure Reason. On the other hand, no sooner have we mastered that criticism than we discern in every page the seeds of all systems now in vogue amongst mankind. We are however apt to prefer the harvest to the seed, and thus forgetting that they but reap what Kant sowed, the modern schools have actually sneered at the imperfect state of his speculations. Fichte is the only man who has acknowledged his system to be a branch of Kant's. It was customary in the school of Schelling to look contemptuously on the philosopher of Königsberg, while the disciples of Hegel held the Criticism on Reason to be the emanation of an inferior mind. There is however some excuse for their severity. The fault chiefly rests with those pedantic blockheads who, adhering to Kant's system, and calling their school very improperly the Kantian, did not advance a single step beyond their prototype, although he himself more than once declared that his system was far from being complete. Thus it happened that the thinking disciples of Kant, who advanced with wonderful rapidity in the road pointed out to them by the latter, found it better to disown his name altogether than to bear it in connexion with those imbecile travellers who could not proceed a step beyond the spot to which they were led.

In analyzing the wonderful features peculiar to Kant's philosophy we are primarily struck by the elevated and ennobling feelings which it awakens. In looking to the moral law as that which is to govern our conduct, and as the source whence we are to receive all communications of à priori science, we become aware of the dignity of human character, and of the glory of our ultimate destiny. The development of laws in the region of spirit becomes to us as familiar as their illustration in the world of matter. We ascend to the eminence of a moral observatory; the human soul is the firmament which we scan, and the immor

tal faculties are those worlds of which we calculate the position, the ascendancy, and the eclipse.

We are led, in the second place, to perceive that the universal law which reigns throughout the spiritual and material worlds is neither of a physical nor an intellectual, but of a moral character.

Thirdly, we are induced to acknowledge that the most valuable features of ancient philosophy have been retained in the system of Kant, and that he has superadded to them those higher qualities and forms of illustration wherewith Christianity has been endowed by its author.

But that which demands our most particular attention and admiration is, the universality of that mind which found something akin to itself in all former systems, how much soever at variance with each other; which having collected together the currency of previous thoughts, and upon which the stamp of greater principles was but partially visible, refined them together in the furnace of virtuous intelligence, amalgamated them into harmonious unity, and sealed their homogeneity with the indelible impression of truth.

ART. VI.-1. On the Preparation of Opium for the Chinese Market; written March 1835. By Ď. Butler, M.D. Bengal.

1836.

2. The Canton Register. 1838-9.

3. The Chinese Repository. July, 1836; January and March, 1837.*

NATIONS in the early stages of civilization are like children in their infancy. They have to undergo a course of instruction in order to render them in after years worthy members of society. We take it for granted that it is no more possible for a nation than for an individual to remain perfectly independent of others, unless in a state of comparative barbarism. All advancement in knowledge and power, both in the one case and the other, is made by frequent communication and mutual assistance.

The rules of conduct which ought to regulate the intercourse of nations are by no means fixed and invariable, but should be based upon principles of equity, which are supposed to be well understood in all polished countries. Among uncultivated people how

The Iniquities of the Opium Trade with China; being a Development of the main Causes which exclude the Merchants of Great Britain from the Advantages of an unrestricted commercial Intercourse with that vast Empire. With Extracts from authentic Documents. By the Reverend A. S. Thelwall, M. A. Drawn up at the request of several Gentlemen connected with the East India Trade. London: Allen and Co. 1839.

ever the case is different. They neither appreciate the advantages to be derived from a friendly intercourse with other nations, or can be made to understand the relative position in which they are placed. It becomes therefore a matter of great importance that sufficient instruction should be imparted to overcome these impediments, and establish some maxims on which a system of legislation may be founded.

In the education of our children we know that the system of excessive corporal punishment has been proved to have a most pernicious tendency, and is now almost entirely done away with. Experience teaches us that much more is effected towards the improvement of morals by practical illustration and example, than by ten thousand theories and precepts assisted by the cane and birch. In the education of nations, on the contrary, if we search the records of history, we find the melancholy truth, that in the progress of civilization scarcely any advance has been made by just and peaceable expedients. Wherever it has been attempted to disseminate among semi-barbarous tribes the enlightened notions which distinguish the people of our part of the world, lamentable failures have ensued unless they have been backed by some means of coercion or intimidation. Are we then to conclude that a milder course would never be effectual? that man is by nature so depraved, so blind and vitiated, as to require force to compel him to attend to his own interests? Or is he in manhood more insusceptible to truth, when set forth by fair reasoning and virtuous examples, than in the period of childhood? We firmly believe

not.

Let us cast the veil of charity over the motives and proceedings of our ancestors who discovered foreign parts of the globe. It is not our intention in this place to point out or dwell upon the course which they thought proper to pursue in the intercourse with the natives of those places. Opinions happily are now changed, and those measures which were formerly applauded would not at the present day be even tolerated. The views of mankind are becoming much more enlightened. A larger field of vision is exposed, making narrow and selfish feeling give way to broad and universal principles of moral rectitude. Without being suspected of flattering the times in which we live, we may affirm, that in the present philosophical age, when all our actions and even our thoughts are referred to a standard of humanity, no political or commercial advantage should be sought at the expense of either the morality or the welfare of the human race. It is, we feel persuaded, quite practicable to reconcile our individual interests with the general good, and therefore no temptation should induce us to be allured by the one whenever it clashes with the other.