PREFACE.
The book of which a translation is here offered to the English reader was published posthumously at Berlin, in the year 1852, by the Author's younger brother, Alexander von Humboldt, the eminent Naturalist. It appeared under the title of 'Ideen zu einem Versuch, die Gränzen der Wirksamkeit des Staats zu bestimmen;' forming part of the seventh and concluding volume of the 'Gesammelte Werke' of its distinguished author. Written in 1791, in his early manhood, and at a time when the ideas which it unfolds were in striking contrast to the events and opinions of the day, the book was long obnoxious to the scruples of the German Censorship; and his friend Schiller, who took much interest in its publication, had some difficulty in finding a publisher willing to incur the necessary responsibility. The Author therefore retained the manuscript in his possession, revising it from time to time, and re-writing considerable portions, which appeared in Schiller's 'Thalia' and the 'Berlin Monthly Review;' but, although the obstacles which at first opposed the issue of the book were subsequently removed, it was never given to the
