6. Schiller and Romanticism

To define romanticism is to attempt something which the romantics themselves insist cannot be done. But we can try to identify and then describe it, first pointing out what it is not. One stable element in romanticism has been its consistent rejection of its opposite, classicism. While no great piece of art has ever existed which did not contain elements of both romanticism and classicism, the partisans of these two different points of view have insisted that different emphases made it great. Where classicism emphasised analysis, objectivity harmony, wholeness, meaning, and discipline, romanticism stressed synthesis,subjectivity,disharmony, individuality,suggestiveness. and spontaneity. [excerpt

2. Victories of Political Liberalism

As we have already suggested in the opening paragraphs of this chapter, the roots of political liberalism antedated the nineteenth century. The philosophic principles of this creed were based on earlier ideas such as natural rights and utilitarianism. Political liberals held that human actions to be moral must be voluntary, and that a society seeking to follow the laws of nature must cherish individual liberty. Since they believed human reason was capable of discerning these laws, liberals believed that enlightened self-interest was an accurate guide for political action. In the next chapter we will take note of the kinship which existed between political liberals and economic liberals. Here we need only to say that both envisaged the chief functions of the state as primarily protective of life, liberty, and property, and active mainly to check abuses and prevent license. [excerpt

1. The Era of Metternichian Conservatism, 1815-1848

Before either political liberalism or nationalism could become institutionalized, the Continent passed through a period of conservative reaction. Taking their cue from Edmund Burke, who as early as 1790 strove to discredit France\u27s great experiment by associating it with the excesses of reason and revolution, many people blamed liberalism for the quarter century of war, and chaos that followed. The Reign Terror in France, under the sway of Madame Guillotine, gave a connotation of horror to the slogan of liberty, equality, and fraternity, Conservativeminded folk tended to regard the abstract ideas of freedom, brotherhood, and a society without class distinctions as mere will-o\u27-the=wisps leading inevitably to anarchy. In the interests of orderly government, the sacred rights of property, and the very existence of Western Civilization itself, they therefore set their faces resolutely against any doctrine which carried the liberal taint. [excerpt

Walter Deane correspondence.

Sender Bailey, William W., 1888-189

Walter Deane correspondence.

Senders N-P, 1845-192

Walter Deane correspondence.

Senders W-Z, 1854-192

Walter Deane correspondence.

Senders F-G, 1884-192