learning." In both cases, the
manner of advance, though it may sometimes be unexpected, can never be
abrupt. At each stage events and ideas emerge which not only necessarily
owe their origin to preceding events and ideas, but extend far into the
future and influence it. As these are crowded together, or occur more
widely apart, national life, like individual, shows a variable rapidity,
depending upon the intensity of thought and action. But, no matter how
great that energy may be, or with what rapidity modifications may take
place--since events are emerging as consequences of preceding events,
and ideas from preceding ideas--in the midst of the most violent
intellectual oscillations, a discerning observer will never fail to
detect that there exists a law of continuous variation of human
opinions.

[Sidenote: Plan of this work.]

[Sidenote: Selection among European communities.]

In the examination of the progress of Europe on which we now enter, it
is, of course, to intellectual phenomena that we must, for the most
part, refer; material aggrandisement and political power offering us
less important though still valuable indications, and serving our
purpose rather in a corroborative way. There are five intellectual
manifestations to which we may resort--philosophy, science, literature,
religion, government. Our obvious course is, first, to study the
progress of that member of the European family, the eldest in point of
advancement, and to endeavour to ascertain the characteristics of its
mental unfolding. We may reasonably expect that the younger members of
the family, more or less distinctly, will offer us illustrations of the
same mode of advancement that we shall thus find for Greece; and that
the whole continent, which is the sum of these different parts, will, in
its secular progress, comport itself in like manner.

[Sidenote: Our investigation limited to the intellectual, and commencing
with Greece.]

[Sidenote: From thence we pass to the examination of all Europe.]

Of the early condition of Europe, since we have to consider it in its
prehistoric times, our information must necessarily be imperfect.
Perhaps, however, we may be disposed to accept that imperfection as a
sufficient token of its true nature. Since history can offer us no aid,
our guiding lights must be comparative theology and comparative
philology. Proceeding from those times, we shall, in detail, examine the
intellectual or philosophical movem