mankind. Combining all in one grand system, he crowned it with the purest sympathy for the whole human race. So early as in 1775, he published an essay on the subject; and in teu years afterwards appeared his Philosophy of History. The perfectibility of man is in the first place demonstrated in this immortal work, from the relations of matter to intellect, and from the innate tendency of intellect to improve; and mankind is then shown to have in fact steadily advanced from the earliest period of its history. Kant supplied what was thus defective in Herder as to the application of his opinions. He holds also that by nature man is capable of indefinite perfection; and that freedom is the grand means of attaining it. Freedom however necessarily leads to contention, from which must ultimately and after long struggles, spring well-adjusted laws: the most difficult problem of history being, How to organize civil society so as to make its internal and external relations-the political constitution of different states-produce the greatest possible good to all. To this end each state-as had long before been proposed by the elder St. Pierre-must become a member of the whole commonwealth of nations; for thus alone can an universal peace be obtained. In 1795 Schiller, in Jena, showed that in order to elevate and purify human society, the cultivation of all the arts by minds divested of all undue restraints, must be connected with the political reforms called for by Kant. Schiller's favourite idea, we are told by William von Humboldt in his essay on that great man's genius, was, that the rudest savages are deeply sensible to the charms of music and poetry; and that the elements of all that is refined may be discovered among them, so as to be capable of assuming in able hands a beneficial direction for their civilization. In 1804 Fichte, in his lectures delivered in Berlin, connected these speculations with those of the purely religious school of Schelling. Fichte adopts the doctrine of perfectibility through freedom of action. Originally, says he, reason was mere instinct; and then man was an innocent being. With corruption this pure instinct disappeared; and ultimately the human race fell into confusion, and became savage and barbarous. True science will work a restoration; and, after various epochs passed through, the fallen will be perfect again. According to the bold denunciations of Fichte, the present age is in the last degree base, But his system saves him from despondency; and whilst he repudiates every corrupt thing with unsparing scorn, he declares himself, with the earnestness of an enthusiast and the dignity of a prophet, the unwearied advocate of truth and moral goodness, of boundless knowledge, and the tenderest affections. Schelling placed religion as the basis of all historical deduc tions. He divides time into three periods. The first was the reign of destiny, which crushed men and nations, and displayed its blind power in the East and in Greece. The second, he calls the reign of nature, which began with the Romans, and continues still. The third period is to come with all its glories, derived from the lessons of the past: the Christian religion being, according to Schelling, the mainspring of human improvement. Of the numerous theories to which the writings of these remarkable men gave birth, those of Görres, Steffens, and Fr. Schlegel of Bonn are deservedly the best known. Görres pursues Schelling's speculations upon catholic principles: Steffens reasons upon principles of protestantism: Schlegel is by profession a protestant, but leans decidedly to catholicism. The brilliant and highly figurative eloquence of Görres once made a great impression. His analysis of the indestructible elements of society, which he shows to be ever recurring in new and nobler forms of political existence, is a production of surpassing merit. This analysis appeared in his Europe and the Revolution. Görres has since lost himself in religious mysticism, and in speculations upon the influence of benevolent despotism in politics. Steffens has also given a remarkable analysis of the elements of society, in his pictures of the different ranks and classes of men, the husbandman, the citizen, the scholar, &c. In his work entitled "The present times and how they arose," he developes with great ability the history of mankind since the invasion of the Roman Empire by the barbarians, and since the cotemporaneous establishment of Christianity to our days. He is most successful in the narrative of the last three centuries. His style is wonderfully fine; and has been well described as presenting the German language royally adorned with pearls and gold. Schlegel's Philosophy of History, the production of his old age, can only be looked upon as the result of all that this universal scholar and enlightened man has thought in politics, in religion, in science, and in the fine arts. Two more names must be mentioned, and they complete a catalogue of which Germany may indeed be proud; we mean Hegel and Herbart. But yet, after all that those eminent men have written, little has in effect been added to what Herder produced in favour of the steady progression of the human race. To follow the subject completely in his pages, would be to survey all the relations of man, and all the ends of creation. The essential distinction of the human creature from the inferior animals, the enormous error of confounding man with the ape, the intellectual identity of the various human races, their natural tendency to live in peace, the gratuitous cruelty of the usual intercourse of civilized nations with savages all over the earth, the abomination of Negro slavery, the degrees of civilization which are steps to a higher state of social being, the necessity of studying the language, the music, the government, and the particular condition of savages, the duty of sympathising with all mankind, the poorest as well as the most powerful,-all these things, upon which the public is only beginning to be agreed, are clearly expounded by Herder; and it is no small praise to the Germans, that all parties among them hold him in as much estimation now, as their fathers did sixty years ago. ART. IV.-1. Essai sur la Statistique Générale de la Belgique, composé sur des Documens publics et particuliers. Par Xavier Heuschling. Bruxelles. 1838. 2. De l'Etat de l'Instruction Primaire et Populaire en Belgique. Par Ed. Ducpétiaux. 2 Tomes. Bruxelles. 1838. 3. Des Progrés et de l'Etat actuel de la Reforme Penitentiaire. Par Ed. Ducpétiaux. 3 Tomes. Bruxelles. 1838. THE kingdom of Belgium is in some shape, and industrially speaking, the most satisfactory result of the revolutionary movement which eight years ago shook the thrones of Europe. Whilst in France a mistaken policy has hitherto prevented the realization by the nation of the full practical benefits for which its blood was spilled in the three days of July, and whilst the unhappy Poles rue the day when an evil destiny tempted them to lift their arms against their too powerful oppressor, the Belgians are in the enjoyment of as substantial advantages as their most sanguine hopes before the struggle of September ever ventured to anticipate. Their country is delivered from a foreign yoke; their constitution is based on the most liberal principles; their sovereign is of their own choice; and their laws and institutions, though not yet in perfect organization, are in that state of progression which promises well for the prosperity and happiness of the people. Our present purpose is not political, but to offer some information illustrative of the institutions and state of society in the Belgic provinces. We have sympathized deeply with this people both in its original struggles for independence, and its subsequent diplomatic martyrdom by means of the thousand and one protocols. We shall, however, confine ourselves here to a passing expression of regret at the dismemberment of the territory, whereby 350,000 inhabitants of Limburg and Luxemburg have against their will been made subjects of Holland. Our observations will be limited to the following heads; 1st. Industrial Operations. 2d. Education. 3d. Crime and Prisons. INDUSTRIAL OPERATIONS. There can be little question in regard to the elements of wealth which Belgium contains within herself, and we shall record them briefly. It will suffice to state, that the population of the Belgic provinces is now near four millions and a half,* and that the working classes, who form about three fourths of that number, are in their general character industrious and frugal. A fertile soil, nineelevenths of which is under actual cultivation, and an agriculture so advanced as to be in some respects a model to other countries, produce annually about twice the quantity of corn required for home-consumption. The average price of wheat throughout Belgium in the year 1836, which may be taken as a fair average year, was, in English computation, 35s. 2d. per quarter. The small cultivators are in tolerably easy circumstances, and the flourishing state of agriculture operates favourably upon manufacturing industry, every branch of which is in full activity. The coal mines of the province of Hainault alone produce more than those of all France together, and the annual quantity of coal raised in Belgium exceeds 2,600,000 chaldrons. The iron mines of Liege, Limburg, and Luxemburg, were never worked so extensively. Upwards of 150,000 tons of iron are annually founded, being about half as much as the whole quantity made in France, and nearly one fourth of that in Great Britain. We need not describe Mr. Cockerill's gigantic establishment at Seraing, which with steam engines of not less in the whole than 1000 horse power, and 3000 workmen, sends forth daily for use some 25 tons of machinery of every description. We heard with regret of the late temporary embarrassment of this distinguished house, but, with the aid so timely and judiciously afforded by the Government, are glad to find it has resumed the activity which for the moment was suspended. The cloth manufacture, in which, at Verviers alone, 40,000 workmen are engaged, employs in its various branches a capital equal to three millions sterling. The linen manufacture, principally in the two Flanders, gives employment to 400,000 persons, and the annual production is estimated at four millions * On 31st December, 1836, it was ascertained to be 4,242,600. + In August, 1838, wheat had risen in Belgium to the rate of 50s. 6d. per English quarter, but it will be remembered that at the same period the average of England and Wales had risen to 72s. 11d. per quarter. and a half sterling. The cotton manufacture, notwithstanding the loss of the Dutch colonial markets, has steadily improved since 1830, and now represents a capital of at least three millions sterling. The manufacturers begin to find the natural home-consumption more advantageous than a forced foreign market, and we were informed, during a recent visit to Ghent, that notwithstanding the loss of the artificial stimulus of the Dutch fund called the "Million of Industry," there were 52 cotton-factories in full activity. The lace and silk manufactures are also thriving. Foreign commerce has, to a certain extent, changed its direction, but there can be no doubt of its being in a healthy state. The value of the imports, on an average of the two last years before us, (1834 and 1835) was 212 millions of francs, and that of the exports, 148 millions of francs. The reader may be surprised to hear that a considerable part of this trade was carried on with Holland, notwithstanding the nominal warlike status lately existing; the imports from that enemy averaged 25 millions, and the exports 16 millions. The Belgians even supplied the Dutch with arms to be used against themselves! The diminution of the trade of Antwerp we believe to be a mere phantasm of the Orangists; the truth being that some large capitalists have suffered by the change of circumstances, and that the trade has passed from the hands of a few, into a wider and more beneficial range. The number of ships that now enter the port of Antwerp is considerably greater than it was at any time during the union with Holland, as the following figures will shew: The capital invested in commercial speculations in Belgium must altogether be very considerable indeed. Upwardsof 300 millions of francs have, since the year 1833, been invested in the Societés anonymes, which are exclusively restricted to manufacturing operations. The amount of property insured in eleven assurance offices in Belgium was, in 1837, 1,786,832,222 francs, exclusive of marine assurances, and of the value of 200 millions of francs insured in foreign countries. The capital invested in the Societé generale pour favoriser l'Industrie is 105 millions of francs; that of the Societé des Capitalistes re-unis, 50 millions; and of the Societé des Actions re-unis, 40 millions; and although the Banque de la Bel |