Public-domain ebook
by Various
Language: en1,046 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: The Contemporary Review·Essays, Letters & Speeches·British Literature
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #39517.
The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, is a Victorian‑era periodical that gathers a series of scholarly essays on politics, the arts, and literature, each penned by leading thinkers of the day. The volume opens with a robust defense of individual liberty, an essay titled “On Freedom” by Professor Max Muller, which situates John Stuart Mill’s 19th‑century liberalism against both historical precedents and contemporary European criticism. Muller’s piece proceeds by tracing Mill’s passionate plea for personal autonomy, contrasting it with Hobbes’s narrower conception of “freedom of thought,” and then expands the discussion to include the social pressures of English society, the comparative openness of German and Russian institutions, and the role of universities in safeguarding intellectual independence. The table of contents further signals a diverse program, ranging from political analyses of Mr. Gladstone to archaeological reflections on the Deluge, promising a broad intellectual sweep.
The prose is unmistakably Victorian, marked by long, rhetorically layered sentences and a formal, polemical tone that reflects the period’s confidence in rational discourse. Its style combines scholarly citation with impassioned argument, employing a rich vocabulary that assumes familiarity with classical references and contemporary political debates. Readers who relish historic debates on liberty, the evolution of liberal thought, or the cultural politics of the late‑19th century will find this volume rewarding. It especially appeals to scholars of intellectual history, students of political philosophy, and anyone interested in the way Victorian periodicals mediated the clash of ideas across Europe.
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Italic words have been enclosed in underscores. Gesperrt (spaced) letters have been enclosed in asterisks. Greek letters have been transliterated and enclosed in equals signs, e.g. =schole=. Symbols such as hieroglyphics or script letters have been represented using braces, e.g. {symbol}. As the oe ligature cannot be included in this format, it has been replaced with the separate letters, e.g. "Phoenician".
A few minor typographical errors have been silently corrected. Some inconsistent hyphenation and accents have been retained.]
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