^^
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)
1.0
I.I
1.25
|50 ""'^
M
2.2
2.0
1.8
U IIIIII.6
W^
m
>>
«
-^
W^
"%
Photographic
Sciences
Corx>oratioii
^%5
^■v
c\
\
23 WEST ^.MIN STREET
WEbSTER.N.Y. 14580
(716) S72-4S03
9>
1
w^.^
^A^
A^ J*^
>^ #1
^
%^ "9,
^^^
hy
7.
<^ ^
^>
CiHM/ICMH
Microfiche
Series.
CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.
Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques
"^^
Technical and Bibliographic Notas/Notjs techniques et bibliographiques
The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.
n
D
D
D
D
D
Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur
I I Covers damaged/
Couverture endommag6e
Covers restored snd/or laminated/
Couverture restaur^ et/ou pellicuiie
□ Cover title missing/
Le titre ds couverture manq'je
□ Coloured maps/
Cartes g6ographiques en couleur
I I Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)
Coloured oiates and/or illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur
Bound with other material/
Reli6 avec d'autres documents
Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/
Lareliure serr6e p'.ut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion le long de la marge intiftrieure
Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que cortaines pages blanches ajouties
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte.
mais. lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas 6t6 filmAes.
The
toti
L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur enemplaire
qu'il lui a 6t^ possible de se procurer. Les ddtaiis
de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du
point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la m^thode normale de filmage
sont indiquis ci-dessous.
□ Coloured pages/
Pages de couleur
□ Pages damaged/
Pages endommagies
n Pages restored and/or laminated/
Pages restaur6es et/ou pellicuides
D
Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages d6color6es, tachet6es ou piqudes
The
posi
of tl
film
Orig
begl
the
sion
othi
first
sion
orii
□Pages detached/
Pages d6tach6es
Showthrough/
Transparence
I I Quality of print varies/
Quality indgaie de {'impression
Includes supplementary material/
Comprend du matdriel suppi^mentoire
Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible
The
shal
TINI
whi(
Mai:
diffi
entii
begl
righ
Mqii
met
Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
sliptt, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obsnurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure.
etc., ont H6 filmdes d nouveau de fapon it
obtenir la mailleure image possible.
E
Additional comments:/
Commentaires supplAmentaires;
Various pagingi.
This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/
Ce document est film^ au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous.
10X
14K
lav
3?y
2e-x
iny
y
12X
16X
20X
24X
28X
32X
The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks
to the generosity of:
Dana Porter Arts Library
University of Waterloo
L'exemplaire fii* ni f ut reproduit grAce A la
g6niirosit4 de:
Dana Pc
Universe'
.it Arts Library
' of Waterloo
The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.
Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated Impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. Ail
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.
Les images suivantes ont 6tA reproduites avec ie
plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et
de la nettetd de l'exemplaire f ilm6, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.
Les exumplaires originaux dont la couvertura en
papier est imprimte sont filmte en commenpant
par ie premier plat et en terminant soit par la
derplAre page qui comporte une emprelnte
d'impression ou d'iilustratlon, soit par ie second
plat, selon lo ess. Tous les autres exempiaires
originaux sont fllmAs en commenpent par la
premiere page qui comporte une emprelnte
d'impression ou d'iiiustration et en terminant par
la dernldre page qui comporte une telle
emprelnte.
The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol ^«^ (meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "FiND"),
whichever applies.
Un des symboles suivants apparaltra sur la
dernlAre image de chaque microfiche, selon ie
cas: ie symbole — ► signifie "A SUiVRE". Ie
symboie y signifie "FiN".
Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
Inquired. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:
Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre
filmte A des taux de reduction diff Arents.
Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour Atre
reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir
do i'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant ie nombre
d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
iilustrent la mAthode.
1
2
3
1
2
3
4
5
6
>4^
5
n
■in
/
«^
/■^
MISCELLANEOUS
AND
POSTHUMOUS
WORKS
0»
HENRY THOMAS BUCKLE
VOL. I.
Cabinet Edition, in Three Volumes, crown 8vo. price 24».
TTISTORY of CIVILIZATION in ENGLAND
^ and FRANCE, SPAIN and SCOTLAND. By Hbnkt
Thomas Buckle. Fifth Edition of the entire Work, with a
Copious Imdkx.
London: LONGMANS and CO.
Ali rigkti reaerved.
MISCELLANEOUS
AND
POSTHUMOUS
WOKKS
OF
HENET THOMAS BUCKLE
EDITED WITH A BIOQIUPmCAL NOTICE BT
HELEN TAYLOR
IW THREE VOLTTMES
VOL. I.
LONDON
LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO.
1872
CONDON ! PEINTED BT
8P0TTI8W00DB AND CO., NSW-STREVT SQUABS
AMD fabl:aiient STRBBT
"*
f
CONTENTS.
VOL. I.
VAGM
Biographical Notice . .
ix
Imtboduction ..,...,
. Ivii
MISCELLANEOUS WOEKS.
The Influence of Women on the Pkogbbss of Knowledge
1
Mill on Liberty ......
. . 20
Letter to a Gentleman respecting Pooley's Case .
. 71
POSTHUMOUS WORKS.
Reign of Elizabeth: ......
. 85
I. Political ......
. &3
II. Toleration .....
. 88
III. Political ......
. 94
IV, Clergy
. 104
V. Bishops ......
. 119
Fragments :...,...
. 136
Possibility of History .....
. 136
Triumph of Intellectual over Physical Laws .
. 143
Disputes among Diiferent Branches of Knowledge
. 149
Physiology ......
. 152
Climate ......
. 164
Crime .......
. 158
Middle State of European History
. 161
Causes of Backward State of History .
. 170
Absurdities as Specimens of Historifins . .
. 171
Absurdities in Eariy History ....
. 174
Progress in History .....
. 176
Ballads, &c. ..... .
. 180
Preliminary for Reign of Elizabeth . ,
. 185
Sixteenth Century . . . . , .
. 186
Seventeenth Century . . . . . .
. 191
Philology . , . . ...
. 193
Eighteenth Century . . . , . ,
. 19.5
England — for Introduction . . . . .
. 202
General References for Introduction . . .
. 215
Influence of German Literature in England
. 217
English Literature in the Nineteenth Century .
. 219
George III. .......
. 234
Reaction in England late in the Eighteenth Century .
. 229
Bad Points under George III. , . . , ,
. 232
Despotism under George III. . . . . .
. 236
Disasters under George III. ...
. 237
n
CONTENTS.
^''c^onEttTs—coniinued.
After French Revolution . ,
Improvements under George III.
Pi'ogress in the Eighteenth Century
Circumstances favourable to the Euglish Pe^plo earlv in tlio Nino
teenth Century
England in the Nineteenth Century . [
Errors of Voltaire . . . '
Bousseau Rnd Materialism
Rousseau and his School
French Literature after 1750 . . [
^stheticMovement alter 1750 . \
Classical School •..*.'
Scepticism • . . .
Political Economy in France in the Eighteenth Century
Religious Persecution under Louis XV
Louis XV. ...'.."
The Jesuits in France in the Eighteenth Century
Jansenism ,
The French Government attacked the Clergy
Character of Louis XVI.
French Revolution ....
Notes for French Revolution .
Influence of England and Coalition on France .'
Consequence of England interfering with French Revolution
France m the Nineteenth Century
Greece ...
Decline of Greece
Africa . . . . ' '
Asia ....
America • • .
Observations on the Spirit and Tendency of Commerce and Blerchant?
„ Tendency of Military Institutions and Character
of Soldiers
History of Military Institutions and the Army'
>i the English Army .
The Rise of Agriculture and its Influence on Civil-'zation
History of Agriculture ....
Historj' of the Prices of Corn . ', '
Influence of the Clergy upon Civilization
Tendency of the Laws respecting Apprentices .
Observations upon Freemasonry
The Condition and Influence of Women '.
Causes and Eifects of Duelling "
Notes on the Tendency of Education
Democracy • . .
Medicine ...
Connexion between Medicine and History
Puritans ..."
Witchcraft • , . . '
History of the English Navy .
Administration of Justice and Influence of Lawyers
Notes for History of Money and Precious Metals
History and Influence of the Aristocracy
Laws of Primogeniture .
Remarks on the Pqor Laws .
TAOU
237
239
240
243
244
261
361
265
257
259
260
261
262
264
266
266
266
267
267
270
271
274
274
281
292
304
311
819
332
336
341
346
34S
349
366
867
369
365
36&
367
38»
38S
397
401
40S
41»
42f>
429
43»
440'
44»
452
.^^^.¥^
CONTENTS.
Yll
Nino-
TAon
FakOMiiST3—(eo7i(inued)
PAOI
237
History of Prices ....... 454
239
Colonies .....
. 458
240
Wages .....
Chivalry ....
. 459
. 4i;3
243
Towns and Cities
, 465
244
Beggiirs in England . . ,
, 4(i7
261
History of Eents
, 468
361
Royal Revenue and Taxes
, 469
266
Progress and Tendency of Enclosures .
. 471
257
„ of Toleriition .
, 472
259
The Theatre ....
. 481
260
Ballads .....
.. 490
261
The Press ....
, 493
262
Origin of the Middle and Honied Classes
. 495
264
Arminianism ....
. 496
265
Observations upon Suicide
. 497
266
Improvement of Morals
. 600
266
Horses ....
. 601
267
Hereditary and Divine Right of Kings
. 602
267
Obser\'ations on Metaphysics .
. 604
270
Substance ....
. 607
271
Leases .....
. 608
274
Chancery and its Equitable Jurisdiction
. 509
274
Esthetics and History of the Arts
.. 609
281
Literature ....
. 621
292
Travelling ....
. 623
304
French in England in the Sixteenth Century
. 52i
311
Public and International Law .
. 626
819
Jansenism ....
. ssts
332
Statistics ....
. 626
336
Political Economy . ,
Ethics .....
. ^28
.. 633
341
Churches ....
. 634
345
Calvinism .....
. 635
348
Manufactures .....
-. 637
349
The Reformation and Protestantism .
. 639
35G
Civilization compared with Barbarism
. 641
357
Crimes— their Statistics, &c. .
. 542
359
Philology .....
. 547
36.>
Manners .....
. 560
366
Population .....
. ^6»
367
Physiology .....
.. 650
38.'>
Tendency of Classical Literature
. 652
388
Theology and Religious Superstitions .
. 4i63
39(>
National Character of the Dutch
> 656
397
1, ,1 French
. 657
401
II II Spanish
. 659
408
1, ,1 Irish
. 564
418
1, „ Italians
. 665
42ft
II II Scotch
, 566
429
1, ,1 Russians
. 687
438
II II Germans
. 589
440
America .....
. 589
448
General Remarks on National Character
.
. 591
452
Increase of Humanity and Virtue . «
«
. 692
Vlll
CONTENTS.
i
Diminished Superstition
Decline of Ignorance .
Mahometanism .
Insanity
Slavery
FAOa
593
594
694
694
697
VOL. II.
COMMON PLACE BOOKS
VOL. in.
COMMON PLACE BOOKS .
Sixteenth Centuhy
Manners m the Seventeenth Centuby
Notes fob English History:
Henry VIII.
Edward VI.
Mary .
Queen Elizabeth
James I.
Charles I.
Cromwell
Charles II.
James II.
William III.
Anne .
Index to Common Place Books
I) Sixteenth Century
,, Manners in the Seventeenth Century
II Notes for English History
1
515
535
601
602
603
604
620
681
635
637
641
643
044
647
701
702
706
BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE.
Few men, perhaps, have been placed throughout life in cir-
cumstances more favourable to the development and utilisation
of intellectual power than those which surrounded Henry Thomas
Buckle, the author of the History of Civilization in England.
He belonged by birth to that middle class of whose services to
the world he himself entertained so high an estimate ; and he
had the good fortune also to belong to a family which seems to
have united considerable taste for literature with sufficient for-
tune to place at his disposal, from an early age, such means of
study or travel as he himself desired. These advantages he
shared, it is true, with thousands of young men who never make
any visible return to the world for their good fortune ; neverthe-
less, it is probable that a larger jDroportion of young men so cir-
cumstanced do actually distinguish themselves, than of any other
class in life.
But Mr. Buckle's good fortune consisted more especially in
two other circumstances which fell to his lot. In the first place,
his mother, who seems to have early formed a high estimate of
her son's abilities, unceasingly stimulated and encouraged him
to exertion. And, in the second place, the delicacy of his health,
from childhood upwards, shut him out from schools, from the
universities, and from the professions— from all those places and
pursuits, in short, where boys and men learn to imitate one
another; where they learn to accept conventional solutions to
the problems which are sure to present themselves to every active
intellect; or where they learn co limit their ambition to the
acquirement of wealth or of worldly success. For his love of
Inlii
^ BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
Study, as ^vell as for his undoubted ambition to distinguish him-
self, Mr. Buckle was probably indebted to his mother. But to
the weak he:.lth which led him to solitary study, must be at-
tributed much, not only of his universally admitted originality
of thought, but also of that characteristic Mgour of expression
^vhicji enabled him to bring his thoughts home to the popular
mmd with such striking success. His standard of expression was
formed, like that of most other people, by his mental companions-
but these companions were, in his case (fortunately for his renown
and his readers), composed of the great minds of all a<res
A life so uneventful as that of Mr. Buckle ought to be
recounted either by himself or by some intimate corupanion of
his studies and his thoughts. The growth of a mind like his
wouid be a valuable study to those who are engaged either ni
stimulating or in training other minds. And there would also
be great psychological interest in tracing the growth of his ideas
the changes in his opinions, his habits of mind, and methods of
work. Unfortunately, the only person except himself who might
have been in a position to make all this known to the world was
the dearly-loved mother whose death preceded his own by three
years. That she would have possessed the power to do it had
sh^ outlived him, may be inferred with probability, from the
terms in which he has described his own sad experience in
watching her last illness, for he speaks of watching "the nobl-
faculties dwindling by degrees." ' And there is additional evidence
that she could understand his work as well as stimulate him to
It, m another touching passage of his writings, written after h -r
death. For the opinion of the world, he says, he cares nothing,
' because, now at lease, there is no one whose censure I fear or
whose praise I covet. Once, indeed, it was otherwise, but that
IS past and gone for ever."^ There can be little doub*, more-
over, that the opinion so often expressed by him in his writings
that great men have generally had mothers of exceptional talent!
was not uninfluenced by his own experience.
The fac^ that in his mother's society he found all the aid and
the sympathy ue needed, and that slie vas his almost constant
companion, has probably had an unfavourable effect on the
valu: of such materials as could be collected for a biography.
' Ree his review of Mill on Liberty, hifm, p. 67.
» Seo Letter to a Gentleman rc.p.ctmg Pooiey's Case, infra, p. 72.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
XI
iguish him-
er. But to
must be at-
originality
F expression
the popular
sression was
iompanions;
Lis renown
[?es.
ight to be
rupanion of
ad like his
i either in
would also
>f his ideas,
methods of
who might
world, was
n by three
do it, had
, from the
)erience in
'the noble
al evidence
ite him to
n after hi:r
es nothing,
I fear, or
e, but that
ub*, more-
s writings,
nal talent,
e aid and
t constant
ct on the
3iography.
a, p. 72.
Fortunately, however, we may be tolerably sure that it would
have been his own wish that a biography of him should be
mainly concerned with his writings. " I live," says he, " only
for literature , my works are my only actions ; they are not
wholly unknown, and I leave it to them to protect my name." '
The present sketch, therefore, will be in the main confined to
tracing, as far as his very dry and succinct Journals will allow,
the preparatory studies which led up to his writings, and to
preserving such remarks of his own upon their scope and purport
as it has been possible to collect. Even for this the materials
are but slight ; but before entering upon them it will be well
that the reader should be in possession of an outline of the facts
of his life, for which we are indebted to his surviving sister :
" Henry Thomas Buckle was the son of Thomas Henry Buckle, a
wealthy merchant, who was born 6th of October, 1779, died 24th of
January, 1840, and who married Jane, daugliter of Peter Middleton and
Mary Dodsworth his wife, both of the county of York, in 1811, by whom
he had three children : a sun, Henry Thomas, and two daughters. Henry
Thomas was bom at Lee, in Kent, 24th of November, 1821, whilst his
parents were on a visit to his father's only brother. Greatly beloved by his
family, the author of the History of Civilization in England was a feeble
and delicate infant. He had no pleasure in the society of children of his
own age, nor did he care for children's books ; his great delighc was the
Bible; he would sit for hours by the side of his mother to hear the Scrip-
tures read. But although his mother bought hira books without end, he
felt no interes: in any of them until one day she brought him home the
Arabian Nights, which he ^letdily devoured, and from that time he
loved books. His father was a staunch Tory, and at an early age his
son took interest in politics, and held liis father's views. When he was
quite a youngster he and a cuusin of about his own age, who was brought
up with him ls a brother, used to play at Parson and Clerk as thoy called
it. Henry Thomas would always preach, and although quite a child his
mother used to say that his eloquence was extraordinary. A i a cliild he
was never awkward or intrusive, but always did the right thing in the
right place. From a child he liad conversational powers, and made himself
acquainted with e rerything that was going on. He was sent to school to a
clergyman, it being thought that a change from home might be of service
to him ; but his health failed, and he was soc.i taken away. His father
encouraged his love of reading, and he had nany advantages at home.
In the year 1837, being with his family at Tuabridge Wells, he indulged
m billiards, and after three months lost a considerable sum of money,
which his mother paid. He often alluded to this in after life, thinking it
' Lettor to a Gentleman respocting Pooley's Case, infra, p. 71.
zu
BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE.
fortunate that he ^ad lost rather than won. After this, his health improv-
ing, he was placed with a private tutor. He never learnt any lessons, but
he was always foremost in his class. Again, his health failing, he returned
home ; and he now began to form a smaU library, arid was in the habit of
walking all about London in search of cheap books. He had long been a
great reader of novels, and his father, who had a very retentive memory
was fond of reciting Shakespeare in his evenings at home. On the 24th
of January, 1840, his father died, after an illness of four weeks, and his
last words were addressed to his son when he called him to his bedside, a
few mmutes before his death, ' Be a good boy to your mother.' Young
Buckle was immediately seized with a fainting-fit and taken out of the
room. For some mouths after this he was attended by his physicians, and
had frequent attacks of fainting, with great prostration of strength. His
mother, then in delicate health, was advised both for herse'f and hoc son to
try entire change of scene and climate,'and in July, 1840, his mother, his
unmarried sister, and himself left England, and remained a year abroad.
His health improved wonderfully, and during that time he studied the lan-
guages and the literature of the various countries he visited, was always at
his books, and kept regular and early hours. On his return to England
he contmued to study languages, and in 1841, his mother writing to him,
says, ' I am glad that you continue your Dutch master.' In the spring of
1843 he was presented at the English court, and immediately afterwards
left England in company with a friend, and visited many of the capitals of
Europe. In the autumn of the same year his sister married, and imme-
diately afterwards his mother left England to join her son in Munich,
where he had been laid up with a severe attack of rheumatic gout She
remained with him until the spring of 1844, when they both returned to
England, and his mother again settled in London. He then began to collect
his extensive library, and his diary shows how regular his habits and hours
were. He delighted in dinner-company and good talk. He never danced •
had no taste for music. He disliked horse exercise, and though ordered
when he was young to ride for his health, would never ride alone, as he said
he lorgot he was on horseback; and on one occasion, when riding xvith Mrs
Hutchinson, one of his sisters, at Hastings, he was so entirely absorbed .itli
his own thoughts that he allowed his horse to take him into the library
on the Parade. He had no taste ur the country or country pursuits • and
although his healtli was delicate he liked no place but London. He was
fond of walking alone, as he used to say that he could talk to himself. He
made few friends, and rather disliked strangers; and though he was affable
to every one, he only admired talent, and what he called ' good talk.' Ho
was fond of children, and would play with his own nephews and niece in
a simple and childlike way. Ilis disposition was kind, and in many letters
written to one of his sisters there breathes much love, symnathy, and kind-
heartedness. He had an aunt, his mother's last surviving sister, to whom
he was much attached ; also a favourite cousin ; .and though he disliked
letter-writing, and used to say it was great waste of time, he°never forgot
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
• a •
Xlll
ialth improv-
r lessons, but
he returned
I the habit of
long been a
ive memory,
3n the 24th
Jeks, and his
lis bedside, a
ler.' Young
n out of the
i^sicians, and
ength. His
d hor son to
mother, his
'ear abroad,
lied thelan-
as always at
to England
;ing to him,
he sp;:iug of
{ afterwards
e capitals of
and imme-
in Munich,
gout. She
returned to
an to collect
s and hours
^er danced ;
igh ordered
e, as he said
? xvith Mrs.
3orbed .ith
tlie library
rsuits; and
1. He was
inself. He
was affable
talk.' Ho
tid niece in
lany letters
, and kind-
r, to whom
he disliked
iver forgot
his near relatives. He was very methodical, careful, scrupulously correct
in accounts and all money matters, and could calculate the expenses of any
household. He was just in all his dealings, and although he disliked
being called charitable, as it is termed, there are many who can testify to
his kindness. He was always ready ' to help those who helped them-
selves,' but he would never ' let his left hand know what his right hand
doeth.' His mother died in April, 1859, and through her distressing
illness she had but one thought — her children, and more especially her
son, who was her friend and companion. In the frequent wanderings of
her mind for many months before her death she was always cheerful and
collected when her son came into her room, so that he could not see her
imminent danger, and even on the day of her death he was unwilling to
telegraph to the family; and when it was only a matter of hours or
perhaps minutes, he was still sanguine. But the hour came ; and the
great man was prostrate. He had lost in that mother everything that
made his home happy. During the remainder of that year he was a
constant wanderer. He visited his friends, and later in the year his
sister. A heavy domestic affliction which befell the family at that
time weighed heavily on him. The following year his health from time
to time was much enfeebled, and in 1861, feeling still wretched and un-
settled, he made up his mind to leave England. On the 20th of October
in that year he left Southampton for Alexandria ; and on the 29th of May,
1862, died at Damascus of fever."
From this outline of Mr. Buckle's life it will be seen that at
the age of nineteen he was free to choose a career for himself •
and that he then spent a year on the Continent with his mother
and on his return to England continued the study of languages
which he had begun abroad. He appears to have known some-
thing of Latin, nothing of Greek, and to have had' some know-
ledge of French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Russian, and
Danish. It was probably during this period, between the age
of nineteen and twenty-one, that he formed a determination out
of which grew, in time, the work by which he became known.
The most interesting passage in the whole of his Journals is that
in which he notes down this resolution : —
" Saturday, October 15, 1842.— Being this day settled in my new lodg-
ings. No. 1, Norfolk Street, I determined to keep a journal of my actions
—principally, for the sake of being able to review what I have read, and
consequently to estimate my own progress. My reading has, unfortu-
nately, been hitherto, though extensive, both desultory and irregular. I
am, however, determined from this day to devote all the energies I may
have, solely to the study of the history and literature of ti<e Middle Ages.
I am led to adopt this course, not so much on account of i hi interest of
XIV
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
tho Bubjcct, though that is a great inducement, but because there has
been, comparatively speaking, so little known and published upon it. And
ambition whispers to mo the flattering hope that a prolonged series of
industrious efforts, aided by tjihrnta certainly above mediocrity, may at
last niTOt with success.' ''
Ten days afterwards lie reviews liis oAvn progress in reading :—
" The sketch then of the history of Franco during the Middle Ages, has
occupied me just ten days. But then on one of those days I did not read
at all, and, besides that, I am now in better train for reading than I was at
hrst, so that 1 think on an average I may say eight days will suffice in
future for each history. It is my intention to go first in this hasty and super-
fical way through European history of the Middle Ages, and then, reading
tho more elaborate works, make myself as much a master of the subject
as 18 possible, considering tho meagre information wo at present possess."
Tlie works from which he liad during these ten days been
employed in gathering a general view of French liistory in the
Middle Ages (from Clovisto Charles VIII.) were Hallam, Gibbon,
and Gardner's Cabinet Cyclopedia, and this passage in his Journal
IS remarkable, for it shows him anticipating, as it were, at the
very outset of his task, the remarks ;vlach fifteen years later were
so very generally made on the character of the authorities re-
ferred to in the notes to his published book-authorities which
are certainly not more, and are generally less deserving the name
of " elaborate" than Gibbon and Hallam. This expression, too, of
"elaborate works," as indicating what at that time he expected to
find, is very curious, especially when taken in conjunction with his
thuikmg lie could make himself master of the subject by reading
" elaborate ' works. He cannot have failed very soon to find out
that few or no more elaborate works than those of Gibbon and
Hallam exist in any literature, and accordingly it is precisely
these and works of the same description to which he ultimately
was content to refer in his own book. And no reader even of
these works, can fail to be aware of the original authorities,
besides that we have plenty of evidence that he was acquainted
with their general characteristics even when he had not read
them. It cannot, therefore, have been by accident or ignorance
that he paid so little attention to them. It can scarcely have
been from negligence either, since in the fifteen years that
elapsed between this first serious devotion of himself to historical
study and the completion of the first volume of the work he
ultimately designed, we find him devoting time to subjects,—
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
XV
die Ages, lias
did not road
tlian I was at
vill suffice in
ity and super-
then, reading
the subjeet
nt possess."
djiys been
bory in the
m, Gribbon,
his Journal
ere, at the
1 later were
lorities re-
ities which
j; the name
iion, too, of
sxpected to
m with Ills
by reading
to find out
ibbou and
! precisely
ultimately
sr even of
uthorities,
icquainted
not read
ignorance
•cely have
rears that
historical
; work he
ubjects, —
such, for instance, as phrenology—a knowledge of which few
historians would think necessary to fit thorn for writing history.'
It seems likely that, in fact, he soon discovered that the bent of
his own mind was deductive. There is little trace of his ever
having exercised his mind much on facts at first hand : people,
things and events, society, nature, art, science, and even politics,
seem to have had their main interest for him after they had been
chronicled, and even grouped for him by other minds. He
evidently preferred to use his own original powers of tliought on
the materials that had been amassed by other thinkers ; and we
may conjecture tliat it was tliis preference, whether conscious or
not, that led him to transform his early scheme of a history of
the middle ages into a design for a history of civilization.
At what time it was that this change in his plan took place, I
have not been able to meet with any evidence to show. There is
some reason to suppose that he formed other and intermediate plans
between the two, and that at one time he thouglit of writing a
history of the sixteenth century, at another of writing a history of
the reign of Elizabeth. It is plain that from the first he did not
confine himself strictly to the Middle Ages, for on March 7,
1843, occurs the entry in his Journal, "Began my Life of
Charles I." And he seems to have worked at this for several
liours a day for three weeks. What he then wrote is, possibly,
probably even, what will be found under the liead « Charles I."
in vol. ii. of the Common Place Books. In July, 1850, occurs
the entry, "Finished that part of Somers' Tracts which relates
to my history of Elizabeth." And in January, 1855, he mentions
"the account of Hooker and Clullingworth which I wrote about
five years ago." Hence it is most probable that the chapters on
the reign of Elizabeth, printed in the present volume, were
written about the year 1850, when he was twenty-nine years
of age ; but it is rot certain whether he wrote them with the
intention of their forming part of a larger work, or whether
he meant them for a history of the reign of Elizabeth only.
Already in 1842 he had begun the practice of w.-ang those
copious abstracts which constitute his Common Place i ;oks, and
at which he used to work for several hours a day. The reader
will notice that, in these, verbatim extracts, abstracts of matter,
' -'Januan/ 27, 1852.-I intend nuw to begin the study of phronolo-y. to deter-
mmo lU bearing, upon the philosophy of history. "-Jourmi
xvi
UIOORAPinCAL NOTICE.
In
aiul oriKMiml remarks of his own aro vory much mixed up
together, a.ul iu making those on one point of interest after
another, ho. may have been sometimes led to plan writing on one
mil.jeoJ,, and sometimes on another. There is, however, one entry
m his .rournal, respecting his reading, which seems to point to
the direction his mind was taking:—
ym,c 21, 18.|,0 Uoad Simon's Animal Chenn-stry. The more I road
of t,h>s grout w„rk the mon, .loiightod T am, particularly at tho new views
It opons to mo, and of which Simon soonus to have no i,loa, I n.can the
connoct.on hotwcon his rosoarchos and speculations, and the philosophic
lustory of man. '
From tliis it maybe inferred with tolerable certainty that it
was during these eight years— from 1842 to 18.^j()—that his
gradually amassed knowledge of the great outlines of modern
history, together with the experience he was acquiring of the
tendencies of his own mind, led him to the choice of his subject.
His literary style seems also to have been completely formed by
this time, for all its main characteristics are to be found in the
fragments on the reign of Klizal>eth, written at least as early as
l«oO. Oiu^ of its most marked characteristics, and one which
principally contributes to its energy and, above all, to its
picturesque charm, is his frequent use of those metaphors and
of those rhetorical forms of speech to which all the world is
accustomed, and which have become common-places in the
language. In tho last century this was more common than it
IS now. tor writers then talked a great deal more about «an
elegiuit simplicity." or a "severe taste," or "purity of style" than
tlu^ practised it. But at the present time the dread of criticism
makes the style of most of our writers very colourless; and,
unfortunately, when anyone has a taste for fine language, he
generally thinks it necessary to invent it for himself, by which
means he is pretty sure to be incomprehensible and affected,
witliout always succeeding in being fine. There is much to be
said in favour of using, in prose at least, the metaphors, the
pathos, and the grandiloquence to which all the world is ac-
customed, and to which all the world attaches much the same
sort and amount of meaning. These things are, like legendary
and religious or national traditions, common ground for all
men s^ imaginations; they touch that second nature which makes
ft.. w.)o ..peak the same language, kin. Like proverbs, these
BioGRArnrcAL notice. xyji
common-places have got into common use just hecause they were
apt and happy expressions fitted to bring a meaning home to
most people's minds; and a man may easily go farther and fare
worse in seeking to replace them by some original turn of his
own. When anyone talks, for instance, of « bearding the lion in
his den," all the world knows what is meant to be conveyed • and
(wliat is no less important) all the world receives at once an
impression of something grand and uncommon. It is true wo
are so used to the phrase that we may forget to ask whether the
l.on has got any beard, and may apply it, as Mr. Buckle has done
in the ca^e of (Jueen Elizabeth, to someone who certainly had not
J3ut a writer may very well trust to correcting these little over-
sights when he revises liis work, whereas certainly no one ever
put vigour into his style as it passed through the press
We know that Mr. Jiuckle was fond of reading alond and
recitmg poetry, and that he was, in after years, fond of reading
Shakespeare aloud, as his Mher had been, from whom, perhaps
he may have acquired the taste. We know also that he greatlJ
admued and studied Burke; and it may be questioned whether a
style so brilliant and so ele^r as his, is not always founded more
or less on oratory. The Greeks-the greatest masters of style-
produced the greatest orators, and must have formed their ide^us
of style rather upon spoken than on written speech. The m-istcr
pieces of French literature were immediately preceded 'bv .
•series ot great preachers, while in England, and in German^
the drama led the way to the most brilliant periods of the
natioiiiil literature. The wonderf,il group of Enc.H.h . 7
(Shelley, Wordsworth, ..leridge, Keat.,'and'B; on no to sre k
ot U.ser liglits), who shone on the beginning of tL ninet I'tt
1 :tt 1-ox, Burke and Sheridan, who must have made it difficul
or hose who had heard them to forget altogether that langu 1
. meant to be spoken. The statement of Mr. Buckle's sist;r
that m his ehi dliood he was addicted to preaching sermons, is in
Burke and Shakespeare.
It is in the year 1851 that there occurs the first evidence
of his having decided on the form his » book " was to take. *
a
XVIU
BIOaRAPHICAL NOTICE.
f ••
But although he must already have made considerable progress
even to entertain such a hope, no one will be surprised that it
was many years before his book was really ready for publication.
During the next three years — from May, 1851, to November,
1854— he was continually occupied in writing and re- writing what
subsequently appeared as the first volume of his History. Thus,
for example, in 1853, he wrote as chapter iii. what afterwards
appeared as chapter v. ; in 1854 he re-wrote large portions, such,
for instance, as " the beginning of the view of French civiliza-
tion ; " the " view of the influence of England on the French
Revolution ; " his " account of the connection between science
and the confusion of ranks preceding the French Revolution ; "
and in July, 1854, he mentions that he " liad long had in his
mind " the "■ physical laws which made the old civilizations
superstitious." At length, in November, 1 854, he for the second
time thought he had his work ready for publication, and on
November 25 he says that he hopes to publish vol. i. of " my
work next summer." Six months more, however, passed before
he (in July, 1855) "began at length the great task of copying
my work for the press ;" and a few months later still he " began
to revise spelling in MS." Copying, revising, and looking out
notes, with some few additions to the original matter, occupied
him for two years more after the work was substantially finished,
before it actually appeared.
During these six years, which were probably the happiest of
his life, he lived in London, at 59, Oxford Terrace, with the
exception of occasional short visits to relations a*t Brighton,
Boulogne, &c., and a few short excursions on the Continent. He
led a very quiet and regular life, noting down day by day in his
Journal, the number of hours during which he wrote or made
entries in his Common Place Books ; the titles of the books he
read ; the number of hours he gave to reading, and the number
of pages he read in them. All this is put down in the fewest
words and the minutest handwriting into which it is possible to
compress it, and diversified only by an equally dry and minute
statement of the hours at which he rose, took his meals, walked
out, &c. Even when he was travelling the Journal is continued
in exactly the same form, and never diverges into any remarks on
what he saw. One or two examples will be sufficient to give the
reader an idea of it.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. ^j^
Monday JVovember 2i, 1851, Brighton.-Rose at 8. Walked half an
hour and then breakfasted. Prom 10.5 to 12 read German From 2 2
1.30 read Mill's Analysis of the Mind, i., 66-140 Walk.d J l .
a half and from 3.40 to 4.30 made notis kl Leigh H^n llutobio"' T^
From 4.30 to 6.20 read Lord Lyttleton's Memoirs andtrtesr^^^^^^^^^^^
S!;ratt3:'i^ri^j;i;^-
61-236." ' "-^^ '■^'^'^ Seattle's Catnpbell, ii.
Another —
Transactions of Asiatic Society, iii pn iss 57 n , ! "''"""^
bed a. :o,40, a„a . X1.40 .ea/ioJ„aTA:f:it,,"j^,:'3,':lf3,,?"
Ru'^t °'''^'";'"''' J •'='« f»™d in any part of u, j„n„,,3 „f
B s having taken the advice of a friend respecting any „ hi
I had sent tX SMrLVto'^ire ^''" "' '"''''' ^"•' ^'■'''"''
tei^CT^Vr'!;.''"'-*"^ --"0 alterations in Chap-
tei mv. suggested by Miss Shirreff." ^
..adnaliy failing heaith of his lie: tl^natfa:!:^ ,1"
some sad forebodings, as we find Irom some of his letters
"I will not be » affected a, to conceal from „n that"l"'T\
alarmed, and at times very depressed to think that rth u h ,11\ "
I have such little powers. Mv hpad i« nf t;. , , °^ ^"P^a
bu.it goes off (tL feeln^Vtl, he 7 T:-fr'' ■''«''*'/ -°'i«'l.
directly. They tell me I hte JlgZt^' ^ A"™ ^ J"'«) "Snin
except of my fntnre. To break down if theSst of wh. °W'.''"'''"-''"«
measure of greatness, is a ^eat career ''"'"'*"'' "''"''"""""-drng to my
.W. I own. is a prolpec. ,'l, h I Z fe" 4e Z't" °"*' °° '*"-
and the though, of which seems ooM mT l^iT' ""*' P"""""".
Perhaps I have aspired too hir,h b,„ II / """P' '""" '"«■
power such a fee^in;'oTS':„: ^ ^^J^a Tf I'maVr' ^ ^"^^ ''
command over the realm of thou-^h. that it was r ^T^ '^^' '"''^ *
that I could do more than I shall now eve be abt^ '"^ '^^^^^'^
tract my field— mavbe I shnll fl , f ^^^*- ^ '"^ >n-
7 maybe I shall thus survey the ground the better, and
\
I l!
i Ut
I
a BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
others may not miss yvuat to me will be an irretrievable loss— since I for-
feit my confidence in myself."
From this and from other passages in his letters, as well as
from that we have already seen from his Journal, where he sets
down his intention to devote himself to a great task, it is evident
that the love of fame was very strong in him. There is another
passage in a letter written by him from Jerusalem, little more
than a month before his death, which throws some additional
light on what his feelings were before the publication of his
book, but which removes some of the sadness of his early death,
as it shows that he himself was able to look back with com-
placency upon what he had achieved. Speaking of a friend
whose health was much impaired, he said (Jerusalem, April 16,
1862), "Poor fellow! It is sad under any circumstances to feel
the brain impaired; but how infinitely sadder when there is
nothing to compensate the mischief; nothing to show in return.
Nothing, if I may so say, to justify it." O^e cannot help seeing
that he felt that in his own case there was, as he expresses it,
something " to show in return."
Several of his letters written about this time— shortly before
the publication of his book — are very interesting.
Tunbridge Wells, July 27 [1856].
" The air here is really so fine, and my mother is so much improving in
it, that I am almost beginning to like the country. A frightful and alarm-
ing degeneracy ! Pray God that my mind may be preserved to me and
that the degradation of taste does not become permanent. I am as well
as ever, and, I think, as busy as ever— deeply immersed in comparative
anatomy, the dryness of which I enliven by excursions into free will and
predestination. I find that jihysiology and theology correct each other
very well, and between the two reason holds her own."
Boulogne sur Mer, 22 December [1856].
" Fortunately, I only feel weak physically, and am as fit for head work
as I ever was. This is a great comfort to me, and I am only sorry not to
get on with my first volun^e, though if I were in town I should probably
feel the fatigue too much of moving and openmg books, and verifying my
notes. Dr. Allatt strongly urge? my putting a.dde my first volume for the
present. To lose another season woiUd be a great vexation for me ; and
then too, these early checks make me think mournfully of the fiiture. If
I am to be struck down in the vestibule, how shall I enter the temple ? "
[London] 19 January [1857].
" Being somewhat deranged, if not altogether mad, at finding I had
time to spare, i Aveat out ia the afte'-noon to enjoy myself, which I
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
XXI
088 — since I for-
accomplished by playing chess for seven hours — and difficult games too.
I have not been so luxurious for four or five years, arid feel all the better
for it to-day."
Brighton, 1 March [1867].
" Pray take example from your former state, and also from mine, and
proceed gradually. I- should never have been as I am now but for an
eager desire to save this season. Indeed, I was getting half ashamed at
constantly putting off what I was perhaps too ready to talk about. How-
ever, all this is past, and comparing one month with another, I certainly
am not losing ground, so that I have every right to suppose that diminished
labour Avill be rewarded with increased strength."
It is also partly to this period of his life that some remi-
niscences refer, which have been furnished by the lady whose
judgment we have seen so highly valued by Mr. Buckle ; and,
although these reminiscences will anticipate what I have to say
of a later period, I shall make no apology for offering them
to the reader as they were written, without either transposition or
alteration :
" It was in the spring of 1854 that we first made acquaintance with Mr.
Buckle. The intimacy became so close, and occupied so large a place in
our lives while it lasted, that it seems strange, on looking back, to realise
how short a time actually witnessed its beginning and its close. His
mother's death, in 1859, his altered mode of life in various ways subse-
quent to that, and serious illness in our own family, which Avithdrew us in
great measure from society, had indeed relaxed our intercourse even before
the great close of Death fell upon it ; and thus the period during which
we were in the habit of frequently meeting or corresponding was little
more than five years. Three years later, he who had been the life of our
circle lay helpless and friendless among strangers, and the utterances of his
genius were hushed for ever in that silence nothing mortal can break.
" Never, perhaps, among men who have made a name and left their
stamp on the thought of their generation has any one enjoyed so sudden
a blaze and so brief a span of glory. From obscurity he sprang into
sudden fame, and before men had reached the point of dispassionate criti-
cism or appreciation of what he had done he had passed away from among
us. But with his fame in the world, with the brief record of his life, such
as the unusually scanty materials may allow it to be Avritten, I have
nothing to do here ; my purpose is only to comply, so far as I can, with
the request made to me to record a hw personal recollections of him, a
few personal impressions of character ; contributions, whose insufficiency
none can feel so strongly as I do myself, towards the portraiture of one
who, had he lived, would assuredly have stamped his image in inefface-
able characters on the memory of men.
"A valued friend of ours had known Mr. Buckle and his mother for
some time, and paid us the compliment of thinking we should appreciate
xxii
UIOGRAPJIICAL NOTICE.
tribiitcd thoir host T-iIk- flnw ' " con,soquontly guonts con-
J-' hoon led to expect " ' ' '" ""^""'' ^'^""'^ ^-'^^" ^'"'^ ^«
than ntitivc. L eS a Zl '^ "'"''^ *''« '''"" -^'^ -g"'-
"o c.la.sH^;, ; r, l; "2 '-;;>;- yo w... tal,, ... his fig..o bad
1-d no early habit of bodi y cKcn's TI "'T "*'"'"'' ""^ "^'" '^"«
hand, which was well-shapoVbn Ind ^^'^"V'''' '""^'^ ^^' ^^"' '" '"«
trained to wield a pen only 1,/ T"'" '"'* '"^''''^ *''^^ '^'"'^^ «"«
I'im as a boy iron, .clod Sh,- ^"^ ""■'^^f '>^' ^''« ''^^'i-^^cy that ha.l kept
well; and w'hilebytst^tZn;^^^^ l.im from school play L
^ater years for the one Z tl " P-'-^-anco he had made up in
the end of his life T con I 'on Iv I"' ^''''' ^'^-P^"-*'=^l ^<t. and to
""> things that to oU.er „ to t" '"^^^*' ""' "'■^'^" ^°"'^ ^^ ''« '-^^
active power was seen n h^J^uZ" "'''""' ''" '""•''"• '^'''^ --'* «<•
-as very sin,ple and on e thCh^ movements. In society his n.anner
nation ; an.l wo fonnd hter ? !^ '""'"'' *" excitement by conver-
»ess often varied s, it .le" r'" ^"'"^"'"^ "^ ''oyislf playfnl-
whi^ we. never .n^S-ir Z^ir "" ^ ''' ^'^ ^^^^
^ienrr,';:: r:;::;:: - -ny other, at ;ur own house or among
-as led to forget th r^^id JS^f™"? '''''''' ^" ^^ich he sometin.e!
his uothor, for she w- 1 " " ^T'' ^' '''' ^''' ^^^^ *« know
'^ring ustoUher;!Jd ::c?ed -;rve::t 'inY '^ ^^^^^
once thus begun rapidJv evf«n^ J? ^7 " ^ '"^ '''• ^'^^ acquaint-
-acy with other Imbe-Ttt^V" '?'"'" ^'"^^' ^^^^ "^^" ^^i"
friendships which are 1 '1^ / , ^ ^' ''"^ "^'"'^ into one of those
.o..h t^.,ebeyo^th:;r;:f^^^^^ -« ^^^^ -^ ^-^ ^^-^
to time to spend a d^;\fihtV^*';^^-"f'-- invited
o.ceptionhowasmaki4 n hishnllaflif" .'"7 '''" "^^''^* '"^ ^''^'•^
luncheon and stayed wL « HI t oT " ^' ''"^^ ^'^^^'^
-ere; and, like a boy ou of . I '''"'"^- ^'^'^•^''^"* ^"^^ ^^ey
garden, rambHngi^^li:llf;?:'^^ "^""' to enjoy strolling in thi
every imaffinabfe snh t.. i V '"""""e^ '"'^'^ i" conversation over
intercourse .vfth^th.:::^' ^ t^ Tl TT'' " ^^^^'^^ ''
often had occasion before to v ' r . .r f '^7 "^^ ^ '''=''''*' '"^^ ^ '^'^^«
-Inch some possess o/ j^ , ■ ; ",!* ' "^.""'^^^^ ^-°i<^ ^^ that power
wards I anx'unable to recall 5 e XtV 7' -«" immediately after.
bearing o( what has p-sTd «,'d , 1 T ' "' '^'" ^" ^^^« *'^^ f"»
passed ; and at this distance of time I feel that the
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICR.
XXili
he arrangod a
vas a liotiao in
ly gupsts Con-
or speculative
oven what wo
kahle, tlinngh
id a massive,
atlier singular
irt of the Oice
lis figure had
one who Jias
be read in Jiia
lat marks one
Iiat Imd kept
;liool play as
1 made up in
d for, and to
iild not do at
riiis want of
' his manner
t by convcr-
'ish playful-
reat subjects
so or among
e sometimes
asy to know
^ry eager to
le acquaint-
:w into inti-
)ne of those
rly in their
neighbour-
I from time
^hat a rare
own before
days they
ling in the
nation over
3f his visit
IS weeks of
', as I liave
that power
itely after,
•e the full
1 that the
1; ast attempt to represent what such intercourse wan would be colourless
and vaj)id ; an abstract of discussion or a dry repetition of anecdotes wliicli
apropos made deliglitl'ul. The interest and the charm of conversation aro
like the fleeting lights and shadows on a landscape, and what they add to
the beauty can never be rendered, however faithful the sketch ; so j)er-
haps it is no loss to the reader after all that the sketch itself is beyond
my power.
" Another and still more imusual break in ]\Ir. Buckle's ha])its was a
day spent with us at the Crystal Palace, then lately opened, which he
always sjiid ho never should have seen but for our taking him, and which
ho never rc-visitod. It was a day more rich in many ways than mortal
days aro ollen allowed to be. We wore a large party, all intimates, and
all ready for enjoyment, and for the kind of enjoyment which tlie Crystal
Palace ofTtTcd for tbe first time. It was a lovely summer's day, and the
mere drive son,'; uiiios out of London — for tliero Avas no noisy, whistling
railway then — was a delight. The art collections were not so full, the
flowers not in such rich luxuriance as they have been since ; but there
was a charm about the fresh beauty of the place, and in the new views ol
popidar enjoyment that it offered, which added to the pleasure then, some-
thing which more than loss of novelty has since impaired.
" We were not altogether disiibuscd at that time of the illusions of a
new era of peaceful progress which the first Exhibition of 1851 had
seemed to inaugurate. It is true that we were even then in the first st'ige
of the Crimean war; but many still believed that the struggle would
((uickly end ; the glorious days, the dark months of suflPering yet to come
were little anticipated. Still less did any prophetic vision disclose to us
the dire future that was to bring the Indian Jlutiny, the American war,
the battle-fields of Italy and Denmark, of Germany and of France ; or tell
us thiit twenty years after nations had met in amity, and seemed pledged
to rim a new course of friendly emulation, we should be plunging deeper
and d'ieper into the barbarism which turns the highest efforts of man's
skill and inventive power towards producing instruments of destruction.
" None shared the illusions of that period more fondly than Mr. Buckle.
He thought he had reached philosophically, and could prove as necessary
corollaries of a certain condition of knowledge and civilization, the con-
iuisjp-.i which numbers held, Avithout knowing why; and it was this
:viir, :if though, v.tiich made the opening of 'The People's Palace'
interesting to him. Habitually sanguine views of the future, combined -
with intense interest in every democratic movement to heighten his
enjoyment of what might not otherwise have been greatly to his taste,
for his love of art was not keen. This and a want of sensibility to
the beauties of nature, always seemed to me strange deficiencies 'n a
mind so highly imaginative in other respects ; but so it was. He said he
had been very sensitive to both in earlier youth, and had keenly enjoyed
the various galleries as well as the grandest mountain scenery of Europe ;
but that year by year, as philosophical speculation engrossed him more
and more, what only appealed through the outward senses lust its power
,V\>
xxiv
BIOGRiPHlCAL NOTICE.
I •;
\rB
hirrii'"'™' ^' '"'" r'^ ^"' "^"'"^'^ *^^* ^^ .cl<nowIeagGa never haviW
by sound or fnyr^ fT TT' ^ ^agination regained untouchec^
ny sound or lorm, it kind ed to even'thinrr ilvif t^„o„ : u •
I. Iv t1 '°,\»'l>'-e««<^-fap«rial Eome-ltalem GrLjn, »,cl
It.ily Urongh hci days of glory to her decline il' l,„l K. , •
-view, and he .hen'^.urnel 2 he W lr<i;t h ftL^:"h "
he hl,nd power, of Nature ; and it seemed but a natural tranaiti™ frim
LTt",ri"*'. wf :'"' ""^""« '■" -™ "■-«'"=- "Henttc:,^ ;
.iiniet s Avoids : What a piece of work is mnn t w.. ui, .•„ \
Hamlet s words : ' What a piece of work is man
■How mhnite in faculty !
How noble in reason t
His voice and intonation wei-e peculiar ; his delivery was impassioned
as .f another soul spoke through his usually calm exferior ; and it hS
soemed to me of many a familiar passage, that I never had kiown its fuH
power and beauty till I heard it from his lips
J' In the course of that summer I paid my first visit to Mrs. Buckle, who
l>ad taken a cottage at Highgate for a few months. Mrs. Buckle InThad
:;::•:: tr; ''' rr n ^^-^ *'- ^^-^^ °^' which it wi:
snffei ng, and f om which, indeed, she never entirely recovered I mav
ahnos .ay that it permanently a.Toctod her son also, ^t had b en h s S
huX ^ T 1 • ^ " ''=''^""' ''^'^"^ ^'^ '^•■'^^ for-^^d Wmself to work •
but this double strain on the nerves was too much for an originally deli -ito
oi^nisation, and, when startled by some symptoms that oc^^ dt m
diately after his mother's illness, he consuLd her physician he ws
otr'd "m "'^ -d;-Plote rest; and for the til'he rt'lrefy -
ill 1 itl I 7" "'''^' ^"' ac<iuaintance, there was no appearance of
11-health about him, but this attack was the forerunner oi' the Zl of
men it.neu h:;u actually lallen upon him,
Mrs \llT""'', "^ '^t '" ^!'^^'^''' '^"* ^ "^'-^^^ ''^^ acquaintance with
M.S. Buckle ; and, apart from her being the mother of such a son she wis
a very interestmg person to know. It is curious how many peT;! h"e
re on whom their own lives seem to have produced no imprest hev
InvG en' :, ? '''""? "PP*'^^''"*'>^ unconscious of the inlluences that
X ctlvTll T"^ '""^ "P"" *'^«"^- ^^^^'^ ^f-- B"ekle it was
xact ly the reverse. The events, the person,, the book, that had .ffel"
W at particular times or in a particular manner, whatever liad Infl^t^d
BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE.
XXV
I never having
led untonchedi
aman interest,
and feciing -
en ntoved ho
lights; and it
I knew later
linary conver-
rodncing in a
; past. i'Voia
jranada, and
een passtJ in
iture, with its
t"iin"nph over
'ansition irom
n he took up
>le in reason I
impassioned,
; and it has
:nown its full
Buckle, who
:^kle had had
she was still
red. I may
oeen his first
health than
If to work ;
lally delicate
ri'ed imme-
ian, he was
entirely re-
•poarance of
the state of
he blow he
ntance Avith
ion, she was
Goplo there
'Hion ; tliey
1 their own
uenccs that
;kle it was
ad affeeted
influenced
4
her actions or opinions, remained vividly impressed on her mind, and she
spoke freely of her own experience, and eagerly of all that bore rpon her
son. He was the joy, even more than the pride of her heart. Having
saved him from the early peril that threatened him, and saved him, as she
fondly believed, in great measure by her loving care, he seemed twice her
own ; and that he was saved for great things, to do true and permanent
service to mankind, was also an article of that proud mother's creed, little
dreaming how short a time he -.vas to be allowed even for sowing the seeds
of usefulness. A few months at the utmost had been the limit of separa-
tion from her that he had ever known, thus the two lives had grown, as it
were, one into the other. The ordinary state of things had been reversed
in the family, and Mrs. Buckle had S( nt her daughters to school, while
ill-health kept her son at home. Then, as both the daughters married
early, no claim had arisen to interfere with her devotion to him. Once
he went abroad alone, intending to stay for some time in Germany ; out
he was taken ill at I.Irmich, and Mrs. Buckle hurried over to join him.
Thus ended the first and last attempt at any real separation.
^ " When I said above that Mrs. Buckle spoke fruely of her own expe-
rience, I should add that her conversation was the very reverse of gossip.
It ->vas a psychological rather than a biographical experience that she
detailed. I rarely reniember any names being introduced, and never
imless associated with good. Of" all her husband's family, the one she
spoke of most often was his nephew, Mr. John Buckle, for whom she had
great respect and affection. Henry Buckle also made frequent reference
to his cousin's opinions, and had the highest esteem for his abilities and
confidence in his friendship.
" One point in Mrs. Buckle's ear'y experience that she spoke of more
than once to me is worth mentioning, as it exercised probably no small
influence later upon her son. She had lived at one time surrounded by
persons who held strict Calviniftic opinions, which she felt compelled to
adopt under their influence. The intense suffering caused by this she
could hardly look back upon with calmness, even at the distance of half a
lifetime. Views full of terror and despair, with their wild visions of
vengeance and condemnation, which have shattered the peace of many a
noble mind, wrought into hers a deep-seated misery which no external
circumstances could alleviate, and which only passed away when she had
conquered her own freedom through years of thought and study. Hence,
when she had a young mind to train, her most anxious care was that no
such deadly shadow should come near it. She appeared to me to be a
person of a naturally strong religious temperament, and the sentiment re-
mained untouched by the fierce struggle she had gone tlirough. Such are,
indeed, always the minds that suffer most cruelly under that dire form of
creed which lighter natures profess without ever seeming to feel the awful
scope of the tenets their tongues run so glibly over. In her horror of
imposed doctrines, she refrained ft-om teaching dogmatically even such views
as were full of hope and consolation to herself. Where her son differed
from her, she was content to wait. She had boundless faith in the final
fti-i
XXVI
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
' 'i i'f!
fit \H
triumph of truth, and could trust to it. even when her best loved was in
question ; and that noble sentiment, so pronnnent in her son's writings, was
Jrst inspired by her. If to this precious influence we add that his t^iste
for metapiiysical speculation and his love for poetry were also inherited
rom lus mother, wo may judge in some measure how much he owed to
iK,.r. And gladly and Ibndly at all times did he acknowledge the debt
It was a theme he loved to dwell upon, and it always seemed to me that
her presence brought out all that was best in him. In his manner with
her he had playful boyish ivays, mixed with exquisite tenderness, and
ater, when the cloud of fear and «idnes3 had iiiHon upon their intercourse,
the leeling of what the past had been seemed to grow deeper still. In one
let er, written when she was ill, he .ays, ' You, who can 'form some idea!
unhappy "r- "' "'"' "^ ""''" '" ''"^ *° "^' "">^ ""''•S'"^ ^'"-
"All the notices of Mr. Buckle's life that have appeared have .spoken
more or less accurately of his delicate he.Ith as a boy, which caused him
to be a self-educated man. His mother spoke of it often, and in w'lat
follows I speak only of what I heard from her. The subject is of import-
ance from Its bearing on his after life, which was more or less coloured
throughout by the two flicts of his self-acquired knowledge, and his com-
parative isolation ; both caused by his exclusion from school and colle-e
which Z7 '"7 '^'''f'f^S of evil than of present danger in tlie attacks
f on 1 'i" 'f '"''"^''''^ '''^"^"'' *° ^"« b^5"S taken at an early age away
f on school. &he was quite aware that many had thought her foolish at
tlK time, and possibly that some believed she had influenced the medical
opmm.i or exaggerated its import; and she left me the impression that
e usbaiK had yielded the point, in part at least, as a concession to her
etlings _ t,he was content to bear any blame tl,at might be thrown upon
er in this matter. The doctors had ordered complete cessation of study
ollowed their directions implicitly. For years sh. persevered in the
.-ystem, making her boy's health the first object, but never lo.ing her hope
-so well rewarded m the end-that with bodily vigour die mental power
ould assert itself, and overcome the manifold ;iisa:ivantages entaileTby
1 loss of regular occupation. So complete was the idleness, that to keep
m quiet at times, she had taught him to knit. It does no appear from
^vl, t he used to say of it himself, that he was impatient under this system
or tliat It was one of painful repression. It ma; have been that a c'e tab
degree of mental lethargy accompanied the physical weakness, and mere"
my sh.elded the iculties which, had they maintained tl.e . ctivity 1 ey
displayed in early childl.ood, might never have reached maturity ^ ^
Before he was trusted with books, his mother ventured to read to him
mostly travels, poetry, or the Bible, and it was from these readings th"
he dated lus passionate love of Shakspeare. Gradually, as time went on
his health nnpi.ved, and his mind began to work upon'many sul)! Zl
not in any regular or .fudious flisluon. The newspapers, taken up ca .'allv
then began to stir his attention, and the powerful interest of polit s ^r fj
■J
BIOGRArniCAL NOTICE.
xxvii
St loved was iri
I'a writings, was
d that liis t^iste
e also inherited
eh ho owed to
edge tlie debt,
icd to me that
3 manner with
cnderness, and
3ir intereourse,
!• still. In one
rm some idea,
imagine how
I have .spoken
h caused him
, and in w'lat
t is of import-
less coloured
and his com-
)1 and college,
n the attacks
irly age aAv.ny
ler foolish at
the medical
pression that
lession to her
thrown upon
ion of study ;
le, — and she
^ered in the
ing her hope
iiental power
entailed by
that to keep
appear from
this system,
lat a certain
, and merci-
ctivity they
ity.
•ead to him,
adings that
le went on,
objects, but
Lip casually,
ilitics grow
upon him, and perhaps biassed the course of his after labours. His earliest
elforts^ at connected thought took the shape of speculation on free-trade,
the principle of which he seemed to have seized as soon as it was presented
to him, in the discussions then rife in all the papers. He had no hom«
bias or assistance in forming his opinion, for his lather's views were, as I
understood, quite different. On one occasion he even grew so er^cited on
the subject as to sit up at night to write a letter to Sir Kobert Peel, which,
however, he had not courage to send.
" But the first thing in which he manifested real power was chess, and
that to so remarkable a degree, that before he was twenty he had made a
name in Europe by his playing. Through life it remained a great source
of pleasure to him, and an afternoon devoted to it from time to time was
the form of holiday he most often allowed himself.
; " Seeing him fairly restored to health and giving promise of ability, his
; father thought it was time that he should beg'in life in earnest; and that
life Avas destined by him to be spent, as his own had been, in City busi-
ness. Mrs. Buckle more than once described to me her dismay wlien .she
found it impossible to move her husband from this resolution. Her own
tastes were .studious, she had watched the growing vigour of her son, and
this was not the future she had dreamt for him ; but resistance Avas vain,
and instead of repairing the loss of early education by some course of
regular study, he Avas placed at eighteen in his iiither's counting-house.
At times he looked back with shuddering to the period of weariness that
he spent there, ])ut he also owned that it had not been without its
use as a strict discipline, after the desultory idleness of his boyhood. »
A'hat shape his mental activity Avould have taken had this compul-
sory drudgery continued, it is vain to conjecture, the i-estraint was
removed by his father's death before any decided bent had shown itself.
He was free then to choose his own path, for ]\Irs. Buckle's authority was
exerci-sed only to protect him from the interference of others. She was
left in easy circumstances; there was no necessity for him either to remain
in business or to prepare for a profession ; and she resolved that the life
and brain so narrowly rescued from destruction, should in their almost
unhoped-for maturity, be devoted only to the career he might choose for
liunself. The first obvious step was to acquire in.«truction ; and it was
proposed that, after some preliminary study, he should go to college,
whence the opening to any liberal profession Avas secure. But the painful
sense of his own ignorance made him most reluctant to adopt this course.
His whole aciuiroments then consisting of little more than reading and
writing English and proficiency in chess, it seemed indeed hopeless,
withm such limits of age as University education commonly embraces,
to make up for lost time ; and his growing sense of power, and the noAV
ambition beginning to stir within him, would have ill-brooked defeat
among his contemporaries. He knew that he had not only to ac(iuire
• I Imvo been latoly told tlmt Mr, Biioklo only remninorl tliroo months in the
counting houae. Uowevor short Iho time ho attributod to it the effect spoken ot above.
xxviii
BIOGEAPIIICAL NOTICE.
'It
...i„ „„a .„„»„,. Of .„u ,„, i:;p:";^;.^^ r: '; ;'":;;^ns
there 18 absolutely no record, and thoutrh bath nf fl J^uckles lifo
Mia. liuckle loved to dwe I nnon tl.nf >:„k;«„<. -i. , i , ^^'^'<^n as
an.l physical ,cio„i. Ami ^he rfioj 7 T ,-,"'"' "■»««""•■«!-
more ami moreirarkoil- ™ 1 ! ' '">"» "f l'i> "iM bocaine
1.0 fonmi that the k,,ow Ife^r'^o, 'rf„'T 1°'""'' '° '■""»"■ *™
.nca„a,a„<l became .„ object i'e f A aton' '"T '"^" "' "
feeling g,,„ in rroportio'n a, he 'a , tittCh!?,,"''"^'/ "'"
ignoranco. At (i« he probably graJd ^ !u f ,7 '°°8-'"«"'«<=<'
n.ere eager delight of t";. oanLffS Ik in t Sf ^ / "' "'.!
an „i, LningV dolt;; r^diT/iorriisr T^ % ^T
rurpose, and that purpose tho mfr..,,.;, • ""^^"'^^<^" *« one dohnite
conLtedviewtheLbZ'iSISr.r r"'''« '°'* '" ""°
«'ork,.d it, ,vay, and won L our Z • . ^ '"""' '""=""' '""
-hioh we call i lli„tir ZjZ tCT , ° "'"V"'"°" •■'"'' f-^"''"'"
manifest in the mareh o "hu a ' fo t " '■"°''* °''""°^ '" "■*«
physical science discloses in the iZZ;!:^:^ °'"'"'° "' '"" "'"*
had bcgnn in resolute Lncs nl „ pt' "; thT 'Tr','? '"
devoted his whole aftei- lie, ,„-,i f^V;"" '«' the work to which he
purpose. And ■^:l ,; .inrLT™'""" """ '"""^ °'
»»..ty prepat-ation, that he .ol^^^i:;-^ VtZ Z
BIOGKAPHICAL NOTICE.
ult things when
laving followed
on tlio too-long
for liimself.
d Avith liim, to
and they ac-
ime in Franco,
. Buckle's life
!qiiently spoke
circumstances,
ing. Often as
luvo been cany
but who then
ecording nioro
it of our littlo
■ regret it, but
liistory of hia
v^er-incrcasing
object ; then
, mathematics
mind became
' a profession
ore and more
himself when
t itself as a
stronger the
ong- enforced
ich with the
t seeking it
«panded, the
woke. Then
one definite
forth in one
intellect has
and freedom
ory to make
f law which
lis mind era
mk of early
'ant boy he
;o which he
d energy of
ly think we
•nfidence of
hasty or
And as ho
4
XXll^
went on, no man was perhaps ever more fully prepared for labour on so
extensive a field. He was reproached after the publication of his first
volume with errors in this or that particular subject ; and from Bacon to
our own day the same has been .said of all men who survey wide field.s
of knowledge to seek out the principles that underlie many different
branches, or that may overarch the limited truths which seemingly keep
them divided. Such men can rarely, if ever, possess the thorough know-
ledge of the specialist in the one department to which he devotes himself.
It was necessary lor Mr. Buckle not to linger over the details of science,'
but to range over extensive provinces ; to master, if possible, every
fruitful principle; to leiirn the methods of science and philosophy, in
order to trace their influence on the progress of knowledge and civilization ;
and to find the basis of those wide generalisations on which liJH theory
rested. Accordingly, within these limits there was perhaps no branch of
science that he had not studied, of which he had not followed the history
and tracked the important threads of discovery.
^ "In metaphysical research his purpose was the same; from the earliest
Greek to the latest German he had read with this aim of seizing in each
system the master thought which had influenced the minds of men, which
had formed schools, or tended to shape the practical philosophy or political
life of nations. In literature, in like manner, it was no mere scholarship
that he sought or valued ; but he desired to trace tiie peculiar develop-
nient of intellect through the various forms of different languages and
different social conditions. And for this purpose he made himself ac-
quainted with most of the languages of Europe, and had thoroughly
mastered, for the purposes of reading at least, all, whether ancient or
modern, that possess a literature to be studied.' Of eastern langua-rea
Hebrew was the only one he had acquired. He always looked forward
to the time when he should have leisure to study Sanscrit, which his
intense interest in what a great master of the subject has called ' the science
of langu.ige ' made him earnestly desire to learn. In our own literature he
was profoundly versed, and though he seemed to read fbr the matter only,
he could appreciate the prose as acutely as any who make literary
criticism their principal aim. Pages of our great prose writers were
impressed on his memory. He could cpiote piissage after passage with
the same ease that others (piote poetry, while of poetry itself he was wont
to say, ' it stamps itself on the brain.' Truly did it seem that without
effort on his part, all that was grandest in English i)oetry had ])ocome, so
to speak, a part of his mind. Shakespeare ever first, then ]\Iassinger, t'md
Beaumont and Fletcher, were so familiar to him that he seeined'ever
' Mr. Bu.'klo had oxtrcmo difficulfy in acquiring a foroi-n pronunciation. Fronch
wliu'li In. could speak fhiontly, it was painful to hoar hin, attonipt. In Gorman my
own unpractisrd oar could not have detcctod this defect, but ho used liiuii^elf to iauLrli
over his signal failure iu speaking Dutch after he hoped tluit ho was rather successful
IrMvelling ni a railway-carriage in IlolLuuL ho ventured to try hia powers of conver-
sal urn with a goutlemuu, who, after a tiiiio, remarked that ho was sorry he Jid not
know Italian!
u
If
XXX
BIOGR.\PHICAL NOTICE.
• . (f
ready to recall a passage, and often to recite it, with an intense delight in
Its beauty which would have made it felt by others even naturally in-
different. "'
" Whatever the subject of Ms study, it was always as part of the history
of human development that it acquired its chief interest to him. Litera-
ture, science, philosophy, however engrossing singly, occupied him as
part of a great whole ; and the mode of co-ordinating all those various
branches of knowledge was his chief concern. Accordingly, all the .rreat
masters of method had been his especial study, from Aristotle, Bacon,\nd
Descartes, to Comte and Mill. The latter, of all living writers, he held in
highest^ esteem, and through his own work may be traced that great
hinkers inriuence, together with that of Comte, to whose faults he was
far from blind, but whose merits he had earnestly appreciated at a time
wnen lie was little known in England.
"It nmy seem that in thus speaking of Mr. Buckle's aims and studies
I am departing from the sphere of mere personal recollections to which I
had limited my contribution to the present volume, but this is not really
so. With himself and with his mother, conversation continually turned
upon these matters. It is the impression lelb by those long hours of inti-
mate intercourse that I strive, however feebly, to reproduce, and when I
remember that of all he hoped to achieve, an unfinished introduction-one
truncated fragment of the fair pyramid he trusted to erect-is all the world
has before it to pronounce judgment upon, I feel that some record of those
towering hopes and of the assiduous labours by which he thought to realise
them, IS not out of place in a friend's personal recollections of him
"Those were pleasant, quiet days in the little Highgato cottage ! Days
of unvarying routine, buta routine in which walks over a beautiful country
and long evening hours of talking, and reading out loud, had their place
and there seemed a new fulness of life to myself incoming in confcict with
the overflowing vitality of Mr. Buckle's intellect. He wasthen writing his
hrst volume, which was not published till nearly three years later. Some-
times at his mothers suggestion he would read parts of it to us in the
evening, and there are passages of that volume which still read to me like
a chapter from that old life so utterly past and gone '
"The home routine with which I then became first acquainted, was
oi-dered with a view to study and to health. He believed extreme regula-
rity to bo no less essential, in his own case at any rate, for the latter than
for the former. Every hour was systematically disposed of, whether for
work exercise or relaxation; and he so carefully respected the rules he
aid down for himself, that they were in very rare cases departed from
His heal h-always requinng care-made many things important to him'
^^hlch others can easily dispense with, and thus gave an appearance of
somewhat effcminato ease to his daily life; but I am convinced t^ ,'
actod in these matters upon principle, though he may have been mistaken
Exercise was essential to him. He walked every morning for a quarter of
an hour only before breakf^.st, and used to ...y that having Lopted",^^ us
tom upon medical advice, it had grown such a neces.sary habit, that he could
I
i !
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
XXXI
3 and studiea
US to which I
is not really
lually turned
lOurs of inti-
, and when I
iuction — one
all the world
cord of those
gilt to realise
' him.
;age ! Days
iful country,
their place,
contact with
1 writing his
Iter. Some-
to us in the
d to me like
lainted, was
erne regula-
i latter than
whether for
ie rules he
arted from,
tiint to him
ipearance of
ced that he
n mistaken.
1 quarter of
3d this cus-
lat he could
rot work till he had been in the air. Heat or cold, sunshine or rain, nude
no difference to him either for tliat morning stroll, or for the afternoon walk
which had its appointed time and length, and which he rarely would
allow himself to curtail, either for business or visits. He used to say
that he did not know the sensation of mental fatigue, that he
could have gone on working hours beyord his fixed time without any
immediate discomfort ; but previous illness had left its warning, and he
knew that he dared not overtask his brain ; thus he worked with his
watch on the table, and resolutely laid aside his occupation when the
appointed hour came. After his duly-measured walk he returned to his
library to read till dinner-time ; and he always retired early in the evening,
reading again for a certain time, but not far into the night, for he required
many hours' rest, and was fortunately a good sleeper. One of his curiously
minute habits, which he appears never to have omitted for years, was
that of recording in a diary the exact manner in which the day had been
spent, even to the number of pages he had read in a given time. No doubt
this practice was begun as a check upon early desultory habits, and was
continued perhaps almost mechanically.
*' He was a smoker, and though a very moderate one as compared with
many, it was so imperious a necessity Avith him to have his three cigars
every day, that he said he could neither read, write, nor talk, if forced to
forego them, or even much to overpass the usual hour for indulging in
them ; and as he could not smoke when walking, the effort being too great
for him, he never went to stay in any house where smoking in-doors
was objected to. More than one house that never tolerated a cigar before,
bore with it for his sake. But at the time I am speaking of he rarely paid
any visits except to his own relations, to one of his sisters, married to Dr.
Allatt, and living at Boulogne, with whom he and his mother generally
spent some weeks every year ; or to a sister of Mrs. Buckle's at Brighton,
where, I believe, he became known in society earlier than in London.
He also stayed several times in the country with some of my family, but
it was not till after his mother's death that he visited more generally, and
seemed glad to escape from his lonely home to be among those who knew
and valued him enough to let him follow his own ways. When there were
children in any house that he frequented, he noticed them very nuich
and they grew fond of him. His strong interest in education made him
the confidant and counsellor of more than one anxious mother. The child
he was most attached to was one of his own nephews, whose great promise
he often spoke of; and the poor boy's death, Avhich happened, soon after
his mother's, grieved him most deeply.
" The method by which a man works is always interesting as an indica-
tionof character ; it may be well, therefore, to mention v l,at I remember of
Mr. Buckle's. It was chiefly remarkable for careful sy.stematic industry
and punctilious accuracy. His memory appeared to be almost faultless ;
yet he took as much precaution against failure as if he dared not trust it.
He invariably read with a paper and pencil in his hand, making copious
references for future consideration. How laboriously this system was
.
xxxu
BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE.
acted upon, can be appreciated only by those who have seen his note-books,
in which the passages so marked during his reading were either copied or
referred to un<Ier proper heads. Volume after volume was thus filled,
written with the same precise neatness that characterised his MS for the
press; ranging over every subject to which his omnivorous appetite for
knowledge had led him, and indexed with care, so that immediate reference
might be made to any topic. But carefully as these extracts and refe-
rences were made, there was not a quotation in one of the copious notes
that accompanied his work that was not verified by collation with the
original from which it was taken.
_ "Mr. Buckle had made a very close study of style with a view to form-
ing his own. He had not only analysed the styles of our best En-lish
writers, but carefully compared the peculiarities and merits of the best
French writers with our own. He was, accordingly, a severe critic, and it
was a valuable lesson to hear him dissect an ill-constructed sentence, and
point out how the meaning could have been brought out with full dear-
ness by such or such changes. While studying style practically for his
own future use, he had been in the habit of taking a subject, whether
argument or narrative, from some author, Burke for instance, and to write
hmiself, following of course the same line of thought, and then compare
his passage with the original, analysing the different treatment so aa to
make it evident to himself when, and how, he had failed to express the
meaning with the same vigour, or terseness,-''or simplicity. Force and
clearness were his principal aim, and accordingly in his book, thou^^h elo-
quent passages are rare, there is not a feeble page, nor a sentence that re-
quires a second glance to be understood. ' It is the most perfect writing
I know for a philosophical work,' was the remark made to me by one of
the most eminent men of our day, and I was proud to find such an opinion
agreeing with my own. F"'**Ju
"Industry and patience were the two qualities on which he prided him-
self, and which he unceasingly preached to others. In speaking of what he
had done or intended doing there was little said or implied of confidence in
superior power; systematic work and patient thought were, he said the
great engines by which he had conquered difiiculties. I have before me
now a letter that he wrote to a friend, who had consulted him about -,
projected work of wide scope, and requiring no small knowledge • it 4
characteristic both of his way of looking at an arduous undert^Udng, and
also of his prompt kindness in responding to the call for advice He
writes:-' I shall keep your MS. (the scheme of the work in que'stion)
till I see you, and I want to turn over the subject in my mind. At pre-
sent see no difficulty which you cannot conquer. Great preliminary
knowledge will have to be acquired ; but, speaking hastily, I should say
ten or twelve years would suffice. The main thing wiU be to study
economcall^,, lotting no time run to waste. I need not assure you that II
that I know, and have, and can, will be at your disposition.' Nor was
this an Idle form of words. Nothing roused hie sympathy m<n-e\Z
P^otely than the efforts of another mind to reach or t'o spread Tnowlec !^
Ihis was to him tne great pursuit of life, and he wearied not in givin^
I view to form-
r best English
its of tlie best
•e critic, and it
sentence, and
v'ith full clear-
Jtically for his
bject, whether
3, and to Avrite
then compare
nent so as to
to express the
'. Force and
k, though elo-
itence that re-
)erfect writing
me by one of
ich an opinion
3 prided hini-
ng of what lie
confidence in
, he said, tlie
ve before me
him about a
ivledge ; it is
ertiiking, and
«tdvice. He
in question)
id. At pre-
'■ preliminary
I should say
be to study
! you that all
.' Nor Avas
moro com-
1 knowledge,
ot in giving
BIOGBAPHICAL NOTICE. xj^iii
help to any who sought his aid with an equally earnest spirit. Time
book,, ,dv,ce, the result of his own studies, all would be freely given 7or
such a purpose. At a time when he was most fully engaged he ZZ
^nly undertook the revision of a friend's MS., laying'^asidelis own o cu-
CZ l7;.:r^^«^t;' t>- daily, to go through a' minute andTd oL
ver^ hou tr- u'^f Yr^'^'^ '^'^ '^'^•^ *° '"--^^ - blessing of
every hour; he sought it frankly, and seemed to depend on receiving it
with an almost ru^^e confidence which had a charm of its own, hoj
perhaps denoted his scanty dealings with the world. But he .Ct^l
sympathy m ftdl measure, and his manner of showing it wasamon/ he
things tha made his friendship as valuable as his socifty was deli^h^fUl
Doub less his mother's influence, the feeling of all he owed o her
^ intellectually, as well as for her devoted care and love led hTlt 1
< ttuTtTr^ '-' '•'-'-''-''' '' worn'::: ^le Tar l^^t
through her a keen appreciation of what their peculiar intellectu-tl
, quahties-so commonly neglected-ought to do for society and the 1 1
-g >v^ich prompted his choice of a subject, the only time' he ever spit
nTo^::iier tZl:^' ""'"^*°°' ^ ^" --'^ had'watched motlVr 1
did nSZT r ' """"' '"'■^"S"^^ ^''"^'"'^ ^hen it was said that he
did not care for men's society because he was spoiled by women who fed
«« be for some ,„ali.ie, that wV ecoZe'i 1^^ . 7°°* ™' "
find among n,en. Women „av, a;d3fte„ltot^' k"""' ""^
utterl, mi..*e a man's cl-.a^ee, Z:Z':;:^'^Z:7^^-r°"'
hidden from them. Th ■ „ ii„i . , «'' P"."'"' ™ i"' Me ate
his vices; and, in ,»„ora. 1 u '",""""'"« "s virtue, as
severely a's „eli as ^r^, ^, ' ""*: i? t'" '" °''"''™" '~
kea they are not so casilv de f ' °°'"^' "'"''» "'eir
they more often pity and trgve the to tsT" "t°'°" '"'*="■''»• """
.hem. When, th'erLe. a m^^ *„de ' IrmedTnd'Tf " f °' "
women, we mav be mir^ tl^o.^ • ,• , „ '^'""^^ and valued among
BncU,e.'s o.e on'e '^"uaii ^ „:' havt"b '"™ /"' "■ '» «'
whieh, when united with rower wliTr , ''"''™" 8<i">"mesii,
a peculiar charm for 1 eT ' WhatL""! "' ^ 'T""'' ''™^' >■-
Bnckle being a favourite with w„JI„ 7 7 . "' """'""M. of Mr.
by other men a, a ZoiltZu)lt^: T"'""^ "*""='''• ' "=-»*■
which is supposed to be Xesi tile to „,?r >,°"' " '",""' '""'><'"''"■=.
his most valued female friends"; wi Zone It"? '*> "" ' ""
hi. name was known to the world aTd Tl "',°'=P'"'°' f<'™=<l before
intercourse with those friend, w-,', „„ .,,^7 7° '" "'*" «'"' "'"
and freedom which excludeftrbse idea o^Z'!'' '""*'=' °°"'"'«-
any other treachery to frioudshlp, a,. I'tirli^lXS'^:^,;'
li^l
XXXIV
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
n
:;!t' 1 ;
I r-r
I ,';
the candid spirit in which he met criticism freely offered, and even grave
disapproval, expressed with all the frankness of honest regard.
" Mr. Buckle's rigid mode of life, his frequent refusal to break through
it for any of the claims of society, was often the subject of comment ; and
he was not spared the reproach of selfishness, so lavishly brought against
all, whose self requires- something different from the se)f of those who are
criticising. I am writing no panegyric, and could not if I would decide
how far he really was amenable to the repioach ; but I will say that in
this respect, at any rate, his selfishness was of a rare and high order,
and might rather be called by a better name. He would not allow any-
thing to interfere with the course he had laid down for himself; but that
course was one which he felt to be worth his best efforts, and he kneAV
how much care was requisite to enable him to sustain those efforts. And
if he set aside the claims of society and the pleasure of others, he set
aside no less rigidly things that afforded the highest gratification to him-
self. For instance, from the time he began to write he never allowed
himself to play a match at chess. One that he had played against
the famous Lbwenthal, and in which he won four games out of seven,
took more out of him, he said, than he would give to any such frivolous
triumph again. I happened to be staying in the same house with him — I
think in 1858 — when earnest solicitation was made to him to play a match
at some great chess congress that was to tfike place shortly, and I witnessed
the severe struggle it was to refuse it. I mention this as an illustration of
the principle on which his rigid habit was founded : namely, the determi-
nation to shape his own life, as far as an originally feeble constitution
would allow ; never, as he said himself, to be the slave of habits such as
men drift into without knowing why, but to avail himself of the whole
force of habit to work out his own purposes. And the purpose of his life
was his book. It had been the dream of his youth, gradually assuming
shape through years of solitary study ; it was the task of his manhood,
for which every other object that might have tempted his ambition was
renounced, and it dwelt in his last conscious thoughts when life, with all
its unfulfilled hopes and baffled schemes, was passing away 1 Though at
the time I am speaking of years seemed to stretch out before him, he
knew that his tenure of health was such as to make many a sacrifice
necessary in order to attain that object, and he was willing to make every
sacrifice except that of his mother's comfort. To conform himself to his
mode of life was no sacrifice to her, though many may doubtless have
thought so ; but they ibrgot that she also lived for his book with a single-
ness of devotion which was touching to witness.
" This intense earnestness of pursuit was part of his power. It might
offend the idle, or occasionally weary at a dinner-table, where lighter
subjects of conversation would have been more acceptable ; but it
seized upon those who lived with him more intimately, and it may safely
be said that no mind at all alive to intellectual impressions, ever was
brought into much communion with his, without being in some small
measure interpenetrated with his spirit; 'vithout feeling the grandeur and
ons, ever was
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. ^xxv
power of truth, and the littleness of mere worldly success compared wit),
the lolty objects to which the lover of knowledge may aspire. His life
was a standmg protest against the low views of knowledge which so widely
prevail m this country, which taint our systems of education from the
highest to the lowest, and gauge every exertion of man's intellect bv its
market price. What the real worth of Mr. Buckle's speculations, and
whether he overrated them or not, is not for me to examine; but I do
know that having, as he believed, attained some valuable principles, some
glimpses of truth not hitherto recognised, such a possession was to him
the call to an apostleship in as true and earne.D a sense as ever was realised
by missionary or philanthropist. He believed, as they do, that men should
not put their hght under a bushel,' but rather so toil as to place it where
n. shall hght up the dark corners of the earth. Widely, indeed, did he
differ from them as to the means of doing good among men, bu; he was
not the ess kindled by the noble desire that by his labours he might leave
the world better than he found it. ^
"I have wandered far from my visit to Mrs. Buckle at Highgate. Our life
there was too quiet to afford anything to relate, and impressions of character
not events, really constitute all I have to recall. When we met a^ain ij
was ui London ; and the next time I was staying with them it wa^ the're.
rhey had been settled for some years in the house in Oxford Terrace which
he occupied till he left England on his last fatal journey. It was small
but all the space at the back had been built over, making one lod-S
room,_ lighted by a skylight, and this was Mr. Buckle's library 'IW
were indeed books all over the house, but in this room was arranged Z
largest part of his splendid collection, perhaps the largest any mt e
student ever made m a fe. years for his own use. For his library Zlt
t"nr?.f A '' T T^ "" ^'^'^°'^^' ^^ '"^^ '' *h« curiosities of ifte^
ture that have such a charm for the book collector, and he was often content
with a cheap second-hand copy, and delighted with a bargain a aTook
stal His tastes would naturally have led him to form a library but l'^
health m.ule it almost a necessity. His high-strung nerves reqiS d ab o-
lute quiet and privacy while he worked, and reading in pub icTbr Hes
was almost unendurable to him. This reminds me t! notie 1 pi; on
In TT f "' """''^^ ''''' ^^^'^ ^'^^' ^bouthis book.^ He's
r preached with never quoting original documents, ranging amon. wel
known authors and neglecting the sources of historical knowledge^I w I
answer first ^^dlat my remarks above recalled to my mind, that he Infe d
he never could have borne the fatigue of studying MSS The eZr
I- sight, and th ough the eyes on the brain, «hlt? horH mTrf
oic d to feel that no such labour was needful for his piu-pose. It wa^ no
ned and laid as de, but deliberately neglected, becaui printed mtter
upphed in abundance all the materials he wanted. It was not h prri 1
to examine into the accuracy of this or th-it mrtirnlnv r ^
^earch for proofs for or against^he recei:;d ^rr ^ d raf^ ^^^^
or national transactions. All he want^ed was the great outline of h!^,
XXXVl
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
M
'Ml
which furnished him with the data for some of his speculations, and the
proof of others. It was the broad history of nations that he sought to
illustrate, and erudite researches would have afforded him no assistance.
The accusation has been brought against him as a slight upon his literary
industry ; but it only proves that those who brought it knew neither the
man, nor the scope of his work.
" Mr. Buckle was very fond of society, and, as long as his mother's health
pei-mitted her to do so, she gathered pleasant parties in their house, where
talk floATed freely, and --wit and wisdom were equally appreciated. Later,
when Mrs. Buckle could no longer receive, he had occasional dinner-parties
of men alone ; but the numbers were larger, and I used to hear from 'him-
self and others that they lacked the charm of the former social meetings.
The brilliancy of Mr. "Buckle's conversation was too v/ell known to need
mention ; but what the world did -not know, was how entirely it was the
same among a few intimates with whom he felt at home as it was at a
large party where success meant celebrity. His talk was the outpouring
■of a full and earnest mind, it had more matter than wit, more of book-
knowledge than of personal observation. The favourite maxim of many
dinner-table talkers, ' Glissez, mats n'appuyez pas, was certainly not his.
He loved to go to the bottom of a subject, unless he found that his oppo-
inent and himself stood on ground so different, or started from such opposite
principles, as to make ultimate agreement hopeless, and then he dropped or
turned the argument. His manner of doing thisainfortunately gave offCTice
at times, while he not seldom wearied others by keeping up the ball, and
letting conversation merge into discussion. Hewas simply bent on getting
•at the truth, and if he believed himself to hold it, he could with difficulty
be iuade to understand that others might be impatient while he set it forth.
On' the other hand, it is fair to mention that if too fond of argument, and
sometimes too prone to self-assertion, his temper in discussion was perfect;
he was a most candid opponent, and an admirable listener.
" The faults of his conversation, such as they were, might be traced, like
many other peculiarities, to his secluded life. He did not possess that
knowledge of society which comes from practical intercourse Avith men,
and which oflen gives such zest to the talk of barristers or politicians, or
even mere men of -the world. He had lived too much alone, or at least his
graver life had been too solitary. He knew most of what was written, he
often did not know enough of what was said and done. He was versed in
the tenets of philosophical and religious and political sects, as they have
existed and worked in the past ; he was not always sufficiently awake to
the various forms of life and opinion existing around him. He had not
been forced, as most men are, in the actual contact of the working world,
to see, and learn to appreciate at their real value, influences foreign to his
own life. And what his own experience did not teach him, be could not
leiun through others, as he might have done had he possessed that wide
circle of familiar acquaintance which surrounds a man who has pas.>^ed
through school and college, and belongs to a profession or a party. This
social disadvantage, entailed by his early ill-health, told even in gravel?
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
XXXVll
other's health
house, where
ated. Later,
iinner-parties
ar from 'him-
ial meetings,
own to need
ly it was the
3 it was at a
e outpouring
ore of book-
cim of many
linly not his.
lat his oppo-
such opposite
le dropped or
' gave oifCTice
the ball, and
snt on getting
ith difficulty
16 set it forth,
■gument, and
was perfect:;
e traced, like
possess that
le with men,
oliti<iian8, or
r at least his
s written, he
ras versed in
as they have
;ly awake to
He had not
rking world,
jreign to his
e could not
3d that wide
has passed
>arty. This
n in gravel?
matters ;. and some things by which he gave offence would perhaps never
have been, said or done had he lived in the close intimacy of school or
college friends, where the frankness of boyish days often lives as a privi-
lege long aiter it has ceased to be the natural habit of life.
" In. many ways, the influence of self-education and of a retired home-
life was apparent in the tone o£ Mb. Buckle's opinions and character. Hud
it been possible to write a real biography of him, it must have afforded the
most interesting illustrations of two important points — the influence of
self- training on a powerful mind, and the influence of a mother on her
son.. As it is, those who knew them can feel how much there was of both,
but have no means of making it evident to others. Having won every-
thing by his own exertions, and never tried hia strength against others, he
eomet.iraes appeared to underrate, sometimes to overrate, the common
average of ability and of attoinments. Accordingly, in bis work we occa-
sionally find points elaborately dwelt upon, and enforced by repeated
quotation, which few would have been inclined to dispute ; and occasion-
ally, on the other hand, a belief in the ready acceptance of some principle
which the majority of men are still far from acknowledging. A man who
had gone through the normal routine of education and of life would not,
even with half his ability, have fallen into these mistakes.
"On another point he judged others too much by his own standard.
To himself, recognising a truth and accepting it as a principle to be acted
upon,, were one and the same thing ; and I believe it was. his ignorance of
the world that made it, hard for him to admit how feeblysin general men
are stirred by an appeal to their under.standing. The very common incon-
sistency between opinions and practice which perhaps sarves as much evil
in one directio'i as it causes in another, was so foreign to his own mind
that he often failed to allow for it. The profession, for instance,, of intole-
rant views in religion or politics made him look upon the persons who
professed them, as if they were prepared to carry them into practice, as
perhaps they might have done in times when the symbols of their religious
or political allegiance had a living ])ower among men. He gave one sig-
nal i)roof of his uncompromising mode of judging matters of, thistkiad in
his severe strictures on Sir John Coleridge,' which caused deep pajiu to
many of his friends,, and to none more than to myself. Every form of in-
tolerance roused the intolerant spirit in him ; for he could not forgive that
anyone should pretend in dealing with his- fellow-men to abridge tnat per-
feet freedom of thought and speech which, to himself, was the most
precious inheritance of an era of knowledge and. civilisation.
"On one other point only I have known Mr. Buckle to depart from his
habitually indulgent view of the conduct of others. This was extrav;i,-
' In a revipw upon J. Stuart Mill's w«rk on Liberty, published in Eraser's Magiv-
zine, May 1859. The earnest letters of remonstrance that I wrote to him at
the time were, I suppose, destroyed ; his answe. I kept, and portions of tliem at loast
vyill be publishrd b. re ; they give whiithu considered his own justification ; they also
illustrate the spirit in which he met opposition.
rxxviu
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
I f)
gance or rlisorder in money matters. A man who could endure debt was
lo Iiiin not only wanting in rigid uprightness, Init almoi^t incurred his con-
tempt I'or tlie unmanly feebleness he thought it indicated. His strong
feeling on this subject, and his adherence to the maxims of political
economy as regards charity, were perhaps partly the cause of his being
considered close, and fond of money. It requires a very accurate
acquaintance Avith a man's private affairs to substantiate or rebut such an
accus-ft.ion, and it does not concern me to do either. I speak of my own
recollection only, and I have known of kind and liberal offers made by
Mr. Buckl , which, in the case I allude to, were repeatedly urged in S])ite
of refusal. It must also be remembered that his delicate health enhanced
the value of money to him by rendering a certain scale of comfort and even
of luxury so indispensable that without it no mental exertion would have
been possible. At any rate, if he loved money, he loved knowledge more.
With his abilities none can doubt that golden success might have been his
had he gone to the bar, tor instance, or turned his attention to any lucra-
tive employment; but he deliberately preferred the moderate independence
which leit him free to follow his own pursuits. And never yet did such
pursuits pay any man the money's Avorth of the time he has devoted to
them. The public hearing uoav and then of large sums paid to an author,
straightvv-ay iorms a magniHcent notion of the profits of literary labour, and
yet never, perhaps, except to the succes.sful novelist, was literary labour
profitable. Even in the few cases which form apparent exceptions to this
rule, the element of time is left out in the popular estimate. But ii' we
consider the men who alone are capable of producing a great Avork, and
remember Avhat such men might probably have made in business or in a
profession during the ten, fifteen, or twenty years of life that have been
spent in studious preparation, and in the slow ripening of thought and
speculation, it is evident that no Avork of real value ever can find its money
price. The Avriter may be paid in coin more precious to him than gold
and silver, but at least let no such man be reproached with a sordid love
of wealth.
" In the summer of 1855 Iliad promised to pay a visit to Mrs. Buckle at
Hendon, Avhere they had moved according to their animal custom of
leaving London early in the season ; their choice of a summer re.sidence
being governed generally by consideration of an easy journey for her, and
easy access for him to his library Avhenever some iresh supply of books
should be needed. But my visit was hindered by Mrs. Buckle being
taken seriously ill. His letters at that time were full of alarm for her and
of general discouragement; he Avas not strong enough to react against de-
pression, and it Avas fortunate, therefore, that in the ordinary state of
things after this illness, he got used to his mothei-'s invalid condition, and
only at times Avas roused from his false security by 3ome fresh symptom.
T Avent abroad for some months, and Ave did not meet till the Avinter ; the
]}ainful change in Mrs. Buckle a'-'hs very apparent then to unaccustomed eyes.
'* In 1850 he began to prepare his first volume for publication. Whether
this Yolume should or should not appear alone, had been the subject
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
XXX IX
?: debt was
'd hiscon-
lis strong
)f political
' his being
accnrate
it sucli an
if my own
3 made by
ed in S])ite
I enhanced
•t and even
rould have
3dge more.
e been his
any lucra-
lependence
t did such
devoted to
an author,
abour, and
ary labour
ons to this
But ii' we
Avork, and
ess or in a
have been
lought and
its monev
than gold
sordid love
. Buckle at
custom of
• residence
:)r her, and
y of books
cklo being
for her and
against de-
ry state of
dition, and
I symptom,
nnter ; the
yumed eyes.
1. Whether
;he subject
of much discussion, and it was Mrs. Buckle's earnest wish, founded
on her own sense of her precarious terra of life, that finally prevailed.
His own intention had been at least to finish the Introduction before he
gave any portion of his work to the public. He felt no impatience about
it. Engrossed with his labour, and confident of power, he was content to
wait. la the words of one, who, though strenuously opposed to his opinions,
yet paid a graceful tribute to his memory, ' he knew that whenever he
pleased he could command personal distinction, but he cared more for his
subject than for himself. He was content to work with patient reticence,
unknown and unheard of, for twenty years, thus giving evidence of qiiali-
ties as rare as they are valuable.' ' But his mother knew too well that
she could not aflfbrd to wait. During the spring and summer of 1856 she
was more ill, and had a more general sense of failing than she Avould allow
him to know. She kept up her courage and her spirits for his sake, lest
he should be diverted from his work, I was staying with them for a short
time at Tunbridge Wells, and. daily she betrayed to me her knowledge that
her days were numbered, and her anxiety to see her son take his right
place in the world. Slio had had no vulgar ambition for him ; she had
l)een content that he should hide his bright gifts in their quiet home so
long as the serious purpose of his life required it, but now that it was
partly attained, that a portion of his work was ready, she grow eager to
see tliose gifts acknowledged before she herself went foi'th to be no more
seen on earth. Chapter by chapter, almost page by page, had that first
vohinie been planned with her, commented by her ; every speculation as
it arose talked over Avith her; and now her mind Avas oppressed with the
ii-ar that she might never know how those pages, so unutterably precious
to her, would be Avelcomed by those Avhose welcome Avould croAvn her
beloved with fame. Yet, to spare him, she never Avould betray in his
]iroscnce the real secret of her groAving impatience ; only when Ave Avere
alone .she would say to me, ' Surely God will let me live to see Henry's
book ; ' and she did live to see it, and to read the dedication to herself, the
only Avords there that she Avas tmprepared to meet. Mr. Buckle told me
he bitterly repented the rash act of laying the volume before her to enjoy
her surprise and pleasure ; for he Avas alarmed at her agitation. Even the
next day, Avhen shoAving it to me, she could not speak, but pointed Avith
tears to the few Avords that summed up to her the full expression of liis
love and gratitude. She thus saAV her ardent Avish gratified, and her im-
])atience was but too well ju.stified. The second volume Avas dedicated to
her memory alone !
" But to return to the motives Avhich determined Mr. Buckle to publish
a single volume. I wish to speak of them, for probably these Avere never
understood; but to do so I must say a few words of the book itself. The
j)lan of his Introduction required that, after laying doAvn the principles of
his method, and enumerating the laAvs he believed to have governed the
' Froudo Ipptiiro, delivored at tho Royal Institution, February, 1864, and published
in the volume of Short Studies on Great Subjects.
I
xl
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
I
:■ k
course of human progress, he should illustrate these principles from the
history of those nations in which certain tendencies had predominated.
The first volume— the only one then ready— contained his theory. The
histories of Spain and of Scotland were to furnish a portion of the requi-
site illustrations of the theory, and the remainder were to be drawn from
the social condition and intellectual development of Germany on the one
hand, and of the United States on the other. For the portion relative to
Spain and Scotland he was prepared ; but he held that he was not com-
petent to work out the other without spending some time in the countries
to be studied. This, however, would have involved a lengthened sepa-
ration from his mother, which, in her condition, he could not encounter ;
and this consideration finally decided him to publish what was ready, and
wait for the remainder till he should be able to accomplish his purpose.
Friends combated his view of the necessity of this delay ; they reminded
him of the mass of information he had collected and might yet collect
from books ; but he was not to be moved. The United States especially
could not, as he believed, be studied thoroughly through books, and no
argument could induce him to hurry over his work or be content with
any less laborious investigation than he himself felt to be desirable.
Neither would he leave England in the precarious state of his mother's
health. He would wait and work, if needs be, for years j he had work
enough before him, but he would not slur it over, nor, on the other hand,
bring upon her and himself the bitter anxiety of a long separation. Thus
It happened that the materials which he considered necessary for com-
pleting the mere introduction to his work never were collected; for when
he was, all too soon, free to follow his own wishes, he was too much
broken down to travel for any serious purpose. And of a plan so
gigantic an unfinished introduction was all he lived to accomplish. It
has been judged as a work— it was only a fragment. Of the body of the
work itself, for which he had amassed considerable materials, he wrote
nothing, though doubtless some fragments found among his papers, and
since given to the pixblic, were roughly sketched out for it.
" It was in the summer of 1856 that Mr. Buckle determined to pub-
lish his first volume. So little did the sagacity of publishers foresee its
success, that no admissible ofl^er was made for it, and he resolved on
publishing it at his own cost. He did so, and the volume appeared early
in 1857. "^
" Sanguine as had been the anticipations of friends who had seen the
MS., the result far exceeded them. His circle of acquaintance had been
gradually enlarging, still it was a comparatively small one, aid strictly
private ; he did not till some time after belong even to a club. He had
never tried his strength in reviews or magazines; once only, to help a
friend, he had offered to review a work, but tlie offer of the unknown
writer was refused, and thus not a line from his pen had ever been seen
till this volume of 800 pages, purporting to be the first of a long work,
took the public by surprise. He sprang at cm-o into celebrity ; and sin-
gularly enough, considering the nature of the book, he attained not merely
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
Xli
s from the
dominated,
iory. Tlie
the requi-
rawn from
an the one
relative to
i not com-
3 countries
3ned sepa-
3n counter ;
ready, and
3 purpose.
^ reminded
yet collect
1 especially
(s, and no
Qtent with
desirable,
s mother's
had work
ther hand,
on. Thus
' for com-
for when
too much
a plan so
iplish. It
ody of the
, he wrote
apers, and
d to pub-
foresee its
isolved on
ired early
i seen the
had been
id strictly
He had
to help a.
unknown
been seen
ong work,
and sin-
lot merely
to literary fame, but to fashionable notoriety. To his own great amuse-
ment, he became the lion of the season ; his society was courted, his library
besieged with visitors, and invitations poured in upon him, even from
houses where philosophical speculation had surely never been a passport
before. To himself, as to the public, his previous obseurity added to the
glare of his sudden triumph ; but it is pleasant to remember that he Avas
unaltered by his changed position. Such as he was before, such he re-
mained afterwards. He enjoyed it, indeed, freely and frankly, all the more,
probably, because no school or college competition, no professional struggles,
had given him before an assured place among his contemporaries. He had
been proudly confident in his own power, and he felt a natural pleasure in
seeing it for the first time publicly acknowledged ; but his mind was too
earnestly bent on what he yet hoped to achieve to dwell with complaxjent
satisfaction on the social distinction won by past exertion ; and in the first
flush of his triumph he refused the most flattering invitations to different
parts of the country, in order to spend the few weeks of absence from bis
mother with friends in a small country parsonage, where his time was
divided oetween study, playing and talking with children, and long evening
conversations, into which he threw the same richness and animation as if
the most brilliant circle had been gathered round him.
" It was the same the following summer (1858), when I was again, and
for the last time, staying in the same house with him.. The intervening
months, while he was enjoying the new and valuable society to which his
l)ook had introduced him, entering into correspondence with eminent men
at home and abroad, preparing a second edition which was rapidly called
for, and working at his second volume— tliese months so spent had been
very bright and liappy but for the increasing anxiety about his mother.
She had now given up all society, even intimate friends rarely saw her,'
and giadually she was unable more and more to join iu any conversation
with him, or even to hear him talk. Some of his letters during this time
were full of gloomy despondency ; then again he seemed to persuade him-
self that she would yet recover. It was during a bright interval that we
met, as I .said above, and I never saw him more full of fun and spirits,
more eager about his work, or more ready to take an interest in that of
others. In the following spring the long-dreac i blow fell at last ; Mrs.
IJuckle died, and he seemed stunned as by an unexpected calamity. But
it^ is needless to. dwell upon that dark time, especially as I scarcely saw
him. After a while he went among strangers, but it was long before he
could bear to be with those who had been the chosen companions of
happier days. In some painfid letters he expressed that feeling so strongly
as to make us cease to press him.
From that time I have little to record. He prepared and published
lii.s second volume, he returned to the world, he went more into general
society, and accepted invitations into the country now that no home con-
siderations fettered his movements • but our nW frequent intereoursu had
been altered, partly by circumstances in our own family, which made us
live more retired, while he was a great deal out of town ; and all through
if
1
IS
1
1
^i ^^^^1
T
1 «^H
in
klii
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
both tlie summers of 1860 and 1861, wandering about from place to place
in hopes of recovering the effect of over-work that he Avas suifering from.
He had been severely tried by preparing his second volume for the press,
and would not rest till it was done. It was published early in 1861, and
then it seemed for a time as if he could never rally working-power again.
" In the autumn of that year he began to talk of going to the United
States, but all who cared for him felt that he was unfit for a journey which
was to be connected with serious study ; and partly to divert him from it,
a friend suggested Egypt, that he had often wished to visit. The plan
delighted him from the first ; his arrangements were soon made, and vainly
did we protest against some of them, which we felt Avere incompatible with
his state of health. He dined with us the last night but one that he passed
in London, and Ave parted, never to meet again !
" The story of that fatal journey has been often told. At first all went
well. He wrote little, but his few letters spoke of intense enjoyment.
We measured the'benefit he had derived by the physical exertion lie Ava3
able to make, and esi^ecially by his willingly encountering the extreme
fatigue of crossing the Desert of Sinai. Such an exertion was so contrary
to all his former habits, that his successful accomplishment of that expe-
dition seemed like the promise of renewed and more vigorous youth. The
spring of 1862 came ; we looked forward to the pleasure of seeing him
among us again, and to the far deeper pleasure of seeing him resume his
interrupted labours, when the fatal news reached us, and Ave knew that a
solitary grave in the far East had closed over all our hopes — over all his
visions of earthly fame ! "
■fill
We must now return to the epoch of the publication of the
first volume of the History of Civilization in England. Early in
the year 1857, the author made arrangements Avith Mr. Parker,
the publisher, to publish his Avork on commission, and at length,
on June 9, 1857, he entered in his Journal: "Looked into my
Volume I., of which the first complete and bound copy was sent
to me this afternoon." His oaa'u account of the intended scope
of the book, and his own estimate of various passages in it, have
been preserved in several letters and in one or tAvo passages of
his Journal :
" The fundamental ideas of my liook are : 1st. That the history
of every country is marked by peculiarities Avhich distinguish it from
other countries, and Avhich, being unaffected, or slightly affected, by in-
dividual men, admit of being generalised. 2nd. That an essential pre-
liminary to such generalisation is an enquiry into the relation between
the condition of society and the condition of the material world surround-
ing such Kocicty. 3rd. That the iiistory of a aiiigie country (such as
England) can only be understood by a previous investigation of history
BIOGEAPIiJ> IL NOTICE.
xliii
lace to place
ffering from,
or the press,
n 1861, and
power again,
the United
urney which
him from it,
. The plan
e, and vainly
ipatible with
lat he passed
irst all went
! enjoyment,
rtion he Avas
the extreme
1 so contrary
f that expe-
yoiith. The
seeing hira
L resume his
inew that a
■over all his
tion of the
, Early in
ilr. Parker,
at length,
d into my
y was sent
nded scope
in it, have
passages of
the history
aish it from
cted, by in-
isential pre-
ion between
d surround -
•y (such as
m of history
generally. And the object of the Introduction is to undertake that
investigation.
" I may fairly say that I have bestowed considerable thought on tlie
general scheme, and I think I could bring forward arguments (too long
for a letter) to justify the apparently disproportionate length of the notices
of Burke and Bichat.' As to the French Protestants, I am more inclined
to agree with you, though even here it is to be observed that general
historians represent the struggle between Protestants and Catholics as
always a struggle between toleration and intolerance ; and as I assert that
the triumph of the Catholic party in France has increased toleration, I
thought myself bound to support with full evidence what many will deem
a paradoxical assertion I have also worked this part of the
subject at the greater length because I thought it confirmed one of the
leading propositions in my fifth chapter, to the effect that religious tenets
do not SO' much affect society, as they are affected by it. I wished t;>
show how much more depends on circumstance than on dogma. It was
therefore useful to prove that though the Catholics are theoretically more
intolerant than the Protestants, they were, in France, practically more
tolerant, and that this arose from the pressure of general events." ^
• •....
" I want my book to get among the mechanics' institutes and the peojyle ;
and to tell you the honest truth, I would rather be praised in popular and,
as you rightly call them, vulgar papers than in scholarly publications.
. . . . They are no judges of the c?7Y2C«Z value of what I have done,
but they are admirable judges of its social consequences among their
own class of readers. And these are they whom I am now beginning to
touch, and whom I wish to move.
[September, ]8o7.]
" You remind me that I have not answered your former questions
respecting transcendental convictions and the relation between them and
religious belief; the reason of my silence is the impossibility of treating
such subjects in a letter. In conversation you would raise difficulties and
ask for further information on what seemed obscure, but you cannot cross-
examine a letter, and on subjects of such inunense difficulty I fear to be
misunderstood; and I shrink from saying anything that might give a
painful direction to your speculations. In regard to books, on this
' " October 1. 1852.— Continued writing my acoount of Burke, which I think will
be one of the best parts of the Introduction." — Journal.
^ "January I7th, 1853.— AVrote in my book what I think a fine comparison be-
tween Calvinism and Arminianism, as illustrating the influence of Jansenism on the
French Revolution.
"Fe/mtari/ ind, 1853. -Read Comto's Trait6 de Legislation; a profound work,
which has anticipated some views that I thought original upon the superiority of
intellect over morals as a dircciiiiy principle of society."— /«((»•««/;.
II
|!
xliv
I'l.
'IV
BIOGKAPHICAL NOTICE.
there is nothing in English, and what perhaps I shoxild most recommend
are the minor works of Fichte, which I could lend you if you find yourself
strong enough in German to master them. The difference between the
transcendental operations of the reason and the empirical operatioaa of the
understanding is also worked out by Kant, and at the end of my first
chapter you will find all the passages collected in which that wonderful
thinker applies the theory of their difference to solve the problem of free
will and necessity. Coleridge saw the difficulty, but dared not investigate
it Miserable creatures that we are, to think that we offend ^o '. >>■ us'ijg
with freedom the faculties that God has given us ! There - one
safe maxim on these questions, viz.,. that if we strive honestly . >r the
truth we satisfy our conscience, and having done all that lies in our
power, may wash our hands of the result. If this maxim be neglected
then investigations will only lead to a life of misery, and had far better be
lefb alone.
[January, 1858.]
"You ask me how I reply to the charge of not taking into consideration
the effect produced by the passions of men on the course of history. My
answer is that we have no reason to believe that human passions are mate-
rially better or worse than formerly — nor that they are smaller or greater.
If, therefore, the amount and nature of the passions are unchanged, they,
cannot be the cause either of progress or of decay — because an unchangeable
cause can only generate an unchangeable effect. On the other hand, it is
true that the manifestation, and, as it were, the shape of the passions, is
different in diflTarent periods ; but such difference not being innate, must
be due to external causes. Those causes propel and direct the passions of
men, and these last are (in so far as they are changeable), the products of
civilisation and not the producers of it. In my book I always examine the
causes of events as high up as I can find them, because I consider the
object of science is to reach the largest and most remote generalisations.
But my critics prefer considering the immediate and most proximate
causes— and in their way of looking at the subject they naturally accuse
me of neglecting the study of emotions, moral principles, and the like.
According to my view the passions, &c., are both causes and effects, and
1 seek to rise to their cause — while if I were apractical writer I should con-
fine myself to their effects. But I despair of writing anything satisfactory
in the limits of a letter on this subject."
[December, 1859.]
" It is impossible in a letter to answer fully your questions on the utili-
tarian theory of morals. But I do not think that you separate rigidly
two very diflTerent matters, viz., what morals do rest upon, and what
they ought to rest upon. All yevy honest people who have not any reach
of mind, regulate the greater part of tlieir moral conduct without attend-
-%
■s
iQg,
field.
i I
BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE.
xlv
lary, 1858.]
onsideration
istory. My
ns are mate-
' or greater,
anged, they,
ichangeable
• hand, it is
passions, is
nnate, must
passions of
products of
xamine the
onsider the
3ralisations.
proximate
"ally accuse
i the like,
effects, and
should con-
satisfactory
3er, 1859.]
n the utili-
•ate rigidly
and what
fc any reach
out attend-
ing to -consequences ; but it does not follow that they ought to do so. The
doctrine of consequences is only adopted by persons of a certain amount of
thought and culture, or else by knaves, who very likely have no thought
or culture at all, but who find the doctrine convenient. Thus it is that
the science of political economy perpetually leads even disinterested and
generous men to conclusions which deliglit interested and selfish men.
The evil of promiscuous charity, for instance, and the detriment caused by
foundling hospitals and similar institutions, is quite a modern discovery,
and is directly antagonistic to that spontaneous impulse of our nature which
urges us to give, and always to relieve imnjediate distress. If there ever
was a moral instinct, this is one, and we see it enforced with great pathos
in the New Testametit, which was written at a period when tlie evil of the
instinct (as shown by a scientific investigation of the tiieory of conse-
quences) was unTinown. I have no doubt that when our knowledge is
more advanced, an immense number of other impulses Avill be in the same
way proved to be erroneous ; but even when the proof is supplied there
are only two classes Tvho will act upon it : those who are capable of
understanding the argument, and those who, without comprehending it,
are pleased with the doctrine it inculcates. What is vulgarly called the
moral faculty is always spontaneous — or at least always appears to be so.
But science (i.e. truth), is invariably a limitation of spontaneousness.
Every scientific discovery is contrary to common sense, and the history
of the reception of that discovery is the history of the struggle with the
common sense and with the unaided instincts of our nature. Seeing this,
it is aurely absurd to set up these unaided instincts as s^preme ; to worship
them as idols ; to regret the doctrine of consequences, and to say, < I will
do this because I feel it to be right, and I will listen to nothing which
tempts me from what I know to be my duty ; ' to say this is well enough
for a child, or for an adult who has the intellect of a child ; but on the part
of a cultivated person it is nothing better than slavery of the understand-
ing, and a servile fear of that spirit of analysis to which we owe our most
valuable acquisitions.
" I wish I could publish an essay oa this ! How I pine for more time
and more strength ! Since I have been here I have read what Mill says
in his Essays, and, like everything he writes, it is admirable— but I think
that he has done better things. Pie does not make enough of the historical
argument of unspontaneous science encroaching on spontaneous morals,
and the improvement of moral conduct consequent on such encroachment!
I saw this when I wrote my fourth chapter on the impossibility of moral
motives causing social improvement. But here r am getting into another
field, and it is hopeless . . . ."
^ • • • •. .
Almost directly after the publication of his first volume, he
applied himself to the preparation of the second, for which,
indeed, he had prepare..! Home matter several years before, aiiiee'
in October, 1855, he noted in his Journal that he had "begun
xlvi
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
].
H' 'I
a
I ?r.
',i i
and finished " a " notice of the history of Spain and the In-
quisition, to prove that morals cannot diminish persecution."
He interrupted this work in January, 1858, in order to prepare the
lecture, on the Influence of Women on the Progress of Know-
ledge, which he delivered at the Eoyal Institution on March 19
of the same year. On January 1 9 he entered in his Journal, that
he " began to write a lecture on the Influence of Women ; " and
he continued to enter, nearly every day, the number of hours
(generally from two to four), that he gave to writing it until
February 21, when he notes "finished writing lecture on women."
On the following day he enters " studied lecture on women ; "
and this entry is repeated several times a week until March 19,
when he notes, " From 10*10 to 1'30 studied Lecoure . At
9 I delivered at the Eoyal Institution a lecture on the Influence
of Women on the Progress of Knowledge. I spoke from 8'55 to
10*25 without hesitation and without taking my notes out of my
pocket." His self-gratulation on not requiring the aid of his
notes appears to have produced the mistaken impression in some
quarters that he spoke extempore.
The next event in his life was the loss of his mother, an event
the coming shadow of which had already been gathering for
many years. In 1857 he had written to a friend on the occasion
of the death of a mother : —
" I have more than once undergone in anticipation what you are suffer-
ing in reality, and it has always seemed to me that consolation may be for
the dead, but never for the living. Still, you are not as I shall be you
have not lost all — you do not stand alone in the world."
In the same year he writes of his mother in other letters :
" Month after month she is now gradually altering for the worse ; at
times slightly better, but on the whole perceptibly losing ground . .
Nothing remains of her as she once was except her smile and the exquisite
tenderness of her affections. I while away my days here, doing nothing
and caring for nothing, because I feel that I have no future.
"In the last three weeks I have been unable to write a single line
of my history, and I now confine myself to reading and thinking, which
I can do as well as ever, though I am too unsettled to compose. My
mother is just the same as when I wrote last, caring for nothing but
seeing me, though she is too unwell to converse. . . . While she
is in this state, nothing could induce me to leave her. even for .i day
without absolute necessity. She has no pleasure left except that of
;
BIOGRAPHICAT. NOTICE.
xlvii
d the In-
rsecution."
»repare the
of Know-
March 19
urnal, thai
len ; " and
r of hours
g it until
n women."
women ; "
March 19,
. At
5 Influence
3m 8*55 to
out of my
aid of his
n in some
r, an event
hering for
le occasion
I are sufFer-
niay be for
ill be — you
tterc : —
B worse ; at
nd . . .
lie exquisite
ing nothing
single line
king, which
opose. My
lothing but
While she
for
.1 a;i
■J>
?pt that of
knowing that I am near her, and as long as that remains she shall never
lose it. ... I want change, for besides my anxiety I am vexed,
and, to say the truth, a Uttle frightened at my sudden and complete
inability to compose."
[February, 1859.]
" I am still immersed in Scotch theology, for I am more and more con-
vinced that the real history of Scotland in the seventeenth century is to be
found in the pulpit and in the ecclesiastical assemblies. A few days ago I
tried to compose, and with better success than previously. I wrote about
three pages that morning, and this has given me fresh courage. But it is only
after the great excitement of conversation that I can write in the morning.
Nothing now stirs me but talk. Every other stimulus has lost its power.
I am dining out a good deal, and hear much of my own success ; but it
moves me not. Often could I exclaim with Hamlet, * They fool me to
the top of my bent.' "
On February 6 and '', 1859, he notes in his Journal that he
" read Mill on Liberty ; " and two days afterwards he " began to
arrange notes with a view to reviewing, in Fraser, Mill's new
work on Liberty." With this view he re-read the same writer's
System of Logic, Principles of Political Economy and Thoughts
on Parliamentary Reform ; and the writing of his own review
occupied him for several hours every day for upwards of two
months. It was while he was thus engaged that the death of his
mother took place. " April 1, 1859. At 9'15 p. m. my angel mother
died peacefully without pain," is the record in his diary on that
day, on which he had been occupied in the morning in writing
his account of the Pooley case ; and it was under the immediate
impression of his loss that he wrote what he calls " the evidence
of immortality supplied by the affections," which forms part of
his Essay on Mill. In spite of this blow he continued steadily at
his work, and did not leave London till he had finished his Essay.
Soon after it was published (in Eraser's Magazine) he writes to a
friend, who had remonstrated with him on the violence of his
attack in it on Mr. Justice Coleridge.
10 May [1859].
" What you say about my notice of Justice Coleridge does a httle sur-
prise me. I knew at the time that most persons would think I had shown
too much virulence ; but I believed then, and 1 believe now, that in this
case, as in other cases where I have taken an un'iopular view (such, for
instance, as the absence of dynamical power in morals), those who object
to my treatment have not taken as much pains to inform themselves as I
have done. You know that I have no personal animosity against^Coleridge,
;i'
r
1
xlviii
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
111*. ■>'
it
t\i
itU
Ji SI..
and yet I say that, to the beat of my JTidgment, hia aentence on Poolev
18 the most criminal act committed by an English judge aince the seven-
teenth century. Most acts of religioua cruelty have been in compliance with
the temper of the age; but here we have a man going out of hia way and
runnmg counter to the liberal tendenciea of the time in order to gratify
that malignant passion— a zeal for protecting religion. I have Jelt all I
have written ; and I should be ashamed of myself if on such a subject,
and with my way of looking at affairs, I had expressed less warmth. Of
course I may be wrong; but it seemed to me that the influence, the
name, and the social position of the Judge made it the i lore necessary to
be uncompromising, and to strike a blow which should be felt
I believe that the more the true principles of toleration are understood
the more alive will people be to the magnitude of that crime. At all
events, I know that even if I had used still sti-onger language, I should
only have writtoi what a powerful and intelligent minority think. And I
have yet to learn that there are any good arguments in favour of a man
concealing what he does think. I never have and never will attack a man
for speculative opinions ; but when he translates these opinions into acts,
and m so doing commits cruelty, it is for the general weal that he should
be attacked. A poor, ignorant, half-wittec' man, sentenced to be impri-
soned for a year and nine months, for writing and speaking a few words
against the Author of the Christian religion ! And when I express the
loathing and abomination with which I regard so monstrous an act, you
my dear friend, ' regret the extreme violence ' of my expressions. To me
it appears that your doctrine would root out indignation from my vocabu-
lary; for if such an act is not to rouse indignation, what is? With all
honesty do I say that I attach the highest value to your judgment, and
therefore it is that I should really be glad if you will let me know why
you dislike these remarks on Coleridge."
u AUT. t. r ■, . , 13 May [1859].
"Although I admit the force of all your reasoning, i am not convinced
by It, simply because our premises are different. We look at affairs from
an opposite point of view, and therefore adopt opposite methods. My
habits of muid accustom me to consider actio7is with regard to their con-
sequences—you are more inclined to consider them with regard to their
motives. You, therefore, are more tendt: to individuals than I am par-
ticularly if you think them sincere; and you hold that moral principles
do hasten the improvement of nations; I hold that they do not. Irom
these fundamental differences between us, it inevitably happens that we
estimate aifferently such an act as the sentence on Pooley. We are both
agreed that the sentence was wrong; but you consider that the Judge
not having bad motives (but who can penetrate the heart and discern
motives ?), and not being a bad man, diminishes the criminality of the
sentence, and therefore should have prevented me from using such
strong language.
! understood
me. At all
je, I should
'nk. And I
ur of a man
.ttack a man
ns into acts,
It he should
3 be impri-
i few words
express the
an act, you,
ns. To me
my vocabu-
With all
Igment, and
know why
ay [1859].
b convinced
iffairs from
hods. My
I their con-
rd to their
1 am, par-
principles
wt. I'rom
IS that we
2 are both
he Jiidge,
nd discern
Uty of the
sing such
4
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. xlix
"However, I should prefer resting my view upon grounds still broader
than these As a pubhc writer (not as a private or practical man)
txmate ac .ons solely according to their consequences. The consenuenc
of this sentence I deem far more pernicious than I have been able o
state m my essay, because I could not, for want of space, open up al tl e
topics connected with it. Dealing, as I always do, witL fhe inte st c^'
masses, and striving to reach the highest view of the subject, I hoTdIha
when an act is pernicious, when it is done in the teeth of the liberal tt'
dencies o the time, when t,ie punishment far exceeds the offence hen t
IS not only cruel to the victim but productive of evil consequenc s as
pub.c example_..hen these cjualit-es are combined in a sing e~ction
criminal '" ' '"'^" "^'"^' ^"'^ ^'^^^^^^^^ ^^^ -*- of ^^T^^-
be'lrt^'? "Yout'"?^"r? T^' ^" ^^*' ^"" ^^^^^^ ^'^ P^-P'^' -tor
be treated? lou say that I should not hav- used language which one
gentleman ' would not have used to another in converltion 1 re we
are altogether at issue. My object was not merely to vindicatM
principle of to erat on Cfor that tn ill ^^„ c ^ vmaicate the
nnri h,.^..,} 1 ) ^"^*' *° ^" P^r'^ous of Competent understandinjr
and knowledge was done before I was born), but to punish a great .nd
KlTrZ '^'f " ' '^"^ ^^^^ *^ P"-^^ is another^ ti::"
*^ ^ . . P— "y '^"'^ "ot ^vrong as to 'ntention That i"?
thinrr T i,oL i-'--v..o,.iy tne theory of method that underlies everv-
chastise as well as to persuade ? T f 1 '• u • *^^,b"«Jness of literature to
Mostialy do /know th " u X* !„tt S "" '?:'' """« ' "«™'-'
of your heart i and I value m«f 'L , ° ',7'^ *^'"==' """^ "">'"'■»
proves y„„ friendship, ia rjdld „l' Zf 6^1' "/T'""' Ti"*
you that we are in thi- -oif,., .. r ' 7 ' ™°'"" "™"=»' f'"™
I will always Twht 1 t L ^77 ^ "' "' '"'''• ^' »" ">'">»'.
niy path pipetrLd :; 1 t:e*U„d1:fl„:?rf "' ^"^ '=°'"== °"'»
Jo»ve„.iona,andV.J.J,.Jii:l«^^^^^^^^
h;'i:Lt.u:h t 'aiiTnd'i i r '""-'"-^ °"^ --*--•
v'ith you in Jt Manv wint i "^ f ''"^' ' ■"" '"""""'I "> ■•"«■■«
Lo„d,?n drawCooni ,L 1 eif ; ""' " " ""' *' ^'O'"' "'
greatoareertol 3 *t-Ti" "'"" " ' '"' ■"" " ""'" "'""■"»"
.0. Willingly seen.aJ;nrhrS;:::itd:rdl^^^^^^
c
MM
1
BIOORArmCAL NOTICE.
pm
1^
li ^(
say that I feel that within me which can sweep away such little obstacles,
and force people to hear what I have to offer them."
For a short time after his mother's death he seems to have
been sustained by the excitement of composition ; but the letters
he wrote during the following year show that, as is usual where a
loss is very great, the sense of it became deeper with time : —
[Apil, 1859].
"Do not be uneasy about me. I am quite well, and within such limits
us are left to me, I am happy. I can work freely and well ; beyond this
there is nothing for me to look for except the deep conviction I have of
another life, and which makes me feel that all is not really over."
[April, 1859].
" I remain quite well, but my grief increases as association after asso-
ciation rises in my mind, and tells me what I have lost. One thing alone
I cling to — the deep and unutterable conviction that the end is not yet
come, and that we never really die. But it is a separation for half a life,
and the most sanguine view that I can take is that I have a probability
before me of tliirty years of fame, of power and of desolation."
[Brighton] 19 May [1859].
"Here I am, working hard ; ard it is my only pleasure, just as the capacity
of work and of thought is the only part of me that has not deteriorated.
Strange, that the intellect alone should be spared ! but so it is. The feeling
of real happiness I never expect again to know, but I am perfectly calm."
Tlie next letter was written in the midst of illness, and about
the time o;' the death of a young nephew to whom he was
attached : —
[Boulogne, December, 1869].
" I cannot tell you how I dread the idea of going to London, to that
dull and dreary house which was once so full of light and of love ! On
the other hand, my ambition seems to grow more insatiate than ever, and
it is perhaps Avell that it should, as it is my sheet-anchor."
He continued to work steadily at his new volume, and while it
was passing through the press he wrote to a friend to whom he
sent the proofs : ' I hope you will like the peroration (of
Chap. I. vol. ii.). I am hardly a fair judge ; but as a mere piece
of English composition, I think it is much the best thing I have
written." But at the very time that he was writing this " perora-
tion," with which he was so much pleased, he seems to have been
suffering, more even than he had done a year before, from the
low spirits and weakened health consequent on the loss of his
mother.
BIOUKAFHIUAL MOTICK.
u
April, 1859].
in after asso-
e thing alone
nd is not yet
or half a life,
a probability
>
May [1859].
,s the capacity
deteriorated.
!. The feeling
rfectly calm."
, and about
lom he was
mber, 1869].
ndon, to that
•f love ! On
lan ever, and
md while it
whom he
oration (of
mere piece
hing I have
is " perora-
) have been
3, from the
loss of his
[November, 1860],
"I see too surely how changed I am in e.ery way, and how impoasible
it will be for mo to complete schemes to which I once thought myself fully
equal. My next volume is far from being ready for the press, and when
it is ready, it will be very inferior to what either you or I expected."
After the publication of his second volume (in May, 1861), his
health gave way still more completely, and in the following
autumn he determined to lay aside all literary work for a time,
and to try the effect of a winter in Egypt and Syria.
This journey seems to have been begun under favourable
auspices, and if we may trust his own letters, it would appear
that all his hopes of invigorated strength were realised by it, and
that the fever by which it was cut short was purely fortuitous,
and not at all the result of his previously weakened health. He
was accompanied by the two young sons of a friend, of whom he
writes ; ' They are very pleasant, intelligent boys, and I delight in
young life.' That the friendly feeling was reciprocated we may
infer from a sentence in a letter home, in which the boys
enunciate the opinion that ' Bucky's a brick ' !
"I cannot tell you," writes he a few days before leaving
England, « I cannot tell you the intense pleasure with which I
look forward to seeing Egypt— that strange mutilated form of
civilization. For years nothing has excited me s much." He
left England towards the end of October, and early in November
he writes from Alexandria: "I feel in better health and spirits
than at any time during the last three years. Especially I am
conscious of an immense increase of brain-power, grasping great
problems with a firmness which at one time I feared had gone
from me for ever. I feel that there is yet much that I shall live '
to do." And again, ten days later from Cairo ; " I am better
than I have been for years, and feel full of life and thought.
How this country makes me speculate ! " To the friend whose
sons accompanied him he wrote from Cairo :
Cairo, 15 November, 1861.
" I feel the responsibility of your dear children perhaps more than I
expected ; but I am not anxious, for I am conscious of going to the full
extent of my duty and neglecting nothing, and when a man does this, he
must leave the unknown and invisible future to take care of itself."
And in the same letter he wrote in reply to some questions
which had been addressed to him :—
c2
Hi
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
J 'IJ
" All I can say is, that the true Utilitarian philosophy never allows
anyone, for the sake ot present and temporary benefits, either to break a
promise or tell a falsehood. Such things degrade the mind, and are there-
fore evil in themselves. . . . The other point is more difficult ; but /
•would not hesitate to tell a falsehood to save the life of any one dear to
me, though I know that many competent judges differ as to this ; and in
the present state of knowledge, the problem is perhaps incapable of
scientific treatment. It is, therefore, in such cases, for each to act accord-
ing to his own lights."
From Thebes he writes, on January 15, 1862 : —
" We arrived at Thebes this morning. We have all been, and are,
remarkably well. The journey into Nubia, notwithstanding its many dis-
comforts, was in the highest degree curious and instructive. Not one
Egyptian traveller in ten enters Nubia, but, as you see, I felt confident in
bringing us all well out of it ; and now that we have been there, I would
not have missed it for five hundred pounds, I feel very joyous, and alto-
gether full of pugnacity, so that I wish someone would attack me — I mean,
attack me speculatively — I have no desire for a practical combat."
On his return to Cairo he writes : —
Cairo, 7th February, 1862.
" We have returned to Cairo all quite well, afler a most interesting
journey to the southern extremity of Egypt and on into Nubia, as far as
Wady Halfeh (the Second Cataract). I feel better and stronger than I have
done for years. In about ten days we leave here for Mount Sinai, and
intend proceeding thence through the desert to Gaza, and then to Jerusalem
by way of Hebron. Fancy me travelling on the back of a camel for seven
or eight hours a day for from four to six weeks, and then travelling on
he seback through Palestine and Southern Syria I That I have not already
been thrown is a marvel, seeing that among other audacious feats I went
from the Nile to Abydos on a donkey with a cloth for a saddle and two
pieces of rope for stirrups, and in this wretched plight had to ride between
eight and nine hours.
" To give you any, even the faintest idea of what I have seen in this
wonderful country, is impossible. No art of writing can depict it. If I
were to say that the temple of Karnac at Thebes can even now be ascer-
tained to have measured a mile and a half in circumference, I should
perhaps only tell you what you have read in books ; but I should despair
if i were obliged to describe what I felt when I was in the midst of it, and
contemplated it as a living whole, while every part was covered with
sculptures of exquisite finish, except where the hieroglyphics crowded on
each other so thickly that it would require many volumes to copy them.
There stood their literature, in the midst of the most magnificent temples
ever raised by the genius of man. I went twice to see it by moonlight,
when the vast masses of light and shade rendered it absolutely appalling.
But I fear to write like a guide-book, and had rather abstain from details
BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE.
Uii
nary, 1862.
interesting
a, as far as
than I have
; Sinai, and
3 J erusalem
el for seven
avelling on
not already
eats I went
lie and two
ide between
een in this
ict it. If I
rv be ascer-
ce, I should
)uld despair
St of it, and
vered with
jrowdod on
copy them.
ent temples
moonlight,
Y appalling,
from details
till we meet. One effect, however, I must tell you that my journey has
produced upon me. Perhaj-s you may remember how much I always
preferred form to colour ; but now, owing to the magical effect of this, the
driest atmosphere in the world, ." am getting to like colour more than form.
The endless variety of hues is extraordinary. Owing to the transparency
of the air, objects are seen (as nearly as I can judge) more than twice the
distance that they can be seen in England under the most favourable cir-
cumstances. Until my eye became habituated to this, I often over-fatigued
myself by believing that I could reach a certain point in a certain time.
The result is a wealth and exuberance of colour which is hardly to be
credited, and which I doubt if any painter would dare to represent. . . .
" If you were here, and felt as I do what it is to have the brain every
day over-excited — be constantly drunk with pleasure — ^you Avould easily
understand how impossible much letter- writing becomes, and how impatient
one grows of fixing upon paper ' thoughts that burn.' But, as you know
of old, if my friends were to measure my friendship by the length of my
letters, they would do me great injustice."
He reached Jerusalem on April 13, 1862, and in a letter
written a few days later, he gives the following account of the
journey: —
Jerusalem, 16 April [1862].
" We arrived here three days ago, afler a most flitiguing and arduous
journey through the whole desert of Sinai and of Edom. We have tra-
versed a deeply-interesting country, visited by few Europeans and by none
during the last five years, so dangerous was the latter part of the journey
reputed to be. But I had taken my measures before venturing to go beyond
Sindi, and, gradually feeling my way, secured, as I went on, the protection of
every leading sheik, having studied at Cairo their relative power and posi-
tion. Having an ample stock of provisions, I was prepared at any moment
to fall back and return, if need be, to Egypt. Three other parties, chiefly
Americans, joined us at Sinai, each having their separate establishment ar-
ranged with their own dragoman, but all, for greater safety, keeping togo^^'ier
till we reached Hebron. We were in all sixteen persons, and with our ser-
vants and escort we numbered 110 armed men. Nothing but a combination
of tribes could hurt us ; and such u combination I considered to be morally
impossible in the face of the precautions which I suggested, and to which,
after some demur, the other parties agreed. When I say ' morally im-
possible,' I mean the odds were so largo as not to be worth the considera-
tion of a prudent man. There were several alarms, and there was
undoubted danger ; but, in my deliberate judgment, the danger was not
greater than would be encountered in a rough sea with a good vessel and
a skill'ul captain. Some of our fellow-travellers were in great fear two or
three times, and assured me that they had no sleep on those occasions.
For Hi}' ovvii {jurt I never was kept awake ten minutes Tlie
result is that we have seen Petra— as wonderful and far mere beautiful
than anything in Egypt. Bui-khardt, about forty years ago, was the first
i':t
liv
BIOGKAPHICAL NOTICE.
\m
.m
m
European who ever set foot there, and since then, not more, probably,
than a hundred persons have seen it — that is to say, have really seen it as
■we did, at leisure, and spending three whole days there. Occasionally
gentlemen without tents and with no food but what they can carry on
their own horse, gallop from Hebron to Petra (about one hundred and
twenty miles) in two days and a half, reaching Petra in the evening,
seeing it by moonlight, and then gallop back again before the Bedouins
and Fellahin are aware of their presence. The English and other consuls
and the Governor of Cairo, with other persons of influence, all declared
that this was the only way I could see Petra; but the hardship of the
journey, and the risk of sleeping in the open air, prevented me from
thinking for a moment of such a plan. Among the English here
the journey has created quite a sensation, and the result is one of
many proofs which have convinced me of the profound ignorance of
officials in the East of everything which their eyes do not see. I had to
collect all my fa :ts through an interpreter, but I analysed and compared
them with something more than official care and piecision. Having done
so, I acted ; and I look back to this passage through Petra from Egypt as
by far the greatest practical achievemeat of my life. I believe that you
are both laughing, and I am almost inclined to laugh myself But I am
conceited about it, and I think I have reason to be so. For I must
moreover tell you that nearly all our party were more or less ill with
fatigue, anxiety and the extraordinary vicissitudes of temperature, . . .
but we three had not oiice the least pain or inconvenience of any kind. . .
The dear little kids are now the picture of health, and we are all as brown
as Arabs. . ... The fact is, that we were the only ones Avho had
proper food, and were properly clothed I am far stronger
both in mind and body than I have been since you knew me, and I
feel fit to go on at once with my work. But I neither read nor write ;
I think, I see, and I talk. Especially I study the state of society and
habits of the people."
Cheerfully as he speaks of this journey by Petra, it is probable
that the fatigue, excitement, and anxiety he underwent in the
course of it, laid the foundation of the fever which was so soon
to carry him off.
He spent eleven days at Jerusalem, and three days after
commencing his journey from Jerusalem to Beyrout he was
attacked by the first symptoms of illness. He ought at once
to have returned to Jerusalem and rested until every sign of
illness had disappeared, but unfortunately his eneigetic and
hopeful disposition prompted him to struggle cj, in spite of
suffering, until the malady had too tifjht a hold on him ever to
be shaken off. From the first attack, at Nazareth, to his death a
month later at Damascus, his diary records all the vicissitudes of
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
Iv
illness, brought on by fatigue and exhaustion. At Nazareth he
was attended by an American doctor, and at Sidon by the French
resident doctor, of whom he says that he " turns out to be an
intelligent man," and who told him that v/hat he wanted was
rest. Had he taken this advice his lite would probably have
been saved, but he continued his journey to Beyrout, where he
arrived on May 14, thinking himself cured, although " still very
weak." From Beyrout he wrote cheerfully and full of plans for
the future. « We arrived here to-day, all well ; " and then he
goes into minute details of his plans for spending the summer at
Gratz. Nor was it only in his letters, but also in his Journal,
that he spoke of himself as " feeling better " at Beyrout, and
even there rest might yet have saved him. But directly he re-
commenced his journey his illness returned, and on the day he
arrived at Damascus (May 18), he spoke of himself as "utterly
prostrate."
At Damascus he received the utmost kindness from Mr. Sand-
with, the English consul, but from this time the fever never left
him, and he sank under it on May 29, 1862. His last words
were words of kindness to his two young companions.
r !
I .
III I '
H
i li
ever.
INTEODUCTION.
The contents of the following volumes may be divided into three
portions. Firstly, the Miscellaneous Works published by the
author during his lifetime, consisting of a lecture on the Influ-
ence of Women on Knowledge, of a review of Mr. Mill's work on
Liberty, and of a short defence of this review under the name of
' A Letter to a Gentleman on Pooley's Case."
Secondly, of the contents of Mr. Buckle's Common Place Books,
which fill the second and third volumes of the present work.
These have been printed precisely as they were left by the author,
with the exception of the omission of a few articles on account of
the subjects of which they treated. The numbering has, how-
ever, been carried on as in the original, both on account of re-
ferences to the articles by number in other places, and that those
who care to do so, may see where omissions have occurred. The
Index to the Common Place Books was made by the author him-
self, and has been printed verbatim ; it therefore contains re-
terences to the omitted articles.
A large proportion of the Common Place Books, even when
Bubstantially extracted from other writers, is in Mr. Buckle's own
words especially towards the latter part. On this account it has
been thought best to make as few alterations as possible in them
as they originally stood, although the reader may observe many
mistakes which the author would probably have corrected had he
himself given the books to the press. But they have been left
unaltered because some statements which may appear mistakes to
the editor or reader might have proved to be deliberate opinions
of the writer, which he might have been able to substantiate;
while the alteration or omission of others, about which there
seems no room for doubt, would have diminished the autobloj,ra-
phical value of the remains-a great part of their value to the
general reader.
• 1
Iviii
• INTRODUCTION.
■I
IS (
li"
The tliird part consists of the Fragments, the most connected
portions of which (on the reign of Elizabeth) appeared in Eraser's
Magazine about five years after the author's death. So much of
the Common Place Books is original and so much of the Frag-
ments consists of little more than abstracts of books, that the
difference of character between the two is not very great. But
the Common Place Books were so called by their author, and their
contents were entered by him in consecutive numbers. The
Fragments seem to consist partly of notes from books such as he
afterwards might have entered in his Common Place Books, partly
of the first rough form in which he was in the habit of putting his
ideas upon paper,' and partly of those |)ortion8 of the original
sketches of his published work which he had not incorporated into
it. Not one is a completed paper ; and to have presented any of
them in a connected form would have been in fact to have re-
written them. Even to alter the order in which the disjointed
fragments are thrown together would often have been to run a
considerable risk of substantially misrepresenting the author's
ideas. For, m the first place, it would be to represent opinions as
settled and matured, which were in fact only tentative suggestions
and provisional hypotheses. There are instances where he seems
to have worked in one direction, and then, convinced by the re-
sults beginning to come out from his own labour, he seems to
have begun again upon a totally different track. "We cannot tell
how often this was the case, and it is due to a mind at once so
bold and so laborious, carefully to avoid presenting his guess-js in
a form that might lead to the impression that they were his con-
victions.
There is another reason why no attempt has been made to work
up these materials into any connected form. The originality of
the author's mind was shown in a great degree in the arrange-
ment of his materials, and it would be as rash as presumptuous
for anyone but himself to disturb the order in which he has him-
self thrown together even the most apparently disconnected facts.
This order may be, in many cases, entirely accidental ; but it also
may be the result of some of the writer's most characteristic
powers, destined, had he lived, to throw new light on the rela-
tions of history. To disturb it therefore might not only be unfair
This is shown by the numerous notes of interrogation which he was in the habit
of putting where he was not quite sure of the statements made.
INTEODUCTION.
lix
to Mr. Buckle, it might also be unfair to the studious among hie
readers. To some of these the apparently accidental order of
some of the great heap of facts and ideas here thrown together
may be like a flash of light, and may lead the way to new com-
binations. To have meddled with this order might have been to
destroy their chief value to kindred minds.
s in the habit
i
H
Bl
H
WM
i«c^H
|fi^^H
^Pw
liJ'H
if
9
1
II -}
I
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS.
THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN
ON THE PEOGRESS OF KNOWLEDGE.'
The subject upon which I have undertaken to address you is the
influence of women on the progress of knowledge, undoubtedly
one of the most interesting questions that could be submitted to
any audience. Indeed, it is not only very interesting, it is also
extremely important. When we see how knowledge has c'vilized
mankind ; when we see how every great step in the march and
advance of nations has been invariably preceded by a correspond-
ing step in their knowledge; when we moreover see, what is as-
suredly true, that women are constantly growing more influential,
It becomes a matter of great moment that we should endeavour
to ascertain the relation between their influence and our know-
ledge. On every side, in all social phenomena, in the education
of children, in the tone and spirit of literature, in the forms and
usages of life ; nay, even in the proceedings of legislatures, in
the history of statute-books, and in the decisions of magistrates
we find manifold proofs that women are gradually making their
way, and slowly but surely winning for themselves a position
superior to any they have hitherto attained. This is one of many
peculiarities which distinguish modern civilization, and which
show how essentially the most advanced countries are different
from those that formerly flourished. Among the most celebrated
nations of antiquity, women held a very subordinate place. The
most splendid and durable monument of the Roman empire, and
the noblest gift Rome has bequeathed to posterity, is her juris-
prudence—a vast and harmonious system, worked out with con-
summate skill, and from which we derive our purest and largest
notions of civil law. Yet this, which, not to mention the immense
« A Discourse delivered at the Royal Institution, on Friday, the 19th of March 1858
(Reprinted from • Fraser's Magazine,' for Apnl, ] 858.) '
r. n
fv:
Wi
Pi
\h :
liitirtila
i
2 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN ON THE PROGRESS OF KNOWLEDGE.
sway it still exercises in France and Germany, has taught to our
most enlightened lawyers their best lessons ; and which enabled
Bracton among the earlier jurists, Somers, Hardwici.e, Mansfield,
and Stowell among the later, to soften by its refinement the rude
maxims of our Saxon ancestors, and adjust the coarser principles
of the old Common Law to the actual exigencies of life ; this
imperishable specimen of human sagacity is, strange to say, so
grossly unjust towards women, that a great writer upon that code
has well observed, that in it women are regarded not as persons,
but as things; so completely were they stripped of all their
rights, and held in subjection by their proud and imperious
masters. As to the other great nation of anriquity, we have only to
open the literature of the ancient Greeks to see'with what airs of
superiority, with what serene and ^ofty contempt, and sometimes
with what mocking and biting scorn, women were treated by that
lively and ingenious people. Instead of valuing them as com-
panions, they looked on them as toys. How little part women
really :ook in the development of Greek civilization may be illus-
trated by the singular fact, that their influence, scanty as it v^^as,
did not reach its height in the mcst civilized times, or in the
most civilized regions. In modern Europe, the influence of
women and the spread of civilization have been nearly commen-
surate, both advancing with almost equal speed. But if you
compare iae picture of Greek life in Homer with that to be
found in Plato and his contemporaries, you will be struck by a
totally opposite circumstance. Between Plato and Homer there
intervened, according to the common reckoning, a period of at
least four centuries, during which the Greeks made many notable
improvements in the arts of life, and in various branches of spe-
culative and practical knowledge. So far, however, from women
participating in this movement, we find that, in the state of
society exhibited by Plato and his contemporaries, they had evi-
dently lost ground ; their influence being less then tlian it was in
the earlier and more barbarous period depicted by Homer. This
fact illustrates the question in regard to time ; another fact illus-
trates it in regard to place. In Sparta, women possessed more
influence than they did in Athens ; although the Spartans were
rude and ignorant, the Athenians polite and accomplished. The
causes of these inconsistencies would form a curious subject for
investigation : but it is enough to call your attention to them as
one of many proofs that the boa^jted civilizations of antiquity
were eminently one-sided, and that they fell because society did
not advance in all its parts, but sacrificed some of its constituents
in order to secure the progress of others.
THEIR INFLUENCE IN MODERN EUROPE.
8
In modern European society we have happily no inatfince of
tliis sort ; and, if we now inquire what the influence of women
lias been upon that society, everyone will allow that on the whole
it has been extramely beneiicial. Th.iir influence has prevented
life from being too exclusively practical and selfish, and has saved
It from degenerating into a dull and monotonous routine, by in-
fusing into it an ideal and romantic element. It has softened
the violence of men ; it has improved their manners ; it has les-
sened their cruelty. Thus far, the gain is complete and unde-
niable. But if we ask what their influence has been, not on the
general interests of society, but on one of those interests, namely,
the progress of knowledge, the answer is not so obvious. For, to'
state the matter candidly, it must he confessed that none of the
greatest works which instruct and delight mankind have been
composed by women. In poetry, in painting, in sculpture, in
music, the most exquisite productions are the work of men. No
woman, however favourable her circumstances may have been, has
made a discovery sufficiently important to mark an epoch in' the
annals of the human mind. These are facts which cannot be
contested, and from them a very stringent and peremptory infer-
ence has been drawn. From them it has been inferred, and it is
openly stated by eminent writers, that women have no concern
with the highest forms of knowledge; that such matters are alto-
getuer out of their reach ; that they should confine themselves to
practical, moral, and domestic life, which it is their province to
exalt and to beautify; but that they can exercise no influence
direct or indirect, over the progress of knowledge, and that if
they seek to exercise sucli influence, they will not only fail in their
object, but will restrict the field of their really useful and le^i-
timate activity. °
Now, I may as, well state at once, and at the outset, that I
have come here to-night with the intention of combating this
proposition, which I hold to be unphilosophical and danoerous •
lalse in theory and pernicious in practice. I believe, and'l hope
before we separate to convince you, that so far from women exer-
cising little or no influence over the progress of knowledge, they
are capable of exercising and have actually exercis d an enormous
influence; that this influence is, in fact, so great that it is hardly
possible to assign limits to it ; and that great as it is. it may with
advantage be still further increased. I hope, moreover, to con-
^'lnce you that tliis influence has been exhibited not merely from
time to time in rare, sudden, and transitory ebullitions, ou^ th^t
1 acts by virtue of certain laws inherent to human nature ; and
that although it works as an under-current below the surface, and
B 2
'Sir
" t| I .
'1
4 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN ON THE PROGRESS OF KNOWLEDGE,
u
n ;'i
is therefore invisible to hasty observers, it has already produced
the most important results, and has affected the shape, the cha-
racter, and the amount of our knowledge.
To clear up this matter, we must first of all understand what
knowledge is. Some men who pride themselves on their common
sense — and whenever a man boasts much about that, you may be
pretty sure that he has very little sense, either common or un-
common — such men there are who will tell you that all knowledge
consists of facts, that everything else is mere talk and theory,
and that nothing has any value except facts. Those who sp k so
much of the value of facts may vmderstand the meaning ot fact,
but they evidently do not understand the meaning of value. For,
the value of a thing is not a property residing in that thing, nor
is it a component ; but it is simply its relation to some other
thing. We say, for instance, that a live-shilling piece has a certain
value ; but the value does not reside in the coin. If it does,
where is it ? Our senses cannot grasp value. We cannot see
value, nor hear it, nor feel it, nor taste it, nor smell it. The
value consists solely in the relation which the five-shilling piece
bears to something else. Just so in regard to facts, tracts,
as facts, have no sort of value, but are simply a mass of idle
lumber. The value of a fact is not an element or constituent of
that fact, bvit is its relation to the total stock of our knowledge,
either present or prospective. Facts, therefore, have merely a
potential and, as it were, subsequent value, and the only advantage
of possessing them is the possibility of drawing conclusions from
them ; in other words, of rising to the idea, the principle, the law
which governs them. Our knowledge is composed not of facts,
but of the relations which facts and ideas bear to themselves and
to each other ; and real knowledge consists not in an acquaintance
Avith facts, which only makes a pedant, but in the use of facts,
which makes a philosopher.
Looking at knowledge in this way, we shall find that it has
three divisions — Method, Science, and Art. Of method I will
speak presently ; but I will first state the limits of the other two
divisions. The immediate object of all art is either pleasure or
utility : the immediate object of all science is solely truth. As
art and science have different objects, so also have they different
faculties. The faculty of art is to change events ; the faculty of
science is to foresee them. The phenomena with w^hich we deal
are controlled by art ; they are predicted by science. The more
complete a science is, tlie greater its power of prediction ; the
more complete an art is, the greater its power of control. Astro-
nomy, for instance, is called the queen of the sciences, because it
THE MOST IMPORTANT FORM OF KNOWLEDGE.
stand wliat
ir common
on may be
ion or mi-
knowledji^e
ad theory,
10 Sp k HO
\g of fact,
ilue. For,
thing, nor
ome other
,s a certain
f it does,
;annot see
I it. The
ling piece
s. Facts,
ss of idle
stituent of
:no\vledge,
merely a
advantage
iions from
ie, the law
t of facts,
selves and
[uaintanct^
3 of facts,
lat it has
lod I will
other two
leasm'e or
ruth. As
/ diflfereut
faculty of
h we deal
The more
ition ; the
i. Astro-
because it
is the most advanced of all ; and the astronomer, while he aban-
dons all hope of controllinnr or altering the phenomena, frequently
knows what the phenomena will bo years before they actually
appear ; the extent of his foreknowledge proving the accuracy of
iiis science. So, too, in tlie science of mechanics, we predict that,
certain circumstances being present, certain results must follow ;
and having done tliis, our science ceases. Our art then begins,
and from that moment the object of utility and the faculty of
control come into play ; so that in the art of mechanics, we alter
what in the science of mechanics we were content to foresee.
One of the most conspicuous tendencies of advancing civiliza-
tion is to give a scientific basis to that faculty of control which is
represented by art, and thus afford fresh prominence to the faculty
of prediction. In the earliest stages of society there are many
arts, but no sciences. A little later, science begins to appear,
and every subsequent step is marked by an increased desire to
bring art under the dominion of science. To those who have
studied the history of the human mind, this tendency is so familiar
that I need hardly stop to prove it. Perhaps the most remark-
able instance is in the case of agriculture, which, for thousands of
years, was a mere empirical art, resting on the traditional maxims
of experience, but which, during the present century, chemists
began to draw under their jurisdiction, so that the practical art
of manuring the ground is now explained by laws of physical
science. Probably the next step will be to bring another part of
tlie art of agriculture under the dominion of meteorology, which
will be done as soon as the conditions which govern the changes
of the weather have been so generalized as to enable us to foretell
what the weather will be.
General reasoning, therefore, as well as the history of what has
been actually done, justify us in saying that the highest, the ripest,
and the most important form of knowledge, is the scientific form
of predicting consequences ; it is therefore to this form that I
shall restrict the remainder of what I have to say to you respect-
ing the influence of women. And the point which I shall attempt
to prove is, that there is a natural, a leading, and probably an
indestructible element, in the minds of women, which enables
them, not indeed to make scientific discoveries, but to exercise
the most momentous and salutary influence over the method by
which discoveries are made. And as all questions concerning the
philosophy of method lie at the very root of our knowledge, I
will, in the first place, state, as succinctly as I am able, the only
two methods by which we can arrive at truth.
The scientific inquirer, properly so called, that is, he whoso
'1 1
Km
'if
i
I
hilll; . I
13 111
dp
m
6 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN ON THE PROGRESS OF KNOWLEDGE.
object is merely truth, has only two ways of attaining his result.
He may proceed from the external world to the internal ; or he
may begm with the internal and proceed to the external. In the
former case he studies the facts presented to his senses, in order
to arrive at a true idea of them ; in the latter case, he studies
the Ideas already in his mind, in order to explain the facts of
which his senses are cognizant. If he begin with the facts his
method IS inductive; if he begin with the ideas it is deductive.
Ibe inductive philosopher collects phenomena either by observa-
tion or by experiment, and from them riees to the general principle
or law which explains and covers them. The deductive philoso-
pher draws the principle from ideas already existing in his mind
and explains the phenomena by descending on them, instead of
rising from them. Several eminent thinkers have asserted that
every idea is the result of induction, and that the axioms of geo-
metry, for instance, are the product of early and unconscious in-
duction Li the same way, Mr. Mill, in his great work on Logic,
affirms that all reasoning is in reality from particular to particular,
and that the major premiss of every syllogism is merely a record
and register of knowledge previously obtained. Whether this be
true, or whether, as another school of thinkers asserts, we have
ideas antecedent to experience, is a question which has been hotly
disputed, but which I do not believe the actual resources of our
knowledge can answer, and certainly I have no intention at pre-
sent of making the attempt It is enough to sav that we call
geometry a deductive science, because, even if its axioms are
arrived at inductively, the inductive process is extremely small
and we are unconscious of it ; while the deductive reasonings
torm the great mass and difficulty of the science.
To bring this distinction home to you, I will' illustrate it by a
specimen of deductive and inductive investigation of the same
subject. Suppose a writer on what is termed social science wishes
to estimate the influence of different habits of thought on the
average duration of life, and taking as an instance the opposite
pursuits of poets and mathematicians, asks which of theni live
longest. How is lie to solve this ? If lie proceeds inductively he
will lirst collect the facts, that is, he will ransack the bio^hies
of poets and mathematicians in ditlferent ages, different clinfates
and different states of society, so as to eliminate perturbations
arising from circumstances not connected with his subject He
will then throw tlif results into the statistical form of tables of
mortality, and ou comparing them will find, that notwithstandinr.
the immense variety of circumstances which he has investigated
there is a general average which constitutes an empirical law, and
WOMEN NATURALLY REASON DEDUCTIVELY. 7
proves that mathematicians, as a body, are longer lived than poets.
This is the inductive method. On the other hand, the deductive
inquirer will arrive at precisely- the same conclusion by a totally
different method. He will argue thus: poetry appeals to the
imagination, mathematics to the understanding. To work the
imagination is more exciting than to work the understanding,
and what is habitually exciting is usually unhealthy. But what
is usually unhealthy will tend to shorten life ; therefore poetry
tends more than mathematics to shorten life ; therefore on the
whole poets will die sooner than mathematicians.
You now see the difference between induction and deduction ;
and you see, too, that both methods are valuable, and that any
conclusion must be greatly strengthened if we can reach it by two
such different paths. To connect this with the question before
us, I will endeavour to establish two propositions. First, That
women naturally prefer the deductive method to the inductive.
Secondly, That women by encouraging in men deductive habits of
thought, have rendered an immense, though unconscious, service
to the progress of knowledge, by preventing scientific investigators
from being as exclusively inductive as they would otherwise be.
In regard to women being by nature more deductive, and men
rnore inductive, you will remember that induction assigns the
first place to particular facts ; deduction to general propositions
or ideas. Now, there are several reasons why women prefer the
deductive, and, if I may so say, ideal method. They are more
emotional, more enthusiastic, and more imaginative than men ;
they therefore live more in an ideal world ; while men, with their
colder, harder, and austerer organisations, are more practical and
more under the dominion of facts, to which they consequently
ascribe a higher importance. Another circumstance which makes
women more deductive, is that they possess more of what is called
intuition. They cannot see so far as men can, but what they do
see they see quicker. Hence, they are constantly tempted to
grasp at once at an idea, and seek to solve a problem suddenly, in
contradistinction to the slower and more laborious ascent of the
inductive investigator.
That women are more deductive tlian men, because they think
quicker than men, is a proposition which some persons will not
relish, and yet it may be proved in a variety of ways. Indeed,
nothing could prevent its being universally admitted except the
fact, that the remarkable rapidity with which women think is
obscured by that miserable, that contemptible, that preposterous
system, called their education, in which valuable things are care-
fully kept from them, and trifling things carefully taught to
I, i
iT'^ri"
8 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN ON THE PROGEESS OF KNOWLEDGE.
them, until their fine and nimble minds are too often irretriev-
ably injured. It is on this account, that in the lower classes the
superior quickness of women is even more noticeable than in the
upper ; and an eminent physician. Dr. Currie, mentions in one of
his letters, that when a labourer and his wife came together to
consult him, it was always from the woman that he gained the
clearest and most precise information, the intellect of the man
moving too slowly for his purpose. To this I may add another
observation which many travellers have made, and which any one
can verify : namely, that when you are in a foreign country, and
speaking a foreign language, women will understand you quicker
than men will ; and that for the same reason, if you lose your way
in a town abroad, it is always best to apply to a woman, because a
man will show less readiness of apprehension.
These, and other circumstances which might be adduced— such,
for instance, as the insight into character possessed by women,
and the fine tact for which they are remarkable— prove that they
are more deductive than men, for two principal reasons. First,
Kecause they are quicker than men. Secondly, Because, being
more emotional and enthusiastic, they live in a more ideal world,
and therefore prefer a method of inquiiy which proceeds from
ideas to facts ; leaving to men the opposite method of proceeding.-
from facts to ideas. "^
My second proposition is, that women have rendered great
though unconscious service to science, by encouraging and keeping
alive this habit of deductive thought ; and that if it were not for
tliem, scientific men would be much too inductive, and the pro-
gress of our knowledge would be hindered. There are many here
who will not willingly admit this proposition, because, in England,
since the first half of the seventeenth century, the inductive
method, as the means of arriving at physical truths, has been
the object, not of rational admiration, but of a blind and servile
worship ; and it is constantly said, that since tlie time of Bacon
all great physical discoveries have been made by that process. If
this be true, then of course the deductive habits of women must,
in reference to the progress of knowledge, have done more harm
than good. But it is not true. It is not true that the greatest
modern discoveries have all been made by induction ; and the
circumstance of its being believed to be true is one of many
proofs how much more successful Englishmen have been in
making discoveries than in investigating the principles according
to which discoveries are made.
The first instance I will give you of the t .iumph of the deduc-
tive method, IS in the most important discovery yet made re-
'«
-'^
EXAIVIPLES OF DEDUCTIVE REASONING.
9
specting the inorganic world ; I mean the discovery of the law of
gravitation by Sir Isaac Newton. Several of Newton's other
discoveries were, no doubt, inductive, in so far as they merely
assumed such provisional and tentative hypotheses as are always
necessary to make experiments fruitful. But it is certain that
his greatest discovery of all was deductive, in the proper sense of
the word ; that is to say, the process of reasoning from ideas was
out of all proportion large, compared to the process of reasoning
from facts. Five or six years after the accession of Charles II.,
Newton was sitting in a garden, when (you all know this part of
the story) an apple fell from a tree. Whether he had been
already musing respecting gravitation, or whether the fall of tho
apple directed his thoughts into that channel is uncertain, and is*
immaterial to my present purpose, which is merely to indicate
the course his mind actually took. His object was to discover
some law, that is, rise to some higher truth respecting gravity
than was previously known. Observe how he went to work. He
sat still where he was, and he thought. He did not get up to
make experiments concerning gravitation, nor did he go home to
consult observations which others had made, or to collate tables of
observations : he did not even continue to watch the external
world, but he sat, like a man entranced and enraptured, feeding
on his own mind, and evolving idea after idea. He thought that
if the apple had been on a higher tree, if it had been on the
highest known tree, it would have equally fallen. Thus for, there
was no reason to think that the power which made the apple fall
was susceptible of diminution ; and if it were not susceptible of
diminution, why should it be susceptible of limit ? If it were
imlimited and undiminished, it would extend above the earth ; it
would reach the moon and keep her in her orbit. If the power
which made the apple fall was actually able to control the moon,
why should it stop there ? Why should not the planets also bo
controlled, and why should not they be forced to run their course
by the necessity of gravitating towards the sun, just as the moon
gravitated towards the earth ? His mind thus advancing from
idea to idea, he was carried by imagination into the realms of
space, and still sitting, neither experimenting nor observing, but
heedless of the operations of nature, he completed the most sub-
lime and majesti'3 speculation that it ever entered into the heart
of man to conceive. Owing to an inaccurate measurement of the
diameter of the earth, the details which verified this stupendous
(.oTii^eption were not completed till twenty years later, when
Newton, still pursuing the same process, made a deductive appli-
cation of the laws of Kepler : so that both in tho beginning and
I
It
J If
f
I
r
1 ,
i ■
i 1
T
. ...
1
in
m
iM
':.& '
10 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN ON THE PROGRESS OF KNOWLEDGE.
in tlie end, the greatest discovery of the greatest natural philo-
sopher the world has yet seen, was the fruit of the deductive
method. See how small a part the senses played in that dis-
covery I It was the triumph of the idea ! It was the audacity of
genius ! It was the outbreak of a mind so daring, and yet so
subtle, that we have only Shakspeare's with which to compare it.
To pretend, therefore, as many have done, that the fall of the
apple was the cause of the discovery, and then to adduce that as
a confirmation of the idle and superficial saying "that great
events spring from little causes," only shows how unable such
writers are to appreciate what our masters have done for us. No
great event ever sprung, or ever wili spring, from a little cause ;
and this, the greatest of all discoveries, had a cause fully equal
to the effect produced. The cause of the discovery of the law of
gravitation was not the fall of the apple, nor was it anything that
occurred in the external world. The cause of the discovery of
Newton was the mind of Newton himself.
The next instance I will mention of the successful employment
of the a prion, or deductive method, concerns the mineral king-
dom. If you take a crystallised substance as it is usiially found
in nature, nothing can at first sight appear more irregular and
capricious. Even in its simplest form, the shape is so various as
to be perplexing ; but natural crystals are generally met with,
not ir primary forms, but in secondary ones, in which they have
a singularly confused and \mcouth aspect. These strange-looking
bodies had long excite 1 the attention of philosophers, who, after
the approved inductive fashion, subjected them to all sorts of
experiments; divided them, broke them up, measured them,
weighed them, analysed them, thrust them into crucibles, brought
chemical agents to bear upon them, and dk\ everything they could
think of to worm out the secret of these crystals, and get at their
mystery. Still, the mystery was not revealed to them. At length,
late in the eighteenth century, a Frenchman named Haiiy, one of
the most remarkable men of a remarkable age, made the dis-
covery, and ascertained that tliese native crystals, irregular as
they appear, are in truth perfectly regular, and that their secondary
forms deviate from their primary forms by a regular process of
diminution ; that is, by what he termed laws of decrement— the
principles of decrease being as tmerring as those of increase.
Now, I beg that you will particularly notice how this striking
discovery was ntade. Haiiy wtis essentially a poet ; and his great
delight was to wander in tbe Jardin. du RoL fihsprvinir r.sture
not as a physical philosopher, but as a poet. Though hfs under-
standing was strong, his imagination was stronger ; and it was for
EXAMPLES OF DEDUCTIVE EEASONINQ.
11
the purpose of filling his mind with ideas of beauty that he
directed his attention at first to the vegetable kingdom, with its
graceful forms and various hues. His poetic temperament luxu-
riating in such images of beauty, his mind became saturated with
ideas of symmetry, and Cuvier assures us that it was in conse-
quence of those ideas that he began to believe that the apparently
irregular forms of native crystals were in reality regular ; in other
words, that in them, too, there was a beauty— a hidden beauty—
though the senses were unable to discern it. As soon as this idea
was firmly implanted in his mind, at least half the discovery was
made ; for he b«d got the key to it, and was on the right road,
which others had missed because, while they approached minerals
experimentally on the side of the senses, he approached them
speculatively on the side of the idea. This is not a mere fanciful
assertion of mine, since Hauy himself tells us, in his great work
on Mineralogy, that he took, as his starting point, ideas of the
symmetry of form ; and that from those ideas he worked down
deductively to his subject. It was in this way, and of course after
a long series of subsequent labours, that he read the riddle which
had baffled his able but unimaginative predecessors. And thei-e
are two circumstances worthy of note, as confirming what I have
said respecting the real history of this discovery. The first is,
that although Hauy is universally admitted to be the founder of
the science, his means of observation were so rude that subsequent
crystallographers declare that hardly any of his measurements of
angles are correct ; as indeed is not surprising, inasmuch as the
goniometer which he employed was a very imperfect instrument ;
and that of Wollaston, which acts by reflection, was not then in-
vented. The other circumstance is, that the little mathematics
he once knew he had forgotten amid his poetic and imaginative
pursuits ; so that, in working out the details of his own science,
he was obliged, like a schoolboy, to learn the elements of geo-
metry before he could prove to the world what he had already
proved to himself, and could bring the laws of the science of form
to bear upon the structure of the mineral kingdom.
To these cases of the application of what may be termed the
ideal method to the inorganic world, I will add another from the
organic department of nature. Those among you who are inter-
ested in botany, are aware that the highest morphological
generalisation we possess respecting plants, is the great law of
metamorphosis, according to which the stamens, pistils, corollas,
bracts, petals, and so forth, of every plant, are simply modified
leaves. It is now known that these various parts, different in
sliape, different in colour, and different in function, are successive
M
I ?!
12 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN ON THE PKOGRESS OF KNOWLEDGE.
stages of the leaf — epochs, as it were, of its history. The question
naturally arises, who made this discovery ? Was it some induc-
tive investigator, who had spent years in experiments and minute
observations of plants, and who, with indefatigable industry, had
collected them, classified them, given them hard names, dried
them, laid them up in his herbarium that he might at leisure
study their structure and rise to their laws ? Not so. The dis-
covery was made by Gothe, the greatest poet Germany has pro-
duced, and one of the greatest the world has ever seen. And ho
made it, not in spite of being a poet, but because he was a poet.
It was his brilliant imagination, his passion for beauty, and his
exquisite conception of form, which supplied him with ideas,
from which, reasoning deductively, he arrived at conclusions by
descent, not by ascent. He stood on an eminence, and looking
down from the heights generalitS' d the law. Then he descended
into the plains, and verified the idea. Whe\a the discovery was
announced by Gothe, the botanists not only rejected it, but were
filled with wrath at the notion of a ]:o^x, invading their territory.
What ! a man who made verses and wrote piays, a mere man of
imagination, a poor creature who knew nothing of facts, who had
not even used the microscope, who had made no great experiments
on the growth of plants ; was he to enter the sacred precincts of
physical science, and give himself out as a philosopher ? It was
too absurd. But Gothe, who had thrown his idea upon the world,
could afford to wait and bide his time. You know the result.
The men of facts at length succumbed before the man of ideas ;
the philosophers, even on their own ground, were beaten by the
poet ; and this great discovery is now received and eagerly wel-
comed by those very persons who, if they had lived fifty years
ago, would have treated it with scorn, and who even now still go
on in their old routine, telling us, in defiance of the history of
our knowledge, that all physical discoveries are made by the
Baconian method, and that any other method is unworthy the
attention of sound and sensible thinkers.
One more instance, and I have done with this part of the sub-
ject. The same great poet made another important physical
discovery in precisely the same way. Gothe, strolling in a ceme-
tery near Venice, stumbled on a skull which was lying before
him. Suddenly the idea flashed' across his mind that the skull
was composed of vertebra3 ; in other words, that the bony covering
of the head was simply an expansion of ilie bony covering of the
spine. This luminous idea was afterwards adopted by Oken and
a few other great naturalists in Germany and France, but it was
not received in England till ten years ago, when Mr. Owen took it
; H
J'
)WLEDGE.
MEN OF THOUGHT AND MEN OF ACTION.
13
n a cerae-
Tip, and in his very remarkable work on the " Homologies of the
Vertebrate Skeleton," showed its meaning and purpose as con-
tributing towards a general scheme of philosophic anatomy. That
the discovery was made by Gothe late in the eighteenth century
is certain, and it is equally certain that for fifty years afterwards
the English anatomists, with all their tools and all their dis-
sections, ignored or despised that very discovery which they are
now compelled to accept.
You will particularly observe the circumstances under which
this discovery was made. It was not made by some great surgeor.,
dissector, or physician, but it was made by a great poet, ard
amidst scenes most likely to excite a poetic temperament. It
was made in Venice, that land so calculated to fire the imajana-
tion of a poet ; the land of marvels, the land of poetry and romance,
the land of painting and of song. It was made, too, when Gothe,
surrounded by the ashes of the dead, would be naturally impressed
with those feelings of solemn awe, in whose presence the human
understanding, rebuked and abashed, becomes weak and helpless,
and leaves the imagination unfettered to wander in that ideal
world which is its own peculiar abode, and from which it derives
its highest aspirations.
It has often seemed to me that there is a striking similarity
between this event and one of the most beautiful episodes in the
greatest production of the greatest man the world has ever pos-
sessed ; I mean Shakspeare's "Hamlet." You remember that
wonderful scene in the churchyard, when Hamlet walks in amono-
the graves, where the brutal and ignorant clowns are singing and
jeering and jesting over the remains of the dead. You remember
how the fine imagination of the great Danish thinker is stirred by
the spectacle, albeit he knows not yet that the grave which is
being dug at his feet is destined to contain all that he holds dear
upon earth. But though he wists not of this, he is moved like
the great German poet, and he, like Gothe, takes up a skull, and
his speculative faculties begin to work. Images of decay crowd
on liis mind as he thinks how the mighty are fiillen and have
passed away. In a moment, his imagination carries him back
two thousand years, and he almost believes that the skull he
holds in his hand is indeed the skull of Alexander, and in his
mind's eye he contrasts the putrid bone with what it once con-
tained, the brain of the scourge and conqueror of mankind. Then
it is that suddenly he, like Gothe, passes into an ideal physical
world, and seizing the great doctrine of the industructibiiity of
matter, that doctrine which in his age it was difficult to grasp,
he begins to show how, by a long series of successive changes, the
ill
i
u :\ I
■iif
14 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN ON THE PROGRESS OF KNOWLEDGE.
head of Alexander might have been made to subserve the most
ignoble purposes ; the substance being always metamorphosed,
never destroyed. « Why," asks Hamlet, " why may not imagina-
tion trace the noble dust of Alexander?" when, just as he is
about to pursue this train of ideas, he is stopped by one of those
men of facts, one of those practical and prosaic natures, who are
always ready to impede the flight of genius. By his side stands
the faithful, the affectionate, but the narrow-minded Horatio,
who, looking upon all this as the dream of a distempered fancy,
objects that--" 'Twere to consider too curiously to consider so."
O ! what a picture I what a contrast between Hamlet and Horatio ;
between the idea and the sense ; between the imagination and
the understanding. '^ 'Twere to consider too curiously to consider
so." Even thus was Grothe troubled by his contemporaries, and
thus too often speculation is stopped, genius is chilled, and the
play and swell of the human mind repressed, because ideas are
made subordinate to facts, because the external is preferred to
the internal, and because the Horatios of action discourage the
Hamlets of thought.
Much more could I have said to you on this subject, and gladly
would I have enlarged on so fruitful a theme as the philosophy of
scientific method ; a philosophy too much neglected in this country,
but of the deepest interest to those who care to rise above the
little instincts of the hour, and who love to inquire into the origin
of our knowledge, and into the nature of the conditions under
which that knowledge exists. But I fear that I have almost ex-
hausted your patience in leading you into paths of thought
Avhich, not being familiar, must be somewhat difficult, and I can
hardly hope that I have succeeded in making every point perfectly
clear. Still, I do trust that there is no obscurity as to the general
results. I trust that I have not altogether raised my voice in vain
before this great assembly, and that I have done at least some-
thing towards vindicating the use in physical science of that
deductive method which, during the last two centuries. English-
men have unwisely despised. Not that I deny for a moment the
immense vabie of the opposite or inductive method. Indeed, it
is impossible for any one standing in this theatre to do so. It is
impossible to forget that within the precincts of this building
great secrets have been extorted from nature by induction alone.
Under the shadow and protection of this noble Institution, men
of real eminence, men of power and thought have, by a skilful
employment of that method, made considerable additions to our
knowledge, have earned for tliemselves the respect of their con-
temporaries, and well deserve the homage of posterity. To them
DRAWBACKS ON THE INDUCTIVE METHOD.
15
all honour is due ; and I, for one, would say, let that honour be
paid freelj, ungrudgingly, and with an open and bounteous heart.
But I \'enture to submit that all discoveries have not been made
by this, their favourite process. I submit that there is a spiritual,
a poetic, and for aught we knoAv a spontaneous and uncaused ele-
ment in the human mind, which ever and anon, suddenly and
without warning, gives us a glimpse and a forecast of the future,
and urges us to sei/e truth as it were by anticipation. In attack-
ing the fortress, we may sometimes storm the citadel without
stopping to sap the outworks. That great discoveries have been
made in this way, the history of our knowledge decisively proves.
And if, passing from what has been already accomplished, we look
at what remains to be done, we shall find that the necessity of
some such plan is likely to Ijecome more and more pressing. The
field of thought is rapidly widening, and as the horizon recedes
on every side, it will soon be impossible for the mere logical
operations of the understanding to cover the whole of that enor-
mous and outlying domain. Already the division of labour has
been pushed so far that we are in imminent darger of losino- in
comprehensiveness more than we gain in accuracy. In our pursuit
after special truths, we run no small risk of dwarfing our own
minds. By concentrating our attention, we are apt to narrow our
conceptions, and to miss those commanding views which would
be attained by u wider though perhaps less minute survey. It is
but too clear that something of this sort has already happened,
and thao serious mischief has been wrought. For, look at the
language and sentiments of those who profess to guide, and who
ii some measure do guide, public opinion in the scientific world.
According to their verdict, if a man does something specific and
immedi-^.te, if, for instance, he discovers a new acid or a new salt
great admiration is excited, and his praise is loudly celebrated.
But when a man like Grothe puts forth some vast and pregnant
idea which is destined to revolutionise a whole department of
inquiry, and by inaugurating a new train of thought to form an
epoch in the history of the human mind ; if it haijpens, as is
always the case, that certain facts contradict that view, then the
so-called scientific men rise up in arms against the author of so
daring an innovation ; a storm is raised about his head, he is
denounced as a dreamer, an idle visionary, an interloper in matters
which he has not studied with proper sobriety.
Thus it is that great minds are depressed in order that little
minds may be raised. This false standard of excellence has cor-
rupted even our language, and vitiated the ordinary forms of
speech. Among us a theorist is actually a term of reproach, in-
.u;»
16 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN ON THE PROGRESS OF KNOWLEDGE.
stead of being, as it ought to be, a term of honour; for to
theorise is the highest function of genius, and the greatest phi-
losophers must always be the greatest theorists. What lakes all
this the more serious is, that the farther .>ur kuowicdge advances,
the greater will be the need of rising to (ii'navit '^ I'^ntal views of the
physical world. To the magnificent doctrine of the indestructi-
bility of matter, we are now adding the no less magnificent one
of the indestructibility of force ; and we are beginning to perceive
that, according to the ordinary scientific treatment, our investiga-
tions must be confined to questions of metamorphosis nr: 1 ^f di •
tribution; that the study of causes and of entities is forbidden
to us ; and that we are limited to phenomena through which and
above which we can never hope to pass. But, unless I greatly
err, there is something in us wliich craves for more than this.
Surely we shall not always be satisfied, even in physical science,
Avith the cheerless prospect of never reaching beyond the laws of
co-existence and of sequence ? Surely this is not the be-all and
end-all of our knowledge. And yet, according to the strict
canons of inductive logic, we can do no more. According to that
method, this is the verge and confine of all. Happily, however,
induction is only one of our resources. Induction is, indeed, a
mighty weapon laid up in the armoury of the human mind, and
by its aid great deeds have been accomplished, and noble con-
quests have been won. But in that armoury there is another
weapon, I will not say of a stronger make, but certainly of a
keener edge ; and, if that weapon had been oftener used during
the present and preceding century, our knowledge would be fa/
more advanced than it actually is. If the imagination had been
more cultivated, if there had been a closer union between the
spirit of poetry and the spirit of science, natural philosophy
would have made greater progress, because natural philosophers
would have taken a higher and more successful aim, and would
have enlisted on their side a wider range of human sympathies.
From this point of view you will see the incalculable service
women have rendered to the progress of knowledge. Grreat and
exclusive as is our passion for induction, it would, but for them,
have been greater and more exclusive still. Empirical as we are,
slaves as we are to the tyranny of facts, our slavery would, but for
them, have been more complete and more ignominious. Their
turn of thought, their habits of mind, their conversation, their
influence, insensibly extending over the whole surface of society,
and frequently penetrating its intimate structure, have, more
than all other things put together, tended to raise us into an
ideal world, lift us from the dust in which we are too prone to
INFLUENCE OF MOTHEES OVER SONS.
17
grovel, and devplop in us those germs of imagination which even
the most sluggish and apathetic understandings in some degree
possess. The striking fact that most men of genius have had re-
markable mothers, and that they have gained from their mothers
far more than from their fathers ; this singular and unquestion-
able fact can, I think, be best explained by the principles which
I have laid down. Some, indeed, will tell you that this depends
upon laws of the hereditary transmission of character from parent
':o child. But if this be the case, how comes it that while every
one admits that remarkable men have usually remarkable mothers,
it is not generally admitted that remarkable men have usually re-
markable fathers ? If the intellect is bequeathed on one side,
why is it not bequeathed on the other Y For my part, I greatly
doubt whether the human mind is handed down in this way, like
an heii-loom, from one generation to another. I rather believe
that, in regard to the relation between men of genius and their
mothers, the really important events occur after birth, when the
habits of thought peculiar to one sex act upon and improve the
habits of thought peculiar to the other sex. Unconsciously, and
from a very early period, there is established an intimate and en-
dearing connection between the deductive mind of the mother
and the inductive mind of her son. The understanding of the
boy, softened and yet elevated by the imagination of his mother,
is saved from that degeneracy towards which the mere under-
standing always inclines; it is saved from being too cold, too
matter-of-fact, too prosaic, and the different properties and func-
tions of the mind are more harmoniously developed than would
otherwise be practicable. Thus it is that by the mere play of the
aifections the finished man is ripened and completed. Thus it is
that the most touching and the most sacred form of human love,
the purest, the highest, and the holiest compact of which our
nature is capable, becomes an engine for the advancement of
knowledge and the disco\ ery of truth. In after life other rela-
tions often arise by which the same p' .cess is continued. And,
notwithstanding a few exceptions, we do undoubtedly find that
the most truly eminent men have had not only their affections,
but also their intellect, greatly influenced by women. I will go
even farther; and I will venture to say that those who liave not
undergone that influence betray a something incomplete and
mutilated. We detect, even in their genius, a certain frigidity of
tone ; and we look in vain for that burning fire, that gushing and
spontaneous natiuu with which our ideas of genius are indis-
solubly associated. Therefore, it is, that those who are most
anxious that the boundaries of knowledge should be enlarged
'«.«! ii
*
I
l!i ;•
18 INFLUENCE OF WOMEN ON THE PROGRESS OF KNOWLEDGE.
ought to be most eager that the influence of women should be
increased, in order that every resource of the human mind may
be at once and quickly brought into play. For you may rely
upon it that the time is approaching when all those resources
will be needed, and will be taxed even to the utmost. We shall
soon have on our hands work far more arduous than any we have
yet accomplished ; and we shall be encountered by difficulties
the removal of which will require every sort of help, and every
variety of power. As yet we are in the infancy of our knowledge.
What we have done is but a speck compared to what remains to
be done. For what is there that we really know ? We are too
apt to speak as if we had penetrated into the sanctuary of truth
and raised the veil of the goddess, when in fact we are still
standing, coward-like, trembling before the vestibule, and not
daring, from very fear, to cross the threshold of the temple. The
highest of our so-called laws of nature are as yet purely empi-
rical. You are startled by that assertion, but it is literally true.
Not one single physical discovery that has ever been made has
been connected with the laws of the mind that made it; and
until that connection is ascertained our knowledge has no sure
basis. On the one side we have mind ; on the other side we have
matter. These two principles are so interwoven, they so act upon
and perturb each other, that we shall never really know the laws
of one unless we also know the laws of both. Everything is essen-
tial ; everything hangs together, and forms part of one single
scheme, one grand and complex plan, one gorgeous drama, of
which the universe is the theatre. They who discourse to you of
the laws of nature as if those laws were binding on nature, or as if
they formed a part of nature, deceive both you and themselves.
The laws of nature have their sole seat, origin, and function
in the human mind. They are simply the conditions under
which the regularity of nature is recognised. They explain the
external world, but they reside in the internal. As yet we know
scarcely anything of the laws of mind, and therefore we know
scarcely anything of the laws of nature. Let us not be led away
by vain and high-sounding words. We talk of the law of gravi-
tation, and yet we know not what gravitation is ; we talk of the
conservation of force and distribution of forces, and we know not
what forces are ; we talk with complacent ignorance of the atomic
arrangements of matter, and we neither know what atoms are nor
what matter is ; we do not even know if matter, in the ordinary
sense of the word, can be said to exist ; we have as yet only
broken the first ground, we have but touched the crust and sur-
face of things. Before us and around us there is an immense and
PROGRESS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE. 19
untrodden field, whose limits the eye vainly strives to define ; so
completely are they lost in the dim and shadowy outline of the
future. In that field, which we and our posterity have yet to
traverse, I firmly believe that the imagination will effect quite as
much ab the imderstanding. Our poetry will have to reinforce
uur logic, and we must feel as much as we must argue. Let us,
tlien, liope that the imaginative and emotional minds of one sex
will continue to accelerate the great progress, by acting upon and
improving the colder and harder minds of the other sex. By this
coalition, by this union of ditierent faculties, different tastes, and
different methods, we shall go on our way with the greater ease.
A vast and splendid career lies before us, which it will take many
ages to complete. We see looming in the distance a rich and
goodly harvest, into which perchance some of us may yet live to
thrust our sickle, but of which, reap what we may, the greatest
crop of all must be reserved for our posterity. So far, however,
from desponding, we ought to bo sanguine. We have every reason
to believe that when the human mind once steadily combines the
whole of its powers, it will be more than a match for the diffi-
culties presented by the external world. As we surpass our fathers,
so will our children surpass us. We, waging against the forces of
nature what has too often been a precarious, unsteady, and un-
skilled warfare, have never yet put forth the whole of our strength,
and have never united all our faculties against our common foe.
We, therefore, have been often worsted, and have sustained many
and grievous reverses. But even so, such is the elasticity of the
luiman mind, such is the energy of that immortal and god-like
principle which lives within us, that we are baffled without being
discouraged, our very defeats quicken our resources, and we may
hope that our descendants, benefiting by our failure, will profit by
our example, and that for them is reserved that last and decisive
stage of the great conflict between Man and Nature, in which,
advancing from success to success, fresh trophies will be con-
stantly won, every struggle will issue in a conquest, and every
battle end in a victory.
I
03
20
MILL ON LIBERTY.'
If a jury of the greatest European thinkers were to be impan-
nelled, and were directed to declare by their verdict who, among
our living writers had done most for the advance of knowledge,
they could hardly hesitate in pronouncing the name of John Stuart
Mill. Nor can we doubt that posterity would ratify their deci-
sion. No other mi-n. has dealt with so many problems of equal
importance, and yet of equal complexity. The questions which
he has investigated concern, on the one band, the practical in-
terests of every member of society, and, on the other hand, the
subtlest and most hidden operations of the human mind. Although
he touches the surface he also penetrates the centre. Between
those extremes lie innumerable subjects which he has explored,
always with great ability, often with signal success. On these
topics, whether practical or speculative, his authority is con-
stantly evoked ; and his conclusions are adopted by many wlio are
unable to follow tlie arguments by which the conclusions are
justified. Other men we have, remarkable for their depth of
thought ; and others again who are remarkable for tlie utility of
their suggestions. But the peculiarity of Mr. Mill is, that both
these qualities are more effectively combined by him than by
any one else of the present day. Hence it is, that be is as skilful
in tracing the operation of general causes, as in foreseeing tlie
result of particular measures. And hence, too, his influence is
far greater than would otherwise be possible ; since he not only
appeals to a wider range of interests than any living writer can
do, but by his mastery over special and practical details he is able
to show that principles, however refined they appear, and however
far removed from ordinary apprehension, may be enforced, without
so dangerous a disturbance of social arrangements, and without
so great a sacrifice of existing institutions, as might at first sioJit
be supposed. By this mean>j he has often disarmed hostility, and
has induced practical men to accept conclusions on practical
grounds, to which no force of scientific argument and no amount
of scientific proof would have persuaded them to yield. Securing
• Kepri.nted from ' Frasor's Miigazine' for Mnv, \HM.
iji •?_! ,,i
I r;
PRACTICE AND SPECULATION.
21
by one process the assent of speculative thinkers, and securing by
another process the assent of working politicians, he operates on
the two extremes of life, and exhibits the singular spectacle of one
of the most daring and original philosophers in Europe, winning
the applause of not a few mere legislators and statesmen who are
indifferent to his higher generalizations, and who, confining them-
selves to their own craft, are incapable of soaring beyond the safe
avid limited routine of ordinary experience.
This has increased Lis influence in more ways than one. For
it is extremely rare to meet vi^ith a man who excels both in prac-
tice and in speculation ; and it is by no means common to meet
with one who desires to do so. Between these two forms of ex-
cellence, there is not only a difference, there is also an opposition.
Practice aims at what is immediate ; speculation at what is remote.
The first investigates small and special causes ; the other investi-
gates large and general causes. In practical life the wisest and
soundest men avoid speculation, and ensure success because by
limiting their range they increase the tenacity with which they
grasp events ; while in speculative life the course is exactly the
reverse, since in that department the greater the range the greater
the command, and the object of the philosopher is to have as
large a generalization as possible ; in other words, to rise as high
as he can above the phenomena with which he is concerned. The
truth I apprehend to be that the immediate effect of any act is
usually determined by causes peculiar to that act, and which, as
it were, lie within it ; wliile the remote effect of the same act is
governed by causes lying out of the act ; that is, by the geneial
condition of the surrounding circumstances. Special causes pro-
duce their effect (juickly ; but, to luring general causes iito play,
we require not only width of surface but also length of time. If,
for instance, a man living under a cruel despotism were to inflict
a lutal blow upon the despot, the immediate result — namely, the
death of the tyrant — would be caused solely by circumstances
peculiar to the action, such as the sharpness of the weapon, the
precision of the aim, and the part that was wounded. Bvit the
remote result— that is, the i-emoval, not of the despot but of the
despotism — would be governed by circumstances external to tlie
particular act, and would depend upon whether or not the country
was tit for liberty, since if the country Avere unfit, another despot
would be sure to arise and another despotism be established. To
a philosophic mind the actions of an individual count for little ;
to a practical mind they are everything. Whoever is accustomed
to generalise, smiles within himself when be hears that Luther
brought about the Ileformatiou ; that Bacuu overthrew the ancient
■ii
1-
22
MILL ON LIBERTY.
Il
philosophy ; that William III. saved our liberties ; that Romilly
humanised our penal code ; that Clarkson and Wilberforce de-
stroyed slavery ; and that Grrey and Brougham gave us Reform.
He smiles at such assertions, because he knows full well that such
men, useUil as they were, are only to be regarded as tools by which
that work was done which the force and accumulation of pre-
ceding circumstances had determined should be done. They were
good instruments ; sharp and serviceable instruments, but nothing
more. Not only are individuals, in the great average of affairs,
inoperative for good ; they are also, happily for mankind, inopera-
tive for evil. Nero and Domitian caused enormous miscliief, but
every trace of it has now disappeared. The occurrences wliicli
contemporaries think to be of the greatest importance, and which
in point of fact for a short time are so, invariably tra-n out in the
long run to be the least important of all. They are like meteors
which dazzle the vulgar by their brilliancy, and then pass away,
leaving no mark behind. Weil, therefore, and in the liighest
spirit of philosophy, did Montesquieu say that the Roman Repub-
lic was overthroWii, not, as is commonly supposed, by the ambition
of Caesar and Pompey, but by that state of things which made the
success of their ambition possible. And so indeed it was. Events
which had been long a;icumulating and had come from afar,
pressed on and thickened until their united force was irresistible,
and the Republic grew ripe for destruction. It decayed, it tot-
tered, it was sapped to its foundation ; and tlien, when all was
ready and it was nodding to its fall, Cjesar and Pompey stepped
forward, and because they dealt the last blow, we, forsooth, are
expected to believe that they produced a catastrophe which
the course of affairs had made inevitable before they were
born.
The great majority of men will, however, always cling to Ca-sar
and Pompey ; that is to say, they will prefer the study of proximate
causes to tlie study of remote ones. This is connected with an-
other and more fundamental distinction, by virtue of wJiich, life
is regarded by practical minds as an art, by speculative minds as
a science. And we iind every civilised nation divided into two
classes corresponding with these two divisions. We find one class
investigating affairs with a view to what is most special ; the other
investigating them with a view to what is most general. This
antagonism is essential, and lies in the nature of things. Indeed,
it is so clearly marked, that except in minds, not only of very
great power, but of a peculiar kind of power, it is impossible to
reconcile the two metliods ; it is impossible for any but a most
remarkable man to have them both. Many even of the greatest
thinkers have been but too notorious for on ignorance of ordinary
LIFE AN ART AND A SCIENCE. WS
affairs, and for an inattention to practical every-day interests.
While studying the science of life, they neglect the art of living.
This is because such men, notwithstanding their genius, are essen-
tially one-sided and narrow, being, unhappily for themselves,
unable or unaccustomed to note the operation of special and
proximate causes. Dealing with the remote and the universal,
they omit tlie immediate and the contingent. They sacrifice the
actual to the ideal. To their view, all phenomena are suggestive
of science, that is of what may be known ; while to the opposite
view, the same phenomena are suggestive of art, that is, of what
may be done. A perfect intellect would unite both views, and
assign to each its relative importance ; but such a feat is of the
greatest possible rarity. It may in fact be doubted if more than one
instance is recorded of its being performed without a single failure.
That instance, I need hardly say, is Shakspeare. No other mind
has thoroughly interwoven the remote with the proximate, the
general with the special, the abstract w'th the concrete. No other
mind has so completely incorporated the speculations of the highest
philosophy with the meanest details of the lowest life. Shakspeare
mastered both extremes, and covered all the intermediate field.
He knew both man and men. He thought as deeply as Plato or
Kant. He observed as closely as Dickens or Thackeray.
Of whom else can this be said ? Other philosophers have, for
the most part, overlooked the surface in their haste to reach the
summit. Hence the anomaly of many of the most profound
thinkers having been ignorant of what it was shameful for them
not to know, and having been imable to manage with success even
their own affairs. The sort of advice they would give to others
may be easily imagined. It is no exaggeration to say that if, in
any age of the world, one half of the suggestions made by the
ablest men had been adopted, that age would have been thrown
into the rankest confusion. Plato was the deepest thinker of
antiquity ; and yet the proposals which he makes in his "Kepublic,"
and in his " Treatise on Laws," are so absurd that they can hardly
be read without laughter. Aristotle, little inferior to Plato in
depth, and much his superior in comprehensiveness, desired, on
piu-ely speculative grounds, that no one should give or receive
interest for the use of money : an idea which, if it had been put
into execution, would have produced the most mischievous results,
would have stopped the accumulation of wealth, and thereby have
postponed for an indefinite period the civilisation of the world.
In modern as well as in ancient times, systems of philosophy have
bef.n raised which involve assumptions, and seek to compel con-
He4ueuces, incoiupatible with the practical interests of society.
The Germans are the most profound philosophers in Europe, and
24
MILL ON LIBERTY.
It IS precisely in their councry that this tendency is most apparent.
Comte, the most comprehensive thinker Prance has produced since
Descartes, did in his last work deliberately advocate, and wish to
organise, a scheme of polity so monstrously and obviously imm-ac-
ticable, that if it were translated into English the plain men of
our island would lift their eyes in astonishment, and would most
likely suggest that the author should for his own sake be imme-
diately confined. Not that we need pride ourselves too much on
these matters. If a catalogue were to be drawn up of the prac-
tical suggestions made by our greatest thinkers, it would be im-
possible to conceive a document more damaging to the reputation
ot the speculative classes. Those classes are always before the
age in their theories, and behind the age in their practice. It is
not, therefore, strange that Frederick the Great, who perhaps hud
a more intimate and personal l.nowledge of them than anv other
prince equall - powerful, and who moreover admired them, courted
them, and, as an author, to a certain slight degree belonged to
them, should have recorded his opinion of their practical inca-
pacity in the strongest terms he could find. " If," he is reported
to have said, " if I wanted to ruin one of my provinces, I would
make over its government to the philo3ophers."
This neglect of the surface of things is, moreover, exhibited in
the peculiar absence of mind for which many philosophers have
been remark-ible. Newton was so obhvious of what was actually
passing, that he frequently overlooked or forgot the most neces-
sary transactions, was not sure whether he had dined, and would
leave his owi. house half-naked, appearing in that state in the
streets, becaui<e he fancied all the while that he was fully dressed
Many admire this as the simplicity of genius. I see nothino- in
It but an unhappy and calamitous principle of the construction of
the luiinan mmd, whicli prevents nearly all men from successfully
dealing both with the remote and the immediate. They who are
little occupied with either, may, by virtue of the smallness of
their ambition, somewhat succeed in both. This is the reward of
their mediocrity, and they may well be satisfied with it. Dividing
such energy as they possess, they unite a little speculalion with a
little business ; a little science with a little art. But in the most
eminent and vigorous ^iharacters, we find, with extremely rare ex-
ceptions, that excellence on one side excludes excellence on the
other. Here the perfection of theory, there the perfection of
practice • and between the two a gulf wliich few indeed can brid-e
Anotlier and still more remarkabl., instance of this unfortunate
pecuhanty of our nature is supplied by the caroer of Bacon, who,
though he boasted that he made philosophy pr.-u-tir?I, and forced
-^^
BACON AS A THINKER AND AN ACTOE.
25
her to dwell among men, was himself so unpractical that he could
not deal with events as they successively arose. Yet he had
everything in his favour. To genius of the highest order he added
eloquence, wit, and industry. He had good connections, influential
friends, a supple address, an obsequious and somewhat fawning
disposition. He had seen life under many aspects, he had mixed
with various classes, he had abundant experience, and still he was
unable to turn these treasures to practical account. Putting him
aside as a philosopher, and taking iiim merely as a man of action,
his conduct was a series of blunders. Whatever he most desired,
in that did he most fail. Oi'e of his darling objects was the
attainment of po^ '^arity, in the pursuit of which he, on two
memorable occasions, grievously offended the Court from which
he sought promotion. So unskilful, however, were his combina-
tions, that in the prosecution of Essex, which was by far the most
unpopular act in the reign of Elizabeth, he played a part not only
conspicuous and discreditable, but grossly impolitic. Essex, who
was a higli-spirited and generous man, was beloved by all classes,
and notliinif could be more certain than tliat the violence Bacon
displayed against him would recoil on its author. It was also well
known that Essex was the intimate friend of Bacon, had exerted
himself in every way for him, and had even presented him with a
valuable estate. For a man to prosecute his beneliictor, to heap
invectives upon him at his trial, and having hunted him to the
death, publish a libel insulting his memory, was a folly as well as
an outrage, and is one of many proofs that in practical matters
the judgment of Bacon was unsound. Ingratitude aggravated by
cruelty must, if it is generally known, always be a blunder as well
as a crime, because it wounds the deepest and most universal
feelings of our common nature. However vicious a man may be,
he will never be guilty of such an act unless lie is foolish as well
as vicious. But llie philosopher could not foresee those imme-
diate consequences which a plain man would have easily discerned.
Tlie tri> is, that while the speculations of Bacon were full of
wisdom, ids acts were full of folly= He was anxious to build up
a fortune, and he did what many persons liave donejaoth before
and since: he availed himself of his jurli^ il position to take
bribes from suitors in his court. But h je a;ain, his operations
were so clumsy, that he committed tho PTKumous oversight of
accepting bribes from men against whom he afterwards decided.
He, therefore, deliberately put himself in the power of thc:'e
whom he deliberately injured. This was not only because he wac
greedy after wealtli, but also because he was injudiciously greedy.
The error was in the head as much as in the heart. Besides being
!|i^
26 MILL ON LliBEETY.
a covnipt judge, he was likewise a bad calculator. The conse-
quence was that he was detected, aQd beinc; detected was ruined.
Wlien his fame was at its height, when enjoyments of every kind
were thickening and clustering around liim, tlie cup of pleasure
was dashed from his lips because he (maffed it too eagerly. To
say that he fell merely because he was unprincipled, is preposterous,
for many men are unprincipled all their lives and never fall at all.
Wliy it is that bad men sometimes lish, and liow sucli appa-
rent injustice is remedied, is a mysterious question whicli this is
not the place for discus-ing ; but tli« ftict is indubitiible. In
practical life men fail, partly because they aim at unwise objects,
but cliiefly because tliey have not acquired the art of adapting
tlieir means to their end. Tins was the case with Bacon. In
ordinary matters he was triumplied over and kfeated by nearly
every one with wiiofn he came into contact. His dependents
cheated" him with impunity ; and notwitiistanding the large sums
lie received he was constantly in (lebt, so that even while his
peculations were going on he derived little benefit from them.
Though, as a judge, he stole the property of others, he did not
know how to steal so as to escape detection, and he did not know how
to keep what he had stolen. The mighty thinker was, in practice,
an arrant trifler. He always neglected the immediate and the
presi-'ing. This was curiously exemplified in the last scene of his
life. In some of his generalisations respecting putrefaction, it
occurred to him that the process might be stopped by snow. He
arrived at conclusions like a cautious and large-minded philo-
sopher : he tried them with the rashness and precipitancy of a
child. With an absence of common sense which would be in-
credible if it were not well atte-^tcd, he rushed out of his coach
on a very cold day, and, neglecting every precaution, stood shiver-
ing in the air while he stuffed a fowl with snow, risking a life in-
valuable to mankind for the sake of doing what any serving-man
could have done just as well. It did not need the intellect of a
Bacon to foresee the result. Before he had finished what he was
about he felt suddenly chiUed : he became so ill as to be unable
to return *o his own house, and his worn-out frame giving way,
he gradually sank and died a Aveek after his first seizure.
tSuch events are very sad, but they are also very instructive.
Some, I know, class them under the head of martyrdom for
science : to me, they seem the penalty of folly. It is at all events
certain that in the lives of great tliinkors they are painfully
abundant. It is but too true that many men of the highest power
have, by neglecting the study of proximate causes, shortened their
career, diminished their usefulness, and, bringing themselves to a
THE IMPRACTICABILITY OF MEN OF GENIUS.
27
premiitiire old age, have deprived mankind of their services just
at thf time when their experience was most advanced, and their
intellect most matured. Others, again, who have stopped short
of this, have by their own imprudence become involved in em-
barrassiments of every kind, taking no heed of the morrow, wasting
tlU'ir resources, squandering their substance, and incurring debts
which they were unable to pay. This is the result less of vice
thaBi of thoughtlessness. Vice is often cunning and wary ; but
thoa^htlessness is always profuse and reckless. And so marked
is the tendency, that " Genius struggling with difficulties " has
grown into a proverb. Unhappily, genius has, in an immense
majority of cases, created its own difficulties. The consequence
is, that not only mere men of the world, but men of sound, useful
understandings, do, for the most part, look upon genius as some
strange and erratic quality, beautiful indeed to see, but dangerous
to possess : a sparkling fire wliich consumes while it lightens.
They regard it with curiosity, perhaps even with interest ; but
they shake tlieir heads ; they regret that men who are so clever
should liave so little sense ; and, pluming themselves on their own
superior sagacity, they complacently remind each other that great
wit is generally allied to madness. Who can wonder that this
should be ? Look at what has occurred in these islands aione,
during so short a period as three generations. Look at the lives
of Fielding, Goldsmith, Smollett, Savage, Shenstone, Budgell,
Charnock, Churchill, Chatterton, Derrick, Parnell, Somerville,
Whitehead, Coombe, Day, Gilbert Stuart, Ockley, Oldys, Boyse,
Hasted, Smart, Thomson, Grose, Daws, Barker, Harwood, Porson,
Thirlby, Baron, Barry, Coleridge, Fearne, Walter Scott, Byron,
Burns, Moore, and Campbell, Here you have men of every sort
of ability, distinguished by every variety of imprudence. Wliat
does it all mean ? Why is it that they who might have been the
salt of the earth, and whom we should have been proud to take
as our guides, are now pointed at by every blockhead as proofs of
the inability of genius to grapple with the realities of life ? Why
is it that against these, and their fellows, each puny whipster
can draw his sword, and dullards vent their naughty spite ? That
little men should jeer at great ones is natural ; that they should
have reason to jeer at them is shameful. Yet, this must always
be the case so long as the present standard of action exists. As
long as such expressions as " the infirmities of genius " form an
esse-.tial part of >ur language — as long as we are constantly re-
minded that genius is naturally simple, guileless, and imversed
in the ways of th(> world — as long as notions of patronising and
protecting it continue — ss long as men of letters are. regarded
Mi
I I
i M
^ r
Y
,..l
nil
i'>
f ' :'^
28
MILL ON LIBERTY.
witli pitying wonder, as strange creatures from whom a certain
amount of imprudence must be expected, and in whom it may be
tolerated — as long as among them extravagance is called gene-
rosity, and economy called meanness — as long as these things
happen, so long will the evils that correspond to them endure, and
so long will the highest class of mindt- lose much of their legiti-
mate influence. In the same way, while it is believed that authors
must, as a body, be heedless and improvident, it will likewise be
believed tliat for tliem there must be pensions and subscriptions ;
tliat to them Government and society should be bountiful ; and
that, on their behalf, institutions should be erected to provide for
necessities which it was their own business to have foreseen, but
wliicli they, engaged in the arduous employment of writing books,
could not be expect<xl to attend to. Their minds are so weak and
sickly, so unfit for the rough usages of life, that tliey must be
guarded against the consequences of their own actions. The
feebleuess of their understandings makes such precautions neces-
sary. Tliere must be hospitals for the intellect, as well as for the
body ; asylums where these poor, timid creatures may find refuge,
and may escape from calamities which their confiding innocence
prevented them from anticipating. These are the miserable
delusions wliich still prevail. Tliese are tlie wretched infatuations
by whicli the strength and majest^' of the literary character are
impaired. In England there is, "joice to say, a more manly
and sturdy feeling on these subjec than in any other part of
Europe; but even in England literacy men do not sufficiently
appreciate the true dignity of tlseir profession ; nor do they suffi-
ciently understand that the foundation of all real grandeur is a
spirit of proud and lofty independence. In otlier couiitries, the
state of opinion is most degrading. In other countries, to liave a
pension is a m.irk of honour, and to beg for money is a proof of
spirit. Eminent men are turned into hirelings, receive eleemo-
synary aid, and raise a clamour if the aid is not forthcoming.
They snatch at every advantage, and accept even titles and deco-
rations from the first foolish prince who is willing to bestow them.
They make constant demands on the public purse, and then they
wonder that the public respects thein so little. In France, in
particular, we have within the last year seen one of the most
brilliant writers of the age, who had realised immense sums by
his works, and who with cominon prudence ought to have amassed
a large fortune, coming forward as a mendicant, avowing in tlie
fiice of Europe that lie luiJ squandered what he had earned, and
soliciting, not only friends, but even strangers, to make up the
deficiency. And this was done without a blush, without anv sense
PATRONAGE OF LITERARY MEN MISCHIEVOUS.
29
of the ignominy of the proceeding, but rather witli a parade of
glorying in it. In a merchant, or a tradesman, such a confession
of recklessness would have been considered disgraceful ; and why
are men of genius to have a lower code than merchants or trades-
men ? Whence comes this confusion of the first principles of
justice? By what train of reasoning, or rather, by what process
of sophistry, are we to infer, that when men of industry are im-
provident they shall be ruined, but that when men of letters are
improvident they shall be rewarded ? How long will this invidious
distinction be tolerated ? How long will such scandals last ? Hoav
long will tliose who profess to be the teachers of mankind behave
like children, and submit to be treated as the only class who are
deficient in foresight, in circumspection, in economy, and in all
those sober and practical virtues wliich form the character of a
good and useful citizen ? Nearly every one who cultivates litera-
ture as a profession can gain by it an honest livelihood ; and if
he cannot gain it he has mistaken his trade, and should seek
another. Let it, then, be clearly understood that what such
men earn by tlieir labour, or save by their abstinence, or acquire
by lawful inheritance, that they can enjoy without loss of dignity.
But if they ask for more, or if they accept more, they become the
recipients of charity, and between them and the beggar who
walks the streets, the only difference is in the magnitude of the
sum which is (>xpected. To break stones on the highway is far
more honourable than to receive such alms. Away, then, with
yoiu- pensions, your subscriptions, your Literary Institutions, and
your Literary Funds, by which yon organise mendicancy into a
systexn, and, under pretence of increasing public liberality, in-
crease the amoimt of public imprudence.
But before this high standard can be reached, much remains to
be done. As yet, and in the present early and unformed state of
soci< ty, literary men are, notwithstanding a few exceptions, more
prone to improvidence than tlie members of any other profession ;
and being also more deficient in practical knowledge, it too often
happens that they are regarded as clever visionaries, fit to amuse
the world, but unfit to guide it. The causes of this I have exa-
mined at some length, both because the results are extremely
important, and because little attention has been hitherto paid to
their operation. If I were not afraid of being tedious I could
push the analysis still furtlier, and could show that these very
causes are themselves a part of the old spirit of Protection, and
as sucli are intimately connected with some religious and political
prejudices which obstruct the progress of society ; and that in the
countries where such prejudices are most powerful, the mischief is
m
I 1:1
ill
ii^
ii.
!■
I! n
'J A
1 d
30
MILL ON LIBERTY.
most serious and the state of literature most unhealthy. But to
prosecute that inquiry would be to write a treatise rather than an
essay ; and I shall be satisfied if I have cleared the ground so far
as I have gone, and have succeeded in tracing the relation between
these evils and the general question of philosophic Method. The
divergence between speculative minds and practical minds, and
the different ways they have of contemplating affairs, are no doubt
encouraged by the prevalence of false notions of patronage and
reward, which, when they are brought to bear upon any class,
inevitably tend to make that class unthrifty, and therefore un-
practical. This is a law of the human mind which the political
economists have best illustrated in their own department, but the
operation of which is universal. Serious, however, as this evil is,
it only belongs to a very imperfect state of society, and after a
time it will probably disappear. But the essential, and, so far as
I can understand, the permanent cause of divergence, is a dif-
ference of Method. In the creation of our knowledge, it appears
to be a fundamental necessity that the speculative classes should
search for what is distant, while the practical classes search for
what is adjacent. I do not see how it is possible to get rid of
this antithesis. There may be some way, which we cannot yet
discern, of reconciling the two extremes, and of merging the
antagonistic methods into one which, being higher than either,
shall include both. At present, however, there is no prospect of
such a result. We must, therefore, be satisfied if from time to
time, and at long intervals, a man arises whose mind is so happil}'^
constructed as to study with equal success the surface and the
summit ; and who is able to show, by his single example, that
views drawn from the most exalted region of thought, are appli-
cable to the common transactions of daily life.
The only living Englishman who has achieved this is Mr. Mill.
In the first place, he is our only great speculative philosopher
who for many years has engaged in public life. Since Ricardo, no
original thinker has taken an active part in political affairs. Not
that those affairs have on that account been worse administered ; nor
that we have cause to repine at our lot in comparison with other
nations. On the contrary, no country has been better governed
than ours ; and at the present moment, it would be impossible to
find in any one European nation more able, zealous, and upright
public men than England possesses. In such extremely rare cases
as those of Brougham and Macaulay, there are also united to these
qualities the most splendid and captivating accomplishments, and
the far higher honour which they justly enjoy of having always
been the eager and unflinching advocates of popular liberty. It
THE PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE.
81
cannot, however, be pretended that even these eminent men have
added anything to our ideas ; ill less can such a claim be made
on behalf of their inferiors in the political world. Tliey have
popularised the ideas and enforced them, but never created them.
They have shown great skill and great courage in applying the
conceptions of others ; but he fresh conceptions, the higher and
larger ;., neralizations, have not been their work. They can attack
old abuses ; they cannot disco s or new principles. This incapacity
for dealingwith the highest problems has been curiously exemplified
during the last two years, when a great ^^nmber of the most active
and eminent of our public men, as well as several who are active
without being eminent, have formed an Association for the pro-
motion of (Social Science. Among the papers published by that
Association will be found many curious facts and many useful
suggestions. But Social Science there is none. There is not even
a perception of what that science is. Not one spenl r or writer
attempted a scientific investigation of society, or showed that
in his opinion, such a thing ought to be attempted. Where
science begins the Association leaves off. All science is composed
either of physical laws, or of mental laws ; and as the actions of
men are determined by both, the only way of founding Social
Science is to investigate each class of laws by itself, and then,
after computing their separate results, co-ordinate the whole into
a single study, by verifying them. This is the only process by
which highly complicated phenomena can be disentangled ; but
the Association did not catch a glimpse of it. Indeed, they re-
versed the proper order, and proceeded from the concrete tc the
abstract, instead of from the abstract to the concrete. The reason
of this error may be easily explained. The leading members of
the Association being mostly politicians, followed the habits of
their profession ; that is to say, they noted the events immediately
surrounding them, and, taking a contemporary view, they observed
the actual effects with a view of discovering the causes, and then
remedying the evils. This was their plan, and it was natural to
men whose occupations led them to look at the surface of affairs.
But to any mind accustomed to rise to a certain height above
that surface, and thoroughly imbued with the spirit of scientific
method, it is obvious that +his way of investigating social phe-
nomena must be futile. Even in the limited field of political
action, its results are at best mere empirical uniformities ; while
in the immense range of social science it is altogether worthless.
When men are collected together in society, with their passions
and their interests touching each other at every point, it is clear
that nothing can happen without being produced by a great
»'-i-ii
lO^ "^.^a^
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
'^'
O
A-
KjS" -^tf
1.0
I.I
1.25
■so
1^ i^
Uii 12.2
2.0
|j.g.
U 11.6
%>
^
y^
5>
v»
.< V--. '->-■'
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
<r:v
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, NY. 14380
(716) 872-4S0?
#\ ''^ "V
w
#
f/j
^
32
MILL ON LIBEETY.
variety of causes. Of these caiises, some will be conflicting, and
their action being neutralized they v/ill often disappear in the
product ; or, at all events, will leave traces too faint to be dis-
cerned. If, then, a cause is counteracted, how can you ascertain
its existence by studying its effect ? When only one cause pro-
duces an effect, you may infer the cause from the effect. But if
several causes conspire to produce one effect this is impossible.
The most persevering study of the effect, and the most intimate
acquaintance with it, will in such case never lead to a knowledge
of the causes ; and the only plan is to proceed deductively from
cause to effect, instead of inductively from effect to cause. Sup-
pose, for example, a ball is struck on different sides by two persons
at the same time. The effect will be that the ball, after being
struck, will pass from one spot to another ; but that effect maybe
studied for thousands of years without any one being able to
ascertain the causes of the direction the ball took ; and even if
he is told that two persons have contributed to produce the result,
he could not discover how much each person contributed. But if
the observer, instead of studying the effect to obtain the causes,
had studied the causes themselves, he would have been able
without going farther, to predict the exact resting-place of the
ball. In other words, by knowing the causes he could learn the
effect, but by knowing the effect he could not learn the causes.
Suppose, again, that I hear a musical instrument being played.
The effect depends on a great variety of causes, among which are
the power possessed by the ear of conveying the sound^, the power
of the ear to receive its vibrations, and the power of tlie brain to
feel them. These are vulgarly called conditions, but they are all
cauHes, inasmuch as a cause can only be defined to be an invariable
and unconditional antecedent. They are just as much causes as
the hand of the musician ; and the question arises, could those
causes have been discovered merely by studying the effect the
music produced vipon me ? Most assuredly not. Most assuredly
would it be requisite to study each cause separately, and then,
by compounding the laws of their action, predict the entire effect.'
In social science, the plurality of causes is far more marked than
in the cases I have mentioned ; and therefore, in social science,
the method of proceeding from effects to causes is far more
absurd. And what aggravates the absurdity is, that the difficulty
produced by the plurality of causes is heightened by another
difficulty— namely, the conflict of causes. To deal with such
enormous complications as politicians usually deal with them, is
simply a waste of time. Every science has some hypothesis which
underlies it, and which must be taken for granted. The hypo-
THE PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE.
88
thesis OL which social science rests, is that the actions of men are
a compound result of the laws of mind and the laws of matter ;
and as that result is highly complex, we shall never understand it
until the laws themselves have been unravelled by a previous and
separate inquiry. Even if we could experiment, it would be dif-
ferent ; because by experimenting on an effect we can artificially
isolate it, and guard against the encroachment of causes which we
do not wish to investigate. But in social science there can be no
experiment. For, in the first place, there can be no previous
isolation; since every interference lets into the framework of
society a host of new phenomena which invalidate the experiment
before the experiment is concluded. And, in the second place,
that which is called an experiment, such as the adoption of a fresh
principle in legislation, is not an experiment in the scientific sense
of the word ; because the results which follow depend far more
upon the general state of the surrounding society than upon the
principle itself. The surrounding state of society is, in its turn,
governed by a long train of antecedents, each linked to the other,
and forming, in their aggregate, an orderly and spontaneous
march, which politicians are unable to control, and which they
do for the most part utterly ignore.
Tnis absence of speculative ability among politicians, is the
natural result of the habits of their class ; and as the same result
is almost Invariably found among practical men, I have thought
the illustration just adduced might be interesting, in so far as it
confirms the doctrine of an essential antagonism of Method, which,
though like all speculative distinctions, infringed at various
points, does undoubtedly exist, and appears to me to form the
basis for a classification of society move complete than any yet
proposed. Perhaps, too, it may have the effect of guarding against
the rash and confident a sertions of public men on matters re-
specting which they have no means of forming an opinion, because
their conclusions are vitiated by the adoption of an illogical
method. It is, accordingly, a matter of notoriety that in pre-
dicting the results of large and general innovations, even the
most sagacious politicians have been oftener wrong than right,
and have foreseen evil when nothing but good has come. Against
this sort of error, the longest and most extensive experience
affords no protection. While statesmen confine themselves to
questions of detail, and to short views of immediate expediency,
their judgment should be listened to with respect. But beyond
this, they are rarely to be heeded. It constantly, and indeed
usually happens, that statesmen and legislators who pass their
whole life in public affairs, know nothing of their own age, except
i
■nPiMiiiiii
84
HILL ON LIBERTY.
what lies on the surface, and are therefore unable to calculate,
even approxlmatively, remote and general consequences. Abun-
dant evidence of their incapacity on these points will present
Itself to whoever has occasion to read much of State Papers or of
Parliamentary discussions in different ages, or, what is still more
decisive, the private correspondence of eminent politicians. These
reveal but too clearly that they who are supposed to govern the
course of affairs are utterly ignorant of the direction affairs are
really taking. What is before them they see ; what is above them
they overlook. While, however, this is the deficiency of political
practitioners, it must be admitted that poUtical philosophers are,
on their side, equally at fault in being too prone to neglect the
operation of superficial and tangible results. The difference
botween the two classes is analogous to that which exists between
a gardener and a botanist. Both deal with plants, but each con-
siders the plant from an opposite point of view. The gardener
looks to its beauty and its flavour. These are qualities which lie
on the surface ; and to these the scientific botanist pays no heed.
He studies the physiology ; he searches for the law ; he penetrates
the minute structure, and rending the plant, sacrifices the in-
dividual that he may understand the species. The gardener, like
the statesman, is accustomed to consider the superficial and the
immediate ; the botanist, like the philosopher, inquires into the
hidden and the remote. Which pursuit is the more valuable is
not now the question ; but it is certain that a successful combina-
tion of both pursuits is very rare. The habits of mind, the turn
of thought, all the associations, are diametrically opposed. To
unite them requires a strength of resolution and a largeness of
intellect rarely given to man to attain. It usually happens that
they who seek to combine the opposites fail on both sides, and
become at once shallow philosophers and unsafe practitioners.
It must, therefore, be deemed a remarkable fact that a man
who is beyond dispute the deepest of our living thinkers, should,
during many years, not only have held a responsible post in
a very difficult department of government, but should, according
to the testimony of those best able to judge, have fulfilled the
duties of that post with conspicuous and unvarying success. This
has been the case with Mr. Mill, and on this account his opinions
are entitled to peculiar respect, because they are formed by one
who has mastered both extremes of life. Such a duality of func-
tion is worthy of especial attention, and it will hardly be taken
amiss if I endeavour to show how it has displayed itself in the
writings of this great philosopher. To those who delight in con-
templating the development of an intellect of the rarest kind, it
HIS "PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY."
35
will not appear unseemly that, before examining his latest work,
I should compare those other productions by which he has been
hitherto known and which have won for him a vast and perma-
nent fame.
Those works are his « Principles of Political Economy," and his
" System of Logic." Each of these elaborate productions is re-
markable for one of the two great qualities of the author ; the
Political Economy being mostly valuable for the practical anpli-
cation of truths previously established ; while the Logic contains
an analysis of the process of reasoning, more subtle and exhaus-
tive than any which has appeared since Aristotle.» Of the Poli-
tical Economy, it is enough to say that none of the principles in
it are new. Since the publication of the " Wealth of Nations,"
the science had been entirely remodelled, and it was the object of
Mr. Mill not to extend its boundaries, birfe to turn to practical
account what had been achieved by the two generations of thinkers
who succeeded Adam Smith. The brilliant discovery of the true
theory of rent, which though not made by Ricardo, was placed by
him on a solid foundation, had given an entirely new aspect to
economical science ; as also had the great law, which he first
pointed out, of the distribution of the precious metals, by means
of the exchanges, in exact proportion to the traffic which would
occur if there were no such metals., and if all trade were conduced
by barter. The great work of Malthus on Population, and the
discussions to which it led, had ascertained the nature and limits
of the connection which exists between the increase of labour and
the rate of wages, and had thus cleared away many of the diffi-
culties which beset the path of Adam Smith. While this threw
new light on the causes of the distribution of wealth, Rae had
analysed those oilier causes which govern its accumtilation, and
had shown in what manner capital increases with different speed,
' I do not cjicppt even Kant; because that extraordinary thinker, who in some di-
rections has perhups penetrated deeper than any philosopher either before or since,
did, in his views respecting logic,, so anticipate the limits of all future discovery, as to
take '.'pon himself to, aiiirm that the notion of inductively obtaining a standard of ob-
jective truth was noli only impracticable at present, but involved an e.ss'ential contra-
diction which would always be irreconcilable. Whoever upon any subject thus seis
up a fixed and prospective limit, gives the surest proof that he has not investigated
that subject even as far as tb» existing resources allow; for he proves that he has not
reached that point where certainly ends, and where the dim outline, gradually growing
fainter, but always indefinite, teaches us that there is something beyond, and that we
have no right to pledge ourselves respecting that undetemiinod tract. On the other
hand, those who stop before* they have reached this shadowy outline, see evfrything
clearly because they have not advanced to the pLico where darkness begins. If I were
to venture to criticise such a man as Kant, I shuuld say, after a very careful study of
his works, and with the greatest admiration of them, tUat the depth of liia mind
considerably exceeded its comprehensiTeness.
d2
■' !
36
MILL ON LIBERTY.
in diiierent countries, and at different times. When we, more-
over, add that Bentham had demonstrated the advantages and the
necessity of usury as part of the social scheme ; that Babbage had
with signal ability investigated the principles which govern the
economy of labour, and the varying degrees of its productiveness ;
and that th. abstract but very important step had been taken by
Wakefield of proving that the supposed ultimate division of
labour is in reality but a part of the still higher principle of the
co-operation of labour ; when we put these things together, we
shall see that Mr. Mill found everything ready to his hand, and
had only to combine and apply the generalisations of those great
speculative thinkers who immediately preceded him.
The success with which he has executed this task is marvellous.
His treatise on Political Economy is a manual for statesmen even
more than for speculators ; since, though it contains no additions
to scientific truths, it is full of practical applications. In it, the
most recondite principles are illustrated, and brought to the sur-
face, with a force which has convinced many persons whose minds
are unable to follow long trains of abstract reasoning, and who re-
jected the conclusions of Eicardo, because that illustrious thinker,
master though he was of the finest dialectic, lacked the capacity
of clothing his arguments in circumstances, and could not adapt
them to the ordinary events of political life. This deficiency is
supplied by Mr. Mill, who treats political economy as an art even
more than as a science.' Hence his book is full of suggestions on
many of the most important matters which can be submitted to
the legislature of a free people. The laws of bequest and of in-
heritance ; the law of primogeniture ; the laws of partneiship and
of limited liability ; the laws of insolvency and of bankruptcy ;
the best method of establishing colonies ; the advantages and dis-
advantages of the income-tax ; the expediency of meeting extra-
ordinary expenses by taxation drawn from income or by an increase
of the national debt : these are among the subjects' mooted by
Mr. Mill, and on which lie has made proposals, the majority of
which are gradually working their way into the public mind.
Upon these topics his influence is felt by many who do not know
from whence the influence proceeds. And no one can have at-
tended to the progress of political opinions during the last ten
years, without noticing how, in the formation of practical judg-
' Thereby becoming necessarily somewhat empirical ; for directly the political
economist offers practical suggestions, disturbing causes are let in, and trouble the
pure science which depends far more upon reasoning than upon observation. No
writer I have met with has put this in a short compass with so much clearness as
Mr. Senior. See the introduction to his Political Economy, 4th edit. 1858, pp. 2-6.
HIS " SYSTEM OF LOGIC."
37
ments, his power is operating on politicians who are utterly heed-
less of his higher generalisations, and who would, indeed, in the
largest departments of thought, be well content to sleep on in
their dull and ancient routine, but that from time to time, and in
their own despite, their slumbers are disturbed by a noise from
afar, and they are forced to participate in the result of that pro-
digious movement which is now gathering on every side, un-
settling the stability of atfairs, and sapping the foundation of our
beliefs.
In such intellectual movements, which lie at the root of social
actions, the practical classes can take no original part, though, as
all history decisively proves, they are eventually obliged to abide
by the consequences of them. But it is the peculiar prerogative
of certain minds to be able to interpret as well as to originate.
To such men a double duty is entrusted. They enjoy the ines-
timable privilege of communicating directly with practitioners as
well as with speculators, and they can both discover the abstract
and manipulate ^^he concrete. The concrete and practical ten-
dency of the present age is clearly exhibited in Mr. Mill's work
on Political Economy ; while in his work on Logic we may see as
clearly the abstract and theoretical tendency of the same period.
The former work is chiefly valuable in relation to the functions
of government ; the latter in relation to the functions of thought.
In the one the art of doing, in the other the science of reasoning.
The revolution which he has effected in this great department of
speculative knowledge will be best understood by comparing what
the science of logic was when he began to write with what it was
after his work was published.
Until Mr. Mill entered the field there were only two systems of
logic. The first was the syllogistic system which was founded by
Aristotle, and to which the moderns have contributed nothing of
moment, except the discovery during the present century of the
quantification of the predicate.' ITie other was the inductive
system, as orfmised by Bacon, to which also it was reserved for
our generati i to make the first essential addition ; Sir John
' Made by Sir William Hamilton and Mr. De Morgan about the same time and,
I believe, iiidi'pendently of each other. Before this, nothing of moment had been
added to the Aristotelian doctrine of the syllogism, unless we consider as such the
fourth figure. This was unknown to Aristotle ; but it may be doubted if it is
essential ; and, if I rightly remember. Sir W'lliam Hamilton did not attach much
importance to the fourth syllogistic figure, while Archbishop Whately {Logic, 1857,
p. 5) calls it ' insignificant.' Compare Mansell's Aldrich, 1856, p. 76. The hypo-
thetical syllogism is usually said to be post-Aristotelian ; but although I cannot now
recover the passage, I have seen evidence whioh makes r.ie suspect that it was known
to Aristotle, though not formally enunciated by him.
til
38
MILL ON LIBERTY.
IHl
Herschel having the great merit of ascertaining the existence of
four different methods, the boundaries of which had escaped the
attention of previous philosophers." That the word logic should
by most writers be confined to the syllogistic, or, as it is some-
times called, Formal method, is a striking proof of the extent to
which language is infested by the old scholastic prejudices ; for
as the science of logic is the theory of the process of inference,
and as the art of logic is the practical skill of inferring rightly
from given data, Vi, is evident that any system is a system of logic
wliich ascertains the laws of the theory, and lays down the rules
of the practice. The inductive system of logic may be better or
worse than tlie deductive ; but both are systems." And till nearly
the middle of the present century, men were divided between
the Aristotelian logic which infe: :^ from generals to particulars,
and the Baconian logic which infers from particulars to generals.'*
' Tliia is acknowledged by Mr. Mill, who has stated and analysed these methods
Mith great clearness.— Mill's Loffic, 4th edit. ISoC, vol. i. p. 4(jl.
■' ArchlLshup Whately, wiio has written what is probably the best elementary
treiitise existing on formal logic, adopts the old opinion that the inductive •' process of
inquiry " by which premises are obtained, is " out of the province of logic."— Wimtely's
Uffic, 1857, p. lol. Mr. De Morgan, whose extremely able work goes much deeper
into the subject than Arciibisliop Whately's, is, however, content with excluding
induction, not from logic, but from formal logic. "What is now called induction
meaning the discovery of laws from instances, and higher laws from lower ones is
beyond the province of formal logie."-D8 Morgan's Lopk, 1817, p. 21o. As a law
ot nature is frequently the major premiss of a syllogism, this statement of Mr De
Morgan's seems unobjectionable. The point at issue involves much more than a mere
dispute re.spocting words, and I therefore add, without subscribing to, the view of
another eminent authority. " To entitle any work to be classed as the logic of this or
that school. It is at least necessary that it should, in common with the Aristotelian
logic, adhere to the syllogistic method, whatever modirications or additions it may
derive from the particular school of its author."— Mansell's Introduction to Aldrieh's
Artis Logioa Rudimenta, 1856, p. xlii. See also .Appendix, pp. 194, 195 and Mr
Mansell's Prolegomena Logica, 1851, pp. 89. 169. On the other hand, Bacon, who con-
sidered the syllogism to be worse than useless, distinctly claims the title of " logical"
for his inductive system. " Ilh.d vero monendum, nos in hoc nostro organo tractare
logicam, non philosophiam."— i\'-*p(„« Organum, lib. ii. aplior. lii. in Bacon s Workif,
vol. IV. p. 382. This should be compared with the remarks of Sir William Hamilton
on inductive logic l-r his DLicussiom, 1852, p. 158. What strikes one most in this
controversy is, that none of the great advorates of the exclusive right of the syllogistic
system to the word " logic " appear to be ivell acquainted with physical science Thev
therefore, cannot understand the real natuie of induction in the modern sense of the
term, and they naturally depreciate a method with whose triumphs they have no
sympathy. '
" To what oxtent Aristotle did or did not recognise an induction of particulars as
the hrst step in our knowledge, and ^hc^fore as the base of every major premiss has
been often disputed ; but I have not heaixl that any of the disputants have adopted
the only means by which such a question can bo tested-namely, bringing together
the most decisive passages from Aristotle, and then leaving then-, to the judgment of
the reader. As this seems to be the most impartial way of proceeding, I have gone
through Aristotle s logical works with a view to it ; and those who are interested in
these matters will find the extracts at the end of this essay.
W'
LOGIC AND INDUCTION. 89
While the science of logic was in this state, there appeared in
1843 Mr. Mill's " System of Logic;" the fundamental idea of
which is, that the logical process is not from generals to particu-
lars, nor from particulars to generals, but from particulars to
particulars. According to this view, which is gradually securing
the adhesion of thinkers, the syllogism, instead of being an act of
reasoning, is an act, first of registration, and then of interpreta-
tion. The major premiss of a syllogism being the record of pre-
vious induction, the business of the syllogism is to interpret that
record and bring it to light. In the syllogism we preserve our
experience, and we also realise it ; but the reasoning is at an end
when the major premiss is enunciated. For after that enuncia-
tion no fresh truth is propounded. As soon therefore as the major
is stated, the argument is over ; because the general proposition
is but a register, or, as it were, a note-book, of inferences which
involve everything at issue. While, however, the syllogism is
not a process of reasoning, it is a security that the previous
reasoning is good. And this in three ways. In the first place by
interposing a general proposition between the collection of the
first particulars and the statement of the last particulars, it pre-
sents a larger object to the imagination than would be possible if
we had only the particulars in our mind. In the second place,
the syllogism serves as an artificial memory, and enables us to
preserve order among a mass of details ; being at once a formula
into which we throw them, and a contrivance by which we recall
them. Finally, the syllogism is a protection against negligence ;
since when we infer from a number of observed cases to a case
we have not yet observed, we, instead of jumping at once to that
case, state a general proposition which includes it, and which
must be true if our conclusion is true ; so that by this means if
we have reasoned erroneously, the error becomes more broad and
conspicuous.
This remarkable analysis of the nature and functions of the
syllogism is, so far as our present knowledge goes, exhaustive ;
w^ tber or not it will admit of still further resolution we cannot
tell. At all events it is a contribution of the greatest importance
to the science of reasoning, and involves many other speculative
questions which are indirectly connected with it, but which I shall
not now opei. up. Neither need I stop to show how it affords
a basis for establishing the true distinction between induction
and deduction, a distinction which Mr. Mill is one of the ex-
tremely few English writers who has thoroughly understood, since
it is commonly supposed in this country that geometry is the
proper type of deduction, whereas it is only one of the types, and
40
MILL ON LIBERTY.
though an admirable pattern of the deductive investigation of
coexistences, throws no light on the deductive investigation of
sequences. But, passing over these matters as too large to be
discussed here, I would call attention to a fundamental principle
which underlies Mr. Mill's pliilosophy, and from which it will
appear that he is as much oppoeed to the advocates of the Baconian
method as to those of the Aristotelian. In this respect he has
been, perhaps unconsciously, greatly influenced by the spirit of
the age ; for it might be easily shown, and indeed will hardly be
disputed, that during the last fifty years an opinion has been
gaining ground that the Baconian system has been overrated, and
that its favourite idea of proceeding from effects to causes instead
of from causes to effects, will not carry us so far as was supposed
by the truly great, though somewhat empirical, thinkers of the
eighteenth century.
One point in which the inductive philosophy commonly re-
ceived in England is very inaccurate, and which Mr. Mill has
justly attacked, is, that following the authority of Bacon, it
insists upon all generalisations being conducted by ascending
from each generalisation to the one immediately above and ad-
joining ; and it denounces as hasty and unphilosophic any attempt
to soar to a higher stage without mastering the intermediate
steps.' This is an undue limitation of that peculiar property of
genius which, for want of a better word we call intuition ; and
that in this respect Bacon's philosophy was too narrow, and placed
men too much on a par" by obliging them all to use the same
method is now frequently though not generally admitted, and has
been perceived by several philosophers.^ The objections raised by
Mr. Mill on this ground, though put with great ability, are, as he
' " Aseendendo continenter et gradiitini, ut ultimo loco pepveniatur ad maxime
gpneraliii ; quae via vera est, sod inteiitiita."— .Voyi</rt Oryanum, lib. i. aphor. xix. in
Baoon'8 Works, vol. iv. p. 268. London, 1778; 4to. And in lib. i. aphor. civ.
p. 294—" Sed de scientiis turn denium bene t^perandum est, quando per scalam veram
et per gradus eontinuos et non interinissos. nut hiulcos, a particularibus ascendetur
ad axiomata minora, et deinde ad media, alia aliis superiora, et postremo demum ad
gent>ritlissima."
"^ " Nosfia vero inveniendi scientias ea est ratio, ut non multum ingeniorum acumini
et robori relinquatur ; sed quseingenia et intellectus fere exeequet."— Aowm Organum,
lib. 1. aplior. Ixi. ; Bacon's Worku, vol. iv. p. 275. And in lib. i. aphor. exxii. [Works,
vol. IV. p. 301], "Nostra enim via inveniendi scientias exsequat fere ingcnia, et non
multum excellentise eorum relinquit ; cum omnia per certissimas rcgulas et demon-
Btrationes transigat.''
» And is noticed in Whewell's Philosophy of the. Inductive Sclnces, 1847, vol. ii.
p. 210 ; though this celebrated writer, so far from connecting it with Bacon's doctrine
of gradual and uninterrupted ascent, considers such do.'trine to be the peculiar merit
of Bacon, and accuses those who hold a contrary opinion, of " dimness of vision,"
pp. 126, 232. Happily, all are not dim who are said to be so.
LOGIC AND INDUCTION.
u
would be the first to confess, not original ; and the same remark
may be made in a smaller degree concerning another objection —
namely, that Bacon did not attach sufficient weight to the plu-
rality of causes,' and did not see that the great complexity they
produce would oiten baffle his method, and would render another
method necessary. But while Mr. Mill has in these parts of his
work been anticipated, there is a more subtle, and, as it appears
to me, a more fatal objection which he has made against the
Baconian philosophy. And as this objection, besides being en-
tirely new, lies far out of the path of ordinary speculation, it has
hardly yet attracted the notice even of philosophic logicians, and
the reader will probably be interested in hearing a simple and
untechnical statement of it.
Logic, considered as a science, is solely concerned with induc-
tion ; and the business of induction is to arrive at causes ; or, to
speak more strictly, to arrive at a knowledge of the laws of causa-
tion.' So far Mr. Mill agrees with Bacon ; but from the operation
of this rule he removes an immense body of phenomena which
were brought under it by the Baconian philosophy. He asserts,
and I think he proves, that though uniformities of succession may
be investigated inductively, it is impossible to investigate, a^ it
that fashion, imiformities of co-existence ; and that, therefore, to
these last the Baconian method is inapplicable. If, for instance,
we say that all negroes have woolly hair, we affirm an uniformity
of co-existence between the hair and some other property or pro-
perties essential to the negro. But if we were to say that they
have woolly hair in consequence of their skin being black, we
should affirm an uniformity not of co-existence, but of succession.
Uniformities of succession are frequently amenable to induction :
uniformities of co-existence are never amenable to it, and are con-
sequently out of the jurisdiction of the Baconian philosophy.
They may, no doubt, be treated according to the simple enumera-
tion of the ancients, which, however, was so crude an induction as
hardly to be worthy the name.^ But the powerful induction of
' Mill's Logic, fourth edition, vol. ii. p. 321. I am almost sure this remark had
been made before.
■^ " The main question of the science of logic is induction, which however is almost
entirely passed over by professed writers on logic."— Mill's Loaic, vol. i. p. 309. " The
chief object of inductive logic is to point out how the laws of causation are to be
ascertained."— Vol. i. p. 407. "The mental process with which logic is conversant,
the operation of ascertaining truths by means of evidence, is always, even when
appearances point lo a different theory of it, a process of induction "—Vol. ii. p. 177.
' The character of the Aris^totelian induction is .so justly portrayed by Mr. Maurice
in his admirable account of the Greek philosophy, tliat I cannot resist the pleasure of
transcribing the passage. " What this induction is, and how entirely it differs from
that process which bears the same name in the writings of Bacon, the reader will
!
42
MILL ON LIBERTY.
the moderns, depending upon a separation of nature and an elimi-
nation of disturbances, is, in reference to co-existences, absolutely
impotent. The utmost that it can give is empirical laws, useful
for practical guidance, but void of scientific value. That this has
hitherto been the case the history of our knowledge decisively
proves. That it always will be the case is, in Mr. Mill's opinion,
equally certain, because while, on the one hand, the study of
uniformities of succession has for its basis that absorbing and
over-ruling hypothesis of the constancy of causation, on which
every human being more or less relies, and to which philosophers
will hear of no exception ; we, on the other hand, find that the
study of the uniformities of co-existence has no such support, and
that therefore the whole field of inquiry is unsettled and indeter-
minate. Thus it is that if I see a negro suffering pain, the law of
causation compels me to believe that something had previously
happened of which pain was the necessary consequence. But I am
not bound to believe that lie possesses some property of which his
woolly hair or his dark skin are the necessary accompaniments. I
cling to the necessity of an uniform sequence ; I reject the neces-
sity of an uniform co-existence. This is the difference between
consequences and concomitants. That the pain has a cause, I am
well assured. But for aught I can tell, the blackness and the
woolliness may be ultimate properties which are referrible to no
cause;' or if they are not ultimate properties, each may be
dependent on its own cause, but not be necessarily connected.
The relation, therefore, may be universal in regard to the fact,
and yet casual in regard to the Science.
This distinction when once stated is very simple ; but its con-
sequences in relation to the science of logic had escaped all pre-
vious thinkers. When thoroughly appreciated, it will dispel the
idle dream of the universal application of the Baconian philo-
pprceive the more he studies the different writings of Aristotle. He will find, first
that the sensible plwnonunmi is takan for granted as a safe starting point. That
phenomena are not principles, Aristotle believed a^ strongly as we could. But, to
suspect phenomena, to suppose that they njed sifting «nd probing in order that we
may know what the fact is which they denote, this is no part of his system."— Maurice's
Amunt Philosophy, 1850, p. 173. Nothing can be better than the expression that
Aristotle did not siupcct phenomena. The moderns do suspect them, and therefore
test them either by crucial experiments or by averages. The latter resource was
not effectively employed until the eighteenth century. It now bids fair to be of
immense imporUmce, though in some branches of inquiry the nomenclature must
become more precise before the full value of the method can 1)6 seen.
' Tha^ is not logically referrible by the understanding. I say nothing of causes
which touch on transcendental grounds : but, barring these, Mr. Mill's assertion
seems unimpeachable, that " co-existences between the ultimate properties of things "
••.,;. "^annot depend on causation," unless by " ascending to the origin of all things "—
Mills Xh^/c, vol. ii. p. 106. ..
DEFECTS OF THE INDUCTIVE SYSTEM.
48
sophy ; and in the meantime it will explain how it was that even
during Bacon's life, and in his own hands, his method frequently
and signally failed. He evidently believed that as every phe-
nomenon has something which must follow from it, so also it has
something which must go with it, and whiHi he termed its
Form.' If he could generalise the form — that is to say, if he
could obtain the law of the co-existence — he rightly supposed
that he would gain a scientitic knowledge of the phenomenon.
With this view he taxed his fertile invention to the utmost. He
contrived a variety of retined and ingenious artifices, by which
various instances might be successfully compared, and the condi-
tions which are essential distinguished from those which are non-
essential. He collated negatives with affirmatives, and taught
the art of separating nature by rejections and exclusions. Yet, in
regard to the study of co-existences, all his caution, all his know-
ledge, and all his tliought, were useless. His weapons, notwith-
standing their power, could make no impression on that stubborn
and refractory topic. The laws of co-existences are as great a
mystery as ever, and all our conclusions respecting them are
purely empirical. Every inductive science now existing is, in its
strictly scientific part, solely a generalisation of sequences. The
reason of this, though vaguely appreciated by several writers, was
first clearly stated and connected with the general theory of our
knowledge by Mr. Mill. He has the immense merit of striking
at once to the very root of the subject, and showing that, in the
science of logic, there is a fundamental distinction which forbids
us to treat co-existences as we may treat sequences ; that a neglect
of this distinction impairs the value of the philosophy of Bacon,
and has crippled his successors ; and finally, that the origin of
this distinction may be traced backward and upward until we
reach those ultimate laws of causation which support the fabric of
our knowledge, and beyond which the human mind, in the present
stage of its development, is unable to penetrate.
While Mr. Mill, both by delving to the foundation and rising
to the summit, has excluded the Baconian philosophy from the
investigation of co-existences, he has likewise proved its inca-
pacity for solving those vast social problems which now, for the
first time in the history of the world, the most advanced thinkers
' "Etenim forma naturse iilioujus talis est, ut, ea posita, natura data infallibiliter
sequatur. Ifaque adest perpetuo, quando natura ilia adest, afque earn universaliter
afflrmat, atque inest omni. Eadem forma talis est, ut eu amota, natura data infallilii-
liter fugiat. Itaque abest perpetua quando natura ilia abest, eamqiie perpetuo abncgat,
atque iiiost soli."— Novian Organnm, lib. ii. aphur. iv. ; Worku, vol. iv. p. 307. Com-
pare also respecting these forms, his treatise on The Advancement of Learnitig, book ii. ;
Works, vol. i. p. 57, 58, 61, 62.
i-
... :v'
u
MILL ON LIBERTY.
are setting themselves to work at deliberately, with scientific
purpose, and with something like adequate resourceri. As this,
however, pertains to that domain to which I too, according to my
measure and with whatever power I may haply possess, have
devoted myself, I am unwilling to discuss here what elsewhere I
shall find a fitter place for considering ; and I shall be content if
I have conveyed to the reader some idea of what has been effected
by one whom 1 cannot but regard as the most profound thinker
England has produced since ihe seventeenth ce^^tury, and whose
services, chough recognised by innumerable persons each in his
own peculiar walk, are little understood in tl-eir entirety, because
we, owing partly to the constantly increasing mass of our know-
ledge, and partly to an excessive veneration for the principle of
the division of labour, are too prono to isolate our inquiries and
to narrow the range of our intellectual sympathies. The notion
mat a man will best cucceed by adhering to one pursuit, is as
true in practical life as it is ftilse in speculative life. No one can
have a firm grasp of any science if, by confining himseb" to it, he
shuts out the light of analogy, and deprives himself of that pecu-
liar aid which is derived from a commanding survey of the co-
ordination and interdependence of things and of tlie relation they
bear to r <*ch other. He may, no doubt, work at the details of his
subject : he may be useful in adding to its facts ; he will never be
able ^- enlarge its philosophy. P^or, the philosophy of ev^ry de-
partment depends or. its connection with other departments, ai.i
must therefore be sought at their points of contact. It must be
looked for in the place where they touch and coalesce : it lies not
in the centre of each science, but on the confines and margin.
This, however, is a truth which men are apt to reject, because
they are naturally averse to comprehensive labour, and are too
ready to believe that their own peculiar and limited science is so
important that they would not be jut^tified in striking into paths
whicl. diverge from it. Hence we see physical philosophers
knowing nothing of political economy, political econclnicts
nothing of physical science, and logicians nothing of either.
Hence, too, there are few indeed who are capable of meesuring
the enormous field which Mr. Mill has traversed, or of scanning
the depth to which in that field he has sunk Lis shaft.
It is from such a man as this, thr-t a work has racently issued
upon a subject far more important than any which even he had
previously investigated, and in fiict the most important with which
the human mind can grapple. For, Liberty is the one thing most
essential to the right development of individuals and to tlie real
grandeur of nations. It is a product of knowledge when know-
THE VALUE OF LIBERTY.
45
ledge advances in a healthy and regular manner ; but if under
certain unhappy circumstances it is opposed by what seems to be
knowledge, then, in God's name, let knowledge perish and Liberty
be preserved. Liberty is not a means to an end, it is an end itself.
To secure it, to enlarge it, and to diffuse it, should be the main
object of all social arrangements and of all political contrivances.
None but a pedant or a :yrant can put science or literature in
competition with it. Within certain limits, and very small limits
too, it is the inalienable prerogative of man, of which no force of
circumstances and no lapse of time can deprive him. He has no
right tt barter it away even from himself, still less from his
children. It is the foundation of all self-respect, and without it
the great doctrine of moral responsibility would degenerat,e into
a li'e and a juggle. It is a sacred deposit, and the love of it is a
holy instinct engraven in our hearts. And if it cor', be shown
that the teno jncy of advancing knowledge is to encroach upon it ;
if it could be proved that in the march of what we call civiliza-
tion, the desire for liberty did necessarily decline, and the exer-
cise of liberty become less frequent; if this could be made
apparent, I for one should wish that the human race might halt
in its career, and that we might recede step by step, so that the
very trophies and memoiy of our glory should vanish, sooner than
that men were bribed by their splendour to forget the sentiment
of their own personal dignity.
But it cannot be. Surely it cannot be that we, improving in
all other things, should be retrograding in the most essential.
Yet, among thinkers of great depth and authority there is a fear
that such is the case. With that feai I cannot aoree ; but the
e.v'.otence of the fear, and the discussions to which it has led and
will lead, are extremely salutary, as calling our attention to an
evil which in the eagerness of our advance we might otherwise
overlook. We are stepping on at a rate of which no previous
example has been seen ; and it is good that, amid the pride and
flush of our prodperity, we ?liould be made to inquire what price
we liave paid for our success. Let us compute tlie cost as well as
the gain. Before we announce our fortune we should balance our
books. Every one, therefor., should rejoice at the appearance of
a work in which tor the first time the great question of Liberty
is unfolded in all its dimensions, considered on every side and
from every aspect, and brought to bear upon our pre-ent con-
dition with a steadiness of hand and a clearness of purpose whicli
they will most admire who are most accustomed to reflect on this
difficuU and complicated topic.
In the actual state of the world, Mr. Mill rightly considers
!'
II
46
MILL ON LIBERTY.
that the least important part of the question of liberty is that
which concerns the relation between subjects and rulers. On this
point, notwithstanding the momentary ascendancy of despotism
on the Continent, there is, I believe, nothing to dread. In France
and Germany the bodies of men are enslaved, but not their minds.
Nearly all the intellect of Europe is arrayed against tyranny, and
the ultimate result of such a struggle can hardly be doubted. The
immense armies which are maintained, and which some mention
as a proof that the love of war is increasing instead of diminishing,
are merely an evidence that the governing classes distrust and
suspect the future, and know that their real danger is to be found
not abroad but at home. They fear revolution far more than in-
vasion. The state of foreign affairs is their pretence for arming ;
the state of public opinion is the cause. And right glad they are
to find a decent pretext for protecting themselves from that pun-
ishment which many of them richly deserve. But I cannot under-
stand how any one who has carefully studied the march of the
European mind, and has seen it triumph over obstacles ten times
more formidable than these, can really apprehend that the liber-
ties of Europe will ultimately fall before those who now threaten
their existence. When the spirit of freedom was far less strong
and less universal, the task was tried, and tried in vain. It is
hardly to be supposed that the monarchical principle, decrepit as
it now is, and stripped of that dogma of divine right which long
upheld it, can eventually withstand the pressure of those general
causes which, for three centuries, have marked it for destruction.
And, since despotism has chosen the institution of monarchy as
that under which it seeks a shelter, and for which it will fight its
last battle, we may fairly assume that the danger is less imminent
than is commonly imagined, and that they who rely on an old and
enfeebled principle, with which neither the religion nor the affec-
tions of men are associated as of yore, will find that they are
leaning on a broken reed, and that the sceptre of their power will
pass from them.
I cannot, therefore, participate in the feelings of those wlio
look with apprehension at the present condition of Europe. Mi.
Mill would perhaps take a less sanguine view ; but it is observ-
able that the greater part of his defence of liberty is not directed
against political tyranny. There is, however, another sort of
tyranny which is far more insidious, and against which he has
chiefly bent his efforts. This is the despotism of custom, to
which ordinary minds entirely succumb, and before which even
strong minds quail. But custom being merely the product of
public opinion, or rather its external manifestation, the two prin-
AUTHOEITY OF SOCIETY OVEE THE INDIVIDUAL.
47
ciples of custom and opinion must be considered together ; and I
will briefly state how, according to Mr. Mill, their joint action is
producing serious mischief, and is threatening mischief more
serious still.
The proposition which Mr. Mill undertakes to establish, is that
society, whether acting by the legislature or by the influence of
public opinion, has no right to interfere with the conduct of any
individual for the sake of his own good. Society may interfere
with him for their good, not for his. If his actions hurt them,
he is, under certain circumstances, amenable to their authority ;
if they only hurt himself, he is never amenable. The proposition,
thus stated, will be acceded to by many persons who, in practice,
repudiate it every day of their lives. The ridicule which is
cast upon whoever deviates from an established custom, however
trifling and foolish that custom may be, shows the determination
of society to exercise arbitrary sway over individuals. On the
most insignificant as well as on the most important matters, rules
are laid down which no one dares to violate, except in those
extremely rare cases in which great intellect, great wealth, or
great rank enable a man rather to command society than to be
commanded by it. The immense mass of mankind are, in regard
to their usages, in a state of social slavery ; each man being bound
under heavy penalties to conform to the standard of life common
to his own class. How serious those penalties are is evident from
the fact that though innumerable persons complain of prevailing
customs, and wish to shake them otf, they dare not do so, but con-
tinue to practise them, though frequently at the expense of health,
comfort, and fortune. Men, not cowards in other respects, and of
a fair share of moral courage, are afraid to rebel against this
grievous and exacting tyranny. The consequences of this are
injurious, not only to those who desire to be freed from the thral-
dom, but also to those who do not desire to be freed ; that is, to
the whole of society. Of these results, there are two particularly
mischievous, and which, in the opinion of Mr. Mill, are likely
to gain ground, unless some sudden change of sentiment shovM
occur.
The first mischief is, that a sufficient number of experiments
are not made respecting the different ways of living ; from which
it happens that the art of life is not so well understood as it.
otherwise would be. If society were more lenient to eccentricity,
and more inclined to examine what is unusual than to laugh at
it, we should find that many courses of conduct which we ci.>ll
whimsical, and which according to the ordinary standard are ut-
terly irrational, have more reason in them than we are disposer
1!
n
48
MILL ON LIBERTY.
to imagine. But, while a country or an age will obstinately insist
upon condemning all human conduct which is not in accord-
ance with the manner or fashion of the day, deviations from the
straight line will be rarely hazarded. We are, therefore, pre-
vented from knowing how far such deviations would be useful.
By discouraging the experiment, we retard the knowledge. On
this account, if on no other, it is advisable that the widest lati-
tude should be given to unusual actions, which ought to be
valued as tests whereby we may ascertain whether or not parti-
cular things are expedient. Of course, the essentials of morals
are not to be violated, nor the public peace to be disturbed. But
short of this, every indulgence should be granted. For progress
depends upon change ; and it is only by practising uncustomary
things that we can discover if they are fit to become customary.
The other evil which society inflicts on herself by her own
tyranny is still more serious ; and, although I cannot go with Mr.
Mill in considering the danger to be so imminent as he does,
there can, I think, be little doubt that it is the one weak point
in modern civilization ; and that ifc is the only thing of impor-
tance in which, if we are not actually receding, we are making
no perceptible advance.
This is, that most precious and inestimable quality, the quality
^ of individuality. That the increasing authority of society, if not
counteracted by other causes, tends to limit the exercise of this
quality, seems indisputable. Whether or not there are counter-
acting causes is a question of great complexity, and could not be
discussed without entering into the general theory of our exist-
ing civilization. With the most unfeigned deference for every
opinion enunciated by Mr. Mi'l, I venture to differ from him on
this matter, and to think that, on the whole, individuality is not
diminishing, and that so far as we can estimate the future, it is
not likely to diminish. But it would ill become any man to
combat the views of this great thinker, without subjecting the
point at issue to a rigid and careful analysis ; and as I have not
done so, I will not weaken my theory by advancing imperfect ar-
guments in its favour, but will, as before, confine myself to stating
the conclusions at which he has arrived, after what has evidently
been a train of long and anxious reflection.
According to Mr. Mill, things are tending, and have for some
time tended, to lessen the influence of original minds, and to
raise mediocrity to the foremost place. Individuals are lost in
the crowd. The world is ruled not by them, but by public opi-
nion ; and public opinion, being the voice of the many, is the
voice of mediocrity. Aftairs are now governed by average men,
AUTHORITY OF SOCIETY OVER THE INDIVIDUAL.
49
who will not pay to great men tlie deference that was formerly
yielded. Energy and originality being less respected, are becom-
ing more rare; and in England in particular, real energy haa
hardly any field, except in business, where a large amount of it
undoubtedly exists.' Our greatness is collective, and depends not
upon what we do as individuals, but upon our power of combin-
ing. In every successive generation, men more resemble each
other in all respects. They are more alike in their civil and poli-
tical privileges, in their habits, in their tastes, in their manners,
in their dress, in what they see, in what they do, in what they
read, in what they think, and in what they say. On all sides the
process of assimilation is going on. Shades of character are
being blended, and contrasts of will are being reconciled. As a
natural consequence, the individual life, that is, the life which
distinguishes each man from his fellows, is perishing. The con-
solidation of the many destroys the action of the few. While we
amalgamate the mass, we absorb the unit.
The authority of society is, in this way, ruining society itself.
For the human faculties can, for the most part, only be exercised
and disciplined by the act of choosing ; but he who does a thing
merely because others do it, makes no choice at all. Constantly
copying the manners and opinions of our contemporaries, we
strike out nothing that is new : we follow on in a dull and mono-
tonous uniformity* We go where others lead. The field of
option is being straitened ; the number of alternatives is dimi-
nishing. And the result is, a sensible decay of that vigour and
raciness of character, that diversity and fulness of life, and that
audacity both of conception and of execution which marked the
strong men of former times, and enabled them at once to improve
and to guide the human species.
Now all this is gone, perhaps never to return, unless some
great convulsion should previously occur. Originality is dying
away, and is being replaced by a spirit of servile and apish imi-
tation. We are degenerating into machines who do the will of
B( ciety ; our impulses and desires are repressed by a galling and
artificial code ; our minds are dwarfed and stunted by the checks
and limitations to which we are perpetually subjected.
How, then, is it possible to discover new truths of real im-
portance ? How is it possible that creative thought can flourish
in so sickly and tainted an atmosphere ? Genius is a form of
' " There is now scarcely any outlet for energy in this country except business.
The energy expended in that may still be regarded as considerable.'— Mill On Libert i/,
p. 125, I suppose ihiLt, under the word busiuesH. Mr. Mill includes political and the
higher class of official pursuits.
'<• 111
60
MILL ON LIBERTY.
la
originality ; if the originality is discouraged, how can the genius
remain? It is hard to see the remedy for this crying evil.
Society is growing so strong as to destroy individuality ; that is, to
destroy the very quality to which our civilization, and therefore
our social fabric, is primarily owing.
The truth is, that we must vindicate the right o^ each man to
do what he likes, and to say what he thinks, to an extent much
greater than is^ usually supposed to be either safe or decent. This
we must do for the sake of society, quite as much as for our own
sake. That society would be benefited by a greater freedom of
action has been already shown ; and the same thing may be
proved concerning freedom of speech and of writing. In this
respect authors, and the teacliers of mankind generally, are far
too timid ; while the state of public opinion is far too interfering.
The remarks which Mr. Mill has made on this, are so exhaustive
as to be unanswerable ; and though many will call in question
what he has said respecting the decline of individuality, no well-
instructed person will dispute the accuracy of his conclusions
respecting the need of an increased liberty of discussion and of
publication.
In the present state of knowledge the majority of people are so
ill-informed as not to be aware of the true nature of belief; they
are not aware that all belief is involuntary, and is entirely
governed by the circumstances which produce it. They who have
paid attention to these subjects, know that what we call the will
has no power over belief, and that consequently a man is nowise
responsible for his creed, except in so far as he is responsible for
the events which gave him his creed. Whether, for instance, he
is a Mohammedan or a Christian, will usually resolve itself into a
simple question of his geographical antecedents. He who is born
in Constantinople will hold one set of opinions ; he who is born
in London will hold another set. Both act according to their
light and their circumstances, and if both are sincere both are
guiltless. In each case, the believer is controlled by physical
facts which determine his creed, and over which he can no more
exercise authority than he can exercise authority over the move-
ments of the planets or the rotation of the earth. This view,
though long familiar to thinkers, can hardly be said to have been
popularised before the present century ; ' and to its diffusion, as
well as to other larger and more potent causes, we must ascribe
the increasing spirit of toleration to which not only our literature
but even our statute-book bears witness.
' Its diffusion was greatly helped by Bailey's Efsnys on the Formation of Opinions,
which wore first published, I believe, in 1J21, and being popularly written, as wellas
suitable to the age, have exercised considerable influence.
NEED OF INCEEASED LIBERTY OF DISCUSSION.
51
But, though belief is involuntary, it will be objected, with a
certain degree of plausibility, that the expression 'of that belief,
and particularly the formal and written publication, is a volun-
tary act, and consequently a responsible one. If I were arguing
the question exhaustively, I should at the outset demur to thi's
proposition, and should require it to be stated in more cautious
and limited terras; but, to save time, let us suppose it to be
true, and let us inquire whether, if a man be responsible to him-
self for the publication of his opinions, it is right that he should
also be held resjwnsible by those to whom he offers them ? In
other words, is it proper tliat law or public opinion should dis-
courage an individual from publishing sentiments which are
hostile to the prevailing notions, and are considered by the rest
of society to be false and mischievous ?
Upon this point, the arguments of Mr. Mill are so full and
decisive that I despair of adding anything to them. It will be
enough if I give a summary of the principal ones ; for it would
be strange, indeed, if before many months are past, this noble
treatise, so full of wisdom and of thought, is not in the hands of
every one who cares for the future welfare of humanity, and
whose ideas rise above the immediate interests of his own time.
Those who hold that an individual ought to be discouraged
irom publishing a work containing heretical or irreligious opi-
nions, must, of course, assume that such opinions are false ; since,
in the present day, hardly any man would be so impudent as to
propose that a true opinion should be stifled because it was un-
usual as well as true. We are all agreed that truth is good ; or,
at all events, those who are not agreed must be treated as persons
beyond the pale of reason, and on whose obtuse understandings
It would be idle to waste an argument. He who says that truth
IS not always to be told, and that if is not fit for all minds, is
simply a defender of falsehood ; and we should t^ike no notice of
him, inasmuch as the object of discussion being to destroy error,
we cannot discuss with a man who deliberately affirms that error
should be spared.
We take, therefore, for granted that those who seek to prevent
any opinion being laid before the world, do so for the sake of
truth, and with a view to prevent the unwary from being led into
error. The intention is good ; it remains for us to inquire how it
operates.
Now, in the first place, we can never be sure that the opinion
of the majority is true. Nearly every opinion held by the ma-
jority was once confined to the minority. Every cRtablished
religion was once a heresy. If the opinions of the majority had
u 2
Ml
52
MILL ON LIBERTY.
always prevailed, Christianity would have been extirpated as soon
as Christ was murdered. If an age or a people assume that any
no' ion they entertain is certainly right, they assume their own
infallibility, and arrogantly claim for themselves a prerogative
which even the wisest of mankind never possess. To aflBrm that
a doctrine is unquestionably revealed from above, is equally to
aiBrm their own infallibility, since they affirm that they cannot
be mistaken in believing it to be revealed. A man who is sure
that his creed is true, is sure of his own infallibility, because he
is sure that upon that point he has committed no error. Unless,
therefore, we are prepared to claim, on our own behalf, an immu-
nity from error, and an incapability of being mistaken, which
transcend the limits of the human mind, we are bound not only
to permit our opinions to be disputed, but to be grateful to those
who will do so. For, as no one who is not absurdly and im-
modestly confident of his own powers, can be sure that what he
believes to be true is true, it will be his object, if he be an honest
man, to rectify the errors he may have committed. But it is a
matter of history that errors have only been rectified by two
means ; namely, by experience and discussion. The use of dis-
cussion is to show how experience is to be intei-preted. Expe-
rience alone has never improved either mankind or individuals.
Experience, before it can be available, must be sifted and tested.
This is done by discussion, which brings out the meaning of ex-
perience, and enables us to apply the observations that have been
made, and turn them to account. Human judgment owes its
value solely to the fact that when it is wrong it is possible to
set it right. Inasmuch, however, as it can only be set right by
the conflict and collision of hostile opinions, it is clear that
when those opinions are smothered, and when that conflict is
stopped, the means of correcting our judgment are gone, and
hence the value of our judgment is destroyed. The more there-
fore that the majority discourage the opinions of the minority,
the smaller is the chance of the majority holding accurate views.
But if, instead of discouraging the opinions, they should suppress
them, even that small chance is taken away, and society can have
no option but to go on from bad to worse, its blunders becoming
more inveterate and moij mischievous, in proportion as that
liberty of discussion which might have rectified them has been
the longer withheld.
Here we, as the advocates of liberty, might fairly close the
argument, leaving our opponents in the dilemma of either assert-
ing their own infallibility, or else of abandoning the idea of in-
terfering with freedom of discussion. So complete, however, is
BENEFITS DERIVED FROM FREE DISCUSSION.
m
18
oixr case, that we can actually afford to dispense with what has
been just stated, and support our views on other and totally dif-
ferent grounds. We will concede to those who favour restriction
all the premises that they require. We will concede to them the
strongest position that they can imagine, and we will take for
granted that a nation has the means of knowing with absolute
certainty that some of its opinions are right. We say then, and
we will pro^'^e that, assuming those opinions to be true, it is ad-
visable that they should be combated, and that their truth shouk'
be denied. That an opinion which is held by an immense majority,
and which is moreover completely and unqualifiedly true, ought
to be contested, and that those who contest it do a public service,
appears at first sight to be an untenable paradox. A paradox
indeed it is, if by a paradox we mean an assertion not generally
admitted ; but, so far from being untenable, it is a sound and
wholesome doctrine, which if it were adopted, would to an extra-
ordinary extent facilitate the progress of society.
Supposing any well-established opinion to be certainly true, the
result of its not being vigorously attacked is, that it becomes
more passive and inert than it would otherwise be. This, as Mr.
Mill observes, has been exemplified in the history oi (Hhristianity.
In the early Church, while Christianity was struggling against
innumerable opponents, it displayed a life and an energy which
diminished in proportion as the opposition was withdrawn. When
an enemy is at the gate the garrison is alert. If the enemy re-
tires the alertness slackens; and if he disappears altogether,
nothing remains but the mere forms and duty of discipline, which,
unenlivened by danger, grow torpid and mechanical. This is a
law of the human mind, and is of universal application. Every
religion after being established loses much of its vitality. Its
doctrines being less questioned, it naturally happens that those who
hold them scrutinise them less closely, and therefore grasp them
less firmly. Their wits being no longer sharpened by controversy,
wliat was formerly a living truth dwindles into a dead dogma.
The excitement of the battle being over, the weapons are laid
aside ; they fall into disuse ; they grow rusty ; the skill and fire of
the warrior are gone. It is amid the roar of the cannon, the
Hash of the bayonet, and the clang of the trumpet, that the forms
of men dilate ; they swell with emotion ; their bulk increases ;
their stature rises, and even small natures wax into great ones,
able to do all and to dare all.
So indeed it is. On any subject universal acquiescence always
engenders universal apathy* By a parity of reasoning, the greater
the acquiescence the greater the apathy. All hail therefore to
ii ^1^
I
h.
54
MILL ON MUKRTY.
\m
IP
those who, hy iittm-kinfj: h tmih, prov.Mit, ilmt ivntU from KltunlnM--
mJ,^ All hiiil to thoHo hold and tViiiIcss uutiiiVH, tho horeticn and
iui.ovid,..H of tht.ir day, who, rnnsino- ,„,.„ ...it c.f thoir la/,y Hli-ei),
Hound Ml th...r eaiH tho (..csin and (ho (.lun„n, and f,.ivt. ihom t.»
.•oim» forth that, they may do l>atfl,. f„r tl.oir crcrd. Of all „vih
t.n-por IS tho most, deadly. (Jivo ns paradox, j,nvo m error, aivJ
us what, you will, so that, you savo us from staj-nat ion. It is th.^
i'(.hl spirit of routiu.« which is tlu> ninhtsha(h« of „ur nature. It
Hits upon won likoa hlij^ht, l.luntin- thoir faouK ios, withorintc
tiieir powors, and nmkin- thorn both unahlo a„d .uuvillinj; oithor
to struo-N. f..r tho truth, or to li^^nu-o to th.«uisolvos what it'^is that
th«>y roally holiovo.
So»> how this has a('t(>d in n-ard to tho dootrin<'s of tho Now
h>stamont. Whon thoso d..otrinos woro tiist pr<.pound,.il, thov
woro vi<joronsly assailoil, and th(>rofort> tho early Christians olun^
to thoin, roalisod th.>in, and lu.uud thorn up in th.'ir hoarts to a'u
rxtont unparallfiod ii, any sidist-cpiont ai-o. Kvory (nu-istian pro-
tossos to l.olii>vo that it is jjood to bo ill-usod and Imffoti'd ; that
woalth IS an ovil, hocauso rioh in(>n cannot ontor tho kinndom of
hcavon; that if your cloak is tak(Mi, you must }>ivo your coat
also; that if viMi aro smiltou on your chook, yon should turn
round and oif,.r tho other. Th.«so, and similar doctrlnos, tho oarV
Christians not only professed, but act.-d up to and followed. The
8umo doctrint>8 aro contained in onr Hiblos, road in our church.s,
and pr(.ached in onr pulpits. AVho is there that obeys thorn V And
what reason is thoiv for this univvrsal dt^foction. k^yond tho fact
that when fhristianity was constant ly assiiiled, th(.se who received
Its tenets held them with a tenacity, ami saw them with a vivid-
ness which cannot ho oxpecteel in an aoo that wuictions them by
general ao.,ui,-seence? Now, indeed, they aro not only acpiiesccHl
m, they are alsi» watched over and sedulously protected. They
are protected by law, and by that public opinic.n which is iuHuitelv
more powertul than any law. ]{(>nco it is, that to them, won yield
a cold and lifeless assent ; they hear them and they talk alnnit them,
but whoever was to obt^y th.>m with that scrupulous iidelity which
was tormerly prai-tistHl, would Knd to his c> ..t hew much he had
mistaken his aoe, and how oroat is the ditlerence, in vitality and
m practical etlect, betwotni doctrines which are gouerally received
and those which are fearlessly discussed.
in proportion as kuowlodoe has advanced, and habits of correct
tlunkmo- been diHiisod, men have o-raduallv approached towards
these views of liberty, though Mv. Mill has been the tirst to brin-.-
them together in a thoroughly comprehondve spirit, and to con-
cennato in a ^iugle treatise all the arguments in their behalf.
THE REIQN OF OPEN PKRSECUTION AT AN END.
55
How c'vcrythin}!; has lont; tendod to tliis rt-sult must be known to
whoever hiiH studied the history of the Knj;lish mind. Wliatever
may be the case respeetinfj; the alleged decline of individuality,
and th(! inereasinj^ tyranny of cmstom, there can, at all events, be
no (loul)t tliat, in reli|j[io»is matt(!rH, jmblic opinion is constantly
becominj;- more lilnual. The lejral penalties which our ignorant
and intolerant ancestors inflicted upon whoever differed from them-
selves, are now some of them repealed, and some of Wwm obsolete.
Not only hav(! we ceascid to murd<'r or torture those who disagree
with us, bat, strang(! to say, we have even recognised their claim
to political rights as well as to civil eciuality. The admission of
the Jews into Parliament, that jusL and righteous measure, which
was carriiid in the teeth of the most cherished and inveterate
prejudice, is a striking proof of the force of tlie general move-
ment ; as also is the rapidly increasing disposition to abolish oaths
and to do away in public life with every species of religious tests.
Partly as cause, and ])artly as effect of all this, there never was a
p(;riod in which so many bold and able attacks were made upon
the ])r(!vaiiing theology, and in which so irany heretical doctrines
were propounded, not only by laymen, but occasionally by minis-
ters of the church, some of the most eminent of whom have,
during the })iesent generation, come forward to denounce the
orrors in their own systt^m, and to point out the flaws in their
own creed. The unorthodox character of physical science is
oqually notorious ; and many of its professors do not scruple to
impeach tlie truth of statements which are still held to be essen-
tial, and which, in other days, no one could liave impugned with-
out exj)oHing himself to serious danger. In former times, such
men would have been silenced or punislied ; now, they are re-
spected and valued ; their works are eagerly read, and the circle
of their influence is steadily widening. According to the letter
of our law-books, these, and similar publications, which fearless
and iuiiuisitive men are pouring into the public ear, are illegal,
and (fovernraent has the power of prosecuting their authors. The
state of opinion, however, is so improved, that such prosecutions
would be fatal to any Grovernraent which instigated them. We
have, therefore, every reason to congratulate ourselves on having
outlived the reign of open persecution. We may fairly suppose
that the cruelties which our forefathers committed in the name
of religion, could not now be perpetrated, and that it would be
impossible to punish a man merely because he expressed notions
which the majority considered to be profane and mischievous.
Under these circumstances, and seeing that the practice of
prosecuting meu for uttering their sentiments on religious
^
56
JdlLL ON LIBERTY.
11'
matters has been for many years discontinued, an attempt to
revive that shameful custom would, if it were generally known,
be at once scouted. It would be deemed unnatural as well as
cruel: out of the ordinary course, and wholly unsuitod to the
mmane aud liberal notions of an age which seeks to relax penal-
ties rather than to multiply them. As to the man who miH.t be
naad enough to make the attempt, we should look upon jim in
the hght in which we should regard some noxious animal, wliich,
being suddenly let loose, went about working harm, and undoing
all the good that had been previously done. We should hold him
to be a nuisance which it was our duty either to abate, or to warn
people of. To us, he would be a sort of public en-^my ; a dis-
turber of human happiness ; a creature hostile to the human
species. If he possessed authority, we should loathe him the
more, as one who, instead of employing for the benefit of his
country the power with which his country had entrusted him,
used It to gratify his own malignant prejudices, or maybe to
humour the spleen of some wretched and intolerant taction with
which he was connected.
Inasmuch, therefore, as, in the present state of English society,
any punishment inflicted for the use of language which did not
tend to break the public peace, and which was neither seditious
in reference to the State, nor libellous in reference to individuals,
would be simply a wanton cruelty, alien to the genius of our
time, and capable of producing no effect beyond reviving intole-
rance, exasperating the friends of liberty, and bringing the adm-
nistration of justice into disrepute, it was with the greatest
astonishment that I read in Mr. Mill's work that such a thin?
had occurred in this country, and at one of our assizes, less thaa
two years ago. Notmthsta.ding my knowledge of Mr. Mill's
accuracy, I thought that, in this instance, he must have been mis-
f"":. ! 'I'PP"'^'^ ^^^^ ^'^ ^^^ ^°* ^^^'^ ^11 the circumstances,
and that the person punished had been guilty of some other
offence. I could not believe that in the year 1857, there was a
judge on the English bench who would sentence a poor man of
irreproachable character, of industrious habits, and supporting
his family by the sweat of his brow, to twenty-one mon'hs' im-
prisonment, merely because he had uttered and written on a -ate
a few words respecting Christianity. Even t>ow, when I have
carefully investigated the facts to which Mr. Uid only ^lludes
and have the documents before me, I can haroi, h.^u-.' myself to'
realise the events which have actually occurre .1, and which I will
relate, in order that public opinion may take cognisance of a
transaction which happened in a remote part of the kingdom, but
THE CASE OF THOMAfa POOLEY.
67
which the general welfare requires to be bruited abroad, so that
men may determine whether or not such things shall be allowed
In the summer of 1857, a poor man, lamed Thomas Pooley,
was gainmg his livelihood as a common labourer in Liskeard, in
Cornwall, where he had been well known for several years, and
had always borne a high character for honesty, industry, and
sobriety. His habits were so eccentric, that his mind was justly
reputed to be disordered; and an accident which happened to
him about two years before this period had evidently inflicted
some serious injury, as since thea hia demeanour had become
more strange and excitable. StiM, hn was not only perfectly
harmless, but was a very ui^eful mei.^ber of society, respected by
his neighbours, and loved ).^ i.is family, for whom he toiled with
a zeal rare in his class, or indeed in any class. Among other
hallucinations, he believed that the earth was a living animal,
and, in his ordinary employment of well-sinking, he avoided dig-
ging too deeply, lest he should penetrate the skin of the earth,
and wound some vital part. He also imagined that if he hurt the
earth, the tides would cease to flow; and that nothing being
really mortal, whenever a child died it reappeared at the next
birth in the same family. Holding all nature to be animated, he
moreover fancied that this was in some way connected with the
potato-rot, and, in the wildness of his vagaries, he did not hesi-
tate to say that if the ashes of burnt Bibles were strewed over the
fields, the rot would cease. This was associated, in his mind, with
a foohsh dislike of the Bible itself, and an hostility against Chris-
tianity ; in reference, however, to which he could hurt no one, as
not only was he very ignorant, but his neighbours, regarding him
as crackbrained, were uninfluenced by him ; though in the other
relations of life he was valued and respected by his employers,
and indeed by all who were most acquainted with his disposition.
IJus snr-nilar man, who was known by the additional pecu-
liarity ot wejimj. a long berrd. wrote upon a gate a few very silly
words e-prem e ot his opinion respecting the potato-rot and the
Bible, and also of his hatred of Christianity. For this, as well as
for using language equally absurd, but which no one was oblio-ed
to listen to, and which certainly could influence no one, a clergy-
man m the neiglibourhood lodged an information against him,
and caused him to be summoned before a magistrate, who was
likewise a clergyman. The magistrate, instead of pitying him or
remonstrating with him, committed him for trial and sent him to
jail. At the next assizes, he was brought before the judge. He
had no counsel to defend him, but the son of the judge acted as
counsel to prosecute him. The father and the son performed their
I m
!f '=*■ f':n
58
MILL ON LIBERTY.
parts with zeal, and were perfectly successful. Under their aus-
pices, Pooley was found guilty. He was b'-ought up for judg-
ment. A\'hen addressed by the judge, his restless manner, his
wild ai.H incoherent speech, his disordered countenanco a^d
glaring eye. betokened too surely the disease of his mind. But
neither this, nor the fact that he was ignorant, poor, ruid frie-ad-
less, produced any effect upon that stony-hearted man who now
held him in his gripe. He was sentenced to be imprisoned for a
year and nine months. The interests of religion were vindicated.
Christianity was protected, and her triumph assured, by dragginj^
a poor, harmless, and demented creature from the bosom of liis
family, throwing him into jail, and leaving his wife and children
without provision, either to starve or to beg.
Before he had been many days in prison, the insanity which
was obvious at the time of his trial ceased to lurk, and broke out
into acts of violence. He grew worse ; and within a fortnight
after the sentence had been pronounced he went mad, and it was
found necessary to remove him from the jail to the County
Lunatic Asylmn. While he was lying there, his misfortunes
attracted the attention of a few high-minded and benevolent
men, who exerted themselves to procure his pardon ; so that, if
he recovered, he might be restored to his family. This petition
was refused. It was necessary to support the judge; and the
petitioners were informed that if tlie miserable lunatic should
regain his reason, he would be sent back to prison to undergo the
rest of his sentence. This, in all probability, would have caused
a relapse ; but little was thought of that ; and it was hoped that,
as he was an obscure and humble man, the efforts made on his
behalf would soon subside. Those, however, who had once in-
terested themselves in such a case, were not likely to slacken
their zeal. The cry grew hotter, and preparations were made for
bringing the whole question before the country. Then it was that
the authorities gave way. Happily for mankind, one vice is often
balanced by another, and cruelty is corrected by cowardice. Tlie
authors and abettors of this prodigious iniquity trembled at the
risk they would run if the public feeling of this great country
were roused. The result was, that the proceedings of the judge
were rescinded, as far as possible, by a pardon being granted to
Pooley less than five montlis after the sentence was pronounced.
By this means, general exposure was avoided ; and, perhaps,
that handful of noble-minded men who obtained tlie liberation
of Pcoley, were right in letting the matter fall into oblivion
after they had carried their point. Most of them were engaged
in political or other practical affairs, and they were, therefore,
THE CASE OF THOMAS POOLEY.
59
obliged to consider expediency as well as justice. But such is
not the case with the historian of this sad event. No writer on
important subjects has reason to expect tliat he can work real
good, or that his words shall live, if he allows himself to be so
trammelled by expediency as to postpone to it considerations of
riglit, of justice, and of truth. A great crime has been com-
mitted, and the names of the criminals ought to be known. They
should be in every one's mouth. They should be blazoned abroad,
in order that the world may see that in a free country such things
cannot be done with impunity. To discourage i repetition of tlie
offence the offenders must be punished. And, surely, no punish-
ment can be more severe than to preserve their names. Against
them personally, I have nothing to object, for I have no know-
ledge of them. Individually, I c,;n feel no animosity towards men
who have done me no harm, and whom I have never seen. But
they have violated principles dearer to me than any personal
feeling, and in vindication of which I would set all personal
feeling at nought. Fortunate, indeed, it is for humanity, that
our minds are constructed after such a fashion as to make it im-
possible for us, by any effort of abstract reasoning, to consider
oppression apart from the oppressor. We may abhor a specula-
tive principle, and yet respect him who advocates it. This dis-
tinction between the opinion and the person is, however, confined
to the intellectual world, and does not extend to the practical.
Such a separation cannot exist in regard to actual deeds of cruelty.
In such cases, our passions instruct our understanding. The same
cause which excites our sympathy for the oppressed, stirs up our
hatred of the oppressor. This is an instinct of our nature, and
he who struggles against it does so to his own detriment. It
belongs to the higher region of tlie mind ; it is not to be im-
peached by argument ; it cannot even be touched by it. There-
fore it is, tliat when we hear that a poor, a defenceless, and a
half-witted man, who had hurt no one, a kind father, an affec-
tionate husband, whose private character was unblemished, and
whose integrity was beyond dispute, is suddenly thrown into
prison, his family left to subsist on the precarious charity of
sti-iingers, he himself by this cruel treatment deprived of th(,
little reason he possessed, then turned into a madhouse, and
finally refused such scanty redress as might have been afforded
him, a spirit of vehement indignation is excited, partly, indeed,
against a system under which such things can be done ; but still
more nguingt those who, in the pride of their power and wicked-
ness of their hearts, put laws into execution which had long fallen
into disuse, and which they were not bound to enforce, but of
•\ i
i :«i
60
MILL ON LIBERTY.
which they availed themselves to crush the victim they held in
their grasp.
The prosecutor, who lodged the information against Pooley,
and had him brought before the magistrate, was the Eev. Paul
Bush. The magistrate, who received the information, and com-
mitted him for trial, was the Rev. James Glencross. The judge
who passed the sentence which destroyed his reason and beggared
his family, was Mr. Justice Coleridge.
Of the two first, little need be said. It is to be hoped tiiat
their names will live, and that they will enjoy that sort of fame
which they have amply earned. Perhaps, after all, we should
rather blame the state of society which concedes power to such
men, than wonder tliat having the power they should abuse it.
But with Mr. Justice Coleridge we have a different acf^ount to
settle, and to him other language must be applied. That our
judges should have great authority is unavoidable. To them, a
wide and discretionary latitude is necessarily entrusted. Great
confidence being reposed in them, they are bound, by every pos-
t:ible principle which can actuate an honest man, to respect that
confidence. They are bound to avoid not only injustice, but, so
far as they can, the very appearance of injustice. Seeing, as they
do, all classes of society, they are well aware that, among the
lower ranks, there is a deep, though on the whole a diminishing
belief that the poor are ill-treated by the rich, and that even in
the courts of law equal measure is not always meted out to both.
An opinion of this sort is full of danger, and it is the more
dangerous because it is not unfounded. The country magistrates
are too often unfair in their decisions, and this will always be the
case until greater publicity is given to their proceedings. But,
from our superior judges we expect another sort of conduct. We
expect, and it must honestly be said we usually find, that they
ishall be alwve petty prejudices, or at all events, that whatever
private opinions they may have, they shall not intrude those opi-
nions into the sanctuary of justice. Above all do we expect, that
they shall not ferret out some obsolete law for the purpose of
oppressing the poor, when tliey know riglit well that the anti-
Christian sentiments which that law was intended to punish are
<iuite as common among the upper classes as among the lower,
and are participated in by many persons who enjoy the confidence
of the country, and to whom the higliest offices are entrusted.
That this is the case was known in the year 1857 to Mr. Justice
Coleridge, just as it was tlien known, and is now known, to every
one who mixes in the world. The charge, therefore, which I bring
against tliis unjust and unrighteous judge is, that he passed a
STRICTURES ON THE CONDUCT OF JUSTICE COLERIDGE. 61
sentence of extreme severity upon a poor and friendless man in a
remote part of the kingdom, where he might reasonably expect
that his sentence would escape public animadversion; that he
did this by virtue of a law which had fallen into disuse, and was
contrary to the spirit of the age ; ' and that he would not hav(5
dared to commit such an act, in the face of a London audience,
and in the full light of the London press. Neither would he,
nor those who supported him, have treated in such a manner a
person belonging to the upper classes. No. They select the
most inaccessible coimty in England, where the press is least
active and the people are most illiterate, and there they pounce
upon a defenceless man and make him the scapegoat. He is to
be- the victim whose vicarious sutferings may atone for the oifences
of more powerful imbelievers. Hardly a year goes by without
some writer of influence and ability attacking Christianity, and
every such attack is punishable by law. Why did not Mr. Justice
Coleridge, and those who think like him, put the law into force
against those writers ? Why do they not do it now ? Why do
they not have the learned and the eminent indicted and thrown
into prison ? Simply because they dare not. I defy them to it.
They are afraid of the odium ; they tremble at the hostility they
would incur, and at the scorn which would be heaped upon them,
both by their contemporaries and by posterity. Happily for
mankind, litei-ature is a real power, and tyranny quakes at it.
But to me it appears, that men of letters perform the least pai-t
of their duty when they defend each other. It is their proper
function, and it ought to be their glory, to defend the weak
against the strong, and to uphold the poor against the rich. This
should be their pride and their honour. I would it were known
in every cottage, that the intellectual classes sympathise, not with
tlie upper ranks but with the lower. I would that we made the
freedom of the people our first consideration. Then, indeed, would
literature be the religion of liberty, and we, priests of the altar,
ministering her sacred rites, might feel that we act in the purest
spirit of our creed when we denounce tyranny in high places, when
we chastise the insolence of office, and when we vindicate the
cause of Thomas Pooley against Justice Coleridge.
For my part, I can honestly say that I have nothing exaggerated,
nor set down aught in malice. What the verdict of public opinion
may be I cannot tell. I speak merely as a man of letters, and do
' Or rather by virtue of tlio cruel and persecuting maxims of our old Common Law,
established at a period wlun it. wiis a m.Httor of relision to burn heret'cs and to drowu
witches. Why did not such a judge live three hundred years ago? lie has fallou
upon evil times and has come too late into tlie world.
'. M
.♦ljf!s
62
MILL ON LIBEKTY.
not pretend to represent any class. I have no interest to advo-
cate ; I hold no brief; I carry no man's proxy. But unless I
altogether mistake the general feeling, it will be r-onsidered that
a great crime has been committed ; that a knowledge of that
crime has been too long hidden in a corner ; and that I have
done something towards dragging the criminal from his covert,
and letting in on him the full light of day.
This gross iniquity is, no doubt, to be immediately ascribed to
the cold heart and shallow imderstanding of the judge by whom
it was perpetrated. If, however, public opinion had been suf-
ficiently enlightened, those evil qualities would have been re-
strained and rendered unable to work the miscliief. Therefore it
is, that the safest and most permanent remedy would be to diffuse
sound notions respecting the liberty of speecli and of publication.
It should be clearly understood that every man has an absolute
and irrefragable right to treat any doctrine as he thinks proper ;
either to argue against it, or to ridicule it. If his arguments are
wrong, he can be refuted ; if his ridicule is foolish, he can be
out-ridiculed. To this there can be no exception. It matters
not what the tenet may be, nor how dear it is to our feelings.
Like all other opinions, it must take its chance; it must be
roughly used ; it must stand every test ; it must be thoroughly
discussed and sifted. And we may rest assured that if it really
be a great and valuable truth, such opposition will endear it to
us the more ; and that we shall cling to it the closer in proportion
as it is argued against, aspersed, and attempted to be overthrown.
If I were asked for an instance of the extreme latitude to which
such licence might be extended, I would take what, in my judg-
ment, at least, is the most important of all doctrines, the doctrine
of a future state. Strictly speaking, there is, in the present early
condition of the human mind, no subject on which we can arrive
at complete certainty ; but the belief in a future state approaches
that certainty nearer than any other belief, and it is one which,
if eradicated, would drive most of vis to despair. On both these
grounds it stands alone. It is fortified by arguments far stronger
than can be adduced in support of any other opinion ; and it is
a supreme consolation to those who suffer affliction, or smart
under a sense of injustice. The attempts made to impugn it
have always seemed to me to be very weak, and to leave tlie real
difficulties untouched. They are negative arguments directed
against affirmative ones. But if, in transcendental inquiries,
negative arguments are to satisfy us, how shall we escape from
the reasonings of Berkeley respecting the non-existencf (^f tlie
material world ? Those reasonings have never been answered,
NATUKAL TENDENCY OF CREEDS TO DECAY.
62
and our knowledge must be infinitely more advanced than it now
is, before they can be answered. They are far stronger than the
arguments of the atheists ; and I cannot but wonder that they
who reject a future state, should believe in the reality of the
material world. Still, those who do reject it, are not only justified
in openly denying it, but are bound to do so. Our first and
paramount duty is to be true to ourselves ; and no man is true
to himself who fears to express his opinion. There is hardly any
vice which so debases us in our own esteem, as moral cowardice.
There is hardly any virtue which so elevates our character, as
moral courage. Therefore it is that the more unpopular a
notion, the greater the merit of him who advocates it, provided,
of course, he does so in honesty and singleness of heart. On this
account, although I regard the expectation of another life as the
prop and mainstay of mankind, and although I cannot help
thinking that they who reject it have taken an imperfect and
uncomprehensive view, and have not covered the whole field of
inquiry, I do strenuously maintain, that against it every species
of attack is legitimate, and I feel assured that the more it is
assailed the more it will flourish, and the more vividly we shall
realise its meaning, its depth, and its necessity.
That many of the common arguments in favour of this great
doctrine are unsound might be easily shown; but until the
entire subject is freely discussed, we shall never know how far
they are unsound, and what part of them ought to be retained.
If, for instance, we make our belief in it depend upon assertions
contained in books regarded as sacred, it will follow that when-
ever those books lose their influence the doctrine will be in peril.
The basis being impaired the superstructure will tremble. It
may well be, that in the march of ages, every definite and written
creed now existing is destined to die out, and to be succeeded by
better ones. The world has seen the beginning of them, and we
have no surety that it will not see the end of them. Everything
which is essential to the human mind must survive all the shocks
and vicissitudes of time ; but dogmas, which the mind once did
without, cannot be essential to it. Perhaps we have no right so
to anticipate the judgment of our remotest posterity as to affirm
that any opinion is essential to all possible forms of civilization ;
but, at all events, we have more reason to believe this of the
doctrine of a future state than of any other conceivable idea.
Let us then beware of endangering its stability by narrowing its
toundation. Let us take heed how we rest it on the testimony of
inspired writings, when we know that inspiration at one epoch is
often different from inspiration at another. If Christianity
^i
i *
If
f hi ' -ni
.' «
64
MILL ON LIBERTY.
■ I
should ever perish, the age that loses it will have reason to
deplore the blindness of those who teach mankind to defend this
glorious and consolatory tenet, not by gene 'al considerations of
the fundamental properties of our Common nature, but by tradi-
tions, assertions, and records, which do not bear the stamp of
universality, since in one state of society they are held to be true,
and in another state of society they are held to be false.
Of the same fluctuating and precarious character is the argu-
ment drawn from the triumph of injustice in this world, and the
consequent necessity of such unfairness being remedied in another
life. For it admits of historical proof that, as civilization
advances, the impunity and rewards of wickedness diminish.
In a barbarous state of society virtue is invariably trampled upon,
and nothing really succeeds except violence or fraud. In that
stage of affairs, the worst criminals are the most prosperous men.
But, in every succeeding step of the great progress, injustice
becomes more hazardous ; force and rapine grow more imsafe ;
precautions multiply ; the supervision is keener ; tyranny and
deceit are oftener detected. Being oftener detected, it is less
profitable to practise them. In the same proportion, the rewards
of integrity increase, and the prospects of virtue brighten. A
large part of the power, the honour, and the fame formerly
possessed by evil men is transferred to good men. Acts of in-
justice which at an earlier period would have escaped attention,
or, if known, would have excited no odium, are now chastised,
not only by law, but also by public opinion. Indeed, so marked
is this tendency, that many persons by a singular confusion of
thought, actually persuade themselves that offences are increasing
because we hear more of them, and punish them oftener ; not
seeing that this merely proves that we note them more and hate
them more. We redouble our efforts against injustice, not on
account of the spread of injustice, but on account of our better
understanding how to meet it, and being more determined to
coerce it. No other age has ever cried out against it so loudly ;
and yet, strange to say, this very proof of our superiority to all
other ages is cited as evidence of our inferiority. Thie I shall
return to elsewhere ; my present object in mentioning it, is partly
to clieck a prevailing error, but chiefly to indicate its connection
with the subject before us. Nothing is more certain than that,
as society advances, the weak are better protected against the
strong; the honest against the dishonest; and the just against
the unjust. If, then, we adopt the popular argument in favour
of anotlier life, that injustice here must be compensated hereafter,
we are driven to the terrible conclusion that the same progress
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
65
of civilization which, in this world, heightens the penalties
inflicted on injustice, would also lessen the need of future com-
pensation, and thereby weaken the ground of our belief. Tlie
inference would be untrue, but it follows from tlxe premises. To
me it appeal's not only sad, but extremely pernicious, that on a
topic of such surpassing interest, the understandings of men
should be imposed upon by reasonings which are so shallow, that,
if pushed to their legitimate consequence, they would defeat their
own aim, because they would force us to assert that the more we
improve in our moral conduct towards each other, the less we
should care for a future and a better world.
I have brought forward these views for the sake of justifying
the general proposition maintained in this essay. For, it is evi-
dent that if the state of public opinion did not discourage a
fearless investigation of these matters, and did not foolishly cast
a slur upon those who attack doctrines which are dear to us, the
whole subject would be more thoroughly understood, and such
weak arguments as are commonly advanced would have been long
since exploded. If they who deny tlie immortality of the soul,
could, without the least opprobrium, state in the boldest manner
all their objections, the advocates of the doctrine would be
obliged to reconsider their own position, and to abandon its un-
tenable points. By this means, that which I revere, and whicli
an overwhelming majority of us revere, as a glorious truth, would
be immensely strengthened. It would be strengthened by being
deprived of those sophistical arguments which are commonly
urged in its favour, and which give to its enemies an incalculable
advantage. It would, moreover, be strengthened by that feeling
of security which men have in their own convictions, when they
know that everything is said against them which can be said, and
that their opponents have a fair and liberal hearing. This
begets a magnanimity, and a rational confidence, which cannot
otherwise be obtained. But such results can never happen
while we are so timid, or so dislionest, as to impute improper
motives to those who assail our religious opinions. We may rely
upon it that as long as we look upon an atheistical writer as a
moral offender, or even as long as we g'ance at him witli suspi-
cion, atheism will remain a standing and a permanent danger,
because, skulking in hidden corners, it will use stratagems ^\ ''Ai
their secrecy will prevent us from baffling ; it will practise arti-
fices to which the persecuted are forced to resort ; it will number
its concealed proselytes to an extent of wliich only they who
have studied this painful subject are aware ; and, above all, by
enabling them to complain of the treatment to which they are
a n ^ t v msa ss s rr^ i - . ' - - ,
6Q
MILL ON LIBERTY.
exposed, it will excite the sympathy of many high and generous
natures who, in an open and manly warfare, might strive against
tliem, but who, by a noble instinct, find themselves incapable of
contending with any sect which is oppressed, maligned, or
intimidated.
Though this essay has been prolonged much beyond my ori-
ginal intention, I am unwilling to conclude it just at this point,
when I have attacked arguments which support a doctrine that I
cherish above all other doctrines. It is, indeed, certain that he
who destroys a feeble argument in favour of any truth, renders
the greatest service to that truth, by obliging its advocates to
produce a stronger one. Still, an idea will prevail among some
persons that such service is insidious ; and that to expose the
weak side of a cause, is likely to be the work, not of a friend but
of an enemy in disguise. Partly, therefore, to prevent misinter-
pretation from those who are always ready to misinterpret, and
partly for the satisfaction of more candid readers, I will venture
to state what I apprehend to be the safest and most impregnable
ground on which the supporters of this great doctrine can take
their stand.
That ground is the universality of the affections ; the yearning
of every mind to care for something out of itself. For, this is
the very bond and seal of our common humanity ; it is the golden
link which knits together and preserves che human species. It
is in the need of loving and of being loved, that the highest in-
stincts of our nature are first revealed. Not only is it found
among the good land the virtuous, but experience proves that it
is compatible with almost any amount of depravity, and with
almost every form of vice. No other principle is so general or so
powerful. It exists in the most barbarous and ferocious states of
society, and we know that even sanguinary and revolting crimes
are often unable to efface it from the breast of the criminal. It
warms the coldest temperament, and softens the hardest heart.
However a character may be deteriorated and debased, this single
passion is capable of redeeming it from utter defilement, and of
rescuing it from the lowest depths. And if, from time to time,
we hear of an apparently well attested case of its entire absence,
we are irresistibly impelled to believe that, even in that mind, it
lurks unseen ; that it is stunted, not destroyed ; that there is yet
some nook or cranny in which it is buried ; that the avenues from
without are not quite closed ; and that, in spite of adverse cir-
cumstances, the affections are not so dead but that it wt)uld be
possible to rouse them from their torpor, and kindle them into
life.
or
NEED OF CONSOLATION UNDER BEREAVEMENT. 67
Look now at the way in which this godlike and fundamental
principle of our nature acts. As long as we are with those whom
we love, and as long as the sense of security is unimpaired, we
rejoice, and the remote consequences of our love are usually
forgotten. Its fears and its risks are unheeded. But, when the
dark day approaches, and the moment of sorrow is at hand, other
and yet essential parts of our affection come into play. And if
perchance, the struggle has been long and arduous ; if we have
been tempted to cling to hope when hope should have been
abandoned, so much the more are we at the last changed and
humbled. To note the slow, but inevitable march of disease, to
watch the enemy stealing in at the gate, to see the strencrth
gradually waning, the limbs tottering more and more, the noble
faculties dwindling by degrees, the eye paling and losing its
lustre, the tongue faltering as it vainly tries to utter its words of
endearment, the very lips hardly able to smile with their wonted
tenderness ;— to see this is hard indeed to bear, and many of the
strongest natures have sunk under it. But when even this is
gone ; when the very signs of life are mute ; when the last faint
tie IS severed, and there lies before us nought save the shell and
husk of what we loved too well, then truly, if we believed the
separation were iinal, how could we stand up and live ? We have
staked our all upon a single cast, and lost the stake. There
where we have garnered up our hearts, and where our treasure is'
thieves break in and spoil. Methinks, thut in that moment of
desolation, the best of us would succumb, but for the deep con-
viction that all is not really over; that we have as yet only seen
a part ; and that something rema ' '- ^ Something behind •
something which the eye of reason ... ascern, but on which
the eye of affection is fixed. What n --hich, passing over
us like a shadow, strains the aching .a as we gaze at it ?
Whence comes that sense of mysterious companionship in the
midst of solitude ; that ineffable feeling which cheers the afflicted ?
Why is it that at these times, our minds are thrown back on theml
selves, and being so thrown, have a forecast of another and a
higher state ? If this be a delusion, it is one which the affections
have themselves created, and we must believe that the purest and
noblest elements of our nature conspire to deceive us. So surely
as we lose what we love, so surely does hope mingle with grief.
That if a man stood alone, he would deem himself mortal I can
well imagine. Why not ? On account of his loneliness, his
moral faculties would be undeveloped, and it is solely from them
that he could learn the doctrine of immortality. There is
nothing, either in the mechanism of the material universe, or in
F 2
l1
68
MILL ON LIBERTY.
the vast sweep and compass of science, which'cau teach it. Tlie
human intellect, glorious as it is, and in its own field almost omni-
potent, knows it not. For, the province and function of the in-
tellect is to take those steps, and to produce those improvements,
whether speculative or practical, which accelerate the march of
nations, and to which we owe the august and imposing fabric of
modern civilization. But this intellectual movement which de-
termines the condition of man, does not apply with the same
force to the condition of men. What is most potent in the mass,
loses its supremacy in the unit. One law for the separate ele-
ments ; another law for the entire compound. The intellectual
principle is conspicuous in regard to the race ; the moral prin-
ciple in regard to the individual. And of all the moral senti-
ments which adorn and elevate the human character, the instinct
of affection is surely the most lovely, the most powerful, and the
most general. Unless, therefore, we are prepared to assert tliat
this, the fairest and choicest of our possessions, is of so delusive
and fraudulent a character that its dictates are not to be trusted,
we can hardly avoid the conclusion that, inasmuch as they arc
the same in all ages, with all degrees of knowledge, and witli
all varieties of religion, they bear upon their surface the impress
of truth, and are at once the conditions and consequence of
our being.
It is, then, to that sense of immortality with which the affec-
tions inspire us, that I would appeal for the best proof of the
reality of a future life. Other proofs perhaps there are, which it
may be for other men or for other times to work out. But
before this can be done, the entire subject will have to be re-
opened, in order that it may be discussed with boldness and yet
with calmness, which however cannot happen as long as a stigma
rests on those who attack the belief ; because its assailants, being
imfairly treated, will for the most part be either timid or pas-
sionate. How mischievous as well as how unjust such a stigma is,
has, I trust, been made apparent, and to that part of the question
I need not revert. One thing only I would repeat, because I
lionestly believe it to be of the deepest importance. Most
earnestly Avould I again urge upon those Avho cherish the doctrine
of immortality, not to defend it, as they too often do, by argu-
ments which have a basis smaller than tlie doctrine itself. I lono-
to see this glorious tenet rescued from the jurisdiction of a narrow
and sectarian theology, which, foolishly ascribing to a single reli-
gion the possession of all truth, proclaims other religions to be
false, and debases the most magnificent topics bv contractin"-
them within the horizon of its own little vision. Evory creed
PROOFS OF THE REALITY OF A FUTURE LIFE.
G9
which has existed long and played a great part, contains a large
amount of truth, or else it would not have retained its hold upon
the human mind. To suppose, however, that any one of them
contains the whole truth, is to suppose that as soon as that creed
was enunciated the limits of inspiration were reached, and the
power of inspiration exhausted. For such a supposition we have
no warrant. On the contrary, the history of mankind, if com-
pared in long periods, shows a very slow, but still a clearly
marked, improvement in the character of successive creeds ; so
that if we reason from the analogy of the past, we have a right to
hope that the improvement will continue, and that subsequent
creeds will surpass ours. Using the word religion ii> its ordinary
sense, we find that the religious opinions of men depend on an
immense variety of circumstances which are constantly shifting.
Hence it is, that whatever rests merely upon these opinions has in
it something transient and mutable. Well, therefore, may they
who take a distant and comprehensive view, be filled with dismay
when they see a doctrine like the immortality of the soul de-
fended in this manner. Such advocates incur a heavy responsi-
bility. They imperil their own cause ; they make the fundamental
depend upon the casual ; they support what is permanent by what
is ephemeral ; and with their books, their dogmas, their traditions,
their rituals, their records, and their other perishable contrivances,
they seek to prove what was known to the world before these ex-
isted, and what, if these were to die away, would still be known,
and would remain the common heritage of the human species, and
the consolation of myriads yet unborn.
creed
Note to p. 38.
"Ort Of Ik nov rporcpop tiptifiivojp o'l Xoyoi, Kai Sii rovrojv, Kol vpbg ravra, fi'ia
;iiv TricTTiQ i/ ota rjjf inaydjyfic;. Et yap Tig tTriaKOTruii] iKaartji' tUv Trporaaiuiv Kal
Twv Trpoi5\tiitdraiV ^taii'Oir' iiv ri dirb rov opor, '" dnb tov iSinx'^ ri drro row (tm/i-
/3e/3i;K(')ro(; yiyivrinitr]. — Aristotelis Tupicorum, lio. i. cap. vi., Lipsiae, 1832,
p-:io4.
i\napi(Tpki>oiv vt TOVTiiiv, xp)) cieXirff^ai, irotra rujv \6yujv (iSii tSiv SioXiktikiuv.
*Eirt C£ TO (liv irrayioyr), to Si avWoyiTfiui^. Kal avWoyirjpoi; fiiv ri tanv, I'lprirai
TTpoTtpov, 'Enayioyr) cf jJ ajro riHv KaOsKaara iwi to. xafloXov ttfioSoi;' olov, si i<fTi
KV)iipvi]Tj]Q b tTTioTafitvoQ KpnTinToCy Kai >}vi'oxot' kki JlXwg iariv 6 iTnaTcintvos
TTipi iKaa-ov dpinrni;. — Avistot. 1 optc. lib. i. cLap. X. p. 108.
Kdv Oe nj) TiOy, oi tjrnywyjjt Xriirrtor, TrpoTiivnira ini riir Kara jUfpofi ivavrioiv.
H yap Sid (ryXXnyiafioi), ri Si iTrayioyije rdg dvayKuiac Xtj-rioi'' j; tuq fiiv tTTciycuyy,
Tag Se avWoyiafttp' o(Tai Si \iav irpotpavkiQ uai, Kai avTdg nporeivovTa. 'AoiiXoTipov
Tt ydp dti kv Ty drcuaTdan Kai ry tTrayioyy to ouftfittofiivov ' Kai dfia to avrdg
Tag \priai)iovg rrpoTiii'ai xai fii) Swdfuvov tKiii'iog XajSilVf iVoi/iov. Tug ci Trapd
TitUTag tlptijiirag Xriirrinv ptv Toi'iruiv Xff/Ot?'. ii:da-y Se woe jfpjjcrrfoi'' 'ETrdyovTa
/iti' dno tCov KaOiKaarn crri rd Ka96Xov, Koi riov y%<(opif.iii)v tTTi Ta dyvmara. — Aristot,
Topic, lib. viii. cap. i. pp. 253, 254.
\i
11
70
MILL OX LIBERTY.
mo eTo^ut tST'' ^^TI'^'^l^ expressed, or perhaps^'the text i
corrupt. Ihe early part of the first book may, however, be looked at
li^
71
LETTER TO A GENTLEMAN
RESPECTING POOLEyS CASE.'
London : June, 1859.
Sir, — Vou are quite right in supposing that I have read a
letter which is signed "John Duke Coleridge," and published in
" Eraser's Magazine " for the present month. But you are wrong
in thinking that the tone of the letter surprises me. When
T held up to public opprobrium that, for our time, almost incre-
dible transaction in which the name of Coleridge was painfully
conspicuous, the indignation which I felt prevented me from
measuring my language, and I did not care to search for soft and
dainty words in relating how, under shelter of the law, an out-
rage had been perpetrated upon a poor, an honest, a defenceless,
and a half-witted man. I wrote as I thought it behoved me to
write, and I rejoice that I did so. Since, however, I did not
spare the principal actors of that deed, I could not expect that
Mr. Coleridge should wish to spare me. And I must, in common
justice, acquit him of any such intent. He has done his utmost.
He is so anxious to be severe that he has not only expressed
anger, he has even tried to express contempt. He has imputed to
me nea^y every kind of baseness and of folly. He has ascribed
to me sentiments which I never entertained, and language which
I never used. He has charged me with ignorance, cowardice,
malignity, and slander. He has attempted to ruin my reputation
as an author, and to blast my character as a man, by representing
me as a perverter of facts, a fabricator of falsehoods, a propa-
gator of libels, and a calumniator of innocence. To all this I
shall make no reply. Whatever I have done in the matter of
Sir John Coleridge, or in other matters, is open and before the
world. I live merely for literature ; my works are my only
actions ; they are not wholly unknown, and I leave it to them to
protect my name. If they cannot do that, they are little worth. I
liave never written an essay, or even a single line anonymously,
and nothing v/ould induce me to do so, beca'<se I deem anony-
mous writing of every kind to be an evasion of responsibility, and
' London: J. W. Parker and Son, 1859.
72
i'
LETTER TO A GENTLEMAN
consequently ,in«nited to the citizen of a free country. Tl.ere-
^e materials-, and to them I appeal. So far from de/pLnj;
public opinion I regard it witli ^reat, though not with exc^sive
respect; and I acknowledge in it the principal source of sucli
influence as I have been able to wield. But this respect which I
eel tor public opinion is only when I consider it as a whole.
1 or the opinion of iudividuals I care nothing, because, now at
covet. Once, indeed, it A^as othcn-wise, but that is past and gone
tor ever Desiring rather to move masses than to influence
persons, I am nowise troubled by accusations before which many
vould sbi-ink. They who dislike my principles, and who dread
that boldness of inquiry, and that freedom of expression which
his age desires, and which I seek to uphold, have already taken
their course, and done what they could to bring me into dis-
TZT^ ^"^ Fevent my writings from being read. If I say that
they have failed, I am not speaking arrogantly, but am simply
stating a notorious fact. Yet they employed the resources with
which Mr. John Duke Coleridge is familiar. They, too, impuoned
my veracity, aspersed my motives, and denied my honesty. You
know, sir that I have never in the slightest degree noticed these
charges though some of them were prepared with considerable
skilL lou will hardly suppose that having refused to defend
myself against men of ability, I shoidd now, at the elevench
hour put myself on my trial at the bidding of this new assailant.
Mr. John Duke Coleridge is quite welcome to publish his senti-
ments respecting me, and I do not wish to disturb tliem. But,
defence ''''^ '''''''''' ^''' ^'^^"^"^^^^S' I '^''^^^ examine his
An act of cruelty has been committed by an English judge,
and I have arraigned the perpetrator before the bar of pubHc
opinion, because that is the only tribunal to wlncli he is amenable.
1 IS son, by pleading on his behalf, has recognised the jurisdiction.
It remains for me to consider his reply; it will finally remain for
the pubhc to decide on its validity. If it is valid, the charge
tails to the ground ; the accused is absolved ; and I, as the ac-
cuser, am covered with confusion. If it is not valid, the i^ulure
of the defence will strengthen the force of the accusation, and
eveu they who wished to favour the judge will be compelled to
a low that what they would fain have palliated, as the momentary
ebulhtion of an arbitrary temper, swells into for graver matter,
when, instead of being regretted, it is vindicated with stubborn
pertinacity, and in an obstinate and angry spirit.
KESPECTING PCOLEY'S CASE.
78
The first thing which strikes me in Mr. Coleridge's apology for
his father is, that some of the most serious charges which I have
brought are passed over in complete silence. They are not only
unanswered, they are not even noticed. On the other hand,
several charges which I did not bring are satisfactorily refuted.
Indeed the greater part of Mr. Coleridge's letter is occupied with
repelling imaginary accusations. He ascribes to me assertions
which I neither made nor intended to make ; and then he de-
cisively proves that those assertions are false. His victory is
complete, but it is gained over himself, and not over me. He
takes infinite pains to show that I am altogether wrong in sup-
posing that Sir John Coleridge, an English judge, could refuse to
try a prisoner who was brought before him. I am equally wrong
in supposing that he could try one who was not brought before
him. I am either ignorant or malicious, when I affirm that he
could have determined what laws should be enforced, and what
laws should not be enforced. I ought to have been aware that
judicial power is different from legislative power ; that the judge,
instead of making laws, merely administers them ; and tliat he
is, in fact, unable to fix on the county in which the trial shall be
held. It is no part of his duty to collect evidence for the prose-
cution ; nor is lie expected to concert measures with the counsel
in order to convict the prisoner. These things are not done in
England, and it is scandalous for me to assume that they are
done. It is still more scandalous that upon such assumptions
I should have presumed to impeach the conduct of Sir John
Coleridge. Tlie audacity is monstrous. How dare I thus assail
a blameless and immaculate man whose fame has hitherto been
unsullied? Before I could bring these charges I must have
been lost to all shame. What I have alleged respecting the ex-
istence of a conspiracy between the clergy, the judge, and the
government, is equally preposterous, and is of itself enough to
ruin the reputation of a writer who pretends to be an historian.
The clergy were in Cornwall ; the Home-Office is in London ; and
the judge is a traveller, who, going from place to place, has no
means of ascertaining beforehand what causes he will have to
try. How wicked, and yet how foolish I am, to say that these
distant and discordant parties conspired together against a poor
well-sinker! Moreover, if I had enquired into the facts, I
should have learnt that these proceedings were in the latter
half of 1857, and that from July to December in that year,
the Home Minister was Sir George Grey, and the Under Secre-
taries at the Home-Office were Mr. Massey and Mr. Waddington,
most wortliy, and indeed distinguished men, utterly incapable
74
LETTER TO A GENTLEMAN
{-
of entering into that nefarious compact with which I have taunted
them.'
It is after this fashion that Mr. Coleridge defends his father.
All these charges, he rebuts with a closeness and minuteness of
argument deserving the highest praise, but where he found the
charges I cannot tell. Certainly they are not in my Essay, and
they never were in my mind. Meanwhile, the real accusation
remains. To tliat he makes no reply. Perhaps he was right.
Perhaps he found it easier to answer what I had not said than
wliat I had saia. A compact between a Cornish clergyman and a
Cabinet Minister. A private understanding betweeu an English
barrister and an English judge ! ^ A judge trying a case in
which he had got up evidence for tlie prosecution! A judge
luiving guilty foreknowledge of the depositions of witnesses !
A dark and wicked conspiracy between Sir George Grey, Sir
John Coleridge, Mr. Massey, and Mr. Waddington, the solo
object of which was to punish a poor labourer! Truly Mr.
Coleridge must be very confident of the goodness of his cause, if
he tliinks that it will bear handling in this way. I appeal to
you, sir, and to every one who has read my Essay, whether or not
these things are in it. If they are in it let the passages be
produced. If they are not in it, I submit that the zeal of Mr.
Coleridge has carried him a little too far, and that he has been
rather indiscreet in laying himself open to so obvious a challenge.
The first cluirge against Sir John Coleridge is that he com-
mitted an act of cruelty. In determining whether or not his
sentence upon Pooley was cruel, it is necessary to consider what
the sentence was. But this, Mr. Coleridge, in the whole of his
long letter, carefully abstains from mentioning. He does not
tell his readers that poor Pooley, a man exemplary in all the
relations of life, and of unstained character, was ordered to be
imprisoned for a year and nine months simply because lie wrote
and uttered words which neither hurt nor traduced anv li vino-
being.
In those words tliere was neither calumny agahist in^
^ " See at the end of tliis lottor, extracts from Mr. Coleridge's apology for his.
- Tho following is the only passage in whi,<h I ..von allude to Mr. Coleri.lge • "He
(Pooley) had no counsel to defend him, but tiie son of the judge acted a.s counsel to
prosecute h,m. The lather an.l the son performed their parts with zeal, and were
pertcct ly miccessfnl. Under their auspice.^ ]>ooley was found guilty." Every w.,rd of
this IS hterally and strictly true. Mr. Coleridge .lid pro.secute Pooley ; he .lid per-
form ills part with zeal, an als., .li.l his fath,-r; he suc-eede.!; and Pooley was found
guilty m c..nsequ..nce of his addr.'ss, and of the summing-up of tiio ju.lire Yet out
ot these simple an.Hrr..futHble statements Mr. Coleri.ige has eou..(ruc(o.l a .iiargo of
private un.h.rstaud.ng " between liimself and tho judge. See extracts at tho end of
this letter.
m
EESPECTING POOLEY'S CASE.
75
dividuals, nor disaffection towards government. There was nothintr
to set man against man, or to set men against their rulers. All
this, Mr. Coleridge knows, and does not attempt to deny. He
also knows that on this ground, and on no other, Pooley was
condemned to an imprisonment of twenty-one months. Why does
he keep this fact back ? How is it that he never chances to mention
what the punishment was ? How is it that, though he frequently
quotes passages from my Essay, he by no accident ever quotes
one in which the act is clearly set forth? Why does he, when
professing to defend his father against a particular charge,
conceal the charge, and then labour hard to defend him against
other charges which no one brought ? If Pooley had not been
punished, Sir John Coleridge would not have been accused,
burely, then, the amount of the punishment is an essential part
of the accusation, and is more pertinent to the issue than those
speculative enquiries in which Mr. Coleridge, with great in-
genuity, has proved how unlikely it is that there should have
been a conspiracy between Sir George Grey, Sir John Coleridge,
Mr. Massey, and Mr. Waddington.
But this is of a piece with the rest of Mr. Coleridge's letter.
For with other and most in^portant items in my accusation he
deals in the same manner ; that is to say, he does not deal witli
them at all. I charged Sir John Coleridge with passing a sentence
which, independently of the other objections against it, was alien
to the spirit of the age. To this I find no reply. T charged
him with bringing the administration of justice into disrepute,
by encouraging the prevailing and most dangerous notion that
the poor are more harshly treated than the rich. Again, I find
no reply. I charged him with doing this on the person of an
unhappy, but most industrious man, whose fomily were, con-
sequently, left either to starve or to beg. Still, no reply. I
charged him, and the result has proved that I Miarged him
truly, with exasperating the friends of liberty, and rekindling
old animosities. No reply. I charged him with taking as liia
victim an undefended prisoner, whom our law humanely supposes
to have the judge for his counsel, but who on this occasion had
the judge for his oppressor. No reply. I charged him with
inflicting a punishment which, severe at any period, is particularly
so in our time, when all humane and thinking unm aim at
lessening penalties, rather than the increasing them. This, too,
Mr. Coleridge being unable to deny, passes over in silence.
Such IS his plan. It is a -nnning artifice with which tho
rhetoricians of old were long since familiar. With them, as with
him, taciturnity was a favour--te stratagem, but taciturnity in
ifj
ii
f«> -■
76
LETTER TO A GENTLEMAN
il
Ml
order to he effective, should ho invariahle. Otherwise there
is danger tliat when a man does speak, lie will speak at the
wron<,^ time, and say the wrong things; and certainly one of
the pleas which Mr. Coleridge has set up is so eccentric, that
it will expose him to this imputation. He does not question
my assertion that penalties are becoming milder, but he meets
tlie consequences of that assertion in a way peculiar to him-
self. He says that Sir Jolm Coleridge being employed to ad-
minister the law, and not to make it, was obliged to administer
it as he found it. The judge, says Mr. Coleridge, could not choose
"what laws he would or would not put in force.'" Unhappy
judge ! he had no choice. His hands were tied. His leaning was
on the side of humanity ; he longed to be merciful ; but he was
in the melancholy position of being obliged to enforce an odious
law. He was so straitened and circumscribed that he was,
in fact, a victim rather than an oppressor. Kealk, sir, it is
humiliating to read such arguments ; it is still more liumiliating
to have to answer tliem. What I no choice! Has an Englisli
judge no option ? Has he no latitude? Is no discretion vested
in him ? Must he always exact the letter of the bond, and take
the last ounce of flesh ? Mr. Coleridge is indeed in diffirulties
if this is his best defence. The fact is that an assize is rarely
held without an instance of the judge imposing a light, and often
a mere nominal, punishment, when the law allows him to impose
a severe one. That part of our common law which coerces the
expression of opinion, was established in a barbarous and ignorant
age, when the very amusements of men were brutal, and when
they delighted in inflicting pain and in seeing it inflicted. It was
an age in which human lite was disregarded, and human suffering
made a jest. To suppose that an English judge is bound to follow
with servile acquiescence all the decisions of such a period, is to
suppose what is not only absurd in itself, but is contradicted by the
judicial history of this country. In England the abrogation of a
law is gradual, and usually passes tJirough three stages. First, it
is reasoned against or ridiculed ; then it falls into discredit ; and
finally, it is eitlier repealed, or else by common consent it is
disused. This is the history of tliose cruel laws which our
ancestors cherished ; such, for example, as the laws relating to
heresy, witchcraft, and slavery, which, before they were done
away with, were opposed by public opinion and discountenanced
by our judges. All these things are part of the same scheme :
' Iquoto Mr. Coloriilgo's own wonln; but the entire passntrp will hp foim-l in th'«
fxin.cis at tiic did (,f thi« letter. Air. Colori.lgo had probably forgotten hi« previous
adini^Mion, "tlmt the sentence is a perlectly fair ground for observation."
n
RESPECTING POOLEYV CASE.
77
they belong to the same turn of mind, and must stand or fall
together. It is natural that when slavery was legal, heresy should
have been illegal. It is also natural that, in such a state of
society, heretical or blasphemous expressions should be punished.
We hiive, however, long been outgrowing those views, not be-
cause we love blasphemy, but because we love liberty. We look
upon impious language as proof of a vulgar mind ; but we are not
to cast into prison an honest man and beggar his fomily, on ac-
count of his mind being vulgar. Even if the blasphemy is of
such a kind as to indicate depravity on the part of the utterer,no
one IS concerned with it unless it tends to produce a breach of the
peace. If the public peace is in danger, he who endangers it
should be restrained. But to punish blasphemy irrespectively of
these wider considerations is a thing which this age will not
tolerate, and which is contrary to the whole tone and scope both
of modern literature and of modern legislation. The char"e
against Thomas Pooley was that he uttered blasphemy. On this
charge he was committed ; on this he was indicted ; and on this
he was sentenced. The crime alleged was not that he injured
men's property, nor that he insulted them, nor that he provoked
them to violence. He wrote upon a private gate, which he had
no right to do, and for which, therefore, redress might have been
reasonably exacted. That was an offence ; and if hi> conduct was
likely to disturb the public peace, that was another offence. But
instead of receiving such slight punishment as these offences
would justify, he was punished as a blasphemer ; and a judge was
found capable of sentencing this poor, helpless, and ignorant
man to twenty-one months' imprisonment. Shame ! shame on it !
In compliance with the humane and enlightened spirit of this
age, the practice of pvmishing men for words which calumniate no
individual and imperil no government, was fast falling into disuse
when it was revived by Sir John Coleridge. This is his offence,
and a most serious and, so far as he is concerned, irreparablJ
offence it is. It is a revival of cruelty ; it is a revival of bigotry ;
it is a revival of the tastes, the Jiabits, and the feelings of^those
days of darkness which we might have hoped had gone for ever.
I have only one more point to notice in 3Ir. Coleridge's apology
for his father. Mr. Coleridge assures us that, when Pooley was
sentenced, the judge was not aware of the state of his mind. I
rejoice to hear it ; I am most willing to accept any explanation
which can soften so terrible a transaction and deprive it of some
of its horrors. Consider the sentence as we may, it is enormous,
existinj
inion, '
public opinion, it could have been passed. For the honour of
151
ir~4*
the
11
78
LETTEK TO A GENTLEMAN
judicial character and for the honour of human nature, let us
make what abatement we can, and be glad to think that this
heavy article in the impeachment may be withdrawn. That
Pooley was deranged is certain. We have the concurrent testi-
mony of his neighbours ; we have eminent medical opinion ; we
have the observations of reporters who were present at his trial ;
we have the fact of his having been sent to a lunatic asylum ; and
we have the additional fact of his being pardoned on the ground
of insanity. Against such evidence, the unsupported assertions of
the attorney for the prosecution are not worth a straw. I had
supposed that what was so clearly marked as to excite the atten-
tion of the reporters for the press, could hardly have escaped the
notice of the presiding judge.
But Mr. Coleridge declares that it did escape him. Be it so.
It says little for his perspicacity that he should have overlooked
what was obvious to less practised eyes. This, however, I pass
over ; and I leave the other facts, respecting which there is neither
doubt nor cavil, to speak for themselves. Upon thote fticts I have
elsewhere delivered my mind, and delivered it freely. The cir-
cumstances to which 1 have directed public attention were not
sought for by me. I did not go out of my road to find them. I
had never heard of the case of Pooley until I came across it in
the book which I was reviewing. As it had fallen in my way, I
thought it my duty first to investigate it, and then to expose it.
In exposing it, I denounced the principal actors, especially him
who gave the finishing touch to the whole.
By doing so I have incurred the hostility of his friends, and I
have, moreover, displeased a large class of persons who consider
that an English judge occupies so elevated a position that he
ought not to be made the object of personal attack. To me, how-
ever, it appears that his elevation, and his name, and the pomp
and the dignity and the mighty weight of that oflSce which he
held, are among the circumstances which justify the course I have
taken. If he had been a man of no account, it would hardly have
been worth while for me to pause, in the midst of my solitary
labours, that I might turn aside and smite him. For, what is he
to me ? Our ways of life and our career are so completely dif-
ferent, that between us there cm be no rivalry ; and the motives
which commonly induce one man to attack another can have no
place. I cannot envy him, for I see nothing to envy. Neither
can I fear him ; nor can I expect to derive any benefit from
hurting him. Unless, therefore, it is supposed that I am actuated
by a spirit of pure, naked, and motiveless malignitv. I have a
right to be believed when I say that in this matter my sole object
EESPECTING POOLEY'S CASE.
79
we
'I
I
has been to promote the great and, to me, the sacred cause of
liberty of speech and of publication. This, indeed, lies near to
my heart. And it is this alone which gives to the present case its
real importance, and will prevent it from sinking into oblivion.
Yet a few years, and Sir John Coleridge and Thomas Pooley will
be numbered with the dead. But though the men will die, the
principles which they represent are immortal. The powerful and
intolerant judge seeking to stop the mouth of the poor and
friendless well-sinker is but the type of a far older and wider
struggle. In every part of the civilized world the same contest is
raging, and the question is still undecided, whether or not men
shall say what they like ; in other words, whether languao-e is to
be refuted by language, or whether it is to be refuted by force.
Disguise it as you will, this is the real issue. In this great war-
fare between liberty and repression, Sir John Coleridge has chosen
his side and I have chosen mine. But he, being armed with the
power of the executive government, has been able to carry matters
with a high hand, and to strengthen his party, not indeed by ar-
guments, but by violence. Instead of refuting, he imprisons.
My weapons are of another kind, and shall I not use them ? Am
I for ever to sit by in silence ? Are all the blows to be dealt from
one side, and none, from the other ? I think not. I think it is
but right and fitting that Sir John Coleridge, and those who
agree with him, should be taught that literature is able to punish
as well as to persuade, and that she never exercises her high
vocation with greater dignity than when, upholding the weak
against the strong, she lets the world see that she is no respecter
of persons, but will, if need be, strike at the highest place, and
humble the proudest name.
I have now finished the task which I set to myself, and which
I undertook simply because I thought it ought to be done, and I
could not learn that any one more competent was likely to do it.
The accusation and the defence being both before the world, we
may fairly suppose that the matter is thoroughly sifted, and the
circumstances which are essential separated from those which are
casual. It remains for the public to form their opinion ; and I
trust that in doing so they will not hear one side only, but will
carefully read Mr. Coleridge's apology for his father. In asking
this, I am by no means disinterested ; since his letter, by leaving ^
the principal charges untouched, is a tacit assumption that they
cannot be rebutted. His defence fully justifies my attack; and,
if he iH willing to agree to the proposal, I wish for nothing better
than that both attack and defence should be reprinted side by
side, and circulated together as widely as possible, so that they
m
I? I
!l: !
80
LETTEB TO A GENTLEMAN
may be read wherever the English people are to be found, or
wherever the English tongue is known.
1 am, Sir,
Yours faithfully,
Henry Thomas Buckle.
Although I have expressed a hope that every one who reads
this pamphlet will also read Mr. Coleridge's letter, I think it ad-
visable, as a further precaution, to reprint the following passages.
They are all to be found in " Eraser's Magazine " for June, and
are copied word for word from the letter which Mr. Coleridge
addressed to the editor : —
"Mr. Buckle's libel. ... I need not tell you that it is a libel,
nor need I offer you any opinion as to the effect on the character
of your Magazine of publishing a tissue of what I must call coarse
personal malevolence. . . . Intolerable licentiousness of speech.
. . . Licence of slander. . . . His many columns of slander.
... The base charges which he has insinuated, but has not had
the courage to set down in plain and simple words. ... It is cer-
tainly hard that a person like Mr. Buckle should be able to put
a blameless man on his defence by reckless accusation. . . . Dirt
thrown by the meanest hand. . . . Imputations of the basest
kind. . . . Dirty stuff. . . . Mr. Buckle does not comprehend
the common feelings of a gentleman. ... Of me he says he
knows nothing ; yet he insinuates of a man whom he does not
know, that he, a barrister, was party to a private understanding
with the judge (that judge his own father) in a criminal case, to
oppress a poor undefended criminal, and pervert the course of
justice. . . .
'' That Mr. Buckle should have thought such conduct possible
in an English advocate of any standing, that he should have
made such a charge without evidence and without inquiry, is a
proof that his learning (if he be a learned man) is not education,
and has not raised him above the feelings and prejudices of a
thoroughly vulgar mind The man (Pooley) was there to
be tried on a charge which neither Sir John Coleridge nor I
had any more to do with, nor knew any more about before the
assizes took place at Bodmin, than Mr. Buckle himself. That a
judge selects whom he will try, and where he will try them;
that he can try or not try at his pleasure persons who are ar-
raigned before him ; that he can refuse, if he pleases, to put in
force the law he is sent to administer, and choose which laws he
will enforce and which he will not ; that he or the counsel for the
prosecution, or both of them, have anything whatever to do with
re£
rai
pel
Jol
try
an(
Ju]
Gr(
Ma
gui
to ]
pre
mai
Bu(
totf
mi^
EE3PECTING POOLEY'S CAS.
81
getting up cases against prisoners, are matters which Mr. Buckle
really seems as if he believed, but as to which he displays igno-
rance to a degree hardly credible It is familiar to all
persons of ordinary education that a judge in the position of Sir
John Coleridge had and could have no choice whether he would
try a particular prisoner or not, in what county lie would try him
and what laws he would or would not put in force From
July to December 1857, the Home Secretary was Sir George
Grey, and the Under Secretaries at the Home Office were Mr
Massey and Mr. Waddington. The notion that these distin-
guished men, or any of them, would join in a conspiracy in order
to please Sir John Coleridge and two Cornish clergymen, to sup-
press freedom of speech, crush liberty, and do injustice to a poor
man till they were terrified by the petitioners mentioned by Mr.
Buckle, IS a notion so excessively ridiculous, that, except for the
total absence of humour from Mr. Buckle's composition, one
might suspect him of attempting a gloomy joke."
•o
II
POSTHUMOUS WOEKS.
REIGX OF ELrZABETJL
I.
POLITICAL.
At the accession of Elizabeth the position of England was more
pregnant w.th danger than it had been at any period since Se
Danish invasion. Indeed, the hordes of ferocious savages who in
«ie eighth and ninth centuries ravaged the kingdo^ were not
more formidable than those enemies who now threatened it from
every quarter. It would not be consistent with the object of this
work to enter ;.t length into the mere political events of civil his-
tory, but It will be impossible fully to understand the real magni-
tude of this crisis without giving so-i.e amount, not only of the
jnternal state of the country, but also of tho«e peculiar foreign
hazards which, during many years, were so imminent. And to
the adoption of this course I am decided, not so much by the ob-
vious interest of the struggle as by the consideration that during
the reign of this great queen not only was every obstacle sur-
mounted and every danger repulsed, but that, by the application
oi principles hitherto unknown or neglected, England was raised
to a position which made her the envy and wonder of Europe :
that the way was paved for the establishment of a prosperity which
not even the wretched misgovernment of her immediate successor
coud seriously disturb; that a prodigious impulse was gxven to
aa the great branches of manufacture and commerce; that all tlie
arts which minister to the comfort of man, and lend a charm to
civilized ife, were cultivated and encouraged; and, what is more
mportant than all these, t.at there was laid the foundation of a
literature which is by far the proudest boast of this mighty
people, which will long survive the country that has given it
birth, and which will be road with astonishment by nations yet
s 2
3f ' r-
84
unborn,
REIGN OF ELIZABETH,
[Chai'.
even when tlie very name of England haa almost faded
from the memory of man.
The chief danger to the new Queen arose from tlie agitation of
those religious disputes by wliich, for nearly forty years, Europe
had been convtdsed. In all the other great coimtries there was a
decided majority on the side either of the Protestants or of the
Catholics. But in England tlie nation, in point of numbers, was
about equally divided between the two great religions ; and
t' ough, under ordinary circumstances, the Government could,
perhaps, easily have turned tlie scale, yet the Catholics were at
tliis time even more formidable than might have been supposed
from their mere numerical force, for they counted among their
adherents an immense majority of the aristocracy, who exercised
over their dependents an almost unlimited authority. England
was thus split into two hostile sects, each of which had its mar-
tyrs and its miracles : each of which was equally confident of the
truth of its own tenets, and of the damnable errors of its adver-
sary : and each of which thirsted for the other's blood. Of these
great parties, one occupied the north and the other the south.
The Catholics of the north were headed by the great families of
[the Percies and Nevilles] and had on their side all those advan-
tages which the prescription of ages alone can give. To the south
were the Protestants, who, though they could boast of none of
those f^reat historical names which reflected a lustre on their op-
ponents, were supported by the authority of Grovernment, and felt
that enthusiastic confidence which only belongs to a young religion.
While the nation was thus severed in twain by tlie" accursed
spirit of religious faction, the aspect of Europe was so threatening
that it might well have appalled the stoutest heart. For half a
century the Spanish power had been supreme. Francis I., de-
feated in the field and baffled in the closet, was at length taken
prisoner by his great rival, and could only purchase his liberty by
the most degrading concessions. After his ignominious reign was
brought to a close, the languishing fortunes of the Prcndi mo-
narchy were, with the greatest difficulty, sustained by his son and
successor ;(?) but on his death the last symptoms of vigour dis-
appeared from the national councils, and everythino- fell into
disorder. In the meantime the power of Spain was rapidly pro-
gressing. The reign of Philip II. was ushered in by the battle of
St. Quentin, at which Philibert of Savoy cut in pieces the chivalry
of France, and shook the throne of Henry." Then followed the
battle of G-ravelines, at which the star of Philip was again in the
'^ At the very same moment the Spanish troops pushed forward to the gates of Rome,
ana compfllrd the i'opc to sign a peace under the walls of his own capital.
I.]
POLITICAL,
85
ascendant; and at the accession of Klizubiith th. 8pan
which ha I been hiiilf m^ >«rf»,..^ x- . ...
ich ha I been built up by three j>e„eratiun8 of statesmen and of
warnors, had reached a height of alarmin,. grandeur. Even It
the present day such a power ^vouhl Ih3 formidable : in the middle
ot the sixteenth cen ury it seemed irresistible. The population
and the revenues of the European dominions of Philip were more
than double those of trance and England put together. The only
power that could in the least pretend to balance so prodiWous a
preponderance was France : but France, during thirty years of
the reign of Elizabeth, was governed by three ignorant and pro-
riigate boys was torn by the agitations of civil war, and was
hemmed in by Phihp at every quarter, with the single exception
of the side of (xermany, and even there the throne was occupied
by the uncle, and afterwards by the cousin, of the Spauisli
monarch. t^^'xau
If anything is wanting to complete this picture, we have only
to consider the neglected and, indeed, the almost defenceless
condition of the nation which had to contend against such immi-
nent perils.
During the whole of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the
power and reputation of England had been steadily advancin..-,
and the national resources, though not developed with any extral
ordinary skill, were found more than equal to meet those emer-
gencies which occasionally arose. But during the latter yea. , of
Henry and under the extremely feeble government of Edward
everything went to ruin. The throne of the sickly and bigoted'
boy was surrounded by advisers who were too much occupied witli
earing for the souls of men to trouble themselves much about
their bodies It could hardly be expected that statesmen who
were busied in the exalted functions of drawing up canons for a
chuich and forms for a sacrament should stoop so low as to pro-
vide for the national prosperity: still less was it likely that tJiev
should be anxious for the national honour. Indeed, whatever may
have been he other merits of the English Reformation, it is re^
mai-kable that during the early period of its progress it did not
prounce a single man of genius. There were some expert rea-
original thinker ; there was not even one competent statesmin
Even when Mary came to the throne, and called to he co'S
wo advisers of unquestionable ability, Gardner and Pole, still le
frenzy of religion had so occupied the minds of men, that t ,e o
was no room left for the realities of government. All the enerj
i^tn^Z:r%f''1V' ^"^"^"^ >>eretics and refuting
schismatics. The foolish and bigoted queen tkought that she had
m
86
KEIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[C]IAP.
fultilled onn of the first of her roval duties so soon as she had
converted an apostate, or even comforted a repentant sinner. It
may be easily imagined that during the heat of this religious
fervour the real interests of the nation were entirely forgotten.
Indeed, it would be difficult to find in modern Europe an instance
of a countiy worse governed than England was during the gene-
ration that elapsed between the fall of Wolsey and the death of
Mary. The men who ruled the State were profoundly ignorant
of the affairs of Europe, of which, indeed, they took no trouble to
instruct themselves. At many courts there was no English repre-
sentative, and even when there did happen to be one, his infor-
mation was as bad as it could possibly be. The consequence was
that their fc:c?"^m policy was a continued succession of perpetual
blunders. During the eleven yearn which were occupied by the
contemptible reigns of Edward and Mary, we endured a series of
disgraceful disasters such as even now it is painful to remember.
Whenever we made a claim it was mre to be rejected ; whenever
we put forw>ard a pretension it was sure to be spurned. If we at-
tacked a city, it was always too strong to be taken ; if we defended
one, it was always too weak to be lield.
• •
But this was only a precursor of what was to follow, and just
before Mary died we sustained a loss more serious than any of the
others. For more than two hundred years Calais had been an
English possession, and was considered as part of the national
domain. And yet this most important city, which was so strong
by nature and by art as to be considered almost impregnable, was
wrested from us m the middle of winter in three weeks, and
almost without resistance.'
» . .
Scarcely was Elizabeth seated on the throne when she began to
fee] the alarming embarrassment of her position. The bishops
unanimously refused to crown her. The Pope denied her legiti-
macy> and would not recognise her as queen. The two univer-
sities of Oxford and Cambridge, which at that time had immense
influence, united with Convocation in presenting to the House of
Lords a solemn declaration in favour of the Papal supremacy.
This was almost tantamount to a declaration in favour of the
pretensions of Mary, and those pretensions were: openly supported
by her father-in-law, Henry II. of France, who caused her not
only to assume the arms and title of Queen of England and
» No stjinding amy ; no na.-y. Gunpowder hml been in general use tor two cen-
turii'8, but tlie English were outiroly ig-iorunt of the iirt of muking it. Tho Crown
was overwhelmed with debt.
[Ciur.
I.]
POLITICAL.
87
Ireland, but to execute a solemn :nstrument transferring to him
the right of succession in case she should die without issue.
With the risk of a rebellion hanging over head, and exposed
at any moment to the presence on her shores of a foreign army,
it seemed that Elizabeth had only one escape that was yet left to'
her. Philip had already saved her life ; he now offered her his
hand. With him for her husband, there would be no fear of
foreign aggression ; and his power, combined with that of the
English Catholics, would afford ample protection against any in-
surrection which the Protestants might be willing to excite.
The offer was indeed tempting, and the ministers of Elizabeth,
advised her to accept it; but the queen herself, with a magna-
nimity of which history furnishes few examples, rejected his pro-
posal, and determined to trust entirely to the resources of her
own enfeebled and divided kingdom. Philip, deeply mortified
by an answer which he had little expected, determined tp ruin
the presumptuous Jieretic who had ventured to repulse his ad-
dresses. He proceeded with singular and characteristic cunning.
J^ earing that by a declai-ation of war against England he would
compel Elizabeth to throw herself into the arms of Henry he
endeavoured to cut away that resource by inducing Jier to con-
tinue [?] the hostilities with France into which Mary had so
imprudently embarked. He knew that in England men of all
parties eagerly desired the restitution of Calais, the loss of which
they considered as a national disgrace, and he now proposed that
Spain and England should jointly carry on the war until that
city was restored. But Elizabeth suspected the snare. Doubtful
of the sincerity of Philip, and certain that the kingdom, such as
Mary had bequeathed it, could hardly support the efforts of a
single campaign, she determined to give it rest, even though
Calais should be the price of the peace. She had already sent
ministers to the different foreign courts, and to them she now
issued the necessary instructions. The result was the treaty of
Chateau Cambresis, which was signed only [five] months after her
accession to the thi-one, and which, for a time at least, secured to
the nation the tranquillity that was necessary to recruit its wasted
energies. Relieved for a moment from the open hostility of
f ranee, Elizabeth now concentrated her attention upon domestic
affairs. Her first care was to put the country into a state of
proper defence.
•
fHere Mr. Buckle has marked in pencil in his MS. the word
"Military," and at a short distance "Toleration," as though it
had been his intention to insert at this stage of the history a
I
i'
n'!i
"
m^.
to
88
■ it
I
mn
REIGN Of ELIZABETH.
[Chap,
chapter on (>!U'lt of tliese Hubjects. For iho, first of tliose, liow-
evor, tliero naniiin no ni}it,(!rialH, the notcvs in liis (Common Thico
]^ooks npon it having' too little reference to the rei{,m of (iue(!U
EH/aheth to be in place Ijere. His materials for the chapter on
ToleraUon are as follows. — Editor.]
TOI-EUATION.
WiiiLK she was thns actively employed in deveiopini;- the nei>--
lected r(>sonroes of the country, her conduct in niatters\if r(«lij.i(?n
was still more admirable. It is the pecidiar trait of this grciit
queen tliat slu^ was the first ^overeio•n in Europe who publicly
tolerated the (>x(M-cis(> of a r(>li^ion contrary to that of the Stitte.
Indeed for many years sh(> showed a disposition not only to tole-
rate, but even to conciliate. Her first ac-t of authority was to
form a c^>uncil for the manao-oment of public affairs. Of the
members of this council thirteen were Catholics, and eiaht only
were I'rotestants.
Even the administration of foreign diplomacy was entrusted by
her to the professors of an adverse religion. In l.'5()4, she sent a
commission to Iinig(>8 to treat with Philip respecting some affairs
of great importance. One of tlu- members of this commission
was the celebrated Dr. Wotton : but at th<> head of it we find the
name of Lord Montague, a zealous and well-known Catholic.
Several years later (in 1572) she s(>nt the earl of Worcester as
her proxy to Paris, to stand in her room as godmother to the
aaught(>r of the French king. The earl who was selected for this
honourable oftiee was brother-in-law to that foolish rebel, the earl
of Northumb(>rland, and was himself a prominent and notorious
Catholic'
Hut without accumulating similar instances, I need only men-
tion that several years, and ind(>ed shortly before the arrival of
the armada, 8ir Philip Stanley, a Catholic, received charge durino-
the time of war of the important town of Deventer. '^
Indeed, so anxious was Elizabeth to avoid even .the semblance
of religious bigotry, that on the death of Cardinal Pole she not
only adopted the uniisual course of issuing an order in council
that all debts due to him should be at once paid to Ids executors,
but she actually tviused letters to be writtc^n to the same effect to
'In irm, w],on Leieostorwas in Ilolluna. the qupon wi-oto to rol.ukc him for
having, by his inboleranco, disoourag.'d thi< Catholics.
'\
II.]
TOLERATION.
89
all f 1.0 Insliops, imd, where there were no l.ishops, to tlie deans
and chapt^i-s of nil tlio cathedral churches throughout England,
in another instance she acted in a similar way, though in a
manner entirely opposed to the genius of that hi- ted age. Sir
Ju-ancis Englefield had been a privy councillor to Mary, and had
taken an active part in her proceedings against the heretics. (V)
no, apprehensive of the consf^ptences, and conceiving that his
lortunes were irretrievably ruined, abjured the realm. He not
only corresponded with the enemies of Elizabeth, but wrote to
J.eic(>ster an insolent letter respecting her. But, notwithstanding
Ins the queen allowed him to receive abroad all tlie revenues of
h.s EnghsJ, estate, only reserving a small portion for the support
of las wife, who still remained in her own country, and who had
l)rought him a large fortune.
In all her pu})lic acts she displayed the same spirit. The oath
of supremacy was that which most offended the conscience of the
Catholics Of this the queen was well aware, and slu, in 1562,
ordered that if it was once ref.ised no bishop shouhl presume to
tender it a second time to the same person, but sliould wait for
express instructions for each particular case. The ministers of
Edwanl, with that tendency to excess so characteristic of apos-
tates, had inserted a clause in the Litany, « l^Vom the tyranny of
the bishop of Kome and all his detestable enormities, good Lord
<lelivoi us This blasphemous language, in which the Reformers
invoked the nanie of the great (Jod of love and peac(> as a. pander
to tluur own malignant passions was, by the order of Elizabeth,
immediately expunged from the services of the church
In the same way, and in a spirit whicli might teach a salutary
lesson the contemptible polemics of our own time, she issued
u proclamation forbidding « the use of opprobrious words, as
papist, papistical, heretic, schismatic, or sacramentary "
Even towards the Irish, who, ever since they ha^e bc-en con-
"c-cte<l with England, have suffered so bitterly from Protestant
into erance she displayed a similar spirit. In a remarkable letter
written in lo73, which is yet extant, tlie earl of Essex gives an
account of un interview whicli he had with the ..uec.n just
botore going to Ireland, in which she particdarly charged him
not to seoke too hastely to bring people that hath bene trayned
up h^ ' '^^ ^^''"' ^''''^ ^'''^ ""'"'^^ ^^'y ^'•'''^ ^^^°« brought
J^ ';;:\^7t^^^^ ^^'f Catl.olics, presuming upon her forbear-
unce 1 perhaps merely instigated by a spirit of mischievous
tndy, were so far fi'om aiding the gov(.rnment that t
ac
everytl
ling to throw it int
hey did
confusion. White, bishop of Win-
90
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap.
Chester, publicly delivered in London a mobfc inflammatory sermon,
in which, with an obvious allusion to Elizabeth, he reminded his
liearers of the address which Trajan had made to one of his
officers when he delivered to him the sword—" If my commands
are just, use this sword for me ; if unjust, against me." During
the reign of Henry such language would have cost the bishop
his head. Elizabeth merely ordered him to keep his house, and
at the end of a month dismissed him without further punishment.
In the same year the well-known Dr. Story, in his place in the
House of Commons, publicly boasted of the number of Protes-
tants he had caused to be burnt : and he not only expressed his
regret that he had left so many alive, but pointedly added that
" it grieved him that they laboured only about the young and
little twigs, whereas they should have struck at the root."
The bishops, all of whom were Catholics, had, as I have already
mentioned, unanimously refused to crown her ; and it was with
the greatest difficulty that one of the meanest of them was at
length induced to perform tlie necessary ceremony. It is, how-
ever, remarkable that this open hostility from the heads of the
Catholic Church did not cause the least change in her conduct
towards them. Dr. Kitchin, who alone of all the bishops would
take the oath of allegiance (?), was allowed to retain his see ;
the otliers, who openly avowed the supremacy of the papal power,
were of course deprived, but only one of them was punished ; and
Heath, who was one of the most prominent, and who during the
last reign had been Lord Chancellor, was allowed to retire to his
estate, where at a later period he was often visited by Elizabeth.
We have the statement of the Catholics themselves that no
less than one thousand priests were allowed to remain with their
patrons in different parts of England, and perform for tliem the
ordinary functions of their religion. Indeed, a Protestant author
who wrote eight years after the accession of Elizabeth, states that
at that time the number of Catholic priests in England exceeded
the entire number of the Protestant clergy, a statement which,
however incredible it may appear, is confirmed by other inde-
pendent and contemporary evidence.
In 1569, the year of the great northern rebellion, an inquiry
was instituted at the Temple with the view of testing the loyalty
of the lawyers. The question put to them Was, not whether mass
was celebrated nor whether they attended it, but merely " whether
at mass they prayed for the queen." '
It may, perhaps, appear to some that such instances as these
' Soames {FMzahcthan Religious History, p. 261) quotes Stubbes' Gaping Gulf to
show that mass was commonly performed in London.
il
11.]
TOLERATION.
91
are by no means remarkable, and that a sovereign who merely
obeys the dictates of an ordinary charity is scarcely deserving of
an extraordinary praise. But those who by such an objection
think to lessen the merit* of Elizabeth, must have a very scanty
knowledge of the real history of the sixteenth century. The
broad and general features of intolerance which distinguished the
governments of that age are no doubt familiar to every reader ;
but only those who are acquainted with the lighter literature of
the time, its biographies, its correspondence, even its very poetry
and its tales, can form an adequate notion of the fearful extent to
which the spirit of bigotry had possessed the minds of men. The
Keformation, so for from assuaging the passions, had roused them
to a fury which is hardly to be conceived. Men exemplary in
every relation of domestic life, and of the most unblemished
purity of morals, not only habitually inculcated the necessity of
extirpating heresy by the sword, but, the moment they had the
power, showed themselves prompt to put their own principles into
execution. Even the few who at an earlier period had dared while
in their closets to speculate on the propriety of toleration, soon
changed their ideas when they emerged into the world. Sir
Thomas More, in a philosophical romance, laid down the noblest
sentiments in the clearest language ; and yet the same man, whose
private virtues, amenity of manners, and boundless hospitality
made him the darling of the nation, attempted to convert heretics
by whipping, by torturing, and by burning.
In the generation whicli followed the death of More, there arose
men who, without the humanity of his principles, enforced all the
cruelties of his practice. Under Edward, the Protestants burnt
the Catholics ; under Mary, the Catholics burnt the Protestants.
And although in the struggle of rival cruelties the Catholics had
the advantage in the greater number of their opponents whom
they were able to immolate ; yet, if we fairly distinguish the
natural temper of the men and the circumstances in which they
wore placed, there is not much to choose in point of wickedness
between Cranmer and Bonner, between the advisers of Edward,
and the advisers of Mary. Indeed, if we estimate their intentions
by their professions, and if we judge tlieir private opinions by
their public creed, there can be no doubt that intolerance is a
gi'oater crime among Protestants, whose very existence is founded
upon the right of private judgment, than it is among Catholics,
who are bound to renounce such right, and to accept with humility
111! the traditions of the Church. But without attempting to parcel
out that monstrous load of guilt, wliicli must be shared by tlie
ri\al religions, it is sufficient to state the undoubted tact, that
i
Li
If
M
11
9.-.
92
REIGN OF ELIZALETH,
[Chm'.
when Eliza})etli came to tlie throne, no civil or religious ruler, no
governor either of State or Church in any part of Europe, had
ventured on what would have been considered the blaspliemous
experiment of allowing men to settle tiieir religion as a private
question ))etween themselves and their God.
It was under such circumstances as these that Elizabetli not
only conceived the sclieme of a religious toleration, but for se-
vera years actually enforced its principles. In an age when the
smallest offences were habitually corrected by the severest pun-
ishments, and when the slightest whisper of toleration had never
been heard to penetrate the walls of a palace, this great queen
publicly put forward opinions which in our own days have become
obvious truisms, but whicli in the sixteenth century were consi-
dered damnable paradoxes : « We know not nor have any meaning
to allowe that any our Subjects should be molested either by Ex-
amination or Inquisition, in any matter either of Faith, as long
as they shall profess the Christian Fayth, not gaynsayeng the
Authority of tlie liolly Scriptures, and of the Articles of our faith
contained in the Creeds Apostolic and Catholic : or for matter o^
ceremony or any other extei-ul matter appertaining to Christian
religion, as long as they shall in their outward conversation show
themselves quiet and conformable and not manifestly repugnant
and obstinate to tlie Laws of the realm, wliich are established for
JM-e(|uentation of divine service in the ordinary churches, in like
manner as all other Laws are whereunto Subjects are of duty and
by allegiance bound." She proceeds to add, "in the word of a
1 mice and the Presence of God," that there shall be no "moles-
tation to tliem by any person by way of Examination or Inquisi-
tion of ^ their secret opinions in their consciences for matters of
J^aith Such were the sentiments put on record by Elizabeth in
a public proclamation after she had been eleven years on the
iiirone : and it may be confidently asserted that there was not
any sovereign then living in Europe from whose mouth such hm-
guage had been heard. And without accumulating instances of
he general spirit in which such principles had been carried out
hy her Go\'ernment, it is sufficient to state that her bitterest
enemies have never been able to point out a single instance of
persecution for religion during the eleven years which elapsed
between her accession to the throne and the date of the procla-
mation which I have just (pioted.
_ Those who are acquainted with the theological literature of the
sixteenth century will form some idea of the horror and disgust
which th.«. Proceedings excited in the minds of '
su
iperior clergy. They regarded such toleration not
bishops and
dangerous experiment, but
as a most impious contrivance
only
as a
[Chw.
II.]
TOLERATION.
93
Sandys, who was consecrated bishop of Worcester tlie year after
the death of Mary, endeavoured to expel all the Catholics from
his diocese ; and several years later, Aylraer, bishop of London,
advised the government at once to throw into prison all the prin-
cipal English Catholics. Whitgift declared that " if papists went
abroad unpunished, when by law they might be touched, surely it
was a great fault and could not be excused, and he prayed God it
might be better looked to." ' Wliittingham, dean of Durham, wrote
to the earl of Leicester in 1564, bitterly complaining of the
" great lenity towards the papists."
But the queen easily penetrated the designs of these men.
She saw that, under the pretence of piu-ifying the Church, they
were bent on the double object of gratifying their own bigotry
and extending their own influence. Determined to prevent'this,
she took every opportunity of repressing their specious inter-
ference. Indeed, if she had not done so there would soon have
been established in England an ecclesiastical tyranny not inferior
to that which was already established in Spain. One or two in- '
stances may serve as a specimen to show the spirit of the chiefs of
the Protestant Church. At the Portuguese embassy, mass was
publicly said, and it was well known that many English Catholics
were always present at its celebration. In 1576 the Eecorder of
London, the prying and impudent Fleetwood, who was intimately
connected with many of the Protestant clergy, was scandalised by
such an exhibition of idolatry, and on one occasion ventured for-
cibly to interrupt the religious ceremonies. But the queen, so
far from applauding his zeal, reprimanded him for his inter-
ference, and actually committed him to prison.
There is yet extant a letter which was written in 1562, to the
Lords of the Council, by the bishops of London and Ely, com-
plaining of some Catholics that they "will neither accuse them-
selves nor none other." These Christian prelates suggest as a
remedy that one of them, who was a priest, should be tortured in
order to compel him to confess ; and in order to enlist on tlieir
side the poverty of Elizabeth, they add tliat by such means a
large sum of money may also be wrung from him. In 1564,
Nowel, Dean of St. Paul's, in a sermon before Elizabeth, violently
attacked some Catholic work which had just been published ; but
the queen, to his great amazement, instead of corresponding- to
his ardour, sharply rebuked him for his intemperate language.
The only serious blot upon the cluiracter of Elizabeth is the exe-
' This was in lo72.
!i
i
ffi
I
i>i
KKIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap.
cuticn of Mary of Scotland. But many years before slie was put
to death, and therefore raai-.y years before slie was even tried,
some of the bishops advised that she should be executed.
III.
POLITICAL.
"While this struggle was still pending between a tolerant go-
vernment and an intolerant clergy, there suddenly occurred an
event which, though apparently unimportant, led the way to a
complete change in the religious policy of Elizabeth. Mary of
Scotland, after suffering a series of insults for which her conduct
had given but too much cause, suddenly Sad from her own country
and crossed the English border. She came as a fugitive : she was
treated as a prisoner. But, from this moment Elizabeth had no
* peace. The English Catholics, confident in their numbers and in
the goodness of their cause, had been for some time husbanding
their strength until a ftvourable opportunity should arrive. That
opportunity was now afforded to them by the presence of Mary.
Her youth, her beauty, and her misfortunes made her popular ;
and a belief that she was suffering for her religion raised her to
the dignity of a martyr. At the same time, the old aristocracy
felt themselves aggrieved by the preference which Elizabeth dis-
played for men of inferior rank. They had already formed a com-
bination to drive Cecil from her councils ; and failing in that,
they now united with the Catholics, and both parties suddenly
flew to arms. Thus the aristocratic influence and the Catholic
influence, either of which when unsupported was formidable, were
now united against the government of the queen. Their com-
bined forces were headed by the earls of Westmoreland and
Northumberland ; and they naturally selected as the first scene
of hostilities the north of England, which I have already described
as being almost entirely occupied by the adherents of the old re-
ligion. The Pi ogress of the rebellion was frightfully rapid ; and
as the tide of insurrection rolled on towards the south, the country
became rife with the most alarming reports. The government en-
tertained serious apprehensions of a rising in Wales, where the
Catholics formed an immense majority of the population ; and it
was even said that in the other parts of England no less than a
million of men were ready to take arms for their religion, and
only waited the signal of their leaders.
If such an outbreak had taken place a few years before, the
men
III.]
POLITICAL.
95
government would certainly have fallen, and the sovereign would
probably have been deposed. But the efforts which Elizabeth
had made to organise a military establishment, although thev
were necessarily slight, were now the means of protecting her
crown, and perhaps of saving her life. However, even with this
advantage, the matter for a time remained in suspense. At first
her troops only endeavoured so to hold the rebels in check, as to
prevent their advance on the capital; but when they perceived
the utter incapacity of the Catholic and aristocratic leaders, to
whose management the rebellion was happily entrusted, they
ventured on more decisive steps, and after a short but hazardous
struggle, the msurrection was at length put down. The Catholics,
who felt that they had played their game and lost their stake,
now became desperate. As soon as the news reached the Vatican'
the pope, mad with passion, signed a bull depriving Elizabeth of
her crown and absolving her subjects from their allegiance : and
there was found an Englishman bold enough to nail the bull on
the very gates of the palace ot the bishop of London. The queen
who saw herself thus bearded in her own capital, even before she
had time to forget the terrors of the rebellion, determined to
revenge herself on a party which had shown so restless and so im-
placable a spirit. As soon as she perceived that there was a body
of men among her subjects who not only maintained the deposing
power of the pope, but who were ready to carry out that power
to its utmost consequence, it became evident to her that the
whole ground of the question was suddenly changed. It became
evident to her that the matter was no longer a mere dispute
between two rival religions, but that it had risen to a deadly
struggle between the temporal authority and the ecclesiastical
authority. The choice did not now lie between the supersti-
tions of Popery and the superstitions of Protestantism ; but the
question was, whether the people of England were to be governed
by their own civil magistrate, or by the deputies of the bishop of
Kome. The question was soon decided ; but, unhappily for the
reputation of Elizabeth, and, what is much more important, un-
happily for the interests of England, the decision was followed
up by measures which strongly savoured of the intolerant spirit
of that barbarous age. I will not relate the infamous cruelties
which the Protestants now practised on their Catholic country-
men ; the piUoryings, the whippings, the torturings; but it is
enough to mentio that during a period of thirty years nearly
two hundred Catholics were publicly executed as martyrs to their
I
> i
Hi
' Lingard, iv. 120.
9e
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap.
religion, many of them cut dovm while they were yet livino-, and
their hearts torn from their bodies in the presence of a s&v&se
mob, who delighted to witn'^ss their dying agonies.
It is, indeed, distressing to observe how p:iizabeth had thus
allowed lierself to be drawn out of that noble policy in which,
for so long a time, she had steadily persisted. But while, with all
the force which language allows, we must reprobate the conduct
of the queen, what shall we say to those modern Protestant
writers who, to their eternal disgrace have attempted to palliate
so infamous a massacre ? To punish men for their religion was a
great crime in Elizabeth, of which she is perhaps even now
paying the penalty. It was a much greater crime in those
bishops and archbishops who had for so many yen-s been urging
her on to the evil work. But there can be uo doubt that, in a
high moral po:iit of view, the greatest crime of all is committed
by those persons of jur own time who, in a comparatively en-
hglitened age, and w.'thout the stimulus of danger, are constantly
exerting their puny abilities to excite that bigotry with which
English Protestants ire but too apt to regard their Catholic
countrymen, and who, in order to do this, are not ashamed to
defend the conduct of A^lizabeth, which on this occasion was as
contrary to good policy us it was abhorrent to the spirit of all
true religion. Happily, however, for the progress of civilization,
the influence of these nen is now on the wane ; and, without
detaining the reader by the consideration of their petty schemes,
I will now return to the more important matters of general
history.
While these things were passing in England, the aspect of
foreign atRurs had gradually become more favourable. The T>utch
smarting under the cruel exactions of the Spanish government,'
and knowing that the/ could reckon on the support of Elizabeth'
liad turned on their oppressors, and it seemed likely that they
would be able to hold at bay all the power of Philip, distracted
as he was by a fre'jh insurrection of the Moors
At the moment wlien Spain was thus weakened by the open
revolt of the most flourishing of its dependencies, there were
gradually accumulating in an adjoining country the materials for
the most deliberate and bloody tragedy that has ever yet dis-
graced the history of men. The French government, which had
for some years been a laughing-stock to its neighbours, at length
distinguished itself by the commission of a crime which, con-
sidered in all its parts, stands alone, a solitary and instructive
monument of the frightful extent to which religious bigotry can
aggravate the natural malignity of our mean and superstitious
[Chap.
in.]
POLITICAL.
97
nature. It will be understood that I allude to the massacre of
8t. Bartholomew, which, while it caused in our own country a
panic fear, produced the beneficial effect of inducing? every En-.--
lishman to rally round the throne of Elizabeth. Whatever mi-ht
be the natural discontents of the Catholics and Puritans, they
were conscious that this was not the time to embarrass the jfo-
vernment of the queen. Indeed, tlie alarm that was felt in Eno--
land was so great that it showed itself in tlu; most exaggerated
rumours. It was currently reported that this was only the be^^in-
nmg of a series of similar acts ; that all the lands of the French
Protestants were to be sold, and the proceeds to be used for
achieving the conquest of heretical countries.'
Even in France the assassins did not reap the fruits of their
crime. Koch die .till held out, and the Huguenots, with varyin-
success, were able to keep tlieir ground until, seventeen years
later, :,heir liberties were secured to them by the accession of
Heniy IV.
While France and Spain were thus weakened by intestine
feuds, England was rapidly rising into greatness. For nearly
twenty years after the great northern rebellion, Elizabeth was at
peace wivh all the world, and was enabled to mature her plans for
enriching and civilizing her people. The leading characteristics
of her policy will be unfolded under their respective heads in a
subsequent part of this volume ; but I may here mention some of
those minor and yet important improvements which we owe to
her fostvmng care.
•
In the midst of th. je great and pacific exertions, the country was
again startled by the rumours of impending danger. Kelieved for a
time from the threat of foreign aggression, Elizabeth had now to
guard against the insidious projects of domestic treason. Such
projecrs were the natural result of the antagonism of two great con-
flicting parties, and they were furthered by several circumstances
which had conspired to raise the hopes of the Catliolics. On the
side of Scotland, the queen had for several years considered herself
perfectly secure so long as the regency was possessed by ^f.-rton
who was a creature of her own, and who acted entirely under her
guidance. But he was now suddenly arrested, tried for his life
sentencerl to die, and, in spite of the active intercession of the
Enghsli government, was publicly brought to the block. This 2
was immediately followetl by a visit to James by Waytes, a priest
and Creighton, a Jesuit. Their reception by the king and the court
' See Srrype's Anmb, vol. ii. pf-,. i. p. 238.
^ " fhis sentence is too abrupt."— rivlurginal note by Mr. Bucklo 1
98
EEIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap,
•I'
1
'i
was such as to inspire them with the expectation of changing
the religion of the country. The whole Catholic party was now
alive. Within a year of the death of Morton its most influential
members held a great meeting at Paris, in which it was proposed
that James and Mary should bo associated on the [Scottish]
throne. To this Mary of course agreed, and James not only gave
in his adherence to the proposal, but caused a letter to be written
to his mother expressing his approval of a plan of invading
England, formed by the duke of Guise. The government, whose
information nothing could escape, intercepted the letter. The
t^pirit of the English Protestants, Avhich even in our own time has
boiled over at much slighter insults, was roused to indignation at
tliis attempt to introduce a foreign army into the heart of the
kingdom. Looking upon Mary as the real author of the con-
spiracy, they rose almost as one man, and signed an association
binding themselves to pursue to the death any one by whom or
even for whom an attempt should be made on the life of Eliza-
beth. While the nation was thus exasperated, its irritability was
fomented into madness by the discovery of a plot formed by
Babington, Ballard, and others, to assassinate the queen. The
people, always ill-judging and always in extremes, considered this
a fresh evidence ot a deeply-laid scheme to extirpate their reli-
gion ; and their fury, excited partly by fear and partly by hatred,
rose to such a pitch that the Catholics in and about London were
apprehensive of becoming the victims of a general massacre.
Indeed, at one moment there was reason to fear tliat the horrors
of St. Bartliolomew's day were about to be imitated on the English
soil. Happily we were saved from so foul a blot ; but the fate of
Mary was sealed. Within a month after the execution of Babing-
ton, a commission was appointed to try her. She was sentenced
to die. Elizabeth hesitoted, but parliament and the country
clamoured for her head. The queen signed the fatal warrant:
recalled it: signed it again: and again recalled it. Whether
these were compunctions of conscience or whetlier tliey were mere
tricks of state is uncertain, and until the publication of further
evidence than is yet in our hands will remain unknown. At all
events, mistaken views of policy, aided no doubt by feelings of
personal jealousy, at length induced her to bring Mary to the
block. All Europe thrilled with horror ; and Philip, whose re-
sentment against Elizabeth had been accumulating for thirty
years, determined to avail himself of the general feeling by
striking against her a great and decisive blow. The queen had
the earliest intelligence of his designs, and bestirred herself with
all her wonted energy. Her first care was for Scotland. James,
[Chap.
III.]
POLITICAL.
9$
on hearing of Mary'8 execution, talked big and loud. He would
rai e troops from every part of his kingdom. He would put hiCelf
at the head of his nobility, and inflict the most signaWengerce
on the murderer of his mother. But all this was" not thf gTef
of a bereaved son : it was not even the injured dignity of a k W
jtwBs nothing but the idle vapouring of a noisy bully S:
beth knew her man. First she cajoled him, and then L bribed
him She wrote him an aflFectionate letter, and she sent him four
thousand pounds. The affection he might have withstood b
:h: hTd7otii:;:oi:r ' ^^^ ^'-"''^ '^'^ ^^- ^-- ^^^
But in another quarter the clouds gathered thick and blackened
the horizon. The king of Spain had received a vast acce'sfon of
strength from the conquest of Portugal, and with increased ener-^y
now pushed his preparations for war. Not even the fear of he
establishment of a universal monarchy could prevent the Cathol c
powers from openly sympathising with this stupendous de^^n
The pope not only promised him a million of crowns but S
jnfinite difficulty actually collected that sum, which wLi-lTo
England. ."'""' ''' '"'"'"^^ ""^ ^^^'^^^ ^-^ ^-ded in
w>Jl^^?VT'"'' P^T'^ti^r Elizabeth had to oppose a power
which though now prodigiously strengthened, was still affecTed
by he cui-se of religious schism. At home she was able to keep
that spirit m check; but abroad it now produced some verv
a arming results. Holland was with reason .considered a gr at
bulwark of England ; and the queen had sent forces to aid the
Butch in that noble struggle which they were now makin^r a^ain t
he power of Spain. But news was now brought to EnS tha
in that very country Sir William Stanley with all his troops Lad
deserted to Philip, and had given up%he importan Zn of
^:r^^^^-:'r''''' -' ^"''' '-^ ^^^ ^ ^^
And in order that these examples mioht not be in.+ nr, fT,
other s„bje.t»of Elizabeth, the/were heU „p fe iit t "„ ta
he work, of two of the most toflueotial of the KogU.h CatTofe
It IS, indeed, a remarkable proof of the havoe which supersti o,;
can comm.t, even in superior intellects, that these infamot and
coward y treasons were, on the pretence of religion, pubS ,us
Med (?) .n written documents, not only by the coarse Id u
bulent Parsons, but also by Cardinal Allen, a man of »-!■ ' I
Character, and, considering the time in which he Ti™d, fTmo t
enlightened mind. ' ^ "^°**
Such conduct, shameful as it must appear, is rather to be
H 2
Ti
100
REIGN OF ELiZABETII.
[Chap.
ascribed to the general workings of religious bigotry than to any
eiicumstances peculiar to the Church of Rome. But this was not
the view taken by the English hierarchy. The bishops, so soon
as they had heard of what had happened, availed themselves of
it to effect their own ends ; and, with redoubled zeal they now
urged Elizabeth to revenge the acts of a few incendiaries upon
the great body of her Catholic subjects.'
But Elizabeth well knew that, under the mask of loyalty, these
men only sought to gratify tlie hatred with wliich they regarded
their Catholic countrymen, and she indignantly rejected those
cruel precautions which they sought to impose upon her. And
as if to show her dislike, she appointed Catholics to offices of
trust.
m
11
1
While the queen was thus employed, there were assembling in
the Spanish ports the materials for an armament tlie like of which
had never been seen in Europe since the day [of] Xerxes.
When the expedition was almost ready to sail, Philip conse-
crated it by a form of solemn prayer : but Elizabeth, heedless of
such precautions, only laboured to infuse into her people a por-
tion of her own intrepid spirit. Having done tliis, and having,
by lier rejection of the intolerant advice of the bishops, attempted
to unite all England into a bulwark for her throne, she calmly
waited for the dreadful crisis. It was indeed not only a time of
agonising susj)ense, but it was a great moment in the history of
the world. In a deadly contest between the two first of living
nations, there was nov/ to be put to the issue everything that is
dearest to man. If the army of Philip could once set its foot on
tlie English soil, the result was not a matter of doubt. The
heroism of Elizabeth and the chivalrous loyalty of her troops
would hav^ been as nothing when opposed by that stern and dis-
ciplined valour which had carried the Spanish [flag] tlirough a
hundred battles. And when the irregular forces of England had
once been dispersed, the people of England would then have
risen, and there would have followed another unavailing struggle,
wliich even at this distance of time it is frightful to consider. It
would have been a struggle of race against race, in which the
descendants of a Latin colony would have gloried in avenging
upon a Teutonic people the cruel injuries which had been heaped
on their flithers by the savage tribes of Ahiric and Attila. It
would have been the struggle of religion against religion, in
' Ju.st after tlio Armadii, Cooper, Bishop of Winchester, urgently ilomanded more
Blriiigeiil laws iigiiiiist tlio (Jutholics and Puritans. .See CoopiTs Ailmmi'ion tu the
Pvnjdc of Enghwd, 1589, pp. 72, 107, 108; London, ISIJ.
m.]
POLITICAL.
101
1 r.\ 1 " /^ P^^""'^"' °^ ^ f^^^^^ous priesthood would have
glutted themselves to satiety in the blood of the heretic. It
would have been a struggle which would have decided the fate
not merely of England, not merely of Protestantism, but, what
was far more important, the fate of the liberties of Europe, and
of that young and brilliant civilization which was now beginning,
to shme in an almost meridian splendour.
If the prodigious power of the Sp^nish empire bad been wielded
by a sovereign at all competent to the task, these probabilities
would have become matters of almost absolute certainty. But
Aftet^tirrr.^ ^^ those men who seem to be always in the wrong.
After the battle of St. (^uentin, an excess not of caution, but of
timidity, prevented him from pushing his troops into the heart of
France And yet now, when lie was meditating the capital enter-
prise of his long reign, when he was about to undertake the sub-
jugation of a country whose resources had been developed during
thirty years by the greatest sovereign that had been seen since
the death of Charlemagne, at this moment it was that the com-
hZf '''I'ff}'''' ^!, 'T «^dinary prudence seem suddenly to
have deserted him Flushed by the hope of an immortal renown,
^L7T . ' iT '^ ^'' "^^^^^ councillors. It was in vain
« at the duke of Parma urgc-d the necessity of first taking
Flushing, which, in case of adverse fortune, would secure a cer-
tain retreat. It was in vain that this great commander insisted
on the danger of sailing through a narrow sea which was rvirdled
by hostile ports. Philip, urged on by his priests, who told him
that he was the chosen minister of God, determined at once to
strike the blow. The armada sailed from the coast of Spain. The
results I need not stop to relate, for they form a part of those
heroic traditions of our glory by which tlie infant was once
rocked in the cradle, by which the man was once spm-red on to
the nght. ^
From this time everything prospered under the hands of Eliza-
beth After much hesitation she had at length determined
openly to protect the Netherlands against the power of Spain.
1 hose unfortunate provinces liad, by the assassination of the Prince
of Orange (m 1584), been deprived not only of their greatest
general, but of tlieir only statesman, and tliey now saw their
government thrown into tlie hands of an inexperienced boy. The
consequence was that the duke of Parma had carried everything
before him. Brussels and Sluys had successively fallen into hit
hands Antwerp, after a stubborn resistance, had met with the
same fa e, and it seemed likely that Philip would regain every-
tlung winch had for so many years been lost to him. Indeed, ini-
102
(
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap.
i
mediately after the failure of the armada, the duke of Parma
determined to wipe out that di8j.race by the entire conquest of
the Low Countries. Having already nsduced the whole of Brabant
with the single exception of liergen-op-Zoom, he at once with his
entire army laid siege to that important town, the possession of
which would have thrown open to him those rich and flourishing
provinces which lay to the north of the Waal. But on the land,
as well as on the ocean, Philip was to be foiled by the hand of
Elizabeth. The Dutch, with the aid that tlie queen had sent to
them, succeeded in baffling all his attempts, and he, unquestion-
ably the greatest general in Europe, was compelled to effect a
sudden and disastrous retreat. The duke, still acting under the
orders of Philip, then marched into France, hoping by this sudden
movement to effect a junction with the rebels, and with their
united forces overthrow Henry IV., the friend and ally of Eliza-
beth. But there also the troops of England were at hand, and
contributed not a little to the complete defeat of the Spanish
army.
^N'hile the fortunes of Philip were thus declining abroad, Eliza-
beth suddenly determined to attack him at home. Having already
insulted his fleet, int(>rcepted his treasure on its way from America,
and even destroyed his ships as they sailed from port to port, she
at length sent an expedition which cut out his navy under the
ytny guns of Cadiz, captured the city, burnt it to the ground, and
inflicted an irretrievable injury on the Spanish empire.
The most powerful of her enemies being thus crippled, and her
position being still further secured by the accession of a Protes-
tant prince to the throne of France, Elizabeth was now at leisure
to direct her attention to a country which has always been the
disgrace as well as the curse of England, and which, even at the
present day, is as a foul and idcerous excrescence deforming the
beauty and weakening the energy of this mighty empire. For
three centuries ( ? ) Ireland had been a source of constant anxiety
to tlie English government. Its wild and desperate population
was constantly )ising in arms, and within the last few years there
had broken out a fresh and dangerous rebellion, headed by a man
of no common abilities— the proud but subtle Tyrone. The
queen, with that knowledge of men which, except in two in-
stances,' ne\er deceived her, now selected Mountjoy for the diffi-
cult task of reducing this turbulent country. He, after a desperate
struggle, completely suppressed the rebellion : compelled Tyrone
to surrender at discretion, and sent him to London to be disposed
^^^^mp
i<ii.
^HH^^B
f
!^
■HI
•i
II
^^H
I
^^^^B
I
^^■e
■
' Leicester and Essex.
[Chap.
in.]
POLITICAL.
103
of at the discretion of the queen. This was tlie last act of this
great and glorious reign ; but the news of it was not to meet the
ears of her to whom it was owing. Indeed, the powers of Eliza-
beth, which had been for some time declining, were now worn
out. After nearly half a century of incessant labour, the life of
the great queen began to ebb. The death of her oldest and wisest
councillors, the sensible diminution of her energies, and perhaps
a prophetic vision of the future, preyed on her mind. Weary of
life, which for her had lost its charms, her shattered body yielded
to the first summons, and she died full of years and of glory. The
people were not fully sensible of the loss they had sustained,
and indeed they had no means of fairly estimating it until they
had compared her with that contemptible buffoon who was now
to fill her place. Still it was a blow which they felt bitterly ;
and there is not the slightest foundation for the assertion so con-
fidently made by modern writers, that Elizabeth outlived her
popularity. Camden indeed tells us, what we know from other
sources, that many of the courtiers deserted her in order to pay
their homage to James. This is likely enough of that debased and
unmanly tribe. It is likely enough that those wretched creatures
who are always fluttering in a palace should be the first to desert
the falling ruin. It is likely enough that those who are so servile
as to humble themselves before the sovereign when she is livino-,
should be so treacherous as to desert her when she is dying. But
the people at large knew nothing of such grovelling intrigues,
and they could not ftiil to admire that intellect which had con-
ducted them unscathed through such constant and pressing
dangers. They respected Elizabeth as a sovereign : they loved
her as a friend : and they took good care that she should not have
the last agonies of death embittered by the sharp sting of national
ingratitude.
The reader will perhaps be surprised that I should as yet have
taken no notice of the Puritans, who during the last years of the
sixteenth century began seriously to embarrass the government,
and but for the prudence of Elizabeth would perhaps have suc-
ceeded in impeding its operations. But I have designedly made
this omission, because I feel that in this, which is but a prelimi-
nary sketch, it would be impossible to do justice to so important
a subject, and because it has appeared to me that the proper
period for attempting a philosophic estimate of their tendencies
will be the moment of their final success. That moment was
indeed now at hand, and under the reign of James we shall find
this obscure sect rapidly swelling into a mighty party, wliose
power swept away the throne and the Church, and whose inllu-
>^
1
If
104
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap.
ence is still perceptible in our laws, in our institutions, and in
many of the strokes of our national character. But the causes
and extent of their influence, which form one of the most im-
portant and difficult branches of English history, will be discussed
at length in the next volume : and I now turn with pleasure from
the relation of mere political events to consider the moral and
economical state of England during the reign of Elizabeth.
IV.
CLKRGY.
The two great principles which Elizabeth kept steadily in view,
and from which she never swerved, were to repress the arrogance
of the ecclesiastical power, and to diminish the influence of the
great landed aristocracy. As these were the leading points in
her domestic policy during more than forty years, and as it is
to the success with which she pursued them that we owe no small
share of our unprecedented advance in liberty, in morals, and in
wealth, I shall endeavour to examine them at a length somewhat
commensurate with their importance. I therefore propose in this
and the succeeding chapter to inquire into the state and condi-
tions of the ecclesiaL cal power; and, in the two remaining
v^uapters of this book, I shall in the same way examine the aris-
tocratic power, and show the connection between its decline and
the rise of those middle classes, to whom the most brilliant pecu-
liarities of modern civilization are chiefly owing.
In the second book I shall ti-ace the development of civilization
in other matters, and in the third book I shall examine manners.
The ecclesiastical history of Engknd during the sixteenth
century is so intimately connected with the general history of
Protestantism, that it would be highly unphilosophical to attempt
to estimate either of these events by considering them as separate
phenomena. But, for the convenience of analytic investigation, I
shall, in the first place, endeavour to set in a clear light the gene-
ral causes of the Reformation, and then I shall descend to that
narrower and more practical view which will connect the whole
with the particular history of our own country.
It is a very remarkable circumstance that no one has yet suc-
ceeded in writing the history of that great revolution which,
three hundred years ago, changed the face of the civilized world.
This, no doubt, is partly to be ascribed to the backward state of
the moi-al sciences, which in their present unformed condition
IV.]
CLERGY
lot
render such a task eminently difficult; but it is, as I should
suppose, quite as assignable to the feelings of extreme prejudice
with which nearly all men approach the consideration of so irri-
II tatmg a subject. To me it appears undoubted, that while the
ettects of the Eeformation have, on the whole, been beneficial to
mankind, they have been, and still are, greatly exaggerated: the
evil effects exaggerated by the Catholics, the good effects exag-
gerated by the Protestants. The truth is, that the Eeformation,
until It had been curbed and modified by the strong hand of the
temporal power, effected little for any part of Europe. One
great merit, indeed, it haJ ; it roused the European mind. It
taught rnan to know his own power. But how that power was to
be employed, whether it was to be used in accelerating the
march of the human species or in building up another spiritual
tyranny in the place of that which it had overthrown, these were
questions to which there was nothing in the general aspect of
Europe early in the sixteenth century, or in the spirit of the first
Reformers, which could have enabled an observer of that time to
give a satisfactory answer. Indeed, the bigotry of the Protes-
tants was not at all inferior to the bigotry of the Catholics ; and,
although their cruelty was necessarily less, because its exercise
was bounded by the more limited extent of their power, yet
whenever the Eeformed clergy obtained the upper hand, there
were committed excesses as obnoxious to humanity as any of
those with which they perpetually taunted their opponents.
And yet there is, I know, an opinion very prevalent among
those who are but little acquainted with the sources of history,
tJiat It was the Eeformation which gave a death-blow to supersti-
tion, and that to it alone we are indebted for our emancipation
trom the trammels of priestly authority. To this it would per-
haps be sufficient to answer that in most Protestant countries no
such emancipation has ever taken place : that every instance in
which a Catholic nation is enslaved by its clergy is merely the
effect of the ignorance of the people, and would equally occur if
those people were Protestants; and that in France, for example,
where there has been no reformation, there is among the higher
classes less superstition than in England. But, without entering
into these general considerations, it will be sufficient to show by
an hisfoncal analysis how the establishment of Protestantism was
the effect and not the cause of the decline of ecclesiastical power ;
and how the decline of that power was in the first instance brought
about by the mere force of political combinations.
It must, I think, at the present day be clear to everv well-in-
tormed person, that the Eeformation was the result, not" so much
106
U il
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap.
of the desire of purifying religion as of the desire of lightening
its pressure. There is, indeed, no doubt that some of the founders
of Protestantism were actuated by the purest and most dignified
motives ; but it may be broadly laid down that neither in the
sixteenth century nor at any other period has any great revolution
been permanently effected, except with the view of remedying
some palpable and physical evils. Among barbarous tribes there
can, I should suppose, be little doubt that the influence of the
clergy is an almost unmixed benefit, and that within certain
limits the greater the power of the priests, the greater the happi-
ness of the people. In such a state of society it is the ministers
of religion alone who are able to temper the ferocity of the
passions, and even the fictions of superstition may be employed
in ameliorating the condition of the savage. But in a civilized
country, when property laas begun to be accumulated, and when
the arts of peace are already cultivated, the existence of such an
ecclesiastical power produces two serious evils, it wrings from the
people the fruits of their industry, and it checks the progress of
inquiry, and therefore the progress of knowledge. To the latter
of these evils the majority of even the most civilized nations is
always indifferent. How, indeed, can it be expected that those
who sweat at the plough or toil at the loom should trouble them-
selves about the impediments which are opposed to the advance
of science or to the progress of society ? How can it be expected
that the peasant and the mechanic, drooping under the weight
of incessant labour, should band together to uphold liberty of
thought and freedom of discussion ? But when these same men
perceive that the clergy is wresting from them a part of their
scanty earnings ; when they see a lazy priesthood fattening on the
products of their industry, their indignation is soon aroused, and
nothing but the constant efforts of the ecclesiastical power will
prevent that indignation from finding a destructive vent. In such
a case the safety of the hierarchy will depend, not on any moral
considerations, but solely on their ability to resist the aggression
with which they are threatened. Thus it is that a careful survey
of history will prove that the Eeformation made the most pro-
gress, not in those countries where the people were most en-
lightened ; but in those countries where, from political causes,
the clergy were least able to withstand tlie people. It is, there-
fore, in the investigation of those causes that we must seek the
solution of this question.
In every nation in Europe the power of the clergy at an early
period bore an inverse ratio to the power of the sovereign. In
countries such as France, where the feudal system had succeeded
IV.]
CLERffY.
107
in eradicating every vestige of representative government, and
where the authority of the king was not sufficient to supply the
deficiency the councils of the church were the only links which
knit together the discordant elements, and bound up in one
nation a multitude of independent fiefs. The church, by thus
stepping m and remedying isolated abuses, prevented feudalism
trom denationalising France. At the same time the circum-
stances which gave the church this power, tended to increase it.
The sovereigns of France, seeing the flowers of their prerogative
droop one by one, and sorely pressed by the arrogance of the
great feudal proprietors, looked aiound them for a countejpoise
to the aristocratic power. That counterpoise they found in the
church. From the time of Charlemagne we see a growing dis-
position on the part of the kings of France to increase the power
of the priesthood. Thus that power reached such a height that
when the Eeformation broke out, it found the French clergy ^o
compact and so well organised as to be able to resist a movement
which shook Europe to the centre.
But in England the matter was far different. During the
rule of the Anglo-Saxons we find, indeed, causes in operation
similar to those which took place in France. We find the aristo-
cratic power constantly rising, and the royal power constantly
declining. We find the consequence, that even the wisest of our
kings thought It necessary to court the church in order to secure
themselves against the nobles. But, in the middle of the eleventh
century, the whole course of affairs was suddenly diverted. The
IVorman conquest, by making the king the granter of baronies,
at once threw the great nobles under his control. The feudal
system was never developed, and except diu-ing the turbulent
reign of Stephen, national assemblies were constantly held. The
farst five (?) kings of England possessed a power such as no sove-
reign of Europe then possessed. In consequence of the existence
ot thi5 central power, the want of church councils in our own
country was never felt ; the Plantagenets never found it worth
their while to encourage the ecclesiastical authority : on the con-
trary, they exerted themselves to repress it : and when, at the
end of the fourteenth century, the rapid decline of the royal
power made it the interest of our kings to court the church, it
was then too late to establish an authority, the chains of which
can only be firmly riveted in times of the grossest ignorance.
Ihe t.istory of Germany is in this respect very analogous to the
h' aory of England.' After the death of Charlemagne, Germany
' r-votestantism rose and flourished ia North Germany : compare that with South
108
IJKKiN OF KLIZABETII.
[GuAf.
remained in tlio hands of liis family for nearly a eentury ; but on
the death of liis f>niii(lson the throne i)eeame elective, and custom,
and afterwards positive law, limited tlu; nund)er of electors. Tiio
residt was, that tlio j!;ov(rnment was turned into an oligarchy,
and the supreme power vested in the hands of tlu* el(>ctoral
princes, who, unembarrassed by any rival authority in their own
states, were in this respect like our Norman kin«,'s, and did not
court the cliurch because they had no occasicm for its aid. The
conse(juence was, that in Kn«>liiud the clergy wer(^ h^ss eflficierit,
eitJu'r for good or evil, than in any country of Kurop(>, except
Germany. iCence we can easily understand why the Reformation
l)egan in Germany and spread in England. In both cotmtries
religious nm\ welcomed it as the means of averting national
intidelity ; ambitious men welcomed it as the means of extending
their own power.
It would be easy to extend th(^ view 1 have lu>re taken to the
other great ct)untri(>s of Euro|)e : jind to show how, in .Spain, the
Visigothic code, drawn up by tlie lergy befon^ tlu^ consolidation
of the monarchy, became by their arts so incorporated with the
kingly institutions.'
Tn the same way, 1 niight show how, on tlie other side of the
Rhine, the constant struggle between the bishops of Utreclit and
Counts of Holland resolved itself into a struggle between the
spiritual and temporal power.*
Bm I may safely leave such further application to the know-
ledge of the reader ; and I will now resume the general thread of
tbe ecclesiastical history of England.
The circumstances which I have just stated explain the facility
with which the foiuulations of the Ri'formation were laid by
Henry. They also explain the little resistance which the clergy
' It was reiimrked at the Couiioil of Trent, as n roculiiirity of tlii' Spaniimls, that
thoy ohiiiiu-d for tho bitsliops a powor iiidopciKUint of flu- jiopcs (Hanko, J','ij).stt\ baml i.
pp. 331-3M). Vaniba, King of Spain, was deposed by tho clorpy in a.d. 081 ; and
this is the lirnt instance of tlio oivlusiastioal authorities assuming such a power (Fl'eury,
Smc Dincouiv iu Hhtoire arlisiastiquc, tome xiii. p. 22 ; Paris, 1758). lu Hpaiu, tho
Inquisition itself had not tho power of imprisoning bishops (s.'c Geddcs' Miscf/laticoiis
'Tracts; Loud. 1730; vol. i. p. 389). And although thoro wore at ono time signs that
tho indiflferenoo of Charles V. would weaken tho oeelesinstioal power (M'Crie'.s h'l/or-
vmtiou in Spain), yet tho spread of tho Jesuits (Ranko, Piipsk; i. 233), who rose m
Spain and ilourished in Spain, saved it— and so diil tho bigotry of Philip IV.
■•'On tho spirit of hostility to tho church whieh appeared in tho Low Countries
during tho fourteenth century, see Van Kampfou, Geschiedcnis der iMtercn in de
Kedrrhnder ; Gravenhaye, 1821 ; Deol. i. blad 24-25). Ho truly says, 'do dageraad
dcr Ilervormiiig brak aaiu'
IV.]
CLERGY.
109
H
were abl. to mako, ov.n to tl.e incompetent ministers of hia
immZf,' 'I'l T^"^""-' '^'''? '''^'" of Edward, the government,
impolicy partly by avan.e, and partly, as we may hope, by hi^ho;
in: t'^r" ^f^^y^^^^^r^^^ ^o doal the'ele4;a'sudien
und, as It afterwards appeared, a most severe blow. As the results
of t us were of great moment, 1 shall consider them in reference
to the general question of the sources of ecclesiastical power.
A nor,g the many contrivances of the chvgy to increase the r own
uutlionty the adornment of churches has always occupied a pro-
ininent place; and there are few ]>etter mc>asures of the supeJlti-
turn of ana. on than the proportion which the money spent in
hem bears to the general wealth of the country. But in England
the proportion had, in the middle ages, always been greater than
the ow state ot our clergy as compared with their more flourishinjr
condition in other countries. This peculiarity arose from circum-
stances which r will now endeavour to explain
As soon as the fine arts began to revive in Europe, the Church
].Md hold of them, and used them for her own purposes. Poetry,
painting, architecture, nay, even music itself, were employed bv
her^. engines to exalt the senses and subjugate the reason of
Mankind. J ho degree of her success in the different arts de-
pended on he laws, on tlie climate, and perhaps on the phvsical
condition of the different nations of Euiope. Among tlfe W
nousand indolent inhabitants of the south, painting and music
were the means which she chiefly employed. In the north, where
the .rilliant imagination which the great tribes of Scandinavia
owed to their recent migration from Asia, was as yet unchecked
by their laws, but was tempered by the severity of their climate,
poetry was the vehicle in which the Church taught her dogmas to
ii cmlulous people. But in England, where a higher degree of
civilization had to some extent checked the first exuberance of
the fiincy, neither poetry, nor painting, nor music were able to
Httain to such precocious maturity ; and the only art left to the
e ergy was the art of building temples which, by their beauty,
giat fy the senses ot the vulgar. It is not surprising that the
JMiglish clergy, thus concentrating upon a single art their wealth
and their energies, should have succeeded in raising it to a height
which no other modern nation has been able to attain. The
■ In the first yoar of FA^-avd VI., lampoons on thn ,s„erament were sturk on the
no
RKIGN OF ELIZAUETir.
[Chap.
beauty of their clmrclu'H is sufficiently attested by those splendid
remains wliich are yet stand in jjf.
hut the a<j;e wliieh could consider such trifles nn imporiaut
matters was soon to pass away, and one of tlu' inost d; ci;,ive
symptoms of approach in«? civilization was the decline of church
architect\u-e. As the Inisiness of life became more complicated :
as the knowledjife of men became more extensive, and tlieir views
more enlarj^ed, just in that proportion increased their disinclina-
tion to build churches, and to encourage architects by whom those
churches were plann(>d. It is, indeed, an instnictive fact, that the
lirst decline of ecclesiastical architecture dates in our own country
from the fourteenth century : that j,neat century in which the
House of Commons tirst laid the foundations of its power : in
which the first f^reat steps mm) takeii towards relieving our
slaves from tlieir s(ufdom : in wliicJi VVicklitf began to preach and
Chaucer began to write : and in which the barbarous energy of our
8axon tongue was effectually tempered by the chaste elegance of
the Norman-French, and, by the combination, gave rise to that
great and noble dialect, which now, so rapid is its progress, bids
fair, before many centuries are passed, to supersede the other lan-
guages of the earth, and, by imiting civilized man imder one
speech, realise the wildest schemes of the most Utopian philolo-
gists.
As civilization rapidly advanced, our ecclesiastical architecture
as rapidly declined ; and in the tifteenth and sixteenth centuries
reached its lowest point of debasement, from which it only rose
for a moment during the superstitious government of the first
English Stuarts. Kut these remarks only apply to the external
form ; and the pictures, the costly ornaments, the glittering plate,
even the very shrines on which superstition loved to heap its
wealth, still retained all their mediaeval splendour, and, by at-
tracting worshippers to the sanctuary, swelled the numbers of the
admirers of the church. Captivated by the gorgeousness of the
temple, men Were inclined to look up with respect to the priests
by whom the services of the temple Were conducted, and this re-
flected homage served not a little to check the downfall of the
clergy, lint even this resource was at length to be torn from
them ; and only six years before the accession of Elizabeth orders
were issued by the government of Edward to strip all the churches
in England of their plate, their jewels, and indeed all their orna-
ments ( ? ). The results of this measure, executed as it was with
unsparing severit} , it is difficult for a reader at the present dnv
fully to estimate. In an age when reading was a scarce accom-
plishment, and when the few who could read found little worth
ly.]
CLERGY.
Ill
the trouble of reading : when public amuficments were exceed-
ingly rare : when no theatre liad yet been built in England, and
when the wretclied dramas that were in existence were acted in
eliurches and performed byprieHls; when there were no operas,
and neither reviews nor newspapers ; wlien all these frivolities,
wii wliicli ignorance now disports its leisure, were entirely un-
known, the splendid servicoa of the church offered a daily amuse-
ment, of the excitement of whicli we, in our time, can hardly form
a conception. When these were withdrawn, men ceased to flock
to churches, whicli for them had lost their cJiarms. A great link
which bound together the clergy and the laymen was suddenly
severed, and the results were so remarkal;le, tiia^ even intelligent
tui-eigners who visited our country were struck by them.
Tile clergy, wlu. had long forfeited tiie love of the people, now
even lost their respect. During the reign of Mary, not even the
utn>ost pressure of th(^ municipal authority could protect them
trom popular expressions of undisguised contempt. In London
the very chaplains of the queen were pelted and mobbed as they
walked in the streets ; and though the fires were yet blazing in
femithfield, a dog was publicly exposed, with his head shaved in
mockery ot tlie ecclesiastical tonsure. Even the most sacred ordi-
nances of the church were not spared. In Cheapside a cat was
hung up with a wafer in its paws, to ridicule the sacrament.'
It the clergy were thus handled, in spite of the protection given
tliem by Mary, it was not likely tliat her death would improve
their position. Indeed, after the accession of Elizabeth, their in-
fluence went on declining with an accelerated velocity; for be-
sides the general causes which I have pointed out, there were now
some specific causes which tended to the same end, and by les-
sening their wealth, degraded them still further in the ranks of
society. This diminution of income appears to have been effected
in tliree different ways : first, by an alteration of their special
lees ; second, by the abolition of clerical celibacv : third, by a fall
in the value of the precious metals. I will con.suier each of these
three methods in the order in which I have stated them.
Tlie Catholic Church, with a due regard for the temporal
prosperity of her priests, had in every country secured to them
tees, which were paid by those who received their spiritual aid.
borne of these fees, such as those on marriage, burials, and the
like, lapsed, after the Ml of the Catholic clergy, into the hands of
' Only four months after the death of Edward VI. a clergyman, who had sold his
Jite to a butcher, was punished by being driven through London in a cart. In the
tif n .r V -"« /^-'s- ■•• Mar^ a. ynciil was nc;iriy pulWl lu piuc.-s by the people at
ht Bartholomews, and on the next Sunday, when Dr. Watson preached at St. Paul's
tios8, lio was protected from a similar indignity by the queen's guards.
Ui
k
112
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chaf.
h »
their Protestant successors. But some of the most onerous and
lucrative charges, particularly those made on the performance of
prayers for the dead, &c., were considered too superstitious to be
inherited by the priests of a purer religion, and the laity, of
course, gladly acquiesced in a change by which they alone were
the gainers. Although we are not in possession of precise statis-
tical evidence on this subject, it is nevertheless certain that the
alteration must have caused a serious defalcation in the revenue
of the clergy ; and the eflfects of this loss were the more im-
portant on account of the other causes which I have now to con-
sider, and which operated in the same direction.
, . , . • •
The operation of these circumstances was such as it is easy to
imagine. The clergy, already degraded in character, were now
ruined in fortune, and they rapidly sunk into that state which
was natural to their fallen position. When any class of men
cease to be respected by the nation, they soon cease to respect
themselves. Treated as the outcasts of society, they betook
themselves to the meanest and most grovelling amusements.
Amid the refuse of mankind, they passed their time by dicing,
and carding, and drinking in petty ale-houses, which they seldom
left except in a state of beastly intoxication.
The impurity of their morals formed a fitting counterpart
to the coarseness of their manners. No father would trust his
daughter, no husband would trust his wife, alone in the company
of one of these men. Indeed their depravity was so great and
notorious, that when Archbishop Cranmer drew up his system of
Ecclesiastical Law (in 1552), he was obliged to order that " un-
married clergymen were not to retain as housekeepers any women
under sixty years of age, except their own near relations." But
the scandal still increasing, this regulation was, within twenty
years, renewed by one of the heads of the church, and the arch-
bishop of York circulated orders through the whole of his diocese
for "no minister (being unmarried) to keep in his house any
woman under the age of sixty years, except she be his motlier,
aunt, sister, or niece."
Such regulations, however, availed nothing to control the \m-
bridled licentiousness of these men. Several of the London
clergy are stated by a contemporary to have kept a harem, and
althouoh we may hope that this is an unfounded assertion, for
the expense would have been a serious obstacle, yet we have other
evidence against them of the fullest and most painful character.
A well known clergyTnan of the name of Barton was detected in
London in an act of fornication under circumstances off singular
iv.J
CLERGY.
113
infamy ; and waa dragged off to Bridewell under the groaninirs
and hootings of the mob. ^
While the clergy were thus falling into contempt, it was not
likely that competent men would be willing to engage in so
despised a profession. The highest offices of the church, shorn as
they were, still presented attractions for vain and avaricious men
Jiut such offices could only be occupied by a few; and with the*
inferior departments, scarcely any one of decent character was
willing to meddle. The consequence was that all over the kin-
dom an immense number of cures were entirely unoccupied, and
whole parishes were left without the slightest religious instruc
tion. To supply this deficiency, a somewhat strange expedient
was adopted and only two years after the accession of Elizabeth,
It was found advisable to license common mechanics to read the
services to the people in the different churches. This, thoujrh
periiaps a necessary measure, tended still further to depress the
character of the sacred profession. At length the evil reached
such a pitch that the bishops, in order to recruit the diminished
numbers of the clergy, were compelled not only to license such
men as readers, but even to confer upon them the holy rite of
ordination Tradesmen and artisans, mechanics, alehouse-keepers,
tinkers, cobblers, nay, even common serving-men, now formed a
considerable portion of the clergy of the established church of
Ijngland. As every Sunday came round, these men, ignorant of
the rudiments of literature, miglit be seen to mount the pulpit,
from whence they enlightened their hearers by declaiming against
the abominations of popery, and not unfrequently by explaining
the abstrusest subtleties of Calvinistic metaphysics. Such mon-
strous absurdities revolted even that ignorant age. Out of everv
part of the kingdom addresses flocked in from the indignant and
outniged parishioners. The inhabitants of Essex presented a
petition to the council, complaining that their clergy were « men
ot occupation, serving-men, the basest of all sorts ; . . . risters
dicers drunkards, and of offensive lives." The parishioners of
lAlaidstone complained that their curate was " a person of a most
Bcancialous life : frequenting alehouses, retreating thither ordi-
nari y from the church ; and a common player of cards and dice."
Elizabeth, unable to remedy such a state of things, to which
she herself was personally indifferent, could only return evasive
answers; and in many places the people, who now began to loathe
their clergy, took the law into their own hands. At Westenden,
they, ot their own a,uthority, put their vicar into the common
s ocks. In another parish, the name of which is not mentioned,
the untortunate clergyman was subjected to the same indignity,
I'll
-5 3.'
"a IS ' P
!
114
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap.
ii|
III
I
and was otherwise ill treated. In 1574, the clergyman at Man-
chester, who, as we are carefully informed, was a "bachelor of
divinity," was attacked on his way to the church, wlien he was
about to preach, was beaten, wounded, and almost killed. One
of the magistrate? of Surrey directed the vicar of Chertsey to
appear before him respecting some pecuniary deiicit. This the
reverend gentleman declined to do ; but his disobedience was im-
mediately punished : he was at once put into the public stocks,
and when he appealed for redress to the quarter sessions, his
appeal was rejected.
The clergy, thus beggared, despised, and assaulted, resorted to
expedients which will astonish a modern reader. With tlie view
of increasing their incomes, they not unfrequently publicly sold
beer, wine, and other provisions ; and in order that they might do
this with the greater facility, they converted their rectories into
alehouses and taverns.
Their wives, who had been mostly servant-girls, were still less
scrupulous than themselves. A woman married to one of the
clergymen of Cardiganshire was, in 1584, publicly tried for ad-
ministering potions to young girls, with the view of causing
abortion.
The evils attendant on such a state of things had now become
so palpable that the government was at length compelled to
notice them. In 1584, the Lords of the Council, whose interest
it must have been to conceal the nakedness of the church, wrote
to the archbishop of Canterbury that "great numbers of persons
that occr.py cures are notoriously untit, most for lack of learning;
many chargeable with great and enormous faults, as drunkenness,
iilthiness of life, f»'aming at cards, haimting of ale-houses."
It does not, however, appear that the rebuke was attended with
any advantage, and from the contemporary documents wliich I
have seen, I believe that during the whole of the sixteenth cen-
tury the situation of tlie clergy v/ent on degenerating. But the
painful details into which as an historian I have been compelled
to enter, refer almost entirely to their moral character ; and it
will now be necessary to bring forward such other evidence as will
enable the reader to judge of their intellectual accomplishments.
In the course of nearly three centuries an immense amount of
evidence has of course perished ; but the proofs which are yet
extant of the gross ignorance of tlie clergy in the reign of Eliza-
beth, are such as would stagger the most increduloiis, even if
they were not confirmed by every description of historical testi-
mony which has come down to us. We have it on the most un-
impeachable evidence that twenty-one years after the death of
IV.]
CLERGY.
115
Mary, there were in the county of Cornwall alone one hundred
and forty clergymen who, if they succeeded with infinite dSltv
in reading the prayers, were quite incapable of prea S a
ernaon Nor must this be considered as a peculiar^v confined
o tlmt distant county. In 1584, the celebrated Sampson stated
n a formal address to parliament that many of the clergy'^ne ther
book ; " and he adds, ^^ I r^::^r:::,:t;::^:^^c::^
than someyoimg scholars could do which were newlvtaken 1,^ f
some English school. Truely this their re din^'i'^^^^^^^^^
some places among us, that they seem tliemselves LL f. ^
stand th..t which they do read^' In the yTr ll^ ^
list was drawn up of the clergy in the archdoaconrrof M idd e
sex ; a,Ki to the name of each man there was appended anfccoun;
of his acquirements. T]>o number of the clL^ 7h,!l i
terised was one hundred and sixteen, aLoTot the e^e"
nunjber three only were acquainted with Latin and Creek
If from sucli general cases we now descend +n ZZ ^ -
stances, we shdl find che evidence still reJnXbrt^^
except what IS related by contemporary writers, who only record
that which .vas passing before their eyes, and which was to tW
a matter of daily and familiar observaiio;. Early iX rei^Tf
Elizabeth, the chaplain to the archbishop of CanterburvLnf
sion to examine the curate of CrippleLJe Ud W ^ / '^"
his ki.0 1 dge asked him the xnea^t^^r to'^d ^^^^^^^^^
a^is.c.ry reply. ^^^;::Jz:'£z^:;^
ham, All baint8,was examined by the bishop of Norwich ru
conversation which ensued is deserving attention and Tti«
served by Strype, whose devotion to fhe Church 'orFnl T"
one will think of questioning. -'The bishon a^ked h .^.^ "°
tents of the third ehapler tf Matther;'hrattrrno^^^^^^^^
and the contents of the eleventh chantr^v • r.Zu ,T^ '
Tl.e ard,b,,,l,„p of Y.,,k dir«W M» chaplain W !Zl!^t^
I 2
116
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Ciup.
The chaplain first desired him to translate an easy Latin sentence.
This he was unable to do ; but as such knowledge was not very
common in the clerical profession, the absence of it did not
amount to a disqualification, and the examiner proceeded in his
inquiry. He asked the reverend gentleman " who brought up
the people of Israel out of Egypt?" He answered. King Saul.
And, being asked who was first circumcised, he could not answer.
It was not to be expected that men such as these should dis-
play any remarkable ability when they had occasion to mount the
pulpit. Indeed, their apostolic deficiencies were so glaring that
it was found necessary to draw up sermons which they might read
to the people. But some of the more adventurous of the sacred
order, disdaining to shine by such borrowed light, ventured to
address their parishioners in their own language, and with their
own ideas. One of them, with the view, as I suppose, of mode-
rating the presumption of his flock, preached in favour of medi-
ocrity, and his sermon was considered such a masterpiece of
theology that it was repeated in two or three different parishes.
" Grod," says this great divine, " delighted in mediocrity by these
reasons : viz. man was put in medio paradisi : a rib was taken
out of the tnidst of man. The Israelites went through the midst
of Jordan; and the midst of the Ked Sea. Samson put fire-
brands in the middest between the foxes' tails. David's men had
their garments cut off by the middest. Christ was hanged in
the m,iddest between two thieves."
I am really ashamed of quoting such incoherent follies, but the
reader must remember that they refer to the history of a very
important body of men, whose peculiarities can only be eluci-
dated by the assemblage of such instances. I will, however, only
add two or three more out of the immense abundance of those
materials which I have colle<:ted. It is stated by Aylmer, wlio was
afterwards raised to the episcopal bench, tliat upon one occasion tlie
vicar of Trumpington, in the course of divine service, fell upon the
text, " Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani." Being much struck by what
appeared to him so .trange a repetition, the reverend gentleman
could not restrain his wonder. " Wlien he came to that place," —
I quote the words of the bishop, — " he stopped, and calling the
churchwardens, said: Neighbours, this gejire must be amended.
Here is Eli twice in the book, I assure you if my lord of Ely
come this way and see it, he will have the book. Therefore, by
mine advice ve shall scrape it out, and put in our own town's name,
Trumpington, Trumpington, lamah zabacthani." The bishop adds
what we should scarcely believe on any inferior aiithority, that to
this strange suggestion the churchwardens acceded, and that the
[Ciup.
IV.]
CLEEGY.
117
proposed alteration was actually made in the Bible of the church
In the country, which is the natural abode of ignorance, the
clergy, low as they were sunk, were in points of acquirements not
so very inferior to many of the laymen ; but in the towns, which
are always iar advanced beyond the rest of the kingdom, the dif-
ference was most striking, and it was not to be expected that
these more cultivated inhabitants should pay much attention to
the spiritual exhortations of men such as I have described. In-
deed, so far from receiving respect, they were considered as legi-
timate marks for popular derision ; and they could hardly stir
from their houses without being jeered at, and even assaulted by
the apprentices and serving-men as they passed tlirough the streets
of London.
The churches themselves were not only neglected, they were
actually profaned ''
The consequence was, that in the towns the clergy were even
niore scarce than in tlie country. An official inquiry made in
the middle of the reign of Elizabeth, brought to light the start-
ling fact that in the whole of London there were only to be
toimd nineteen " resident preachers.''
Nor were the universities themselves much better supplied.
Even m these great nurseries of religion there were not clergy
sufficient to perform the most ordinary functions of the church •
and on one occasion, when tlie congregation were assembled in
b.. 31arys, Oxford, there was no one to be found who was able to
preach tlie sermon. The high sheriff of the county, indeed
mounted the pulpit with the view of supnlying the deficiency'
but his discourse was not much calculated to edify the audience
"I have brought you," said the orator, "some biscuits baked in
the oven of charity, carefully conserved for the chickens of the
church, the sparrows of tlie spirit, and the sweet swallows of
salvation.
While such theology as this was preached in the pulpits of the
Protestant Church of England, and while the morals and learning
of the clergy were such as I have described, the queen, with a
rare forbearance, never expressed by any general measure the
contempt winch she must have felt for the entire order. This is
tlie more remarkable when compared with the active steps which
we shall afterwards see she took against the episcopal hierarchy ;
and I have sometimes thought that slie might have in view a
scheme of balancing against each other the different orders of
the cliurcli, and of reigning over them in virtue of their mutual
rivalries. However this may be, it is at least certain that the
juu,s respecting th^ clergy were as all law8 ought to be-some-
U If
i; . . i,
118
!l
REKIN OF F.UZXW/ni,
[Chap.
thinjjf in tho rear of tho j^onoral feolinjj; of tho ufr^. One of the
most strikiiifT aiioinnlies of this Hort, was tho exiHteiicui of uiiro-
p<>ahxl statutos n«spoctiiijjf tlie boiu^lit of tho clerj^y. This I iioed
Boarwly say was a })rivilcj,n> ('onccdtMl to a (•••rlain claHs of men, of
witlidrawing th(* jurisdiction of their otfonc.\s fioin lh(! ttuiiporal
courts and carryinj; it to tli<> Hpiritual courts, when! a tritliiijr
pTiuishintmt, or no punishment at all, was usually iniposinl. This
privilejjfo was at first only allowiul to thos«! who had tiu> clerical
drosa and tonsure, but was afterwards (>xtend<>d to all who could
read. When tho art of r.>a(linjjf hecaint^ 'more j,^en(>rally dilfused,
an act was passed which tlrew a distinction, and only allowed to
lay-scholar8 tho bcnoftt of derj^y once, din^-tinj,^ that to provent
them fronv having' it a second time, th(>y slu)uld be burnt in the
hand when they lirst received it. This distinction was abolished
by two subseipuMit statutvs, but is supposed, Ihouyh as appears to
mo on no j,'ood author.. y, to have b(>en restored duru'jr tho roif^n
of Kdwani \'I. llowevt>r this may bo, it is at least cortain that
long before the accession of Klizabeth, and indeed durinj^' several
years of her reij,ni, when a clergyman was convicted in .i court
of common law of the most grievous otfenc(>s, the ecd' siastical
court took him out of their hands, allowed him to purj>,. himself,
and. after a great deal of idl(> form, generallv pnnu vrnctul him
innocent, and h>t him loos.> on soci,.ty. The' results of such a
system may bo easily imagin(>d. 'i'lu- clergy, ignorant, poor, and
dissolute, had every inducement which men can have to commit
crime, while they felt none of those checks by wiiich crime is
generally repressed. \\'h(>nev(>r tlu>re was a fray in tlu> country,
or a riot in the town, a clergyman was nearly always to be i'i>und
at the bottom of it. ^^'ben(>ver an act of violence was charac-
terised by mor(> than cunuuou audacity, it was to them that
general suspicion invariably pointed. This was a state of things
not only opposed to good goveruuu'ut, but even contrary to the
conunonest ideas of social order. Still that lov<« of ohl laws and
old customs which, in the sixteenth century was so strong, and
which even in our own time still lingers among ignorant men,
long stood in the way of th(» necessary alteration. At lengtii,
after Elizabeth had been many years at peac(\ she directed her
attention to this important sul)ject, ami proi-ured an Act which
ordered that after conviction the clt>rical offender should not be
delivered over to the ordinary, but that the judge should have
the power of punishing his crime with imprisonment.
•n
BISHOPS
119
V.
Ills II OPS.
In the procoding chapter 1 have stated the caiines which, long
befcn, the I eformatioi,, hreu-ht about a diniinution of the
influence of the c-,lcM-,.y It n.i^.J.t have been expected that the
b.Hhops a. being the heads of the ch>r«y, nhould in a certain
deforce have shared the.r tate ; and that whatever tended to
Wn the power of the one, should also have tended to lessen the
power ot the other. And there is no doubt that this was the
natura c^ourse ot events ; and that if particular circumstances
had no intervened, the whole fabric of ecclesiastical power would
before the end of the sixteenth century, have been so completely
mulenn.ned, that the bishops would not have been able to lend
their aid in supportinj^ the rebellion of the Stuarts against the
authority ot the nation. What the particular circtimstances w-.n-'
which, contrary to the general experience of history, enabled the
bishops to maintnm their ground in the face of an advancina-
civ.l./afion, is in itself a matter of very curious inquiry: and as
It particularly concerns the object of this work, 1 shall examine
it at some length.
Wluu. th,> baronial power was, at the end of the eleventh century,
r<-duce( almost to its last gasp, tlie authority of the bishops of course
received a corresponding check.' J{ut in 'ess than two hundred
years the crown, which had been gva.lually losing ground, reached
Its lowest point of debasement during the long reign of Henry III •
-nd as t^^iat power declined, in the same proportion the opposite
power o the nobles and bishops began to rise. In the first half
ot the thirteenth century, tlu, royal auth,>rity, owing partly to
he incapacity of John and Henry III., partly to the loss of the
1 rench possessions, and partly to the growing spirit of liberty,
bef.an rapi, ly to ^.cline ; and even the great abilities of Edward I.
were satrcely abl o avert its tall. In the meantime the bishops
had taken care to place themselves on the winning side. They
jonuHi the barons (?) in forcing John to grant the ■,. .t boon ef
Magna tharta ; and when, ninety years later, r . a-cmpt was
made to evade one of its most ••mportant provisi .is., /achbishop
W mchelsey was one of tht, three great leaders who compelled the
king to abandon his purpose. Stephen de Langton, Archbishop
JJ^nr""!'^ ^"?'"' .'''""'' '''"' '''''" *°'' *''« "^^'' P'^--'' "H'n of consi.l.rnblo nl,ilitv
4 I SI
I bishcp
!)fil-t
4
m 111
un
REIGN OV ELIZATSETTT.
ury, jiidod th(( barons in 1213 in ^rci
antorhu
power of the bishops was naturally
upon .lolin. In proportion us tiie ]K-i)pl
[Chap.
njT tho irrcat
le wore i'niorant.
120
of C
Charta
tho power ui me oisiiops was naturally <,Teuter.
le^atinlato source of pow,.,-, but to this was ''soon ad(l(>,l the ij(,wer
which the kniors n;avt tlu^m for polUU-a/. purposes. The advance
ot knowlodf.-e, whicli was so fatal to the inferior clerfry, did not
afit'ct the bishops in th(^ same niann.'r ; and thm seems to liave
beoTi owing, partly to tlu* character of the bisWp,, who were for
the most part men of ener-y, -cnierally able warrior., sometimes
learned schohu-s, and partly to tlu advantaoes of their position
as members of the imperial parliament. To this last circumstance
1 am inclined to ascribe a very hv^ importance. In the present
day tlie episcopal bench only forms one-tV>urteenth of the House
ot Lords; ,n the eijrj.teenth c.«itury it form,>d one-eighi... and in
the t^weltth It formed six-sevefiths of the entire House. Tlieir
moral uitl.ience must have been still greater than we should
suppose trom the numerical proporti.m. V.r more than half a
century t;he episcopal iH-nch, wit^h one brilliant living exceplion,
has not been ..ccupied ',.y any man of g^niins : scuicely by any
man wliose learning has gained him ;, European reputation. J{ut
u. an age when laym<-n could ra.vly r.sul, the bishops, as the only
e(uicated men among tl.e ],eers, were naturally looked up to witJi
considerable respect, lender these circumstances it seemed an
obvious policy on the part of the en.wn to conciliate the bislioas.
huch was the course adopted by the (Jerman emperors: and such
was the course adopted by the Eno'lish kings. This was the
policy ot Henry {., who tirst sub.iected tile diocese of St. David's
and indeed a great part of Nouth Wales, to the inrisdiction of the
Archbishops ot Canterbury. H >nce it wa. that when our kin-vs
began to be pressed by the hereditary nobility, and by the
growing powcM- of the chartered towns, no expedient simed
more teasilde to them than to strike an alliance with the bishops.
Ihi. was the policy of Stephen, who in a great measure owed
his tJtrone to the archbisiu.p of Canterbury, and to the bislums
ot \ ..•iu>st(>r and of Salisbury. Henry II., although he nearly
lost his crown m the struggle with Hecket, could think of no better
means oi consummating the conquest of Wales than that of
allowing his successor, Jkldwin, to travel through the country
with all the pomp and authority of a metropolitan. Henry IV
whose doubtful title to the crown made him feel the insecuHty of
his posit,oiu^.oiu.iliated the episcopacy by a very remarkal.le
concession. By the ehl law of England, the bishops were not
a lowed the luxury of burning heretics, except by the authority
ot a writ issued by the king in council, lint Henry IV. procure^
v.l
BISHOPS.
121
that. i,n„„,i, ,„,„, i,.vr4o'n;r,.r',i"i ''"%"''''■''
i;ri.-,.i- ... <..,„<.„,.„„„, t,,.. most i-n^rt ; i M":i;:,ttie:i
ncisur s was tiio nommiition of Thomas (Jrornwell -vs ViVnr
lioneml to tlio crown l^^r +i,.- • . '"mwtu as vicar
r>f,.l , r ^ *''^^^ appoiutineut he set tlie eximnlr.
ot c'l vaf , n. a hiyrnan above the heads of the chiirch Rut t^^ l
d.^pression in which he had l>eld t em T f\ r^"""''^
o,nnK.tlysnccess.d Hemy had ciep.;;:!! tlK^. of u 1^ .^
carefuli;provTd;d th Tf ^ ' " ""''^'"^"^'^ '-^"'1 ^^ was
k'ft to ihl T *''^^ ""^ '"^''^ offenders shouhl not be
t, he ordinary jurisdiction of tlie courts of hxw ; birth t
n, and have a jurisdiction co-ordinate with that of the justices
p. fl;)!). '^' -^"' ^^^ ' "^'^'^ "^'TIH '« E.cl,...sia,sticul Mom„ri,.l,s, vol. i. part i.
i.r^^
i|
122
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap,
1
Jill 'A '
II,
i
In i
The great contriver of these measures was Cranmer, one of
those supple and designing characters in which revolutionary
periods are always fertile. This man, so long as Henry was
alive, never ventured to interfere in temporal, scarcely even in
spiritual concerns ; but on his death, the minority of the prince,
and the factions into which tlie government was notoriously
divided, emboldened the archbishop to measures of unusual
energy. His lirst object was to control the clergy, which, from
the state of weakness into which they had fallen, he had little
difficulty in doing. It was [with] this view that he procured an
order forbidding all clergymen to preach without a license either
froTU the protector or from himself.' He drew up articles of
re?4;i.» < which all churchwardens, school-masters, and clergymen
wt M' compelled to sign,^ and he even prepared a complete body
of e<.•vle^iiastical law, the publication of which was only prevented
bj ihfi sudden death of Edward.^ Cranmer usurped all the
funcrions of the state. When the celebrated question was agitated
as tu t]\e validity of the marriage contracted by the Marquis of
Northampton, the matter, instead of being tried by the ordinary
courts, was referred to a commission, of which Cranmer was the
president and the mouth-piece. During the reign of Henry VIII.
Cranmer, even after he had been raised to the archbishopric, had
so little power that he was more than once in want of money.
When Henry VIII. broke up the monaster. the courtiers v,'ere
greatly enriched by the plunder. The ai ^nshop, naturally
anxious to have some share in the spoil, solicit d a part for one
of his own friends. But this request Henry refused to grant. In
the same spirit, when the bill for attainting Cromwell was pre-
sented to parliament, Cranmer would not risk the favour of the
king by voting against the judicial murder of a man whom he
knew to be innocent, and whom in the days of his prosperity he
had been glad to call his friend.
The canons most peremptorily ordered that the clergy should
on no account participate in judgments of blood ; but the anxiety
of the archbishop to extend his political power, caused him to
disregard this humane law, and to sign the warrant for the execu-
tion of Seymour. Barton, bishop of Bath and Wells, had, for
some cause which is not mentioned, deprived his dean, John
Goodman. The dean, acting upon the advice of his lawyers,
sued him upon a praemunire, but the bishop, to make himself
perfectly secure, obtained from the king a full pardon for what he
had done. The judges, with their usual spirit, still persisted in
proceeding to trial, and when summoned before the Privy Council,
' Wilkina, iv. 27-30. « Lingard, vii. 91, 92. » Lingard, vii. 92,
V.J
BISHOPS.
123
represented that they were bound by their oaths to suffer the
aw to Imve its course. This, however, availed them nothin.., for
the government determined to uphold the episcopacy, would not
wait for a legal decision, but they deprived Goodman of hi
deanery and not content with that, actually threw the unfortunate
dean rnto prison, " for his disobedience and evil behaviour toThe
iZV^"'" T^ """f^l ''*^^'"'' ^^' '-^r^hiepi^eopal power was at
length raised to so high a pitch that it seemed as if nothing could
shake It ; and tlie authority of Cranmer was as great under the
admimstration of Warwick as it had been under that of Somerset
the great enemy of Warwick. ^umerser,
Mary whose feeble mind naturally inclined towards the church,
followed up with success the policy of Edward. Cranmer indeed
pa.d wUli his lifo the penalty of his crimes; butTe e»
power, though it changed hands, did not lose ground.^ mTit
found It impossible to restore the inferior clergy t^o their form r
position but she at least determined to make every effort to
Tnil otth T""' ^'-i'^ '^^^'^P^' '''^ -ade'eardLe^.
knight of the garter, president of the council, and lord hijrh
cWellor England, and on his death gave the seal to A ct
ttt'dif M "" ';' '''""■' ''^' '^"^ *'«^ '''' I^-^-t-t bishops,
hat did Mary, and more also, for the Catholic bishops. Into
their hands she threw all the powers of the state. She procured an
act which rendered them independent of the crown (), and sent
clause, "Rep^aauthontate fulcitus." She not only resigned the
barren title of Supreme Head of the Church, but gave up ks lands
which were m the possession of the crown, and restored the first
frmts and the tenths. The foreign ministers residing at her court
complained that no. business could be transacted except throudi
the medium of the bishops. Every description of honour was
kvished on the bishops. Immediately after her marriage with
1 hilip was celebrated in the cathedral of Winchester, the royal
pair regaled themselves by a splendid banquet, at which Gardiner,
and Gardiner alone, was permitted to take his seat. If the life
ot Mary had been spared, it is probable that she would have
iZ\Z /' f" .^^'^'^' ^^ ecclesiastical tyranny, and Convoca-
tion had the audacity to propose that the statute of mortmain,
repealed. To this indeed, even Mary did not dare to consent ;
ofrnXZanZ Ifsh" "'"p ''" -"'-Pt-- -ay in which, in the first year
m
t
\\
. i"
.iSi
11
u
1.:
II
it
124
Ui;i(!N or KM/AUKTIT.
[CUA"'.
I.
but, slif cimsctl llic cxcciifioii of I hem U> be siih|kmi(1('(1 for twenty
years.
The |)eo|)b> were iieeusfomeil to look on the bisliops as the
iiiitiinil (le|»osil:iries of ]»olitie!il power. 'I'he ('atholie bisliops had
been supreme iiiuh-r Mary, why should not, the Protestant bishops
be HUpreini' under l-'Uzabeth? If i\de and (lardiner were tit
eouneillors for th(< first, why should not. Parker and (J rindal bo
lit councillors for the other? Tlui very year after the accoHHion
of l*-li/,al>etli, a celelirated preacher, named Vernon, delivered a
sermon before the tpieeii, in which he publicly told her that the
lands and rev(>nues of t he bishops must on no account be curtailed.
Such reasoninjjis, indeed, were natural; but the conduct of Kliza-
b(>th soon dis|>elled the illuslv,::. Tlu' first 8t,ep of her ecclesi-
astical policy was on(> at which Mary or iMhvard would have stood
aghast with fear. She issued a couunission for a royal visitation
addressed to fourteen ])ersons. 'I'h(> ])owers which by this com-
mission were intrusted to the visitors were immense, and, as con-
cerned tht> church, were supreme; but of the entire foiu'teen
visitors, thirte(>'n were laymen, in tht^ very same year (?) she
procured an Act of ParliannMit r(>annexino- the tenths, first-fruits,
i^c, to tlie I'rown ; and she inunediately followed this up by an-
otiu-r law, authorisiui,' the crown, on the vacancy of any see, to
seize c(>rtain of its lands. The bisiiops hail been in the habit of
i;'ranlin<;- lent;- leasees, wiiicli bound their successors and enriched
theniselves; while tlu> country was not unfrecpuMitly (?) calltHl
upon to make piod the deiici(-ncy in tlit> revenue of the succecd-
in-;- bishops. Hut to this the (pieeu determined to ])ut an end,
and the disabling;- or restraining; s(atnt(>, as it was not inaptly
called, dtH'larod that all i^rants made by bishops for more than
twenty-ou(> y(>ars, or tiiree lives, should be absolutely void.
These decisive measures were all adopted by IClizabetli within
the Hrst [twidv(>] months of her rei<>n, and inspired the bishops
with feelings of the most lividy alarm. The statute by which the
ipieen was to seize I'eriain of their lauds seems to have been that
which lUMst atfected their nunds. Scarcely had the bill become
law, wluMi they earni^stly entreated Elizabeth not to enforce it.
Jbit the ari;-uments which they nsed were not precisely such as
would recommenil tlunnselves to her mind. They told her that
when K^ypt was pinched [by] iaiuiue, oven Pharaoh w^ould not
ti>nch the pruiHvrty of the ])riests ; that when Artaxerxes bad
ordered (lie Jt^WL" to ctmtribute towards the expi'uses of bvuldin,i>-
the Temple, he had especially exempted the Levites from all
charge ; (hat Isaiah liad distinctly prophesied that kings were to
be nursii'.o- fathers, and ipieens nursing mothers of the church,
Ma
V.J
HI.SIIOPS.
125
for all fututi ,:"'',,; ;;;•''■•'' ""«'" t" "'""--"pi"
woiKl.ticr ,lc.«,.ripti„„, „,„, th,/hi i„p If ,, "' '7 f '! »""
"'■ HMKlancI w, ,.„„t a»l,a„„.,i . Zmu^ ,t '""' "'""■■''
j..rt passed by 1„„), II ,'.*,„ " "T"": :''"'•■'' '""' ''"'■■'
'1";;;'. r,...,ai,„.,i ri,„,: „„.i ti,„ 1,1,,,.,,,,, «„ ,,. '• """ ";
iiciHiiT CM.viT Ii,.|- ir„r |,nl„. 1,,,^ " 'li.it lli.y ,,„,||(1
a.i im„„,iia„. ,„i,i,„,. wi I, ,, , :,^tt;' ""•""/"■^ '" ''"■' »
tl.i» W.S ,„„■„ a,.l i,.v,.,l si, w ',1 , , • '"'f'"" ">•■•' if
l«V|)ll|n;!l CTllCllix in lie,, .1, .,,.,.] T n- ''"'^'^^^'^ W»"' IKI lOF
;■■■.•""-' •>/ <i„,., ,i,„ ;; ;, ,, ;;•: ::;,,:™;.-'™';'''' «".' o,dy
Imt now t,l,„ wl,„l.. hicmrd y (?) |„„| „'" T ''•'l,"'"^"™ !
» 'I I'" ivj.i„v,.,l ir,„„ ,ui ll„. ,l,„nli,.. ',•,'","'■'•' '""«■•»
liH'ir drift, a,„i d,.,„,„i„,. , , ! , ;• :;"_ ^ik. .,„«.„ ..„
won d di-ivu the f^itlmli... i i '^" "oasn'os ivliirl,
a P-clan,a,,l™/,;;r,: , ^' :'™,r:;;l '^^^^ '!'•■■" ^'J"-™ by
<'l"ist .„■ .,f his a,,„stU.,." Wtl , ; V f/ ? ""■■'"" "'
l'-"'y ^■'ll., Can'n,..,. ,.„, !, „ r^^""' "'•'t" of
""a-™ ,o,n„v,.d f„„„ olmn;l,..s.» '''"'""S all
'I''"' iii'liKnation „f tlH, ,,;,,;
"•";, tluy oould sca,-«.ly rest„u,l tj„,„,«" . \,i, l'',' •■", ""f
»^.™.ng „■„, his s„,,j.,,,, ,.,„„ i^^ ^ ;^ •» <"• ll,s j,,.a.e,
in larisnago vry familiar („ the r.-.d,. s „f resistance,
"It would tronhlo n„. if tlu- le t V, /r'™''-'^*'™' '"-"'-y-
™n,plia„„„ and declare, with tlm m J 1 ""' "'"" "-
rather than m„„.» |„ ^«. ' T^" 'T f'^' ' "" "■" ■""»' ob,.y God
..>a™... letter t„ t.' iirii,: i^:;^';^;,;; i^^ri^ ?" r-T
Archbishop ..^.,--trhir«™ ::;:--''::-
; Collier's Rcclosiastic-al History, vol vi u V^'
Soumos « History of the Reformation, voY. 'iirn 997
Hp
»■■!?
ii
AL
11
lU
I*
li I' '
«) I
It '*
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
5^ <f^^%' W.
1.0
I.!
|50 "'"'^
Iff i«
2.5
1.8
1.25 1.4
1.6
^ 6" —
►
d-:
^m
A
V
Sciences
Corporation
29 WEST MAIN STRF-ET
WEBSTER, NY. 14530
(7!6) 872-4503
. h :
f/j
<^
<>
,#%
o
126
EEIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap.
princes, usque ad araa, as the proverb is ; so far as we may, ■ . ith-
out disobeying God." In 1575, Whitgift indignantly declared
" that the temporalty sought to make the clergy beggars, that
they might depend upon them." In 1588, Sandys, archbishop of
York, pathetically said : " These be marvellous times. The patri-
mony of the church is laid open as a prey unto all the world ; the
ministers of the Word, the messengers of Christ, are become
despised by all people, and are esteemed as the excrements of the
world." In 1573, Sandys, who was then bishop of London, writes to
the lord treasurer : " But I am too weak ; yea, if all of my calling
were joined together, we are too weak. Our estimation is little ;
our authority is less. So that we are become contemptible in
the eyes of the basest sort of people." The bishop of Ely, having
greatly suffered from the determination of the queen to reduce
his revenues, wrote to her in 1575, a Very pathetic remonstrance,
in which he humbly inquires " whether it was not troublesome
enough that her Majesty's priests everywhere Were despised and
trodden upon, and were esteemed as the offscourings of the world,
unless the commodities which they possessed were thus licked and
scraped away fiom them?" In a sermon preached at St. Paul's in
the middle of the reign of Elizabeth, Archbishop Sandys indig-
nantly says : " Was there ever any time, any age, any nation,
country, or kingdom when and where the Lord's messengers were
worse entreated, more abused, despised, and slandered than they
are here at home, in the time of tlie gospel in these our days ?
We are become in your sight, and used as if we Were the refuse
and parings of the world."
But all this availed nothing, except to confirm the queen in
her views of the necessity of humbling the episcopal power. In
these views she was warmly seconded by the Lower House of Parlia-
ment, where the spirit of liberty, which for nearly a century (?)
had been completely stifled, was again beginning to rear its head.
I have already mentioned some of the statutes which were parti-
cularly directed against the bishops, and they were now succeeded
by others hardly inferior in importance.
While these great measures were in the course of being recog-
nised as the law of the land, the queen was not slow to apply to
the bishops individually the same principles which governed her
general policy towards them. The bishops of Durham had for cen-
turies enjoyed the privilege of receiving all estates within their see
which were forfeited for high treason. This privilege was [now]
first taken from them, and vested in the crown, pro hac vice as
it was pretended ; but I need ' \id]y add that Elizabeth never
allowed the riglit to slip from her (?).
T.]
BISHOPS.
127
in Westwell. But tM« in Sh '"^ ?^' ^" ^'"^ ^^^^^ Wood
when Parker be^n to cut fh r:.^'^"°^'^ *" '^^ ^^«^n' and
commenced against hm n 7^^'^^""° ^^""' ^ ^"^^ *« ^-
prelate was obS not on v t! \ . T''' '^^ *^^ ^^^-^^^d
r most submissfve'LtteT[o%St\^'^^^
mortify the bishops she diTr^ZT . ^''^^^^' '"^ ^'^^^ *«
nary course of law The bfshon )T'" 'l '"*^^^"P^ *^« ^d-
Dr/ Willoughbylf his benefi'f f Tf ^^^"^^^ ^ ^^^^^^
Articles of LLon This fhn, ^ """u ^"'^"^ ^'^^•^^"^^^ the
was strictly legaf ;l;t 1'^;: ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^'^"^^'
the bishop, ordering him f„ If w^, ""' '" ** """en to
baking hta fo tu/eTerctenf '"?«'"'y'™'' ^"""P'^ ■-
the slightest affa rs of Se he LT"T' '""'"'"'^•' ^^^^ "'
kept them in a thr K„i> whicl to ™^' .' """" !'"*''""'y' -1
been insupportable. Fktche;, bi"hop ot LoT ' """ """^
widow, the sister of Sir Georte CitZ "^J^'"^""' •^"ied a
lady was unexceptionable W?f f^ \ "'" <''«'™"'" «' ">»
consent of the queen aid ElL wf ""? ""? """""^^ ^ "* "»
from the courtrbut" obL^d .hf » 7M"'^ """'*"* '"«'"^'""-
-pendhimfro'u.his ^al tSSl™''' Onlv^'f "^ '°
later (i.e. after Parker Lr] hL J"''^"f """i- Only a few years
He, uninstructed of the treatmeTrt t I Y'^"^ "^ ^'"^^"'■
thought to enrich himsdf bf f I, ^'"''""' '""^ «"="«<",
diocei(0,andt"yfI,:^':"nutb" f"?"^' ™ "'^
he was immediate^ callp/),.f .t ^ number of trees. But
the lord treasurer nSrt . " "?""""' '° '''""<= P^^nce
he showed sZrdspSftri:""^'^ ."'*"''^'' '"»•»"' -
bad found so lucrative rqueerheS 11 T'"' ""* ""
order to cut down no more olthe^wo^dtCngTorr'''"^
HisU hX::eran7^'„s^«^r^\ t:rno:t'f'r "^<'-
uL,ii idiiguage betore, knew how to mppf- if «u •
diately sequestered the archbishon from It ^ V ^^"^ '™™^-
him to his house and Z.^lT V Jurisdiction, confined
' Strjpe's Parker, ii. 43-46. a <=.„.. , t. ,
• Strype's Whitgift, ii. 215, 216. ^^'^ " ^'^^'■' "' ^^®' ^^^•
f III
128
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[ClIAp.
scqiipstration until he had made anotlier and still more precise
submisaion. Elizabetli, not content with this triumph over the
head of tlie church, sent a circular hitter to all the bishops,
thrcafening them with punishment unless they immediately
obeyed those orders about whicli Grindal had ventured to hesi-
tate. In 1576, the bishop of Gloucester, being imable or un-
willing to pay the queen 5001. whicli he owed her, she did not
hesitate to order the sheriff to seize his lands and goods for satis-
faction of the debt.
Kven the ministers of Elizabeth caught something of her spirit,
and used language to the bishops wliich half a century before,
not even the proudest layman would have dared to employ.
W'lien the bishops ventured to resent such treatment from men
whom twenty years before they would have almost scorned to
notice, the queen never failed to support her ministers with all
the power of her prerogative. The earl of Leicester had procured
for a certain Dr. Gardiner a nomination to the archdeaconry of
Norwich ; but the bishop of that place, having already granted
the presentation to one of his own friends, not only refused to
admit Gardiner, but wrote to him a very scurrilous and threaten-
ing letter. The queen liearing this, adopted her usual course, and
made so peremptory a communication to the bishop, that he, to
his great mortification, was actually compelled to admit his
opponent to the disputed archdeaconry in his own episcopal
city.
V.'hen, on one occasion, the arclibi&hop of Canterbury wrote an
apologetic letter to Leicester, the earl, with marked contempt,
took tlie letter from the hands of the messenger and put it in his
pocket without reading it: "which contempt," says his pious
biograplier, " might justly be resented by him, being a person of
such high dignity and honour as that of an archbishop of Canter-
bury." In 1584 Beal, clerk of the queen's counsel, a man of con-
siderable and known ability, wrote a work, in which he treated
the bishops with the greatest severity ; and as if to show his
utter indifference to episcopal authority, he sent what he had
written as an acceptable present to Whitgift, archbishop of Can-
terbury. His grace, greatly moved, wrote to the lord treasurer,
demanding redress for tlie insult which had been thus publicly
put upon liim. But little or no attention was paid to his com-
plaints : Beal was allowed to retain his office ; and I have not
met with any evidence to show that he was ever reprimanded for
his conduct.
Blackstone (Commentaries, 1809, iii. p. 54) says, that from
1373 all the chancellors were ecclesiastics or statesmen (but never
V.J
r. -SHOPS.
12J)
AftiT,i"te ^ T- '" '*"'' P'™°" '■^'^ ^"-^ More.
MMr tins, the great seal was entrusted to lawyers, courtier. ,nH
(^^Hanccry Inlaws bec^ fi^ ^"^' V '^' P'"^^^'"* ^»'^ -"^^ of
torval from 1627to 625 "when V'^'^'T' ^^^P^^^ «- --
W lums, dean of Wesfminstor, afterwards bisJiop of Lincoln
vr^:J2':rZu^''''' ^"^^ 'r'- "-urLther.;;'i.te
pretensions of the bishops were at length reduced to somethii..-
: f Sir" =T"- — '^^^^^^^^^^
01 tne sixteenth century could have hoasted a sin.'Ie man „f
:JSr;: i:^£!';r;:,r ttit'^'*-'" t'''"''^-
w.^ begin to observe a marked change in the tone of tlieir 1-m
^^^r'""? ''r '^'"'^ ^'^"^-^^ of apostoiiciin;; t ;:^
■"'opted a tone of entreaty to wliich even tlie meanest otMheir
«r:^' bardly hav.. descended. The biX^tf ll ;^
S 1 tTe th r 7'T\ " '^'''' *'" "'^^""^y ^f the Chnrdi si,-
blv d ^1,1?^' ^^' ^^^^^'^^'P'^ ^''^--Ivos were sunk and lamen-
W ncjfest' d 1 ^ ;? 'r.^"^"' "^ '^^^ P^^^P'^^-" The bishop „f
c 2mpt Lt?r . r^'"' r^'' "^^ ^"''^^^•^^ -i«^ "loathsome,
t^omcmpt, Jiatrea, and disdain."
-tabiS' ';;^' f ""S '';' r^""^^" ^^ ^^^'y^ ^"^ consequent firn,
i le to^^^^^ P""^^ ^" ^'- t'"'"- of Scotland,
.c deteat of tlie Armada, the accession of Henry IV., tlie decline
o lieHn r. n ''^ •'' "" ''^'^' '''^"^'«' ^^^^'^ f""«wod each
tint to r\ «"«cession, so strengthened the hands of Elizabeth,
t'lat the bishops despaired of recovering their power Withi,
•ne ot the most violent persecutors of the Puritans, and who was
:T '^rn''°''^^ archbishopric of Canterbu y d 1 vld a
'''' — -kable sermon.. This set discourse was not preached to
'■I
' In February 1588-9,
K
i;«)
IIKKIN Ol'' KI.I/AHKTII.
fCllAV,
hi ' I
tuiy iiuMUi iiHscinhly, Init wiih (Idivcn-d nt St. I'liurrt Ofohh, wlicro
l\w I'rivy (It)Uiu^il, Mio jud^cw, inul tli<* Itiwhoiw who mi)j[lit liappon
tn l)i< ill town, toniind pint, of <Ihi lUulimuMt. Iiidiuul, (Iuh wrmoii
WHS looked upon hn ho inifiortinil, iliiil, it wiw prinit'd by unllio-
rity ( f* ) ; iii>(i ill it wo liiid ii inont. diHtiiict. I'ocojjfiiitioii of tJio
HupriMiiiicy of till' (livil pow(«r.
Ill tlio |»nu!odiii)j; ici^jjiiH, llio judj^rH, with n fow noblo oxcop-
tioiiH, hud disphiyt'd towanJH tho biHiiopH ii Horvilily whinh was but
too Kiituial to thoir rclativo posit ioiiH. Ibit now, rttiinulat(Hl by
the I'onduct. of Klizabotli, they boffan ti> adopt a very dilVoi-ont.
tone. In 1A!)*2 the judji;oH mdoninly aHirnicd that the Hnjin-inatiy
of till' sovtMci^:;!! was both spiritual and timiporal, and that tlio
rc^iilc, in its fiiUcst extent, is iiiheri'iit to the Kn^'lish erovvn. . In
individual cases they displayed the same spirit. In l,')!)!) a obu-j^y-
inaii named Allen was tried by Anderson, one of the asHiz«' judges
at the city of hineolii. Aeeordiiig to the provisions of the statute
law ( ? ), the bishop of the place was seated on i\\^^ bench, and
some point of divinity beinjj; at issue, Allen appealed to him as
his ordinary. Miit I he days when such thinjrs were allowi'd had
now passed by, and the jud^'c I <|uote the words of i| contem-
porary "entertained tliiit speech with marvellous indignatioii,
iitbrmiiiL^' that he was his ordininy and the bishop both, in that
place, and diiriiin nil tliiit should take his pait."
The prctcnsicnis of the bishops, thus beaten hack by the stroiij,'
hiiiid of the (|ueeu, now took refuj^c in one of the most impudent
tictioiis which the hierarchy have ever attempted to palm upon
the people, ("ompelled to reiiii(|uisli tlicf practice of power, they
compensated their loss by exa}j:p'iatin};- its theory. It will 1k'
understood that I alliah' to th«' divine rif«lit of episcopacy, a, doc-
trine which tirst assumed ;i detiiiite form towards the end of the
sixteenth century. At present it will not be necessary for me to
e-ive any account of llu' rise and pro<>ress of this monstrous
«lo<»-ma, for as lone- as Klizabeth was alive there was no fear of its
piiMbiciu^- any injurious result. Hut under the wretched admin-
istration of her succi'ssor the tloctrine was jmt forward with re-
newed confidence : and by infusiiijr m'w life into the now wasted
frame of .'piscopacy, it eiiMbled the bishops to support the extra-
vajiaiit pretensi>,us of the fe.'ble pedant who then sat on the
throne. How, in those evil days, the bishops loved the kiu^, and
how the kino- lov»'d the bishops, until, in the next {>eneration both
kin^ and bishops were swallowed up in that whirlwind of nationnl
nii;e whii'h was excited by their united tyranny ; these tliiiies,
thou-xh deeply interestini<;, are connected with subjects which it
does not fall within the compass of the present volume to describe.
V.J
HISHOPH.
131
Rut Ix'foro VM/Aihi'lh <Iio(J, l„,r ir„v,.rnm..f.f «.M . . .,
Wr.-,r ■«,n„.t tl,., .■■cr.„u.l„„„„u „f ,J„»„ aml,iti„"» ,2 "'"
thr,M.n. It, may p.rl.a,,K l,e l.rouKht uh a <.|.arK., u.aLt Fli. h
that hor pr<.n..,li„^.H towanln tJa.r. vv.n, inarkc-d Wa n i '
anco .,f p,vHHi.,n winch H.„n„wl,at low.n-.lZr r - ''"■""
tn.lh, wo must at tl.., Hatrn'tim „ ,n >^ ' '"""'f. ''^"'''^ "*'
Htaun. i„ wind. hI.., was ph.:; l! X t I^I^^tI"""^
possessed, n.a,l., tl...„. ..,,j..,,„ ,,• ,,,.i,i,„,,, «.tp ..i^to ^^ ;; '
cut.vo fr„vun.n.(M.t; wl.il,, il,oH., wl,„ art. brst ..,.,. J? , .,"
t..oir personal l.al.its, will r..,..etant,y ^^.tl^'ti ^T r ::^ U
<j"al.t.0H w.,n, not calcuiat..,] l,o c,o..cUiato atlad.,n<...t . .J" j
.i.HHnn <i,strust It is at all ov.,nts ...rtain, tl..t, wl.il .i';,,
only .l.,s,M.., tl.„ inferior <,l,.r^y, si... ..tually l.at.,d tl. 'ti 1
So .ato.l ( ,.,rn t..r th.-ir m„.l,lli,.^ in.p.iHit.'ial spirit, f " 3^
ol ,sl.u.,ss, or tl.o.r n.ntradcd and l,i,.:(..,, ...inds.' In 1 • 1 ,
*'H'1".K' ." horwas so stn.nj, that it showed itsdt^..,,, a , ''J
O 1v.:T", 7-«-iol,.,.t of tl... passions are usual ;''
Otdy a tow hours l,.,foi-o |„.r .h-ath, t|.„ a.d.hish.m .,f ('..,n i
cami t,, r„c,.v,.. (;„„con.,rali„K i..(..> a »i„„l.. ,„„„„„ ,,1,)^
"at.,.,, „f a„ o,il,ir„ lift., „i,„ troaUal tl,,.",, i„ H„. f. r
«.."H:, wi«, „,ark,„l a,„l .,i,,i„« .„,„„. .. ,„„; , ,/ ^i I ,„ ."^
«ay» an „y,.wit,„.»« ( ? ) „f |,|,i« .Liki,,,, I,,,„. ",V 1^1 ,
-y,„K «i„ wa» „„ a,,i,„i„e, i,„t k„„„ ,„M ;„|| t,,,^ ,,,;"";;:;
wk,- pr,,.«,., a,„i .«„!< H: ft,r „„ i,,,,;,,,;,,, ,,,,„, ,,,„.^ „„„„,;„;;;;
.-"ipn»« th. s„l,«,a„..o af an i„.,„iry i„t„ „,„ ft,,.,,,,,,™;',
l.^astK,, ,,„w„r i„ K„,.l,„„|; ,„„l , l,av„ ,.„l|„ct,„i ,!,„ „ t, -
..akft,,- t.,at „„|„iryf,„„, „,.i^,i„„,l ,|„„„™,,t„ „f ,„,,„;X,',1
a"tl,„nt,c,ty. Tl,o»o wl,., owe their „,,i„i.,„, to tl,e t" .SoZ rf
"tncat,o„ rather than to the exereise of tl,eir indepen ,^ ;™ ,
.11 iK, «er,„u.ly »h„eke,l at the piet,.,-e which I have ft,, „d it "
msary o draw ; ,„,.! even among thoKe wi,o take a ,„„ch hi„ L
"cw oi h„„.a., aHai,., the,,, are „,any who »till e„nc«,ive, not tnlv
11
H^'
,' K I
132
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[ClIAP.
!l
that a national church paid by the state supplies a cohesive prin-
ciple to the great fabric of society, but that whatever tends to
weaken the authority of the church tends in the same proportion
to diminish the prosperity of the nation. This last opinion i8
indeed so rapidly disappearing under the influence of extending
knowledge, that it will be hardly necessary to spend any time in
refuting it ; but we must treat with more respect the theory of those
wlio consider the church as a conservative principle, and who, with-
out affirming that it has any necessary connection with the hap-
piness of the people, are yet deeply concerned at the attacks which
are now constantly made upon it. This theory, which is in itself
temperate, and which is advocated by men of undoubted ability,
is one which, with the most unfeigned respect for many of its
su pporters, I can by no means adopt ; and as the discovery of
general principles, by an appeal to history, forms a part of my
original plan, I shall now endeavour to explain the circumstances
imder which this theory has arisen, and to show how far it is
capable of general application.
The opinion, then, with which we have now to do, appears to
me to owe its rise to the principle of association, or, what in this
case is the same thing, to the operation of imperfect induction.
Because the institution of an endowed chm-ch I-^s, in nearly every
European country, performed the most undoubted services to
civilization, men, v/ith their natural proneness to generalisation,
have supposed that it has done tliis in virtue of some original
principle, which will produce the same results under any combi-
nation of events : and having made this natural assumption, they
look with alarm on any proposition for destroying an institution
which has caused such beneficial effects^ It might be a sufficient
answer to this to appeal to the history of England in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, when we find the power and reputation
of the established church almost always bearing an inverse ratio
to the power and reputation of the country at large : rapidly
sinking under the brilliant and orderly administration of Eliza-
betli, and as rapidly rising under the disgraceful anr" disorderly
government of the first English Stuarts. Indeed, in tue course of
tiijs work I shall show that the horrible wars which, in the middle
of the seventeenth century, devastated England were quite as much
owing to the impudent pretensions of the ecclesiastical hierarcliy
as to the weakness and perfidy of that bad man who then sat on
the throne. But without thus anticipating views which I have
not yet offered to the world, it will be more agreeable to the
scope of this work if I attempt to draw my arguments from a
wider survey of general history.
V.J
BISHOPS.
133
In all countries which have not reached i hi.rh r.«.«* i- • -i-
rri;— rrTt^T-rf-'-
despotism, in which the sovereien was nnf 1 ? „ ^"^""^''^
The institution of castes, by sepamtW Tj ^ "^'" "' ^"^^'•
despotism. It is thus that^n 'anc nf RomlT.Tr:-''^P^'^^
people were not fiaally destroyed unt^T '^""'''' "^ ^^°
shipped as a .^od Tn f^ ?/ *^^ emperor was wor-
the ordinary e«cative. This was "ee^r f "'\"°°'' °'
the civil po.er -^.^inTLlll^ZT^^^^^^
these wo instances, then, when the sovereign iHkelvf of ^'
over the people, or when the people are Hke v f ^ ^'""""f '
sovereign, we find that an endowed cCnh^.-M'^P'"'' *^'^
maintaining the balinrp -".nr '' ^'^^^^ ^^^^^^ in
generaUyaLpt d r viL "ndtn: ,"7 'T '''''''''^ '' ^-
the weaker side In fhl!!-^ ?, ^"""^^"^^"t P^^i^^J ^f supporting
l«amefirmyrro„t dTin th ,"' °*' ™ ^^"""'"""^ ''""'•''
a teehng, not aevoid of truth, that whatever has Ion. existed
habrof xil thie'f "" rT' ''^ ^'^^^ ^^^^'^ ^"-^ ^" «-'
Pvpn , ' '^''^''ting, there is a marked indisposition to admit or
even to discuss, new conceptions, '
up?numf'%^'T '?''°'''^ ^^'^^"^ ^^ -^'^^"^ P-nt there .>-row
up a number of cliecks, which perform those offices which tj'e
mm
mmmmmm
ri
134
REIGN OF ELIZABETH.
[Chap.
church had before performed. These checks, by which the great
organism of society is kept in repair, are a free press, a constitu-
tional jealousy of the public towards the governing powers, the
general diffusion of education, and the like. These checks are
amply sufficient to supply the place of the old ecclesiastical
checks ; and this, which I suppose will be universally admitted,
leads us to some very important considerations.
The great principle that every man is the best judge of his
own interests was, in tlie hands of Beccaria and Adam Smith,
fertile of the most splendid results. This principle, which is
only suitable to an educated nation, has not yet })een carried out
to its legitimate consequences ; and if we apply it to the theory
of an establislied cluircli, it is not easy to see how that theory
can stand the test. The perfoetion of government is the maximum
of security with tlie minimum of interference : and everything
wliich unnecessarily lessens the responsibility of individuals checks
the progress of civilization. The great majority even of the most
civilized nations, liave no real education, except that which is
forced on them by tlie bustle and friction of life : if these dif-
ficulties of life are too mucli softened, if the altt^rnatives of choice
are too much straitened,
• • • . .
The state, by holding up one form of religion as particularly
excellent, lessens the responsibility of those wlio still have a
religion to choose ; and whatever diminishes responsibility must
check inquiry. If the state thinks too much, the people will
think too little. This, independently of those economical reason-
ings, which of themselves amount to demonstration, is a strong
argument against tlxose foolish men who, under the name of
Protectionists, are seeking to force upon the country a return to
the barbarous maxims of a superannuated policy.
The opinions which will be formed on this subject will of
course be regulated in tlie great majority of cases, not by reason,
but by prejudice. I cannot, however, avoid noticing one remark-
able circumstance which, as connected with the subject, is of
considerable value. The two greatest events of modern times in
which the two chief nations in the world first fairly felt their own
strength, are separated by a period of 150 years; but in both
instances they were immediately preceded by the entire destruc-
tion of the national churches of their respective countries. In
the English Revolution of IGdO, and in tho French Revolution of
1790, it was found impossible to retrieve the ancient liberties of
man without first sweeping away the whole of the ecclesiastical
hierarchy. In both cases the next generation, smarting under
V.J
BISHOPS.
135
the sting of anarchy, thought it advisable to restore that which
had just been destroyed. But as they restored it in a mitiga ed
form Its pressure has not been so obvious; yet I am inclined to
consider that it has been and still is injurious. The time is now
not far distant when the whole question of an endowed church
will be reconsidered. Whatever may be the solution of tht
great and difficult problem, this much at least is certain: tha
the fanatical attempts which are now making in this country to
exaggerate the power of the church tend to strengthen the hands
of Its opponents, and if persevered in will insure its final over-
iT' ,^ """"I^Po P'"'""^ ^'"""^ ^ f^«^i«« ^hich, though
nnder the name of Puseyism it has earned an ign;minioil
celebrity IS in reality nothing but a malignant develtpement of
the worst form o Arminianism. Indeed, there is not toll
found, even i.i the black records of ecclesiastical history, a single
nstance of opinions so unsocial, so subversive of all order as
hose which these men are now shamelessly obtruding upon the
world. The mischief they have done is incalculable They
hang like an incubus on the frane of society, paralysing its
naovements, corrupting its morals, and like a canker eating into
philosophic history, it is perhaps impossible to predict with
absolute certainty what will be the fate of these conspirators
against the liberties of mankind. But it is at least certin that
unless they are able to beat back that tide of knowledge which is
now so quickly flowing, they will not succeed in indudng men to
bow the neck before the throne of an ambitious priesthood. For
my own part I feel confident tiiat we shall be able to wipe out
this plague-spot from among us ; and when that is done, when
we have succeeded in beating back the enemy from the gate, we
shall know he place that these men will occupy in the annals Tof
the country], ^
^1
li
il
II' I
FRAGMENTS.
POSSIBILITY OF HISTORY.
I wiiiTK tlu! liiijtory of EnjrliUKl bwmiso it is norvud : Oovern-
nuMit hiiH litthi intorfered, and our insidur position has prevented
intellectual disturbance.
•
In the 8am(! way, not ovily has great lighh been thrown upon
human anaUtmy by the study of comparative anatomy, but we
have actually discov(!red several principles respectin}^ the phy-
sioh)j,7 of man, by applying to it laws suggested by a general
study of organic life, even in its vegetable form.
Aft(>r giving an account of the different opinions about free
will, say: it might seem from these considerations that history
is afatalisiii; and so it would be if we knew the statical laws as
well as the dynamical. Then give a view of statical desiderata,
and then say everything is referrible to intellectual and moral
phenomena. Then add that the intellect of a people overrides
Jill ; or, perhaps I ought Jirst to say this, and then add : " From
these considerations we might think history fatalism ; and so it
would be if we knew statics ; but, as we do not know statics, W(!
must lay the foundations of them by detailing manners, which are
residual phenomena. To raise history to a science, we should
have to take in the universe, which it is impossible for one man
to do. And although this may eventually be done by a series of
successive generalisations, there is a still greater difficulty, viz.,
the want of statical scmice.
Mind most important. It might, tlierefore, have been sup-
posed that mind should be first studied ; but the difficulties are
too great. ...
It has be6n generally supposed by the very few persons to whom
msaililLITV OF lIIHTOIiY. 137
,ttl!!!r/r" ' ^^''•'"^'T/'V^. ''•«t«'7 has occurred, that the proper
m<th,.(l or creutiuj. it [,sj to as„eial,Io the principal external
tact«,and diHcover their laws by treating, them accoS n^ to tTe
.^d.nury reso.n:ces of inductive logic. liut there is one ci m
8 luipr.icticaHe. All the inductive sciences have been creaf,.,!
t-m materials which are under our immediate coS. Th y
Lave been raised by a series of experiments in which, bv succ 's
lie t the o1''h" ™^"""'^ "" ■"■» ""-' t» deduction
In dei:^tt:r:t:^hl':at:^r„r^*^''^" '-" ---
This last is thp TT^Jfl , /'.^"'f ^" order to learn the effects. 1
>vi,i:hrti;::eenee f i:';:':„e::.''rd ^"r' '- *''^°-"*^'
*e ,ei„nee of ™oee.ion. ut^^t^^Z^^
. o l*yond „„,■ reach We have, therefore, been compel Mto »!t
uMu them those facts which we can observe, but upon which we
T^lr^rT "'=?'='■'""'"'• " ""ly. therefore, luJlZZ
f cid t.™ P'^rT™" -' '"'*°'-^ ■" ^'"= -me way as we have
ticated those of astronomy; and, with a view to this o,,r W
Since the movements of human natm-e, so far from beinir canri
«m Z" r^ "" ^"^ r- *"« -- circumsrnceM? 3d
mM ™dd / r''f\°"*''°'^ '^ '" '»" fl^t the la«of the
riich soclt nr° " ' ";'"*'' """''■ "'^■" ''" '"e great phenomena
11
l^'M
Iv
\IU 1
i I
1
IH)
M
138
FRAGMENTS.
Duguld Stewart aas defended at greater length than any other
writei- the capacity of metaphysics for being inductively investi-
gated ; and it is curious to find that he even supposes that the
Hiind can be not only observed but experimented on. His remarks
are by way of reply to the Edinburgh Review.' He says "^ that in
liis metaphysical inquiries he has pursued the method of " imi-
tating, as far as I was able, in my reasonings, the example of
those who are allowed to have cultivated the study of natural
philosophy with the greatest success." At p. xxvii. he speaks of
'• the analogy between the inductive science of mind and the in-
ductive science of matter." At p. xxxvi. he strangely says tliat,
even in external nature, " the difference between experiment and
obstrvation consists merely in the comparative rapidity with
which they accomplish their discoveries, or rather in the compa-
rative command we possess over them as instruments for the in-
vestigatioi\ of truth. The discoveries of bot)i, when they are
actually eiTected, are so precisely of the same kind, that it may
safely be affirmed there is not a single proportion tnie of the one
which will not be found to hold equally with respect to the
other." And yet at p. xliii. he says that analysis of association,
memory, &c., is an experiment, and that " the whole of a philo-
sopher's life, indeed, if he spenas it to any purpose, is one con-
tinued series of experiments on his own faculties and powers ;"
and yet again, at pp. xlv., xlvi., he explains away this boasted
experiment as a mere obser/ation ! ! ! At p. xlv. he says,
" Hardly, indeed, can any experiment be imagined which has not
already been tried by the hand of Nature;" and at p. xlv. he
says, " that above all the records of thought preserved in those
volumes which fill our libraries, what are they but expeviTnents
by which Nature illustrates, for our instruction, on he; own grand
scale, the varied rj'.nge of man's intellectual faculties, and the
omnipotence of education in fashioning his mind." It is singular
that Cousin, who often says that metaphysics is an inductive
science, tolls us in one plpce^ thii^ the inductive method of Bacon
and Newton is insufficient, because it will only give us the causes
of plienomeaa.
On these grounds I have most unwillingly arrived at the con-
clusion that the resources of -netaphysicians are at present inade-
quate to grapple with those great problems which liistory presents
us for sjlutron.
' Vol. iii. p. 269 ot HPq.
'' Bfpwiirt'd rhilosophieal E,.!iays, Ediuburgh, 1810, 4to. p. 111.
' Histoii't' cl.' la Pliilosophic, 1" sorie, tome iv, pp. 390, 391,
POSSIBILITY OF HISTORY. 139
But it appears to me that there is another mode of proceeding,
which has escaped the notice of that small number of emxnen
L'ttTo^^.tJied;"^^^'^^ '''' '' '-'''-''^ '^ *^« p--^
The method to which I allude, and which I shall adopt in the
present work is this: I shall, in the first pxace, by a general
wfl t: T^ l"^ '""^"^ ^' ^""^^^^ "P°° ^' ^^i-ntific truths
w be o Vh 7^^™f - of succession or of co-existence which
wi 1 be of the nature of empiric laws, increasing in value in pro-
port:on as we increase the extent of the surface from which they
are collected These laws I then propose to employ deductivei?
and, descending in[to] a particular period of hisLJ, verify them
by a specia investigation Their verification will consist of tw^
of the mind which are not only aamitted by metaphysicians, but
winch ave obvious to every man of ordinary understanding. The
other part of the verification of these laws will consist in fhowing
that they are compatible with the moral, economical, and physical
mHZ f ''""f "^^ *'^ P^"«^ -^- examL'tion '
IW ^11 .Tl P^^'P-T' f«^ *h^ «-ke of clearness, to divide what"
I .mve called the special history of society into certain classes, not
oondS.^ f fT^ ''"? '''"^'^^' ^^^ ^^^«^<^i"g t« the actual
cond t,on of things-as, for instance, clergy, aristocracy, agricul-
turists manufacturers, and the like. This division will only be
adopted as a scientific artifice, and with the view of showing
Ltuat] he principles which I have arrived at from a general
observation of history are applicable to ail the different classes of
a special period. If such a proof can be made out, it is evident
that such a seri. s of parallel reasonings will be more confirmatory
iLn ""ff \P""«ipl^/han the ordinary method of investi-
W n' A I 'r '"' ^ '^" ''^°^ *^^^t ^ ^^^-tain law which I
have arrived at by a general consideration of history, is in any
oSvTl irr^'^'^^PP^""^^' '' ^" ^^^ great' classes of
llw. r. "''^' ""^ " '^'^ ^^^^ ^°^l«g«"« to that in
hich the general laws of natural philosophy are applied to
mechanics, hydrostatics, aconstics, and the like. This is also the
vay in which general physiological principles collected from the
whole ot organic nature have been applied to man, and the nu-
tr.tion of plants throws light on the functions of human nutri-
tion At tne same time, and by way of further precaution- I
shall, wlule investigating periods of special history, take'occasion,
when very important principles are at stake, to recur to genera
f ' ' 'i^*'' ii
r.'
-■ ■;■'
,
'. tj
hlfi
i
ft
y i!
P| j;
1
Ml
140
l''liA(}MKNT.s.
hislory, .-uid I shall iutt licHitiito io collect evidence IVoin other
eouiitj-i(»H, in oidor to prove that it holds good under the most
dillen-nt conditions. If this is accomplished with any degriio of
su«ress, I shall not only hav(i pointed out. some of the gr(>at
laws whitih regulate the ntovements of niitions, but I indulg<^
a hope that, hy a retlex process, some light will be thrown
upon t,h<) gc>n(<ra.l constitution of the himian mind, and that
some contribution will hav(^ been made! towards the forma-
tion of a basis on which metaphysical science can be hereafter
erected.
It appj>ars then to mo that history can only be satisfat^torily
treat (>d by applying to its special periods those general princi|)les
which hav«) be»Mi d<>rived from a com|)reh(^nsive survey of it as a
whole; and that befon> making this application, it will be advi-
mhh) to sim[)lify the ])h(>nomenaof the smaller ju-riods by breaking
them into divisions, which will correspond to those classes that
are always found in every civilized society. Having laid down
thes(^ preliminary vi(>ws, tlu^ next thing is to consider what those
branches of knowledge arc with which we must be acciuainted in
order to apply the g(«neral principles to the particular period. Ft
is evident that, looking upon society as a whole, it admits of two
sorts ot divisions : a division into classes, and a division into
interests. The nature of the tivst set of di 'sions is very obvious,
because it is constantly passing before our eye. But the nature
ot the division into interests is much more obscure ; and this
seems to arise partly from the circumstance that men generally
love their interest more than they love the class to which tlu>y
belong, and partly because, to understand the different interests,
it IS necessary to have a mtu-h more comprehensive knowledge
than is re(]uired in und(>rstanding thi> feelings of the ditfer«>ut
i'lasses by which those interests are put in movement. AjkI yet,
smce it will be necessary, aftt>r having viewed society analytically
m rt>terence to classes, to complete the process by viewing it
synthetically in ref.ronce to the aggregate of its interests, it is
i'vidt>ntly important to come to a preliminary undi>rsta.nding as to
what those interests are, and as to the natun^ of those sciences by
which their w'orkings are explained.
There are, so far as I can perceive, in every civilized society,
six great interests, in the preservation of which a wise govern-
nu>nt will be careful to interest the whole of its subjects, but
which will from seltish motives be always especially protecteil by
certain classes. These interests are, Keligion, Science, Literature,
^^ealtli, Liberty, and the great principle of Order, by which 1
understand a conserving impulse, which is exceedingly dangerous
''OSSin/LiTV OF JliHTOKY.
141
"i Uk; c()iitr;u;l,(!(l minds „f unlimrv . v,- •
c^al lic.„co into wiMcI.f unha,^ " T'"" "^"'""'^ ^''^ '""^••«'-
< '••^^ is c..,npatiI,lo with tlu, f'o^^^^JZ, "'« H'hest possible pitch
<'- ""fi'-o nation, which will }, If"' ' "« ^'^ ^''^ »-nofit of
-Hly hy adininistcrin^. Ji.ro a iftl Tl T^'^'T""^ '^''""^''' ^'"f.-
'".'^ ^'-t, upon the wl^lo, U.O ^ ^;: ':^ '"^^^ ''-- ^^ J^ttlo atl ;
W.HO f,n,vornrnont will omploy L Zj^T'''' '" '"''■"^*' ^''»'^<^ "
wl.ic=h iH cornpatihlo with th nroso v '^ f"''""'''^' intcrforonc
I^^t without entering into a c'S^ •'" "V" ^"'^^ *^^»'---
v-y.ppa.-ont in the' cou.-«o o f^^r "'"' "'" '^^' "-'^"
<■''<>«' «:n.it interests in the o rd or ' T-""""' ""^ ^'""«i''-''
;;-"' -"1 inquire into t 7 n.^ ; ^^'"^''^ ^ ^^-« stated
< '- present state of our knowh-c ^ ' 1 '•' "^^^'"'^"'•««« ^^hich
<3ln('i(hition. "owjcajrc supphes for their general
iKf. li(dlf/lon The view T l.nu„ •
intellect in France, i^ ^,Lnnd"rr' "" P^^^^-->^' ^'-
"ave estah,y.ed this impo/la J p,C^^X-5:^r' ""'' ' ''""'^'
nary connexion between the eleL JT., ''*^ "l"'^* ^« no neces-
;"t<;r(«st; and that scepticism is a pre imin '"'\ ''"^'^"" '^« '"'
;> tl- reception amo^ nations tF^^Z^ ^''^^^^^ — a,^
;'l'«>on, by which 1 understand toleJ-aS 7"; '"* '"''''« "^'
i'^very man who is not interested in th iT' "'^^' ^"^ P''acc-.
"n..st desire tlurt those opinion shuW T ''''"" "*" ^"« "''""f 7
I '-■•• f"'"<-t extent ; but ti.e L ^^ 1^^^^ """^^^'"^"^^ ----«! in
''■.^t<..y will show that their pn m Mt, ^^^P^'nence of universal
-<•-! '^ a marked diminutL:! " ^:;:^.^ ^^^^ ^^^^^" ^-
an' the two great principles which 2T f ^'^''- '^'^'^«<'
j:P.-ctin, the ,reat inlrest'of rd!^o. .i^" f^^ j'i«tory re-
..rmution, we turn to theology, we I'nll Lh 1? '^^'^^^i^nal in-
<n;atodin so contracted a spirit f; To fu™^^ 'I'''' i^ ^^as been
!n.k^d for a science, but not wi .1 "f f ",« "^^^' "'« "materials
!'«^-». It is .luite possible for a Zto ^ '"' '^ "^^ ««i^'nee
■".mense learning which is connected wifb'/""'''^''^'' '-^^ ^^'at
■'^f «till n,main wi( hout the krwledo- f '^f^^^^ia^tical history,
tl.o rise and foil of religi,^^ ^^ 1^:1? T''' ^^ -speeti,^
«nflK.u.nt power to enable him to maS / ^^ ^^'^'^^^^ ^ "'ind of
---- <.f his own underslamH^r Th; 1^^" ^^"^ ^°"^ «-
-•'^1^^-n of theology arises partl^^lr.lrtrihril ^'T'"'^
' I'
(
'Iff
ii.^.i
' - *i
142
FRAGMENTS.
: 3
nearly always monopolised by tliat class who think that they have
an interest in making reason yield to tradition, and partly from
the fact that, even among laymen^ no one has yet arisen who is
competently acquainted with all the great religions of the earth,
from a large study of which we can alone expect to discover those
general principles which, when verified by special applications,
would rise to the dignity of scientific truths. But, besides these
two causes of the imperfection of theological science, there is yet
a third, which, though under the advance of knowledge it is
becoming lesa powerful, still produces most injurious results.
This is the habit of looking upon theology as an exceptional
branch of knowledge, which is not to be treated according to the
ordinary methods of discovery. Tliis miserable superstition, by
which men voluntarily renounce the exercise of their reason, will,
so long as it exists, render us incapable of understanding the in-
fluence of religions upon nations, and the reaction of nations upon
religions. And yet so strong is the dominion of ancient prejudice,
that men, even in om- own times, writers of ability and of undoubted
honesty, are not ashamed in professedly scientific works to lay
down the maxim that no one should presume to attack the na-
tional religion, or in any way to disturb the acknowledged prin-
ciples of an established faith. To me it appears that this arbitrary
interference with the jurisdiction of the human reason is not only
injurious to the formation of scientific habits, but is unworthy of
the relation which we bear to that Great Being who is the cause
and the centre of created things. I am as firm a believer in the
truths of religion as any of those men wlio are afraid of letting
in the light of day upon their opinions. But I know of no ulti-
mate object in inquiry except the discovery of trutli, to wliicli
everything else must be subordinate. And this I do say, that not
only traditions and dogmas, but even the awful (question of tlie
existence or non-existence of the Deity, blasplienious as it is if
conceived in a jeering spirit, should be handled, with tenderness
indeed, but with unlimited freedt)m. It will, of course, be o])-
tional with us to reject tlie argument, and to recur to that indi-
vidual and transcendental belief wliich has often been the last
resource of the subtlest minds. But we must never attempt to
stifle what we suspect that we are unable to answer : nor can I
conceive anything more repugnant to the primary principles of
rt'ligion than a belief that tlie Ahniglity First Cause can regard
with displeasure the exercise of that great and lofty curiosity of
which He first implanted the seeds, and under wliose protection
we reap the fruits.
TRIUMPH OF INTELLECTUAL OVKU P„vs,OAL LAWS. 148
Thu, f„, instance, to co ni^tTtl'^^of" fe Te AT'Th '
country mort celebrated for music is BohemL ■ Th .
TKItJMPH OF INTELLECTUAL OVEK PHYSICAf
LAWS.
facl.ty of travelling and diminutio^of nrorai and r T "'
prejudices helps this. We are less denemle„7 "•"'■g'o.is
have repealed om- absurd cor, -1 ws -L * r""""' "'""" ""
.iage is easier, and freight les expTns" T^ J-™' and car-
tt.r'rd"r-'''— ^^^^^
«.ose law^ , an^rshat !::1L " ,rihaut: I'tnlrdlt^""""''
...national character are traceable to inte ee ,ai n eced r""
'a-e ocm^iJ, and then their influence "f -";^' ^^'^"^f^^^^ ^^ ''""'
-.. ..ave ofthern. ,„ other u::zx::j:. ti .trs:^
pomoeratu. ,.„ Anu^ri,;,..., vol. iii. ,, 232 ' -^^ '*^"'
■ Journal of tl„. Statistical Soci-ty, vol. iii', p. ,07 „.,i ,., ,;, ^ ,^,
144
FRAGMENTS.
but still their influence depends on the opinion we form about
them. By increased protection against climate, in houses and
'clothes, we are neutralising its eflfect. We are also introducing
from other countries non-indigenous food, and thus assimilating
the diet of men. The excess of male over female births does not
depend on climate : but the excess is less in towns than in the
country ; ' and among legitimate births the proportion of boys is
j'leater than among illegitimate ones.' In F'rance the excess of
male births is greater in muscular employments — as in agricul-
ture — than in the more sedentary occupations of commerce and
manufactures.^ It is doubtful whether hot or cold climates are
most favourable to fecundity;* so that we may abstract climate
and broadly say that the number of }>irths depends on the number
of marriages. Births are influenced by the seasons; but, it is
observable that this and all other influences of climate are more
felt in the country than in towns ; the latter having, as Quetelet
observes, more means of correcting the inequality of tempera-
ture.* National character must depend on mental laws because
we find that savages who are still entirely under the dominion
of the physical world, have no national character ; all of them
being equally vain, crafty, cruel, superstitious, and improvident.
The mortality in the different parts of Paris is determined, not
by the physical condition of the different parts, but by the state
of wealth and comfort of the inhabitants.'' The average length
of life is evidently of the greatest importance, for on it depends
the nature of crime, since violent offences are committed by the
young, fraudulent ones by the old. On age also depends tlu;
spirit of accumulation ; hence interest of money ; hence wages ;
lience increased democracy ; and this depends more on man him-
self than on climate. Thus we find that in the same places, i.e.
wliere nature is the same, mortality has diminished, and some of
the worst parts of European India are now less imhealthy than
three centuries ago even the best parts of Europe. Man lias
increased his longevity by his intellect; i.e. by cidtivating the
oround, and thus changing the temperature ; drying morasses ;
giving himself more healthy food and plenty of it ; ventilation ;
improved medicine. It used to be supposed by jNIontesquieu
that the use of fish increased fecundity, but this is now known
to be false.^ And the same thing was formerly supposed of
potatoes ;" but the truth is, we know of no physical influence
' Quetelet, Sur I'llomme, tome i. pp. 42, 43, 45.
•' lb. pp. 49, 50.
s Ibid, torao i. pp. 99, 189. See also tomo ii. pp. 321, 323.
J bill, toirie i. pp. 152, 153.
" 15cn .loiison iukI Sliakcs^pearc.
2 lb. pp. 4G, 47, 48.
♦ lb. pp. 72, 76, 76.
' lb. tome i. p. lOG.
lation should be increjed „„. L ■™''''''''. "'"' I'^'and. P„pu.
ciimini-Mng the deaths ISyf :"?""''' *^ •""•""' >"" V
place every child costs ao Jormo s sumTf^"™"'-. ^" ""^ «'«'
™« society.. So th,t tj„ p™ " X „f '"°"T ^^"'^ '■» =a»
on .nultiplieation b„t „„ conse Xn ^ l^r""^ '^"^""'^ »<"
more adults there are the greltlr tZ , T"'"' P''"'"' ">«
covery. The effect the ffreat „ V, """?" "' '■■tell,ctual dis-
Imd upon everyhranch of mil"" 'k "f '""rteeuth century
and ViUaui and Hecker Bu oH, 'T^ '""^ ^°--i»
cause, fewer death., than the ordirrvm. T ^"'^''""^ PH'"e
■ncrly. The same remark ho, '4«,rw^ °'?"^^'"» '^'O f"'"
i« nations advance the differeneerh', I' ^"'"'"' "^^^ "'"t
This, if true, I may nerhamuse 1 t " """"''"al» increase.'
influence of mental hws jllnT '"'^'""'"'* '^ "'^ '■'«™"1
Comte3 has brought fo^krd eridenc T r* "'"■"=*• Charles
which, from the badneslrf tZr ? '''°" "">* "'"'^ «tes
famines, are preciseirt'e nit tLcl,™'^ "" "'°^' '■'=P°"'d *»
Montesquieu thinks'drunrnuesr; ^rtrft °'','' """ ""'■'•
ns ,s an error.. Whatever be the na uri? ii^ "'""'"?' >""
the progress of knowleil.re i. ... • -i ™""al difference of soils,
as Liebig shows, this begins eSy^; hL ? '^'™"'^ ""^ ^^^^ ;
It is said that owing t health it ^^^^^^^^^
creasing improvement of tL 00^;,^ ^id^^^ the in-
tegers are rapidly becoming ex^nT^e ^ ^^ Pf --larly
was observed by Bishop H^ber in 1824 .nd ,«,f. t^^t ^^^"^
tinctly ascribes this to the En<.lisb T.^f fit !^'^'' '^''-
a^simihttion. In America the S S ind a ZT'""'"^ " °"'-
We are conquering India and RnL ^- ^<^«0"»ng: extinct,
[the] FrencLremeetfn;i;lfrr'7^^^^ ^^--^^
"ow so great that famines and pestiiene^^^
word, are impossible. Coffee thp V ' "^"^ '^^"'^ ^^ the
now commonly grow; nf Stenh ' . '"•''' '^ *^«^P-ance, is
-ys that "PotL: -th^tghtl^"^^^^^^
over Europe, are no longer the food'ofn \ "" scattered all
-- in Spanish -^^^:^'°^:^^i' x^':;^^::^:^
See curious estimafe in Qu6tclo( Snn )'IT„^
Traits do Legislation, tJ^o i'';p' '1^" "'""^ 'l K': \''' '''•
Ibid, tome if. p. 318. ^ ^ '^'' '^''^- ' lb. tome ii. pp. 274, 275
»^tepi,cn,.s Cj^utral America, vol. i. p. 362. ' - ^-7, J93, 2o2.
Letters on Chemistry, p. 23.
Ra
1^!
'1iP!t^
'i
i;-
I
♦ *
146
FRAOMENT.S.
renders the powers of nature the servants of man, wliilst empi-
ricism subjects man to their service." Liebig says,' " The clear-
ing of the priTniEval forests of America, facilitating the access of
art to that soil, so rich in vegetable remains, alters gradually but
altogether its constitution." He says,' " The origin of epidemic
<liseases may often be referred to the putrefaction of great masses
of animal and vegetable matters," Notwithstanding the grandeur
of nature, the people of North America are not more superstitious
tlian the English, and are less so than the Scotch and Irish.
Wealth has only two elements, the physical element of the pro-
ductions of natuiB and the intellectual one of skilled labour. In
the earlier stages of the world the physical element triumphed,
as in India, &c., but now the intellectual one is in the ascendant,
and Europe is richer than Asia.
It is a familiar remark that now men suffer little in cold
climates from cold, in hot climates from heat. By our precau-
tions we have baffled nature. This is said of Kussia.^ From the
Institutes of Menu there is " ground for a suspicion that the
famines which even now are sometimes the scovurge of India, were
more frequent in ancient times." * The progress of knowledge,
by explaining tlie most marvellous phenomena, is equalising the
wonders of nature, so that even in the United States there is not
more superstition than in England. In North Africa the French
are advancing, in Sotith Africa the English; and in Asia the
Kussians are advancing in North West Asia. " The outposts of
Anglo-Saxon civilization have already reached the Pacific.""
" The total amount of steam power in Great Britain is equal to
about 4,000,000 men,"" and " a bushel of coals which costs only
a few pence in the furnace of a steam-engine, generates a power
which in a few minutes will raise 20,000 gallons of water from a
depth of .360 feet, an eff'ect which could not be accomplished in
a shorter time than a whole day by twenty men working with the
common purap."^ Read Babbage's Economy of Manufactures.
Ireland is far better supplied with rivers than England, but,
says Somerville,^ -'There are 2,990 miles of canal in Britain.
.... It is even said that no part of England is more tlian
fifteen miles distant from water communication." The laws of
earthquakes, &c., are being discovered ; hence one great cause
even in tropical countries, is dying away, and our wealth depends
' Let tors on Chemistry, p. 211.
' Ciii^tine's Russia, tomo iii. p. 310.
* Elphiiistone's History of India, p. 49.
* SonierviUc's Physicai (jreography, vol. i. p.
' lb. p. 313.
223.
2 P. 230.
• lb. vol. i. p. 300.
X lb. vol. i. p. 380.
™''«™ OK :»x.^,eX„^„VKB PHYSIC... «S. „7
less on our mines thin nn ^,
Kurope has diminished" ^^i::^;,"^^^^ T- being brought into
Europe were the most fertile-G ee;p ^\^''\'^''^i^ed parts of
••"t now improved agriculture bearTf . f"^' ^'"^^' ^"^ ^pain ;
^'onerally cultivated^in Asi^ and Af T^™' '^^^ P^^^*- ^^ "ow
strongest case of all, the potato^ ^^^^^^^^ ""^^^ ^" '^^'^^^ the
lence, and one physical evil th..' " remedied by the pesti-
Begin accomft of triumnh / .«';"f ^eracted another. ^
V- e^-icai, ph;2bgS :nd"ef "^^^"^ ^^^^^-^ ^^^^
downarece.^J,/,hethlrornoan;iC^ 'T ' ^-« ^-«^
Sood or bad. But, like all laws S n tf "'^'"'/'"^ ^^^'^^^ ''^'•^'
^«^;^«..a.«; and I shall nowTro^^that " '^f"''"'"^ ^^«««^«
although the law remains Intact th. . civilization advances,
End the chapter by ZT. IhT ^^^^^^^^"cy becomes fainter
lining AfricaLnol^r ifve :f'wTr 'b't ^ '^""^^ ^'^ ^^ "^ "
"ow grown in India, and L are potatoes '^^^r^-^'^' Wheat i«
1-dge has made barren land Sle and ^T''' "^ ^"''^-
"larshes and sand intn ^. i ' ^"^ ^"™^d unwholesomo
Noith Africa ^pitic X^^ ^^ pj^,« f ^^vilizatioHf
'ng character nothing is k. Cn an , h "'^- ^' ^^ ^^^^ ^ff^ct-
food only acts by thote large sodallltTr 7 "'"" '' *''^"^ '^^^
«ome parts of Soudan mA. ! ^ ^^^^ P^^^^^d out. In
|;ated,'but now it t; rt LeTt^ZinT '" °"^^ ^^^^"^^^^ P--
iiichardson, whose expeiiencefs w.lf ' ""''' '^ ^''^' ^^''^d.^
-inquest by a power ifke T/ea" S v"^"""',,^^^^'' " ^^^ f--^-
tirpateslaveryLmAfricI" ?nM ' '"' *^^"^« <^^« really ct
••"''^bitants afe Mahommttan "^^Tr' 'T ^'"^^'^ ^^^'^^^' "'<'
••tKordofanpreferlslamism'^Palllt'v^^^^^^^^^^^^
-'vomi authentic sources that the e 'rl ^K^t f ^'' ^'^^^^
"'tenor of Africa where Mahnmr ^ . "" provinces in the
♦o gain a footing." « The A T ""T ^"^ ""* ^^^'^^^y begun
<l"'"ters, have rdapsed nto theh' oTl't ."''n ^'^^ ^"'^ ^'^^^^ ^'^
'^f mechanical skill, even in tt H . "' ^" *^" ^"^^^« ^^sence
^•"Arabia, vol. i. p/s^el LrckSH; "^o^""^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^
^■^^^-otabookshoporab:SrX:r-^e:^f^
on'irr";r^'" -^-' - ^--^^^-^ I'^.^ica. Goo,.pV. vol. i, p. ,,5 a.,
; N^Common-PlHco Book. Art. 1486.
^ ^v:r^:rt ^r'^ " '^"'^' ^^-> -^- ^^- pp- ^o.. 20, n,
«Dcnham'sCor.t.,al Africa, p. 117
Pallme s Travels in KorcJan. p 184
&ee p. 3o0. ' P *"*• • I 190
'° Vol. i. p. 392.
I. 2
148
FRAGMENTS.
li ■:
I
at vol. ii. p. 275, a similar state of things at their other holy city,
Medina. On the other side, namely, in Oman, there is no sort of
literature.' In Europe, nature more languid and less extreme ;
soil less fertile ; climate less hot ; nature less majestic, and thus
inspires less awe. The so-called Republics of South America are
not democratic.2 Now the accumulated energies of Europe are
forcing themselves upon the faded remnants of old civilization
and destroying them. " Egypt formerly fed 7,000,000 of people,
and provided grain for exportation ; now she with difficulty sus-
tains 2,500,000."^ In Europe, mild and healthy climate lowers
profits and raises wages ; hence democracy. Then show that this
industrial energy is also aided by nature being generally less
grand and oppressive ; and that in Europe the physical laws are
constantly in abeyance, and intellect more and more continues its
encroachment on matter. The wheat of Europe is a dear food."
Without the least evidence wheat is supposed to have originated
in Palestine."* In Italy and in Spain most (?) earthquakes and
volcanoes, and there have been nurtured worst forms of Christian
superstition. Azara " well says that in America nature is larger
and more powerful than in Europe. The whole of America ab-
sorbed by the United States an offshoot of Peru. Wheat is
grown in Thibet.^ In 1852, it is said^ that "printing-presses
have been set up all through the East India Company's terri-
tories." No part of Europe is within the tropics, nor is [there]
anywhere cheap food. The soil is not too fertile, and it is certain
that rain diminishes as we advance from the Equator.^ European
civilization the iirst in which both men and women had influence ;
though in the case of Greece the Asiatic contact somewhat
weakened the influence of women. When I mention the super-
stition of Spain and Italy, say that in America high wages are
one of the causes of democracy. Darwin '» says, " I think there
will not in another half century be a wild Indian northward from
the Rio Negro " (the Negro is in east of Patagonia). On ap-
proaching extinction of other barbaious races see Darwin, pp. 520,
534. In It'^ly and Spain superstitions, the arts, painting, but not
1 See Wellsted's Travels in Arabia vol. i. pp. 318, 319. And Niebuhr's Descrip-
tion de 1' Arabia, pp. lb 1, 188, 189. ,. ,^,. . , •■
■^ See on the Republics of La Plata, M'CuUoch's Geographical Dictionary, vol. u.
p. 516.
» Journal of Asiatic Society, vol. vii. p. 280.
' See Meyer's Geography of Plants, pp. 292, 294, 295.
» See Lyell's Geology, p. 685. " Amerique Meridionalc, vol. i. p. 75.
' Journal of Asiatic Society, vol. xii. p. 377-
» lb. vol. xiii. p. 211.
» See the table in Prwit's Biidgewater Treatise, p. 296.
'o Journal, p. 122.
3nca are
DISPUTES AMONG mVFEREm BRANCHES OF KNOWLEDGE 149
»on oonf«e, that after Napoleon', Expedition to Zpt o^rdec "
e,^,atty agricultural one,, originally and at Jlty oneTti;::
mort sterile. I need not aay I allude to the Netherlands •" • „d
nxK, Belgium is the most thickly peonled " Th. ^^n i ' j
of iron in round numbers is in Gr^a? Britain 1 500 Ztr"^""
about 600,000 made in England, 500,000 in 'wales and L^
mouthshire, 600,000 in Scotland "> R.,t :/ , ! , , °"
those things were' in the l^lto"' 'the ear' I untnt'skm^f ^
drew tnem forth. It is said that we could grow kt Fntl" h
and Ireland so as to be independent of foreT^Ts, ' w" """if^tv
of coals in China -and so there alway. were to North Amerfca^
famine is now " impossible."' iimerica.
DISPUTES AMONG DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF
KNOWLEDGE.
Afteb giving an account of the use of static)™ „„i'.- i
"omy, metaphysics, &., add the JLL-^ ' •"'""'' "'"-
It might have been supposed that as^soon as these imnortant
accession, to history began to be studied, history TtseTf'^o^M
receive a corresponding increase of strength and di™ tv B„
unhappily for the interests of knowledge these tbi, u ^
-arcely assumed a distinct form when m^ nlei* It ,';:''
u ction between them, committed the serio is err^r of tLa ™'
physicians political economists, statisticians, writers on imism-u-
dence, writers on the history of philosophy, on the history of
' History of Europe, vol. iv. pp. 652, 653
^ Law of Population, vol. i. p. 9;-,.
•' Report of Briti.sh Association for 1848, p 15
Report of British Association for 1849 n 89" a., 1 d
actions of Sections, pp. 87-89. ^' ^"'^ '"" ^'^""^ ^"^ '839, Trans,
» See D.avi,.'s Chinese, vol. iii. p. 133.
Horschel On Natural Philosophy, p. 6a.
1 (
150
FRAGMENTS.
literature, on civil history, on military history, on ecclesiastical
history. All these we have in abundance. (Speak here of Euro-
pean literature generally. In England there is a great deficiency
of original writers on many of these subjects.) But all of them
exaggerate the utility of their own pursuits, and undervalue those
in whicli they are not engaged. Instead of working together as
friends and allies, tliey strirjgle together as rivals and enemies.
Instead of showing how all knowledge converges, tliey do every-
thing to increase its divergence. The consequence of all this
lias been most mischievous, and that in two different ways. Not
only has much been left undone, which, by a more comprehensive
process might have been achieved, but men of large and philo-
sopliic minds have been so offended by the contracted spirit in
which these studies are pursued that they have neglected them
for the more attractive pursuits of physical science. This explains
what would otherwise appear a very unnatural feature in the lite-
rature of this great age, that a vast maiority of the finest living
intellects are occupied in interrogating the phenomena of the
inorganic world and the laws by which those phenomena are re-
gulated. The result has been that topics of the most surpassing
importance — the extent and functions of the human mind, the
origin and condition of human knowledge and the degree of cer-
tainty to which it may pretend, the foundation of morals and
religion, the action of law and customs upon religion and its re-
action upon them, the connection between the riches of a countiy
and the virtue of a country, the diffusion of education, the causes
of an increase of crime, the accumulation and the distribution of
wealth, — many of these subjects which form the top and pinnach^
of iJl knowledge, have been, with a few well-known exceptions,
abandoned to those inferior men who conduct the practical busi-
ness of the couiitry, and fondly expect that they will receive their
final solution amidst the agitations of a popular assembly.
A few instances of the contracted spirit in which some ; f Uic
most important topics have been treated by some of the al)le f^
writers will serve to illustrate my meaning. It is an undoub' ud
truth that everything which tends to hamper the movements and
limit the responsibilities Df individual men is in itself a serious
evil ; but, lik 3 all other evils, should be practised if the balance
of advantage i:^ on its side. Now it will be generally admitted
that men who )i..,ve power are likely to abuse it, and that the
tendency of (/!:.& ^-pj-''^ classes is to oppress the lower classes.
Bearing these wctB in mind, we will suppose that we are called
on to give an opinion upon what seems a very simple question —
the propriety of landlords inserting clauses in their leases which
m.PVTES AMONG DIFKERIiNT MA.NCHES OF KNOWLEDOF 151
educated than their tenant. an,f^h "'"''' '^"« better
terert in the land, J Z 'lit! t?' " "T ^"""""" '""
lert course for increir n,. V . "°" '"'' '■"'""'"•end the
then we have a rZ"^ "iP^t'f ""''" f "'^ "»"• "'■■■■•
rtrin^ent clauses in leVe ' 7) ,t „n ttlT. .'"".'"f"'"" ''
grave moral and political doubt a.' to t ,t .'"^ """•" '"■'""
which not onlv increases the n "f P^Pn-^'y "f »"y me.w,ure
nishin, the r^^oS U / of EVn '"" '"''' "iT' "^ *""-
which :,e would be under if hi. ^^ • ' ™' "'" "e=i'S»ity
fo™i„« h;,„seif asr!,;e\':;td:sTc:m:tt""i f '":
(I by no means 'drnft hat there w uirnL 7°,°"""°' '"''■
mical loss if leases were unfettered h ,1 ^,1^. "» <^™"»-
>-r:b'f:?,;TZirtr^^^^^^
depriving them of what mlv h t '.T'""' °' '"^"' ^-^ "'"»
life. Jul in the same waTfhBoS,''" P'"""=^' ^"""^"o" »f
.■efuses to recognise thlT ;7at n nrTnT"l::t""f ^
question by an inquiry as to which mlu od win moaner:,: .f '
productiveness of the land Th^ „„„. , ™™'""= "'o
and political economistrtstead oH rXTnV:„'''ri """"^
common aim, desDise phpI. .fi, ' /^''"'"'"^»^' together witli a
uble disunion the Cear^^^^^^^^ "' '^ ''" ^^°^^"^-
year becoming mot^t;'^;^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^Tn' t^' '' ''■''
Home eminent authors have estima edTfff' / u f ""^ 'P'"^
the standard from their priva e st^^^t %' '^'^'/.^
Htract branches of moraf Wvlfdl " T '" *^' ^"^'^ ^^''-
ado73ted M .-^^ /""^^i Knowledge a similar course has been
fpfysie n raTfi" ^™' "" ^-P"'-" «- grcates
The real causes of the* rise of" Holland are ncit yet krlown It
nat o s Lnit Vr'jX ''-^'y -^ industry,r";the
celebrated r ^""^ laborious witliout being great A
celebrated German writer ascribes their .n-eat wealth to th
rented demand tor commodities caused b^th^ 1^ ^^ ^^-^
I Ji
l\f4 If' 'I
152
FliAOMENTS
Kuropo, tho prion of whicli cominoditios hn Hupposj^H tho Dutdi
wo\H) al)ln to fix.' This is ii sf rikinj; iiiHt'iiUH^ of the impuriMilnlily
of wrilinjjf liistorv witljoui. ii kiiowlcclj^o of poliliciil tU!o»ioiny.
lMIVSI()h()(iY'.
TiiK stroiijj; in-ojudiccs <lui(- exist, against, systotus '.vliidi oven
wivour »)f iiiiiliM'ialisiu arc, porliaps, a iiutiinil roii'tioii ii}j;i.inHt
thi^ (>xa}4f;»'rato(l piiilosopliy of siurli writors an Maiuliwillc, IIclvo-
tius, and Laiuarck. And yot it cannot Ito d(^ni('(l that such ]n-(!-
judifos an* very unfavourahlo to th(! };('iH'ral pro<;Tossof knowU'd^o.
Mocanso Iho supporters of a parficidar school of niotaphysics liav(*
hiid down that tho Iiahits <»f man aro ontiroly tht^ result of his
])liysical ori;;niis;i(ion, juodcrn writers, indijj^nant at siich a do{j;ina,
liave fallen into the opposite (>xtreine, and liave denitul the exist-
ence of any sn«'h inihiem'(>. It has always ap])eared to mc that
th(> nu'taphysician is incapable itf decidinj; this ((uestion without
callinj;' in the aid of the physioloj;ist. A single instance will
illustrate my nu>aiiin<;-. It is well known that tho jj^reat object of
food is to rt>niedy the \vast(> of the body, which it does by snp-
])lyinj;' iibrine t,o th(> tissues, and heniatine, ji;iv.itulin(>, and senuu
to th(> blood. The j^reaier part of the process by which this is
ai'complished is perfectly miderstood i l)ut the eti'eet produced on
the tissues an*' on the blood by ditt'erent food still remaitis to lie
ascertain(>d. Thai, supposing- other thinj^s (>(|ual, tlu^ state of th(^
chyme is ri>i;ulnted by the nature of the food, is now universally
admit t(>d; and th(M-i> is yn'at reason to bel
U've
that,
lie c
hvl
(> IS
eipially susceptibl(>. If this is th(> case, if the chyle is really
modified by tlu> n«>urishm<>nt which supplies it, then it seems
h.'irdly possibli [o believ«> that the blood can escape the cent iij^ioii.
A few well iliriH'ted ex})eriments wouh! S(>t the ([uestion at rest ;
and, should it appear that the blood of a sin<>le man is at!ected by
his food, it will follow that the blood of an entire peoph^ must be
affect I'd by their national food. The duMuist would tlien step in,
and woidil show that certain sfat(>s of the blood are incid(nit-\l to
ctM'taiu diseases. Ha vino- proci'edeil thus far, we should incpiire
into tlu> connection between diseases of the body and pecidiarities
o\' the mind — we should in([uire, for instance, to ^vhat diseases the
poet was most subject, and to what the mathematician — lie who
most cultivated the ima<>ination as compared with him who most
' Soliill.T's \V(>rko, bjiiuf viii. pp. 1ft, 16, Stutlgiirt, 1838.
' Dim
•' JVIoti
* Sro
1835, i. ;
* Loct
» Hoo:
* Jour
' Ibid.
PHYSIOLOGY.
153
I..... .til"' "■"''" " •""""• "- «"-> 1 "-
p.u Hji biis(! (m H{! t()ii(I;int Kur la nhvHiolu.rio " i v ^i ' '
niiiv nut, 1).. fn.r. All n 4. r r'y'''"l"t?KJ- Now thiH may or
»hm^ tho ettocte, ,1 effect, there ure, earned by the difference
e,!,','.'.,,'""'*' '^'■^ ■'""'™ M'«''<intosl,, wI,o liad received a medical
ef til" r ' *' ",''''' '" "'" ™">«li'>te cause of ,„„rt
Tile result of Sir .Tame* Macl<into»li'a observationg in 7n,li,
»™ to ,oake hiu, ,«lie.e that the Hindoo, were T'aninW:
Uwrencc . say,, " T„ lay down the la,v» of the animal economy
"..^^;:nZ::,:i7,::^;;;;;" -"•-- °'«"' p>'y»'cai em,ct» „,
w(,rl<l flL . ^'"''" *'*»«<''-v«P tluit in all parts of the
weld there is a ^re^ mortality among the negro troops.
; IjMTniron, Ili^toiro do la rhysiolopo, tomn i. p. 113
Alomoirs of Sir Jan.as Mackinlosh, oditt'd l.v his Hon Svn is-^r , •
• Loct.iroH on Man, &e., 184 1, p. CO
« i,>„m, 1 i-.i o "■ r '"" "^J or M.inlund, vol. 11. p. 349
■ it,:™tT;';r;s' '"'* ™'- ^- ^"^^ -^ ™' -• ^p- ^^«-»^«
154
FRAGMENTS.
A remarkable fact is that " the proportion of boys born among
the Jews is much larger than among Christians." '
Whatever may be the influence of race, all our evidence sliows
that intellect is equal. As to the negroes, Gregorie first showed
this. As to the Hindoos, no one will doubt their power who has
looked into their profound metaphysical inquiries ; and for their
present ability, see Journal of Statistical Society, vol. viii. pp.
109, 236, 255.
The climate of Mauritius is " unfavourable to the negro con-
stitution, while it does not appear to have any decidedly evil
influence on that of Europeans." ^ The fecundity of the Icelandic
women is extraordinary, they often having twenty children.^
In India, unlike Europe, there is an " immense excess of males
over females." *
Fletcher has no doubt of the influence of race on crime.^
CLIMATE.
;i;l
h.i
rr
TocQUEViLLE^ observes that in the southern states of North
America the climate makes labour very unpleasant ; hence slavery,
and hence, I may add, all the evils that slavery brings. And
Tocqueville remarks ^ that in those hot countries the culture of
rice is dangerous to health, and would hardly be undertaken by
free men. Besides this,^ tobacco, cotton, and sugar require in
their cultivation constant care : there is a premium on domestic
slavery. In hot climates the phenomena are more sudden, alarm-
ing, and startling — hence men are more superstitious. An im-
portant effect of climate is that when it lowers the mortality, it
diminishes the accumulating spirit, raises profits, and lowers
wages. Hence no democracy in hot climates and no scepticism.
Lunacy rare in tropical climates.^ The decline of Eome has been
accompanied by a change in the climate.'" "We believe, indeed,
t])at it will be found wholly impossible, except under peculiar
circumstances, to carry on the culture of sugar on its present
' Journal of tho Statistical Society, vol. ii. p. 2G8 ; sec also ix. p. 81.
■^ Ibid. xii. 390.
» Ibid. xiv. 8, 10. * Ibid. XV. 327.
» Ibid. xii. 236.
• Democratie en Ameriquo, vol. iii. p. 170. ' Ibid. p. 171.
" Ibid. p. 172.
" Statistical Society, vol. viii. pp. 02, C3. '• Ibid. xv. 173.
CLIMATE.
155
tivity 'the sSuarpaii„ritr °™ ' "^""° "^ '""^ -
hottest months of the y "r' a feet Jvt '° '"*'' '^"""S *""
eonoborate, our e„erience' "f «• i corresponds with and
crime against the Trson "' m!, '"^""T "^ ""= *'"™» <">
Montesquieu, I thin^ Z «„t '„"''';'; ^ '"PP"'^' '" '""'■"cr.
physieal advantage, of T,„ ''" ^'''' ""^ intelleetual and
f-opics, the Sll T" °"°" ^' '"ff™"* times. In the
climates, nature beTuT tZtlC/ " "^^"^ "^''^ '»^»'«- I- l-o'
to this, iavery bein7adrd^, ' ""'""r '' "' ■'«=«'"7- B"*
found in ArabiT^^fees 'Vhilel "°" «'^,"'PI»'e"t civilization
painful, it alsoreEttoul/ , ™ ■"'"""'*' '™'i'='» '»'»"■•
a low standard Tcomt^t^'fr^'"''""""""^""^- H™ce
tymuny. Butl the ?^a 'ylf the 7'"."^°' "■"■ P^'P^'^'-
an ea.lier period of soeietv tl, ^ "'"' '™'"'<''' """^ '«i™<' at
find that tL Ilat[r;' ol niTtlTnif"' '°7'tf'-t-. -
an earlier period than cold e„unres ""^ P'"'°»»P'""- at
™p™TrtL'°^lr/:ltr^'''' --S danger, and therefore
think. "''' °'™'"«» "^ '<=» busy in getting food to
haslt^Lgena^d'otted '?:!""" "'^' """ " -'<• ^ -" i'
risen in a hft cHml r /a '""' ""te-nP'ychosis eould have
P'operly spl nrcotsid^rl T *'"' Montesquieu did not,
the immediate inZ:tV^:,:trr:' f'^'^' ''''' ""^'^
atmosphere. Comte never T/!, ■ ^,. temperature of the
which Laing ha? so will T t ?' "^''''''' '"""'""e "' cUmate,
l-cing bouufifu, ma„l no™Jt '" ,""" ^''-''t-, naturj
that Montesquieu ),r.Z ^ ^ ^ ^ ""* foresight. He says '
Limself got it from ; ^l' 'T="*^ fr™ ^hardin, and he
'nhoteottLrnareTM^'i''^''' «'™'""' ""^ liodin.
™ein India. InTLTs 4°h writt "t^C"'" ""{"'r^"' ''
the Hindoos, a virtue winl !i ' general sobriety of
inimbitantsoVwrrmdilts" """" '"""'"""'" -"' -™t
.m'pr«::':L%''ufre':f:r:5a ™' ^' '^«"' ""-"-^ ^*"
^uimese ot all classes were assembled in great
' Journal of Sfntistical e-vJ^f- i
lru,t.5 de la legislation, vol. ii. p. 122
Journey through India, vol. ii. p 486.
'■' Ibid. vi. 148.
* Ibid. 116.
* Ibid. vol. iii. p. 355.
\m
- M
m
k i'
156
FKAGMENTS.
numbers, " without their committing one act of intemperance, or
being disgraced by a single instance of intoxication." ' Climate
does not affect strength. Look at Laplanders and Esquimaux, and
tlie powerful Galla. Kohl ^ says of the Baltic provinces of Russia,
" In countries where the different seasons glide mildly into one
another, there are always a hundred resources and make-shifts to
supply a particular scarcity. Nowhere, consequently, is the agri-
cidturist tormented by so many anxious cares as in these coini-
tries ; and nowhere does the population fluctuate so continually
between plenty and want." Neander ' says of Egypt : " From
hence Monachism spread to Palestine and Syria, where the climate
was more favourable to such a mode of life, and where too, even
at an earlier period, among the Jews much tliat was analogous had
already existed." The American climate is said to be favourable
to the increase of nervous diseases. Connect this with my notes
on the way nervous diseases and plague caused superstition. Un-
healthy climates shorten life : hence an excess of young men :
hence a cause of the ardour and imprudence of the Americans.
See my America. Unhealthy climates weaken the energies and
desire of accumulation. See on this Political Economy. Ban-
croft '' observes tliat there is no country where work can be carried
on out of doors so regularly all through the year. Wright ^ says
of the eighth century, " In the legends of this period the craters
of volcanoes were believed to be entries to hell." Custine ^ ob-
serves that the Russians are great imitators, but have no origi-
nality. In the Penny Cyclopedia (article Climate) it is said ^ that,
as a general rule, the temperature of countries between the tropics
and the poles depends on latitude ; but that in the tropics this
rule does not apply. For this reasons are given, and " this rea-
soning is not contradicted by experience. The countries in which
the greatest degree of heat is experienced lie near the Tropic of
Cancer. They are the countries on the banks of the Senegal, the
Tehama of Arabia, and Mekran in Beloochistan." Feuchters-
leben^ says, "There are numerous examples of the reciprocal
action of the respiratory and psychical functions. The courageous
and cheerful disposition of the inliabitants of mountains, in com-
parison with that of the inliabitants of lowlands, and especially of
' Symcs's Embassy to Ava, vol. ii. p. 35.
' Russia. 8vo, 18'14, p. 363.
' History of the Church, vol. iii. p. 333.
* History of Ampriean Revolution, vol. ii.
» Wright, Biog. Rrit. Lit., i. 312.
• Russio, iv. 317, 318.
' Vol, vii. p. 2tU).
» Mi'dioal Psyohology. p 17S.
pp, 55-r)0.
CLIMATE.
157
those who breathe the close air of towns, is well known"
Broussais ■ says that, having practised and made aulp ies in the
north, as well as in the south, he has found that t rmore men
hve indoors the more numerous are the aberrations of nutrition
as great tumours and other organic alterations. But by hvW h^'
of doors, and inhaling and excreting in open air, the boS b
tir-rdr'-T' ^".^ "^'^^ '^ ^^^^^ ^'mLtrueuses d^J^^:
tions and "aussi les cadavres sont ils en general sees et maiLn-es
dans les payschauds." Mrs. Somerville ^ says ^^TheZrl^y I
a nation or the mean duration of life, hasTLs^tab LT/uS
centnf H '' twenty-six years seven months. By tl,e
census the average age of the population of the United States of
tea s of II T'°' "'" '"''^ ^^'^^^ ^^*^« have attained fifty
Un-^ «.f' """?' ^^"^^q^^^tly, of experience: wliile in the
United States only 830 have arrived at that age: henceTn tie
United States the moral predominance of the^oung a„d pa
sionate is greatest." 3 ^ ^ P*^"
The thunder, the hurricane, and whirlwind, the imposin-
majesty of nature, forests, mountains, and desert . Th ^is "'
mteresting note on the Law of Hurricanes in Somervnie'
Physical Geography, vol. ii. p. 52. Mrs. Somerville ^ says,^' W irl
winds in ti^pical countries occur in all kinds of weather by
night as well as by day, and come without the smallesfnotle '
At vol 11. p 31 she says, "Professor Dove has shown from -t
comparison of observations that northern and central Asia iL
wLat may be termed a true continental climate m/ in Imt"
and in winter, that is to say, a hot summer and cold winter tha
luirope has a true insular or sea climate in both season; the
summers being cool and the winters mild." Connect t iTw Hh t .
i~d:: ^.Xl'^^f '^f-^'-^l America; hence merbecom
incguiai fitftil, and capricious-as everyone may understand bv
noticing the ^.npetus of habit and beautj of undJviating method^
Crt Johnson's Physical Atlas, highly praised by Mrl Some':
ville. Wilkinson observes that in hot countries vegetables are
more wholesome than meat; but he evidently knows not why
in hot climates perhaps women are precocious; but at all events
experience is wanting in very young wive. In hot clima .
clothes, ^c, are less costly..^' End the laws of climate and pit
Kxiiniun des Doctrinos inedieal.'S, vol ii. n. 311
'' Physical Gorwranliv, v..l ij ,, 401
Soc my America.
Guizot, Civilizuiioii en Ii
Pli
iiro])!', J). 97.
ysical Gcograpiiy, vol. ii. p.
IJO.
']!»
I Ii
158
FRAGMENTS.
cede the laws of religion by saying that in Europe accumulation
of wealth was, until the intellect came into play, much slower
than in Asia ; >^ut this fully compensated by the fact that in
Europe climate makes men more hardy, more methodical, and
more intellectual. Diodorus Siculus,' describing a volcanic
irruption, says, " The violent irruption of the fiery matter is so
wonderful, that it seems to be the immediate effect of some
Divine power." Hot climate shortens life, and thus raising
interest, will, if other things are equal, lower wages. The very
vague and contradictory opinions respecting the influence of
climate, which have been put forward by different writers, from
Hippocrates to our own time, are collected in two elaborate
Dissertations by Sir W. Ainslie." Elliotson ^ says, " The average
life of all ranks in the Peninsula in India falls one-eighth below
what it is in Europe, and the sixtieth year is seldom attained
tliere." On the fear caused by thunder, see Erman's Travels in
Siberia, vol. i. p. 101.
CRIME.
Mil. Fletchku, in his valuable Essays in vols. x. xi. xii. of The
Statistical Society's Journal, has proved that in England there
is a correspondence between the increase of education and dimi-
nution of crime. But this, I believe, is because witli us edu-
cation is not compulsory. In France,'* Sweden, and Prussia it
is compulsory, and therefore produces no good, for force cannot
check a disease by attacking its symptoms. Even if it were to be
sliown that education and diminished crime did go together, it
would be doubtful wliich is the cause : but we know from Ouerry
tliat in France the reverse is the case. The real tiling is tlie
increased comfort of men, and then their increased independence
and foresight. It is not that crime is more common now tlian
formerly, but that it is more commonly punished. Formerly the
people sympathised with the offender ; now they sympathise witli
tlie law, because it is more merciful. Besides this, we have a
better police. Education is evidence of comfortable circum-
stances ; but what is the use of simulating the symptom, as the
French and Prussians do. We might as well think that we could
' Book xi. clitip. 27, by Booth, vol. i. p. 430.
2 Journal of Asiatic Society, vol. ii. pp. 13-42 ; vol. iii. pp. 55-i)3.
* Hiiiimn FIiy.sioIogy, p. 1038.
* Error. — [Ed.]
CRIME.
151>
ffive a corpse the ruddy glow of health by paintinir its face W>,
They have no temDtaUon r "'""'"■'te are moral men.
i\,.r ■ , f ' "^ ^"^ "^^^ place, we onlv retnffpr ..
few crimes and those not the most important 2nd ThfT ^
;:"?^tt:rer:rhr^-'^^^^^^^
partly by a want of intellectual occupation VL t' ''"^^
vol. xu. nn. 231-2'ifi M- T?i + i, "'^ P" ^"- ^^
1 , .J; ' ^r* Fletcher sums up the rp<?iilfa -.<^ i •
elaborate Essays on Moral Statistics. ' "^ ^""
For a remarkable instance of a regular ratio h^u..
and education see Quetelet, Sur I'Holme/^oUi f 8o Tol'
;a)les of cnme in France and Belgium see Quetelei Su
1 Homme, vol. u. pp. 167, 169, 174, 214; 298, 313 ' '
In the same country the difference in crime will' depend nt. fl
changes of society, the price of food, &c. In mere!tcoZT
we must make allowance for the different state rthepoirt'e
difference in manners, morals, and knowledge ; and above In f i
fact hat some countries punish as crimes tho e Lts twelf nH '
countries allow to pass with impunity. '^ °^'^""
w i!^ ^:z rpr^!33r^;t9 ^2 v-'-'^
omatistical Society, i. Z Jj^t T^^^^IL ^^
On the influence of seasons over crime, see Ouetelef ^,
I Homme, tome ii. pp. 211, 212, 244 Quetelet, Sur
The chaplain of a great prison in Connecticut told Mr Abdv
Jl^l^;f convicts were in point of intellect- btlnv
nicniociity. J.aing2 well says that no men are so moml n. +i,
Londoners, for they have to struggle more with temrtTn. ^
wlaat is virtue but temptation conou, red V .^,ouK. '• '"^
-a.o for not committing burglai^whert \h;!'ra T hCr
foi not being a pickpocket where men wear no clothes? tI;;
' Abdy's United States, Lond. 1835, vol. i. p 94
Laing s Notes of « Traveller, 1st series, pp. 281, 282.
ii.
i
ii
i Hi ■ f !■'
m|?j|J
i'
II
1
fw
5
I
I wi^^l
f Y' > .
I' '
' !v^H[
: 1' i r
■ . i?
■1' ;*
1
1 11
160
FRAGMENTS.
■1 :
i<, '
diminution of crime is solely due to the people, and depends
on them far more than on government. Thus in America the
police is wretched, but such is the sympathy of the people witli
the government that in no country, says Tocqueville, does crime
so rarely escape.'
In England, in ? 838, we hear,'^ " It will probably excite some
astonishment that one child of eight years old, two of nine, and
eight of ten, should be imprisoned, even imder commuted sen-
tences, for three years." Crime committed for the sake of finding
a home in prison see Statistical Society, vol. ii. p. 103. Very
few young criminals have both parents alive.' Drunkenness caused
by an ignorant belief that without spirits and beer streiigtli to
work cannot be kept up.* And yet most crime is caused by
drunkenness.*
In an able and interesting paper on Norfolk Island, it is said
that the convicts there have no fear of death, never having an idea
that they have committed any moral offence;" and "not to liave
committed some great offence is often considered to indicate a
want of spirit."^ In England and Wales, from 1805 to 1842,
crime continued constantly to increase; but in 1843, 1844, and
1845, steadily decreased.^ This was the result of prosperity. Even
in 1846, it is admitted that tlie lower orders were goaded into
crime because in London tliey had no civil rights, the practical
operation of the law leaving them " wholly remediless."" Tables of
crime afford no evidence of its increase, but only of its detection.'"
More females are acquitted than males."
The greater the amount of misery and depression, tlie greater
the amount of drunkenness.'* " The tendency to crime in the male
sex five times greater tlian in the female sex." " Crime diminislies
as education increase^.''' Crime caused by want of employment,'*
and by poverty;'** and it is greater where there are large farms
and the lower classes have no land.'^
Mr. Fletcher, in summing up the result of his elaborate Essays
' Tocqueville, t)emocratie en Amdriquc, tome i. pp. 170, 307.
'^ Journal of Statistical Society, vol. i. p. 242. See also note at Vol. ii. p. 89.
* lb. vol. vii. p, 241.
" lb. vol. viii. p. 29.
« lb. vol. ix. pp. 177, 179, 180,
•» lb. vol. X. p. 39.
"2 lb. vol. xi. pp. 133, 134.
" lb. vol. vi. pp. 1.53-254.
& lb. vol. i. p. 124 ; vol. iii. p. 335.
' lb. vol. \'iii. p. 48.
" lb. vol. ix. p. 298 ; vol. x. p. 47.
" lb. vol. X. p. 43.
'■' lb. vol. xi. p. lo3.
'• lb. vol. ii. p. 98 ; vol. iii. p. 332 ; vol. ix. pp. 233, 234, 23r), 236 ; vol. x. pp. 197,
."516, 327 ; vol. xi. pp. 141, 143, 146, lo.i ; vol. xii. pp. 152, 154, 202, 2l9, 229, 230.
» lb. vol. V. p. 266.
"' lb. vol. iii. ])p. 289, 290 ; vol, xiii. pp. 64, 70; vol xiv. p. 233.
" lb. vol. xiii. pp. 64, 68.
MIDDLE STATE OF EUROPEAN HISTOEY 161
MIDDLE STATE OF EUfiOPEAN HISTORY BEFORE THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
Tub first great improvement was tli, f „,. i
Europe one, accuslomed th Lnfcle s T^^'^ '^ "^^^"^'
Hffairs. Then came tl.e Scholas ' P nl I ^^" ^ ^^^^'« ""''^'^ -*'
%/m;. The rise of poetry c^^,^;^^"^^^ "'^^'^ ^^^e Europe
I'i^tory, and tlms therrbecame ] ■ f . "^'"^^^°^«^« ^eu from
ballads. Then came i^.^^ ^^^ '' ■'' ^^^ P-^^T^ i--
the thirteenth and fourteenth centres tlirL^^^^^^^^ "'
nans aware of the importance of men Th. ^.^^^f^^^^ lusto-
century, we have in Coimines tlie fii^Hn- f ' ".' "'" ^^^^""^^^
trating eye on human -iff . !l T\ '^^''■''^ ^vho cast a pene-
the sp^citions 7Zt^^ cJ!/^' "P""^^^^ ^^-^ '--
period in general litJ;:^^:.^^^^) " ^'^ ^-^^^^^«-
answers" ; and - he says, " The e a of the Tf?'' ''" '" ^'"^^^"^
many are th. Minnesfngers "ve 1 ^ /""'f «"-' ^^^ i" G-
others, : 1 „,v„v1, v.. , i *^'^* country, as in all
t«- -w ie a fell m?; r"V'^ didactic; for litera-
to the inte/. 'o .e W "i^ '"^ ''^'""°-^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^her
lesHon." Thi. ,n was the , ' TT' ^' '^ ^^'^^' '^ ^^J^ool
-en became lo.lc:^ :^ ^Zl^ ^.e understanding, when
indeed, may be rec^arded as th! T I ^^^^ ^^y^, ^ " Fable,
didactic poetry tl'e firit .t '^\''''f]''^ ^^^ ^i^P^est product of
«ays Carlyle,« " he allof li^ ^' '•' l'^^ f °^'^^ ^^^^^^^- «-^ee,"
narration's of H . o " kh Wl r ""' '/^ '"''" "*" ^°^-' -^ the
11U.0. Schlegel says that early in t])e sixteenth
Journal of Statistical Society, vol. xii. p. 233.
lUtei-s H.St, of Ancient Philosophy, vol. ii np 139 jo, , .
;M.scollanies, 3rd edit. Lond. 1847 VoniV-' "°'- '^- P" ^S'''-
' Leltu^s^^he Histo^ ^i^^^^^, ,„, ,. ^.^J;^- P" 301.
M
«
1! Bi .'
I !
f/'
1
,^l
'
■
1
i
1
,
1
1
1 '
;. i
162
FRAGMENTS.
century it became usual to turn "the subjects of tlie old chivalric
romances into epic poems;" but "in Spain things took a different
turn, and poetry became daily more and more historical in its
theme." This we find in Ercilla and in Camoens. This, I sus-
pect, arose from the fact that in Spain poets and historians
were military men and nobles. Poets were also actors. There
was no division of labour, and history remained in a chronicle
state. Commines was to Froissart what Macchiavelli was to the
Italian clironiclers, and what Thucydides was to Herodotus, i.e.
the psychological began to triumph over the descriptive. This
was the consequence of the division of labour, a step which
it was necessary to take in history, but which has been carried
too far. Another corruption of history is the development of
invention, ftir savages rarely have imagination. The study
of classical literature injured superstition by showing the supe-
riority of the Pagan writers to the Christian writers, and this
first told in Italy wliere the associations were more fresh, and
where scepticism therefore arose. Whewell observes that archi-
tecture made men clear, and I may add that it, like poetry and
painting, drexu oflF from history imaginative men. But in Spain
this dratvinfj off never took place. Why not? The crusades
increased the stock of fobles, and all the fictions of the East were
suddenly let loose upon Europe. Mr. Laing' has noticed the
greater spirit of adventure introduced into literature since the
first crusades. The crusades stimulated the European imagina-
tion, the last fiiculty developed among civilized people, and thus
prepared the way for the rise of an independent imaginative class,
as architects, painters, &c. This was the greatest service done
by the crusades ; for generally the imagination is a late form of
intellectual development, but the crusades, by accelerating it,
quickened the progress of Europe. Blanco White, who was
learned in such matters, says that in the different legends the
same miracles are ascribed to different saints.'^ In Kemble's
Saxons in England, ^ there are some instances of the same story
being related on different occasions in different countries, and
among others the tale of Dido and Byrsa is related of Kaguor
Lodbrog, and the Hindoos declare that we obtained possession of
Calcutta by similar means. Kemble says,^ " Had Ivanhoe not
appeared, we should not have had the many errors which disfigure
Thierry's Conquete de I'Angleterre par les Normands.'* The
• Sweden, p. 52.
2 White's Evidence against Catholiciam, p. 191.
^ Saxons in England, vol. i. p. 373.
'■> For William Tell, sec Kemble's Saxons, vol. i. p. 422.
Vol. i. pp. 16, 17.
MIDDLE STATE OF EUROPEAN HISTORY. J^g
formation of towns encoma^od -,. t u u
Vro,ress of sceptioisu., ZTeL: tl:"^' P--ntly state, the
which drew off the fancy and 1 W» n^T ''"P^' ^"^ architects,
ideas steady. Haymond^;!",^^^^^^
of the very first who attacked the A 'f '^V'"'''\ ''"*'"'y' ^'^ ""''
losophy.' Hut Roger Bacon horn in tl'" ""^ ''^'^^^^^"« P^^"
=^l>le.^ Roger Bactn hinZlV ""th ft ft' "" ^'"^ "^^^ '•^'"'' ^^
the Aristoteh-an philoHophv fiJ , ''*'' '" ^•'^- ^^30 tJiat
it were, fashiorLe « Z Wh ir^'^^^^^^^^^
adoption of this philosophy by T n "'"^''^^ '"^'^'^ ^'''^^' ^'"^^
orders "intheforz'. in whfch ^, f ^^'r","?" ^"' ^^^•'^"---
tised it, was one of the event. ' t^ '"'"^ "^^'^^^ ^'^^ «y«ten^a-
three centuries the re'^ ," ht" T' '^'"'^' '' ^'^^ f-'
of crying necessity in hi " l^T/'r •"'^^'' ^^ ^ ""^^^-
aided the increasing precil^^n "f ' '^^'^'^'^^"•^""^^tance which
law. Whewell says- " Gm inn n-",' f''"^'" ^^^^ *''« ^^udy of
twelfth century, S the O^^" 'nd r 1 r''" ''^'"-^^^'^''^ ^ ''-
«tudy in the uLersiti!: ^If^^^^'^^'^'^ tegular
distinctness of ideas was fir.t I^ r ^' ^ '''^'' " ^^'« i""
on^ineers;" for if L L^an LTm! T?^ ^"''^^^^^^^ ^^
their works would have fSled I . T '^^ ""^ '^''^" ^'""^^^^'t
;^20 a,e, ,,, ,^ tC^tJ;:7'^''i^-^ f«d in
that the crusades incre-isr^d ,r^^ i- i -^i'lssan? observes
o.;havi„,^™„„4; ™„,tt':Ji ; '„-t;;/-;^ the e^^^^^^^
mimstres n'avaient que deg niissfnn. t "™"s— " Avant Iin Ics
rians always aff.TOndL -.nd „ j ,• ^^' ""»' •"■'l'''-
wbile the pee(!Ck7the?f ri '^r:'*™''''' ^^''«''' ""^ ""'«
men (and I may aM it hf ,""'' .'"r' ^'^S"' "'■■"> ""'er
mjddl a,e, the' ?" f'tr^ 1 dThe'v"'^' ^° '" '"'
colossal grandeur, m ,„eh «„,,, says Vic" .o™L T" r f "
and therefere they eannot m.^/; a'nd even "itr "•^''''
Dante represented in the Divim r ,m. ,i , * '"^ '^ """" "»
-ys Vie„,.. .Jamais it g e s et eTits ^ "-^T ''°'"'
»«««»<, imafftW.-,! pour suiet nrin oLlT ! "^ ?"* ^ P"-
"Chez les latins »^L,v/Tt ^ ""'P"' '',™'' 'ragedie." And "
«* imaginable d^ 'i e cT^rdi^;?"-'™""" ("""-
Jinclre, imaginer : .o»m«C p™ ut fi urT'" ,'?"
/«.,to.a se prend de meme pour Ljeano" ' ™ ""'"="
,,pi,,...opi.,„a.,-Hi...i„,pp.,»_3„. ■ .:!S:pP.ijj
'^ Ibid. p. 272.
"ffl!
Mi*l
I ;
'--ii
164
FKAGMENTS.
'■'i
■:'f
il!
!!
'111
■1'
The inaccuracy of men was shown by their i{);norance of the
measurement of time, of space, of weight, and of number. They
had no clocks ; and in France, in the fourteenth century, when
the sun did not appear, it was necessary to send into the town a
messenger to know the time.' They had no good balances ; they
were ignorant of distances ; they had no hereditary names. In
the fourteentli century parents often did not know the age of
their own children.* The want of a division of labour is a proof
of this indistinctness.'* Mention of epitomes, compendiums, &c.,
which appeared in the fourteenth century. In the fourteenth,
and even in the fifteenth century, it was generally believed, and
was laid down in the maps, that Jerusalem was exactly in the
middle of the world.*
The spread of the art of writing among laymen began to de-
prive history of the exclusively theological character which it had
liitherto possessed. Even in the fifteenth century, in France,
paper, though used in family archives, was little employed in
books.* The absurd forgeries of Isidore were believed ; and so
were the wildest miracles. The invention of gunpowder equalised
all men on the field of battle.
M. de Tocqueville says ^ that the mania for centralisation in
France bej,^an in the reign of Philip the Fair, " I'epoque ou los
legistes sont entres dans le gouvernment." (Connect this with
the rise of the lawyers.; In the first chapter of the third volume
Tocqueville has some very interesting remarks on the spirit of the
" legistes." He says,^ that for 500 years " les legistes " have been,
mixed up with political movements, and that while in the middle
ages they always aided the royal power, they have since then
attacked it. In England they are the friends of the aristocracy ;
in France its enemies. They are naturally lovers of form and
order, and they prefer equality to liberty : ^ and " Le legiste
appartient au peuple par son interet et par sa naissance et a
Taristocratie par ses habitudes et par ses gouts. II est comme la
liaison naturelle entre ces deux choses, comme I'anneau qui les
\mit." ^ From this it would seem that the rise of law did good,
first, by making men ^precise and orderly ; and then by raising up
a class which linked the aristocracy with the people, and thus
' Monteil, Histoire des Franqais des divers Etats, tome i. pp. 97, 98.
- The natives of Bengal never know their age ; but until the ago of ten their
mothers know it. See the Journal of the Statistical Soeic.j, vol. xv. p. 131. See
Monteil, Histoire dos Fran^ais, tome ii. pp. 7, 17, and tome iv. pp. 30, 31.
' Monteil, Histoire dos Fran^ais, tome i. p. 164, note.
* Ibid, tome ii. p. 7(). * Thid. tome iii. p. 239.
' Democratio en Ameriqun, tomn i. p. 307. ' IViid. tomo iii. pp. 4, 5,
» Ibid. pp. 6, 8, 9. ' » Ibid. p. 10.
MIDDLE STATE OF EUROPEAN HISTORY, 165
increased sympathy and contanf T>,^ • • ,
law increased the t/ar^rnfl , t '"creasing knowlodgo of
while the improvements LT' 7r *^"^ '"^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ««'^act,
in the pro™ of l°t,v^ ^'^^^^'"'^^ ^*' «°d we find
Then came the despot^ m of I' n . "'" '''^''^''' ^" ^•^'^"«-
country. Indeed C'v 1 e'^ke^^'thr^^^^^^ T ^"^" ^"^
that so broken up was knc^^d ^t th"^^^^^^^^^ TT''
lui-meme ne se rencontre rlnn« li "'''^"'^y' **^^^ le mot patrie
seizi^mesi^cle." Z^ex iris^^^^^ ^"'' P^^'^^ ^"
ism in favour of jjeneral benevnl ^"^' '" ^^"^^"'^'^ P''^*"^^-
diminished personTSit^''^:^^^ J^ P^trioti.n. has
the chroniclers of the miHrll /"'''l"^'^^^ observes, that when
tlieir words are full oLnlf h ^T^ ''^' ' '^' •^^^^^ ^^ ^ "«W«»
sufferings of the We f rTerl T fn n^^^'' "'^^"^"" ^'^^
of CO.... and sym^Jt^.^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ want
comes democratic, the relation between Tt'her andtn h "^ "
more friend y and less austerp TJ,. " becomes
tlnnk, shown in thf elatl L. ''""' '""''"'"^ ''"^^^^"'^^ i«' ^
event, it is between he n" Tf " "'''"' "°^ ^^^'^^"^ ; at all
made by the ^'orZ t ^^^^^^ "it ''' ''^'''' ^'^^ -Elements
eleventh cenUirrfn En.l^n. f ""T'^ ^" ^^'^"^^' ^^^ in the
change, and^Ze ty" be^f^to' sS^' l' 'T ?T r'''''^'
effected when the LreL^d l^tf meTgf/e S t^tec^^^"
sades, which made Europe one Aft^r ih i , ^ ''"'"
I thmk I may say that we were then in H-,nrr«r r.e i •
emmentlv "modern" nn^j i , -^wixme oDherves the
Ti, 1 ,-.. ^"^'^^'^'^ 'ind secular character of Philin th^ Foi.
Francfr Vnl • -i ^"^' '^'^^' ^'^''^^ ""^^^ Louis XII. and
In the fi^. r^'' cxvihzation had a great influence in France
(I.e. eight), were founded in the fifteenth century.^
; Demoeratie en Amerique, ^omo v. p. 113. . tHH .
Ibid. p. ,52. 4 T, ^ ■ . IR'«. p. 4.
' Civil Wars -^f P^ T , ^- '^°'"^ '^- PP- 39- 40.
Lu II Wars of Fmnco, Lond. 1852, vol. i. p. 57 » ti • i
feeo Monte.1. Hi«toire de.s divers itats, tome iv. p. 145. ^^^ "'' ^'''•
. V il' '■■'
irfl
166
FRAGMENTS.
1!
■| 1 :
In the sixtecntli century it is said ' tliat there were ancient parisli
books, which, however, mentioned neither births nor deaths. The
art of printing, by making books cheap, increased the number of
readers, and thus gave History a more social and sympathetic air.
Men gradually became more exact. See the history of Mathe-
matics. In 1556, Forcadel's book on Arithmetic reduced to four
rules the old two hundred and forty rules of arithmetic.^ Com-
merce first made nations sympathise with each other ; and then
came consuls before ambassadors. Until the twelfth or thirteentli
century there was no means of any kind of sending letters, &c.
from one part of France to another.' P^rom the middle of the
iifteenth century to 1521, more than three tliousand works were
published upon the theology and philosopliy of antiquity."* Cape-
figue ^ says that most of the municipal charters are placed under
the " protection d'un saint patronage." Capefigue^ says that in
the fourteenth century there arose the lawyers, a middle class
between the nobles and the people. Capefigue'' says that in the
feudal times each province formed a separate polity with different
laws, each divided into great fiefs ; but that when the religious
wars broke out at the Keformation, "les antiques rivalites des
barons se transformaient en haine du preche ou de la messe."*
Ci;pefigue° says that the spirit of feudality " s'etait eteint avec
les prouesses des paladins du treizieme siecle. ' Ibn Batuta
was one of the most celebrated travellers of the fourteenth cen-
tiu-y. Ivead his travels and those of Mandeville for the opinions
of educated men. Read 'ilia accounts of Ireland and Wales by
Giraldus Cambrensis, which, as Cooley says,'" was extremely popu-
lar and greedily received at Oxford. In the old maps, mentioned
in British topography, Scotland is represented as an island." An
extraordinary map is preserved at Turin, and is mentioned by
Cooley."* It is, indeed, extraordinary that men in such a state
should ever have become acciu-ate. But without pretending to
write a Idstory of the middle-age civilization, I will now trace
some of the causes. The monks were almost the only historians
of the middle ages. Some doubts having been expressed respect-
ing the legal majority of the French kings, there was issued in
1 383 a constitution of Charles V. fixing it at the age of fourteen,
and assigning as precedents the cases of Joash, of Josiah, of David,
' Monteil, Histoive des divers EJtats, tomo v. p. 108.
'■* Ibid, tome vi. p. 104. ' Ibid, tomo vii. p. 254.
■• Sl'o Ciipt'figuc, llistoire do la Ri^brme, tomo i. p. 31.
" Ibid, tomo ii. p. 23. ' Ibid. t(mio iv. pp. 31, 32.
" St'o uIho tumo V. p. 78. " Histoire do la Rclbrmo, tomo iv,
""iseovery, vol. i. p. 228.
Ibid. pp. 249, 2.J(i.
120.
History ot iviantimo J
Cooloy, vol. i. p. 230.
Ibid. p. 232,
MIDDLE STATE OF EUItOPEAN HISTORY. 167
of Solomon, and of Hezekiuh. In Smedley's Kefomed Reli^non
m Prance, pp. 380 381, there is an account of a m^o tS
morahty performed at Paris in 1572, which is not worth ,uX
but which I mav refer tn Tho r,„^ • i i "^"'i-a' quounfr,
about 1107 h^rZ \ canonical laws, first drawn up
about 1107 by Gratian, a monk of Bologna, consist of canons of
the councils writings of the fathers, censtilutions of the Zes
mens of fet. Loms, « sont apr^s les assises de Jerusalem, fruit des
Croisades importation de la loi chretienne en Asie, le premier
monument de la legislation franjaise ; car Charlema^/T "
capitailaires appartiennent autant a I'Allomagne qu'a ^Franco "
by tlie use of the modern languages. F^ormerlv intpli.„f
wa...d „„ theological and mmt,; ^atterT tL S fp Z
to d'vert It to seoula,- subjects, and tl.i, was done in the eLve "
century by the „.e of schools and of educated laymen, and Tn the
thn-teenth century by gunpowder, which gave L to TLarul
military class. In the middle of the reiim of Fliz-ibetVtl J
ing to one account, the population of En'gland ™ e "mSt
ot men capable of bearing arms was nearly twelve hundred theu-
a hfift Hv °°T ™",' '"'" " P"?"'""™ °f from ou a,:d
a half to hve millions. In and after the fourth century men
became ignorant because they were exclusively theologi a ."
Laily in the ninth century schools first arose. About the seven ,
century the barbarian, entered Christianity, and tlourfrt .v
added to It fresh superstitions, they began ^L^p,. ';' ^ t ir
ecular and independent spirit. Pilgrimages and miss na "
began the contact ^nA fusion ; then came the crusades, wb"u fo
he hrst time we see the secular element of conquest. Another
oof of this spirit of contact and condensation is to be f^m ^,
mend:, *;•"'*"•,"'"'=" ''''■""'"' "''» -"» i' "-e c' m-
mentitoriul spirit, wrongly supposes to bo a retrogression. The
papal power aided the process of condensation, co„L, and ,,,,.;
I^ began with Hildebrand immediately before the iusade." .^^
lieiliaps by I.eo IX. in *.„. 1(M9.' The power of the bishons w,s
succeeded by the power of tiu- popes, just as alodh 1 p rX "
prang up. The revi-
Christianity establislied when monasticism ,.,„„,„. „„ , ,,,, ,.,„.,
s gave rise to a
^vas something more beautiful than legends. Thi
Liii'iuiiiitT, Philosophio du Droit, tonu ..
Siio Neiindor's History of tiiu Chur.'li, vol
pp. 269, 2fj(t.
Ibid. p. 2()7.
■»;■■
IH
'tf,m
'1
-i
mM
IV. p. 11, 128. 1 Ibid. vol. vi. p. .i;
168
FRAGMENTS.
sense of beauty, which is never found among nations altogether
barbaroiis ; and to this we owe the rise of the fine arts which
chastised credidity and drew off imaginative men from history.
In the eleventli century tlie French clergy began to oppose the
church.' Noaiulcr^ says that the revived study of the ancient
Latin aulliors in tlie ninth, and particularly in tlie eleventh cen-
tury, "injured the church and encouraged heresy." In the sixth
century the Greek schools were shut and men became th(H)logical.
Arnold of Brescia and Abelard aided the great movement, and
i^t>/le became better, for clear thinkers always liave a cle^ar style.
In the middle of the twelfth century arose the canon law.^ Abel-
ard attacked the stories of "miraculous cures."'* Tliere were,
indeed, the schools of Charlemagne and of Ireland ; but until
the Pilgrimages and the Crusades Europe never pulled to(/ether. In
vain did the church by monastic and mendicant orders try to in-
vigorate her dying frame. The hostility between Reason and Faith
only became more marked. In the thirteenth century the mendi-
cant monks alone were considered religious men ; their mode of
life being called relirjio.^ The antagonism increased and the church
became more and more superstitious. Then transul)stantiation
was fixed in A.n. 1215;*"' and hence tlie superstitious festival of
Corpus Christi, ordered in 1264, and again in a.d. 1311.^ In the
thirteenth century the clergy first openly and peremptorily with-
drew the cup from the laity, and this was the work of the mendi-
cant monks, all of wliom, except Albert, declared that the clergy
alone should take the wine.* In 1215, auricular confession was
first made imperative.'' Neander "* mentions " the worldly culture
which began to flourish from the time of the twelfth century,
and particidarly tlie speculative bent wliich set itself in hostility
against the faith." According to the old notions universal ideas
were considered as real, but late in the eleventh century liosceliu
founded Nominalism ; and " he maintained that all knowledge
must proceed from experience, individuals only had real existence ;
all general conceptions were without objective significance;""
and even Anselm, the great opponent of Roscelin ^^ did neverthe-
less feel " constrained to accoxmt to himself by a rational know-
ledge for that which in itself was to him the most certain of all
tlungs."'^ Abelard held " that faith proceeds first from enquiry."'''
' Ncftndor, History of the Church, vol. vi. p. 348.
^ Ibid. p. 3G2. » Ihid. vol. vii. p. 282.
* Ibid. p. 394. • Ibid. p. 406.
" Ibid. pp. 476, 477, 479. » Ibid. p. 491.
" Tbid, vnl, Tiii. p, 3, " Ibid. p. 10.
" Ibid. p. 19, '* Ibid. p. 35.
* Ibid. p. 3.').').
' Tbid. pp. 473, 474.
"• Ibid. p. 460.
MIDDLE STATE OF EUROPEAN HI3T0KV. 169
Abelard first attacked the old story about Dionvsius • !„ 1 1,„
middle of the twelfth century VeL J.ombard"T»k o"seu
euces show, the commentatorial spirit- aud fifty^ears later"
;i.e Af bian school ^^ t:':;.^^ j:^::;,^r'%:z'
l..^cal tendency of K„,.er Baton's lork, i c™ Mered by Nr
amier;' their scientific tendency bv Wliewell n. ^ •
of the influence of the Aristot.^J::^^^J:^
clKscernod ; though at first only single logical wrSn^of thtt
great plulosopher could have been known.''« aZ TS ^ ^
«ives a curious instance of the way in Zih ThJ' f ' '*'''
influenced l,y Aristotle The d Zf ! ^^ '^^'""'''' ^''^^
strangely speaks of the "antecedent improhaMitrof he CriV
js.»iJJX-,:^i„r::j---iH^J
sities. See an interest ng Essay on the Hi-«f-..,r f tt • '"'^«^'^
Sir W Hnmi-lf^r,'. n- ■ '^ History of Universities n
, „ ■"'™i''^^<^n« Discussions on Philosonhv n 4nq wi.
in. n tar gi eater tlian any modern metapliysician since Descarte.
^.rs'^h!rr;j::n.t"nr^^^^^^
wiU, ,.eo,„,y „nt„l„,y, law; in F^ceTtilTtvn: eS
I t';^atk::Mn"'T7C^.- n ° -^'"""r™'! »' ^""- ^'='' -'
lUcitKta in 17()0. Ihe invention of the comnass nnd nf
1«.*>»«; Europe and enlarged the views of hist^aT In the
: ''"f p- " •ii.i.i.p:a4.
•;:?:'• •'X.M.rp.or.io,,,,,^,,,,.
Grote, History of Grrnoo. vol. i. p. 572. ^'
^"' Uiscussions in Philosdjihy, p. 197.
" Koch, Tablonu drs R^n.lutions, tomo i p 25r,
iri!
t
if
I!*
* _
! li
170
FEAGMENTS.
middle of the fifteenth century there rose the idea of balance of
power ;' and just after this we find, I think, the first ambassadors.
The first school of medicine was founded at the end of the eleventh
century.'*
!«
i1 i
CAUSES OF BACKWARD STATE OF HISTORY
BEFORE A.D. 1200.
Method. — After giving, in the East, and then in the Edda, an
account of the corruption of history by the change of religion, say
that religion was not only changed but became supreme. This
was because in Europe the conquerors adopted the religion of the
conquered Romans, who being now civilized, had on that account
influence ; and who on account of their weakness were compelled
to substitute subtlety for force. Hence theology, being the only
literature, became supreme. The schools of Greece were shut up,
and credulous men believed everything. Then relate isolated
abaiu'dities and say these were not mere stray and popular opi-
nions, but the ideas of grave historians. Give an account of
Gregory of Tours, Bede, &c.
• ••••**
In the fourth century there aroee monachism, and in the sixth
century the Christians succeeded in cutting off the last ray of
knowledge, and shutting up the schools of Greece. Then followed
a long period of theology, ignorance, and vice. Then arose those
legends of the saints of which the size and number are even more
remarkable than the absurdity. About 1120, Philip de Thuan
published a poem called Livre des Creatures, which is a treatise
on astronomy, as far as it was cultivated by the priesthood as a
means of calculating the movable times and seasons observed by
the church.3 Grote "^ quotes Ampere, Histoire litteraire de la
France, to the effect that in the sixth century the pagan scmi-
tijic view being destroyed, everything became theological, and
the legend first arose. Broussais ^ notices the same servile spirit
in medicine. " On commenta Galien, Avicenne, Aristote, Aver-
rhoes, et Ton negligea I'observation et I'experience." The first
Christian physician of any reputation was ^tius, who floiu'ished at
the end of the fifth and beginning of the sixth century ; and his
' Koch, Tableau dos Revolutions, vol. i. p. 316.
' Wright's Biogniphitt Britaniiica Literaria, vol. ii. p. 87.
' Grplo'H History of Greece, vol. i. p. 627.
* Broussais, Exampii des Doctrines mddicalet , tome i. p. 260.
« Ibid. p. 156.
ABSURDITIES AS SPECIMENS OF HISTORIANS. Hi
"stTtLL' wrf'^-T rr^'^ -Perstitious.. Anatomical
tt ctrcl aL f "f f bandoned, owing to the anathema of
tlic cliurch And besides this, says Renouard,» medicine declined
seignement. . . Lhistoire de la medicine ne trouve qu'un senl
^Zl '■ 'tT' ''' "P^^^ ^'^--- -Pt cents anl'-lnd
tuiy. Idul ^gineta, late in the sixth and in the first half nf
the seventh century, is the last Greek physician of tpo"^'
ABSUEDITIES AS SPECIMENS OF HISTORIANS.
Gildas.^-Geoffroj of Monmouth calls the history of Gildas
what so great a writer has so eloquently related," and «G das
in us elegant treatise." « William of Malmesbury ^ says « (SdaT
an historian neither unlearned nor inelegant, to whom the Briton^
are indebted for whatever notice they obfain imong oLr nat ^ »
The trench boast of Gregory of Tours as their firlt historianr
The ^axon Chromcle.-No part of this chronicle was composed
so early as A.n. 890 ;« but Wri.ht says - that PlegmundrarchThol
of Canterbury " one of Alfred's " learned menf .^i^ compile the
early part; though he strangely adds that Plegmund d^T this
"down to he year 981 "-a chronological impossibility, becaui
Alfred died in 901,. Wright adds," "from that period the „arra
tive of contemporary events wa. continued fi Jtime to timel
he Anglo-Saxon tongue by different writers, until the entire
breaking up of the language in the middle of the twelfth century »
deifSrorf-^rf "^^'^^' ^^ ^^ '''- '''"' andbTSo.
aein Hiitory (wlucli is a continuation of Ms Historv of tl,„
Kn,gs of England) "torminates at the end o(leT.7uLt
f *tl,.e° "'. ^'"r '"' ™''°'^ »'"'« P^Iat's tth
2J Wi i. ' f-'f\'>"\P<-' &'''"», w«e completed in
1 1 -io. ■« jlham of Malmesbuiy says of Bede, " After him you
Ibid. p. 408.
' Soe Ronouard, Histoire de la MMiciue, tomo i. p. 38(3
^^id.p.431. * Ibid. pp. 391-392. '
: See Dacier R,tppo.lL ,. 'lit ;.. do rUistoi.?';°;^f ' ^'" ^^°'^"' ^^ ''■
Wright's B.og. Brit. Literaria, vol. i. p. 415.
'" Ibid. p. 63. ^ 11 T! • 1
;; Vm.^^ Mal^esbur/. English Chronicle, edit. Sih^ ^847. p. vii.
VI ' 4 V f£
H.
;l
MM
h!
172
FRAGMENTS.
will not, in my opinion, find any person who has attempted to
compose in Latin the history of this people;"' and "with this
man was buried almost all knowledge of history down to our
times, inasmuch as tliere has been no Englishman either emulous
of liis pursuits or a follower of his graces, who could continue
the thread of his discourse, now broken short." ' " But be these
matters as they may, I especially congratulate myself ou being
througli Christ's assistance, the only person- r'- at lenst che first
wlio since Bede has arranged a continue ■ y of the Eng-
lish."^ "And as the moderns greatly and !,< ^v^edly blame our
predecessors for having left no memorial of themselves or their
transactions since the days of Bede."* All this William of
Malmesbury says with reason. Yet he was usually credulous, bom-
bastic in his style, and relates nothing of real importance. So
low, however, is the standard by which the merit of that age
is to be estimated that on him the most extravagant praises have
been lavished. It would, however, be unjust to forget one other
writer of much higher rank in the church, and who in his life, as
well as for some time after his death, enjoyed a still higher repu-
tation. This is Geoffrey of Monmouth.
The splendour of all preceding historians was eclipsed by this
celebrated man. His History of the Britons was published in
1147, when he was archdeacon ; and, says Wright,** "it was partly
perhaps the reputation of this book which procured the author
tlie bishopric of St. Asaph."" It was Walter Mapes, archdeacon of
Oxford, who brought over the materials from Armorica and com-
municated them to Geoffrey of Monmouth ;^ and the book when
finished was dedicated to Robert earl of Gloucester, son of
Henry 11.** Wright ° says of Geoffrey's History, " Within a cen-
tury after its first publication it was generally adopted by writers
on English history^ and during several centuries only one or two
rare instances occiu* of persons who ventiu'ed to speak against its
veracity." In 1148 or 1150, it was translated into Anglo-Norman
by Gaimar;'^ and just at the same time a Latin abridgement of
it was published by Alfred of Beverley, one of our historians."
About 1170 to 1180, it was translated into Anglo-Norman verse
by Wace, and into Englisli by Layamon.'* Soon after, or in 1183,
Gervase of Tilbury, in his work Otia Imperialia, gives a history
• Winiam of Malmesbury'e English Chronicle, edit. Bohn, 1847, p. 3.
' Ibid. pp. 60, 61. » Ibid. p. 77. •* Ibid. p. 513.
•'> Hiog. Brit. Lit. vol. ii. p. 144. « See Borlaso, Antiq. of CornwftU, 1768, p. 402.
' Six Old Chronicles, p. xii.
" Wright. Bins. Brit. Lit vol. ii. p. 144. and Sis Old Chronicles, p. xii.
Biog. Brit. Lit. vol. ii. p. 146.
Ibid.
IM.
Ibid. pp. 151, 152.
Ibid. p. 430.
ABSUEDITIES AS 3FE0IMEM OF HISTOKIANS. I73
city and sailed to Italv A^f.™"""""' '^'-'"''"» Aed from the
obtained the UngdoL V ,,1 ' ^ f ' "'""' "^ *'««'»' "^
son named BrutuT'Tho »». 'f """^ ^"*'""= ^egat a
of Europe^ c™ ed o™,- to ^17"^'' fT""'' '" dW-ent parts
but whi'ch Brutus Zed !ft! " ^""3:1* '^ T^ ^'''""'
that the inhabitants are rttll !,„ 5 °" ' ""<' ''«''«« >' '»
arrived in Albion the o^t,?",™ '" '''■"°'"'-' When Brutus
t-nese the in ad^V^fdeT t f et?""'' '"^'^ " ^^ Biants,' but
sce-.dants of the Troian w.l « ^T"'^'" <"'"' "^ "-e de-
baving settled the aSirs „f h™? '"'^ conquered.' Brutus
Thaml which he itd 1^1:7 ^wI^L' b" ^ If °" "'"
improved by Lud, became known as Lndt' f°« "f^'-'ards
of London.' After the death of Hr,f,t ' h^nce the name
kings, even to the p riod 'f the Safn^ "■" """^ " '""S """■' "''
were remarkable for the'r abil tie, „T °''' ""*' "' "''°'"
prodigies which occurrerin th rr;i™ X T" ^T" '" ""=
ment of Rwallo it rained blood f"-^' ""^ *'"'"'™"
when Momdas was on the h^^l th'" T™""™ ""y^'" ^'"'
cruel sea-monster, wbo,tvLX„ltd™rjnrf'''''' "^ "
length swallowed the king himself'" '^T, I""""'' "'
actually invaded Enrfand tl,„ ? 1 , "'""' '""^ ^^xons
not left withcrt reslrce's For^f ™°'' *''°"?'' '^'f'''"'"'' """
Merlin, the son of a vS'„r aU evt? T Tf "^ " "«''""'
on this nice point the ar hdH 71 '""' "» f"*""-'" '■">■
He performe^d seve.l ^:^SZ^ZX^ tT'l
certam stones which had a magical virtue •" and ^hi . i""'
a note" i, the origin of .Stonehenge After Merirtr"'' "'
raised up Arthur bom nnrio,. .+ • Merlm there was
»lew great numbers of Sa'n'''t ""'■'«™«^'<." who not only
Gaul, flxed hislu at PaH a;d T'"^"'"'^ ^""^y- '"^ded
conquest of EurZ ■» Arthur I 1^^ Preparations to effect the
and'performed va'S^us ttr fea " but^'"* '? f "K'-ombat,.'
GeofFrey of Monmouth says ..that what he IT^'' ''"''=<'•"
™uth, because his i^val 'hS,rred^Xr ^on
■■■E:!;;.'m 2.., "'"■"■'»»• "S:;;;:i- """■^■""^
" UM. ,,: 218. "■ ' .= luj „ ,,, ;; ;"• pp- ^'s. 2'?.
•«% ! ■'
1^1,
.Jhi
174
FRAGMENTS.
himself great honour, and also because it was the last elaborate
historical absurdity. For a great change was now at hand, which
was to transfer history into the hands of laymen, and even temper
the theological spirit of ecclesiastics themselves.
i
• 'i
mi
ABSURDITIES IN EARLY HISTORY TO BE
CONSIDERED ISOLATED.
Geoffket de Vinsauf has written a chronicle of the crusade of
Richard I. (a.d. 1187-1192), at which he was himself presents
In the prologue to his history he says'* that he ought to be
believed as being an eyewitness in the same way as " Dares Phry-
gius is more readily believed about the destruction of Troy,
because he was an eyewitness of what others related only on hear-
say." Vinsauf says of Grodfrey de Lusignan's achievements in the
Crusades that "no one since the time of those famous soldiers
Roland and Oliver could lay claim to such distinction;^ and* he
says of Richard I. " to whom even famous Roland could not be
considerede qual." See also William of Malmesbury's Chronicle
of Kings, p. 277. Greoffrey de Vinsauf says'^ the Turks " abomi-
nate swine as unclean, because swine are said to have devoured
Mahomet."
Gildas distinctly states ^ that all the older native histories of
Britain had perished ; and yet Nennius says ^ " the island of
Britain derives its name from Brutus, a Roman consul ; " and he
gravely says, " Respecting the period when this island became
inhabited subsequently to the flood, I have seen two distinct
relations." ®
Nennius wrote his History of the Britons in the eighth,
ninth, or tenth century.^ He gravely relates that Vortigern,
king of Britain, at the time of the Saxon invasion, fortunately
discovered a boy who was born of a woman without the inter-
vention of man, and whom on that account he was directed to put
to death and thus escape from his difficulties. But the boy saved
himself by performing the most astonishing miracles.'" He also
says" that Saint Patrick "gave sight to the blind, cleansed the
lepers, gave hearing to the deaf, cast out devils, raised nine from
the dead."
' Chronicles of Crusades, Bohn, 8vo, 1848, pp. iii, iv. ^ jj^ij p gg
' Ibid. p. 203. « Ibid. p. 326. ' Ibid. p. 319.
» Six Old English Cliroiiiclcs, p. 301. ' Ibid. p. 386. » Ibid. p. 387.
" Ibid. pp. vii, 384. '» Ibid. pp. 402, 403. " Ibid. p. 410.
ABSURDITIES IN EARLY HISTORY.
175
See Geoffrey of Monmouth's nr™..„* r it
virsins.' At Marseilles in 1 fiL J? *'' ''''"'™ thousand
out rf the eleven thluslnd ^^ Monconys. was told that seven
sical History of ManZd^'p^fn 17?^- """"'"O' ^''^■
^ On^aog and Magog, see Chronicles of Crusaders. Bohn, ,848,
toSraJd"Ati:''^ °' ^"'^''' ""- ^'f-i'» Se^ealogy back
red"z:r; :7e: :f'trcti"fr'„r* f i^"""""" -'-- ""•■
showed he was no valianLanh,,. ''""t"'"™'"'' "'=''''' "'''•■"■'y
at home than march to the fiel'd!^" """ "''° "<""" «'*'■" '^^in
Judas had red hair. This ie t.^^i,„
In the institutes of Menu cK "^^ ""-'f"™ '"P-'""*!"".
pious man, "Let him -t Lt^a' ^rl ::a™:«" j "" "^ '"»
any deformed limb." The ancient lolJ if '""'' """• "'"'
for " red..,aired men." » X^o W^Zs ^1:*^^™"''"''''
understood that Judas had red hair IhTi ? ^ '" ®I""° " '»
and the former opinion, he obsme, ?. ?1 r*'"' ™» '"'";
speare: "His hair^' say Rosalind T^ A '"'i^, '° '"^ ^hake-
the dissembling colourisom tg'b "wnt^hL'fd "' ^^ "''
Froissart' says that Arthur's oriLinT ? ^"'i'""'
It was believed " that Lin CTl T''™"' ™"* C'''M''-
when he made the sutVa3 s^ITl "'1 ^^^071' t' f ."*""'
tury notices this as the opinion of " some ™t, "'"".*«"* <=™-
"The real city of the Seven SleeZ °„Tl """""f'
.ory„;s attached traditionally to r^X^X^ "ir tt
the'&cTX :^ra'lt":.r' "• '"'■"' '' ^""'^- *» K'o>.a'<i
For a curious instance of storv renpaf ^r? K^ i • ,
Grote, History of Greece, iv. ^1 ^ "^ ^^ ''^^^^^'^^^ writers, see
There is good evidence for the sfnrxr «f t^
Iron Cage." ^""^^ ""^ Tamerlane and the
De Thou, the first historian of his age, relates as an undoubted
; ^.^r"'"'' «^°- ^«39- ^°i- "■ p- ^8. ' Works of sf^wT' pp- ''• '**•
WUkmson Ancient Egyptians, vol. v. pp. 344 345 ""' '"^- "'• ?• ^^O-
0.^.:^:^ ^So-^SSSr a- - P- - - a.o Wii...
f«i(
!i
m
III
" 11?
il
ii
I!
176
FRAGMENTS.
fact that, among other prodigies which occurred in the wonderful
year of 1588, a woman was delivered of twins within five days one
of the other.
When the ancient painters in the middle ages had occasion to
represent the siege of Troy, they always inserted some artillery.'
Charles IV., in his Bull, in the fourteenth century, says
that there must be seven electors to oppose the seven mortal
sins.*
The extent to which such feelings governed the minds of men
is hardly to be believed. Pope Paul III. was unwilling to form
an alliance with Francis I., because there was no conformity
between their nativities.
Melancthon, one of the most enlightened men of his time, was
a prey to superstition of which a washerwoman would now be
ashamed. When the gravest events were being discussed at the
diet of Augsburg, he declared that the results would certainly be
favourable to his own party, because the Tiber had overflowed its
banks, and because therv^ was born at Rome a mule with a crane's
foot.
I say nothing of their belief in witchcraft, in palmistry, and
astrology.
In 1545, at the opening of the council of Trent, a sermon was
preached by the bishop of Bitont(J [ ? ], in which he undertook to
prove the necessity of the coimcil being held. Among other
reasons, one is that, in the ^Eneid, Jupiter is represented as
holding a council of the gods.^
PROGRESS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY
IN HISTORIANS.
AS SHOWN
Read Rishanger's Chroaicle, written early in the fourteenth
century, in Camden r" >dety's publications. Fabian was a mer-
chant, and Sir T. More a lawyer.
Late in the fourteenth century, P'chard of Cirencester wrote a
treatise on the geography and history of Britain, which has only
been published by Betram, at Copenhagen, in 1757.* He was
a Benedictine monk. In his History we find no miracles nor
' See Sainto Palaye, Mem. sur L'Ancicr Clievalerie, tomo ii. p. 127.
'' Essai sur los Moeure, chap. Ixx. in CEuvres de Voltaire, tome xvi. p. 277.
s Ibid chap, clxxii. in CEuvres de Voltaire, tome xviii. p. 21.
< Six Old English Chronicles, Bohn, pp. xviii-xx, wliore no doubt is hinted as to
its genuineness, which, however, from no one having seeu the MS. is suspected m
Maeray'b Manual of British Historians. 8vo, 1816, pp. 4G, 48.
PROGRESS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY.
177
martyrdoms. He ^nv« -^*- +i
and estal)li«hcni a novereintv • T? Hercules came hitJ.er
-note anti,iuities an 1 UeTaie. " aI' "Zfri '" '^^^" ^'^ -^'^
"Nor are ,L,, wantin^'w f 'elie.t t';, I ' V""'^'^"^ ^^^'^"'
f - built by a kin,^ called Rryto " .^ ^^« f ^^ T •^''-•^l.V
tl.e mea^reness ,>f the early historv of ' 'T . ^P"^''-'«^'« ^'^'i"
formiuf, myself closely to Jj^l \ 1^"''""^ *'^^^"«-' " <-'on.
collected all the accun s f '"^'^ "^ '''"^^^'^T, T have
accurate and deservi^ ^ ^dU " Tr""\^^''"'' ' ^"'"'^^ '"-^'
Hnythin,. beyond an enumerat m^^' JuJ ""'^' "^'' "^^^'^^
governors who had authority ov- ; '!,"^'"'"'« ^"^ Komau
und dull account of the ^t^rl ^:,;1r\ 1 ''^'YV^ '' '^''^
«peaianj. of Verulamium, '^mp^sTys ' 8t Vn .', ^'"' ^^''^'''''^^
here born.'' - J m.v «rJ • ' ^^^"^"' ^^^^ martyr, was
»art, and then l^lXjZZ "T,"' "'' '™"''"' """ *'-^ "
i« felt even ,,y !„:',' ^Xr,f M ^'" T '^ ^'™^'« ^ <"
"f Cirencester, both of whom ^t^nLuw"''; '■'■■' """ '""''-'I
'--» IX. in .,■■09.3 TtTs,. m' , ':',"''';'"^ "'^ '^I--""™- "f
l>e " and l,i» p,-edeee.,or, vllk ,tdl,^"., "^ Cyclop„,di. that
the Kreneh el„„nicle,-, who wrot "' T "'""^ *''° "l*-'- "f
Althongh Joinville'sworlci tlIll^,torv """■"■■"'"'' *""""«•"
;.nrt«taWns, there are fewer , Ira rritth:"'""'"^ '■""«'"'"*
l"»tory. Indeed, l,e only mJttT. t '" ""^ P'>":edinK
»l...ws hi. -ti.theoh.Kiea.'.p"H r; he ";e,™':?'^^\ '^'"' ""
narratiw. Ducantt > savs he h„.,L " A, ''''™"tw of hi»
'"itted at,.„ei„„. aet. of phlnd'^^n.: *:•;»:'"•"""'"« """'■
may ae<|„it theraselve, before God by «iv , .tor'tr*-""" ""^
asteriea or churclies." Joinville nl.„ e 'i '" '°™>' ""'"-
H^y Thnrsday . .< nevef ,:i^'f.:rt f": o,"::?/?; P™.' °»
friles « says, .. Tlic story ..f Bnite and the ,. T *""°«-
from the Trojai.s was universal 7.11 j V ''^'''■«"t »' the JJritons
«»d others, Li was oTposed "f^ til ^.'^^J"'"- Cambrensis
'»'»-"t;:riL\tfrd"'ofr ;m:^ -r ""'^-^ -^
"I'irit being destroyed He rehtr.! Z^, "' °" ""■»'»«■«"
J tic relates the deeds of noble knights
■ Six Old Chronicles, p 42'>
;Clu^nicI..sofCrn,sa.los,I,;"Boh„,p.347
^ Jhid. Note. p. H.";r> ii-J**.
' Nicholi
-' Ibid. p. 443.
^ Ibid. pp. 4.34^ 502
Hcn-H EnglLsh Hist. Library, 2nd
edit.
Prefi
-5! 2.
p. civ.
'ct- to Six Jhroniclc
t"!
Hi-
•?• ' j'' !
II ! • I.
/'>,V
! I
p. XI.
178
FRAGMKNTS.
and love of lovely ladies, but ecclesiiistios are altof^'ether 8id)ordi-
nate. He was naturally a man of jjjreat credulity (one of the
most remarkable proofs of this is the extraordinary acco\mt he
leaves of the island of Cephalonia, which he believed to be go-
verned by women, who kept up a communication with fairies)' ;
but the spirit of the age forbad his credulity nmninfj; into a
tlicolof?ical channel. The prevalence of feudality in polity, and
chivalry in manners, though they were great evils, did, as I
shall hereafter show, check and divert the theological spirit. It
was not that Froissart wanted the moral element. Among many
other instances, he say.,' after relating the death of Aymerigot
Marcel, " Had Aymerigot turned his mind to virtue, he would
have done mucli good, for he was an able man at arms and of
great courage ; but, having acted in a different manner, he came
to a disgraceful death." This is a proof that Froissart did not,
as is often said, exclusively look at warlike and military virtue.
But the great object of his history was war. Thus, very early in
his History, he says, "The real object of this history being to
relate the great enterprises and deeds of arms achieved in these
wars ; " » and, having nearly finished his history, he says of it,
" The more I labour at it, the more it delights me ; just as a
<>-allant knight or sciiiire at arms, who loves his profession, the
louo-er he continues it, so much the more delectable it appears." ^
He*represents a battle as being decided, not by Providence, but
by the courage of soldiers and skill of generals. I do not re-
member a single passage in his History in which he speaks of ;'.
lost battle as a divine retribution ; and there are several passages
where in guarded language he seems to imply an opposite opinion.
Thus,* " It always happens that in war there are gains and losses :
very extraordinary are the chances, as those know well who follow
the profession ; " and again, " Good or evil fortune depends on a
trifle." ^ He says of the crusade undertaken by Philip of France
about 1333, "The croisade was preached and published over the
world, which gave much pleasure to many, especially to those who
wished to spend their time in feats of arms, and who at that time
did not know where otherwise to employ themselves." ^ He par-
ticulariises no miracles. The only exception to this is ^ where he
says of Thomas, earl of Lancaster, " many miracles have been per-
formed at his tomb in Pomfret, where he was beheaded." Ob-
serve this is of a layman, not of a saint. He says that in a battle
1 Proissart, vol. ii. pp. 650, 651.
» Ibid. vol. i. p. 6, chap. iv.
' ibid. vol. ii. p. 1-
» Ibid. \'ol. i. p. 39.
2 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 465, chap. xix.
* Ibid. vol. ii. p. 548.
» Ibid. vol. ii. p. 287.
' Ibid. vol. i. p. 6.
PROGRESS IN KUROPEAN HISTORY.
179
everyone would have heen slain, " if it h.d nof T
H nnracle of God." ' ,,,.ain » Un\ ! '''^"' "^ *' ^'^«''«.
sucked and destroyed."'^ At vol i; > 0,0 t ^ ''"s was to be
l'« .says,«About tluH period ///.'... ' ^'^''""'"^' ^*"^'''iP- ^'i-
Yy ^/ «t. Peter de ' w!^:;;:::^;;^-— thai the
«l.-ed m,raeuloue powers in the ei'; of Avi ^ „ "" "" ''*"''"''^^'
l.istory, and who «aw the ZeXtZr''r''Z' ^'^^ "^ *«'-<''^'"
Froissart'sis the most volurnlf. '/ "''"^^'V''^^ order of events.
1-1 yet appeared in Kuro^r He ItrtT T"' ''^^"^^ '^'^'
">'tnce, Scotland, Spain, and Port Jal Fr f "'' '^ ^^"^'^'•"'^'
merely to say snch and such S ^ '""'''"''^ '^J^'' '' If 1 ^n^ro
without euterin,. fully 1^ ^1^^''"^^^ '7f"-d at such times,
und disastrous, it, would t ah "no w"' T ^'"""^ ^^•*-''^'<'
;'.rt should be known that in h y '13 7.'^?'" "'' ^'^^^'^
lustory thirty-seven years n„d ,t n f I ^"^ ^^^"'"'^^ '^^ this
years old." ^ ' ''"^ '^'^ ^hat time I was fifty-seven
William of Newbury, who died in ions •
1-tonans of his age, and in his ffisto y o hif^^^^^P «^*^- ^-^
preface of some length, protests ao-.n-nlffV % .'"''' '''^' ""^ '^
lous history of King Arthur tf?. f ^^'"''^^'^ "^ ^he fabu-
treats very^ontemUu!; ^^e a hoJl? '7^^^ of Merlin, and
mouth."' Newbmy was a monk ^ '^ ^'"^'^'^ "^ ^^^on-
-^:r:::eSt^r:^:^^.s^^^^ -^ ^--^ "^•
English language." lAo, t^ri ^nl ^^^^^^^^^ the
l-tory was developed in England thl in F aL/ ""' ''"'
.Ctrr^r"S~r;r^ ^he-preceding p.-
1-reafter see, scepticism firsuitse we Sk." '' "^ ^^""
in.istrious thinkers, which ex end k!m ? ^ ^' ^-f?inning of their
avelli to Vico and Giannone but r f/"^"''^^^'"^ «-^nrf ^^acchi-
••^•%. Then .J.e sor^Z^!:^ 0^11^1^:;^^' '"''' ^"^
' Fi-oissart, vol. i. p. 30,
' I'jiJ- vol. ii. p. 239.
; Wright's ])i„f,. iJrit. Lit. vol. ii. p. 4O8
Lives of tho Cbaucellors, vol. i. p. 586.'
" J'j'tl- vol. i. p. 24«.
* Ibid. vol. ii. p. 268,
M
i^jtj:
L)
n'
V 2
«},
180
FRAGMENTS.
BALLADS, ETC.
L The very sermons which the ignorant preachers addressed to
their ignorant audience were enlivened not only by the introduc-
tion of the fables of ^Esop, all of which were looked npon as
strictly true, but also by various tales of much more questionable
merit ; and the custom became so general that the tales which
were related on these occasions were thrown into various collec-
tions in order to refresh the memory of the clergy. These stories,
which formed a large part of the spiritual instruction of the
people, are such as were natural to the ignorance of barbarians
depraved by the superstition of priesty. In them we learn how
an Indian girl of exquisite beauty, having been fed on serpents,
was sent to Alexander as a fatal gift; how a certain empress,
becoming pregnant by her own son, was moved to repentance by
the sudden appearance of the Virgin Mary, &c. See Swan's
Gresta Romanorum.
II. William of Malmesbury made a step in advance, but even in
his time the influence of ballads remained, and, as Warton says,'
" It is remarkable that almost all the professed writers in prose of
this age made experiments in verse." Giraldus Cambrensis, who
wrote at the end of the twelfth century, was also a poet.^ At the
end of the thirteenth century, Robert of Gloucester put Geoffrey
of Monmouth into rhyme f and early in the fourteenth century,
Robert de Brunne wrote a Metrical Chronicle of England.* This
I suspect was the first sign of improvement, for he tells the
reader that he has avoided the language of minstrels and harpers."'
Warton says,*"' that Richard I. "is the last of our monarchs
whose achievements were adorned with fiction and fable." Saxo-
Grammaticus wrote in the twelfth century. A very competent
authority says, " The history of Ireland by Jeffrey Keating is not
one whit more true than that of Britain by his namesake of
Monmouth." ^ Bede could not describe accurately even external
objects. Among the Hindoos, mythological fables have arisen
out of confusion of language.^
III. Bede, the most celebrated and perhaps the most judicious
collector of such early traditions, makes liberal additions to thcni
' History of English Poetry, vol. i. pp. cxx, cxxi.
'' Ibid. vol. i. pp. cxxiv, exxv. " Ibid. vol. i. p. 47. ' Ibid. p. ,58.
Ibid. pp. 67, 08. " Ibid. pp. 12.j, 120.
' Kcightley on tho Triinsiiiission of Tales and Fictions, 1834, p. 178.
« Sec "Wilson's Vishnu Parana, pp. '280, 380. Read Walker's Memoirs of Irish
Bards. Eviiii's Welsh BaUads. Miss Brooke's RoIIijuck of Ancient Irish Poetry,
See Prichanl's Physical History of Mankind, vol. iii. pp. 140, 141.
BALLADS, ETC.
181
In the account, for instance, of the Magi who worsliipped Cl.nist
he enters into the fullest details, from wMch we learn tlfa't Melch or'
W.IH an old man with a long beard; that Gaspar, the second of
It offeirth'^T"'."' ''"*' *'""^' ''' ^^^ - beard, it was he
who offeied the frankincense. Neander' says that St. Patrick
hrst gave the Irish an alphabet.
• ^T^ : 'i' ' ^l ^^^ '""'"^ '""^y ^^'^ ^^"^o"« Olaf, king of Norway
returned, but to have been anxiously expected during five cen-
turies. Tins myth has crept into a history of the south, and we
Portugal.^ Wraxall who was in Lisbon in 1773, says that many
persc,ns stdl beheved that Sebastian had appear'ed ' t Venirin
Book, Am 854 At Sleswick, as "in most Protestant towns,"
there IS a tradition of the eyes of an artist being put out by the
priests that he might not surpass his own work."
V Ctesias corrupted history by copying monuments.
The poverty of invention in the middle ages is shown by the fac
that "many of the Roman Catholic legends are taken fiom
Apuleius "-^ Middleton and Blunt have shown this of the Christh^
ceremonies. Read Paniz.i on the Poetry of the Italians ,0 d
by Lewis.« Read also Eichhorn, Geschichte der L teratv^
quoted by Lewis.^ -L-ueiacur,
VI. (See No. 1.) In a celebrated French mystery performed
by the clergy on Christmas Day, the principal'chaLU Tere
Moses in an alb and cope, Balaam with large spurs, and David n
a green waistcoat, to whom was added Vh-gil, who in monki
rhymes carried on a conversation with these saA-ed persons
helm; ^t-r, 'r "^"'^' ^^ ^'"^ ^'^^^ ^f ^--^^y^ bistort
ecame fals bed, are too various to be enumerated. Sometimes
he apparent improbability of an event caused its rejection, md
there wa. substituted for it an occurrence which, though tev^
happened seemed better to harmonise with the oth^r c r urn
ances which accompanied it. Sometimes an accidental "u-
baiity in tin. name of a hero gave rise to the relation of .n
imaginary adventure. . . . Sprat, bishop of Rochester, mentions
' Histoiy of tho Church, v„l. iii. p. 17(5
' Seo Crichtoii's Soandiniivin, vol i p i.-jg
; Historical Memoirs of n,y n..vn Timo, 8vo, 1818, vol. i ,, U
' Liung's Doumark, p. 222. • •• j • /•5.
' Coleridge's Literary Remains, vol. i. p. 188
Observations on Poliiics, vol. i. n 280 " 7 n • ,
' ""^- ' ibul. pp. ;J12, ;i20.
It
;i
s'|!
182
FRAGMENTS.
,' t|
^i
i : I
as a vulgar story, " Kentish men having long tails, for the murder
of Thomas Becket.' '
VIII. The first historian in Dutch seems to have been Miles
Stoke at the very end of the thirteenth century.'^ But there was
one who wrote in Latin (Sigbert of Genblonus) in the middle of
the twelfth century.' However, " Zyn werk is vol de fabelen in
de oiide lyden.""* Early in the fourteenth century, Lodewyk van
Villhelm published his Spiegel Historiaal, a continuation of the
History of Maerlant, in which he places together the predictions
of Daniel, of St. John, of the conjuror Merlin, and of the Abbot
Hildegard.^ Did not Maerlant write history ? In the Netherlands
in tlie fourteenth century there were Sprekers, the same as our
minstrels.'' I might extend considerably tliese specimens of
almost incredible anachronisms, but I will only mention one more,
which is sufficiently striking, and which applies to a so-called
Universal History, written just after the invention of printing.'^
Daniel in his History of F'rance, says that Louis VIII. when
very ill, was ordered oy liis physician to admit to his bed a young-
woman, which the pious king refused, and therefore died. This
story, says Voltaire, has been related of otlier kings.* It is said
that the only man who escaped the Sicilian Vespers in 1282
was named Porcellet ; and it is also said that Porcellet saved
Eichard Coeur de Lion when surrounded by Saracens.'*
IX. Historical ballads, or at all events political songs, were very
common in the time of the Fronde.'" I think tlieir importance
after this period rapidly declined.
Another source of error consists in applying to individuals what
has been said of cities. This is done in the Old Testament, and
is said to have been done in French history.'' It is thus that in
metaphysical philosophy Hartley and Condillac almost at the same
moment and without any knowledge of eacli other's labours, arrived
at similar conclusions upon some of the highest and most difficult
branches of abstract knowledge.
The story of the eleven tliousand virgins is very commonly
related.'^ A story similar to the myth which relates how Dido got
• Observations on Sorbiero's Voyage to England, p. 129, Lond. 1709.
' See Van Kampen, Geschiedenis der Lrttoren in de Niederlaiiden, deel i. blud 14.
' Ibid, blad 28. * Ibid, blad 29.
» Ibid, blad 22. « Ibid, blad 26,
' Kampen, dcel i. blad 43.
" See Essai sur los Mojurs, chap. li. at end. Q^uvres do Voltaire, tomo xvi. pp. 102,
103, and tome xl. p. 211.
" See CEuvros do Voltaire, 1826, tome xv. p. 208.
'" See Grimm's Correspondance litt6raire, tomo vi. pp. 244, 245.
" See Sorel, Bibliotli6qu6 fran(,'ai80, p. 300.
*'• See Priohard's Physical History of Mankind, vol. iii. pp. 172, 173, note.
BALLADS, ETC.
183
Carthage IS common in the East.' Wright ^ says, " But it was a
pecuhar trait m the character of the middle ages to create ima-
gmary personages and clothe them with the attributes of a class
-types as It were, of popular belief, or of popular attachment or
glory 3 And Wnght .0 s that, perhaps from the associations
with the remains of ancient art, " The people of the middle ages
farst saw the type of the magician in the poets and philosophers
of tlie classic days. The physician Hippocrates, under the cor-
rupted name ot Ipocras, was supposed to have effected his cures
by magic, and he was the subject of a legendary history certainly
as old as the twelfth century, containing incidents which were
subsequently told of a more celebrated conjuror, Virgil." He adds,^
It IS not impossible that the equivocal meaning of the Latin
word mrmer. (which means a poem and a charm) may have con.
tnbuted to the popular reputation of poets ;" « and again, " Down
a very recent period, if not at the present day, the people in
the neighbourhood of Palestrina have looked upon Horace as a
powerful and benevolent wizard." Mr. Wright has given « a very
curious account of tlie myths in the middle ages respecting Virgil.
\ ICO ^^ says that the French nation « a conserve une sorte de poeme
homerique dans I'histoire de I'archeveque Turpin, qu'ont ensuite
embelli tant de poemes et de romans." Vico says,« « Au moyen-
age les^historiens latins furent des poetes heroiques comme Gun-
terus, Gmllaume de Pouilles, et autres." He says ' that the Greek
smgers or rhapsodists learnt pieces of Homer.
Frankfort-on-the-Main, so called because the Franks discovered
a lord there to cross the river Main.
The forged writings of Dionysius the Areopagite were particu-
larly influential in the Greek monasteries. '«
In the tenth century a missionary called Bruno was surnamed
1 oniface, and « two different persons having been made out of
tliese two names, a missionary Boniface was invented, who is to be
wliolly stricken out of the list of historical persons." "
Coryat, who was in Switzerland in 1609, heard the' story of
lell, all of which he devoutly believed.'^ Archdeacon Hare
believes all about Tell.
Mackay says,'^ «It has been ingeniously surmised that tlie
^ See Malcolm's History of Persia, vol. i. j). 242.
Narratives of Sorcery and Magic. Lond. 1850, vol. i. p 99
7 1)1 1 , . , ^^^^- ll»id. pp. 101-121
.' rinlosoph.o do rHi«toiro. p. 34. " Ibid. p. 1G2.' ' ' I,,id. pp. 274, 275.
Ibid. p. 1(10.
■ander's History of tlio Churoli. vol.
f^fe Coryat's Crudities,
P
vol
pp. 19,'i-]<)0.
p. 234.
Ibid, vul
VII.
p. < .
•ogress of the Intellect, Lond. 1850, vol
^*i
m j
M P
p. 402.
184
FRAGMENTS.
I !
genealogy from Shetn to A))raliam is in part significant of geo-
graphical localities, or successive stations occupied by the
Hebrews," &c. As to tlie origin of St. Luke being believed to
be a painter, see Swinburne's Courts of p]urope at close of last
Century, vol. i. pp. 231, 232. Kead Elunt's Vestiges of Ancient
Manners in Italy. Kemble,' speaking of Saxo-Grammaticus,
gently notices " Saxo's very extraordinary mode of rationalising
ancient mythological traditions." Because there was no tide in
the Baltic we are told that Canute ordered liis cliair to be taken
to the coast to show that the tide would not retire at his cora-
mand.2 On the Niebelungen Lied, note that Laing ^ says that
while all tradition of it is lost in (jermany, fragments exist in tlie
oral state at the present day in the Fcero Islands. Laing ^ says
tliat Saxo-Grrammaticus employed " historical Saga different from
those used by his contemporary Snorro." Another source of con-
fusion was that the church and clerical historians introduced the
liatin language, in which Laing says'' the spirit of old events
l)erished. And ''Philology" shows that a new language will
introduce errors. Eanke " says, " As in all countries the legend of
the Wild Huntsman has been connected with the most renowned
names, Artluu-, Waldemar, and Charlemagne, so in P'rance it was
associated with that of Hugh Capet. Compare Grimm, German
Mythology, p. 894.
A great source of error has been that poets have copied in their
works engravings or sculptures. Gothe relates that when a youtli
he made poems to suit some engravings with which he met."
iMarsden ^ says of the Sumatrans, " The country people can verv
seldom give an account of their age, being entirely without any
species of chronology."^
For a singidar instance of a strange story told twice of the same
person, see Autobiography of the Emperor lehanguein, pp. 6S,
()i). In the Russian account of Kamtschatka it is said of the
natives, " They keep no account of their age, though they count
as far as one hundred."'"
There was a very impt)rtant sect, known as the Paulicians, said
to be Manichaian. Tliose men by whom in the middle ages
" Ibid. pp. 347, 348.
» Ibid. p. 369.
' Saxons in Engliind, vol. i. p. 340.
- Liiing'.s Dcnniiirk, p. 280.
' Ibid. p. 346.
" Civil Wars of Franco in Iho Sixtoenth and Seventeenth Ccntm-ies, Lond. 18.')2.
vol. i. (I. 2.")!l.
' S(>o the curious itassagc in Walirlieit nnd Diclitnng, in Giitlic's Werkc, bund ii.
tiicil ii. ]<. 9>S, and Hohn'.s translation, vol. i. p. 26".
" History of .Sumatra, p. 248. " Ibid. p. 248.
'" Oricvc's History of Kamtschatka, p. 177, 4lo.
PRELIMINARY FOJi REiGN OF ELIZABETH.
185
o
oeclc™.ti..al lH«t„,y „a« written laid l.old of tl,i« and d.oUued
rttrt,:;:r.;.? -sr vr„„"r "-iif
Ihe north point of Yucatan is now called Cano Pod, */''^^''-
PRELIMINARY FOR REIGN OF ELIZABETH
^.od, but tended to retard what it Ld befo ^ accelLted ^^ '^^
The liistory of England from the fourteenth to the sixteenth
1.WI/ ', ^ represent the ancient civilization of chivalry
oZ^r^"'; If ""f'' '° "'"""^ the comfort, and therefore'
<.v,.„ „„ 1 "°""y' '">' »s a demoralising luxurv. Hence
; " nd tmtitTdtth*"' 'r ",""=""" ''^■'°™-'''- *»'-
to tin- /'V '"'^^^ <^o the manly character of Britons It is
t" tins «pint that we owe the sumptuary laws.^
^ Jfi^toryoftho Church, vol. i. p. 113
The fourteenth century ^-th^Hw/or'-'T' ^""''; ^^^J, pp. 42, 43, .58,04).
boRan to decline. See C^^T- B, L-t iS ""'''"*'"" '« ^'"^ P"'''"-! «he" ehivah-y
•-■'i-l-- S- quotatio"aTp 460 '" ^''"'""'°-^'"' ^'^ -• VV- 443-476, and i«
iriii,
b"
■ i;.'
)
186
FRAGMENTS.
When did the middle classes arise ? Of course when chivalry
declined. Probably the rebellion of 1569 was the last instance
in this country of the spirit of chivalry producing such an effect.
Wright has observed ' that probably all the families who took
share in it " were allied by blood or intermarriage with the two
f^imilies of the Percies and Nevilles."
SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
At the end of the fifteenth century there occurred two most
important events which gave a new direction to the current of
European thought. To the West a new world was found. To
the East a new passage was discovered, by which thousands of
inquisitive men hastened to the cradle of the human race. To
America, to Asia, and to Africa, there poured a stream of travel-
lers, whose relations of what they had seen were read with an
eager curiosity of which we can now scarcely form an idea.
The field of history thus suddenly enlarged as to space, was
necessarily contracted as to time. Instead of tracing the annals
of a people back to their supposed origin, the views of historians
became concentrated on the marvellous events of their own ago.
The effect of this spirit was soon apparent in a general disposition
to break those imaginary links by which Europe was connected
with the most remote antiquity. Towards ihe end of the reign
of Henry VIII., Polydore Virgil, the best writer on English
liistory tliat had yet appeared, boldly denied the existence of
Brute, and even ventured to hint his suspicions as to the value of
that romance by Geoffrey of Monmouth, which the world had
long considered as a work of unimpeachable veracity.
*****
It is possible, though I think it is scarcely probable, that the
tendency to purge history of its ftibles would under ordinary
circumstances have worn itself out, and have been succeeded by
some newer fashion. But towards the end of the sixteenth, and
during great part of the seventeenth century, it was still furtlicr
confirmed by the revolutiL>ns which broke out in every part of
Europe, and which fixed the attention even of speculative men
upon the momentous events that were passing around theni.
Macchiavelli and Guicciardini, De Thou and Sully, Davila and
Bentivoo-lio, Clarendon and Burnet, were certainly superior to any
' Wright's Eliziibeth, Loud. 1838, vol. i, ii. xxxiv.
own a<>o.
SIXTEENTH CENTURY. jg;
cTlid LI i.T". "'f*' "'■ "'^'""g^eration that
tm„ ie Tl, . " '"" "/""^ themselves with those of a
loiinoi age. This explains the fact that during more than a
1, 7 '"'S''""''" ''"t""-™ in Europe were those who occu
hat t lisT h" '",™?« '"^ ""'"^ °f "'-^ »™ «»es. Ta
t at this IS the real explanation becomes still more probable from
eilnt cTntr ™ ^'"J' "'™'""°"' ^'"■'^ '^ ■«" '» be found any
eminent contemporary historian. ^
vi "'» wTnlT-f'J'^r °°."'«™^«°'> of ae accuracy of these
-retC;: h^:; =:rLrZn''rririi£:t[r t:
"fc™irf°rr'"" °' *"' ™^ most°disastron ni were
sCesse lo ' ! xTv ™ '' *''' ''™^''™'- ^^c splendid
sucosses ot Louis XIV. soon conciliated his subiects and l,i«
Xer*; 1, p '",''' '"'°"<'°' °f Fra-^0. diverted from
spotrix'" r'*""'""" p'°*"='^ " "'«™'>- -w°"
...at h ta a' V r ^^^^ ™ "<>"=''"'<'<', it would be difficult to
. ..e li ssrt%T ^V°^ "«"• °f '"« o™™-*^ of that
ot h;:Strrf "■ "'^^' ^^ '-'''^'' - ^^^ who Jco^pa.
-c^r' tdll'f '"f '' r'"' P^^^'^P^ "-^ -^--1 to his cha-
nnce 'wl ch , ""T^'i^ ''''' "^^"^'^^ *« ^he circumstances
C e m; ud^^^^s^^^^^ f ^^^- «^« P--^-l -ind was hampered
willino- to^S n ^'' profession, and this made him the more
L t1" :^iT"r' '^^"^^'"^ ^° ^^^^^^"^^ -t'-r than
istil om 1 ^ ^''"'^ ^'^^ ^'-'^^tion is indeed still character-
ouitv if "'^': ^"' ^' ^"^ '■^^^^^'^^^«" f-' ^^J-t is called class cll
^ntiquity, Bossuet was also influenced by f.e\m<r. which he Lh
toi us at the present day to understand the extraordinary
m
i M
l»(
'•I
Hi
'. >
188
VRAOMENTS.
vcticratioTi with wliicli ovim the wisest of men formerly refj^nrded
iiie iiiicieiit worhi. As such a feelinjj^, by exii^-j^cratiii}; tin;
jU'liieveiruMits of llie past, was of course very prejudicial to th(^
pro^n-ess of history, I shall now j>ive some evidence of the ext(mt
<() which it had spread in the sixteenth and seventeenth ccmturies,
and 1 will (hcMi endeavour to trace those circumstances which led
to its decline.
Among tlie many beneiits which Euroyu' owes to the Keforma-
tion, tlu^ rijj^ht of tlui (>xercisi> of [)rivate judgment would, if it had
been persisted in, have been unquestionably tlie most important.
As long as the reformers admitted that right, it is evident; that
the antagonistic principle of submission to authority in matters of
o[>iuion nuist have been proportionably weakened : and with it
nuist also have been weakened that veneration for anti(juity which
«'an oidy be felt by men who prefer the submission of faith to the
exei'cise of reason. It is not, therefore, surpiising to find in the
writings of the earliest Protestants imuuju'rable passages ex-
pressing tlu'ir conttunpt of form and tradition, and even their
disregard for tlie most accredited opinions of the ancient fathers.
Hut as soon as the first heat of Protestantism had subsided, its
leaders found it advisable to r*>cur to that principle of faith whicli
they had somewhat hastily discarded. They found tluit opinions
whith were convenient enough for a rising sect were by no means
suitable tor a we;dthy church. The results are but too well
known to the readers of ecclesiastical history. Those men who
had risen to power by professing th*^ right of private judgment
did not hesitate to abrogate this riglit as soon as they had gained
the power. Aided by the civil magistrate, they emulated the
tyramiy of her whom they loved to call the Man of Sin, and the
wliore of Babylon. Without the slightest regard to the inde-
pendent judgment of individuals, they framed articles and canons
and dogmas which under the severest penalties they expected to
b(> implicitly received. As these proceedings could scarc(>ly ho
d(>fended by reason, it was necessary to defend them by authority ;
and both Catholics and Protestants eagerly appealed to antiquity
to justify their respective measures. If a theological tenet was at
stake, the question to be decided was not whether it was rational,
or whether it was suited to the exigencies of society, but the
<[uestion was if it coiUd be found in the writings of Irenanis or
C'Vprian, if it was nu'ntioned by Tertullian before he became a
Montanist, or if it was to be discovered in the works of the
apostolic fathers. This is the way in which, in the sixteenth cen-
tury, disputes were conducted ; and this is what we are expected
to admire as the model of controversial theology. By common
SIXTEENTH CENTURY. , , w,
,«K,.,blo ckira thoy could luivo to ro>neot wS , "">
»|.iiit in wind, „,o„ l,a„dlod ti.e milZIt ,1 !" L™ "'"
ill tl.o i„fe,io,- department of p,ofL It! ' ,f *'""' "°"''""
wa« to bo c„n,tn.et.,d,„r an ilb,^t,at „ t '"^Lnnd it";:^'!"""
to tbo b,»tory ofGreoco, of Kome, or of .ludartbjt ,7 t "^i;
.lignity which -tith 'izittr Si::;t;r: '°t ^^^^
only was everything, of value written n" f^T ' ^'
the minds of men seemed unable to supply t^^'^^;^]:^
beyond a sca-vile imitation of the ancients T .' "^^''^'^
Cicero, which, beautiful as they are too often hv tV ' ^T"^' ""''
transcend the bounds of a sev^- e l- "te tei^ H '^;^'f/f ^^"dance
who admired the sparkle but c:::id tt h iff 'a "' "^"^
ot these authors would only use Cicero ^ a p^Sit .fj""^^'-^-
Erasmus ventured to ridicule this folly, he was at u-V T \' l'"'
most indecent fury. Macchiavelli wafa m-Iof t 1 m f " ' *'"
tionable capacity, and, considering the^^^^H;: S'^'^;
large v.ews ; but he drew all his illustrati'ons from ant^^^^^^^^
At the end of the sixteenth century the two Te- f i'^ ' i' , •
torians were Camden and Hay ward. cZ^^Zi^aT'
antiquary, and even in that branch of know ed^e wis ve
loHS, as those who have made much mTThi^ It', ^ ""'■:
-lily allow. As an historian, he was st 1 tJ^^i^^^. ""''l
hKs history ol Elizabeth, though it will always p s^'v d^^ f
contemporary relation, literally swarms with bC-s and d
not contain a single observation which is worthy of bdn'.."
be-d. Hayward was a writer of somewhat" ^^
IS the first of our historians who attempted to inwff'!'
-uses of particular actions and the moTva o/ s tatesS h"
history ot part of the reign of Elizabeth was written eTrlvi. T
sr::tr:-rtbX--si;;rSf^
en«, of a donbt „„ .,eb a'p^.tion^:;;:" t^^p^ °,r?f1f "
.,„ „. . ,. ' 'H-cessary to justify their resolution
pa-uges from Livy, from Flortis, from Josephus, fr
UMI
" by (piot
om Tacitus,
190
FRAGMENTS.
■"»
and from Isocrates. Indeed, several years later, we find a similar
method employed })y men of much superior powers. Solden was
)iot only an able politician, but was imqiiestionahly the most
learned Englishman of his time. He in the year 1640 published
a work upon the Law of Nations, but, so far from condescending
to settle that intricate matter by human reason, he founds the
whole of his arguments upon a lying invention of the Rabbis,
called the Seven Precepts of Noah.
Even De Thou, whose justly celebrated history appeai-ed early
in the seventeenth century, was by no means free from tlie
prevailing spirit.
Bayle's work on The Comet, which was written in 1681, was
not allowed to be itrinted in France. His reply to Maimbourg
was piiblicly burnt in Paris. He himseli' was driven from his
native country, and compelled to take refuge in Holland, where
he published his Critical Dictionary, the most celebrated and
elaborate of all his works. He died while Louis XIV. was yet on
tlie throne ; and he was not destined to see that great moral re-
volution to which he was the first contributor. In 1690, Perraulf,
in his celebrated Parallel between the Ancients and Moderns, not
only preferred the last, but placed Scudery and Chapelain above
Homer. In 1715, Terrasson published an elaborate attack upon
Homer. La Motte published an abridgment of the Iliad, and
considered that by doing so he had greatly improved the original.
Indeed, he stated in an essay that the merits of Homer were, in
his opinion, greatly overrated. This outbreak against the ancient
celebrities was conducted by men very incompetent [to] the task :
but there never before was an age in which f-uoh things would
have been even dreamt of. It was natural that the same spirit
which attacked classical prejudice should also attack theological
prejudices. This was now done by Fontenelle, a very remarkablr
man, whose long life connected two great ages of French litera-
ture. The Fathers, who were not very good judges of evidence,
had generally taken for granted the supernatural origin of the
pagan oracles. They, however, took care to add that the priests
were inspired by Satan, who hoped by this stratagem to put to
confusion the people of God. Such was the superstition anion,;*'
even the best informed of European scholars, that this theory was
very generally believed until the end of the seventeenth century.
i
191
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Grotius he first gveat historical thinker after Macchiavelli
w..n. Holland, the first great republic in Europe Me J e'
St 11 very ignorant. The population of France Ls Sren v
estimated at from five to twenty millions.' MonteiP ob erv '
oapengiie nays that after the defeat of the Armada in 1 ^8S ih^
prospenty and revoluilonar, freedom of Holland begl Can/
hgue says ^ that " les ga^ettes hollandaise« " first belTn iif t'he"
seventeenth century. The kingly character even^ decL -d
Ohvarez, Richeheu, and Buckingham were suDreme nJv
ha. such miserable sove.igns%s Jame! Tw; Ini.lZ;
ihihp III Then the Fronde, Massaniello, Retz, Cromwdl
Spam lost Naples and Catalonia. All this was a^ded W H
change in the value of money. Spain, the la great lL'^tic:i
monarchy the world has ever seen, was nowfal/ng to p7ece Ind
as I shall hereafter show, the sceptical movement was eizi/ra J
the departments of politics. The independent and ;"^,:
method of Bacon and Descartes, which, so far from beW d
ferent, are identical. Hallam' says that Hakewill in hTs An
logy, or Declaration of the Power of God im fisT « .T
one of the first " who claimed for modern Tterature 1"'""'
over the ancient. In a pamphlet puSlerin1^2,^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
tiou of Pans is estimated at 6,000,000.« There was as vet t
rca community of nations and little sympathy The " e'c tio,
cLr^r Th?mem'-'TS T '^'''' *"' ^^^^ weeks Xi
occurred. The memoirs of Retz, a great demagogue, are the first
that show political penetration; they are the firif 7i 7 r
Clarendon and Burnet, sketch c wLrthu^shol' t ''^
creasing sense of the importance of [the] peopland nSvic^nl M
Retz^ speaks with the greatest contempt of the « vulgar hstoln^
what they see and do. Patin was so struck by the revob L?
character of the age, that in 1649 he writes « "II ^'""^"*^f ^^^^
' See Montoil, Histoire des Fran<;uis, tomo viii p 278 2 ti • i onn
; H.stoiro de la Keforme, tome v. p. 102. "''• ^- ''"'' '"''^'■
* Richpliou, Mazurin et Li Fronde, tome ii n "io 5 r •. .
: Sainte-Aulaire. Histoid de la ri^^^ l^', f,, ,,, ^'^<^-^"-' -!• *''• P- 230.
Memoires, vol. i. pp. uS, io6.
' Lcttrcs, tome i. p. ]ol. „ ,, . ,
Ibid, tome ii. p. 2J1.
c »,
» ) .V '! ► . It
'\
i' ■
192
FUAOMKNTS.
•I I
JiJiurcnt li' l?iun ; il nt)us vtMit donner uiu^ <4i'();j^r!i|)lii(' uuivcr-
S('ll«' in-folio." Oliver St. ,lol\n, one of the most iuHuciitijil
inombers of tlio Lonjjf Purliivment, wiih the first Enj^lisliiuan wlio
Hcricmsly lal)oure(l to eshiblisli an Knjj;Ush flemocracy, an idea
wliidi he is said to have acqnired wlicii in [[olhind. Horoscope
of Louis XIV'.' In the seventeentli century the ji;reat movement
for ImU'pemlence, hitherto theolofjfical, now first })ecame Mcidur
and philosophical, and Lutlier and Calvin were succeeded by
liacon, I)(«cartes, Grotius, and Leibnitz. It was HoUanil that
resisted the danjjjerous force of Louis XIV. id ^ave us a free
kin<;, William III. liayle and (^uesnel fied to Holland, and so
did Jiu'ieu, who, as Capefi<j;iie well says,^ " appartenait a ces
retV)rmatenrs qui proclamaient I'empire des masses sin* les rois, de
I'election sur les droits de race." The Dutch ptdjlished all sorts
of caricatures against Ijouis XIV.^ Many of their pamphlets
wen^ even circulated in Paris, and made the people discontented
with Louis XIV.'' The abdication of James 11. was not known
in the Orkney Islands till three months after it occurred. It is
said that Brienne, who visited Lapland in 1654, was the first
Frenchman who had ever been there. The characteristics of the
seventeenth century were political revolution, speculative legishi-
tion, and the rise of geography as connected with history. The
Eastern nations, even at the present day, have no idea of ninn-
bers.'' Wilkinson'* says, " It is remarkable that in the East ud
one knows his exact age ; nor do they keep any registers of births
or deaths." In 1724, M. de Moivre published the first edition of
his Tract on Annuities on Lives. In an elaborate description of
London written in 1643, it is estimated that London contains
r)()0,()00 houses, and more than 3,000,000 people.' Bunsen says,
"Towards the close of the sixteenth century, .Toseph Scaligcr
commenced his great imdertaking, the restoration of ancient
chronology." See Bunsen's Egypt, vol. i. p. 231, at sc.q., where tlic
highest praises are bestowed upon Scaliger. Carlyle says, " Lord
Clarendon, a man of sufficient unveracity of heart, to wlioin
indeed whatsoever has direct veracity of heart is more or less
liorrible."** In 1686 there were great disputes about the popula-
tion of London and Paris." Even in the middle of the reitrn of
' ilemoires do Lfiiot, tonie ii. p. 48. - Louis XIV., Umw i. pp. 21."), 279, ISliS.
•■' Seo spt'cimcns iu Capeligue, Louis XIV., tonip i. pp. It", 170, 4(18, 4G4.
' Ibid. p. 377. ' See Grote's History of Grcucc. vol. v. p. .)3.
" Anuient Egyptians, vol ii. p. 34.
' yut' Letligore's Survey of Loudon in Somers Tracts, vol. iv. p. oil.
" Carlylc's Cromwell, vol. i. p. lOfi.
3 S,
•e lliiy's Correspondence, edited byLankester, p. 189.
I'llFLOLOOY.
198
Oeor^ro [[., if^ ^y,j^ .^ common (lisnnh. x.i. fi r .
w<'re the more populous.- Kv jj "^^ ^^""^^"" ^ I'-'«
nns.'tt]ed question " whether I .H^ ^r" '^^'^ '^ '''"' ""
city."" "''-'^ ^^^"^"" ^'r i'"ri« 18 the Lirger
PHfl.OLOGV.
rc.coi-,1, w,.r„ „„(, i„ ..xHton ', 'rHM '""" "''™ ™""'
»"<1 ".at .,„t„ .„M,™ .tm f™ 'a tlVr"'''T"'''' ''"'«'■"•
Mrfory of ,„,„ki,„,, ,1,,^ t,™ fte ., J f *-"■"' """ "'' "'"
nam™ of til,. m,Ht ii„„n,t., ,? . ' "'"'"'• '""»' ^ tW,
-■ Hisn. A ^ciocSio::: V 3r •('; I t°' Tr ■""'''«
most important are „a„„.d" He a,W H, ^•" " ""'' ™ "'"
ployed a, name^^aZ", ,1, ;r "'""^ ""■" '"*™"* "n-
If therefore we ,at . I t" " """'r "' ""=* -n^'tior.-s."
«. n,ay tell what I ;:'„"! 'I"^!';^':" "™ "^ ""^ P-P'^S
for instance, every reeord of tl,„ f ■ j °" ™portant. If;
;;na;. of their ^:i:^^::: zt:,z!]:z.
winch a poop rLve Z ed , " "" ">"? "»<=«rtain the extent to
«nne way, the extent to whil ctnmerci d 'nr "'''T' '" '""
".«" a language .how the extent t^wWe he pmIiL^'h "'"'"'
-., .angnage. and;i::rr:;;:t;rdr^^^^^^^^^^
I Lo IJhmc's Lettres d'tin Franvai.s, t.,mo i. p. 385
- Iho P.,l,ce of France, Loud. 4to. 1763 p 123
^ ^y^ the P„enonK.na of Hie 11..;.. Mind. Lo.d. 1820. vo,. i. p. 03.
i 1-4 I IK If .,H'!
If,' "'^L.f'.
:( j
194
FRAGMENTS.
belief is only a case of indissoluble association, it, follows that the
speech of every people must greatly modify their beliefs, or, in
other words, their opinions. Nor can this be answered by objecting
that the language of nations would follow their ideas, and not
precede them. For in the first place, without adopting the ex-
travao-ance of the Nominalists, it is certain that, even if we
suppose a people to have entirely worked out their own language,
there can be no doubt that in some instances such language
would precede and govern the order of their ideas. But in the
second place, this supposition is an unnecessary concession, for
there probably never existed any people whose natural speech
was free from foreign elements, which have been forced upon
them by external circumstances unconnected with their own in-
tellectual development. In England, for instance, there can be
no doubt that the introduction by the Normans of a refined, and,
comparatively speaking, a philosophic language must, so soon as
it became interwoven into the Saxon, have produced considerable
effect upon the trains of ideas of our countrymen, and therefore
upon their opinions. The advantage we thus received is an ad-
vantage over and above that which we gained from such know-
ledge°as the Norman race were able to impart. The knowledge
itself is now useless. In every respect we have far outstripped
that savage race who were only civilized, inasmuch as they were
less barbarous than their neighbours. But by the communication
of their language, they have laid the foundation of a dialect
which, at the present time, influences every Englishman in his
own despite during every moment of his existence, and which
has contributed to fix our national associations, and to regulate
our national opinions. Supposing other things equal, if in any
lancruage we find one word having five synonyms, and another
word having only two synonyms, we may rely upon it that the
sensation represented by the first word is considered more im-
portant than the sensation represented by the second. In the
same way it will always be formd that when two correlatives
represent ideas nearly equal in importance, a word will be invented
for each ; but that when there is no sort of equality between
them, there will be a word for the smaller correlative and one
for the greater. Mill notices this,' but this remark liad already
been made in Hume's Essay on the Populousness of Ancient
Nations. Sir J. Mackintosh, says Leibnitz, « seems to have been
^iie first philosophical etymologist, and to have rightly estimated
the importance of the Teutonic nations and languages. That he
Analysw of the Mind, Lond. 1829, vol. ii. p, 87.
EIGHTEENTH CENTUEY. jpg
«ays that great man " was tZhhZ fi ' . f"^ "^'^ ^"^^"^^^'
portant connection-so fruitfYU of l u . ^'^ ^'"^^^^ ^^« i^"
to subsist between philowf^^aL v t^'^ "'"^^ ^^ ^^""d
lisht which the foimer mth b f T'"^ ^"esearches, and the
In India the monsoorbein^an o d.W nh ^'^' °" '''' '''''^'•"'
name for it.3 ^ ordmaiy phenomenon, there is no
EIOHTEENTH CENTURY.
I HAVE thus brought down tn flm «i^ i- .,
turya general view of The ll // ^^'" seventeenth cen-
which, passing ove ma ter'^f^r ^^^^^^^^^l lif .ature, in
deavoured to^onfiL my f /« "27 T^^^^^"-' ^ ^^^ve en-
great epochs through wh eh he 7 °?''. ''^''^' ^^^^^ '^^
vaucmg, had hitherto with it. '^'""P"' though steadily ai -
and a few of the ph" Ll Lee, TfT °', "'" '"»"'™-'««'l
in any of the departme, tTof i" f -. ™ ^* °^ ■°'"''' ^'''^
powerful mindsCe S JZloif: f'l- T^ "' *''» "^^
superstition. There was, howeTnl„„^^/°°''* ""'' S^^HinK
which, though it first alrnrl^-T. ,""'''' S"'""' ''"veraent;
activity in France! l^H events"'' f'^''^'' "' «'-*
monarcliy, a corrupt nobilitv 'T'^fy overturned an ancient
long befo'Jo it a cIpltd^Lrlt "et^'Tf? P™^''"""' '^'^
important, a compllll^t 'in thttned ""■ ""'"'' ™'-°
Such was at that time the sudden audadtv of tht '"'".' ■ "' ""■"•
H.at feelings and prejudices whic TI^h ' '^'™'''' '""^""'t'
«c,ned to form a necesslrv !. rt /^^ , '"'' '^'"■^'^ ^''«' • ity
moment rooted up and delfovedF. 'TT """'' """'" "^
towards its c.ose'de^LTby a t->" S 'of ''""' ""* ™'
'is early stage, when the intell J/ V '^ , avenge. But in
Piclcd, and hJfJre «,; n, n 1 Z''™'''"''" ™'' ""■■"'v "om-
-co„;iisherforpMos':;^r ;r virth'"' ^t- "■"'■^- ™'
generations more than hnd yet h e„ i„o fi ,„ n" '^T "' '"-'
-n«".ent of written records Not „X ""'''"' "'"-
.».■ .nore comprehensive than any ^.^;:C:;:t^^
o 2
Ml!!!
M <' 2
f ( ' i I
f I"
'>
:i
196
FRAGMENTS.
but several branches of knowledge which are indispensable i,()
history were suddenly developed, and began to take their stan(]
in the rank of sciences. Political economy, statistics, jurispru-
dence, physiology, and several branches of metaphysics were
studied with such success that many of their laws were for the
first time satisfactorily established. Nor was this great movement
confined to a single nation. There were indeed, as I shall en-
deavour to explain, some circumstances which prevented it from
producing much effect in England, from whence it had, in its
mildest form, originally proceeded; but in other countries it
caused very important results. In Italy it gave rise to a great
scliool, from which Europe has learned some of its most valuable
lessons in the science of jurisprudence. Its greatest effects were,
however, produced in Germany, where it rescued a whole people
from the depths of superstition, and enabled them to rear up that
wonderful literature to which, as we shall presently see, the in-
tellectual regeneration of Europe is in no small degree to be
ascribed.
It may be easily supposed that in this great field of inquiry
which we are now about to enter, I shall not be able to preserve
that conciseness to which I have hitherto carefully adhered. The
grandeur with which, in the eyes of all thinking men, the
eighteenth centiu-y is naturally invested, has stimulated me to
a more than ordinary diligence, and I should be doing justice
neither to myself nor to my readers if I were to suppress too many
of the materials which have suggested those views that will form
the basis of the future volumes of this history. As it is possible
that some of these views may be considered original, and as it is,
I fear, certain that many of them will give offence, I have deemed
it right to fortify them by every description of evidence whieli
study and reflection enable me to supply. If therefore anyone is
inclined to be offended by the variety of topics into which I have
entered, or by the number and length of the notes, lie will, I trust,
have the candour to ascribe them, not to a pedantic desire of
displaying my own reading, nor to the wish of diverging upon
matters which are alien to the object of this work. I can say,
with the most perfect confidence, that my only anxiety has been
1 () state with fairness the grounds upon which my opinions have
been formed, in (U'der that if they are wrong, they may be the
more easily refuted, and that if they are right, they may be the
more readily believed. I should not have made this remark if I
had not observed in this country of hate years a growing disposi-
t iun on the part of authors i ^ conceal the immedii '
their information, and a corresponding disposition
'8
your(
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
197
itics to form then- opinions with great rapidity, and to content
t lemselve. on many subjects of difficulty and mportanrw"h
the most meagre and imperfect evidence P^^^^n^^ with
of 'he Shteent?'' T'" wf P'-'"'""*^ '' ^'^^ ^^^^ ^^^t---
connected with ' T '^ V'' 'T ''^'''^' ^^^^^ '^^^ '^ ^^^jects
connected with religion. Not only did they enforce by every
;Xd"t tr"'"T ''' ^'^-^^^ P"-ipl^ of Leration,but tiLT
pushed It to so extreme a point that even at the present d-iv
cTdL" 1t°t "".'^^^ '^""' «^^^^^- '^ ^-"thtfr
attempt' at o ', "^"'''^ '' ""^''^ ^^"^^^ -^ «^^^ the first
attempt at comprehensive views of history were Bolingbroke
t at dl .nd .f^^^^^^^ "^Christianity, if, indeed, he believed in
^ at all , and the other four were avowed and notorious infidels
Nor were they content with preserving what tliey would hive
c^onsidered a philosophic indifference upon so importLt a subject
Hume indeed, whose fine, clear, but cold mindLemed incaS
of enthusiasm, always kent hi-^ ^ffn^i.. t3 , .• '"'"^P'^"^^
ihr.... r -4. 1 • I . P attacks upon Kevelation within
rMonf;.^ " f "• '^'""^^" '' '''' ^8- seemed to require
VoltahtandS '^"''^ ^\, --^derable part of his life! and
Voltaiie and (x bbon during the whole of their lives, never cared
conceal heir opinions, and employed all theii' ene gies
attacking Chris lanity with every weapon which their k^n ing
uggest some very important considerations. That he who
ntrV rf T-'" ^'^ '''''' ^^^"^^ -d— *« -pose its
uiois, is but fair and natm-al. Nor would anyone properly
instructed m the real principles of toleration attempt to inter eo
nd^lT^'^l '" '"'t'- . ""''' ^^^^ -- of genius'and le.:;!' g
and s^ieat benevolence should hate and ridicule a religion whiol,
whether true or false, is certainly the mildest and most ben^fl'nt
mii^'tl "/' ;"f "^ '^'' ""^•^^'' '^'"'^ ^«t -"tent with
life th t f, n .^""^^^-y^^^^" ^-^P^- ^^11 their hopes of a future
ite that these things should be publicly done, is at first sight so
^ teily incomprehensible as to suggest a suspicion either that the
T^^/""^"'T^ rr''^''''^'''^ '^''y'^'^ "«t entertain,
el e that the merits of their personal character must have been
^ ssly exaggerated. And yet, so far is this from being true,
d ; llA r nf " '''"' *^^'"' P^"^^'^^^ correspondence that their
aislikc to Christianity was even stronger than that which, they
eipll'""' ''"^"'^' """'^^'"^ '' '^'"^^' '^''' "•''^•', '^"' '- -'do no att en.pt to ^,y^ pna
l!!'!,.
Iff
li'ri''' '
• » I ii* If' '
■^'■"'11.
I ! I
198
FKAGMENTS.
expressed in tlioir works. And it is as certain that all of tliem
were beloved by those who knew them, and were of the warmest
and most kindly affections. We have full and undoubted evi-
dence that Voltaire, who was by far the most scurrilous of these
great writers, was a man of the most lively sensibility, that he
passed his long life in acts of unwearied benevolence, that he
was the friend of the oppressed and the father of the orphan, and
that he even squandeied a large income on acts of private and
unostentatious charity. Unless therefore we are prepared to
believe that men remarkable for their abilities and their virtues
were governed by the most criminal and contemptible caprice,
we must refer their conduct to some general principle which in-
fluenced them in their own despite, and which gave to their works
that appearance with which many of us are so justly off"ended.
What that principle was, I will now endeavour to explain, with
the aid of such lights as history will enable me to supply.
It may I think be laid down as a law of the human mind that
in every country where religious toleration is established, sceptic-
ism must
thing 1:
' \
In the eighteenth century our own literature first assumed its
popular character and formed a part of the intellectual polity of
F.urope. Then, too, the literature of Denmark arose, in 1720,
imder Holberg.*
In law Beccaria, Bentham, Anquetil, Du Perron, Sonnerat, and
Grenht studied the laws of the Brahmins. Egypt explored by
Bruce, Arabia by Volney. Cook and Bougainville explored the
world. Now it was that the great brotherhood of nations became
knit together in one polity. Before Lord Hardwicke, international
law was scarcely known in England.'^ Bunsen ' says, " No school
of Coptic theology was instituted till the beginning of the
eighteenth century.
The founder was David Wilkins, who
published the New Testament at Oxford (1716), and the Penta-
teuch (1730)." The Eosetta stone was discovered in 1799.'' Since
Young and Chainpollion, the only discoverers in hieroglyphics are
Lepsius and Leenians.* Bunsen says,*^ " Sylvester de Sacy, tliat
great man who brought Arabic philology, neglected since the
time of Reiske, to its true historical position."
Until the eighteenth century there was no histor^', and in
England the people only knew history from ballads.
Soe Luinc's Denmark, p. 366.
I
2 Storey's Conflict of Laws, p. 12. ■
* Ibid. pp. 309, 310.
« Ibid. p. 315.
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 199
Si on! f ^^\^t'u'''' ^''^^ ^^^" *^ t*^^<^^ <^ff those super-
end of te century there was put forward that great undulatory
a^S > ^ '."'.f '" ''^ ^P^°^^^ °^ ^" ^---% competent
gravS." '"-'^y ^^^«"- *« ^-t-'« di-overy of unfversal
Sp^n! '''^''''''' '^ ^'"""'^ ^'^"'^^"'■" ^'"^^ "^^^ «"g^% felt in
c-u'llf o7^t*h' T"'; f '^^^ '^^'^y ^^^ ^"^ «^ t^« proximate
nrrarv on^ . T^^ "''"{' '^ ^'^'^^y' ^^"^^^^ ^^ belief was the
primary one ; and I have shown from speculative arguments that
t us was also the cause of intolerance. I will now piovTthe slme
Sorv td 1 Tt V'''''''''' '^^''' ^ '^'"^^ Pr«^^ i" J^'rench
h torv' if 1 ^^^ ^'"' ''^'^^^^^^ ^^i^«^^« i^ English
n toLni f^''5 r'' ^'^^"^^^ *^^^^ inordinate confidence
n government and clergy, i.e. inquire in politics and religion,
and before znqurrmg doubt. Here, then, we have the starting
pomt of progress-scej9^ic/,m. I broadly assert that there is no
kmd, which stores up practical truths which, being generalised
ecome scientific truths. All, therefore, that mef lant Tno
ZeZ'L 7 '^"^ P'^^'"'^ '"^ ^^^^g^«^« r"l-«- Bnt the
henc e'b rJT" '"'' '"^^ ^' '^""'''^ ^^ P^^^^^r^ fro^ without,
hence ohe first step is 8cephcwon. Until common minds doubt
lespecring religion they can never receive any new scientific
coiu^lusion at variance with it,-as Joshua and Copernicus
done hvl .^^?'';'^' on knowing the future, which can only be
InLLn V? "'•• "^'^^ "^° "" '''' ^^^"«' -^^ ----ding
Cs o hw rr'''^"' ^'^^ ^'^''' ""'"^ ^^^" d^^'^o^-rs more rela-
.ions 01 law If government will only be quiet, increasing ex-
hi try to which everything else is subordinate is to trace the
ruul' 1 ;"T '"''^^'? '"^ *'" ^'^^ ^^^ ^g^-^^t and selfish
ruhng classes have tampered with it.
di.lT'*''// considerable reputation, Wartoii, draws *a strange
distinction between history and pliilosophy.'
The absurdity of talking about the descendants of Japliet and
U e Cromentes has been continued in England to our own time •
winch IS the mnvp }.«m'irkihlf. f-v -, , • t— i -i. '
111 i.maiKaole, tui cvcn m lr/1 it was exposed by
' Wartou's History of English Poetry, vol. i. p. exciii.
ni:"-
M l» '
( t
i(
«*
200
FRAGMENTS.
M ;
Sclilozer in his All});emeine Geschichte.' There is too much truth
in Mr. Blackwell's generalisation that in matters of knowledge
* tlie Germans are nearly half a century in advance of us."
In the meantime comparative philology, from which we have
already been a})le to make many remarkable discoveries, was for
the first time cultivated. The learned men of the seventeenth
century, tlie Vossiuses, the Scaligers, and the Casaubons were
mere pedants without any idea of the psychological importance
of their subject. Indeed the first great step in European philo-
logy was made in 1770 by Percy, a writer of considerable mis-
cellaneous knowledge and acuteness, but by no means remarkable
for his learning. He however was, I believe, the first who
showed that there was a fundamental difference between the two
great families of European languages, the Teutonic and the
Celtic.
One of the most eminent historians of that age, the celebrated
Robertson, though ! "tally ignorant of the German language,
undertook to write the history of a German emperor.
A celebrated traveller, wlio had also a good deal of reading,
talks familiarly about the descendants of Shem and Japhet.'^
A writer of extensive reading says, but without quoting any
authority, that the theories of Wolf and Niebuhr were antici-
pated in the Scienza Nuova of Vico ; but that " neitlier of them
certainly knew anything of that work."^
Another stimulus to the philosophy of history was the increase
of materials. The study of Sanscrit opened to our view the trea-
sures of Brahmanical lore and the subtleties of the Veda and
the Ptu-anas. The study of Pali, and later of Tibetan, gave us
tlie theology of Buddliism. The energy of a single man — the
noble-minded I)u Perron — opened the Zendavesta and the reli-
gion of Zoroastor. Tlie accounts of travellers brought before us a
strange state of society. The results of tlie contact of the German
mind were soon seen in the rise of a larger and more compre-
hensive method of treating history. Without entering into pro-
longed details, I may mention some instances in which this spirit
is very apparent, such as the great subjects of the feudal system,
the middle ages considered as a whole, &c.
I. Tlie new school certainly produced no man at all comparable
in knowledge or in general powers to Blackstone, still less to
R:!^
' Bliickwoll's nolo in Miillet'tr. Nortliern Antiquities, Lond. 184". p, f.'6.
2 Clarke's Triwls, vol. ix. p. 41, Loud. 1824.
* Keiglitley, On tlio .IvfSoiiiljlaueo and Trausmissiou of Tales aud Pictions, Lond,
1834, p. 18.
EIGHTEENTH CENTUEY.
201
Montesqi,ieu. And yet both these writers, having occasion to
nuiiure at great length into the feudal system, were so misled by
the contracted spirit of their time, as to consider this wonderful
institution as entirely the result of the Germanic invasions. The
extreme inadequacy of the cause did not in the least startle them,
and subsequent authors were content to repeat their confident
assertions It was reserved for a young Scotchman of fine genius,
and himself one of the earliest students of German literature, to
expose this singular error. Sir Walter Scott was, I believe, the
first in Europe, and certainly the first in this country, to subject
the feudal system to anything like a philosophic analysis. He
not only pointed out in an essay the similarity between many of
the feudal phenomena and those found in Asiatic countries, but
he even attempted to trace them all to general causes.
Schiller, pernaps the most eloquent and popular of all the
German writers, wrote in 1788, an elaborate history of the revolt
of tlie Netherlands, but he openly avows his ignorance of the
Dutch language, and, mistaking the mere form of history for its
spirit, seems to think that he will have done sufficient if he
amuses the reader by an artistic arrangement of striking events.
(Before the account of the ignorance of the middle ages in the
eigliteenth century put the following).
Tliat foolish veneration for antiquity so characteristic of the
seventeenth century had now generally subsided ; but, unfortu-
nately It was replaced by a not less foolish contempt. Because
one generation admired the past too much, the next generation
admired it too little. The real value and the matchless beauty
<^ the classic iterature soon rescued it from this passing contempt.
But the middle ages had no such recommendation, and they were
now despised by every writer who ^ff-ected to be raised above the
evel of his time. It was in vain that men of unrivalled know-
ledge brought before the world their history and their literature.
It was m vain that Muratori, Maff-ei, Ducange, Bouquet, and the
Benedictines of France published gigantic folios which hardly
anybody bought, and which nobody read. The treasures of learn-
ing, accumulated by these modest and useful men, were spurned
a«ide m that sceptical and audacious age. Those who were con-
sidered to be the great historians of the day, spoke and wrote of
tlie middle ages with wild and ignorant presumption.
After giving an account of the rise of Political Economy, &c.,
follows,-" ^^ hile these great branches of knowledge were thus
1
III!
I'ffii
I HiS'l
ttti-i
i
I.!
i
'I
202
FEAGMENTS.
M
li
I.-
/I
•J-
li.f
If
t'\
isolating themselves into comparative insignificance, there were
springing up a race of men, who, neglecting the mere details of
inquiry, were attempting by great efforts of general reasoning, to
discover the laws to which all knowledge is itself subject.
Voltaire declared that the history of the middle ages deserved
to be written as little as did the history of bears and wolves.
In France, at the head of financial affkirs, was Law, a Scotch-
man of great ability, whose schemes were received rather by the
fickleness of the Regent than by their own imperfections. La-
vallee, I think inaccurately, accuses Law of having confused
[credit?] and money, and of supposing that by increasing the
circulating medium of the country he necessarily increased its
wealth.'
I think that Butler was almost the only Englishman who in
the eighteenth century adopted a larger creed of ethics than
La Rochefoucault.
In England, Toland, Tindal, Collins, Chubb, Mandeville, and
eve . Shaftesbury and Bolingbroke, were no match for men like
Warburton, Waterland, Lardner, and Clarke. Before Gibbon, the
only Englishman who took a comprehensive view of klstoty was
Bolingbroke, an avowed Deist. All the pedants of England com-
bined to write the Universal Histoi'y.
conceive
ENGLAND— FOR INTRODUCTION.
Ferguson insists on the importance of investigating history in-
ductively .^ But, after all, Ferguson's book is very poor. The
illustrations are all of the tritest character, and, indeed, in point
of learning, the whole work might have been written by a clever
schoolboy. Ferguson rejects the theox'- ')f a cycle in history, that
is, he opposes those who talk of the necessary decay of society.*
He supposes * that one cause of decay is that, from caprice, nations
become tired of practising the arts, &c. This of course is absurd ;
but another cause which he mentions ^ — over-division of labour-
must have been very efficacious ; though I suspect he got it from
Adam Smith. He says,^ " From the tendency of these reflections
then, it should appear that a national spirit is frequently transient,
1 Lavallde, Histoire des Fran9ais, tome iii. p. 393,
a Sec Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society, Lond. 1768, pp. 3-4, and
for his attack on the opinions of Rousseau, pp. 7, 8, 12.
' Ibid. pp. 346, 391, and p. 347. * Ibid. p. 350.
^ Ibid. p. 362. " Ibid. p. 372.
ENGLAND— FOR INTRODUCTION.
208
not on account of any incurable distemper in the nature of man-
kind, but on account of their voluntary neglect and corruptions/'
1^ erguson enthusiastically says,' « When I recollect what the
1 resident Montesquieu has written, I am at a loss to tell why I
should treat of human affairs." ^
H 1 1 ^ ' "^^'r '^ ^^"'"^^ ^' «°^P-^« the historic
literature of France and England, it will be hardly possible to
conceive a greater contrast. In the one country, the finest
geniuses of the age-Montesquieu, Voltaire-were^;ngaged t
tae successful cultivation of what our ancestors seemed to con-
sumer too trifling a pursuit to occupy the attention of superior
mmds. In England, men of the dullest intellects and of the
meanest acqmrements busied themselves with writing history,
because history was supposed to be the only thing which they
were able to write. It is not too much to assert that during this
period all the English historians who were not totally ignorant of
their subject were at best but zealous antiquaries, who collected
facts which they dm not know how to use, and who were as
inferior to the great French authors as the mason who carries the
materials is inferior to the architect who schemes the edifice.
Carte, for example, was a man of great industry, and, until the
appearance of Dr. Lingard, his work was the^Lst history of
St r^''i '^.^'"° published. But so contracted was his
mmd tha he thought it necessary to enter into a long examina-
r. r 'Tf ^""^ ^"''^^'° ^^ *^^«h^^g f«^ the king's evil, a
p re ogative well known to be peculiar to the Lord's anointed.
morWlt TfT^.V^ ^''^^ ^'""^^^ ^^^ diffi^^lt question,
modestly asserted that God had not granted to our Hanoverian
k mgs he power of miraculously curing the scrofula, but that he
had allowed that power to remain in the hands of the Pretender.'
•.Ir/'Tr"! . ^^'" *'^"^P^^y superstition was considered so
important that it excited in England a storm of angry contro-
veisy, and this at the very moment when the great historians of
th™ '"'" '"fu-"^^ ^^Piojed in purifying their literature from
the lemains of bigotry by which it was still encumbered. Besides
Urte s the only celebrated history of England was that of Rapin,
an author now only to be found in the libraries of country gentle-
men, who believe him to be honest because they know him to be
dull Indeed, to say the truth, his dulness, intolerable as it is,
's the smallest of his faults. Even when men of genius wrote
^ £fe"dTci'f/H- "" '^^^'''''"'y °f ^^i^'il Society, Lond. 1768, p. 106.
touchiiofolrf ?rT '^V'"'''''- ^ '^^""^ ^' ^''' "°t den^ the power of
ouclung of George II. : but only says that the Pretender had it. [Author's note ]
Ml tell; ^
; (
Lifj
5' ' IP
'M
'i
,
\'\\
204
FRAGMENTS.
history, thoy sofmed suddenly to have lost their powers, (lold-
sraith is certainly one of the most delightful of all our writers.
But no sooner did he sit down to his hit'ories of (ireec<! and Rome,
than he seemed to be .'.d^ruly ■ -nitten with an incurable dull-
ness. Ancient history was in the hands of Leland and Mitford.
On the history of foreign countries our literature was, if pos-
sible, still more deficient. The first thing that strik.^ us is the
extreme presumption of men who supposed tliat they could under-
stand the history of a people of whose literature, and, indeed, of
whose speech they were perfectly ionaoruiil. Thus there is Dr.
Harte, who, though entirely unacquainted with the Swedish
language, wrote a well-known history of the greatest of tlio
Swedisli kings, and it is remarkable that his work, dull, «ind in-
accurate as it is, still remains the best life of Gustavus Adolphus
that has yet been published in this country. Johnson, the most
celebrated, and, in some respects, the most able critic of the day,
declared tliat the best history extant was Knolles' History of the
Turks, which had appeared a century before his time. And yet
the work of Knolles is not only disfigured by a pompous and
inflated style ; but the author, though writing the adventures of a
powerful Eastern people, did not feel himself called upon to study
any of the Eastern tongues except the Hebrew, a language which,
except for the philologist, is of no possible importance, and the
scanty literature of which has always displayed a marked defi-
ciency in historical productions.
As the eighteenth century advanced, there seemed little likeh-
liood of a change for the better. Indeed, the immense increase
of the national wealth, which was almost entirely owing to a
successful application of the physical sciences to the economy of
manuftictures,' tended still further to lessen the interest which
men felt in the moral sciences. It was natural that the wouder-
' The South Sea Company was the first proof of the desire of wealth.
Navigable canals were tirst constructed by Brindloy, an engineer of original genius,
employed by the Duke of Bridgowater ; and they were at the end of the eightei'iiib
century greatly improved by Telford.
In 1763, Wedgwood made his remarkable improvements in the manufticture of
earthenware,
In 1774, the first steam engine of Watt was exhibited at the Soho Works, near Bir-
mingham, under the auspices of Boulton ; and in a single mine at Cornwall the saviiiji
of coals was so large that the proprietors agreed to pay 8OOL a year for the use ot
each engine. These steam engines greatly increased the productiveness of the Corn-
wall tin mines ; and tended also to the improvement and extension of coal minrs.
The spinning jenny, invented by Hargreaves, in 1764, was in operation before
1768.
In 1771, Arkwright " erected the first spinning mill worked by water power.
In 1776, the mule-jennj of Crompton combined the spinning-jeuny of llargrcavis,
and the water power of Arkwright.
ENGLAND— FOR INTRODUCTION.
205
ful inventions of Arkwright, Watt, &c., and the immenHo fortunes
l;y winch in most cases the inventors were rewarded, should di-
mmish tlie reputation of those still higher branches of knowledge
trom which no such results were to be expected. Even Political
Economy, which in a mercantile country ought to find the most
successtul cultivators, was in England entirely neglected, and the
greatest statesman of the eighteenth century declared that he
never could understand Smith's Wealth of Nations. If this was
the case with a science which has only to do with the accumula-
tion and distribution of wealth, we may well imagine that those
sciences of whicli the utility is less evident would tare still worse.
In Ethics, we did not produce during the whole of the eighteenth
century one original writer. In Psycliology we were equally
dehcient, for Berkeley, the author of perhaps the most important
discovery that has ever been made in that noble science, was born
in Ire and, lived in Ireland, and died in Ireland. In Esthetics
the only work of the least merit was by Burke, who was also an
Irishman, whose ingenious but imperfect Essay was the work of
a very young man (he was only twenty-six when he wrote on what
is, after ethics, the most obscure branch of metaphysics) ; nor d. 1
tins great writer ever after think it worth his while to return to
so unprofitable a subject.^ The conseciuence was that the English
mind seemed gradually hardening itself to everything except the
accumulation of wealth and the acquisition of military power The
(rennan literature, which at a later period did so much to correct
this evil state, was then only in the first dawn of its splendour,
and had not yet gained any reputation. The French literature, as
1 have already described, had after the middle of the eighteenth
At tI,o eml of the reign of George 11. the Taylors effeeted the first great improve-
iiiHit 111 the manuhicture of blocks for the rigging of ships
The travels in England of Saint Fond contain some curions .letaile respeetinff arts
and mnnu aetures ,n the latter half of the eighteenth centnry. They are of n o„oted
111 the Pictoru.1 History of England. o oneu ijuoitu
.olrlXhM [^'^'""'^l'"'- •^'°"' C-twright invented a machine for combing
Avool, by uhich there was eifeci , a wonderful saving of labour
In Pictorial History of England, vol. vii. p. 714, reference is made to an estimate
.ic t rtTe of ." "r ""'' «f Commerce, vol. iv. pp. .548, 550. According to
eS;.?4;.;o,;^oI""^'""'' "'^' ^'^ «^-"-"«i-«. «pi--. works,- &c., j. ,.
In the n.iddle of the reign of George II., Harrison, by combining different metals
•■' .lie pendulum, and by other contrivances, constructed chronometers of such ac-
curacy- as greatly to lessen ^he risk of sea voyages. These improvements were followed
P by Thonn^ Mudge who, ,n 1774. completed the first chronometer. See jrCulloch's
Coinniorcial Dictionary, article Hardware. ^uuocli s
' Jhit Reynolds and" Payne Knight. [Author's note.]
lAutllorWe.l''''"'' '" '""''""" '^''''^^'^'''''' ^^' ^'' "'^^^^ ""'"^ ^'^>^^^ empirical.
Ji
f-
' |li!!ll^'' ' ' r
206
FRAG5IENTS.
cenfury, bcf^im to deteriorate, and was losinf? every year some-
thing of that influence which it had formerly posseHJ^ed. But
happily there had fur some time been forming in a long neg-
lected country a school which did much to restore to Engliind
a higher tone of thought, and which soon produced the happiest
effect upon the study of history. As this movement is one of
great importance in the liistory of the human mind, and as we
are still reaping the benelt of it, I shall not scruple to examine
it at considerable length.
In literature, the supreme chief was Johnson, a man of some
learning and great acuteness, but overflowing with prejudice and
bigotry. The little metaphysical literature which we did possess
went on deteriorating at each stage of its progress from Hartley
to Priestley, and from Priestley to Darwin. While the wretclied
work of De Lolme on the English Constitution was read witli
avidity, the profound and yet practical inquiries of Hume were
almost neglected. In ecclesiastical literature, the most pro-
minent names were Warburton the bully and Hurd the sneak.
When the Duchess of Marlborough wished a life to be written
of her celebrated husband, whose genius had changed the lace
of Europe, she could find no one more competent than Mallet,
a miserable adventurer who lived by plundering the booksellers
and cheating the public. And yet this man, whom the French
would hardly have thought worthy of dusting the manuscripts
of one of their great historians, was in England a vi'ry con-
siderable person, and actually received \,000l. for promising to
write the history of those great events by which France had
been suddenly degraded from the pinnacle of her military fanio.
In 1776, Hume writes to Gribbon, "But among many otlicr
marks of decline, the prevalence of superstition in England
prognosticates the fall of pliilosophy and decay of taste.'" And
in the same year he writes to Adam Smith in a similar strain.^
The fear entertained of the French Revolution gave an influence
to such women as Hannah More, and they tended still further to
depress our literature. INIrs. Montague's wretched Dissertation
on Shakespeare was considered a masterpiece of criticism. In
1785, Beattie writes to Arbuthnot that Mrs. Montague's Essay
on Sliakespeare is "one of the best, most original, and most
elegant pieces of criticism in our language, or in any other."'
We produced no historian. Gibbon indeed was an exception, bnt
he was a Frenchman in everything except the accident of his birth.
' Burton's Life of Hume, vol. ii. p. 485.
" I'orbes's Life of Btattie. Lond. 1824, vol. ii. p. 104.
2 Ibid. p. 487.
ENGLAND— FOR INTRODUCTION. 207
His early studies were carried on in S^vitzerland, in the house of
al^rench Calvinist. His first work was written in the French
anguage, which for many years was more familiar to him than
his own tongue. His first literary correspondence was with
Lrevier, a well-known professor in the University of Paris. The
wliole of his great history was composed abroad, while his min<I
was influenced by the associations and traditions of forei-m
society, and he only visited England at such intervals as were
necessary to make arrangements for its publication. When, after
having wasted several years on the formation of projects which
were never accomplished, he at length began to write the history
ot the Eoman Empire, he still retained his old habits
Rousseau's Prize Discourse before the Academy of Dijon was
translated into English in 1751, and accompanied with an absurd
preface by Bowyer, which is reprinted in Nichols's Literary Anec-
dotes of the Eighteenth Century, vol. ii. pp. 226-227. In 1771
fliere was translated into English Millet's wretched History of
England.' It might have been expected that we should have
brought from Asia some of those great treasures of learning which
even now have by no means been thoroughly explored. But such
was the want of energy, that, although we possessed a settlement
in India since early in the seventeenth century, it was not until
near the end of the eighteenth that Sanscrit was first studied in
England, and during one hundred and fifty years of our dominion
there were only to be found in the whole of the East India Com-
pany two persons acquainted with the Chinese language. While
1^ ranee, with scarcely any intercourse with China, had established
a C nnese professorship in Paris, our own Government, intent on
nothmg but wealth and military power, had not taken a single
step in that direction. ^
The history of the Papacy is a great and important subject,
riie only history of the Popes was that of the wretched Bower, a
bar and a swindler, who apostatized from the Church of Eome.
\\hile such was the state of bigotry little could be expected, and
It is a melancholy consideration that the only great historian we
produced m the eighteenth century was Gibbon, a notorious Deist.
Un the question of the Regency in 1 788, Parr gravely writes, « What
IS meant by the word ' right ' ? Look into Burlamaque and there
you will find a clear, sound, metaphysical explanation ; in con-
formity to which I maintain the Prince's ' right,' " &c « In 1787
Burke writes to Parr, « If we have any priority over' our neigh-
bours, It is in no small measure owing to the early care we take
' Nieliols's Literary Aiiccdotos, vol. ii. p. 847.
^ Johnstone's Life of Parr, Lond. 1829, vol, i. p. 330.
' ..if
I I, <'
i'l
t Hf
A? I
208
FRAGMENTS.
witli respect to a classical education." • The most celebrated Whig
historian was Mrs. Macaulay, a foolisli and restless democrat, and
while she was still alive, Dr. Wilson erected in the chancel of St.
Stephen's, Walbrook, a statue to her. In Nichols's Literary
Anecdotes, vol. viii. p. 54, there is a very severe but accurate
criticism on Leland's History of Ireland, which was published
in 1773.
It may in some degree be esteemed a misfortune that so great
a man as Bacon should have flourished when the sciences were
still in their infancy, and were therefore unable to supply him
with an instance of the triumphs of Deduction. The ancient
philosophy had been in the habit of laying down general prin-
ciples, and then treating them as if they were laws, without
sufficiently attending to the process of verification, by which al'Mie
their truth could be ascertained. The real merit of Bacon was
to have shown the impropriety of this, and not to have pointed
out induction, which must always have been practised from the
remotest antiquity. But at the same time he committed a serious
error. He supposed that scientific knowledge was only to be
aciiuired inductively, that is to say, that we must proceed from
tlie lowest to the highest generalizations. This, as Mill well says,
was the conseciuence of the backward state of the sciences.^ To
this I may add that in Scotland and Germany there was no great
man before the sciences were advanced— hence the method ue-
caine deductive— and this was also aided by the fact that sensual-
ism made no head here. But in France Descartes, and afterwards,
Condillac, insured the reputation of induction ; for it is ([uite a
mistake to oppose Descartes to Bacon ; both were inductive, ami
Descartes did for metaphysics exactly what Bacon did for physics.
Davis received a pension from the crown for his wretched
attack on Gibbon.'
George HI., a mean and ignorant man, did everything m lus
power to ruin literature by patronising it. But happily he bad
neither the wealth nor the power of Louis XIV. It is a ciinous
instance of the gross ignorance of political economy, even in the
nineteenth century, that Christian, Chief Justice of Ely, iu his
notes to so respectable a book as Blackstone's Commentaries,
sliould think it necessary formally to refute the assertion that our
national debt increased our wealth." Blackstone himself'' thouglit
it a "very good regulation" to authorise the justices at sessions
> .Tohnstone'H Life of Parr, Lotul. 1829, vol. i. p. 200.
■■! Jlill's Loffic, 2nd edit., Svo, 18-10, vol. ii. pp. ''31, (j^2.
^ Scf tho not.' in Walpolo Lortc-rs, 8vo, 1840, vol vi. pp. 30, 41.
» Blackstone's ConinientarieB, 8vo, 1809, vol. i. p. 328.
Ibid. p. 12"
ENGLAND-FOR INTRODUCTION. 209
to fix the rate of wages ; and he thinks' that marriages should be
hetSrv and tV" '^'T '''' ^"' ^^ *^^ eighteLh"
tneir bigoay and their cruelty are too well known. "^'
Wai^urton thought little of Milton. In 1776, Dr. Kampe a
learned physician, wrote in favour of alchemy, k StepTens'
medicine for gout was popular. In 1771 the celebrated fL
writes to George Selwyn, '^ I am reading Clarend^ 1 1 ct^^^^^
g^t on faster than you did witli your Charles the F ftli T'hTnk
the scyie bad, and that he has a good deal of the old woman n ht
wayof thinking but hate the opposite party so murthat
gtv^ me a kind of partiality for him.- Ii/a note J sse sly
'This IS a very curious passage from the pen of Charle Fox "
Priestley, whose mind was admirably adapted for p y'oaMn-
qun-ies, msistea on becoming a metaphysician and i r" ueino"
mto morals and psychology his empirical method. ^^'"'^'""'^S
W arburton was I think, the founder of that new school which
considers history in a large point of view. He denied the i^-
ment of Hiddleton that the similarity of l^.pisli L d pX"
ceremonies was an evidence that the fi4 was d rived from f he
thcr; and he referred such similarity to similar condm^ns of
human nature. See liis two letters to Lvttleton, datec "obe^
and November, 1741, printed in Phillimore's MemoTi^ and Cor
respondenoe of Lord Lyttleton, 8vo, 1845, vol. Tp 1 6.3^75
or the loohsh notions of Johnson about history, and in Liu r'
f Knolles' History of the Turks, see the Rainbler, No 19^
(Dryden in the preface to his Translation of Plutarch comnlnf;.;
that the English had no historians.) ' "''^"P^'^^^^
Soon after the middle of the eighteenth century, the writer
who was respected as the greatest living historian w^ To^
^^yttleton, whose History of Henry IL was publish.d'n 1 64
To tbis work, which was the labour of thirty years, it would be"
unfair to deny the praise of considerable research. But t ' al
tJ.at can be possibly said in its favour. Tlie materials .re si il
™,ged, and the style is so insut^rably prolix, th:!: H Z ^jt
ok.c into except by those who read for the purpose of wr Inl.
U^o amid so much dross hope to tind a little gold. TJie'
ntlior himself was a man of some industry, but of a narrow md
l^rstituuis mmd. Of his public life bi^ little is known! an
tlnit little IS very unfavourable. In politics it ]■ nl T
remembered that he was the friend of an^ n "tn . d dT T/
pmu., whom nothing but an accident prel^^ld W aSh^
the throne of England; that during several years he ^i^^^
' Blackstoiio'fl Commfnturies, Lond. 1809. vol i p 433
Jesses Selwyn and his Contemporaries, voL iii". n". 1 1. "
Mi 11!, J'
210
FRAGIVIENTS.
•i
his efforts against Walpole and Chatham, who were beyond all
comparison the greatest statesmen of his time; and tliat when
his ambition was rewarded by receiving an appomtment m the
Exchequer, his incapacity was so notorious as to raise a report
that this manager of finance was unacquainted with the common
rules of arithmetic. In theology, in which, according to the
measure of that age, he was considered to make a figure, he is
only remembered as the author of an Essay on the Conversion of
St. Paul, a lame and ill-reasoned work, in which the greatest
men are treated with contempt. From such a man as this it
would be idle to expect anything like a great conception of
history. Indeed, his opinion was that in the writings of Boling-
broke and Warburton, history had reached the highest point of
perfection which it was capable of attaining. (Then give
instances of Littleton's incapacity.) These instances, which
it would be easy to multiply, will give the reader some idea ot
what in those days was considered a masterpiece of historic com-
position. This was the writer in whose favour Hume and Adam
Smith were rejected ; and this was the work which Bishop W ar-
burton— whose mere opinion was fame-declared to be unrivalled
since the time of Clarendon.
Perhaps Burke abandoned his metaphysical pursuits m obedience
to the foolish prejudice that an abstract thinker is unfit to be a
statesman. In 1785 the celebrated caricaturist. Sawyer, pubhshed
a print of him which is entitled Burke on the Sublime and
Beautiful ' " The celebrated Anti-Jacobin was established m the
latter part of November 1797." ' For Grecian history we had
the wretched production of Mitford, who attempted to use ancient
history as the means of defending his own political prejudices.
The sensualist philosophy, though it has, 1 think more truth
in it than the idealist, has by its prevalence in England caused
one great detriment. It has aided the Bacoman system by
making men bigoted to induction, and the progress of what may be
called our economic civilization has further aided this. (J. S. Mill
is the only sensualist whose mind has been large enough to
escape this.) Cousin ^ quotes Lord Bacon to the efitec that it is
absurd to observe the mind. See also Cousin's contemptuous
notice of Bacon's metaphysical efforts.* , „• i • i
Descartes was never popuhir in England. His physical errors,
his throry of vortices, &c., were not calculated to mspire conhdeuce
in' his method. What Cousin says of the eighteenth century ui
1 Wright's England under the House of Hanover, Lend. 1848, vol. ii. p. 126.
' '^'^Ir'!X Philosopbie, 2". «drie, tomo ii. p. 69 « Ibid. p. 72,
ENGLAND -FOR INTRODUCTION. 2II
general, is particularly true of Endand «Ip YviTTe - 1
generalise I'analvse L-i nln-ln. ? ?' A^'HI" sieele a
encore par le faux pas dn^r^^' ^'^'"^^' P^"^ scrupuleuse
doubier'decLXeSL'^.'^^Srri:;:^ '' -
civilization, some attention began ^^ be paid to IL ! T'T ''
the mind, the methnrl nf r ^ *^*® philosopliy of
I-ocUe, who laid «,tl eri™: ex "Zt t]; ""''''' """
tl.e end of tlie seventeenth ce," v°tte J ^ 1 "T'"'- "^^
attempt made by Cudworth and fSt f ™'' ""''"''' '' *■"""
But empiricism sLn blclme alL ,m "'"*/" '*"" '■="<""•
-•anied out by Tooke • bT'n XITZ' ""'' "' """"'^ ™»
.ausht by the'eerman' schooUnt oduTedTl tt"°''7 "/""""""•
the platonist, was deductive ) """"^"'="''> " l"^"" ""ethod. (Jlore,
Bi*op Newton, in his L f^^ ^f , j"' ?r"'''°L''""''''°"-" '"™-
.■cmatks on GiLbon. to whic tri L'T f .''°"« /"-'™'
.cplies. Gihhon printed his li^yTl-^Z^'^f'
was m England in 1726 siv^ nf R.. ! a oltaire, who
reverent sS rnernoL'nZt^a^''^
coupable," i.e. of bribery,^^ ' ^t f ■''' .T" r '")' "^^^'^^ ^^ ^^^
Voltaire.^ has some admir bt .em.rks on ^%^"f ''"^'^^""
The Universal History, whi h s^^v t ' iT '"'^ "'"P'^^'^^""'
his own historical views' '^'" '^"^'"^^ superiority of
Bac<)n directed a too exclusive attention to external. Thi«
benefited us theologically— but in i mnr« f^^^'^f ^- This
knowleda-e it hnc ;.,1 i i^ut in a more advanced state of
snvstlLuf 1V^T T 'I ;'' ««^^H^//?c.a/;2/. Archdeacon Hare «
i-rd tS ;: raTwturrt'zrr"'^""'';''"^ "^-"^
«.,.T » i , "'° P°^"='' "f Puritanism declined ■ hnt i,
^^^r^s:i1J::^ ''r. ^--^^ unformed ^ft; o^U
the end nf' T .^^ f '''"' ^" ^^"dental event. Towards
end of the seventeenth century, perhaps th. most wonrful
; Histoire de la Philosophie, Pnrt II., tome ii. p 75
Ihe Mission of the Comfovter, Lond. 1850, p. 271
p 2
^y
p
PI
'ifi
^fi
Hi
t'!,t
il''
f!j:;.-
it
■ll'
S(^
I
212
FRAGMENTS.
;? i
genius that has ever been seen hegan to dazzle Europe with a
continual succession of the most amazing discoveries. In the
course of a few years Sir Isaac Newton changed the surface of
physical science. It was natural that the intellect of Europe
intoxicated, and as it were bribed, by his unprecedented success,
should have supposed that his method of investigation was of
universal applicability. In England, this erroneous notion was
particularly conspicuous, and it gave r-'se to a low empirical
practical spirit, the injurious effects of which are, as I shall show
in another place, apparent in nearly the whole of our literature
during the eighteenth century. It was not to be expected that
while^men looked at morals as they looked at matter, and thought,
like ethics and chemistry, that they would be able to make any
discoveries of real and permaneni value ; ..nd during one entire
century we did not produce a single great man. The powers of
Hume, indeed, were great, and if he had possessed learning
there can be no doubt that he would have effected great things.
The only other writer is Gibbon— a roai of the most surprising
reading, of great sagacity, and of matchless integrity, but — if I
may state my opinion— of a genius incomparably inferior to that
of Hume.
Niebuhr, at the end of the eighteeatli century, visited London,
well supplied with introductions from his father, the celebrated
traveller, and although greatly prepossessed before liis arrival in
favour of the English, he could not conceal his surprise at the
narrow views of our most eminent men. Hallam says' tliat
Burnet's History of the Reformation is the first history in English
« which is fortified by a large appendix of documents." Daniel
published in 1618 a History of England.^ L....on, the great
sceptical philosopher, was the first who wrote history. Then we
have Herbert's History of Henry VIII. He too was a sceptic.
Coleridge » notices the deficiencies of INlitford ; but the suggestioiis
he offers would hardly improve him. Even Coleridge, in his
Lectures, gravely traces mankind from Shem, Ham, and Japhet.^
The formation of the Royal Society encouraged our too inductive
tendencies. It was the opinion of Bishop Warburton that the
absurd speculations of Stukely would " be esteemed by posterity
as certain, and continue as uncontrovevted as Harvey's discovery
of the circulation."'^ The proposals for Carter's History were at
first munificently welcomed by subscription ; see Nichols's Literary
^ ' I.itoratni-p ol Lampc, vol. iii. p. 595. ' ^ IV>id. p. 149.
» Literary Remains, vol. i. p. Jo;?. ■* Ibid. pp. 69, 70.
» Nichols's Litprfiry Illustrations of the r'^ighteeuth Century, vol. ii. p. 57. See ixh'i
at vol, iii. p. C82, uti absurd eulogy of Speed.
ENGLAND-FOR INTRODUCTION. 213
Illustrations, vol. v. p. 159. Wesley' says, Lord Herbert of
Cherbury is " the author of the first system of Deism that ever
was published in England."
In England physical science not only dre^o of men from
history, but gave them a wrong pattern to write it by. They said
that m physics external and visible phenomena were everythino-,
Jind they fancied the same held good in history. They did not
know that the most important facts in history are invisible. The
external world is governed hy acts, the internal world by opinions,
la physics actions produce their effects whether they are known
or not ; in history they only produce their effects if they arc
i- "wn. Every great historical revolution has been preceded by
u corresponding intellectual revolution. The first edition of
Speeds History of Great Britain was published not in 1614 but
in 1611 2 Lingard very unfairly quotes MS. authorities, whicli
no one but his own party can see. One of these was an important
Li e of Lord Arundel ; and when the Camden Society offered to
pubhsii it, the late Duke of Norfolk refused " for reasons arising
out of the character of certain facts of the narrative." 3 Our
English historians continue to quote as a picture of England in
the middle of the sixteenth century, Harrison's descriptfon pre-
aced to Holinshed; but this is said by no less an authority
han Hearne, to be copied from Leland." Coleridge, after Hallam
uid written, calls Sharon Turner " the most honest of our English
Justorians, and with no supeiior in industry and research "^
Archdeacon Echara, in his History, tells a story which he grave'v
defended, of Cromwell selling himself to t)ie devil.« Gibbon
filled the chasm between the ancient and modern world. Indeed
so notorious was our want of historical power, that when in 1766
a miserable adventurer named Champigny issued in London a
prospectus for publishing a history of England, numerous sub-
scriptions were attracted, but the history never appeared. Gold-
smith as an historian had the carelessness of Hume, without his
genius, and yet when the lioyal Academy was instituted, he was
appointed Professor of History. Even Johnson, so slow in
praising, declared that not only as a comic writer, but ev -n as an
historian "he stands in tLn I.rst class." In 1757 Burke published
part of his Englipb Hi-rory..^ Such was the poverty of our
historians that in the middle of the eighteenth century, the elder
' Journal, p, 682.
'' Sec Ellis, Original Letters of Literary Men. Camden Society, rp. 108, 109
^^"J-P-ll*- « Ibid. p. 355.
Coleridge on Church and State, p. 6L
' See Calamy's Own Life, Loud. 1829, vol. ii. p. 399.
' I'rior't; Life of Burke, p, 45.
si'
. '"
»r
I '•
k
V
214
FRAGMEIJTS.
Pitt, could find no better liistorians to reccmmend to his nephew
than Bolingbrcike, Eapin, and Witwood. Ockley's History of the
Saracens is fabnlniis.'
Sir William Temple gravely says that Paolo's great work, a
History of the Coimcil of Trent, eannot properly be called a hi^
tory ; and yet Temple had been engaged in public affairs, and
wrote a book on the history of England, which in value iss equal
to Mrs. Trimmer or Lord Lyttleton. Sir Thomas Browne * ^ys
that Rycaut's History, added to Knollys, is " one of the best ais-
torifcs that we ha^e in English." Browne says that history lias
only to do with memory, and poetry with imagination. In 1743,
Ralph was " esteemed one of the best political writers in Eng-
land."^ Biirke had large views of history.* Gruthrie wrote on
history. We were tauntet . ])y foreigners with not writing history.
Sir J. Reynolds''' takes it for granted that "tlie historian takes
great liberties witli fact, in order to interest his readers and make
his narrative in )re doliglitful." Alison says,*^ "Till the era of the
peninsular war. when a cluster of gifted spirits arose, there are no
wiiters on lilnglish affairs at all comparable to the great historical
authors of the continent." I have not been able to learn the
name of these " gifted spirits " to whom Mr. Alison alludes. We
have had no history of English literature — no history of Englisli
science — no history of England— that is to say, of the English
people— except the compilation Pictorial History of England.
(iotbe, ill his autobiography, complains bitterly of the labour
he wasted on that dull book, Bower's History of the Popes.^ Sir
R. Walpol? said there could be no truth in history." Coxe, in his
Life of Sir R. Walpole, takes no notice of Waipole's second mar-
A-dge to his mistress. Miss Skerrit ; and in the same spirit Coxe
never mentions Waipole's secret message to the Pretender in
1739, tlmugh he had the very letter in his possession.^
i
■tt
' .See note in Ilallam's Middle Ap;es, vol. i. p. 479. - Works, vol. i. p. 272.
' Life of Franklin, by Himself, vol. i. p. 245.
* See Burke's Works, vol. ii. p. 275, and Rogers's Introduction to Burke's Works,
pp. Ixii, Ixiii.
^ Ibid. p. 308. " History of Europe, vol. i. p. xxli.
' Wahrheit und Dichtunp in Gothe's Werke, band ii. theil ii. p. 45.
" Parliamentary History vol. xxvii. p. 600.
" Mahon's History of E.igland, vol. ii. p. 263 ; vol. iii. p. 23.
215
GENERAL REFERENCES FOR INTRODUCTION.
1. When did tlie Scotch schools begin to favour Rousseau ? Adam
Smith says, " that cowardice and pusillanimity so natural to man
in his uncivilized state." ' See these notes, nos. 8-23.
2. Adam Smith ^ observes that Polytheism only ascribes irre-
gular events to the gods. This remark is an anticipation of
Gomte.
3. In 1755 appeared the Edinburgh Review, of which only two
numbers were published.^
4. In 1759 appeared Robertson's History of Scotland.'*
5. In 1769 appeared Robertson's Charles V.^
6. " The writings of Dr. Hutchison certainly produced a consi-
derable effect ; but it was the publications of that extraordinary
man, David Hume, that called forth the energies of the Scottish
philosophers," " &c.
7. Beaufort's Republique Romaine is in the Memoires de
I'Acadomie.
8. Hume speaks boldly against the supposed virtues of bar-
barians.^
9. Hume tells the story of Elizabeth's famous letter to the
bishop of Ely, " Proud prelate," &c.»
10. In 1757, Home published Douglas, which raised the fury
of the church.'-*
11. Klopstock, besides "Messiah," wrote poems upon Adam,
Solomon, and David.'"
12. As to the absurd assertion of the Quarterly Review that
the Scotch clergymen in the eighteenth cenUuj were deists and
hypocrites, see Burton's Life and Correspondence of Hume, vol. i.
pp. xi. xii.
13. In 1749, Middleton had a reputation in Paris."
14. In 1758, Hume notices the great sale of Smollett's
History. '2
15. Gribbon v/as ignorant of German. '^
16. Hume, in a letter written in 1776, speaks of Gibbon as a
remarkable exception to the low state of knowledge in England.'*
' Smitli's Essays on Philosophical Subjects, p. 23, 4to, 1795. « Ibid. p. 25.
' Bower's History of the University of Edinburgh, vol. iii. p. 69.
!i^"l-P-78- » Ibid. p. 84. "Ibid. p. 175.
^ Hume's History of England, vol. i. p. 222. ^ n,i,i ^^i ^ p_ ^^g.
" Stewart's Life of Robertson, p. 4, prefixed to Robertson's Works.
'" Schlosser's Eiglitcenth Century, vol. ii. p. 55.
" Burton's Lifo of Hume, vol. i. p. 457. " Ibid. vol. ii. p 1 15
"^'^''^-P-^'O- "Ibid. p. 484.
Sill
i'l
216
FEAGMENTS.
17. It has been said that Rousseau took the greater part of his
Dissertation on the Dangers of Science from a letter by Giraldi to
Picus Mirandolus.'
18. An author, who will certainly not be accused of indifference
to religion, says " the orthodoxy of the seventeenth century lay
like an incubus upon the whole of northern Germany."
19. This spirit [admiration for England] extended to the aris-
tocracy ; and for many years nothing was so fashionable in France
as English dress and English manners. See some amusing instances
in Scott's Life of Napoleon, edit. Paris, p. 17.
20. The mingled spirit of admiration for theology and anti-
quity, at the end of the seventeenth century, and the decline of
that spirit, is strikingly displayed in Grimm's Correspondance
litteraire, tome ix. p. 392.
21. In 1782, Grimm writes from Paris, " Malgre la decadence
trop bien reconnue de la litteratiu'e nationale, on dedaigue plus
que jamais la litterature etrangere." ^
22. In 1759 appeared Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments.
23. Lord Kames says " that the savage state was the original
condition of man." ^
24. Villemain •* says that Diderot was the first Frenchman who
gave a separate place to the history of philosophy.
25. Villemai'" ^ mentions the influence of French scepticism on
Germany and \ Toseph II.
2G. Voltaire ^ "s that Duclos was persecuted in consequence
of his Louis XL ; but this is not mentioned in the Biographie
universelle.
27. Lavallee'' happily calls Descartes the Luther of philosophy.
28. Voltaire * says, " L'Abbe de Prades traite comme Arius par
les Athanasieus."
29. Sismondi ^ says he was so fond of the middle ages that lie
had almost determined not to continue his history to a modern
period.
' Menzel's German Literature, vol. i. p. 1 74.
'^ Grimm, Correspondance, tome xiii. p. 32.
* Tytler's Memoirs of Kames, vol. ii. p. 185.
■• Villemain, Litterature au dixhuitieme siecle, tome ii. p. 130.
» Ibid, tome iii. pp. loo, 158. " Voltaire, (Euvres, tome Iviii. p. 546.
' Lavallee, Histoire des Frau^ais, tome iii. p. 130.
' Voltaire, CEu\Tes, tome Ixv. p. 327.
' Sismondi, Uistoire des Franc^'uis, tome xxii. p. 4.
' See Med
' Ibid. p. ;
' Ibid. p. I
' Sinclair't
' Memoirs
217
INFLUENCE OF GERMAN LITERATURE IN
ENGLAND.
Sjielley was born in 1792, and even when at Eton be^an to
study (xerman • Medwin adds ^ that when Shelley first went to
Oxford, Gothe was only known by the Sorrows of' Werther, and
Canning and Frere had in the Anti-Jacobin thrown ridic-ule on
the poetry of that country which they hated. Indeed, the spirit
, ^'' t'^^'::^''^' '"''''^''^'-''^^ though not so much, of the daring
oi Schiller Medwin then gives 3 some parallel instances from
behi ler and Shelley, the former in German. Shelley had a very
small library ; but among his books were the works of Gotlie and
Schiller.^ Medwin says,^" Shelley showed me a treatise he had
written of some length on the Life of Christ, and which Mrs. Shel-
ey should give to the world. In this work he differs little from
I aulus, Strauss, and the rationalists of Germany." Shelley made
some translations from Faust, of which " Gotlie expressed his
entii^ approbation." « Not even the disturbed state of Europe
could now prevent men from satisfying their curiosity. In 1800,
Campbell visited Germany, in order to study its language, with,
which, however he seems to have had some small acquaintance
before he left England. He attempted to understand Kant, and,
hough he failed in this, he studied the writings of Schiller, Wie-
and and Burger ; and there is great reason to believe that his
beautiful poem of Gertrude of Wyoming owes its origin to one of
the Gernian novels of La Fontaine. At all events, it is certain
that the farst idea of the erection of the London University spruno-
up in the mind of Campbell, when he was conversing with the
Gei-man professors and noticing the system of German education,
i-arly in the nineteenth century. Sir John Sinclair sent his son
into GeiTuany to learn German ; and the young man was arrested
on the charge of being a spy in 1806, and brought before Napo-
leon.7 In 1814, Mrs. Grant writes of Wordsworth's Excursion,
Wis piety has too much of what is called Pantheism, or the
worship of nature, in it. This is a kind of German piety too •
tliey look to the sun, moon, and flowers for what they should find
m the &:ble." « In vol. ii. of Blanco White's Life of Himself, 8vo,
l»45, there are several letters from Mr. White to Mr. J. S. Mill,
3 n^^'^^rif' ^'^' "^ ^^«"«y' ^°"<^- 1847, vol. i. p. 45. 2 Ibid p 60
Ibid. p. 278. 4 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 31.
^b^'i-P-.SO « Ibid. p. 267.
binclHirs Correspondence, Lond. 183], vol. i. pp. 43 44
Memoirs and Correspondence of Mrs. Grant ofLagg'an, Lond. 1844, vol. ii. p. 59.
M
I 1 I II {
!L'
i:n»'
11
I"'
218
FRAGMENTS.
ni I
h :
respectinf? the Westminster Review, to wliich White was a con-
tributor.
In 1799, Wordsworth and liis hiohly-giftod sister went abroad,
in ordtu- to learn German ; and in 1803 he borrowed from a cele-
brated German poem the stanza ho employed in his exquisite
ballad of Ellen Irwin. With Coleridge, who was still more inti-
mately acquainted with (ierman literature, Wordsworth )»ad ;i
long and intimate friendship, and he must liave beru greatly
influenced by him.
In 1804, Sir James Mackintosh first began carefidly to study
German, of which he already had some slight knowledge ; and in
1805 he writes that he will not begin liis intended work upon
morals mitil he has matured its philosophic. Miss Smith, wlio
was dead in 1811, translated Klopstock's Letters. The German
school arose at Edinburgh, where the fanatical party had never
been able to dispossess the philosophy. Tliis was natural. Tlic
country and not towns is the place for bigotry. Tlie German
school was introduced by the Scotch, and by those who had not
had an university education. The highest branches of German
literature were, I think, first stvidied by ISIackintosh and dAe-
d'idge, who exercised more influence by their conversation than by
their writings.
In 1781, William Taylor, then very young, went into Germany
to learn German. He, before the end of the eighteenth centm-y,
published several translations from the German, and, what was
more important, he with indefatigable industry familiarised tlie
English mind through reviews with the opinions of many eminent
Germans. He published translations from Lessing in 1791 ; from
Gothe in 1793; from Gleim in 1794 ; from Biirger in 1796; and
the influence of his example was so great that early in the nine-
teenth century a literary society was formed at Norwich, where be
ived, of which one of the chief objects was the study of German.
Unfortunately, Taylor, though a man of most undoubted ability,
had but little taste for metaphysics, cuid consequently little know-
ledge of them. This caused him almost entirely to neglect tlie
highest branches of German literature in favour of its lighter
branches. But this deficiency was soon compensated by the
studies of two of the most remarkable men of the present cen-
tury—Mackintosh and Coleridge. Coleridge in 1799 projected a
Life of Lessing. In 1799, Walker writes that the Eoyal Irish
Academy had issued a gold medal to the author of the best essay
on German literature.'
tht
' Pinkerton Correspondence, Lond. 1830, vol. ii. pp. 61, 62.
piibli.«hed ?
Was this Essay
ENGLISH LITERATURE IN TTIK NINETEENTH CENTURY. 219
Gibbon, ir, enumerating tlie classes of works in his own library
says nothing of German.' Little was known about the middle
a,o:es nrihl the German influence made us study them. Even
Gibbon calls the sixteenth century a period when the "world
awakinn ^ rum a sleep of a thousand years," &o.^ Duoakl Stewart
Kid no notion ol German, and was so ignorant as to despise Kant.
II..' luHu,., ,. of Coleridoe's conversations was even greater than
that of his writinos. There is no doubt that Coleridge, with .^reat
carelessness, copied long passages from Sehelling without makin-.-
the least acknowled^..ent.3 As to the charge of intentional
plagiarism, whicjh some English reviewers have brought against
l.nn, no one will believe for a moment that a man like Colerid..e
was capable of such things. If they do believe, they may see^
what Sche hng himself tho.igbt of the matter. Coleridge be^an
to study (nrman in 179.v" On th, Hueuce of German llterattire
on N.r Walter Scott's p.,etry, see Gillies' Memoirs of a Literary
leteran Hvo, 851, vol. i. pp. 226, 227. Gillies adds, vol. il
pp. ^^^-'f', that even in 1817 then^ wi.. only one person in
f;; I'^^ln^t'?';"'"^'? teach German, and he was an Englislunan.
In . J9 .Vebuhr writes from Edinburgh that German was much
s uduH^ tliere. '^ la tl.is place especially, a great number are
learning German." " In 1799 Coleridge was at Gfittinoen.^
ENGLISH LITEKATURE IN THE NINETEENTH
CENTl'RY.
During the whole of the eighteenth century the Scotch literature
produced scarcely any effect upon England. The only great his-
uncui work which we produced was that by Gibbon, of wliich the
ust volume was published in 1776. The author, as might have
been expected, was a sceptic, and was intimately acquainted with
tlie two greatest Scotchmen of his time, Adam Smith and Hurie.
• . . . Johnson despised Hume and Adam Smith, and, I
tlnnk Lobertson. Cousin says that Price, who just after the
rmaaie of the eighteenth century revived the Platonic idealism
tudworth, is almost the only idealist that England produced in
the eighteenth eentury.« Swedenborg, during his residence in
1 ^ee Gibbon's Miscellaneous Works, Lend. 1837, p. 323. => Ibid t, 447
^ Jee Cole„dge;s Biographia Literaria, Lend. 1847" vol. i. pp. vii, ix, 256 ^'
. {7' P-^""^-'"- ^ Ibid. vol. ii. p. 364;
' I' ftl!! V r 1^'^^"hr, Loud. 8vo, 1852. vol. i. p. 137, see also p. 138.
^eo tlie Friend, vol. i. p. 39. ^ ' i-
' Cousin, Histoire de la Philosophie, U-" s^'rie, tome iii. p. 10.
¥Wn
': t]
ll
'lit
"it
d'l
■I
■ 1
' 'i
< t
Pi
.r,%
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
1.0
I.I
■ 50 ^^
'If 1^
1^ 1^
1.5
2.0
ills
1.25
1.4
1.6
^ f,» _
— ►
P^
^.
/
./"%
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBiTER,N.Y. U580
(716) 872-4503
'^^
m
<F
:\
\
^9)
v
^o
•^
ci\
rv
?^o
^i £p.
M.^,
i/.i
.<^
220
FRAGMENTS.
England, must have done much to encourage idealism. Lord
Shaftesbmy had, I think, been one of the very few who in Eng-
land followed the deductive method. See the flattering opinion
expressed of him in Cousin.' Lord Brougham says that the great
Fox possessed "a minute and profound knowledge of modern
languages," 2 It is said, though I know not on what authority,
that even the infamous Marat taught French in Edinburgh about
1774.3 In 1830 we are told that in Scotland " there is no gentle-
man of liberal education" who had not read the Wealth of
Nations.*
In 1783, Hutton published the Theory of the Earth; and its
views were adopted by Professor Playfair.^
Sir James Mackintosh says of Brown's philosophy, " It is an
open revolt against the authority of Reid;"« he accuses Brown
of supposing that he had made a discovery when he red:iced
Hume's principle of association to the one principle of contiguity.^
The German school rose at Edinburgh, where the last remains
of philosophical party had fled. They were always strong there,
and when in 1773, the chair of Professor of Natural and Experi-
mental Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh was offered to
Beattie, he refused to accept it on account of the dislike wliicli
he knew was felt for him there.* ....
The Quarterly Review, which was a mere bookseller's specu-
lation, was begun in 1809, and of the nature of its authors some
idea may be formed from the circumstance that Sir John Barrow,
a painstaking and meritorious man, but certainly of no remark-
able powers, was one of the chief contributors, and, indeed, wrote
in it upwards of one hundred and ninety different articles.
Mr. Prescott^ has some able remarks upon the nature and
progress of history, but evidently has not the least idea of it as
a science. He says,"" " The personage by whom the present laws
of historic composition may be said to have been first arranged
into a regular system was Voltaire." And " he strangely says of
Gribbon, " He was, moreover, deeply versed in geography, chro-
nology, antiquities, verbal criticism ; in short, in all the sciences
' Cousin, Histoire de la Philosophie, premiere sf^rie, tome iv. pp. 7, 8, 13.
'•' Brougham's Historical Sketches of Statesmen, vol. i. pp. 218, 219, Lond. ISr.o,
1845.
' Ibid. vol. V. p. 131.
* Bower's History of the University of Edinburgh, vol. iii. p. 181.
» Ibid. p. 252.
« Dissertation on Ethical Philosophy, edit. Whewell, p. 346. ' Ibid. p. 347.
« Forbes's Life of Beattie, vol. i. pp. 292-313.
' Biograpliiail and Critical Miscellanies, Lond. 1845, pp. 77-94.
>">Ibid. p. 84. "Ibid. p. 90.
"■nPHHHI
ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE NINETEENTiT CENTURY. 221
in any way subsidiary to his arf " ti,;o • • ,
that moral and econom eal eiels are J ^^V"vale„t to saying
to?l2r!i^Si*l' f'T*'.'**"''™ '''"'™ ='»<' Stewart from 1818
IrermTnstr' t d .rrs'Str„'rTC-""' ^T' ^'™ ^'■''"'''
itself, and when not p,r^ led ^rf tr "' *" P™f "ng mind
istence whatever-" oIT!? » nowhere, that is, have no ex-
for th! rx™ ;f r/!: rrtr:5,i".''"L™-''^''''""?
"ro.tr ifntes:;- foK?^' 4 -- -
Hiffi r^ , r 7? '* ''*'°'' of *'"' Quarterly Eeview was
afford a learned but peevish and narrow-minded man. Th™
IS an extremely severe, but I should think not unjust chamcter
of Or iford m Leigh Hunt's Autobiography.' He .avs' ? n r'7
Sic— °.':r"* "' r'"'-' '^'' ^^^^'^Z
-.;^e Of u^s.:-'isrz:^^:^'i-
nseriuence brought to bed, and "some foul and infeZ,^
.l™nio„s slander relating t. this accmch^ment gave ™ ^
y fteTi.': ':r.f "T'^ *''™™ »'" '" ^^ Quarterly r'; ew
ny tne w Iter of the critique on tlie Revolt of Islam." In ISla
H article was published in the Quarterly, and seen by SheUey
'vho was then at Florence. It was on his Laon and CyUina, now
* Ibid. p. .-590 ^'"''- P- '''98.
; Loigh Hunt's Autobiography, Lond. 1850. vol. ii pp Sl-'J'" ''' ''''^!' ''t
Mcdwnvs Life of Shelley, Load. 1847. voi. i. p. 28^' ' . ^ ^ H.^
:i
,JU ii
;
[
222
FRAGMENTS.
" better known as the Revolt of Islam." ' Medwin truly adds ^ of
the Quarterly, that it is "a Review, be it here said, that has
always endeavoured to crush rising talent — never done justice to
one individual whose opinions did not square with its own in
religion or politics." Medwin^ says that the attack on Shelley
" in the April number " of the Quarterly (Is tliis the article be-
fore referred to ?) was written by Milman. The effect of this
attack on Shelley was terrible.
In 1 802, Campbell was engaged in writing the " Annals of Great
Britain," which he considered a degrading occupation. " Such,"
says his friend and biographer, " was his apprehension of losing
caste by descending from the province of lofty rhyme to that of
mere historical compilation, that he bound his employers to
secrecy, and did not wish the fact to be known even among his
intimate friends."^
One of the greatest and most valuable characteristics of Hal-
lam is scepticism. Sydney Smith uoed, with pleasant good nature,
to ridicule this scepticism in Hallam.'"' Campbell gives an account
of a conversation he had with Schlegel in 1814, which will illus-
trate the rage for induction. He says, " I in vain endeavoured
to vindicate that since the time of Lord Bacon the method in
philosophy pointed out by that great man Jiad been very properly
pursued in England, which was to collect particular truths, oud
then combine them into general principles or conclusions.""
It is not, therefore, surprising that in 1813, Campbell should
say of Reid, " He in the moral world has always seemed to me to
be of the same order of minds as Newton in material philo-
sophy."^ In 1819, Mrs. Grant writes from Edinburgh that "all
the wits" in Blackwood's Magazine are "from the west of Scot-
land." She mentions John Lockhart, Thomas Hamilton, John
Wilson, and Robert Sym.^ In the same year, 1819, she writes^
that Blackwood "is supported by a club of young wits, many
of whom are well known to me ; who I hope in some measure
fear God, but certainly do not regard man. Four thousand
of this cruelly witty magazine are ?old in a month." After
the death of Gifford, the Quarterly Review fell into the
' Medwip's Life of Shelley, Lond. 1847, vol. i. p. 357.
'^ Ibi<l. pp. 367, 358. » Ibid. p. 360.
* Beattie's Life and Letters of Campbell, Lond. 1849, vol. i. p. 414. See also vol.ii,
p. 19.
» See an amusing anecdote of this in Beattie's Life of Campbell, vol. iii. p. 315.
" Beattie's Life and Letters of Campbell, vol. ii. p. 262. ' Ibid. p. 227.
' Correspondence of Mrs. Grant of Laggan, Lond. 1844, vol. ii. pp. 223. 224.
• Ibid. p. 236.
ENGLISH LITERArUEE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 223
hands of Mr. Lockhart, a gentleman valued by his friends, but
who has never displayed powers to justify an attempt to direct
the public taste. He is no doubt well intentioned, but the
Keview has become very bigoted, and if it had influence, would
be very dangerous. Mrs. Grant, who was personally well ac-
quainted with Sir Walter Scott, says of his work on Demonolocy
"I was amused at Sir Walter's caution in keeping so entirdy
clear of the second sight; like myself, I am pretty confident he
has a glimmering belief of, though not the same courage to
own it. ' *=
At the end of the eighteenth century there was no good poetry,
nor was there any taste for it. In 1798 were published Words-
worths Lyrical Ballads, which were received with coldness, and
indeed were scarcely noticed. Early in the nineteenth century
various circumstances, hereafter to be treated, had almost com-
pleted the amalgamation of the Scotch and English. This was
aided by the extreme bitterness with which party politics were
managed. The question no longer was put whether a man was
Scotch or English, but whether he was Wi,- or Tory Scott
moved by a personal pique, joined the Quarterly, and Southey
hated the Scotch provided they were Whigs. In 1812 Pinke/-
ton having a desire to settle at Edinburgh, Young writes to dis-
suade h^m; for he says, «T know of no literary situations in
>^cotiand which do not in a manner appertain to the clergy and
professo-s, who have the eyes of a hawk for them." 2
Pinkerton's great scheme for editing our national historians
was m 1814 addressed by him to the Prince Regent, but that
virtuous prince appears not even to have returned an answer 3
For a specimen of the infamous falsehoods of the Anti-Jacobin
m 1798, see note in Coleridge's Biographia Literaria, 1847, vol i
pp. 65, 66. The Edinburgh Review has been blamed for the
bitter language it has sometimes employed.^ This charge is not
devoid of truth, but we should remember that this journal had
to oppose [writers] most of whom were impervious to reasoning
and could only be reached by ridicule. Such writers as Hannah
More and John Styles could feel the lash, though they could not
understand the argument. The influence of the German litera-
ture was soon seen. Even Hume had put in an appendix his
account of our laws, and in the text the vices of kings and
ministers. But Hallam now put forward his great work on Con-
• Correspondence of Mrs. Grant of Laggan, Lonrt. 1844, vol. iii. p. 187
t-inkertons Literary Correspondence, Lend. 1830, vol. ii. p. 403
" Ibid. p. 456. ^
* See, for instance, Coleridge's Biographia Literaria, vol. ii. pp. 11 7, I28.
224
FRAGMENTS.
stitutional History, in which the philosophy of Hume is combined
with a learning far superior to that of Blackstone. Alison's
ideas of history are perfectly childish. '
There are some extremely interesting remarks in Tocqueville's
Democratie en Amerique.'* He says that the English hate gene-
ralisation ; the French love it ; and that this arises from their
aristocratic prejudices which narroiv their notions, though their
knowledge of itself would make them generalise. But now that
the old English government is falling to pieces, there is growing
up an increased love of generalisation. For when classes are
very unequal it is difficult for the mind to bring them in the
same field so as to cover them by one law. But in a democracy it
is more evident that the truths applicable to one are applicable
to all. Besides this there is in a democracy no obviously moving
power, and therefore men can only explain social changes by
generalisation from the general will. And Tocqueville ^ observes,
" Les historiens qui ecrivent dfins les si^cles aristocratiques font
dependre d'ordinaire tous les evenements de la volonte particu-
liere et de I'humeur de certains homraes, et ils rattachent volcn-
tiers a\ix moindres accidents les revolutions les plus importants."
Lord Mahon, a Tory who thinks we have [been] ruined by the
reform bill, takes the most superficial view of history, and even
talks of its dignity. With the exception of what he says about
the Methodists, and a superficial account of literature, he tells
nothing worth remembering ; no account of manners, or of com-
forts of the people, or wages, or mode of living, Ac*
Humboldt ^ speaks with the greatest contempt of Pinkerton's
geographical knowledge.
GEORGE III.
Of these leading and conspicuous events, the American War was
the er.i iiest ; and for several years it almost entirely absorbed the
attention of English politicians. It is well known that upon the
question of taxation, on which this contest entirely hinged, the
' See Alison's History of Europe, vol. i. pp. xxix, 3, 171.
Tome ir. pp. 23, 27. ' Ibid. p. 133.
* See Millions History of England, Lond. 1853, vol. i. pp. 46, 181, 182, 296;
vol. ii. pp. 24, 29, 138, 210 and seq., 235 ; vol. iii.pp. 89, 270, 357.
* Humboldt, La Nouvelle Espagne, tome i. p. 146.
GEORGE Iir.
225
Camdeo,WdShe?b„™^'ttMaZ,oft„T; ^"*^' '^"^ '^"^
Grafton, were all agreed i^esnecTilT "l^'^J^'-'Kliam, the Duke of
which had no reprLl r Hh^^n J 'Y"'^"S'=°'°"'»
this most of these celebrate! l! '^"«'"'' '"g^'ature ; and to
m^^^^^ '^: pWof Geo;ge Hi. ' But the
to advocate, in order to Wif J th •'^'''''''' ^^^'^ ^* ^^^ ^««^««-ry
selves. In 'order t deS ^ ^^ZZT: "^f "^^^ ^^^
America, principles were laid dowrwMch -f ' ^' '''"'"' ''
have subverted the liberties of En^hndR 1 "^T^ "''*' ^'""^^
tually began, and while it wL in protest tnl ' '''""^^^'^ ^^-
in the English parliament hardltl.r^ ^ ^^''°^' ^^^'^ ^^^^^
which Charles I had Tost his head It T. '"'''' ''^'^ ^^^^^ ^-
to contract the constitufncies.' ' '"'^ ^''^'''^ "^ 1^73
In Brougham's Political Philosophy ' it is said f h.f • . >7^ - .
pretension of taxing Amerir:i ^J I /^ '^/^'^ ^^at m 1765 the
Cxrenville proposed the rTsoMion' f ^^' ^''''''^' ^" ^^GS,
"This famL^illt ^^oTtZ^'^^ ''^^^ f^'
attended to.'M g^.^^ ^^^ ^j^ ignorance of th! W T//^'^ ^"^^
that this great measure attrac't^ no no ice "^iTl^^^^^^^^
would have no minister who would not^l^ 5 ^ *^^ ^^°^
America should never be independenTa Ten WdTTh ''^'
unwuhng to continue the war.« In 1777 M^t' *^^ '^""^
of York, attacked the revolutioL of ^688 - a^dlr' '"'""'^P
tutor to the Prince of Wales.« ' '' ''''''y °^^° ^^'^8
I^ordLyttleton declared that the kino- w.,«+i.^ •
Inl769, Lord xXorth denied he ri^H oTthi ^'T''^* "^
for a dissolution of Parliam nt S nkLon T/ .''r*''""
said that the authority of the House n?r "^'"''^'^ (• '
Pend on the people, 'in 1770 if wlheld raHre f '>^' '^■
rogative was sufficient to support government wl ^^ ' ^''-
Petitioned ao-ainst thp mnncf/ f ^^ hen the people
%bysaidtht:'ch%"oI^^^^^^^ noTrb "^^^f"^ ^'^^^-'
- the ^-holdors^thereir;re:^.\r« ^^
I 9**^''^^ Correspondence, vol iv. p. 280
^ W? f'. IT""^ Anecdotes, vol. >-iii. p. 62.
' l^f 'P° «'« Mem. of George ni., vol. ii^p, 68.
. ?"«;«". Mem. of Fox, vol. i. pp. 236, 237.
See Walpole's Mem. of George III, vol. iv. p .31 1
' Part III. p. 328,
' Ibid. pp. 247, 2,54.
!K1
'! si'i
ii:
226
FBAGMENTS.
better than an ignorant multitude." Lord North contemptuously
called the petitioners "the multitude ;" they were the « drunken
ragamuffins of a vociferous mob." They were " rustics and
mechanics;" they were "ignorant;" they were "drunken;"
they had been taught, « in the jollity of their drunkenness, to
cry out that they were undone." The petitions themselves were
« treasonable." The petitioners were " a few factious, discontented
people ; " they were " the rabble ; " they were " the base born ; "
they were " the scum of the earth ; " and because the magistrates
of the City of London joined the petitioners against the minister,
they were denounced by the attorney-general, who, in the House
of Commons, called one of them « an ignorant mayor," another "a
turbulent alderman." The rights of the City of London were
" paltry corporation charters ;" " little chartered grant of a city."
(This was because the magistrates interfered with privilege of
parliament.) Of many petitions the king took no notice ; and to
some presented by the City of London he returned what Lord
Chatham declared in parliament to be an answer, for the harsh-
ness of which our history afforded no parallel. In 1769, the free-
holders of Middlesex who returned Wilkes were called "the scum
of the earth."
These were the principles which ii. the reign of George 111. it
was hoped to impress upon the English nation. Nor were they
intended for mere maxims to amuse the leisure of speculative
men. It cannot indeed be denied that there then existed in our
country all the political elements necessary to put them into
execution. The throne was filled by an arbitrary and active
prince, '^he House of Lords, as we have already seen, soon lost
that love of liberty by which it had once been characterised ; and
the House of Commons, so far from being a popular assembly,
was almost entirely constructed by three classes of men, none of
whom were likely to have much sympathy with the popular
interests. These were men of great wealth, which was then il-
liberal, being rarely made in commerce— officers of the revenue,
&c., appointed by Government— and men of "reat family or county
interests. The consequence was that, with extremely few excep-
tions, it was hardly possible for any one to be a member of the
House of Commons unless he had a fortune sufficiently large to
enable him to buy a seat, or a spirit mean enough to wheedle
one.
On such a composition as this, arbitrary principles could hardly
fail to produce their effect, and what gave them fresh strength
was the French Eevolution. The first open step of the king was
an attempt to ruin those Whig nobles who, though too full of
GEORGE III.
007
the vanity of their order, had done much for the country.' The
House of Commons denied to the people the right of dectW
their own representatives." ^ electing
Owing to these things, and owing to absurd laws (46 George
III.)^ wages grea ly fell,3 and the people were ripe for rebellion
H. Walpole says,* « On March 11, 1768 the VsivL-mLl T'
solved. Thi. ended that ParliamU uiiftm^ t^^^^^^^
obedience to the Crown." « "umiug out its
Such was the state of the government and legislat'are of
England when the French Revolution suddenly broke lo^e on
the world, and now it was that we felt the full effects of tint
pohtical retrogression which I have attempted to trace An
event more fortunate for that party which was then in tt
ascendant couM^ not possibly have occurred. The fact that a
great people had risen against their oppressors could not fail t'
disqmet the consciences of those in high places. The remaS^. of
that old faction which supported Charles I. and wished to reto
James II. were now kindled into activity. A new course wis
mfused into those creeping things which the corrupt oT? The
state IS sure to nourish into life. The clergy, who had aided the
Mar,uis of Roeki„ghaJ ^'^^^^^LtilZ^^k^^^^^^^^^^ ^'^
Devonshire, m 1762, was personally insulted by the Kin7 t i Ji"^ ^''^^ °<^
eiders of the Whigs, the Duke of Devonshire, was o^Sd;d bv the n '' °T °' ^^"
he resigned the office of Lord Chamberlain ; a few days afterlh^s^h T ^"^''^ '^''
struck off his name from the list In 17fi5 (/mlo^ p t^ ,^^ ^'"^ i° council
p. 46; Burke's Works, vol. ip 109 In 1767 1 X'^'n I' ''^^^^^
ribbed. Cooke, Hist, ^f Party vol iii p loJ I'dnll A^ ^"''^ °^ ^°'*'*°d ™«
310 ; Pari. Hist. vol. xvi. p. OsTvol x';ii pp' tll'l'^.' To^ZV^'f '^ ^P" ''''
of George III, vol. iii, pp. 143, 146. The dismis kl !f r± ' ^l ^^^^"^"'^ *^*'"-
Jr William III. refused U>' A^sraJlloi^l^^^'^Z^^
Mahon's England, vol. ii vv 173 174 wb^™ fV,. ""''f'^^.^'™^'''' circumstances. See
stituents and representatives, they opposed thm? T u ^°^^ ^^"""^'^ <=""'
Jenv^. The King personally hlirwi'^rW^Te^C
vol. in. pp. 200, 2.56. In 1785. the Marquis of Carmarthen if tf t r^^ "^•'
broke were deprived of their Lord Lieutenancies the fi7r, \^'''^ °^ ^^'"-
York petition ; the other, for his vo e^ n Pa amtt Pari k7 ^' '''^""^^'^ '^'^
219, 220. It is said (Pari. Hist, vol xxviii p srsTth^wh n ?^- "*' ^P" 212,
he was obliged to redgn because he gavr a cast S vot! ?"S°^ ""'' ^P'''^^^
■Uallam, vol. ii. p. 446.
I Mem. of George III., vol, iii. p. 163.
Pitt admitted the decline of usages. Pari. Hist. vol. xMii. p. 705.
It >
m
*'\'\ r
I
I'
228
FRAGMENTS.
king in the American war, were also very acti-'e in this new and
still more serious error. The clergy excited a drunken mob to
attack Priestley, and obliged that great man to emigrate to
America, although his private character was spotless.* The Rev.
]Mr. Jones shows very amusingly his bitter hatred of Priestley.
See Jones's Life of Bishop Home, Lond. 1795, pp. 141, 145. In
1790, in consequence of the French Revolution, "the High
Church party" revived. Pari. History, xxviii. 394. See at
p. 399 the interference of Horsley, bishop of St. David's, in 1789,
to throw out a candidate for Parliament who wished to repeal the
Test Acts. In 1787, the clergy were greatly alarmed at the
offort to repeal the Test Acts (Pari. Hist. xxvi. 822). The
French Revolution was just like the American Revolution, with
the exception that the provocation being greater the crimes
were greater. And both were opposed in England by the same
men— men who grow rich and fatten on the public distress. In
1792, Captain Gauler was dismissed because he belonged to the
Society for Constitutional Information (Pari. Hist. xxx. 172). In
1793, "Reeves' Association at the Crown and Anchor" received
anonymous letters, and acted on them, (Pari. Hist. xxx. 313).
There now rose a war the most monstrous that can possibly be
conceived, a war in which we attempted to dictate to a great
people, not their external policy, but their internal government,
no wonder the French still burn with hatred against us. All
the selfishness of the most selfish class, the greediness of wealth,
the fears of rank, were stimulated into a new and preternatural
activity. In 1795 the people desired peace (Pari. Hist. xxxi. 1347).
Comte ' truly says that the war with France would have ruined
us if it haU not been for the increase of our wealth by Watt's
steam discovery. And now it was that the consequences of a war
raised by the aristocracy were averted by the genius and energy
of the middle classes, whose activity had been stimulated by
scepticism.
The most contemptible and the meanest artifices were employed
by the agents of the G-overnment. They declared that French
emissaries had poisoned with arsenic the water of the New River.
The Traitorous Correspondence Bill was brought forward in 1793.
For Fox's opinion of it, see Pari. Hist. xxx. 600, 634 ; Treasonable
Practices Bill in 1795, xxxii. 246, 498, xxxiii. 615 ; in 1795, the
Seditious Meetings Bill, xxxii. 275, 419. Read these three Bills
in Statute Book. These scandalous measures, in spite of the
' See Adolphus, Hist, of Georgfi III., vol. v. pp. 71, 119, and Pari. Hist. vol. xxix.
pp. 774, 77.-), 1378, 1397, U34, 1435, 1437, and pp. 1450, 1451, 1453, 1457, 1812-
* Trait6 de Legislation, tome iii. p. 298.
new and
n mob to
li grate to
The Rev.
Priestley.
145. In
the High
See at
I, in 1789,
repeal the
ed at the
12). The
bion, with
ho crimes
the same
itress. In
ed to the
172). In
' received
. 313).
)ossibly be
a great
vernment.
b us. All
of wealth,
ternatiiral
:xi. 1347).
Lve ruined
by Watt's
js of a war
md energy
lulated by
) employed
at French
few Eiver.
d in 1793.
reasonable
1795, the
three Bills
lite of the
ist. vol. xxix.
457, 1512.
REACTION IN ENGLAND LATE IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 229
strenuous opposition of the people, became law, and were put
into vigorous operation, so that Fox truly said, in 1795, and even
be ore this monstrous system reached its height, resistance was
only a question of prudence.'
The end of my view of tyranny must be that Fox, who had
been minister and was minister again, gave it as his deliberate
opimon that the time had now come when resistance was only
a matter of prudence. While by an insane war the funds out of
which wages a/e pain' were diminishing, the claimants of wages
were increasing, partly by the ^read of poverty, which compelled
even respectable men to become labourers, and partlv from laws
to stimu ate population and supply troops for the field. By these
and similar measures the country before the end of the eighteenth
cen ury fell to the brink of ruin. Wages fell, corn rise, dis-
content spread, country drained of specie, a run on the bank,
the fleet mutinied at the Nore, the funds fell to 47. These were
the effects on the material interests of the country. The effects
on Its political interests, and on the liberty of its inhabitants,
were still more alarming. Our wealth was saved by the applica^
tion of science to manufactur ,; our liberties were secured by the
same energy being carried into politics.
REACTION IN ENGLAND LATE IN EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY.
The loss of America, which in France assisted liberal opinions, in
i-ngland damaged them. By our gross injustice we lost America.
bee in Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, vi. 104, a striking
account of the disgraceful pleasure with which the Privy Coun-
cillors listened to the infamous speech of Loughborough against
l-rankhn. The injudicious, and in some respects criminal, coali-
lon between Fox and North ruined the Whigs, and strengthened
the hands of the retrogressive party. The king, by his insensate
bigotry, nearly lost us Ireland. Quote Campbell's Lives of the
Chancellors, vi. 281. Even Lord Campbell admits that in 1792-
1793, the liberties of England were in danger, and of this he
gives some strong instances in Lives of the Chancellors, vi. 243
^51, 252, 448, 449. This was done by the king and Pitt, aided
by an apostate Chancellor. Campbell (vi. 244, 255) ascribes the
greatest share in these infamous prosecutions to Lord Lough-
borough vsee vii. 105). Directly after the death of Pitt, Fox was
» Pari. Hist. vol. xxxii. p. 383, and compare vol. xxxiii. p. 676.
%
1 ;
I M
230
FRAGMENTS.
'f"1
made minister, and Erskine, whose matchless eloquence had
roused the English juries, was made chancellor.' While the
prosecutions in 1793-1794 were going on, it was seen how
superior the people were to their rulers. This was the result of
education. In 1806 the Whigs abolished the slave-trade, and
this was " the great glory of the Fox and Grenville administra-
tion."' In 1807, their leader in the Commons brought in a Bill
to allow Roman Catholic officers in England to hold commissions
in the army ; but at this George III. was so angry that not only
were ministers obliged to withdraw the Bill, but the king called
on them for a written promise "never again to propose any
measure for further relaxing the penal laws against the Roman
Catholics," which they refusing to do, were dismissed.** In 1808,
the Attorney-General, Sir Vicary Gibbs, carried a Bill to enable
him to arrest any one " against whom he had filed an ex offi.cio
information for a libel," which, " though it still disgracea the
Statute-Book, certainly no attorney-general since his time has
ever thought of putting in force."* In 1811, the Prince
Regent "continues the tory ministers in office."'^ In 1812,
" Lord Liverpool, certainly one of the dullest of men, was now
prime minister." ^ In 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820. most stringent
acts were passed against the people.^ In 1807, "a parliament
was chosen in which the Whigs were not much more numerous
than when they were vainly struggling against the ascendency of
Pitt."* In 1808, the Tories carried a monstrous bill to prevent
the exportation to the enemy of Jesuit's Rark.^ In defiance of
the whole authority of the executive government and the com-
bined power of both Houses of Parliament, the English people
protected an English queen against that bad man who sought to
punish as crimes those levities which his own vices had pro-
voked. In 1806, " the elections went strongly in favour of the
W^higs." '" Lord Campbell" says that in 1807 " the nominal head
of the government was the Duke of Portland, never a very
vigorous statesman, and now enfeebled by age and disease." Lord
Eldon, a man in his own field of immense learning, but ignorant
of even such political science as was then known — even Lord
Eldon would not defend the infamous " Jesuit's Bark Bill " in
1808, though of course he voted for it." In 1809, proceedings
Cooke
enmg.
> Campbell, vol. vi. pp. 626, 527. ' Ibid. p. 660.
» Ibid. pp. 562, 563, 664. See the original letters on this in Fetter's Life of Sid-
mouth, vol. ii. pp. 451-465.
« Ibid. pp. 576, 577. ' Ibid. p. 585. ' Ibid. p. 698.
' Ibid. pp. 609, 610. ' Ibid. p. 573. » Ibid. p. 574.
>• Ibid. vol. vii. p. 189. " Ibid. p. 210. " Ibid. pp. 213, 214.
KEACTION IN ENGLAND LATE IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 231
for corruption against the Duke of York.' George, directly be
became Regent in 1812, renounced tbe Wbigs.'
After tbe deatb of Pitt, tbe crown, and for a long time a great
majority of tbe legislature, struggled in vain against tbe advan-
cing intelligence of tbe Englisb people. Cooke ^ well says tbat
Pitt was guilty of a coalition as bad as tbat of Fox and Nortb.
Indeed be was so very popular because he was looked upon in
178.3 as an ultra Whig.* It was in 1787, and therefore hef(yre the
French Revolution, that Pitt, on the question of the Corporation
and Test Acts, brst abandoned the cause of toleration.* At tbe
end of the eighteenth century we were saved by juries. Cooke «
says, "When the minister attempted to prosecute bis political
opponents to tbe deatb, it became necessary to adduce evidence
before an audience less tractable than a House of Commons."
Cooke ^ says tbat the charges against the duke of York encouraged
the general belief of corruption. Even Wilberforce, tbe intimate
friend and great admirer of Pitt, separated from him in politics
on account of bis going to war in 1793,» and because he moved
an amendment on this subject in the Commons, the king with
characteristic bitterness took no notice of him at tbe next levee.'
Wilberforce '" ascribes the war to tbe influence Dundas had on Pitt,.
Wilberforce " was very dissatisfied with tbe improper letter which
in 1800 Lord Grenville wrote when Buonaparte applied for peace.
In 1803, the French hated tbe English.'^ Pitt, in 1803, patrioti-
cally aided Fox in turning out tbe incompetent Addington.*^ In
1805, Pitt though not a friend of Dundas, unflinchingly defended
him,'* and even quarrelled with Addington's party on tbe subject.**
In 1804, such was tbe unsupportable arrogance of tbe Englisb
ministry that new countries which bad not suffered from France
wished us to be beaten. '^ A dangerous, or at all events a threat-
ening, reaction took place of ascetic religion, beaded not only by
such persons as Hannah More, but also even by Wilberforce. This
methodistic movement Sydney Smith, and in 1808 the Edin-
burgh Review, sensibly checked.'^ The war was persevered in by
Pitt, in spite of tbe better judgment of tbe people. In 1796,
"the war was now becoming universally unpopular." '» Jn 1803,
' Campbell, vol. vii. p. 214.
' History of Party, vol. iii. pp. 332, 334.
' Ibid. p. 358. « Ibid. p. 427
» See Life of Wilberforce. vol. iii. p. 16.
" Ibid. p. 391. >• Ibid. vol. ii. p. 354.
" Ibid. p. 142. >« Ibid. pp. 217, 219, 220.
" See Petter'a Lif^a of Sidmouth, vol. ii. pp. 368, 374,
" Life of Wilberforce, vol. iii. pp. 243, 244.
•' Ibid. p. 364, see also vol. iv. p. 290, and vol. v. p. 47.
'•' Ibid. p. 266.
* Ibid. pp. 341, 342.
' Ibid. p. 470.
• Ibid. p. 72.
" Ibid. vol. iii. p. 89.
'* Ibid. vol. ii. p. 169.
I!
I
* If
!
i
J]
"t
_|r 'f '
Hit > '
FRAGMENTS.
'* all are distrustful of the duke of York's military talents." • In
1812, Wilberforce was apprehensive that the church should be
injured if it did ^ot display an activity in education greater than
the Methodists did. In 1794, administration was tempered by
Whigs.^ lu 1794, Addingtou, on occasion of Hardy's trial, com-
plains of " Erskine's strange doctrine upon the law of treason."'
Compare tliis with Lord Campbell's eulogy. In 1796, general
desire for peace.'* On the danger to Ireland in 1796, see Fetter's
Life of Si'lmouth, vol. i. p. 174, 220. In 1797, the mutiny at
the Nore had also spread to an extent not generally known at
Plymouth.^ Immense taxes.*'
It is certain from Pitt's own account that Lord Gronville's
letter in 1800 was written as an Luropean manifesto, and with
the deswe of continuing the UHir.'^ There can be no doubt that
even if Pitt had not died nothing could have saved his ministry.*
Happily for the fortunes of England that great i'ltellectual
movement which I lave already described had diffused among
the middle classes an increased desire for liberty A very few
years after the accession of George III. the first public meetings
were held. Then came associations for parliamentary reform.
We were benefited by t ae government being headed by men of
such notorious incapacity as Addingtcn and Liverpool.
BAD POINTS UNDER GEORGE IIL
HEAULY LOST IRELAND — BIGOTRY,
Ir is often said that the court of George IIL was very simple
and paternal, but setting aside the unkind treatment ot Miss
Burney, even Mrs. Siddons, when reading before the queen, wiis
obliged to stand till she nearly fainted.
In 1780, the rejection by the Upper House of the contractors'
bill " rendered the Lords very odious."^
Laws became more severe. In 1803, Lord EUenborough's Act
against cutting and maiming.'"
In 1780, Turner in the House of Commons, ^'iolently attacked
the clergy as friends to arbitrary power.' ^
' Life of Wilberforce, vol. iii. p 120.
' Fetter's Life of Lo.i'd Sidmouth, vol i. p. 120. • Ibid. p. 132.
* IHd. p. 162 ; vol. ii. p. 2. » Ibid. vol. i. p. 190.
°- I'jid. vol. i. pp. 197. 358 ; vol. ii. p. 47. ' Ibid vol. i. pp. 247. 248, 249.
» Ibid. vol. ii. p. 402. • Campbell's Cl.aucellors, vol. v. p. 308.
'» Adolphus, vol. vii, p. 693. »' Adoiphub, George IIL, vol. iii. p. US.
I
BAD POINTS UNDER GEORGE III.
283
its."i In
should be
?ater than
ipered by
rial, corn-
treason."'
), general
e ]r'etfer's
nutiny at
known at
jrx3nville's
and with
loiibt that
ministry.*
itellectual
ed among
very few
meetings
y reform.
Dy men of
!ry simple
.t of Miss
ueen, was
DP tractors'
ugh's Act
f attacked
p. 190.
47, 248, 249.
•ol. V. p. 308.
)1. iii. p. 115.
I
was insulted by Wedderburn in presence of the
Franklin
judge.'
Bad judges.'
Charles Butler, who knew Wilkes, says, " In his real politics he
was an aristocrat, and would much rather have been a favoured
courtier at Versailles than the most commanding orator in St.
Stephen's chapel." 3 In 1801, the peace of Amiens, and therefore in
1802 a great excess in the value of British exports ; but this being
followed by war in 1803, our exports again fell." The "Berlin
Decrc^e " would not have hurt us but for our foolish " Orders in
Council " in 1807 (Porter, ii. 146). Porter (Progress of the Nation,
111. 183-186) notices the mischievous opposition made by Eldon
and Ellenborough and the peers against Komilly and Mackintosh.
George III. did wrong to make so many judges legislators, and
raise them to high o^ce in the state. Lord Camden was one of
the greatest of all our judges. Lord Eldon was indifferent to
truth. Kenyon, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, in his
advice on the coronation oath, confused the legislative with the ex-
ecutive capacity of the king ; and on another occasion he, as late
as 1800, complimented a jury on their having found a man guilty
of forestalling grain.^ In 1770, Sergeant Glynn, in a motion
said « that a general belief prevailed of the judges being un-
friendly to juries, encroaching on their constitutional power, and
laying doAvn false law to mislead thea. in their verdicts." ^ Lord
Ellenborough was able.^ Lord Eldon, whose very virtues made
bigotry more dangerous by making it more respectable. Lord
lAIanslield always opposed the Americans." Campbell » says Lord
Kenyon hated his predecessor, Mansfield, who opposed his appoint-
ment. Lord Mansfield wislied Bullar to be his successor ; but this
Pitt refused.'" Eldon, Kenyon and Lord Redesdale despised
Mansfield.'' Lord Mansfield, the greatest judge ever seen in
England, received his appointment a few years before George III.
came to the throne, and directly the king ascended he openly
avowed those principles which, under a better government, he
had been glad to conceal. He favoured the monstrous preten-
sions of the House of Commons to disqualify Wilkes, and he, like
Chathmn Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 322.
'^ Campbell's Chancellors, vol. v. pp. 341, 344, 345, 508, 509, and vol. vi. pp. 210,493.
miner s Reminiscences, vo .. i. p. 73.
*^ Porter's Progress of the Nation vol. ii. p. 145.
Aclolphus, vol. vii. pp. 406, 446.
^' Adolphus. vol. i. p. 475, and still ttronger in Pari. Hist. vol. xvi. pp. 1212, 1216.
^ BroughHm's State.srr,..., vol. rl. p. G. » Adolphus, vol. ii. p. 148.
^^ 1.1V0S of the Chief Justices, vol. ii. p. 394. >° Ibid. p. 549.
CampbeU's Chief Justices, vol. ii. pp. 437, 438, 550 note.
■ III)
234
FRAGMENTS.
all the judges, opposed the right of the jury to decide libels. He
opposed the extension of the Habeas Corpus. Lord Camden was
made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1762, having already
been three years attorney-general.' He was chancellor from 1766
to 1770.* He opposed general warrants.' He was the only
friend to liberty among the judges. During the last fifty years
of the eighteenth century there was no chance of law reform.
Lord Camden, the only popular judge, openly opposed the mi-
nistry by whom he was appointed. Unscrupulous judges like
Bullar, and Gribbs, and Eldon, and even really eminent magis-
trates like Grant and Stowell, were narrow. Kenyon, Holroyd,
Littledale, Loughborough. Whenever the king had his way, all
the great judicial appointments were given to men who had dis-
tinguished themselves as enemies of the popular liberties. Lord
Camden, indeed, heid for a time the office of chancellor, but he
was the open opponent of the ministers by whom he was ap-
pointed, and after his dismissal the great seal, which had been
held by Somers, Cowper, and Hardwicke, fell into the hands of
Loughborough, Thurlow, and Eldon. It was not to be supposed
they would do anything to cleanse the law from its impurities,
and all idea of law reform was lost. The chancellors were weak
men like Bathurst, or hypocrites like Thuiiow and Eldon. In
1770, it was said by Townshenci * that a judge. Sir Joseph Yates,
received a letter from the king desiring him to favour the court
in certain trials, but that he sent back the letter unopened. In
1770, Burke * speaks with great severity of the judges. Even the
judicial appointments were regulated by the same unhappy spirit.
It is now universally admitted that among the lawyers of that
age the largest and most enlightened minds were those of Mack-
intosh and Romilly. Romilly is perhaps chiefly known by his
noble efforts to soften those cruel laws for which our penal code
was then remarkable ; but his other law reforms were in advance
even of our time. As to Mackintosh, it would be idle to praise
a man \,ho, in addition to other merits, was the first to investigate
our laws on general principles.
But these were precisely the kind of men for which, in the
reign of George III., no honour could be found. While tliere
were such Chief Justices as Kenyon, and such Chancellors as
Bathurst and Thurlow, Romilly was made Solicitor-General, and
the Recordership of Bombay was conferred on Mackintosh. Tliis
was natural in an age when North and Addington were the
' Rroiigham, vol, V, p, 192,
• Ibid. pp. 196, 201,210.
* Purl. Hist. vol. xvi. pp. 1228, 1229.
* Ibid. pp. 198, 202, 203.
[ Ibid. p. 1270,
DESPOTISM UNDER GEORGE III. 235
favourites and Burke and Grenville excluded.' In 1778, the
Ind thL f. aT, T.^P^'^^^^d of the judges being politicians,^
and then it was3 that the pernicious custom first became ganeral
/"''T".? "P *^^ executive and legislative branches.''
Lord Mansfield opposed the Contractors' Bill in 1780,' by which
It was attempted to limit the enormous influence of the Crown.
Lord Loughborough was chiefly recommended to the king by
his hatred of the Americans. ^ ^
The best guarantee in any country for the sound administration
w 1 dftT. v'f T.. ' f ^''^ °' '^' J"^^^**' ^^' '^^ --tent to
w eh they feel themselves under the control of public opinion.
Smtlt ^ " """'l' i"" J"^'"^ "^« P-^ b' t -t liberal.
^oiXrl 'TrT^'/'''^- ?-°"gl^^^ <^«"ld never have been ap-
pointed. The ability with which justice is administered depends
on the ability of the judge, its purity and honesty on the control
of the people. In 1782, George III. of his o^vn authority added
loot)/, a year to the pay of the Chief Justice of Common Pleas ;
nducil ?h ,' «^^if--d said, setting a bad example of
inducing the judges to look up to the Crown.« In 1784, Lord
Kenyon then Master of the Rolls, asserted that the High Bailiff
o Nestminsterwas justified in not making a return when Fox
biought forward the celebrated Libel Bill, now admitted to be
one of the greatest improvements ever made ; the judges uni-
versally opposed it.^ Lord Mahon« says that George II L at his
accession secured the independence of the judges. In 1761
Pratt afterwards Lord Camden, was very ill-treated by Govern^
T\ . . ll^t' ^^'' ^"J^^^'y ^f tl^- H«"«« «f Commons for
Kngland and A\ ales was computed to be chosen by less than
eigJit thousand out of eight millions." '«
i >■'
DESPOTISM UNDER GEORGE III.
I. Ix 1763 the king depri.ed Wilkes of his commission as
colonel :n the Buckinghamshire militia, and as Lord Temple
<3omphmented Wilkes, he was dismissed from the lord-lieutenancv
and his name expunged from the list of privy councillors." In
« Th 1 v'l •■• L ' ''^'° ^°^- ^^'^- P- ^"^^O. • Ibid. Tol. xxi. pp. 447, 451
: S; ;;Es;^^:^'iv. p. .n.' '^^ ''''- '-' "'^- ''■ ''''' ^^^«- '^37:^538:
' See Walpole, Mem, oi Georse.
ITT,,
Note in Burton's Diary, vol ^.
AdoIpiiuB. Hist, of Georgo Ilji., vd
III. p. 149.
■Fol. 1. pp. 125, 126.
m i
ii
I' I .' 1
K\^i
r
126.
236
FRAGMENTS.
1763, General Conway, who usually supported the Government,
voted on one occasion against them, and was consequently " de-
prived of his civil and military employments." '
II. In 1789, the House of Commons, assuming the functions of
representatives and constituents, expelled Wilkes from th 3 House.
Tlie remark of Adolphus ^ is very pleasant.
III. In 1771, the Lord Mayor was sent to the Tower,^ and even
Adolphus '' allows the purity of his conduct.
IV. In 1773, Colonel Barre and Sir Hugh Williams were passed
over in some military promotion on account of their votes in
Parliament.^
V. The king tampered with the peers to induce them to throw
out Fox, his own minister. This Adolphus^ seems inclined to
doubt.
VI. In 1793, it was j'\id down by the Solicitor-General that
during war the king had a right by proclamation to forbid " the
return to the country of any subject not convicted of a crime." ^
VII. In 1793 booksellers punished.*
VIII. Eead Howell's Trial, xxii. 909, in Adolphus v. 529.
IX. In 1793, Lord Chief Justice Clark said that only " landed
property " should be represented. Quote his amusing remarks in
Adolphus, V. 539, 540.
X. In 1798, the duke of Norfolk was dismissed from the Lord-
Lieutenancy for proposing the " majesty of the people." See
Adolphus vi. 692, where it is said Pitt opposed this paltry act.
XI. In 1795, a bill was brought forward extending the statute
of treason.^ And another bill, against seditious meetings, forbad
any meeting to be lield without consent of the magistrate.'"
These two })ills in popular speech were called respectively " the
Treason and the Sedition Bills."'* They made Fox say that
obedience was only a question of prudence."" The consequence of
all this violence was the mutiny at the Nore in 1797, of which
there is an account in Adolphus at vi. 560-588. In 1799, Pitt
proposed a measure to put an end to debating societies.'^
XII. In 1799, the political prisoners were shamefully treated.'^
XIII. Allen'* says that on Hardy's trial the Attorney-General
' Adolphus, Hist, of George III., vol. i, p. 141.
' Ibid. pp. 489. 490. ♦ Ibid. p. 492.
» Ibid. vol. iv. p. 61. ' Ibid. vol. v. 395, 397.
« Ibid. vol. v. pp. 525, 526, and vol. vi. p. 695.
' Ibid. vol. vi. pp. 359, 360. '» Ibid. p. 364.
'* Ibid. p. 373. On their provisions, see p. 378.
" Ibid. vii. pp. 140, 141. '* Ibid. p. 134.
" Inquiry into the Eoyal Prerogative, p. 25.
-^ Ibid. p.
' Ibid. p.
347.
669.
'» Ibid. p. 368.
DISASTERS UNDER GEORGE III.
237
claimed for the king of England power equal to that claimed for
Louis XIV.
XIV. Read Wp^ill's Correspondence, in five or six volumes,
often quoted by Adolphus.
DISASTERS UNDER GEORGE III.
I. The duke of Buckingham! says, in 1797, "the Bank had
stopped payment. Two mutinies had broken out in the fleet, one
at Spithead and another at the Nore. An organisation of mal-
contents had been formed in Ireland under the name of the
United Irishmen.'" On the Mutiny at the Nore in 1797 see
Adolphus, vi. 560, 588. « in i/y/, see
II. Taxes ; national debt ; prices rose and wages fell
^^III. Wages fell, see Ha 11am, ii. 446. Pari. Hist, xxxii. 705,
IV. The people deslr'^d peace.
V. The couiitry was drained of specie.
AFTER FRENCH REVOLUTION.
The bank stopped payment and otherwise would have been
bankrupt.3 The directors of the bank told Pitt what the con-
sequence would be of sending so much money out of the kingdom
In 1797 the country had " long wished for " peace.-*
In 1798 the Bishop of Durham made some silly remarks on
the short petticoats of the opera women ;« the minute knowledoe
displayed by the bishop on such a subject gave rise to some
na mal mirth, and the Morning Chronicle spoke of it in a way far
mi der than it would be now noticed if a bisliop were to be so
toohsh. It will hardly be believed that Lambert and Perry were
for this called to the bar of the House of Lords, fined 50^., and in
addition to the fine, imprisoned in Newgate, each for three
months.« In 1799, Mr. Flower, ir . Cambridge newspaper, made
some criticisms on a speech deiive/ed by Watsou, bishop of
' Adolplui!", Mem. of George III., vol. ii. p. 362.
' Purl. Hist. vol. xxxiii. p. 51.
* Ibid. pp. 406. 411, 417, 718, and vol. ssxr. p. 413.
Ibid. vol. xxxiii. p. 1308.
* Ibid. p. 384.
Ibid. pp. 1311, 1313.
1 ,
.1 B'J
4 W.
\i ^ "''->•
w Iw
I
m\
238
FRAGMENTS.
Llandaff. For this he was brought before the House of Lords,
fined lOOi., and thrown into Newgate for six months.' In 1798 the
attorney-general brought in a bill to " regulate newspapers." ^
In 1799 Pitt brought in a bill to check debating societies.'
In 1798 the standing orders for excluding strangers were twice
enforced.*
In 1798 Windham, Secretary of War, expressed a desire to
prevent the proceedings of the House of Commons being published
in the newspapers.*
In 1800 Sheridan said that the scarcity of provisions was partly
caused by the waste arising from the increased consumption of
men manning our navy in active service, who ate more than
those at home." And G-rey adds : ^ " Thousands are taken from
laborious occupations to consume what is produced by the labour
of others." Eead Tooke's History of Prices. In 1800 Jones
said, " In Worcester numbers lived vipon tmrnips, and in York
numbers lived upon greens." * In 1800, bread was eighteen pence
" the quartern loaf." ®
In 1800, the wages of agricultural labour were Ss. to 98. a
week.'" The increase of the poor widened the labour market,
by throwing into it men who before had never been obliged to
work. On the enormous increase of the poor rates see Parlia-
mentary History, vol. ilxxv, pp. 1064-1065 ; and read Eden's
History of the Labouring Classes.
The trials of Muir and Palmer in Scotland, and Wakefield and
Lord Thanet in England. Mem. of Fox, iii. 60, 165.
In 1793, the English people were tired of the war."
In 1795, the Earl of Lauderdale said of the Treasonable
Practices Bill, " In the old government of France there was
nothing more despotic than what this bill went to create. It
was the introduction of the system of terror into this country."'^
And Fox said •' that " under it Locke would have been exiled for
his writings."
' Pari. Hist. vol. xxxiv. p. 1000.
' Ibid. vol. xxxiv. p. 987.
» Ibid. vol. xxxiv. pp. 162, 153, 157, 158, 159.
■ Ibid. vol. XXXV. p. 632.
'Ibid, p. 697. » Ibid. p. 710, 711.
" See Russell's "Memoir of Fox, vol. iii. p. 39.
" Purl. Hist. vol. xxxii. p. 246.
' Ibid. vol. xxxiii. p. 1416.
* Ibid. vol. xxxiii. pp. 1513, 151
' Ibid. p. 636.
>» Ibid. p. 833.
" Ibid, vol. xxxiii. p. 615.
239
IMPROVExMExNTS UNDEli GEORGE III.
Early in the eighteenth century political economy was first
publicly taught. But in 1714 despised. In 1794, the attorney
general failed in five prosecutions, and was mobbed by the people
Priestley, in 1768, lays down the right of cashiering the*
sovereign.' °
The fortimate neglect of literary men by George II. and
W alpole, assisted in establishing the independence of literature.*
In lite^rature the Watsons, and in art West, opposed the classical
school. See a curious account in Gait's Life of West. On the sta^e
Garrick succeeded Quin. See Life of Cumberland and Macklin.
At the end of the seventeenth century the scientific spirit first
attacked the classics. Compare the dispute of Sir W Temple
\. ^"^ }J^^' ^^™^* ' ^"^"^' ^^*^^' I" *te middle of the'
eighteenth century it declined j and was discountenanced by both
the Pitts. In_1730, all law pleadings were altered from Latin to
English. Prejudices of Johnson. Lord Monboddo said no one
Ignorant of Greek could write English. Harris, in Hermes,
derived from Latin our beautiful language. This was remedied
by Home Tooke, a liheral. Fusion of society. Coleridge * com-
plains of the diminished respect for the ancients.
Anglo-Saxon even was neglected in that busy and spirited age.
Ihe increase of physical knowledge under CharL s IL was the
first blow to the ancients. The disloyalty of Oxford brought it
into disrepute. Even Cambridge fell off. Hence private schools
increased ; then came Bell and Lancaster. Dress became care-
less ; before then it was stiff. Like the Chinese, politeness and
mn^ were known by dress. Now the dress is gone and only
titles remain, which will go.
In 1771, Calcraft writes to Lord Chatham* "the ministers own
VV likes too dangerous to meddle with." In 1771, "mob even of
he better class." « In the middle of the reign of George II.
he Blanc,^ after mentioning the freedom of our press, says that
government dare not act against it even legally. The acquittal of
looke, &c., must have greatly weakened the government. That
great authority. Lord Mansfield, laid it down " that a court prose-
cution should never be instituted without certainty of success "«
Franklin « writes in 1773, from London, that all the dissenters
; See Thomson'8 Hist, of Chmistiy. vol. ii. p. 12. » Ibid. pp. 61, 62
thatiiam CorrespondeDce, vol. iv. p. 122. • Ibid. pp. 133, 134
^ Litres d un Fran^ais, vol. ii. pp. 313, 3ii.
Butler's Keminiscences, vol. i. p. L26.
Correspondence, vol. i. p. 23?.
I
• 11
r
!.-.■! I
riiilJ?
1(1 Hi I m'
41!
I
1.)
i
i
r
240
FRAGMENTS.
favoured tlie Americans ; and see Adblphus, History of George III.,
vol. ii. p. 331.
Middle class, in the middle of the eighteenth century, were
called Esquire.
Walpolo, remaining a commoner, assisted their fame.
Ariatocracy.— They lost ground early in the reign of George
III. l)y settling in London, instead of merely taking lodgings as
formerly. In 1708 Burnet (vi. 214), notices that the sessions of
Parliament, became longer, and caused an increased residence
of nobles in London.
George III. was ridiculed for his manners.
PROGRESS IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
I. Increase of mercantile [intercourse] and manufactures lessened
superstition, as I have shown, under Charles II. In 1740 the
meirchants were making great head.' In 1708 Burnet ^ says " as
for the men of trade and business, they are, generally speaking,
the best body in the nation, generous, sober, and charitable."
Thus early did they secure the character they have ever since
possessed. Between 1750 and 1796 a wonderful increase in
bankers.' The increasing curiosity and wealth of the com-
mercial classes first induced them to buy seats in parliament,
and thus weakened the territorial influence.* The French war
in 1793, the landowners fimcied was the cause of their own
ruin ; for, says Alison,* during the war the commercial and
manufacturing interest had so greatly increased, that they " haid
become irresistible." By the beginning of the eighteenth cen-
tury the people were becoming so powerful that the Tories as
well as the Whigs appealed to them. The " clamour " for par-
liamentary reform first rose late in the American war.^ After
1688, the crown, terrified by the example of two Revolutions, began
to use corruption instead of threats. See the admirable remarks
of Erskine in Pari. Hist. xxx. 829. Locke, in his Essay on Govern-
ment,^ recommends doing away with rotten boroughs. Under
Charles II. it was first legal to present petitions to parliament.
II. Scarcely had the Revolution swept away the Stuarts and
Correspondence of Countess Pomfret and Harfowl, roL i. p. 300.
2 Own Times, vol. vi. p. 202. ' Burke's Works, vol. ii. p. 292.
* Hallam, vol. ii. p. 447. * Hist, of Europe, vol. xiv. p. 188.
« Pari. Hist. vol. xxix. p. 1505. ' Works, vol. iv. pp. 432, 433,
PROGRESS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 241
humbled the ChuroJi wli^n t ^ i
.0 change .he ei:t;aT;;^r'Tmr"' '"" ""' P™""-'
feredin politics, and eheao MliHn l ' u',™'"'"'''' first inter-
.720 P„,itiea,e;.icatrLr;:::al':7r^ *''' ''™^- '"
ill. retitiona. — In 1717 fi.^ « ^ "^"mou.
petitions to the kinjj first beo«l ^ '^^'^^ petitions.' In 1767,
Constitutional InformSn Ln^ ^Tf' ^" '^'«' «°«i«ty fo
Society of the Fr^ZTl^^tr In m^'.f ^T''^ '^^ '^^
Bill of Eights." In 1765 ,7' ^'^ ^^^^ *'^« " Society of the
reign of otorge II the powe oTTh """ P^^^t-ians.^ Under the
increase. ^ P""""' °^ *^^ P^^Pl^ continued rapidly to
rr^XV'rl'^To!: .^^^^^^^^^^ ^or Parlia-
increase the power of the elector. 1 .^? ''''' ^''^ «^^^« *«
didates. There were debatSr.l V''/ '"^ ^^'^^'' ^^'^"^ «^"-
Even tradesmen met It the rZ K ^ a t P'^^'^^"^ tradesmen,
of the People » formed to ^!t p" r ''^\ ^" '^^'' ^^^« " ^'"^nds
the London'oorrespldin; loci!; "'"'"^ ^^'"^°^«- ^^ '^^^^
^^o^'^^^l^^^^^^^ as Paine and
effect, solely bLuse thev orpolthe f"" P'/^f' ^°^'—
Church. The people knew tha? Will.^''''"^ "^ '^' ^''''' ^nd
revenge. In 1 780 oountv rTp.f ' ""^^ persecuted from
the authority of Hallam, says in 176rnhe'..l A ^"^'°'' ^"
any wide extent maybe da'ed f^mlu"^^^^^^ '-
gives instances of this bribery as early fruf ' p^^^S^^^hon^
were popular, not that the tiPonl^ r.f7u Pome's works
tie api,h bui^oouer/oVwnCt:^ ;it;7pi':i^'r''' '"•■
they saw them strugglin,, a^inat ■, Jh ' *""' '"='""""'
sympathised, not witfthe ™C but IfTr"™'' """^ "«J'
even the lowest elasses were Sv of ri>- .' """".• '" ''^'*'
the sale of boroughs was notof ouf - 1// f ,''^' ''T- '" ''*"'
that bribery and corruption had s ,« tl I ' " " ''^'""^"
-.. The great patHol of the Urofc^IlTuTvlrXt
Ibid. vol. iv. p. 220. 7 Ti -J , ■
' See also Hallam, vol. ii p 44; ^''"*- ^°^- '' ?• ^6-
" Pari. Hist.
vol.
p. 378.
Ibid. vol.
R
'II ,
Ufi
mm
i-'
m
XI
Ibid.
p. 1K5.
242
FRAGMENTS.
of the doctrine of representation, nor was it claimed in the Bill
of Rights in 1688. Dr. Parr' says the American war made
Englishmen inquire into political rights. It was the strength of
public opinion which put an end to the American war.' Late in
the seventeenth century I find a complaint^ that a republican
party was " reprinting Harrington's Oceana, the works of Milton,
Ludlow, and Sidney, all on the same subject, and tending to
promote the design of lessening and reproaching monarchy."
The impetus given by the Puritans remained after the Restora-
tion an undercurrent — only showing itself in scepticism and
dissent.
^Meetings for Parliamentary reform, see Albemarle's Memoirs
of Lord Rockingham, ii. pp. 93, 94.
In 1769, Chatham advises the nobles to unite with the people.*
V. Newspapers. — Their real power rose under Wilkes, when
the House of Commons ceased to be the popular organ." Immense
increase of newspapers between 1724 and 1792. And on the
increasing power of the press, see Prior's Life of Burke, p. 275.
VI. Notwithstanding bad judges, the juries did their duty. In
1794, they acquitted Hardy, Tooke, and Thelwall ; and in 1796,
Stone." In Adolphus, Hist, of George III. vol. vi. pp. 48-71,
there is a summary of *he trials of Hardy, Tooke, and Thelwall.
In 1794, Tooke was acquitted in a few minutes. The acquittal
of Hone in 1817 was a great gain. It became known that no
jury would bring in Junius guilty. At the accession of Greorge II.
the Jacobite and High Church faction were nearly extinct. The
government of William III. avowedly relied on the consent of
the nation, and neither Anne nor George I. and II. dared to
oppose liberties to which they owed their crown. In 1721, the
first question was put in Parliament to a minister of the crown.
VII. Nineteenth Gentunj.—By the end of the eighteenth cen-
tury the social and intellectual movement had become so strong
that the political reaction coiild no longer bear up against it. See
in Life of Wilberforce, iii. p. 12, some very remarkable evidence
on the change in 1801, coming over the minds of men, and their
df -ire for reform. See also p. 227, respecting the increasing
power of " popular opinion." This notwithstanding the apostacy
of the Regent. The French Revolution diminished the inordinate
respect for rank. (See paper on Education.) As the nine-
' Works, vol. ii. p. 329.
' Somers Tracts, toI. xi. p. 155.
* Bancroft's Ameriean Eevolution, vol. iii. p. 354.
* Arnold's Lectures on Modern History, pp. 26t, 266.
* Canipbeirs Crincellors, vol. vi. pp. 450, 462, 4"0, 431.
2 Ibid. vol. vii. p. 14.
CIRCUMSTANCES FAVOURABLE TO THE ENGLISH PEOPLE. 243
teenth century advanced the progress became evident The
same time, the mean men whom Pitt mJT , ^
CIRCUMSTANCES FAVOURABLE TO THE ENGLISH
PEOPLE EARLY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTUr"
favour of a war with FLcf and Z"' ''^^'''""' '° '"' '"
into a national contort Indeed JsT T'"' ?"««''=
Whi,, were really patriotic" plU wis JtllT**'* ""
ported bv Fox imrl Sl,„:j ,, . ""' "'* *™e sup.
iddinoj 1 tiV':r''r/i'j:."'Arr ■^-'''■^ -^
defeat of Austerlitz " mad7„ 1 • '^ "'5'» tl"" 'he
of England, and cauTed In fo'T"'"™ 7 *'"' »''"'"" •'""<'"
pouticti pa'rties. trrke"::^ utit ^fc-'dar *™
an enemy. The result w^q +i.„^ +1, .^^^^^^t so dangerous
Wge ni-againstThfg.::^:^^^^^^^^^ of
Xbir/o trn^'^'-'-T '^' ''' P4w:r:^lml eS
bill or-enHstm LsflTr 7'."''^ ^^"^^ jeav, introduced a
ui enlistments tor a limited period of service " ? Tr, i ana
they also abolished the slave trade.s"^ However Tnlril 1 «n7
Tory ministry came in.^ When in IfinR.i! ^ ' ^^^' ""
Yvuen, in 1S08, the news arrived that
Pari. Hist. vol. xxxv. p. 699
Alison's History of Europe, vol., vi. p. 209
Ib.d.pp.2.37,238; vol.viii.p.4o5 4 r^-^ , .
Ibid. vol. vii. p. 85. ^°"^- ^°1- ■»•»• pp. 250, 251.
' Ibid. pp. 380, 387. 391 * ^^'^- P- ^^^
' Ibid. pp. 456. ' Ibid. pp. 395, 403.
■ (?'
lift Ji
B 2
241
FRAGMENTS.
the RpaniBh people liad risen ii}j;ainHt- NiipoltMin, nil claHHes in
Kiii^Matul were Truul with dolight,.' As Napoh^.tiV troops, after
beaiiiij; the Spanish (forernmeid had Ixu'ii Iteaten hy the Spanisli
people, it was believed that a new era had hcirnn in whieli
military diH«-ipline W(»dd he concpiered by ])()pular enc^t^y." Alison
Hays* that, (^annin|j;'s love of ])opularity made him " enco\irajjre
the insiirri^ction o the South American colonies, but in so doiiifj;
he established a precedent of fatal application in future times to
his own country."
The Kdinbur^j^h Review did much. Pitt was 8ucce<'ded by
Perceval, Thurlow by Kldon, and tlius the Tories were themselves
inferior men ; but so, it may be mhUfd, were tlie Wliij^s. How-
ever, now it was that tlie \Vhij2fs first beji[an to study political
economy. This must liave aided our liberty by showing; the
injury of that mischievous system wliich is called protective
{jfovernnu^nt. Pitt would hav(^ ruined us if there had not come
into play th.at enormous nu'chanical and physical knowh'dge
which I have already pointed oiit as one of the results of
diminished suptirstition, and which -so increased our wealth tliat
we bore up against the pressure.
ENGLAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
. . . Opposition to the spirit of the age. When sentence has
been passed upon it by a large majority of the nation, its doom
is intn-itably fixed. It may for a time be preserved by violence,
but that same violence must eventually react against those wlio
employ it, and in its ravages will destroy what imder a more
pliant policy would probably have been preserved. Tliis is the
law of the physical world, ana it is likewise the lav ^>{ the moral
world And thus it always is with then t4ai'^smeu
and le<i:islators who are so ignorant of their calb'i);';' a,- to t.unk it
lies within their function to anticipate the march of affairs and
to provide for fi.r distant contingencies. In trifling matters this,
inde-'d, may be done without danger, though — as the constant
changes in the laws of every coimtry abundantly prove — it is
also c >u-; vithout benefit. But, in reference to those large and
fum^a>?ieK.i.ul measures which bear upon the destiny of a people,
snnh .Mi'cktpation is worse than idle ; it is highly injurious. In
' Alisons History of Europe, vol. viii. p. 151.
' Ibid, vol ix. p. 254.
« Ibid. pp. 497, 498.
K.VOLAND IN TI[K NINKTKKNTir CENTURY. 246
tl.o presont «tuto of knowl.-.l^e p.>liticH, «o far from being a
.conce, .. on., o t ,. most b:tckw,uvl of all the urt«, and the only
sae cour«, f^,r the h.,i.la.,r is to look upon hin cratt as consZ
n« u M.e adaptation ot ten^po.ary contrivances to temporary
■titunpt to lead It. Jle sho.dd he content to study [whatl is
passmg hotore hjs eyes, and modify his sc-hemes, not according to
h., tracht.or.al theory, hut according t<, the actual exigenei.t of
Ins own time, ot which society itself is the sole judge. Hut with
.•xtre,ney few exceptions, his practical habits and his ignorance
yl groat speculative truths will always discputlify him from
.nnu.g tha p alosophic estimate of his owl. tirne by whic"
■done he could be able to anticipate the wants, and facilitate the
progress, of distant generations.
These are among those broad and general views which will
hau ly be <l.sputed by any man who, with a competent knowledge
ot history, has re ect.-d much on the nature and conditions tf
.noderii society. J ut, during the reign of George III., not only
were sucli views unknown, but the very end and object of govern-
men was ent.r,. y ndstaken. It was then believi that govern-
ment was made tor the minority, to whose interests the majority
were bound humbly to submit. In those days it was believed
hat the power ot making laws must always be lodged in the
hands ot a tew privileged chisses: that the nation at lar.re
had no concern with those laws except to obey them; arid
hat a wise government would secure the obedience of the people
by preventing education from spreading among them. It is
mirely a remarkable circumstance that the people who had been
withheld troin their own now began to re-enter on their original
lights. 1 ohtical empire declined, and the intellectual empire
rose up. And what is still more remarkable is, that this gLt
hai ige should have been effected, not by any great external event
101 by a sudden insurrection of the people, but by the unaided
.ut.ou of moral iorce : the silent but effective pressure of public
opinion which an arbitrary government had been able to stop but
not to dest.-oy. This has always appeared to me to be a dedsle
p oof of the natural and, if I may so say, the healthy march of
l^^ighsh civilization. It is a proof of an elasticity and yet a
sobriety ot spirit which no other natioi. has ever displayed. No
otlier nation could have escaped from such a crisis except by a
revolution, of which the cost might well have exceeded the gain
^ut in our country the progress of those principles which I
l^ave endeavoured to trace, had diffused among the people a
caution and a spirit of wisdom which made them pause before
<l. >
li
in
X'
m
FI AGMENTS.
they cared to strike, taught them to husband their strength, and
which enabled them to reserve their force for those better days
when, ^ r their benefit, a party began again to be organised in
the state, by whom their intercots were successfully advocated,
even within the walls of parliament. For thirty-five years no
parliament has venti^red to sanction, no minister has even dared
to propose, any measure hostile to the interests of the people.
Whigs have become Eadicals, Tories have become Conservatives.
The Eadicals avoid the monarchical and theologic prejudices of
the Tories and the aristocratic prejudices of the Whigs. In 1808
the Examiner, the first iniluential newspaper in favour of Eeform.
Pu^-lic meetings were held. Then came Associations for Parlia-
mentary Eeform. Then education, by Bell, &c This was owing
to the Dissenters, who also favoured the Americans. Then came
the acquittal of Hardy and Tooke. . . .
The circumstances which accompanied tiiis great reaction are
too complicated, and have been too little studied for me to
attempt in this Introduction to offer even a sketch of them.
It is, however, sufficient to say, what must be generally known,
that for nearly fifty years the movement has continued with
unabated spirit ; everything which has been done has increased
the power of the people. Blow after blow has been directed
against those classes which were once the cole depositaries of
power. The Eeform Bill, the Emancipation of the Catholics,
and the Eepeal of the Corn Laws, are admitted to be the three
greptest political achievements of the present generation. Each
of these vast measures has depressed a powerful party. Tlie
extension of the suffrage has lessened the influence of hereditary
rank, and, what is equally important, has broken up that great
oligarchy of landowners by whom both Houses of Parliament had
long been ruled. The abolition of protection still further en-
feebled the territorial aristocracy, and by diminishing in many
instances the value of tithes has curtailed the incomes of the
At the same time those superstitious feelings, by which the
ecclesiastical order is mainly upheld, received a severe shock:
firstly, by the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, and after-
wards by the admission of Catholics to the legislature; steps
which are with reason regarded as supplying a precedent of
mischievous import for the interests of the Established Church. . •
• ••••• •
There is no more danger of political reaction, for crown, church,
and nobles are weakened, [the] press is supreme, and the people
have a hold iver public affairs, so that even the most imperious
minister defers to those whom half a centiu-y ago he would have
ENGLAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
247
igth, and
tter days
mised in
ivocated.
years no
en dared
3 people.
3rvatives.
udices of
In 1808
F Eviform.
»r Parlia-
i^as owing
iien came
ction are
»r me to
of them.
[y known,
ued with
increased
directed
itaries of
Catholics,
the three
n. Each
i-ty. Tlie
leroditary
hat great
inert had
irther en-
in many
les of the
which the
*e shock:
md after-
re ; steps
cedent of
lurch. . •
•
a, church,
he people
imperious
)uld have
despised. Great suffering was caused by the policy which
governed England during the reign of George III. But those
sufferings will not be wasted if they teach our politicians the
lessons of modesty and inculcate the great truth that the art of
the statesman is to tvait and bide his time— the servant of know-
ledge and the handmaid of great thinkers.
• •
The spirit of practical benevolence is so strong and so active
that there is scarcely a corner of the kingdom where it is not
domg its work. Even the judicial and legislative bodies of the
country have felt the general contagion. Juries are unwilling to
condemn, and judges are anxious to pardon. Less is thought of
punishing the offence, and more is thought of reforming the
offender. Our prisons have been purged of those foul and infamous
abuses which gaolers once practised with impunity on their un-
happy captives. Madhouses have ceased to be receptacles for the
lust and cruelty of the keepers, and the insane themselves have
been treated with mercy. Degrading and infamous punishments,
the pillory and personal mutilation, are obsolete, and even in the
army and navy flogging is going out. In our schools less cruelty.
. . . Ameliorations have been effected in our criminal code,
which the most humane legislator would formerly have considered
impossible, and penalties have been abolished which were once
deemed absolutely necessary. And if we take a more general
view, we cannot fail to observe that at no period has our country
remained so long at peace. This, I think, is one of the most
unequivocal features of the present age. It is eminently the
result of a diminished ferocity in our temper, and of an increased
sense of the importance of human life. Among the most civilised
people a growing contempt for warlike pursuits is gradually
extirpating that lust of military glory which is one of the most
diseased appetites of a barbarous nation. Indeed, so clearly
marked is this tendency, that when recently, in an adjoining
country, an untoward combination of events hurried into the field
immense bodies of troops, the movement, at first so threatening,
ended in a spectacle for which the history of the world affords no
parallel. Great armies, furnished with all the appliances of war,
and burning with national hatred, confronted each other for
months, and then, amid every variety of mutual provocation, were
disbanded without striking a blow, because their respective
governments did not dare to outrage the feelings of Europe by
giving that signal which the military leaders so eagerly expected.'
' The author probably refers to the position of Austria and Prussia in 1860. [Ed.]
l!i
248
FRAaMENTS.
These are among the results of that increased sense of the vahie
and dignity of man which, as we know from the experience of every
country, is intimately connected with the decay of superstition.
But while such have been the moral effects, the pliysical effects
liave been hardly less important. Whatever explanation we may
give, it stands recorded in history as a fact beyond the possibility
of dispute, that during the last five centuries the progress of
knowledge has been everywhere accompanied by a decline of the
ecclesiastical influence. To me the explanation of the pheno-
menon appears very simple. As the theological spirit becomes
more feeble, the secular spirit must become more powerful. In
every successive generation the attention of men has been less
attracted by dogmatic and ritual pursuits, and has therefore had
more leisure for the acquisition of real and positive knowledge.
What has been lost by the clergy has been gained by mankind.
The English intellect, exulting in its freedom, has only in these
latter times put forth its imshackled powers. The minds of our
coimtrymen have become larger in their scope and more definite
in their aim. The (X)nseciuence has been that since the Kevolu-
tion of 1688 there has been effected in this little island alone
more pei-manent good than had been accomplished before by the
aggregate wisdom of the human race.
The laws of sound have been discovered, and to their aggregate
the name of acoustics given. Bradley discovered the aberratiou
of liglit. By the two Herscbels the heavens have been surveyed
in both hemispheres, and so jealously have they been, as it were,
swept by the telescope, that discoveries are now being constantly
made of the bodies which lie in their immeasurable space. By
the discoveries of Young and Champollion the learning of Egypt
has been restored : a silence of two thousand [years] has been
broken. During that sceptical movement in the reign of Charles
ir. which r have already traced, Newton had begun, and in tlie
reign of William III. had completed, that series of amazing dis-
coveries any one of which would have immortalised his name. The
law of gravitation was carried by him to the furthest boundaries
ot the solar system, and there is now a growing disposition to
push it still further, so as to include the furthest limits of the
physical universe. By tlie continued efforts of different countries
there has been made that vast series of magnetic observations
which almost cover the circuit of the globe, and from which it
now remains for some great thinker to work out the laws of terres-
trial magnetism. Since the death of Newton, electricity has befn
raised to a science. The geologists have begun and almost c >m-
plated their magnificent design of mapping out the globe. Bell,
ENGLAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 249
Hall, and Mayo on the nerves. Prichard, Newman, and Donaldson
on anguage. Hallam and Macaulay, the only t^o historians we
have had since Gibbon. Sanscrit literature first known in 1785
Ihe diseases of the mind, Pinel, Esquirol, and Putchard. Polf:
tical economy by Adam Smith, Kicardo, and Mill. The laws of
population by Malthus, and at a great distance below by sTdler
d aSh W T'' ^^y;^^^-tely, and the discoveries byilers.h i
ad Mill A e have in a few years created numerous manufixctures
u to^^^ " T' *" ''' ''^ --Hifactures of the ancient wc^ d
Ihe gieat revolution, begun by Bacon and Descartes, was com-
pleted ; and the study of the mind became secular.
A long line of illustrious thinkers, from Xewton to Davy, and
"ationYo r'^'' '■''' '^^^^^■^•^'""^ ^^^b--d - theirEs
mnte .f ^ "T '"'' '^'' ^^P*''^ ''' ^^^^^-^ ^he intellectual
empiie of man Laws, the very existence of which had never
bn suspected have been made plain to the lowest understanding •
and are now tlie common property of the civilized world. Innu
n^'Z' T '?'^^"^^' P'""^'^^'"'^ ^-- b-" observed, col-
luumony ot their movements is explained. x\or has this restless
energy confined itself to those things by which we L. morf m
mediately surrounded. There is now hardly a spot in th "lobe
here man has not planted his foot. In the pursuit of knowfedoe
eaith wtl 1 '/'"' ''''''"'^''^ '^'' ^■^^'■tl'^-^t extremities of the
a tilte RvT-'^v^'P' '' «'^^^'*^"«- ' '''^'''''y tl^^t nothing can
fl d o'f W T- ^f "^^^^^^ "^ 1^-- i"n.ost recesses, hasten
nee of htt Tn l^^'^^"'^^^*^"^- ^H that she, in the exuber-
nin stttlT ; "^". "^PP^^' 1>-^ ^-n y-thered up and made
haTaTl tl i. , T '^'PT'^' '' "^'^"- ^' '^ ^y '"^^ -^d for him
uln .1 /'"'";*^'""J'"'' ^^"^ ^'''^^''^ "^ l--^dless pro-
So ; h •"'!, "^^ '* '''^"^ ^^^ '^'' discoveries of scielice.
« W^"k ^^%""!^;^^^? ^«^^^!»- ^-t symptom of
appioaching decline. Wonderful as are the things wiuch have
een accomplished, there is every reason to believe%hat tty
nothing compared to what will hereafter be attained. Indeed,
1.1! 1 1 ^''' """"'"'^ ^^" ^^'^^t men who are now 1 ving,
. woidd r "^'"'Tl ^-P— -^ts, the mere mention o
ml 7' r'"'"'^"^ ^^'^ '^"'■'■'^^^^ ^f «"r ancestors. The
only one generation ago, neither wealth nor power could hope to
, 1"" .•}
';i 1
H
1:
^'1
• I)
If II m"^;''
'It ■
;fell!
'? Ir''''il
' ' fl
"7'""
i.i^iJi
250
FRAGMENTS.
procure. By tbe force of the human intellect the very conditions
under which Nature exists have been suspended. By the appli-
cation of h'eam we have diminished space. By controlling the
motion of a subtle and imponderable fluid, we have, I do not say
facilitated communication, but without an hyperbole we have an-
ticipated time. But the powers of individual men have not only
been rendered greater, they have also been made more durable.
By discoveries in the arts of healing, and, what is more impor-
tant, by discoveries respecting the prevention of disease, we have
diminished the total amount of pain ; and we have in an extra-
ordinary degree increased the average length of life. Thus it is
that the resources of even the lowest unit of the human race have
become more numerous, more powerful, and more permanent. At
the same time there have been wonderfully extended those intel-
lectual enjoyments by which we are so eminently distinguished
from the rest of the animal creation. Not only have the sources
of these mental pleasures been widened ; they have also been
multiplied. New branches of knowledge are being constantly
opened, and the field of thought has been so incredibly enlarged
that even the most sluggish mind may well be lost in amazement
at the boundless expanse by which it is surrounded.
This is what has been done by the intellect of man. This is
what has been done by those noble faculties which a class that
yet lingers among us is constantly labouring to vilify and to
fetter. There are, indeed, various circumstances incidental to
the present stage of civilization which still preserve to these
superstitious men a certain share of their former power. But
there can, I think, be no reasonable doubt that the days of that
power are numbered. And, when their reign is brought to a final
close, there will then for the first time be allowed to proceed
without interruption the successive epochs of that moral and in-
tellectual development which we have every right to suppose will
at length conduct the human race to a state of happiness and
virtue, which a fond imagination loves to ascribe to that primitive
condition of man, of the innocence and simplicity of which we,
however, have no better evidence than what is to be found in the
traditions of the theologian and in the dreams of the poet.
ROUSSEAU AND MATERIALISM. 251
ERRORS OF VOLTAIRE.
tion oHiJT'''' ^^^^ civilizatiou has shortened the average dura-
II. The only instance I remember in which Voltaire looks upon
history as a development, is at tome xvii. p. 166 of his (Euvres
(Essai sur les Mceurs). Generally speaking, he is too fond o
20^246 'I- ';if % '''''' '''''''- «-' ^- -stance, xvii
205, 246; xvm 145. He evidently had no notion of i as a
science. See his remarks on "the utility of history," in F L!
ments sur I'Histoire, article viii. CEuvres, xxvii. 216-218 °
III. Voltaire may be justly charged with an unphilosophical
contempt for the middle ages, and with a still mo/e unphUoso
phical contempt for antiquity. i^^iiu&u
IV. If I may venture to point out what I conceive to be the
errors of this great man, I should class them under three heads'
an undue contempt for antiquity; a disposition to assign grelt
events to little causes ; and an ignorance of economicaUcifnce
which he might have learnt from Hume, though QuesnaTcould
each him little, and Turgot had not yet written^ Even in 1768
he speaks contemptuously of the middle a^es «
V It appears from passages in Luther^ Correspondence that,
long before the dispute with Tetzel," he was dissatisfied " with
h prevailing system of theology, and the actual condition of the
i p llr ''' '^''"'^'^"^ ''"^y '^^ L^tbe^ i^ Bogers's Essays,
ROUSSEAU AND MATERIALISM.
While the French were thus outstripping the rest of Europe in
the general comprehensiveness of their views, there was un^
ortunately forming a school of literature which was destined to
etard their progress. Indeed, it could hardly have been .expected
hat so rapid a movement as that which followed the death of
i^ouis XIV. could have taken place without causing oerious
TZ'^\ I !^T'^ "^^"^ °^ ^'^°"^' possessed of an influence
ot which there had then been no example, were intoxicated by
' Essai sur les Mceurs, in (Euvres, tomo xv. pp. 10, 11
" Pyrrhonisme de I'Histoire, in (Euvres, tome xxvi.'p. 188.
Mil?
If ""
i '
ii
s ,
:m
I mm
.Mti
252
FRAGMENTS.
their own success. At the same time, the government, which
was constantly becoming more contemptible, did everything in
its pnwer to irritate those great writers to whom France looked
up with such respect. This tended still further to embitter their
feelings; and by the middle of the eighteenth century it was
evident that a deadly struggle was about to begin between the
literature of France and the government of J'rance. Those who
are acquainted with the works of that age will find ample proofs
of this, which may be illustrated by a comparison of the ditferent
writings of Voltaire. This great and good man had always shovra
a disposition to keep on terms with the government, and what-
ever may be the prejudices of those who only know his works by
their reputation, it is certain that he was as much a lover of order
as a lover of liberty. But although he had now fallen into that
period of life of which an excess of caution is the usual cha-
racteristic, it is remarkable that the further he advanced in years
the more pungent were his sarcasms against ministers, the more
violent were his invectives against despotism. In his Life of
Charles XII., which was his first historical work, he speaks ser-
vilely of kings. In a man like Voltaire, whose sagacity has
seldom been equalled, and whose honesty of intention is indis-
putable, this change is well worthy of attention, and can, I think,
only be ascribed to his deep conviction that the government of
France was so hopelessly corrupt as to render its reformation
impossible. The schism between literature and the government
was aided by another schism between literature and religion.
The first notice I have met with of Eousseau having a party is in
1770.'
It may however have been doubted if much could have been
effected by such men as tliese, whose powers were by no means
extraordinary. But there was one of a very different stamp, who
was now about to make his appearance. It was reserved for
Geneva to produce a writer who of all those in the eighteenth
century was the most eloquent, the most passionate, and the most
influential. In the same city where the great Protestant
Keformer had propagated his narrow and gloomy opinions, there
arose two centuries after his death a great social reformer, who
openly avowed doctrines from which the murderer of Servetus
would have shrunk with horror. The tenets of Rousseau were
indeed not only repugnant to all true pliilosophy, but were sub-
versive of the lowest forms of civilization. In a series of works
which, for beauty of language, and for wild fervid eloquence,
' See CEuvres de Voltaire, tome Iv. p. 177.
ROUSSEAU AND MATERIALISM 2r3
primitive man.^ ' ^"^^''^^^^ *^^ innocence of
la Bretonne published a .-omance called " L'fie„',rdespL"
in ivhich he imitates Rousseau. Le Blano advoclLd Lf '
e.p les on the stage. Liuguet supported his p^S Met" Tu
dm the Penuy Cycl„p«,dia that Pestalczi w'ls indeed b^
his educational works. And in the opinion of a mn„ .!! .7
caj^^le of judging, there would have^hec: wth^ouTrilr'ilj
The influence of these opinions upon history may be easily con
Ttlt deV' T'^'r'- '"'^'^''^'^ '' the^rogress dec;
else of Tealfh^r;" ''" """"^'^ ^^^^^^"^^ «f ^1'
ncrease ot wealth ; if all government is but an impudent nre
tension of the few to control the acts of the many ; if thesl L^n.s"
are true, then indeed it boots little to record the'^genera "^"f:
that inevitable corruption which is so rapidly stealing upo^^^^^^^^
It IS not therefore surprising that the innumerable discipLs of
Rousseau not only abstained from writing history but dW ..
care to conceal their contempt for those who occ^pted Lm elv
Z Tl^ rr''' ^^^ '^''^^ i^fl"^^^- ^^-^ immenTe and
fter the death of Voltaire was supreme, it necessarily Sb ed
thut history would be greatly neglected. This, which was The
na ural consequence of the dominion of such a Ll.ool, wis Je
tt L htnrThe -'^ '"' great revolution which wasl.;
^0 Close at hand The increasing embarrassment of the French
.Sovereign at length compelled him to have recourse to what wa.
' ^'■''""''' Co^espondance litt6rairc, tomo xv. pp. 339 340
bee Alison's Hist, ot Europe, vol. i. p. 174.
.'' i
I'
i'
If II »
"'Is' '^'1'
, )
i:
t I
254
FRAGMENTS.
:iii
I >i
I (I
considered the desperate expedient of assembling the Estates of
the realm. The literary men of France availed themselves of
this to descend into the political arena from which they had
hitherto been for the most part excluded. Within a year from
the memorable day of their entrance, they were enabled to take
an ampl^ revenge for those studied insults which a foolish
government had heaped upon them. But without tracing their
conduct, I need only point out what is sufficiently evident, that
the absorbing nature of thair new pursuits was very unfavourable
to those speculative and scientific habits which are essential to
the historian. I will merely mention two instances in which this
is particularly apparent. The younger Mirabeau was in many
respects the most extraordinary Frenchman during the latter part
of the eighteenth century. His wonderful speeches, which pro-
duced such an effect upon those who heard them, have perhaps
obscured his reputation, for the vulgar are always unwilling to
believe that a great orator can be a profound thinker. But the
truth is that, in spite of the scandalous profligacy of his private
life, he was not only the first of modern rhetoricians, but he had
also a singular aptitude for those comprehensive investigations
without which history is one of the most puerile of studies. Only
a few months before the Estates were convened, he published his
great work on the Prussian monarchy. This, though inaccurate
in many of its details, shows that he had an idea of history far
superior to that possessed by his contemporaries, and it affords, so
far as my reading extends, the first attempt to illustrate the annals
of a people by applying to them the science of Political Economy.
This alone would form an epoch in historical literature, and there
can be no doubt that in a more peaceful age Mirabeau would still
further have extended its boundaries. Indeed, such was the
interest he took in these subjects, that he intended to translate
into French Sir John Sinclair's History of the Public Kevenues
of the British Empire — a work which, notwithstanding its im-
perfections, stin remains the best we have on that important
subject. But when the Estates were assembled, Mirabeau, like
so many other eminent men, appeared as one of the representa-
tives of the people. It was on his motion that the Assembly first
set at defiance the royal authority, and he was soon afterwards
elected president of that great body whose passions he could sway
at will. Amid such excitement as this, the pursuits of philosophy
were soon forgotten, and Mirabeau entirely neglected a study for
which he was so admirably qualified. The other instance to
which I refer is that of the Abbe Sieyes, a man of a singularly
acute and penetrating intellect. This able thinker had attemptpd
ROUSSEAU AND HIS SCHOOL. £66
to study the laws which regulate the progress of society the di ■
covery of which 1 tippH liavrU,. • ., a"i-ieiy, tne dis-
served ridicule with whiVi, i,^ i i ^ ^ "^ '^"^ unde-
a.othe. great n.i„d wa. for eve. ,„,t trZSe^lr ' 'rSr'
F-eneh Eevolution, a ^dden chtk ™ XTtrr^'' °' "'!
Imtory. Indeed for [manyl years Xr Z ^ ,. '?T'" ' "'^
there was not produced in F-L , ""'' °' Voltaire
attempt .as ma'ie trpredicf fhe f '. "'"t """^ "■" ""''='' »
n. ftate Of «.tags ™rar„ll'rd.'fd::at^;\frf'
s=rkt:Ttr;s''r,ror^
which Europe is so deeply indebted Rnt t f f ™'"'' '"
this matter we must first tonuLeit„ ?, ™"""« '■'*°
our own country. ' '° ** P'^^'"^^ «f ii^'wy in
EOUSSEAU AND HIS SCHOOL.
T™ «rst attack made by Rousseau on civilization was in 1750
the 171 °' ""r r' ''™ t^^ P"- f-- i- e"s y on
aUv -•fScieace.3 Brougham adds that in 1753-4 he
pessed by him m a remarkable letter he wrote to Volta re Tn
^ Except Condorcet ^ '• ^^ ^"^^ ^"' ^"^ ^'«<^ before the Revolution.
' «ee it in Pieces Justificatives in (Euvres do Voltaire, tome i. pp. 614. 518.
11,1
I
I r H
I..
l-i si
I
!
256
FRAGMENTS.
li'
partly from the democratic movement : partly from the desire of
a reaction against materialism, and partly from that ignorant
love men naturally feel for antiquity — an explosion of discontent ;
partly the old doctrine of the corruption of man. Eousseau even
influenced travellers to exaggerate the virtues of barbarians ;
this we see in the Travels of La Perouse, Dentrecasteatix and
Levaillant.'
The effect these opinions had upon Mably is well worthy of
observation. This able man was the most influential of all tlie
French publicists of the eighteenth century ; and his most cele-
brated work has recently been edited by a celebrated living
statesman. His first treatise was called a Parallel between the
Romans and the French. It was published in 1740, and in it he
speaks with great favour of the existing order of things! Rut in
his latest works, which were written after Rousseau had estab-
lished a reputation, he entirely changes his ground, and assails
everything that is modern. This is the case in his Observations
upon the History of France, in his Entretiens de Phocion, and in
his Treatise upon Legislation, in all of which he pours forth
invective upon the degeneracy of the age, " all those follies to
which corrupted nations give the name of politeness, refinement,
and courtesy, are but the chains by which slaves are bound
and shackled," &c. &c.
Robespierre got his doctrines from Rousseau : and when a
youth he made a pilgrimage to visit him. Rousseau's views
of education were adopted by Coyer and by Pestalozzi. His
power extended to America. On his influence over Jefferson
see Tucker's Life of Jefferson, i. 255. Even Bailly, in his
History of Astronomy, talks of an ancient and civilized people
who preceded us, and to whom we owe all we know.^ In 1791,
Faust, in a work published at Brunswick, said that hernia and
a variety of other evils were first introduced by trowsers, and
were entirely unknown to innocent savages. Sacombe not only
wrote a work to show the evil of delivering women by art, but
even established what he called the anti-C:t>sarean school. After
mentioning Roussel, say, see on the physiological bearings of
Rousseau's views Lawrence's Lectures on Man, pp. 85, 86. I may
conclude my account of the influence of Rousseau by quoting, in
English, Raynal, who, though an historian, struck at the root of
all "history; and then I may say that with such principles history
was an idle study.
> See the instances in Comte, Tniite de Legislation, tome ii. pp. 399, 424, and
tome iii. p. 339.
- CEuvres de Voltaire, tome Iv. p. 353.
FRENCH LITERATURE AFTER I750.
257
Hour.: t "^.^"^I't 1 ^^r--'-^^ -- -
About 1764, Corsica, unTeriCli -^llTfo" '^ ^^^ ^^^1^^-'-
«ardin de St. Pierre "el^Je ^ I ' rT '"' ^^ '''^ ^^"^ «^'-
applied to Kousseau for a plan of t -^'^^^^eau." The Pole.
Ko..seau greatly influencedt.lsot ''riT^V • ^'^ ""^^"^^^ ^^
Le Fanatisme des PhilosoDhP« Ti^' /'' ^'^^ ^^"g^^et published
verselle(xxiv.p.520) was?o,'vr! ' ''^' '^' B^ographie uni-
force etdechaleurpouS^^ "'"^^ "^^^^ P^^^" do
eelebre genevois." ^ ^" '^'' '"^^^"^^ ^^"^« ^Pres celui du
Dumont ' says that Condorcet's wife had «
eents de Rousseau." Dumont savf (p 4 "Ifs"" P""' ^^^
great admirer of Rousseau's Contrat Sodal ^ ^^'' ^'"^ "
FREXCH LITERATURE AFTER 1750.
Poetry declined. The mind, .f
-ientific, political. EloquTl inreasT r"'"^ t'''''^'^
with 3Iontesquieu. In the hands of >! ^'.'^P"'" ^^""^^^^^"
There was no selection Fv h .^"P"^^^^^^ ^^^^ch painters.
fee also Dress, ttm^-ch" Tnd 7a Har^t ^T''
taire notices the decline of thp fJ. . 1^ ^'^ ^^^^' ^ '^I-
expresses bis horror oA^Lil^^^^^^ ^-
tlieatre is connected with diSs. hLnJ . ? '^^''^''^ *^^ ^he
«eing the ideal to tl^l t'cJ la th- "^ ' '°^ '^"^ ^^"•^-
art, controversy, or an apntl to t T ""'^ ^^ '^'' theological
evidence of its fall S^ f ''"^^■''■' ^^'^^ ^^^ ^^'^ derive
making their ax? pracHcal TheTf T T'"' '^^^ ^^^^^^ ' -^1
;o the people -teXlSf ^^^^^^^^^^^^ it
1 'OO, the drama first >,Bn„„. ^"e people to it. In France after
" las done w"h utbeear thr^e "l '"' "l" "'="-«'' J^' "»
7 no great actor/beeau t Je eCd aoZ at™/*' ^"'^ "-«
" business. Sir W .Snntt „„t- ° A 1 ^ "* " pleasure, not as
"ore ..HgbtenedV n w on V t'he T ""'T'^ ™'"™"- -»
'--e Mab,,.. to\:ui:^4r^:nfrwatriLv:»
^^uven>rssurMiraboau,p.230.
'-r-iivres, tomo ixv. UD 277 '<';<j . * i .
' Ibid. ki.. pp. 228, 336 ' ' '°'"' ^"^ ^P" ''' '' ' '^'"^ -^iii. pp. 124, 268.
S
if II »'!»
■I , "'»"1'^
' ' 1..* i '
i
258
FRAGMENTS.
quieu.' In Paul and Virginia the beauties of ip;norance are
shown." Thus, perhaps, Rousseau was properly democratic, for he
thought ignorance and vulgarity virtue. Saint-Pierre who had
attempted to establish a republican colony at tirst on the shores
of the Caspian and then in Madagascar, published the most beau-
tiful description of ignorance that has ever appeared. Raynal,
Florian, Suard, Laclos, Sillery. In France the theatre declined,
because men became too democratic and imitative. See the
admirable remarks on the beau ideal of the theatre in Sir Joshua
Reynolds' Works, ii. 71, 72; and see my Esthetics and Theatre.
Our most popidar painters are Wilkie and Hogarth : not Reynolds,
who was too great a man, and too ideal for our democratic habits.
In France theatrical composers began to write solely for the
parterre. At the end of vol. ii. of Reynolds' Works are chrono-
logical and alphabetical lists of the painters. I think after 1700
tliere were no great artists in France. Beaumarchais, the author
of Figaro, had been employed to aid the Americans in their
struggles with England.^ Marsy's abridgement of Bayle's Dic-
tionary was the first great sceptical blow.* I think Individuality
now rose in Literature. See my National Character. Even the
French Academy was seized by the philosophic spirit, and
ordered that the eloge of St. Louis should cease to be a sermon,
and be merely a dissertation on moral virtues. The Marqu ,.se de
Crequy* complains that taste was corrupted and the French lan-
guage destroyed by Grimm and Chamfort. In 1756, the Pro-
testant Fabre was arrested, and his sufferings were, afterwards
represented in the drama of L'honnete Criminel, by Fenouillet de
Falbaire.'' In 1747, Gresset was said to have painted Choiseul in
his comedy [Le] Mechant.^ On Beaumarchais' Figaro see Con-
tinuation de Sismondi, xxx. 299, 300. In 1784, Saint-Pierre, in
Etudes de la Nature, admires ancient simplicity, and hence finds
many arguments against the right of property."* Le Blanc, about
1740, observes^ that in France the ancients were entirely neg-
lected, and Greek and Latin had given way to other subjects. In
the preceding age both Corneille and Racine borrowed from the
ancients, and the combat of Corneille is due to Seneca, from
whom he borrowed, while the purer taste of Racine went to the
Greeks. In 1774 there was a decline of taste in France.'" Rous-
« Ibid. p. 165.
* Ibid, tome ii. p. 240.
' Barante, Tableau, pp. 117, 128.
' See Gcorgel, Memoires, tome i. p. 457.
» Souvenirs, tome iv. p. 101.
« Sismondi, vol. xxix. p. 52. _ ' Ibid. p. 191.
" See Villemain, Literature au dixhuiti^mc Siecle, tome iii. pp. 390, 391.
'J Lcttres d'un Franqais, tomo ii. p. 461 ; tome iii. pp. 478, 479.
'" See Le Long, Bibliotlieque historique, tome iv. p. 523.
•r-^^i '.
.WniETIC MOVF^tENT AFTER ,750. 050
seau's opera, Le Devin du ViUno-e nl.f • ^
account of its simple langua!" ^^hi^^.Tu T'* «"-«- on
onginal man ; hence, of course" ,u '""^"'"!^^' ^^^ innocence ci f
e ergy and governments. All^' , ^', ^"-^'"r: ^'"^ ^'^ ^^'«^ ^'7
of men denying a future st te tb^ '^r 5^^"' ^'^ ^^^^^^^ence
/^/•^.../.^ gratification and sen ll fv^ 7^^'''^ '^''' ^"^''S^ies to
I-vet. Alison3.ay.thttX^f,\,:-;.^^i"on^ laCo,,
\oltaire was to relieion T orv, ^ "/^^^ ^^ "social 1 fe " wi,..*
Kevol„,i„„, les poete, Lebnm et Che"er » f ' ' H "^J ^^^''"^ "^ '»
.mportnnce of the cliange wbich tookH^' ""= ''"* '""i'^^d H'e
Tom the .titr artificial t;,a„„ t fer.T^ f"""' '"•'•"•^•
to anatomical exactness. In the L, ml !fS ?'',''' '""'S™'' '''««
Sa.n.-Lambert, poetry bccamX">.,°lf °'^*«'. ^^■""^' -<>
ESTHETIC .MOVEMENT APTER ,750
=&"\:r^^;:Sti-^?-'^^-e^
ment bien les modeles qu'ils avatnf ''^!'''''^^^^^^ merveilleu.e-
^l^''ils imaginer^nt rien au dell n. f-"' ^'' ^^"^' ^^^^ '^ ^tait rail
^'^"di« que Raphael chercba1t'"'""??f^'^^^*«^entl^
-ys Tocquevilfe,« men ^rt lyTr^tet:^ •" '" *^^ ^^^ --^
,f i" t^« -Sixteenth century fCl.r? T f^' ^"^ ^-'«-
the French stage there was no mo '^Jr ^''^"^ ^''^ ^''''- On
-ore instances of the srern "a" tlCoTT 'i'^ '^^ ^^^ ^ ->
lemency of Augustus, or the^crimes o^ Ci ' ^'J'''' ' '^ ^'^^*
« an age which loved the past fi't . ''' ^^''' ''''' ^^^
ha common life was rep?ei;tecf T "'' "'' '"^ ^^^^^^ 1-0
that m the reign of Louis XIV h T"'^"«^'^"^'' well observes
" Ibid. p. 116 •^'^"^•^^^•' '™^'- 'V. pp. «2, 83. "' '•
' Ibid. pp. 130, i3i_
s 2
,l:-:^
^' '
J ii'itiii!,^''
I I,' I I • '<
• I I » ' '|( i
260
FRAGMENTS.
but which escape attention on the stage. But afterivards the
style became careless, because plays were written to be seen by
the people and not read by scholars. Indeed, I think that it was
only after 1750 that prose was first introduced on the stage.
Our most popular artists are Hogarth and Wilkie, not Reynolds,
who was too ideal for om' democratic habits, and would have
suited Italy. David sacrificed idea to anatomical correctness.
In the hands of CoHrdeau and Delille and Saint-Lambert, poetry
became descriptive. Observe the democratic minuteness of the
Dutch painters. Of the famous statue of Voltaire erected by
Pigale in 1772, Morellet says,' "Pigale, pour montrer son savoir
en anatomie, a fait un vieillard nu et decharne, un squelette, defaut
a, peine rachete par la verite et la vie que I'on admire dans la
physioiiomie et I'attitude du vieillard."
CLASSICAL SCHOOL.
Voltaire knew little of Latin and scarcely anything of Greek
literature, and even Barthelemy has made many mistakes.
Schlegel pours out his wrath upon Voltaire for misunderstanding
Aristophanes. Arnold* well observes how natural it is to ignorant
and vain men to undervalue the age in which they live ; " our
personal superiority seemo much more advanced by decrying our
contemporaries: than by decrying our fathers. The dead are not
our real rivals, nor is pride very much gratified by asserting a
superiority over those who cannot deny it It is far more
tempting to personal vanity to think ourselves the only wise
amongst a generation of fools than to glory in belonging to a wise
generation, where our personal wisdom, be it what it may, can
not at least have the distinction of singularity."
The travels of Anacharsis perhaps formed the only exception
[to the indifference in the eighteenth century in France to
tlie classical school] ; but even of these Villemain truly says,'
" Les moeurs parisiennes, le bel esprit Francais, la societe ani-
mee ingenieuse, du dixhuitieme si^cle, preoceupaient Barthelemy,
et se reflechissaient involontairement dans ses tableaux." Even
.such as it was, it was too learned to be successful, and Horace Wal pole
says that it was little read in Paris ; * but we learn from Grimm'
' Memoires, tome i. p. 193.
* Lectures on Modern History, Loud. 1843, p. 88.
' Litt^raturp au dixhuitieme Si^cle, tome iii. p. 286.
* Walpole's Letters to the Countess ot Ossorv, 8vo, 1848, vol. ii. p. 396.
' Correspnndaiice litte»aire, tome xvi. p. 13o.
SCEPTICISM. 261
SCEPTICISM.
make Mm T fo ,X * L'J ^T^f • T '^?'"^ ""'""''"<''' >"
great work of pU o"';;;!*^^^ ^''^j^-^ fid' I^egan the
;jp^.e, aA wi a..rst fe"?,rrrt;s
a,.d°m„l\"c„S'tZrf " u^f • '"* »'" - Poland
.mtil tl,e time of^Middl:to„ ''The wLr f S.t T.""'?
written in a style whirh li«= v, T Hume, though
find a dozen readerr Th • '?r° ^^^^ssed, could hardly
Alter Bacon, the sceptical Lord Herbert nf n.^,;
best historian. ^eroeit ot Cherbury was our
Kead Hardouin.
onSttrt ^:^ ;ri' ^T- 'T""°« "^ ™-^
any trTbe? Z f"^^'^' ^^^ ^^^^ never have given the clerg.y
y trouble. As long as the theological spirit was alive nothing
; «- Vil,e„ain, Littdrature au dixhuiti^.e Si^cle, tome i. p. 3 ; tome ii. p. 31. ^
! ^"''-''J°"'« Miscellaneous Works, p. 437.
vol. V. ;.To" ''"•' '''"''^ '■" ^'^^°^«'« ^'^--^ Anecdotes of Eighteenth Century,
i 1
Iftj . I." ^
I IT ^fH
■'I'M-
if,'!*''
,^? ,11
Ill
262
FRAGMENTS.
could be effected. Thus, for instance, Campanella quotes the
Fathers against Aristotle, and he indignantly applies to the coui-
mentators of that great man the words — " Habent Aristoteleiii
pro Christo, Averroem pro Petro, Alexandrum pro Paulo."'
In that exceedingly silly periodical, the Quarterly Review,
there was published a few years ago an angry attack upon Robert-
son, Blair, and other eminent Scotchmen of the eighteenth cen-
tury, for their liberality, in which the Christian critic calls them
" betrayers of their Lord." Lord Brougham has taken the un-
necessary pains of answering this foolish critic.^
It is said in the Penny Cyclopaedia (article Astrology) that in
consequence of a prediction by Stoeffler, that in 1524 there would
be a universal deluge, all Europe was in an agony of fear, and
" Voltaire mentions a doctor of Toulouse who made an ark for
himself and his friends."
At the birth of Louis XIV., his mother had in her room the
astrologer Morin to take his horoscope.'
POLITICAL ECONOMY IN FRANCE IN THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Before giving an account of political economy, relate the demo-
cratic tendencies, then say that these tendencies were furthered
by political economy, which proved that a man is the best judge
of his own interest.
Segur< says that before this [the publication of Necker's Compte
Rendu] the nation had never paid any attention to the expenses
of government. Segur^ says that in 1781 the court " defendait
aux journaux de prononcer le nom de M. Necker." Segur« men-
tions the great success of Necker's Administration des "Finances.
M'CuUoch^ says (I ^Am^^) that Quesnaiwas the first who attempted
to make political economy a science. Voltaire never dared to
meddle with politics, and had no notion of political economy. In
Kssai sur les Mojurs, xvii. p. 298, he charges nunneries with what
in truth is one of their great recommendations, viz., that they
keep down population. Colbert forbad the exportation of corn ;
u prohibition which Voltaire defends.^ He praises Louis XIV.
' Ki^noiirier, PhilosoiDhie modenie, 1843, p. 27.
- Brougham's Men of Letters and Science, vol. i. pp. 254, 255.
' See Siecle de Louis XIV. in (Euvres de Voltaire, tome xx. p. 174,
* Memoires, tome i. p. 220. » Ibid. p. 252. « Ibid, tome ii. pp. 56, 57.
' Fulitlcal Economy, 8vo, 1843, p. 44.
• Fragments sur I'Histoire, article xix. CEuvres, tome xxvii. p. 273.
POLITICAL ECONOMY IN FEANCE. 263
for his endeavours to increase population by encouraging mar-
riage;' and^ he says that the profusion of Louis XlV./by el
couragmg trade, increased the wealth of France. See also p 239
where he expresses his admiration of Colbert. Necker was^called
power xn 1776 His plan of finance was not so much to tax a'
to borroiv: and thxs, says Mignet,3 entailed the necessity of pub-
hshmg accounts of finances, because where there is a mystery
there can be no credit. "^O'^'-^O
In 1781 Necker was dismissed, because he published a Compte
Rendu, that IS, informed the people of what was done withZir
bZ IT'/ '". '''"' ^^'^^"^'^ ^^^^°^^^^ -^' 1« Commerce d
Bles caused great excitement in Paris.^ Even Lavoisier studied
fTno! "Z""'' 1 '" '^''' ""''''''' writes,-' Le ministere est
deVrrr' n'T '^''.P^^?^^^'^ "P^^^^^^*- 1^^ dissidents
de France. DArgenson,m 1755, in a paper read before the
Academy, observes that none of the modern writers had ventured
fZ T* r ^r ^'^''"^ 'l^'^^^^"^' ''^^'^ ^^ recommended that
^should do Inl773, Voltaires was angry with the econo-
mists for attacking « le grand Colbert "
Jr ^.I'^'f ^^f ; ^f'''''' ''''^'' ^^-^^ ^^'^' tbat toitkm two
Td L/V- 7r^.^^ ''^''^'^ '''''' ^^^^^''t-r, and become grave
2^P0^^t^caL^ The well-known Duke de Richelieu boasted that
he had always prevented the « economistes " and " philosophes "
from entering the French Academy,'o but this was soon changed '>
Oeorgel, a bitter enemy of Necker, confesses that, during his first
ministry he was the idol of the people. Dupon and loubaud
ZZnT' 7r^' ^™" deMontbareyaLntions the popu-
larity of Necker's Memoire sur le Commerce des files. Lavallee '^
ddCtfi-^'''%f '/''"* ^"^^' '^ English credit. Lavallee
adds that this was the first instance (1781) of the public knowino-
Sa!n^« "'"P'" ^" 1764,Terray allowed the exportation
^ '. J "'''' "^ '''' ^^' doctrines des economistes.'"^ 80 000
copies of Necker's Administration des Finances were sold.>«
; Fragments sur I'Histoire, article xix. (Euvres, tome xx. p. 241. » Ibid p 278
Kevolution, tome i. p. 20. P" ^'^'
Galiar'''"' """'• '' ''''"°°' *°"" "•• P- '"'■ ^^'=-™. <>-omi, Filangieri,
* CEuvres de Voltaire, tome Iv. p. 138 « tkm * i ■•
; Memoires de rAcad^mie. tome'xxviU. pp. 640. 641. 643 "' '"'"• ^^ ''''
Uiuvres, tome Ixviii. p. 293.
,„ J"'^'^'^''.'^ I'ife of Jefferson, vol. i. pp. 302, 303.
Souvenirs de Crequy, tome iii n 297 ii ti -j ,.
;; Oeorgel. M.moirL.'tome i. ;p.^48?/490. 505, tome 1 '^4""^ "^ ^^ '''•
Memou^s. tome ii. p. 242 ; see also tome iii. p. 122. u Xome iii n M»
" bismoudi. tome xxix. p. 405. i. tu.vj f ^"""^ '"• P- Sl'^-
*^ ' -Ibid, tome xxx. p. 341.
', (
'= 'Is
li {r,
, ii I*
I III'' f
' I it'll.
f I
'^1 I
a I
'I 1
til
264
FRAGMENTS.
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION UNDER LOUIS XV.
... At the same time, the French government, which about
the middle of the eighteenth century seems to have readied the
maturity of its mckedness, allowed, if indeed it did not instigate,
religious persecutions of so infamous a nature that they would not
be believed if they were not attested by the documents of the
courts in which the sentences were passed. Some of these deserve
to be related as characteristic of a state of society which the
French Revolution for ever destroyed.
In 1761, a young man, named Galas, was found strangled in
his father's house at Toulouse. He had for some time been a
prey to melancholy, and there was little doubt that in a moment
of despair he had laid violent hands upon himself. But as he was
a Protestant, the French authorities affected to believe that he
had been murdered by his own father, in order to prevent his
conversion to the Catholic faith. The elder Galas was therefore
summoned before the court on this monstrous charge— a charge
not only unsupported by evidence, but full of the grossest impro-
babilities. The unhappy father brought forward ample proof of
his well-known affection for the son he was accused of liaving
murdered. It was shown that the deceased was in a state o'f
mind likely to end in suicide ; that the crime, if it ha.l been
committed, must have been known to a Catholic servant, by
whom he was constantly accompanied ; and that, independently of
these considerations, it was impossible for an infirm old man to
strangle one who was young and active, and to do this without
any disturbance being heard in the house. But all was in vain.
The probability that a heretic would commit any crime was con-
sidered to outweigh every argument. The property of the family
was confiscated; the younger son of Galas was banished; and
Galas himself, in conformity with a public judicial sentence, was
broken on the wheel, protesting his innocence amid the tortures
in which he died.
In 1765, a wooden crucifix on the bridge of Abbeville was
found to have been injured apparently by blows from a sword.
The bishop of Amiens, as soon as he heard of this, formed with
his clergy a solemn procession to the scene of the outrage ; and
every exertion was made to discover its authors. At length two
youths, named Barre and D'fitallonde, were arrested. It was,
however, found impossible to prove that they had injured the
crucifix, but there were witnesses ready to charr^e them with
other ofiFences. It was said that they had sung irreligious songs,
THE JESUITS IN FRANCE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 265
that they had spoken unfavourably of the Eucharist and thnf
nty. Barre, who was a boy of eighteen, D'Stallonde who wL
scarcely 3«teeo, were sentenced to have their tonKues t"rn out
to have the,r right hands cut off, and then to he bTnt al"e Tl
"pe S:„Thfp'''^'*"r'^- '^ '" *^ -anttae 'ffe: ed
nis escape into the Prussian territories, where he received the
protection of Frederick the Great. Immense exertions werelaSe
to procure the pardon of Barre, but the king wou d noroveHook
"clfwtlhr f t-^^^'.^'^' ''' unfoiLate boy wastut
1 cly buint, the only mitigation of the sentence bein^ that he
should be executed before the body was committed to the flames!
i'|.
LOUIS XV.
His harem cost more than 100,000,000 francs, and was composed
tm mit' 76.^"Tr'^'^^ '^""'-^ "«^« vacillation's"-
T.Te' llJ K, """ 1^^« tJ^^« twenty-five ministers of
tate He was miserably superstitious. « I] avait laisse I'ordre
des Jesuites contre ses propres affections." *
He hated men of letters.
In 1766, he publicly stated arbitrary principles.'
The king was obliged to swear to "exterminate heretics." «
In sixteen months xAIadame du Barry re<;eived monev equal to
l^ore than 200,000/. Louis XV. used to turn out ZUnl^'.
hmate children t. pi-ostitute themselves.^ In 1789 th m^o t^
ot the clergy declared in favour of the freedom of the press «
THE JESUITS IN FRANCE IN THE EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY.
piet^e^b^VnT'^^" V^' i''"^'' ^^^"° ^y ^^^'-^ -as com.
pleted by /oltaire.^ Their abolition caused immense sensation.
2. The Jesuits were the great defenders of order and ortho-
' Sismondi, tome xxix. pp. 9, 10.
^ Ibid. p. 86.
' Ibid. pp. 324, 363.
Alison, Hie*^. of Europe, vol. i. pp. 208 ^12
I Jr'""l^"''*'°" 'le Sismondi, tome xxx. pp."451, 452.
fcee (Euvres de Voltaire, tome liii. p. 278.
" Ibid. pp. 272, 341.
* Ibid. pp. 217, 272.
' Ibid, tome xxx. p. 52.
I m
it if'
r ''
• lllj.
ilf:."
266
i
FRAGMENTS.
doxy ; but they had lost their abilities and now stood in the way
of progress.'
3. In the great age of Louis XIII., the Jesuits had been
attacked by Pascal and Arnauld.
4. Louis XV. loved the Jesuits ; ' and even the Pope allowed
tliat they were suppressed contrary to his wishes.' The Dauphin
favoured them.*
5. About 1761, Berryer, "Ministre de la Marine, grand
ennemi des Jesuites."*
6. The Jesuits always aided ij- • jue against Henry IV.*'
Chatel, a Jesuit, tried to kill him, * ad RavaiUac did kill him,
as was believed, with the privity of the Jesuits.^ Under Louis
XIV. the Jesuits reigned supreme, and La Chaise and Le Tellier
enjoyed the disposal of all ecclesiastical patronage. They were
his confessors for forty years. La Chaise persecuted the Port
Royalists, and Le Tellier destroyed them. Gregoire ^ quotes from
the Lettres d'Arnaud two anecdotes characteristic of Louis XIV.'s
confessors. Louis XIV. compelled members of his family to take
Jesuits as confessors. Directly Louis XIV. died, Le Tellier was
exiled, and when he died, the Academy, contrary to custom, did
not eulogise him.'"
JANSENISM AMONG CLERGY AND EVEN
STATESMEN.
1. Directly the States-General assembled in May 1789, "Le
plus grand nombre des cures " voted against the upper clergy and
in favour of all the orders verifying their powers in the same
chamber." Georgel adds,'^ « La majorite du clerge fut pour la
reunion au tiers-etat, et la tres grand majorite du noblesse fut
d'un avis contraire."
2. The Abbe Maury, the ablest among the clergy, was a bad
man.'*
3. I think the " canoniste " Hericourt opposed ecclesiastical
pretensions.'*
• Eanke's Papste, vol. iii. pp. 194, 196. * Georgel, M^moires, tome i. p. 46,
• Flassan, Diplomatie, tome vi. p. 606. ♦ Georgel, tome i. p. 61.
' Ibid. p. 49. • Grigoire, Histoire des Confesseurs, p. 303,
' Ibid. pp. 316, 318. » Ibid. pp. 324, 325.
» Ibid. pp. 357, 358. >• Ibid. p. 379.
" Georgel, tome ii. p. 326. " Ibid. p. 329.
'• See Lamartine, Hist, des Girondins, tome i. p. 32.
" See Grfigoire, Histoire des Cont'esseurs, pp. U3, 116,
rSAPACTER OF LOUIS XVI. 267
4. It was on the motion of nno r>f +i i
THE FBENCH GOVEENMEOT ATTACKED CLEBGY.
WshoVSaSbiZpl'a'^^^^ *^ P-Ii^ent, exiled some
with tt':r;iHr„?r:c:' ^-^ ™ '«- -^ <ioi". a™,
chLh° ''^'' '""^ '""'' '° f^™" «f *-desmen attacked the
9. On October 27, 1787, was issued' « I'irre'liaieux 'mh- f
tolerance in favour of «ri^o ^ ., ^^rengieux edit of
«, do.e h, trBal dt^tL^r S; :, TnZ^r
CHARACTER OF LOUIS XVI.
been JllrlTl f, f"' ""''y '«"'"'""' a-d ^er beauty has
Ibid, tome iii. part ii. p. 198.
I Georgel, M^moires, tome ii. p. 406.
^ Sismondi, tome xxix. pp. 39 98
Voltaire, (Euvres, tome lx\n. pp. 63 64 ^ . «.„. . ,
Lavailee, tome iii. pp. 409 410 Souvonirs. tomo y. pp. 224. 226.
' Georgel, M^moires. tome ii. pp. "293. 294. • Tome iii. p. 510.
f .^1
II , d f it '
II 'If 4* !
'I .ffiJ' )*
< I
268
FRAGMENTS.
It was under these circumstances that Louis XVI. came to the
throne. This feeble and amiable man had received the worst
possible education, having been brought up by a courtier and a
Jesuit.' His great amusements were carpentering and putting in
lotteries.*
As soon as he came to the throne he refused to call to the
ministry Choiseul, who had destroyed the Jesuits. He rejected
]\Iachault, and put at the head of affairs Maurepas, a feeble and
frivolous man, who was supported by the Jesuits.' He, like
Charles I., resisted the age, and like him he perished ; but he
was a good man, Charles a bad one : both were ruled by ambi-
tious wives. The age was sceptical, and the prince was super-
stitious. He is a striking instance of the inutility and helplessness
of benevolence when it is not guided by intellect. His tardy
reforms showed his weakness. M. Renee'* happily says that
Louis XVI. " n'avait pas la jalousie des hommes plus grand que
lui, mais en avait promptement la fatigue."
Necker and Turgot, the only two statesmen, were disgraced.
Directly on the accession of Louis XVI., Maurepas, not the king,
called Turgot to the finances :•"* but Renee says^ that in 1774 the
king, contrary to the wish of Maurepas, gave him the controller-
ship. In 1774, Turgot induced Maurepas to bring into the
council Malesherbes, a very liberal man. But in 1776 the king
dismissed Turgot with insult.^ A letter Turgot wrote him was
returned unopened ; ^ and he was succeeded as controller-general
by the miserable Clugny.^
In 1776, Necker was made controller-general in the place of
Clugny, but was, on account of being a Protestant, only called
director-general. He was a great financier.'" He, in 1781, deter-
mined not to possess responsibility without control ; he demanded
admission into the council, which he was told would be granted
to him if he would abjure his religion. Upon [this] he indig-
nantly sent in his resignation, to the universal regret of the
country." Necker was succeeded in 1781 by an ignorant man,
Joly de Fleury.'* Fleury was in 1783 succeeded by another fool,
' Continuation de Sismondi, tome xxx. pp. 13, 14.
^ Ibid. pp. 274, 277, and see Alison's Europe, vol. i. p. 245.
' Sismondi, tome xxx. pp. 20, 22, 24, and Lavall^e, tome iii. p. 493.
* Continuation de Sismondi, tome xxx. p. 232,
' Lavall^e, tome iii. p. 493.
" Sismondi, tome xxx. p. 01. » Ibid. pp. 66, 58, 87, 332,
* Georgel, M6m. tome i. p. 450.
" Sismondi, tome xxx. 90, 91, 236 ; Larallee, tome iii. p. 496.
'" Sismondi, tome xxx. pp, 98, 114, 115, 120, 412, 413,
Ibid. pp. 127, 128.
Ibid.
pp,
235, 236, 240,
CHAEACTER OF LOUIS XVI. 269
Ormesson. In 1783, the contrullership was taken from Ormesson
bv tlf"'''. it""'-' ^° ^P"^' 17«7, Calonne was succeeded'
by the cardinal Lomenie de Brienne, a still weaker man > Th
.nd.gnat.on against Brienne became' so grealtat, Tn Angl't
1788, he^resigned, and, by his advice, Xecker was called in7
man, aid procured in 1781 the dismissal of Jfecker •
rllT T'\y^t '° ^"•'' T"«°t 'ff'^^ted the most wonderful
reforms. See the list in Lavallce, iii. 494 405 Af.I.rl
min ster and friend of T,„.„„t • i J , ' Malesherbes,
Edict of >^nt;r* * . . ^ f' '*"''' ^^ re-establishing the
tdict ot Isantes, to tolerate the Protestants, whoFml the kin^
Trot ° Td""T ^"' "" "™" ~'' »" -S^ed Vf"!
lurgot. Under these circumstances the Government should
a man's hand which swelled till L 7,' ' ' ""f ''°* '''88'=' *™
the small still voi^l^ ^p^ec':L'\htt!nftheTi%" ™
Aft T' r '^'^'' "" ™'"'^"'<' P"™te fortune responsible »
After the American Eevolution, there took nlaoe in F,!
movement precisely similar to t'hat whichthtrtrTced" n he^
^rn'iisto^jre rrL''rSigtririr''™'\"S''---
torch "';^"'" fr'^'^-^ "="' "^^''-'^ *--°^ ° fo' -s
viS;, «1' ""«■ P^«J-<"»<I, could punish our kinS
"Irv the n^^T ^'""'''' """ " '''■"<"' ■■> ""> eighteent^h
emovfthtm' Tht'Tr° '° ""' "^^' ™dness was nfeded to
.™ n£r;edt'^^^^^^^^^^^
strike them agam. (Junius, at the end of his letter to the
; Rente's Sismondi, tome xx.. pp. 233 234 ^' ' ^'^^'^- P* ''^3.
Lavall^e tome Hi. p. 495. ' Ibid. p. 512.
. Creqny. Souvcnirs, tomf iii. pp. ig, 154.
tontmuaticn de Sismondi, tome zsx. p 429
I
■111
¥'
Mill; i"^^
iiiflH
' > » I ih , !
If s!p'i
'•hi
'ii
;
' ;h
ftv* ?
yi'3^
I I
V" 1
270
FBAGMENTS.
king expresses the general feeling, and compare Laing's Sweden,
pp. 408, 409). Louis XVI. was the first instance for centuries
in which a good man had been seen on the throne of France, and
this made violent measures necessary. When Louis refused to
sanction the decree, " sur les pretres non assermentes," Dumouri^z
in vain told him that the priests would be massacred, and that,
instead of saving religion, he would destroy it.' He was obstinate,
and he dismissed first Eoland and then Dumouriez.* Laraartine^
observes that the first Assembly ought at once to have declared a
Republic. When, on June iO, 1792, a mob imder Santerre broke
into the palace, the people still loved the king enough to be
indignant.* Lamartine says ' that the Girondins, and in particula'-
Vergniaud, were the real authors of the death of the king. We
in England sentenced our king to die in a solemn court Of high
commission, with all the forms, appliances, and paraphernalia of
justice. They in France, tempted by a brutal and besotted mob,
inflicted the last penalty on an innocent king, whose only fault
was his situation, and whose only crime was that he followed a
long line of ccrrupt ancestors. Spurred on by the refuse and
offal of the nation, he fell ; while with us the hostility to
Charles I. came, not from below, but from above. Lamartine''
says that even at the last moment the people did not wish
Louis XVI. to be executed. The American democracy was not
bloody, for the people never loved kings, and the educated men of
the south headed the rebellion. The leaders of our revolution
met their king in the field, and, having discomfited him there,
they carried him to the block. The French had been brutalized
by slavery to an extent which those who know them at the present
day can hardly believe.^ Even in December, 1791, Louis XVI.
was playing a double game. See his letter to the King of Prussia
in Lamartine, Hist, des Grirondins, i. 228, 229.
FRENCH REVOLUTION.
Before the Revolution a long peace (?) had turned men from
war to politics. In 1789, the Abbe Maury, the ablest orator
among the clergy, was a bad man.
When the alteration of dress was introduced, the cohesion of
' Lamartine, tome ii. pp. 225, 228.
• Ibid, tome i. pp. 305, 323.
* Ibid, tome v. pp. 47, 48, 53.
' Ibid, tome i. p. 32.
» Ibid. p. 253.
* Ibid, tome iii. pp. 2-5.
• Ibid. p. 75.
:'8 Sweden,
centuries
ranee, and
refused to
)i'mouri^z
and that,
obstinate,
^amartine^
declared a
erre broke
iigh to be
particular-
cing. We
rt of high
lernalia of
)tted mob,
only fault
Followed a
refuse and
3stility to
^amartine^
not wish
y was not
,ed men of
revolution
lim there,
brutalized
be present
louis XVI,
of Prussia
FRENCH REVOLUTION.
^Ires. 0. the sta.e. There wa, no X W E.iJm:Z:2
srha.^si'Xr' - "-- deeC-s::!^
Lamailf. ''''■'' '°~" »' "*" "-' 1»'^ '^e biting remark, in
f , wi.u. j^ouis AVI. at his accession chosp fnr r^viv^,
minister, « was overthrown h^ fi i^ u . P'^°^®
If^^'^m." .^"'f/-" ^-^-i Calvinirt,' was called to power in
ceoun ;f twT ^"J"; "-"""<'<' th" -"^"-sity of publishing n
Tno credit """' ''"™" "^^'^ '""^^^ '» "^='-7 «"=rel,;;
AsImbtT;r''Tr!S" '"'"''■""« Cahinistic, demanded the
that whJ. f, , "'' ^'"'"' • """^ Necker demanded an order
hat wheri the c ergy a.«mbled the eur& should be admitted
icons' ' ""'""'^ °' "" ''«"'"^' « ""P» -d 35 abbr„;
men from
[est orator
ohesion of
ii, pp. 2-3.
NOTES FOR FREXCH REVOLUTION.
caS • J-Sriog^S^e.- ' ''™"' ™^ "^^' Wstoriog^phe, he
' Vol. i. pp. 48, 49.
' Mignet, vol. i. pp. 16, 17.
" Ibid. vol. i. pp. 33, 34.
' Souvenirs de Crequy, vol. iv. 150.
^ Vol. vi), p. 200,
* Ibid. Tol. i. pp. 18, 19.
• Souvunirs, vol. iii. 307, 310.
'^
272
FRAGMENTS.
I IT
On Memoires de Bachaumont, see Souvenirs de Crequy, tome iv.
p. 157.
Foi' a very amusing, but, I think, exaggerated account of Madame
Necker, see Souvenirs de Crequy, iv. pp. 108-182.
Crequy' says Maurepas liad little religion, though honest; but that
to him and to his devotion for Necker are to be ascribed the French
Kevolution.
On the extent to which the revolutionary spirit under Louia XVI.
seized all the departments of literature, see the very curious remarks
in Souvenirs de Crequy, tome iv., chap, xi., and particularly p. 2o;i.
Madame [de] Crequy says* "dans la classe bourgeoise, oil I'incredulito
moderne et la vanite philosophique avaient fait un ravage affreux."
See also Georgel, Memoires, ii. 231, 232. Here we see the difference.
In England the upper classes became sceptical ; in France, never.
A whimsical description of Franklin is given by the Alarquise de
Crequy, who, of course was quite unable to understand his merits.'
For evidence of the hostility of the French clergy to the great move-
ment even in 1782, see Crequy, Souvenirs, iv. 261-268.
Crequy says* that Necker published his Compte Rendu without the
king's consent.
The Marquise de Crequy* has a very characteristic remark on
Mirabeau's eloquence.
Swinburne, who was in Paris when Louis XV. died, mentions the
joy of the people.®
On July 1, 1780, fifteen days before the dismissal of Necker, Mr.
Swinburne writes from Versailles, 'Necker is very popular, and makes
up to the Tiers Etat. Being a Calvinist, he has a horror of the French
clergy, and being of low origin naturally dislikes the nobles."^
Swinburne, who was in Paris in 1796, mentions some striking
instances of the facility with which divorces were procured,* and the
same thing in 1793 is noticed in Burke's Works, ii. 298.
In 1796 murders were most common in Paris .^
On June 7, 1797, Swinburne, who was in Paris oflBcially, writes,'"
" Everything now seems to take a turn towards tranquillity and soci-
ableness."
At Calais, in November, 1796, " Sunday is observed here ; for nobody
will have anything to say to Decades ;" and " a great apathy, despair,
or indifference, seems to have got the better of all the French." "
Madame Bx)land — Lamartine'* has given a strikingly beautiful
account of this wonderful woman.
Coleridge *^ says the Revolution was a national act.
' Souvenirs, tome iv. pp. 210, 211.
• Ibid, tome iv. pp. 258, 260.
* Ibid, tome vi. p. 77.
' Swinburne's Courts of Europe, vol.
» Ibid. pp. 150, 157.
" Ibid. pp. 116, 117.
>» The Friend, i. 246.
p. 81.
« Ibid, tome vi. p. 29.
* Ibid, tome v. p. 34.
' Courts of Europe, vol. i. p. 23.
' Ibid. pp. 143, 144.
'• Ibid. p. 247.
'- Girondins, tome ii. pp. 3, 38.
NOTES FOR FRENCH REVOLUTION.
V r 273
*oi' a disgraceful anecdote of fli« v^^ i
, Sl^r"' "^ ^"»-'' •»"- »'■ ''"C see W«„, ,„., ,,
.a'Tot:;™^' *" ^°- ^■. »- »' Ws acoerio., ooald not
Difference between sedition, and revolntion '
fratifaise, vii. 482, 483. ' ^' '^ '" Flassan, Diplom.
--'^'"4e?^^^^^^^^ P-titute his public nustress,
one wept at tl.e death of Louis XV V. n 'T^'' '""y"' ^'^^^ »«
"Feuillans" were a moderate plrty J^'^^^'^'Sf allows that the
ever see anything wrong in hfs own W °'^' ' ^^° '^'^"''^ i^^^dly
grants.9 And so does the Prhl d^Af r^"' ^T^^ ^^^"^'^ '^^ Emi^l
the Girondins of beinr^rivv tnfl ^^^'"^- ^'^'Sel^' accuses
The Emigrants, ^n^^^^^^ZT' '^^^^"^'^^ ^' ^^^^
foreign princes to war. Even Geor^.n ?r f *^"''"/'°"'^trj, stirred up
ists were strengthened by Z Treatfli P , r^'^**^"* '^' Revolution-
Prussia swore ^t Coblent^z n^ertZ !l I ^^"'^"''^ ^^"^'^^ of
de France aurait recouvre slnlustr? Pt7" ' T' '^"^^ "^'^^^^^
sa puissance et sa majeste " i? Sel t'tt °^.""^^«^^« f'^n9aise toute
remarks of Georgel o^ the impriso"^ Lt "^ t" ?' ''' *'^ '""P^^^^
says that the 10th of Au J^ndT^ ^^^""- ^^^^^g^^ '^
caused by the presence i^th^l \ ''"'"^' °^ September tere
wick's arJ.y. L Z tome v pTe ""*^^ °' *^^ ^"^^ °^ ^-n-
Georgel '5 says that on the trial of Louis XVI th.p- ^- •
to prolong the process in order to destrov boH,!, ^7°"^^°' ^^'^^^
Even in Paris the execution of Louis Xv7 "' ^""^ *^^ Jacobins,
with unusual candour savs thril fl T ""P'^'^^^^-'' Georgel '^
caused by the personalfea s of kin.s L f t "f '^ °^^ ^^^^ --
of Louis XVL 'l do not know th'eauthotv;'^ Tf' ^^^^'^ ^'^^ ^^*«
cnmes of the Revolution in Georgel 'vaS^^oti *^' ^''''^ '''' ^' ^^-
Gregoire'8 says of Louis XV » =1' i '
Chateauroux et ses sceurs " E^LSL TT '^^^^^t^euses avec La
; Son of St. Louis, mZt to hefven' ' st g" '''' ^^ "^^^^ ^^'^
fesseurs, p. 403. "t^aven. feee Gregoire Hist, des Con-
' Lamartine, tome iv. p. 87 2 t«„, • „.
:jDipWatiefra„,aise'tome.ii. p. 115 '•'•''
^ iJlemoires, tome i. p. 176. - ■
• Ibid, tome iii. pp. 286, 302.
Oeorgel, M^moires, p. 339
* Ibid. p. 463.
" Ibid. p. 289.
' Ibid. p. 30.
* Ibid. p. 463.
' Ibid. p. 300. IT,.,.-. ■
'« M^moires de Montbarey, p 229 "" ^" *'^-
;; ;j:| ?• ^^^- "md. p. 445
Ibid tome, V. p. 194. '• Ibid. p. 279
Histoire des Confesseurs, p. 394.
. m
* id
(« I
i t
274
FRAGMENTS.
The Prince de Montbarey ' says that a few years before, the sup-
pression of the Jesuits would have been believed impossible. Mont-
barey ^ supposes the Cardinal de Bernis privy to the abolition of the
Jesuits. The Prince de Montbarey, an eye-witness, says, that in 1750
the Marquise de Pompadour was supreme, and women of the highest
rank obliged to court her.^ The Prince de Montbarey, in two remarkable
passages ■• says that by the end of the reign of Louis XV. the works of
Voltaire and Rousseau were universally read. Montbarey^ says that
the Archbishop of Toulouse (Brienne ?) and the Archbishop of Sens
were both lovers of the "philosophical party."
Read Voltaire's Louis XV. Sismondi (xxix. 289) thinks Voltaire
first introduced inoculation in France.
Georgel^ says that Breteuil had great influence on the Queen, and
prejudiced her against the Emigrants.
Even the violent Jacobins were mostly educated men. See Alison,
Hist, of Europe ii. 130, 131, 218.
INFLUENCE OF ENGLAND AND COALITION
ON FEANCE.
EvE^ Robespierre at first wished to abolish the penalty of death.'
Directly after the unsuccessful flight of Louis XVI. in 1791, the
Marquis de Bouille writes to say, that if a hair of the head of
the king was injured, there should not be left a stone in Paris.
" I know the roads," said the traitor, " and I will lead the foreign
armies."^
In 1794, the English were accused of arming an assassin against
the life of Robespierre.^ The circumstances connected with the
fall of Robespierre are the worst part of Lamartine's book. He
says ^° that the Reign of Terror would have ceased if Robespierre
had not fallen.
CONSEQUENCE OF ENGLAND INTERFERING WITH
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
If foreigners had not interfered, the French Revolution would
have been milder, for the Girondists would not have fallen. The
war declared by England injured us, but it almost ruined France.
' M^moires, tome i. p. 212.
* Ibid. iii. pp. 95, 108.
" Gcorgcl, ilcinoircs, tome iii. 106. ' Lamartine, Girondius, tome i. p. 52
• Ibid. p. 128. » Ibid, tome viii. pp. 134, 137, 207. '» Ibid. p. 270,
2 Ibid. p. 209. • Ibid. pp. 140, 142, 159.
» Ibid. pp. 144, 206, 337.
ENGLAND mEErEEIK« WITH rHE.VCH HEVOLUIION. 27.5
By increasing the violence of ih^ p i x-
violence of the reaction ^Lsecu/ed ,1;° '""'""'"^ "'"
The interference of Eno'land made ti, p ''7'"™ °f Napoleon.
..;™n, a social di.p„te^':"' a^'ot. ^^^"'ITr^J ''^
of the peculiar hatred ag.,inst Eno-hnd ili • °"''™'"=
432, and in particular f,p. 632, 633 v'i 22 226' Td'"; ''"'
hatred was natiml when the Frerch k! j ., '"'^<"'«'' "'«'
the freest country on the eLth . "''"^ ^'^ "PPO'^d hy
™rived the inspLtio:s\rttir\r"^e«r T' ''V'^
that everything became more violent r^ I' ^ ^ '^'''^^ '''^'
abolished. Eousseau was'^eeetd by M^^^
ble crimes and loss of life during, ih. 7 .n. '''' ^^^ *^^•"■
iii- pp. 1 95, 209. At leno th he ^n f"'^"". "^ ^''''' ^^^ ^^^'^^^
was succeeded by despojfsm '^'^^'"^'fj'f^ Allowed. Anarchy
established ; marrfagrr 'turned il ^t"^'^' '^^'^^^ -'
became a brothel. The .en uT If F "^^^^^inage, and France
mihtary, and this part! in ha ed of T''i "7 '^^^"^^ ^^^"'^^^
the destruction of al oth.l i "^^"^' ^"^ P^^'^lj from
club of the Jaec^Lj^^tsayTS^^^^^^^^^
pronounced itself more strongly in favour nft 'P'"''° ^'''^^
Thus the despotism of .\apoion w. ""'"" ^^^asures."
not have happened but for the viT" ^°"^?«^^^3^' ^"d would
attempt d to^o.c. the^B^r . fp4\:^^l ^^^^^^^ ^"^^-^
■spirit which that violence created. In i? 95 the T" ^'^'''^'^
appeared ; even dress became elegant- the 1 "^'''' '^''-
Oirondists and Christianity were re'peal^d . !, ""^T'' '^''
were disarmed; and "thus terminated tb / ^''^°"'^"
tude."^ Everythinjr showed fh!f '''^" ^^ *^« ^ulti-
people ; and t'he #i» wa;:rtrr"''f '°^ '' ' ^^^^
supreme.^ In 1792, when we fiTt J . ?'"''''*'""' ''^''^ ^'^'
were 98 ; but in 179;,They were 5 T\ 7'f\ '^' ' ^'' ^-^^«
was nearly destroyed the^flTet m'ti^^H "fj ^'" ' P"^^^« ^^^it
In 1797, the hatred ftltfw^T '"^ *^' "^'^'^ ^^ ^^^^.^
-bled th; ^acobtttlny^^ ^^-^^- f ^ English
was Xapoleon ; o ll tl "s i " t l^I^ t ITth' ''^' ''"^^^^^^
of military despotism in France." IZZ:!:^^^^^
^ Ibid. vol. i„. pp. 589, 590, 6(14, 605 ^ . J^'''' PP- 58'5. 588.
. i^]'^- ^"1' iv. pp. 219, 233. 23fi ^^'^^ P- 627.
■ ibio >■•• ''".^ "" —
Alison, vol
W'. 398, 40-1, 405. See
IV.
p. 409.
ilso George], M^moi
ires, tome v,
PP- 415, 416.
4
'11
I r
'.'ISI
t t
iivii
I I
n
T 2
276
FRAGMENTS.
m
1!M
leou showed great anxiety " to detach himself from the govern-
ment, from his strong and growing aversion to the Jacobin party,
which the revohition of the 18th Fructidor had placed at the
head of the republic."' In 1799, the military enthusiasm was
dying away, but as England continued hostile, it was absolutely
necessary to revive it, and to put a great general at the head of
affairs.' However, directly Napoleon was made First Consul he
proposed peace, but England (a.d. 1799), in an insulting reply,
proposed that France should restore the Bourbons.' The result
was, as Alison confesses,* that in 1800, all the military enthusiasm
which since 1793 had died away, was renewed. At length Eng-
land Lad to pay the penalty of her crimes ; and in 1800 the
whole of Europe, which she had stirred up against France, was
now by Napoleon turned against herself.*
About 1793, an order was issued by Eobespierre forbidding
quarter to be given to the English .« In 1803, Napoleon made a
monstrous claim on us about Peltier.^ If France had interfered
with us in 1643, Charles II. would never have been restored.
In September, 1791, the king accepted the constitution, and all
was cordiality between him and the Assembly;* but now it was,
says Lamartine, that the kings and aristocracies in Europe became
afraid of their own interests. Coblentz now became the centre of
their counter-revolutionary conspiracy.'' And in August the
emperor and Frederick William of Prussia arrived at Pilnitz.
There was then issued a proclamation, « qui fut la date d'une
guerre de vingt-deux ans." This was the declaration of Pilnitz,
to which all the European courts except England in some decree
acceded. Louis XVI. ordered the emigrants at Coblentz to
disarm, which they refused to do, and in December 1791, the
emperor declared he would aid them.'o Directly the Legislative
Assembly met in 1791, there was shown a reaction in favour of
Louis XVI.'* Robespierre, who continued to increase in power,
did not wish for war, and therefore he quarrelled with the Griron-
dins; but it was in vain, for on December 21st, the Emperor
Leopold, by a declaration, increased the war party in the Assembly.
And on February 7, 1792, an alliance was conchided against
France between Austria and Prussia, and war was ready to break
• Alison, vol. iv. pp. 412, 558. « Ibid. vol. v. p. 165.
» Ibid. pp. 165, 245, 247, 248. * Ibid. p. 280. » Ibid. p. 505.
• Pollew's Life of Lord Sillmout^, vol, i, p. 103.
' See Pellew's Life of Sidnioutl., vol. ii. pp. 154, 157, and see p. 177 respecting the
infiitnous detention of the English in 1803.
• I.iimiirtiiiH. Hist, des Girondins, tome i. pp. 19fi -199,
Ibid. pp. 205, .32.
Ibid. pp. 233-239.
Ibid. pp. 256, 259, 2<-
ranee, was
ENGLAND INTERFEEING WITH FRENCH REVOLUTION. 277
[out], when Leopold suddenly died Now ^nmn ^-t^
dency, and, says Lamartine,> Dumouriez wa for two J '^ ''''""
dictator in everything- hnf .."^ "^^ '''^^;°^ *^« J^ars supreme
Prussia frorn7l^^\lTFT.LTr' ""' '"'' *^ ^^P^^^^
prince de Kaum" V!^ i ^^ '^^' ^^^^^ ^^^ "^ar, and " le
vain requested the emigrants not to attack 7hl
Franrp 3 m, ^„ ,1 . . , ^" airacK their own country.
rrance. ihey determined to disobev him or.A +1 j , •'^'
hostilities now began in Belgium « mr Hp= .0,, V
aux trahisons de it cour." The milit!^ 1 7 "^"^ ? ™P^^'"^^
1 i ui ^ugubc 10. lUen came the threats frnm T « v j '
and ro„ Lye, where ^'esprit catholique enreeSar l^t
provisionally suspended him.- On aZ ? U th ' A 7.°"^^
which the Girondins were supreme diS!d Tf ? ^ '"
. e ;. AssernhMe ConstiU-ante!" itr'^re'^r, lHt:it
rs«r rSkinrr^ih'TTr '' ^"^^ "-^^ '—"-^
Z^ t-- And the ^nealiZTC'Z' rZ^^TS:'t
tbe people made a great effort to !,ave France '• At „ !' ^ ^
August new, reached Paris that La Fayette had fledf thaT',;'
: If
I.' /
J'., ill
1 1
1;. , ■' 1"'
> 1 l> i
«» I
I'
"If I
IF
;^
I
M'l
278
FRAG3HENTS.
alli'^d amay had entered France, that Longwy was taken, thai
Verdun had capitulated. The result was, that from the 10th of
Auji;ust to the 20th of September, was nothing but the dictatorship
of Danton. Still, even Danton hesitated before he would give the
signal for the crimes of September.' After the massacres of Sep-
tember, the execution of the king was a very slight crime. Of
these massacres a thrilling account is given by Lamartine.* At
length the storm ceased. The assassins, drunk with blood and
fatigued with crimes, reposed from their labours. But after the
battle of Valmy Paris was in imminent danger. Danton still
wished to save the life of the king ; and the miserable prejudices
of the Girondins in favour of antiquity prevented them seizing
the idea of " a Christian democracy ;" and they had no conception
of a republic that was not modelled on that of Rome.^
After the bad days of September 1792, the Jacobins declined,
and even Danton was tired of blood. And after the 2nd of Sep-
tember, Robespi'crre no longer appeared at the sittings of the
Commune. In October the municipal elections came on, and the
moderate party triumphed over the Jacobins in nearly all tlie
sections.* Even in the Convention the Jacobins trembled for
their favourite Robespierre. Danton desired to save the life of
the king,' but as Fonfrede wrote,^ it was necessary to show
courage. "C'est au moment oil les potentate de I'Eiu-ope se liguent
contre nous que nous leur offrirons le spectacle d'un roi supplicie."
(At first, I believe a republic might have been established
peaceably, as in 1848.) Directly Louis XVI. was deposed. Lord
ffower, the English ambassador was recalled; and tlie moment
the news of his execution reached London M. de Chauvelin was
ordered to quit England in twenty-four hours.'' Chauvelin, re-
turning to Paris, said that the English were preparing to rise
against Pitt and George III., and then France declared war
against England and Holland. (The rupture between England
and France was the more injurious, because Dumouriez had, I
tlii)ik, so beaten and intimidated Prussia and Austria as to
dispose them for peace.) The day after the death of Louis XVI.
Catherine concluded an offensive and defensive treaty with
England.^ The execution of Louis, like that of Charles, strengtli-
ened the moderate party. See the fine remarks in Lainartine's
Girondins, v. pp. 86, 87. In April, the Vendean war. In June
' Lamartine.Histoire des Girondins, tome iii, pp. 217, 223.
-' Ibid, tome iii. pp. 239-275.
'' Ibid, tome iv. pp. 32, 46, 64, 66. •• Ibid. pp. 84, 85, 98, 137, 138.
' ibid. pp. 154, 177. « Tome iv. p. 179.
» Lamartine, tome v. pp. 119, 120. • Ibid, tome v. p. 122.
' Ibid, pp
; ihi.i. pp
' Ibid. p.
'» Ibid, on
EMIAND INIEEPEKINa WITH FKENCH EEVOIUTION. 279
France. In Sst 1793 F^' '^'"■°P^*'«-«'<' featie, against
ti.e alUe.. a' he end 'of ^92 Tn'" "" *"""' "^"^^ ^f™™
he wished to save the kinj- and n^ *'"' ™' '"■P'™'=' ^"^
pl^der^dT^irh and\r 7'"%""''^' *^™* -- and
Lve,nentsatL;:tard'i;v^:de ro/rdXatoTc: t"' '"'
Germany, of the conspiracy of DumourL ^ ''""^ "'
now sent to the frontierf ■ theTl,?.-- ^°"""^"™«« were
most anarchical propolis maSe- «nd "^ *"'' ""'^ ""»
.ion organised agL^r he Giron'd ns "aX"'"^'', "' "™™-
b.^nal formed/ Still Danton fact i towards Jh ""'",'"-
but at lenath turned ian,-ncf +1. towaras the Girondins,
audacity of^ltp™; of Cat «T7,e' """ '"^^^^^ '^^
Vendeans and the threats .rf.; ■ ■■'"■«f^'°g ™<^cess of the
Violent party.. KVanTw.'n rres!:rw theT?;^ '''
with the tb ' : faT79 " llloZn^^a J ""'' ?" ''™»"^"'
«.e if thrtirondlr^Ta'dlSS tTgreS ^^Z ^T
half-conquered by foreigners, would have teen ies Wed ^Th''
t^atheNvouM'^rati^pri.tTra
^n";ec?m~Xb^^-"-^^^^^^
^d fvhicb .rrrd\i^:^ir:rdr:^:s"^tir'''
agamst the enemy. Prices &c were .„! « J , ^ '^''a""^"
ti.e, .^en demaulant au plL^e tol son en^rgie ;iTn''T""
« erut obligee d'accepter aussi se, emportemenf, '" TbJZ7
cned out for nilho-P 12 tk^ i J^'''''*'^*^^^^' -Ine people
toi pillage. Ibe revolutionary tribunals were now
^ Alison's Abridgement, pp. 52, 54, 56.
^amartine, Girondins, vol. v. pp. 180, 183 187 99i s tu-j
' Ibid. pp. 241. 243 Verffnii.„n,„.i 1 °"^'.^°'' ^^*- ' Ibid. pp. 230-237,
» Ibid , r -« o«, ^'S'liaud had large views of political rights - •'a"
J.U11I, i,p_ .;,j5_267. TKiM » • -1- -io"t3, |., s^ii.
' Ibid, p 87 , iS" ""' "• ^'P- ^' ^'^' '^^' 6^. 65, 70.
'" Ibid. pp. 202-211 .. Z. 11' ^- .; l^ PP- '^S. ^^^-
'u. pp. ^Ji-^jj. It iijjJ pp_ pg^^ 23(3
, 1
' f
1 <i
II <!lt
I.'i'Ji
1.1' I
' I If
li 'i ,i!'
280
FRAGMENTS.
reorganised, and the prisons would scarcely hold the innumerahle
captives.' Robespierre wished to save the queen,^ and in October,
1793, he tried to save the Girondins.^ Robespierre, Danton, and
even Marat, were not the leaders of the Revolution : they were
merely the exponents of it. The Grirondins who now fell had,
says Lamartine, three great faults. 1st. That they did not dare to
proclaim a revolution before August 10, the day the Legislative
Assembly opened. 2nd. That they conspired against the Con-
stitution of 1791. 3rd. " D'avoir sous la Convention voulu
gouverner quand il fallut combattre." ^ The allied sovereigns
of Europe answered a manifesto by an invasion, and a theory by
a fact. How could it be expected that the old, withered, and
effete aristocracies of Europe should furnish men able to struggle
with a youthful republic — soldiers fighting for pay against men
who struggled for liberty. "Pourquoi," says the greatest historian
of these times, « Pourquoi cette difference ? " ' The first great
success of the French was at the battle of Wattignies.^ Now
first appeared Napoleon, Pichegru, and Hoche. The destruction
of Lyons destroyed even in their cradle the resources of industry.
After Lyons had surrendered, " Les demolitions coutaient quinze
millions pour aneantir une capital e de plus de trois cent millions
de valeur en edifices." ^ The nation was drunk with crime. At
Lyons, in the midst of the massacres, jewels were worn shaped
like the guillotine.* In the midst of this the civil war broke out
at Toulon.
At the beginning of 1794 «La guillotine semblait etre la
seule institution de la France." ^ Lamartine says that the object
of the new calendar was to destroy Catholicism ; for France " ne
voulut pas que I'Eglise continua a marquer au peuple les instants
de son travail ou de son repos." '« Immense numbers of the
bishops and clergy now publicly renounced their religion, and
declared that they had been carrying on a system of imposture.
" Cette abdication du Catholicisme exterieur par les pretes d'une
nation entouree depuis tant de si^cles de la puissance de ce culte,
est une des actes les plus caracteristiques de I'esprit de la Revolu-
tion." " The scenes of blood were opposed by Danton.'" Just
before he was arrested, Robespierre was afraid to attack open
crimes, but he did not hesitate to attack atheism ; and see his
' Lamartine, Girondins, tome vi. pp. 240, 246, 247.
» Ibid, tome vii. pp. 5, 6. ■• Ibid. pc. 42, 43.
• Ibid. p. 74. 1 Ibid, pi 136.
• Ibid. pp. 154, 206. i» Ibid. p. 211.
" Ibid. p. 259 ; tome viii. p. 9.
' Ibid. p. 264.
» Ibid. p. 61.
" Ibid. p. 143.
» Ibid. pp. 216, 219.
FRANCE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 281
wer/littk bettetht hi buTTh " ""'*''"'' ^"''^'P'--
1794) formed a party ealkd Tl er ' ^ ™' ""' .^'^'"^ <" •'"'y-
moderate, of aU parties and rt.!' ""™i»«"K °f "the
On June 17 17q/^ "apnsoned all the Jacobin leaders."
™ share in the ftthi .1, '"'''.'''''''• ™^' '"^™"'' '°*
brought ahout tthrLtdlfS ^dXTr^' .^t T
1794, there were most e.ecuLnsRnh '"^ '^^^^ ^" ^""^^^
of religion in Anril T'rZT r' ^^^'^'P^^"^ « ^P^ech in favour
gion in April, 1794, is in Lamartine's GirondinsJ
^',1
' 11}
'Kill l|
"iMj « •
* i '
FRANCE m THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
ralite native de son esprit i Zt ^. °' """'^'^ ''°"8'-
3 Thl ^1 °* ^''^ did justice to the middle ages
Nw ;uSi&i:^tr r r?^^™ '-^-^ ^^Si^,.
H^neuses Jd s7 P ? ^ ?^ I'Importance des Opinions re-
opinions, which, however, were revolutionary, see pp. 389,
' I-amartinr Girondins, tome vii. pp. 260, 264.
Alison s Abridgment, p. 71.
Ibid. pp. 92. 93,
I J^i^artine, Girondins, tome viii. p 74
1^'ttemture au dixhuiti^me Siicle, tome ii. p. 303.
* Ibid. p. 75.
* Ibid. p. 94.
' Ibid. pp. 123, 128, 141.
* Tome iii. p. 395.
I!
282
FEAGMENTS.
i;«
>!
391, Alison' says Madame de Stael first laid down that there
were only two epochs— ie/o/'e and after Christianity.
4. After the breaking out of the Kevolution the love of anti-
tiquity began to revive. This we find in Andre Chenier.*
0. Napoleon, as Comte says, threw everything backward. Most
of the literature was under his control. But there were some fiery
spirits which he could not repress, and which laid the foundation of
that brilliant literature which France now possesses. They were
M. de :Maistre and Madame de Stael. De Maistre was to theology
what Napoleon was to politics. Struck with horror at the
excesses of that Revolution which he had witnessed, his powerful
but gloomy mind attempted to restore France to that mental
slavery from which, since the death of Bossuet, she had been
entirely free. It does not fall within the plan of this introduction
to consider the character of his learned and eloquent works, but
in another place I shall trace the influence which they have had
in accelerating the progress of Puseyism. Madame de Stael in
her great work on Literature asserted that in all its branches
Liberty was most favourable to it. lu this work she first asserted
that during the middle ages man was progre.^sive.^ For this
work Napoleon banished her forty leagues from Paris. It seemed
likely that Napoleon would succeed in his infamous scheme of
subjugating the intellect of Christendom. At this moment, and
two centuries and a quarter after tliat memorable day on which
Elizabeth had beaten the Armada from the shoves of Britain,
England again stepped forward and saved Europe from a tyranny
even more dangerous than that of Philip.
Madame de Stael constantly laboured to effect an alliance
between philosophy and politics. This is one of lier great
merits, and one of which no subsequent discoveries can possibly
deprive her. But she has a merit even greater than this. She
was the first writer in Europe who to a philosophic, though
perhaps too scanty knowledge of history, united a knowledge
of that much hij;her philosophy which connects liberty with
religion, and literature with devotion. This, which is the brightest
aspect of modern literature, owes more to Madame de Stael than
to any other author with whose works I am acquainted.'' In
all her most matured writings she is never weary of insisting
on the great truth that a complete, fearless, unhesitating liberty
of discussion is the condition under which true religion may
be most expected to flourish. The success of her works was
' Hist, of Europe, vol. ix, p. 567.
« See Yillomivin, Litt^raturo au dixhuitieme Bi^cle, tome iv. p. 303,
• Ibid. p. 355. < Ibid. p. 375.
mm
FRANCE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 283
leception of that still higher literature which it was now to
borrow from a foreign land. '^'^
6. Even M Villemain confesses his ignorance of German '
j^;;=f=5;T;.^;.:,«s.:?.rtS:
p ' i"!,Ph;^'^«°PJ^y ^vas tauoht at Paris by M. Eoyei-CoUard "
scliol ?""'''"'" ""' '"""'""""^ ">■ '"» S»t^l' and English
13. There ai-e three great French schools. 1st. Of Semation •
C bau,s Destutt de Tracy, Garat, and Volney. 2nd oTZ'
««: Maistre, Bonald, and Lamennais. 3rd. EckJilmZ-
"ranonal spiritualism."' Sensualism proceeds frlms«aLn
Cathohcsm from revelation, eclecticism from consc ousnes >'
The Eevolutron of 1789 suspended all intellectual labo us m i'l
J4-5, when the end of the Convention and the estabi s ,me t
™ L n L; tht orsr;" ''%"-, n"°^»^"^' "'"^"
T„„+-.. ^ 'i"^ LUdt or i^ondillac, was taught bv Garat Th*:.
nshtu^e organrsed by the Directory followed tli same ^oule
aine de K LaT'^ °' ^"'™'^' "^ ^'^'^' »» »«=X'
„7. , ; Komigmere, and Lancelin.'" Evervthin,!
t^mT;^hTL\tfr ?r ^' y?^"^ -taphysicsrss
m nom the Institute. During this period, 1795 to 1803-4,
; Villemain Litt^rature au dixhuiti^nie Siecle, tome iii n 154
Cou.sin Histoire de la Philosophie, pare i. tomeTv p '5
i^irante, Tableau de la L.tterature, Paris, 1847, pp 18-20
SeeDamiron, H.stoire de la Philosophie, t^me i n 7i a jw, . >
' Ibia. tomei. p. 11 BTi-A n.'^ °Ibid. p. 83.
■° Ibid. pp. 42, L, 44. ^'^''^- P- ^'- ' Ibid. p. 41.
;i
WMi
fit jf
284
FRAGMENTS.
\i
there was hardly any opposition to sensualism ; for Bonald, who
had not written metaphysically, had little influence.' Now came
the reaction. Napoleon, who was essentially a superstitions man,
was to French philosophy what the clergy had been to the
Scotch philosophy. Under the emperor, sensualism, hated by
Napoleon, whose mind was essentially synthetic,' considerably
declined. The merit of the subsequent movement is due to
Royer-Collard, from 1811 to 1814.3 After the Restoration
metaphysics revived, and the theological school * was led by
Chateaubriand, Bonald, De Lamennais, De Maistre, Eckstein,
and Ballanche. At the same time rational spiritualism was
advocated by Madame de Stael, who, in 1814, published her
Grermany, of which she had learnt the philosophy from Benjamin
Constant, S<.'hlegel, and Villers. She first made Kant generally
known in France.* Cousin, who at first was only a commentator
on Royer-Collard, soon added a knowledge of German to that of
Scotch metaphysics, aud from the two formed eclecticism.'^ In
1802, Cabanis published his Rapports du Physique et du Morale
de I'Homme. His system was adopted by De Tracy, who is to
metaphysics what Cabanis is to physiology.*' This he did in his
Ideology,^ and what he was to metaphysics that was Volney to
morals. Volney in his Catechism, says that the greatest good
is health and life.^ The same system was adopted by Lancelin,
an able author now little known.^ Pamiron '" gives some account
of Broussais' system, but having no knowledge of medicine (as
he confesses at p. 165) he is very superficial. M» Ajais is of no
particular school." Ballanche, in his Institutions Sociales, works
out the idea of the development of the human mind. According
to him, the mind is never old, but is K\ing and jjerfectiole.
The primitive and dl -ine tradition was first spoken, then spoken
and written, and then spoken, written, and printed. In the same
way there was first pure poetry, which was the spontaneous
development of revealed truth, and as this only requires accent
and words, writing would be unnecessary. But as thought
develops itself, it becomes more material, and this gives rise to
writing. When ideas get still more abundant, writing is found
insufficient, men become impatient, and printing is invented.
Thus the three fo'-ms of tradition are oral, written, and printed.
In the first form it would have run great danger of corruption
if it were not watched over by priests and poets an 1 the admirable
' Ibid. p. 54.
' Ibid. pp. yi, 72,
» Ibid. pp. 117, 120,
" Ibid. p. 218.
' Damiron, Hist, de la Philosophie, tome i p. 49.
' Ibid. pp. 55, 56, 60. * Ibid. pp. 65-70.
• Ibid, p 73. ' Ibid. pp. 87, 99, 100.
* Ibid. p. 160. '6 Ibid. pp. 162-2U5.
FRANCE IS THE NINETEENTH CENTUKY. 285
reVMini, the docrine of the vital BrLT, 1 '!^ .u "'"'' ''^
to the school of Q,h„„i,a \fa7„7,l, I ° ' • *' ""' "PP™'""-
merit la to have pliilosophized, not into tl,! . T ' , *'"'""
to look upon coLciousL a, w' ctnee andr """f-'""
-.1 a, a pure and actual force. HoweJer hi VrT '7 t'
Ideologie, is only a .ort of phvsiol"v St f '" '"'
Leibnitz he *o„; himself a TnadLt^- Ko^ r Coltdf* T
lecture in 1811, when "rien tip «««,w .f^^^^^^^^^^d began to
Inaction centre '.erdoctZ "de C^m.r7V:T T
bave al, ideas of iS^ce ^-cauttd 1'^^ if, """d "^
not account for their existence. ThL real solutTon h1^ ''
hs: our notion, of substance, cause, time! and lea aJl „ ""' '.'
from consciousness , but in different wavs u.T ' ^"""^"'^
soul feels, it believes that it Tand Tlvf^t, ''""' "' "'"
between its i™pr.,;o„ and itslZ . ttZZuoTT'"''''
rahses, and from this moment believes r?,.f 'i"""'"'''™/' ?™e-
^bstauee, and every substane a quality /^rAftl" 'T "
act ve, it looks imnn if«oif 4"diny. jnd. As the soul is
behev^ thaf:v::^""erefhr:c:r' 7f, '^.r^^r"
that it acted, it has the ,-,l.. „<■ ■* 1. ■*' '*' remembers
by the sucei on onts ttion he ;r-l'™^ " understands
U»n, time, and eternitv T~ 7 "^'"' "' '""""^ ''"a-
.Jea of s^ace, p. x«Z;48^^Co,l!rd ^^°™ °"'"""' "" «"' "=<=
".ysticism as o'lensual sm'a r° w, ™ ^' """='' "PPO'*"' '»
by Cousin, who besan withThe ,*^f?"*,™ »"oceeded as professor
'he German. aS thfs came ht/""'""'*^' "^ ""^ ^«'-d
Pyohology into three^i silib r™eZrT„d "^ f *'
I^ibertyisthemein all if ,. i /'"''^'^"' ^^^^on, and sensibility.
deny P^rsonaHt7(Dam r" n, tT fn th"" t"'".""^ "'^^'^
of sensation there is 7io< wl„ ''., , "''" "' ''"'*™ and
-™, causaiit-^- :-: x^ -JTL-^- --
» Ti ; ) . .." '^ rnuusophio, tonie i. nn Sii-^i'ls i ti • i
• I
ll t
1 1 i't
.U
« <
t
It
m
-h
ti;
286
FRAGMENTS.
of things, the law of substance is the first ; but analytically, and
in the order of the aciiuihition of our knowledge, the law of
causality precedes that of substance. Tims all ideas are reduciltle
to what 78, and what acts. Indeed in reality, these two are one ;
the substance is the force which is, and the force is the su]>stance
which acts. The reason is supreme when it acts by itself; but
the moment the me intervenes — i.e.. the moment we reflect, the
reason becomes fallible. The criterion then of truth is neither
the opinion of men nor the opinion of the individual, but it is
spontaneous perception. As to se? ition, Cousin says that it is
the faculty of knowing of the exterior world whatever falls imder
our senses, and he denies the existence of matter, and follows
Maine de Biran in saying that the external world only consists
of forces. Damiron thinks that Cousin is not a pantheist. Ac-
cording to Cousin, humanity has three epochs. 1st. When without
reflection it merely considers the infinity which surrounds it.
2nd. It turns its eyes on itself and considers the Jin it e. 3rd.
Having still more experience, it studies the connection between
the infinite and the finite. Philosophy will have three cor-
responding epochs which are represented by the East, Greece,
and the modern era ; and in religion by pantheism, polytlieisin,
and theism ; in politics, monarchy, democracy, and a mixed form.'
Jouffroy, born in 1796, was a pupil of Cousin. He has translated
Dugald .Stewart's Sketches of Moral Philosophy, in the Preface
to wliich he triumphantly defends the moral sciences.'' (Constant,
the friend of jSIadame de Stael, introduced the German Literature
into France.) The revolutionists, after the fate of the Girondists,
anticipated the hatred of Napoleon against men who presumed to
think. In 1794 they insulted the members of the Academy,^ and
indeed in 1793 the Academies were formally suppressed.'' ]\Iorellet
notices ''' the dislike of Bonaparte to moral and political science.
Immediately after the final defeat of Napoleon there arose (about
1816), the great eclectic school of philosophy in France. M.
Cousin says ^ that his predecessor, Royer-Collard, first introduced
the Scotch philosophy into France.
There have been absurd exaggerations about Napoleon. In
1813, Campbell had some conversation with Herschel respecting
his interview with Napoleon. Herschel said to Campbell, " The
first consul did surprise me by his quickness and versatility on all
subjects ; but in science he seemed to know little more than any
' DamiroTi, Hist, de la Philosophie, tome ii. pp. 167-213.
' See M^moires de Morellet, tome ii. pp. 30, 31.
« Ibid. pp. 65, 58.
• Histoire de la Philosophie, part ii. tome i. p. 296.
« Ibid. pp. 219-223.
» Ibid. p. 217.
FRANCE m THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 2S7
affectin, to know Jre^'t'Sn h^dld^lr^^^^^ -^^^l'-'-^- '^^■''
once sentimental and picturesque In 1«rT^' t ^-'^^''^'-t^^^^ i^^ .-^t
who had just returned from Pa s* wri ! n-^'Tr -^^^^'^'»^^'«^
there was little interest fehtCl'f ' ^""'"'^ '^^^'^^'^''^ that
Sir J. Mackintosh wrl Li in^^r "^^^-"^P'^y^^- ' ^nd in 1808
de Stael draws anTml'^^^e^;^^^^^^^ '^7^""'^' '^^->-^"
power of beinff, and what sL ' f ' ''' '"'^^'^ ^'^^^ ^''''^ ^1^^
have become."* In ml t T.T.^^ """°^°" ^^'^^ «'^e might
where he had seen all the mo f ^^^^'^^^"^^•^J' ^^ites from Paris,
first man in talent JhZTCeTT ^T"^' " ^'^^'^-^ - the
briand was supreme a^dF.t^?/'°^T ^° 1802, Chateau-
H military and^eligioTs despot "m"" R^'^lf '^ l"^"^"^^"^^ ""^er
1802, notices «in what scorn R f'f^^' ^^° '''^' ^" ^^''^^ in
people.- In ISOr^bX writ^f ' 'f ^ *'^ ^^^^^^^^ ^' ^he
•the fashion among theT^^enTh h ^ ^'-^^erdam, "It is now
literature, with the exception nf.,"'''^'^"' *° ^""'^ their own
as the production of hell "' t^^rY ''^ ^°^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^J^'"'
He xorebad her to a olte ^iT^T ^f"^ ^^"^^^"« ^^ ^^tael.
in eve.7 way attempted to ."nt^^^^^^ ^f '^ ^^'^''^ ^^^^)
speaks in the highest term "f ^ J"'™''i" literature. Niebuhr
In Morell's PhifosophiearT , "'^'"'' ^' ^'^'^'' ^^Germnny^
attempt to resolve philosophy into "adit L'^^^'" -perstitious
levied, in 1797, £l90 000Oon ,-^1'^^ ^^^at public robber
his destruction of t\eW "'' ^'"^\' ^'''^'' ^'"«' "otice
a catalogue of crimes as noT ""'" '""' ""'
commit.'' His spoilt on of thS ""n '" ""^ ^^^ ^^^^ to
452,462,562. His X rl of R ^ ^'''- ^'^ ^^^^«"' ^v.
things for which, wLrmfrelvn";'; '"' t''' ^''''' ^-^ the
able. And whe^ he nftenval ' "^ ^^'^'^^' ^^ ^^^« ^^^-er-
took a still Avider ran'e Rp \ to supreme power, his crimes
ti^eir result, see lli^Ci^t^n^fsfssT ^.^-rrP^^-d
i-ense stimulus^i^e^^l-^-t^^^^
Pm'o%2i'''''^'""^^°'"'"^'-""- b. Himself, ,842, vol i. p. 4,,, See also
' Life iind Letters of B. G "Vi'nl"-'-,^ ^ 1 -
I , I
( •' ii
1 'i 'I
'0m
,1 If. I* ,'v I
1 1 » 1 1(1,
I" >i
Alison's Europe, vol. iv. p. 345.
vol.
Ibid. p. 3o2.
'• p. 265.
288
FRAGMENTS.
1798, Napoleon was accompanied to Egypt by Monge, Berth ollet,
Fourier, Larrey, Desgenettes, Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, and Denon.'
Napoleon's murder of the Albanians at Jaffa, iv. (524. His
scandalous desertion of his own army, wliich he left shut up as
prisoners in Egypt, iv. 650. His treachery towards Toussaint, vi.
129. His intamous arrest of the English, vi. 198, 199. His
murder of the Duke d'Enghien, vi. 257, 308, 323. The murder
of Palm, vii. 166. The inordinate destruction of human life,
vii. 572. His seizure of the Spanish fortresses in the midst of
profound peace, viii. 333 ; and subsequent occupation of the whole
peninsula, viii. 388. His murder of Hofer, ix. 286. His plunder,
vi. 598 ; xii. 187. Napoleon himself was indifferent to Christianity,
but he saw that the clergy were friends of despotism.'^ In 1799,
the very year he was made First Consul, he fettered the press.^
He called the Jacobins metapliysicians, and said they ought to be
thrown into the Seine.* In 1804 he was made Emperor; and,
says Alison,'' " In everything but the name, the government of
France was tlienceforward an absolute despotism." He did not
destroy the press ; he did worse ; he corrupted it." Intoxicated
with military glory, the French, soon after the battle of Austerlitz,
presented Napoleon with the most fulsome addresses. Such was
the ignorance in which France was kept by a corrupt press, that
in 1814 many of the French had never heard of the battle of
Trafalgar.^ By 1807, education was entirely in tlie hands of the
government, and of course Napoleon (like the Chinese emperors)
encouraged it.^ Napoleon, as if determined to perpetuate his
infamy beyond the grave, left a legacy to the assassin who
attempted to murder the Duke of Wellington.^
In the moment of Napoleon's fall it was soon seen what military
lionour was. All his marshals, the creatures whom he had raised
from the dust, deserted him. After the battle of Moscow, Murat,
his own brother-in-law, Berthier, his bosom friend, deserted him,'"
and so did Marmout, Ney, Augereau. Indeed Ney and Soult
committed a double treachery."
Napoleon hated political economists. And yet Say had just
done so much.'^
The retreat from Moscow and the battles of Vittoria and
Leipsic completed that ruin of Napoleon which his own violence
' Alison's Euroiie, vol. iv. p. 563. ^ Ibid. p. 641. » Ibid. vol. v. p. L'S3.
* Ibid. vol. vi. pp. 8, 60 ; vol. xi. p. 2":. » Ibid. vol. vi. p. 6u.
" Ibid. p. 355. ' Ibid. vol. viii. pp. 152-159.
• Ibid. pp. 203-205. ° Ibid. vol. ix. p. 287 ; vol. xi. p. 560.
'» Ibid. vol. xi. p. 424, 621 : vol. xiii. p. 204.
" Ibid. vol. xiii. pp. 191. 198. 204. 214, 625,
' Ibid. vol. ix. p. 427. Seo also Twiss on Progress of Political Economy.
Histo:
FRANCE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTUEY 289
still greater disgrace. The fail of N. ^''"'""K '""^^''''"^ '^^^^ '<>
i« long since passed, i^Lt d f^'^'"" ^^^^^^ ^^^^ the time
genius of a single min an pe ll^^^^^ T"''''/" "^^^'^^ t^-
world. Permanenfly change the face of the
Chateaubriand, directly he hennl nf +i
d'Enghien, threw up his appointml . T'^'' '^ ^^'' ^^^^
■m.cl, ; aud in ,1„„, we Lave D °m ' ' I """^ '■"''"l '' '»»
the retr„Kre«ive etaLIL „f v'S' 'V -^I'™-"™- On
favonred and rewarded Bertliollet and M N^Po^on
eliemists.' Sismondi •' «™ tl.nt « . . , *'<"■<"'". »« great
who took a lar<>e Z, oTthe HW '^^'r" "' '*'^ ™=the fir.,t
-y« that Lam * ignore ' w L one „ The fi"!,.'"""'"- '"'^-" '
Flassan s great work, Histoire de la Dinl„m , ^ ^' '''"' '"
authorities are rarely ,|u„ted pLt„, ' "•' fr""?'"*"' the
»me French mercharL t at it was not tm'-^ "'^ "f ''"'"^ "^
the reign of Napoleon" that 1^^!^,., i"™,'* ""•' '^"^ »f
"ake head against the mJlitarf spMt \°"''' '"^T' '"'«''■' '"
and Napoleon's poliee immediatei; sei.^d "f ht" '" '"'•
Memoires, which, in conspnnpnno '"^ manuscript
I suspect t is the IveTr^^^^^^ "ot published till 1817^h
FrenJh historians u"nf to Se tl^T "'"'' "^^^« ^-^
authorities. The sixth and latt^Hfr.. 7 ""' '^'''''^''^ their
;ho» he:;.;:^; ^^ :::■:{ fsr'it:''^ i-^--
des Kranfais des Divers fit-its i. r«fi, ^Uonteil's Histoii-e
! Ali^^on's Europe, vol. xii. p. 302. 2 n ■. , *
iDiil. vol. XIV, pp. 99, 100 ■'"'"• ^OJ- xiii. p. 201
oco Ueorgol, M.imoiros, tome i. pp. xxix xxx
See Wheweir« Bridgewuter Trea^L,^ 29^
U
II
i'6j • .,'
'■hi '"'
ii
■i
It
i
■■■}
_
200
FRAGMENTS.
he with reason complains ' that men only write the history of kings
or of ecclesiastics.^ Monteil tells us that this work cost him more
than twenty years' labour ; and yet he fancies that modern history
begins with the fourteenth century. He says* that the four-
teenth century was the age of feudality ; the fifteenth the age of
independence ; the sixteenth the age of theology ; the seventeenth
of the arts ; the eighteenth of reformers ; but that " les siecles
anterieures ont ete comme le quatorzi^me, des siecles feodaux :
ils ont ete tons enchaines, tons stationnaires, tous les memes."
Monteil actually supposes ^ that the circulating specie in France
in the fourteenth century can be ascertained by the prices of
clothes, &c., and above all, by the rates of the daily wages of
labour. Sismondi ^ says he has never quoted manuscripts. He
mistakes the use of history, which he thinks a moral lesson. He
says he is Protestant, and that his history occupied him twenty-
four years.^ Alison ^ says that, in the French Eevolution, men,
being indifferent to Christianity, drew their notions of liberty
from Rome and Greece ; hence, I am inclined to think, some of
the respect which the French now have for classical literature.
The French law against primogeniture is absurd. Even the
Americans do not compel a man to divide his property.* Tocque-
ville says^ that an error in the French Revolution was that it not
only destroyed the power of the king, but also the provincial
institutions ; thus falling into the error of being both republicon
and centralising. See however pp. 307-9, where Tocqueville
confesses that this centralizing spirit is not entirely the work of
the French Revolution ; for that it was begun by the " legistes "
in the reign of Philip the F'air. Tocqueville, the first political
writer of the age, announces himself a Catholic.'" Tocqueville "
shows himself ignorant of political economy. He says '* that the
civil leo'islation of France is more democratic than that ot
America, and that this was because Napoleon was willing to
satisfy the democratic passions of France in e^'erything except his
own power ; and willingly allowed such principles to govern the
arrangements of property and families, provided it was not
attempted to introduce them into the state. Thus, I think, one
great cause of the constant disorder in France is, that the demo-
' Monteil, Hist, des Fran9ais des divers Etats, tome i. p. 5. See also tome iv.
p. 233.
•^ Ibid, tome i. p. 6. ' Ibid. p. 6.
* Hist, des Fran^aie, tome xxix, p. 611.
' History of Europe, vol. i. p. 141.
" See Tocqueville, i .iiocratie en Amerique, tome i
» Ibul. p. 172.
" Ibid, tumu v. pp. 43, 45. See also p. 237, note.
* Ibid, tome ii. p. 206, uote.
• Ibid. pp. 613, 61(3.
p. 304.
i'' Ibid, tome iii. p- 65.
" Ibid. p. 49.
also tome iv.
FRANCE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 291
Tocqueville sajs that i. eZlo^Z tnLTV"'"''' ^"O^"'"'
™d the state gradually JoZ^^ZmT^'T '''I'T'^'
..lost of the Freach historian,, knew le/v S J."'^""^'' '"^«
t.ire. He hardly ever quotes o„r V.!^,^ »' '»'«■«■! 'itfru-
»ys that the fullest a o n^of t]fe tafh^T'^ '*"*^ ' ""'^
fVbes's State Papers, and these sLndfl thifkT "' '' '"
.Monteil, who [was] after all merelv a Wn M . ' "' "''^'•
;vi.h the greatest ciisrespeot of Vdie^X/clTr TT'"
hirge views, though, like De Maistre and l\ ^T'^=™ t"''™
Wgot. He has well seized the Iwt ^ J """"'' '"' ™' "
and truly say. that the Ref^-LCw: 'Ltit"";," 7"'-*-'
" reaction " ; and the reign of Henrv rv « , '• *'"' '*'«'"•
admiraMe remarks in Histoir "0^/1™™""'''™ ^"^ '"'
363. Lamartiae' s.ys, "NaJe-on ^f ' , "^ ""• W- 32-5-
ecrivai„s et des journaux chaSs deT' T'^T '^'"''^^ ™^' ''«'
le genie de Voltaire II tSe/nf' "''^' "' '^'^ '™'-
I'intelligence." The three heTl , ' ™"""' '* '"« ''•"*
tion are^hiers, Lalrl!;::, 'and mZ" Of tt ^T-" ''«™'"-
,«otes authorities; Lamaiine an?M gne^ r ' eT' "^^ZT'I
the middle ao-es became n. n,.iov v "«\er. m iinnland,
in France, from miirr; !^^T(^' ''''''' f ^^^^-ty ;
liberty. Capefigue « well Z th t' he T^' ^''^ ''^ ^*^^'^ ^*"
France is si Jwn by the way Twh?^^^^^^ th.F w^'f '^''''' «^
fered with langua^,, ^tj^i:^ ^tl^'^'^^ l^^^^
guages, or patois, as they are wrongly c" LI kZT"'"^ •^'";
the mischievous example of Louis XIV of .^f ^^P^^^,';^ ^'^vned
Saint-Aulaire, historiL and amL^sador ^lZT' ^''"'^''•"•
was placed at the head of aff^ s rr* ^T^'^'''''^ ^" 1«-1«'
Hallam« gives an instr. nf /.' '' '""'' ^^'^^^^ ^*' ^''«^«-
feiveb an instance of the ignorance of French writers
' J^™ocratie en Amerique, tome v. p. 207
JlbKlpp. 218, 225, 227. 228,230, 241. ^
Livil Wars in France, vol. i, p 261
' 'f;:Si: S:S;;f :t',-^r',;f '••■• -^ * »■ »»-3«.
« Rich.lieu Mazarin. et la Frnnde. ton,., ii. n 240
ilistoire do la Frondo, tome i. p. ] o ^ '
Constitutional Hist, of England, vol! i. p. 127.
u 2
t ~ I /
4<
I I
:ri I r
ii -tj
292
FKAGIIENTS.
respecting English materials for their own history. Lacretelle
gives accounts of literature and philosophy and of political
economy; the last very superficially. His account of art and
manners is miserable.'
II
GREECE.
Foreign influence. — Thebe is no proof of " very early settlements
in continental Grreece from Phoenicia and Egypt." ^
The Grecian scales for weight and money are derived from
" the Chalda^an priesthood of Babylon." ^ The Greeks certainly
derived their alphabet from the Phoenicians, and their " musical
scale from the Lydians and Phrygians " ; likewise their " statical
system " from Assyrians."
Bunsen'"' says, " Whether Plato ever was in Egypt is doubtful, '
In Asia, experience showed that animal food was imwholesomo ;
hence metempsychosis into animals. In Em-ope, the sarae
doctrine, but confined to the human body. Diodorus Siculus*^
merely says the Gauls believed that " men's souls are immor;al,
and that there is a transmigration of them into other bodies."
The Greeks arrested by that vulgar superstition which only physical
knowledge can destroy. On physical geography of Greece tee
Journal of Geographical Society, vli. 61-74, and 81-94,
Man, — " The Hesiodic theogony gives no account of anytliing
like a creation of man, nor does it seem that such an idea was
much entertained in the legendary verse of Greek imagination;
which commonly carries back the present men by successive
generations to ome primitive ancestor, himself sprung from the
soil."^ And (at p. 598) "the intimate companionship and the
occasional mistake of identity between gods and men Avere in full
Iiarmony with their reverential retrospect." At first the Greek
artists did not presume to represent the gods as beautiful ; and
" it was in statues of men that genuine ideas of beauty were first
aimed at, and in part attained, from whence they passed after-
wards to the statues of the gods." This was in B.C. 56Ji-548.'
The first "architectural monuments" are B.C. 600-550 '' The
' Lacretelle, Histoire de France pendant le dixhuiti^mo Sifecle, tome ii, pp. 1,90,
126, 286, 287, 308. 329; tome iii. pp. 224, 238.
' Grote, Hist, of Greece, vol. ii. p. 354. • Ibid. vol. ii. p. 426.
« lyd. vol. iii. pp. 286, 453, 464, 466 ; vol. iv. 102.
* Ejo'pt, vol. i. p. 60. " Book V. cap. ii. Booth, vol. i. p. 314.
(irote, Hist, of Greece, vol. i. p. 88.
Ibid. vol. IV. pp. 133, 134, and vol. vi. p. 29.
Ibid. vn. iv. p. 131.
GEEECE.
293
Aigonautic expedition is a legend ; and « one of the most cele-
brated and widely-diffused among the ancient tales of Gitce " >
The siege of Troy is fabulous, and there is no evidence tCth;re
tleh. "r ?'" r;- ^'^" '^^' ^^^"- --*^t-^ed for a time
then entire knowledge. « These myths, or current stories thi
spontaneous and earliest growth of the Greek mind, n^t t'u d
TJ^IT" '^T. '""^r"''' ^°*^"««t--l ^tock of the age to w ich
they belonged "3 The Greeks, like all barbarians, were at ii^t
™S C'-^'^'"^"^'^''^^^^^^^^^^ '''' their rdigion took a
»t:eiSirT"^elt^^tl^"^ '"''f'
heroes; in Asia, the heroes wertli^allel^^^^^^
revolting miracles. Volcanoes and earthquakes rare in GreTceVo
Ihe "re urn of the Herakieid. " is fabulous.^ " The great
mythical hero Theseus.- They placed their gods on OlymZ
he highest mountain. "In no city of historical GreecTd d
rin n . oi^'n " ""'' ''^'^' ^'''^'' f^^^' *«•' «^ ^'-^tration
"The enhv/ l^ '^'^ '^^'''''^"' ^^^^^^ ^^ f^^ulous.^
Ihe entire nakedness of the competition at Olympia was
adopted from the Spartan practice, seemingly in 14th o3L " «
fhrrSo''Th?Ff^"'^r' -^^-''^^^herto unLrwnin
unerL tn .1 i ' ."' ?^^'*' ^'' "^"^^^^ represented as
superior to the gods; and when Crcesus, king of Lydia, blamed
usdfv? "Vf fr ^r'^'"'^ ^^"' "*^^ ^od^ondescei^d 4
u.tify brmself by the lips of the priestess, replied, ' Not even a
^tr/Tl '" .'"'^"^ ' " " ""''' --^ -- tL first demo-
a es of which we have any account in liistory ; the beginnh">-
lidrs hT' ''!f' T^T^^ "'^^'' '^ '^''^ ^' innumerable vii
des, has, on he whole, steadily increased in Uurope alone
i: .1 1 "^t"''^'''" P"'"'^^^ were -separated, and by the
7" '^r- ^"'"^ ^'"" improved.n No human sacrifiU'^
I Grecian religion none of the ferocity of Asia and Amedl •
but the gods are mild and even jocular. The Greek love TZl
' Grote, Hist, of Grrece, vol. i. p 332
; Ibid. vol. i. pp. 386,43.5; vol. ii. p. 'i. 9.
■loid. vol. II. pp. i79_ 4(,4_
; Ibid. pp. p7, 338, ,ind on eunuchs, see vol i p 21
ibid. vol. ii. p. 353. ■ ^' •
_" Ibid. pp. 338, 445 ; vol. ix. p. 368.
Ibid. vol. iv. rn 2,59 9fi'> 9r,'j \ 1 ■ tt .^".■^. .ui. aj. p. o{6.
vol. i. p. 472. ^' ' • '^"'^ '° '" ^°'""' «^« Euro's Greek Literature,
'' uTjf- •"■ ^;^^' '"^ ""^' ^'- PP- 477, 478, 497.
' Ibid. vol. i. p. 460.
* ibid. p. 29.
Ibid. vol. xi. p. 373.
i' I
i
294
FKAGMENTS.
JipIK'iirs from the fact that oven tho best of them only studied
anatomy, physiology, and medicine; but no botany uor chemistry,
mineralogy, nor geology. In Asia, the forces of nature were too
dis|)ro])ortioned to tlie forces of man. No public oratory before
Greece. It was not till the Greek mind reacted on Asia that tlu^
notion of divine incarnation in the form of man was able to ari.'-e,
and what shows the true origin is tliat Christianity, foimded on
this notion, made all its great conquests in E^urope, but in Asia
has always been an exotic. The Greeks had smaller temples,
partly from a contracted religion, and partly from a smaller
command of labour. Grote says,' " The fifth century n.c. is the
first centiuy of democracy at Athens, in Sicily, and elsewhere."
Greece is the first country where we find historians. The
Athenians never tortured to death enemies or malefactors, but
kilka the latter painlessly by a cup of hemlock.* Nor would
they mutilate the bodies of the slain in battle.^ At Athens the
theatre )udd 30,000 persons, and at first everyone Lad to pay for
admission ; but Pericles arranged that the poor should enter free.''
On slavery, see Grote, iv. p. 9; ai^d vii. p. 542. Greeks "knew
no distinction of caste." * Honver does not mention a future state;
cif happiness, but only of punishment.'' Mure ^ strangely denies
that Hesiod really believed'in the existence of Pandora and Pro-
metheus. Venus fill in love with " the young Dardanian prince
Aneliises,"8 and the fruit of this intrigue was .^neas."
" In so far as the face of the interior country was concerned,
it seemed as if nature had been disposed from the beginning to
keep the population of Greece socially and politically disunited"'"
— i.e. by mountains and want of navigable rivers. Grote" says
tliat in Greece, as in Switzerland, mountain barriers made
conquest more difficult, not only from foreigners, but amoni!;
themselves ; hence, " it also kept them politically disunited, and
perpetuated their separate autonomy," and "the indefinite
nudtiplication of self-governing towns appears more marked
among the Greeks than elsewliere ; and there cannot be any
doubt that they owe it in a considerable degree to the multitude
of instdating boundaries which the configuration of their country
presented." '* This breaking up into states is common to the
Germans, and is one of the causes of their intellectual superiority.
2 Ibid. vol. ix. pp. 13, 14.
IlWa. vol. viii. pp. 438, 439, 441.
' Hist, of Greece, vol. viii. p. 462.
' Ibid. vol. :-.. p. o63.
' Mure, Hist. nC Greek Literature, vol. i. p. 70.
" Ibid. vol. 1. p. 496. • ibid. vol. ii. p. 387.
" Ibid. p. 345. » Ibid. vol. iv. p. 137.
'" G rote's Hist, of Greece, vol. ii. p. 291. " IblJ. pp. 298, 299.
'- Ibid. p. 299.
(JREECE.
296
From Uie mountains between Acliaia and Arcadia numerous
Htreams flow into the Corinthian Gulf, but few of them are
perennial, and the whole length of coast is represented as
iarb.)urless. ' « J>olitical disunion-sovereign authority witliin
the city walls thus formed a settled maxim in the Greek mind.
1 he relation between one city and another was an international
relation not a relation subsisting between members of a common
Fhtical aggregate." » At difierent times, Sparta, Athens, and
Ihebes vainly attempted centralization. The irountains were
not so large as to excite fear. Tliey were numerous enouc^i to
diminish fear by frequency, while Asiatic civilization has always
sought the table-land sklHed by mountains. The states of
Greece pressed together from wUMn, and hating each other from
without, were, trom a <ense of danger, as much as from ignorance,
torced to exaggerate the importance of their own city. Hence
that patriotism wliich, like every other virtue when predominant,
IS a vice ; and hence the meddlesome and protective character of
heir government, which was most shown in Spi^rta, where nature
l.aa more isolated the people tlian in Athens. Neither Boeotia
nor Thessaly, the two most fertile parts of Greece, could reaoli
civilization ; they were too out of the way, and Laceda3mon was
tuo removed from other coasts, but Athens was familiarized to
risk by her greater proximity to Asia Minor, and above all by tlie
easy access of Eubeea. Grote-^ says the danger of the Persian
mvasion gave rise to the first union of Greece ; but this was only
a ^political union. The difficulty of communication kept the
states separate, and therefore Greece independent. Custine ' savs
of the Russians, « La tranquillitp se maintient chez ce peuple p^ir
la lenteur et la difficulte des communications." Mure'^ says the
independence of the different states « was fostered by the natural
teatures of the country, which marked out the boundaries of the
separate principalities, and interposed barriers against mutual
encroachment." Hence too the Greeks, unlike every other
people, not only preserved their national dialects, but so cherished
thern as to cultivate them for literary purposes.^ Hence, also,
until "the Alexandrian period," they had « no common national
era tor the computation of time." ^
' Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. ii. p. 615.
" Ibid. p. 340. See also vol. iv. p. 68; vol. vi. pp. 43, 312- vol vii d 39" •
V.) 1 ,x. p. 279 ; vol. x. pp. 14, 71, 75 ; vol. xi. p. 286. ^ "
Ibul. vol. iv. pp. 428, 429, and vol. v. pp. 78, 79.
La Paissie, vol. iv. p. 214.
' Hist, of Greek Literature, vol. i. p. 102
' Tl>id. pp. 117, 118; vol. iv. p. 113.
' luid. vol. iv. pp. 74, 76.
Iirp
V
I
II'
1 I
!•'
u
.fi
f *
■:
?l^
%
I.I
'i
i
296
FRAGMENTS.
Women. — Castration and polyg^amy unknown.' The Spartan
law forbad early marriages.' "Plutarch (Agis, c. 4) dwells espe-
cially upon the increasing tendency to accumulate property in
the hands of the women " (of Sparta) ; and "Aristotle (Politik, ii.
6, 6) mentions 'a peculiar sympathy and yielding disposition
towards women in the Spartan mind.'"^ In the mythical times of
Greece women seem to have had more influence than afterwards ;
though even then a man bought his wife by making presents to
her parents.-" Both then and in " historical Greece " female slaves
were worse treated than male ones.* However, even in the time
of Homer, " Polygamy appears to be ascribed to Priam, but to no
one else, Iliad, xxi. 88." « Aristotle says that at Sparta "it was
the practice to give a large dowry when a rich man's daughter
married."' This assertion is contradicted by Plutarch, .Eliau,
and Justin : but, as Grote says,^ Aristotle's authority is superior.
In Athens, in the time of Solon, a dowry was given with wives.'
" Elpinike, the sister of Kimon," in the time of Pericles, " seems
to have played an active part in the political intrigues of the day." 'o
Aspasia, mistress of the great Pericles, was a highly accom-
plished woman of the class called " Heterse, or courtezans;" her
conversation secured her the visits of Socrates." Grote says,'^ that
at Athens " the free citizen women lived in strict, and almost
oriental recluseness, as well after being married as when single.
Everything which concerned their lives, their happiness, or their
rights, was determined or managed for them by male relatives :
and they seem to have been destitute of all mental culture and
accomplishments."" Alcibiades received with his wife "a large
dowry of ten talents."'^ Cyrus, in the time of the " Eetreat of
the Ten Thousand," had with him as mistress an accomplished
Phokaean lady named Milto. '*
Xenophon "^ mentions that in the time of Agesilaus, King of
Sparta, a woman of great influence lived at Anton (" a Laconian
town on the frontier towards -V -jadia and Triphylia "), who " spread
disaffection among all the Lacedemonians who came thither, old
as well as young." " In Sparta women had more influence than
anywhere else.'^
' Grote's History of Greece, vol. ii. p. 338. « Ibid. p. .510.
' Ibid. p. 613. also pp. 507, 503. * Ibid p 112*
» Ibid. pp. 132, 133. "Ibid. p. 113.
' Ibid. pp. 526, 540. 8 ibi^. p_ g^j,
» Ibid. vol. li). p. 186. 10 Ibid. vol. V. p, 501,
" Ibid. vol. vi. pp. 133, 134; vol. viii. p. 449. i? Ibid. vol. vi. p. 133.
" See also Mnre's Hist, of Greek Literature, vol. iv. p. 43, and vol. iii. p. 300.
'< Grote, vol. vii. p. 44. » ibid. vol. \x. p. 63.
•» Xenophon, Hellen. iii. 3, 8. " Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol, ix. p. 349,
" Mure's Hist, of Greek Literature, vol. iii. p. 76.
GREECE,
297
Sappho flourished B.C. 600, and a little later; and ''so hi^vhly
(lid Plato value her intellectual, as well as her imaginative'en-
dowments, that he assigned her the honours of sage as well as
poet ; and familiarly entitled her the tenth muse." ' « There can
be no better evidence of her surpassing fame and popularity than
the fact of her having figured as a favourite heroine of the comic
drama of Athens, to a greater extent, it would appear, than any
other histoncal personage upon record. Mention occurs of not
ess than six comedies under the name of Sappho; and her
histoiy rea or imaginary, furnished materials to nearly as many
more. (She was a native of Lesbos, a large island in the JE.eal
south of Troas and west of Pergamos). Cleobulus flourtshed
B.C. 586, and his daughter Eumctes, surnamed Cleobuline, was
celebrated "for poeUcal talent, especially in the composition of
metrical enigmas. The composition of such epigrammaf in riddles
appears to have been from an early period a favourite occupation
1 .??.! ?*™^ ^^^'''" "^^ tJiis practice is ridiculed by
several " Attic dramatists." ^ ^
For the first (?) time women play a great part in religion.
I>iana for chastity, Minerva for accomplishments. Sir \V. Jones
in his Commentary on Isjbus, says, that among the Athenians
about the time of the Peloponnesian war, dowries were so general
that 'a suspicion of illegitimacy was cast upon girls who were
married with a small fortune in proportion to the estate of their
athers. Diodorus Siculus « notices how the Pythian oracle was
always delivered by women. In Smith's Dictionary of Mythology «
'' '""If "". ^J^^' ^''^^'"' ^* ^*^^^^' " E^^^ ^^omen are said to
nave attached themselves to him as his disciples." 7 WJien Oreek
women married, their fathers gave presents ^vith them.« Plato
m his Republic,^ lays it down that women are to be well educated
and take a share in the functions of the state ; and this he repeats
n Timasus,'" and also in the Laws." In the Laws'=^ a man is ordered
to bequeath some of his property to his daughters. At book xi
chap. XIV. p. 496, "Let a free woman be allowed to bear witness
and appear as counsel if she is more than forty years of age, and
Ob am by lot a trial if she is unmarried ; but,'if her husband is
ii\in8,let her be allowed to be a witness only." In book ix.
' Muro's Hist, of Greek Literature, vol. iii p 273
: Ibid. p. 275. 3 Ibid. 391. i Jones's Works, vol. iv. pp. 204, 205
Book XVI. chap. vi. Tol. ii. p. loi. By Booth.
^ JJiog. Laert. lib. c. Comp. Olympiod. '
Herodotus, Book VI. chap, cxxii. p 399
„' p"f v; '^?- ''' ^^- ^°'>^«- ^°1- "• pp.' 139, 140
^ ^°flll- ch.ap. xi. vol. T. pp. 277, 249.
•Dook AI. chap. vii. vol. v. p. 474.
Vol. iii. p. 394.
"■ Chap. ii. vol. p. 320.
m
■t,
>i.
I : 'P I:
f n'h .
! . -I
'' I
208
frag:ments.
chap. ix. p. 379, the same penalty is inflicted if a wife kills her
husband or if the husband kills his wife ; and, in reference to slaves
it is said,' the laws are to be the same for men as for women. In
the Republi" ' wuo-en are to marry at twenty, men at thirty; but
in the Lawr.'' " tii unrriageable age of a female" is fixed at from
sixteen to twenty; and at p. 148,* men are to marry from thirty
to thirty-five. See a eulogy of Aspasi-x in :,>enexemus ; * and (at
p. 551) Burgess says in a note, "amongst the ancients not a few
women, such as Aspasia and Diotima, and others, were given to
philosophy; a list of whom b, h fm collected by Menage, and
appended to his notes on Diogenes Laertius."
Progress. — Like other barbarians, they were at first purely
theological. " Anaxagoras and other astronomers incurred the
charge of blasphemy for dispersonifying Helios and trying to
assign invariable laws to the solar phenomena. . . . Physical
astronomy was botli new and accounted impious in the time of
the Peloponnesian war."^ See also p. 498, where Grote quotes
Xenophon to the effect that in the opinion of Socrates, '• Physics
and astronomy belonged to tlie divine class of phenomena in whicli
human research was insane, fruitless, and impious." " Men whose
minds were full of the heroes of Homer called Hesiod, in
contempt, the poet of the Helots. The contrast between the two
is certainly a remarkable proof of the tendency of Grreek poetry
towards the present and the positive." ^ Xenophanes, Thales, and
Pythagoras, were the three " who in the sixth century before the
Christian rera, first opened up those veins of speculative pliilo-
sophy which occupied afterwards so large a portion of Greek
intellectual energy.'^ « They first threw off the theological supre-
macy.9 This went on until Socrates, " who laid open all ethical
and social doctrines to the scrutiny of reason.'° " The Milesian
Thales,"' B.C. 640, 550, was " the first man to depart both in letter
and spirit from the Hesiodic Theogony;" and he founded the
" Ionic philosophy, which is considered as lasting from his time
down to that of Socrates." " He introduced the " scientific study
of nature." '^
Hippo came next.'^ Contemporary with Thales Anaximander
' Book IX. chap. xvii. p. 403.
2 Book V. chap. ix. Plato's Works, vol. ii. p. 145.
' Book VI. chap, xxiii. vol. v. pp. 248, 249.
* Plato's Works, vol. v. p. 148, and see p. 126.
« Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. i. pp. 466, 467.
' Ibid. vol. i. p. 487, and vol. iv. p. 101.
' Ibid. vol. ii. p. 155; vol. iv. pp. 129, 521, 525; vol. viii. p. 468.
'« Ibid. vol. iv. p. 129; vol. viii. pp. 466, 467, 573, 577.
»' Ibid. vol. iv. p. 511. '• Ibid. ;:. olG. »» Ibid. p. 517.
» Ibid. vol. iv. p. 186.
• Ibid. vol. i. p. 493.
GREECE.
299
tended to same direction.' In the eighth and seventh centurie.s,
B.C., music and poetry conjoined were the only intellectual
mamfestation known among the Greeks.' "The interval between
77b-o60, IS a remarkable expansion of Grecian genius in the
creation of then- elegiac, iambic, lyHc, choric,'and gnomic
poetry a . The poetry of Alka^us is the more wolthy of note as
tuJ vir' 1"'*^"'' "^ '^'^ employment of the muse in
actual political warfare, and shows the increased hold which that
mc^ive was acquiring on the Grecian mind."* Grote says,-^
^^schylusand Sophocles exhibit the same spontaneous and un-
quiring taith as Pindar in the legendary antiquities of Greece
ke as a whole ; but they allow themselves greater license as to
the details. ^schylus takes the old mythical ^iews of which
Euripides was accused of vulgarising, and behveen the two is
Sophocles, in whom «we find indications that a more predomi-
nant sense of artistic perfection is allowed to modify the harsher
rehgious agencies of the old epic." This is well noL in Schle-
g 1. Dramatic Literature.^ The great dramatic development
b>ok pace just after the expulsion of Xeres. Sorhocles and
Euripides were the followers of .Eschylus, who him.e f was "the
creator of the tragic drama, or at least the first who rendered it
illi^trious. . Sophocles gained his first victory over ^schylus •
n 468, B.C. : the first exhibition of Euripides was in 455, B.C."'
(xrote says .^^schylus is altoc/ether ideal. " In Sophocles there is
a closer approach to reality and common life, . . . but when we
advance to Euripides the ultra-natural sublimity of the legendary
c'haractei^ disappears ; love and compassion are invoked to a
degree which ^schylus would have deemed inconsistent with the
dignity of the heroic person."' Aristophane. (whose "earliest
comedy was exhibited b.c. 427)'^ was a still greater lover of
common, and even vulgar life. Even Socrates took superstitious
uews, and opposed physical study as impious.'" Solon, who
flourished B.C. 594, put forward his views in " easy meu-e,"' tor
ihoth r',r \ \'""' "' ^'''^ ^'''' ^^^i^^«8-' " Herodotus,
tliough a thoroughly pious man," takes a more profane view than
Homer, Hesiod or even Solon." '^ in Thucydides we see views
even more mundane than in Herodotus, for he treats the mythical
Heroes as mere men, whose acts he freely criticises by a human
11)1(1, V>n S'" "^'Q ""•' !! T> • • 1
PP-
Ibid. vol. i. pp. 535,
539.
vol. iu. p. ; i 9.
f^M'l.
■ (
1
hh
m
"i/'..'
■u
I1
■ Ml
M
rrft^ ^^1
II
14
800
FRAGMENTS.
standard.' Grote* compares with Herodotus " the more positiv<^
and practical i^eniiis of Thucydides." J^cfore Herodotus men
were too absorbed in the wonderful and religious to tliink it
worth their wliile to record the history of hiunan actions. Greece
was tlio first coiaitry that ever produced historians ; and 'Am was
an immense step, tliough tlieir merit has been overrated and tlieir
credulity was cliildish. Mure ^ says that before u.c. 560, " poetry
eontinued to be the only cultivated branch of composition."
Mure^ well says that lyric poetry is more " subjective " or "prac-
tical " than epic. No epic poet selects his subject from present
events, but always refers to the mysterious past. On the other
hand lyric poets take coimnori subjects, and always allude to
themselves. In Hesiod as compared to Homer, we first find a
lyric tendency.* Lyric poetry was chiefly encouraj;ed by Sparta,
the only state whose armies were "always rej^nilated by nnisical
performances," but the Spartans were not themselves "distin-
guished either as poets or musicians."" The first lyric poets are
Oallinus of Ephesus, and Archilochus.^ " In Homer the man is
completely absorbed in the poet; in Archiloclius the poet exists
but in the man.''^ Contemporary with Archilochus is Simonides
of Amorgos.9 Alcman, " the last of the more illustrious masters
of the Spartan school of lyric poetry" flourished B.C. 670, 611.'"
Sappho," B.C. 550, 500. Solon connects "the poetical and intel-
lectual age of Greece," and is " the first extant author of Attic
prose composition." He was a poet ; but, " as a general rule the
poet is absorbed in the philosopher and statesman/''^ jn b.c. 535,
i.e. twenty years after his death, " dramatic entertainments were
first introduced into Athens." '^ The Seven Sages, " all more
celebrated as philosophers or statesmen than as poets."" No
people have been so little influenced by others : therefore we can
in them best learn the normal march of the mind. In Greece for
the first time ive find something like history; and I will trace
the steps through luhich tlte national intellect passed before
reaching history.
The oldest religious sanctuary was " in the north, established,
as usual, in the early ages of paganism, on the loftiest mountain
ridge of the district preferred. This sanctuary was the oracle of
the Great Dodonaean Jove in the rugged highlands of Thes-
' Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. i. pp. 540, 541.
' Hist, of Greek Literature, vol. i. p. 6. St-e also p. 168.
* Ibid. vol. iii. pp. ,S, 5. " Ibid. pp. 5, 231.
' Ibid. pp. 131, 134. "Ibid. p. 1,56.
'" Ibid. p. 198. '■ Ibid. p. 275.
" Ibid. p. 359. H Ihi.l. p. 377.
- Ibid. vol. vi. p. 415.
« Ibid. pp. 46, 49.
' Ibid. pp. 173, 174,
" Ibid. pp. 344, 345, 362.
GREECE.
801
protia." - Doric was « the favc.rite lan;?uaffe of tho Im.h.r
eCrS/tl' '7 '^'","'^ ''^"•^ ""'^ ^"^« -'^'re preferred in
elek>, sati e, the drama, and more popular departments of pro«e • "
and Herodotus, thou.-h "a n-itk-.. r>f fi ta ■ ";'^«"ipro»t,
prefers the lonL. f ,- H ^'"^ ^^*'""" Halicarnassus,
pie trs tJie Ionic for the composition of his history;" because thJ
Att c was not yet popuhir; tliou^h a h'tth^ later ft emZm t
b> Ihucydides gamed for it "an almost universal preSnce
every branch ,.f prose composition." » PiUtitnce in
The Attic dialect now continued to proirress and W fi,.
couragement of Pliilip of Macedon, becanL-'n.: 1 ^^^^^^f^-
ofthe whole Hellenic world "^ «iC,,,f ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Homeric" soon fell into disut ; but '^^thf hrtnicT the^
ob^ure Itali:>te or Sici^;:Sters;i;;^ ^l^Kelf ^^
Attic dialect in the latter pa^T;!.^^^ e "^"^'1^
fashion set by the Ionian Hecat-pn^, wn ■ f 11 , '^' f'^' -^"^
tr II • -^ , , ■^"'"'^" Jxecitasus was tollowed bv the yFoU-m
He lanicus, and the Dorian Herodotus.'" « In the Pennv ft
pcodia it is said of the Dorians "Their fir!/ ^^^^/^^^^^ <^3^^1«-
PMhiotis in the time of ZLlionT b/^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Pe oponn^e, which is generally called the Eeturn of ^r Descer;
yeat aftef the ?: " T""^^ ''''''^ '' ^^^^ — ^ eighty
yeais af ei the Trojan War, i.e. in 1104 l.c. (Thucyd i 12^"
Their religion rose in the most distant part of Greece and ^ntt
Jghest mountains. Heyne says that "Homer a h'a^s cal' t lie
Muses Olympian, and that the Homeric jrods are S Ol
and no others."^ " A careful survey of the'ptsag: n HoiTanl
Hesiod, in which Olympos occurs, will lead us tf believe tTa the
wS:^hlh t ''' ^'""'^" ^^^"P^^' ^^- ^^l^-tmount :
"The Gree Vr "^T^"^^^' '' ^e the abode'of their gods.""
rhe Gieeks of the early ages regarded the lofty Thessal an
mountain named Olympos as the dwelling of theirWds '" Is
reached its highest point in the east, where Athens was accM
; Mure's Hist, of Greek Literature, vol. i. p. 38
Ibid. pp. 125, 126. ■
' Ibid. p. 114.
' Kcigkley, p. 17. . Ibid. p. 38
* Ibid. pp. 121, 122.
* Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 112, 117.
* Ibid. p. 523, et seq.
» Ibid. p. 72.
» 1
1 ft < 1
'
>r :^
'
iK 1 t
,
I*
1
K
■11
1
1^
>
\\
•ii
f
'^ 1'-,.
i
!
■il
[
302
FRAGMENTS.
m >
Ml»
IM '
■ :i
iiiil
and nature feeble. Keigbtley ' says of Homer, " The practice of
assigning birthplaces on earth to the gods does not seem to have
prevailed in his age." " Pieria, in Macedonia, is said by Hesiod
(Theog. 53) to have been the birthplace of the Muses ; and every-
thing relating to them proves the antiquity of the tradition of
the worship and knowledge of these goddesses having come from
the north into Hellas.^ Almost all the mountains, grots, and
springs from which they have derived their appellations, or which
were sacred to them are, we may observe, in Macedonia, Thessaly,
or Boeotia. Such are the moiratains Pimphip, Pindos, Parnassos,
Helicon, the founts Hippocrene, Aganippe, Leibethron, Castalia,
and the Corycian cave." ^
Writing was known in Greece from the ninth or tenth century
B.C., but "the first successful essay in popular puse literature
cannot be traced beyond tlie sixth century B.C."'* Herodotus first
infused life and method into history,* but the " first Greek his-
torian of real eve its was Charon of Lampsacus, B.C. 500-450."^
Also Acusilaus and Pherecydes.^ But the iirst proper historian is
Scylax.* Hecatffius (b„c. o20, 479) is the only one Herodotus
quotes; '•• of Homer and Herodotus Mure says,'" "The one is
the perfection of epic poetry, the otliev the perfection of epic
prose." At pp. 352, 389 [vol. iv.], ]Mure has collected ample
evidence of that miserable credulity of Herodotus which some
writers affect to deny. He had in truth too much of the po^t.
He lived to late into the fifth — perhaps into the fourth century."
He was born at Halicarnassus in Caria.'-
Sea. — " Of the Euxine sea no knowledge is manifested in
Homer. . . . The strong sense of the danger of the sea expressed
by the poet Hesiod."'^ However, says Grote (vol. ii, p. 152),
'■ The extension of Grecian traffic and shipping is manifested by
a comparison of the Homeric and Hesiodic poems : in respect
to knowledge of places and countries — the latter being probably
referable to dates between B.C. 740 and B.C. 640."
The Greek coast is full of indentations — a fiict well pointed
out by Strabo (ii. 293) ; and " Cicero notices emphatically both
the general maritime accessibility of Grecian towns, and the effect
of that circumstance on Grecian character ;" '•• and other ancients
' Keightlpy, p. 159.
^ Bmrmaun, Mytholog. vol. i. p. 293 ; Voss, Myth, Bonk IV. chfip. iii. ; Miiller,
Orchom. p. SSI ; Proleg. p. 219.
' Keiahtley, p. 159. * Murc's Hist, of Greek Literatnrp, vol. iv. p. fil.
» Ibid. p. 74. • Ibid. pp. 72, 164, 168. ' Ibid. pp. 133, 134.
' Ibid. p. )39. » Ibid. pp. 140. 141. *o n,;,], p_ 242.
" Ibid. p. 245. "2 Ibid. pp. 2iS, 249.
" Grote'a Hist, of Greece, rol. ii. pp. 136, 137. '♦ Ibid. p. 235.
GREECE.
308
ness to receive them • ' bl„Z\ ,7 "" """""" """ ™di-
co...t.: The^ltr ehangltS: ^SS 'T ^ '*'"' °' ""^
sea power.- ' Athens the „n?„ » '"'"' P™'" ""<> »
telkctual : aad be, SeltS Z T" " °""'"' "'"' *''<> "»* "-
..ceeeded her ccltSri jCtr"™"'™'''' " "'■■-"^
neartP,„po e!:n-rr^-V^^^^^^
^oX:;itt^i-:rr^^^^^^^
the eoast. And, though sailors are°rIore «tio ,s tT' "^
TliuiTdidesi»,am "Tl,. , T '. " friction of m nds.
,.1 ' , **J^»' The whole Lacon an coast is a iii'vli r>,-,M„„f
™«f, where it fronts the Sicilian and Cretan sei^'ard'' *
generally inaccessible that "the only portion of tte cS't Tl7
tt^t ttn ^r ^-^"'^^'^:^''
^note Mys, in the fourth ceuturv, n c ^'- Sn-n-f.. i,„ i
™ept constrained Helots or pUcf fo'S „eS"x J "^^eir:"' T
"-^«fcrof Greece, h.^t. w.Sted „ ' „t r'" -"^X*" R ""
to BC. 560 when we find "in every „«.: Irt i^f Sr,^:™ nih"
-t^Iiys oi unasaiative genius, Attica ca ,not hoast of a i '; '.
g«mme development of native poetical talent •"» 11 i ?
t» " the ascendant of the intcllectml over t ■ ' ""'»
t- in that particular modifiii^ , n of tW r, r"'*'"f' ?■ *""-
'o.l.elotoftheAthenia„s.-.. SoMt't^r dtC^utd":;
^ (|rotes Hist, of Greece, vol, ii. pp. 296, 297.
■ ^ml. vol. iii. p. 217. - ll,id. p 118.
jbid.p 238. ' Ibid. pp. 476, 477.
^^ Ibid. vol. vi. p. 329. '» IV. 54.
" fii-ote's Hist, of Greece, vol. vi. pp. 600, 501.
^ JHires Hi.t. of Greek Literature, vol. i. p. 71.
ll'Kl. pp. 7, 8.
* Ibid. p. 297.
° I''i<l. p. 119.
" Ibid. vol. V. pp. 70, 372.
" Il'id vol. X. p. 57.
'* Ibid. vol. iv. p. 6.
" Ibid. p. 9.
':!!
» . K
D I i
II t • ,
I 1
m
I I I
i-iv
H
304
FRAGMENTS.
wait for an age of prose.' I think Asia produced no great prose
writers. Tins first happened in Grreece — the first country that
possessed historians. The first Greek prose is on geography,''
and the two first writers on geography were Anaxinumder and
Hecata3us, both natives of Miletus, " a city distinguislied for the
zeal and extent of her colonial undertakings." Anaximander in-
vented maps; and Hecata3us, his "younger contemporary" (u.c. 520,
479) "is distinguished both as a geographer and historian, and is
the first Greek prose author who obtained popularity or celebrity
as a national classic."^ Hecatajus was a great traveller;'' and.
Mure says,^ " Tlie earliest Greek autlior of a prose work deserving
the name of historical in the better sense, is the geograplier
Scylax of Caryanda, a town of the Halicarnassian territory ; who
may also rank (521, 485) as one of the most adventurous of Greek
navigators." jNIure says," " The iEgean sea, narrow, studded with
islands and abounding in excellent harbours." For summary of
the travels of Herodotus, see Mure, vol. iv. pp. 246-248. I)io-
dorus Siculus ^ says, " It is no wonder to see a man marry, but to
see him twice marry. For it is safer and more advisal)le for a
man to expose himself twice to the dangers of the seas than to
the hazards of a second wife." In Gorgias, chap. 51, Socnites
takes for granted that no one could go on the sea for pleasure, but
only to make money.
it ^
DECLINE OF GREECE AND DIVERGENCE OF HIGHER
AND LOWER INTELLECTS.
Aided by circumstances, [as] I shall trace in another work, the
Greek thinkers soon outstripped the observers ; and when the
divergence between people and philosophers had reached a certain
point, Greece fell. The people sunk in brutal habits, tyrannical
to their slaves, hard masters and bad subjects. Maritime nations,
by a law I shall presently indicate, are naturally su[)erstitious.
Thucydides'' mentions "how erroneously and carelessly tlie Athe-
nian public of his day retained the history of Peisistratus, only
one century past." '" Observe popularity of Aristoplianes and his
antagonism to Socrates. The Greeks loved the theatre." In tlie
' Mure's Hist, of Greek Literature, vol. iv. p. 47. ^ n^■^^l p Qg
» Ibid. p. 69. * Ibid. p. 141. " Ibid. p. isi).
• Ibid. p. 405. ' Book XII. chap. iii. vol. i. p. 442. By Booth.
• Plato's Works, vol. i. p. 160. » VI. 66.
'» Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. i. p. 603. '» Ibid. p. 604.
DECLINE OF GBEECE. on-
women." ^ See also at vol t of cTf u- ''^"^'"'^ ^'^"^^^ "*'
«06, 608, some curious e dence Tt f 7 '' ^"^^^' ^'P'
superstitious. "^^ ''^ *^^ ^^tent of the popular
Indeed, until the Persian War fh. i
the cities were relioioi.s Jest v^l.' ^^ ^"'"^ ^^ ""^«« ^^^^een
at the zenith of Gr ec , f fiid "' '''Z'' '^' ^^^'^^'^ ^'^ ''^^^^
Grote3says, " We shall erthese tw. ''"^^ ^'"■" ^^ ^^" ^^^^s
fuUu:e-one based upon tl^'; il l^T: ^ h T''^''''' ''^
rehgious appreciation of nature ^ ' ''*^''' "P*^" ^he
throughout Grecian history, and JnTiLT?^ -multaneously on
portions the empire of th S L rmfncl ;^^'^^ ^" ""^^^^'^^
both greater predominance and wider alhr "'"'^^' "^^i"*^'"'«-
tellectual men, and partially restH.Hn ''f^^^*^«^ ^™«".^^ the in-
spontaneous employint of the wf ^' ^''' ""'''' '-^'"^li^hing- the
clifference betwL' esotl^c L e ^e^n,'" -•^«---" The
-.,er, iirst arose between 620 ancS ":"'""'" n, time of
ho lare as 8olon n r -^(U +i
Sou were "del^^ed in t '^Z: T 7*' ='"" "^ '"»- "f
Demo.tl,e„e..-» JI,. G „t,« »C wit Ll^ ^, '^ '™°'"'«' '"■
mau co„»tit„ti„„ must l„.ve pS'ed t , ° .™""" "" '^""'-
tlie constitution was. Greek mi,,;,- „ , "?'■'' f™™ '"'^ '""l
beuce, when the ibrei™ ",;»«'■« T''"'' """"duality :
«e every.l,i„s fell. Eve,T,e ;,;'!"'''''";! '"'""?'«<' ">»
«howeci her selKsliuess, and thoJhihT""- °' ^^'"'" «P»"''
feuded Tl,ern,„pyl., she fl ' | SLurrt"?."' [T""'"' *-
Peloponnesus. When Xerxes retreated H>.° '""' '" '''^f™''
rf™d the Athenians asainstCdot ^ '"Vh'"r ""l """" "»'
bound together by reltion m,d I T''" <"«i<3 were onlv
fone .he union ^vas ;„e: r,d ethr^'"- lY''"' '"»« ™»
taans. t.nly one\,e„;r:;l"l ' fe 'K: ■ V"" '";'°" '^'■
teoke out into the Peloponnesiau war Ll TT ""T" "'"^
t'lote, vol. V. pp. 333, 33(i The r i '"'y «"»<' "ote in
^pornatural intemnlion »' ^^' «»«»«»% believed in
'o»";"paS;™'r:fo7 :'hi!:;r ^7 -^ '^-- - '■■» «.,.
™'"- "'■ <-ed for n.y ««t t:! V;:te?E,- ^tt
;Grote'sHist.ofGroec.,vol.i.p.604.
-iijia, vol. 11. p. ise, 4 J, r ... ibia. p. 60,5.
ioia. vol. viii mi '■.(59 «;«o i ■ ^'
^.rcck», and u.-,.i>,, vol, vi. p. 400 ; vol. vii, pp, ^oX. '" "''
■II
||"5 i
fi ■
i i
■ ll:.
' 13 i
306
FRAGMENTS.
vol. ii. p. 301 ; vol. viii. pp. 394, 512,514,515 ; vol. ix. pp. 323-
321) ; vol. X. pp. 53, 99, 127, 191, 435, 526, 527 ; vol. xi. pp. 280,
282, 389, 390, 406. 407, 411, 521, 522, 591. On inferiority of
Xenophon to Thucydides, see Grote, vol. viii. p. 155, 379. No
printing, therefore no reading ; hence knowledge being unre-
corded^ Greece fell at once. 'V\''achsmuth takes every opportimity
of attacking Greeks, Grote, v^iii. p. 412. Greeks no pliysicul
knowledge, Grote. vol. ix. pp. 21, 22. On the badness of Aris-
tophanes as a witness, Grote, vol. vi. pp. 661, 662, and vol. viii.
pp. 454, 457. Even Mure (Greek Literature, vol. iv. p. 395)
admits that the best Greek historians only related bxteriud
events, and cared nothing for the most important part of history,
as, internal polity, laws, civil institutions, kc. The Greeks even-
tually paid too much a tendon to man and neglected the opera-
tions of nature.
Food and Diffusion of Wealth. — Even the Helots of Laconia
were sometimes wealthy.' Grote ^ says of Greeoe generally,
"though the aggregate populition never seems to have increased
very fast." A man unable to pay '.is debts became the slave of
the creditor : a law which fi' led Greece with misery until Solon
abrogated it.^ Grote says'* "Greece produced wheat, barley,
flax, wine, and oil in the esirliest times of whicli we have any
knowledge : in the age of Pausanias, and perhaps earlier, cotton
also was grown in the territory of Elis ; but the currants, Indian
corn, silk, and tobacco, are an addition of more recent times."
In tlie time of Thucydides the Lacedemonian soldiers seem to
have had a good allowance of barley, meat, and wine.' Athens,
in her great distress, B.C. 413, "with the view of increasing her
revenue, altered the principle on whic. her subject allies had
liitherto been assessed. Instead of a fixed vsum of annual tribute
she now required from them payment of a duty of five per cent,
on all imports and exports by sea." In b.c. 407, Lysander, tlie
Lacedemonian admiral, visited Cyrus at Sardis, and requested him
" to restore the rate of pay to one full Attic drachma per ' -ad for
the seamen ; which had been the rate promised by Tiss. phernes
through his envoys at Sparta, when lie first invited tlie J^acede-
moniaus across the .Egean;" but this Cyrus deemed too exorbi-
tant, and refused,'' He, liowever, consented to raise their pay
° Iliid. vol. ir. p. 2'27.
* Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 302, 30:).
' Grote's Hist, of Greecp, vol. ii. p. 496.
' Ibid. vol. jii. pp. J 26, 129, 1.32.
' I'lii' vol. vi. p. 440.
• T'meydid. vii. 28. Grote, vol. rii. p. 489, but at vol. viii. p. 180, (jrote doubts if
this WTiB reiilly carried into effect.
' Grolo, vol. viii. mi. 191, 192.
DECLINE OF GREECE. o^--
from three to four oboli dailv ' Tn o ^ i
oboli.-> BcBckh 3 says ,7 n fl . '"'''"' ^^'''^ ''''^ ""-
Sparta, an Athenian ntl'l h,™! ^^ ^^^^f •^"^' ^^"^' <'t-
hundred talents by an assessed n. ^ . 1 ^''"P"'"^ '^ ^'^^^-^ «^'*
two and a half per'^cent b^t biT/ V\ ''^ ^'''^"^'^''^ '^^
-c. 379 the Wd.,nonianl ml^.r; "^';;'f ^ ^"^'^-^ Abo-.t
upon their own allies an l^ T/"" ^ ^^^'^'^^^^S' --^nd rn;,do
hoplite each city nHg tl..^ t^"' V"' '"^^^^^ «^ "-
-^^.inean drachrl. . T A ^v t -^r i '"''" ^''"^^' ''''' ""
Demosthenes entimates the nri.o .f . . ^" '^•''- "'^^2' '''^^
pay to be for " each am an in d T'7^^^^^^^'^^ independent of
per month, or two Ifper dav ' ""' '''^^''' *^" ^''•-*^'""■•-
per month, or one d^^r^i^^'^^^^-^ ''''■' ''''"'-'
tween the Athenian citizen Ll t^!'fo^^.^l'T '' T'" '"-
a great change was introduced in th mode ,/" "•.^■- '^'«' - ''
According to the division made bv i<Lut^ ''"'^^ ^''"■'^^•
of which the poorest paid .K^ "^i^H. """ T ""^ ^^^^^'■^'
others paid a "graduated or progre L tlx " 1 " ""' ^'"■""'
w^h some modification, coJliS ^l"^, '37^''- ''''^
alterations were madp }..if +1, ^ '' ^^'^en sewia
i.em pny a higher per centase.' H m r , " "T l"- '"""""
.".«,con«„e. tl,e "animal dfet of "eo; t ^^fi'T""-
domestic (luadruneds ovmn .h^ ^ne irieeks to the fiesh of
'0 'l.ei.- ea'tin. At ';2 '^ IT^' '^i^^f ^^ •^""*'^^
»t.»ut tlie time of the I'eioponnesian V,v "?i l ?"" '">'' "'">
odium whicl, attended an"^ eTc e t „f 1 . ' ''''"''™"'""''-^ '
...ate.- at Athens than theTene«s or t,"/™" '""•""•'"I'ly
J"<lKe of the evidenee lupplfcd by h I f. r " """ " «'""'
'l'.ainfed with butter, b,>t never aL „ . ^'T'"' ""^ •■'■-
; •;.<te to it, t.,o,„h 'they .^^^ a ' hee'se .« t tlf'p"" n-"'"
"f.ven from Homer one may learn s, eh tl'„„ Kepnbl,,,"
•now that in their military c^p™ iti ,t Z-T "V '"' '""
"' -er feast, tl.. '^■i./^.h^ not'^^ IhH: tty iCr.T '';;:
;Grote8Hi«t.of> repp... voJ.viii.p. 193
Ml.i.l.vol x.pp 153. l,r,4, i,v., i5(i, 161.
Mures I ist. of Greek Literature, vol. iii p 486
,^ J""Pss Work.s, vol. iv. p. 234. ^'
,! TiKimson's Animal Chemistrv. p 4^5
ivopublie, Book ^'■" '
ap, xiii. Plato's V
X 2
vol.
'^ Ibid. p. 192.
" Ibid. vol. ir.. p. 430.
p. 86.
1 I
I!=
,ni
808
FRAGflENTS.
sea at the Hellespont, nor yer with boiled flesh, but only with
roasst meat, or what soldiers can most easily procui ." In the
Laws, an interest is mentioned of sixteen and a half per cent,
monthly, but this seems intended as a punishment.'
Mdh<od. — The physical conformation of Grref-ce secured the
independence of different states ; but the fe«blene»s of nature
likewitte secured for the first time a filling conscioitsness of human
power imdividually. Food and climate tendeil U« humanise the
(freek religion by enabling the people for the &>t time in th(^
historv of the world to be civilized without })eini;' subjected by
tlu'ir nilers (for before this time only hunters and pastoral tribes
had Ijeen free). Egypt pent between the impassable deserts of
Africa and Arabia.
Human. — 'i '^e religion of Greece, as it is recorded by their
oldest theologians. Homer and Hesiod, stands in the strongest
c.iitrast with that of India. They do not hefiin with gods. Ac-
otvrdino- to Hesiod, first comes Chaos or Space, who produces
Nig'it; and this last Day. The Earth produces Heaven.'^ The
eele-tial phenomena themselves, as thunder and lightning, are
oidv the children of Heaven and and Earth.^ Kronos is the
offspring of the Earth and Heaven, or Uranos.'* The offspring
of Kronos is Zeus or Jupiter;- and now begin the Olympian
gods/' In Homer Juno or Hera is wife or sister of Jupiter.''
Vu.'tm or Hephiestos " is in Homer the son of Zeus and Hera.*
Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto.^ Diana or Artemis "the
laughter of Zeus and Leto." '° \^euus or Aphrodite " the daugliter
.tf Zeus and Dione." " Hermes or Mercury "is in one place
of the Iliad called the son of Zeus." '^ There were few gloomy
u'Ki impassable forests to terrify the mind into superstition ; nur
earthquakes which, when they did happen, were regarded ])y tlie
G-Eeeks as omens.
Gods were exaggerated heroes, and their heroes were exag-
Lierated men. Hercules, Theseus, Jason, Minos, Ulysses, Aga-
memnon, Perseus, Cecrops. Medea, even in her incantations, used
human means, the fatal kettle and the poisoned robe ; the cup of
Circe ; the thread and scissors of the Fates. The siege of Troy
( we might f.s well believe Jack the Giant-killer) ; the labours of
Hercules ; the Argonautic expedition ; Jason's search for tlie
rieece ; the wanderings of Ulysses ; the travels of iEneas ; the
' Laws, Book XI. chap. v. Plato's Works, vol. v. p. 470.
- Ktiglitley's MythuluKJ' of Givtce ivud Italy, 1838, 8vo, pp. 43, 45.
' Il.id. pp. 4.j, 78. ' IbM. p. 43. > Ibid. p. 44. » Ibid. p. 68.
« Ibid. p. 107. » Ibid. p. 113. '" Ibid. p. 128.
" Ibid. p. 159.
pp
■ Ibid. p. 90.
" Ibid. p. 139.
IIIU
DECLINE OF GREECE. ^09
the loies .,f Venus a,„l Anchises,' Cupid and Pavclie ' int,i,n,.
"t oxui. The box of P,,„do,a (commonly called a box tho, „b
...ore properly , j,,),, KeiBhtley .ays/ the ^od, " " f
T'm „ .'"^"'^"^ "ortal ,veapo™;t|,e arrows of IfecL
;lo; tul food is callerLbroSt :i XnT'^W^'lU '""';
m nexerl them to have been really, and not metaphoricallv nut to
death ; and, in truth, it is not easy to o-ive i Jt\2 T ^
to these questions."" ^ * satisfactory answer
The Greeks worsliipped Fortune.'^ Hippocrates w.. th» fiv f
w os^arated medicine tVom those vague ii:2^:i::a^ ^^
p'mV' wf^ ""''^ ^' ^^•"^''^^^^^^- ^^« I'anatomie com-
paue. .Such IS now the sense of the importance of man For
rtistoiie de la Medicine, i. pp. 239-258. Eenouard '^ says " I
c^ee hinn^omie et la physiologie comparee." RenouaTiys'l
us, the most credulou. and tinphilosopliical of all the Greek his-
tonans says, when speaking of premature births, " But such hi
,^dsit_ should be so, or that the law of nature will not admit it.' -«
A p. oO, book 1. cap. 4, he contemptuously says of Ecxypt " The
present life. At book i. chap. G, vol. i. p. 83, "The adorition
and worshipping of beasts among the Egyptians seems ust^ to
many a most strange and unaccountable thing." In a sp e n
^^Z^'l^Tr^'-' '''''''' '"^^^^ ^-^-- ever';; o
pe ^beHel o7 "''/"' f^^^^"^-^^^^ "P themselves upo:
lopes and belief of mercy from the conquerors?" See also in
: Sp'^o/'- ^^^- ll^^f^-]''- 'Ibid. p. 16..
.:^-'- 39, 395. -S.e^p.33,85. : S L^^.e
rou.«a.s, I xa„u.n cos Doetrinos Medicdcs, tome i. pp. n, v/ei ^'
., He„oua.l. Histou-e de la Medicine, tome i. p. 2.56. " ^ ' ' '^ ,a j,,;^ ,33
Jl'iJ. Book Kin.
ol. i. p. 29. Boot]]. Compare vol.
lap.
'i:ip. ii. vol. i. p. 50
11.
p- 3-.
urn "?
', I'
! I'
yio
FRAGMENTS.
book xvii. cap. 7, vol. ii. p. 214, what he says ahout the Persians
inntilatiiig their captives. In the learned life of Plato in Smith's
Dictionary, it is said, vol. iii. pp. 402, 403, that iu Plato's Timajus
important physiological and therapeutical truths are to be found ;
and reference is made to J. H. Martin, Etudes sur le Timee de
Phiton, Paris, 1841. Herodotus' contemptuously says, " Amon'>-
tile Lydians, and almost all the barbarians, it is deemed a great
disgrace even for a man to be seen naked." Even Herodotus, one
of the most religujus of men, traces the human origin of his
religion. He says,^ « I am of opiniou that Hesiod and Homer lived
four hundred years before my time, and not more; and these
were they who framed a theogony for the Greeks, and gave names
to the gods, and assigned to them honours and acts, and declared
their several forms." He says^ that in the expedition of Xerxes
against Greece, "the officers of the company fj-orn behind havinj,'
scourges, flogged every man, constantly urging them forward." At
viii. 105, p. 527, Herodotus says, "With the barbarians, eunuelis
are more valued than others on account of their perfect fidelity.''
T]u3 Greeks thought it disgraceful to insult dead bodies.'*
Plato '^ distinguishes between the legislative and judicial func-
tions ; comparing the former to gymnastics and the latter to
medicine." In the Republic," " Not long since the sight of naked
nu>n appeared base and disgusting to the Greeks, just as now,
iuh ', it does to most of the barbarians." It was shameful to
strip d plunder a dead enemy." " At Athens there was a body
of meu. al men paid by the state, as well as tliose in private.'"-*
Tlie Thracians reproaclied the Greek physicians that they at-
tempted to cure the body without paying attention to the soul.'"
Plato" attacks the notion of hereditary and aristocratic honoiu';
and in the Laws '^ he contrasts the Greek democracy as one ex-
treme, with the Persian monarchy as the otlier. At pp. 109, 138,
he says men must not have office and lionour because they are
rich. In a passage apparently corrupt '^ he says that mankind
probably always existed. Plato says,'^ " Not even a god can use
force against necessity."
' Tferodotus, Book I. chap. x. p. 5.
^ Jiook VII. chap, cexxiii. p. 487.
■' Works, vol. i. p. 130.
" (iorgias, chap. xliv. xlvi. clix. in Plato's AVorks, vol. i. pp. 156. 157, 22t
' JJook V. chap. iii. Plato's AVoi'ks. vol. ii. p. 136,
" Tliid. Book V. chap. xv. Pinto's Works, vol. ii. p. 155.
" Xote in Plato'.s AVorks. vol. iii. p. 192.
'" <'li:irmides, chap. ix. Phito'.s Works, vol. iv. p. 118.
" -Menexonus. chap. six. Plato's AVorks, vol. iv. p. 204.
'■- Laws. Book III. chap. xii. Plato's AVorks, vol. v. p. 105.
'■'' Laws, Book A'l. chap. xxii. Plato's Works, vol. v. p. 242.
'* ILiLos Wuiks, vol. v. pp. 177, aol.
2 Ibid. Book II. chap. liii. p. 116.
* Ibid. Book IX. chap. Ixxix. p. o76.
AFRICA.
311
AFRICA.
Methocl.-.Diodoms Simlus, Plutarch. At the end of vol i
ot Bunseu's Egypt, p. 601, et sea., are collected nUH
in ancient writers respect ntr TlIvT "'*''*^'^ '^".."^^ V^^^^g^^
quainted with Egyptia,, lanZ^ "^ 'h« h! ^? .' **"?"" ""=■
Geogmphj.~In Africa, owing to bad soil climate <^n fV,
was neither accumulation nor^diffusion f t"lt' t' t " !
ligypt, which, with part of Arabia form. « «nv.7 i • P
mer». ''omemlle's Physical Geograpliv, vol i n 141 if-
.as the.«„&.« « coast line » in prop'o.t'ioL'to L sSf oe of ZTi
..» size, than any other quart.,- of the world." The .feX nar
of Afaca IS a toren waste ;■« and the civilization ffarthCe
.Vequentl,.... Han.U.on..s,,s ttt^X^tL-Xfrf LH?
' Egypt, vol. i. p. 63.
' Smith's Biog. Diet. vol. i. p. 1Q16
; Smith, vol. ii p. 431. -Ibid. p. 433. r ibid ; 4.,
■» sr ' -n • "^-i 1'- '''^- • ^°°th's Trans, vol. i p 72 ^' '''•
Somerville s Physical Geography, vol. i. pp. 148, 149. ^'
V ilk.nsou's Aneient Egyptians, vol. iv. p 1 0.
Hamilton's ^gyptiaca, p. 59.
"11? r nil
' Ibid. pp. 136, 152.
* Ibid. p. 1016.
^^!
iii i ' : I
11
1,1
812
FR \aMENT8.
\\i\
ill
Stmbo'Mt is evi:lcnt he never was witliiii any of their snored
liuildiiios." S(>e f). 113 on the errors of Diodonis Siculns.
UuiiKin-'nui Kj^^yptians knew nothinj,' of anatomy.' .Mill'^
quotes Wilford, in Asiatie Uesearelws, iii. ^DC, who says, "Mor
had the Egyptians any work pnrely historieal." Their ntier i<,'ii(.-
riince (»f drawiui,' man is shown by the hid(M»ns li^nires in Sir (f.
Wilkinson's vahiahh' work, in which sc.' tlie remark at vol. iii.
pp. 2(i4, 2()5. Wilkinson 3 says, "Many histories of K;^rypt wei ■
written at different periods by natiw* as well as foreiffn authoi
which have imfortunately been lost." Indeed, lie allows' that
'• history seems so entirely excluded from tlu'ir niytJDlooical system,
and so completely a thinj^ apart from it, that we may dour.t if it
was admitted into it, even at the earliest periods,"' and this, as
lie well says, was the subordination of physical and historical to
the mcfaphyslcal. Wilkinson'^ says, "Though the Kj^yptians w. iv
fond of buttbonery and f>esticulation, they do not seem to haw
had any|)ublic show which can be said to resemble a tb.atre; nor
Avere their pantomimic exhibitions, which consisted chiefly in
danciui)- and gesture, acct)mpanied with any scenic repn>sentation."
Jt is remarkable « that Egyptian artists were more skilful in n-
]>resenting animals than in the human figure. They knew not liiiijr
of medicine.^ Nor is Wilkinson « more successful in his attcmiit
to ascribe to them a knowledge of chemistry. In war, the hands
of the slain were cut off, and sometimes their ton<>-ues.^ With
the exception of the Alexandrian school, a late and foreign off-
shoot, they had nothing approaching to historians. Of Horapollo
nothing is known. Bunsen '» says, " Manetho, the most distin-
guished historian, sage, and scholar of Egypt." But he lived
under Ptolemy I., and wrote in Greek.'^ Tlu-n w<' have J^t.ilemy
and Apion, both Alexandrians.'^ Cha?remon, also an Alexandrian,
and the preceptor of Nero, also wrote a history of Egvpt.''
Runsen ^* doubts whether he wa,s "an Egyptian educated at Alex-
andria, or an Alexandrian of Greek origin " Bunsen "* says, " The
fourth Egyptian is Heraikos, a mystical saint of Alexandi-ia, ap-
parently about the comnieiicement of the Neo-Platonic school in
the third century. . . . This is all we hear of Manetho's Egyptian
' Henouard, Ilistoire de In MWiciiip, tonic i. p. 36.
- Mill's Hist. Brit. India, vol. ii. pp. 07, 68.
" "Wilkiiit^on's Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 20. * Ibid. vol. iv. p, 206
' Il^iJ- vol. ii. p. «59. « Ibid. vol. iii. p. 269.
• II. id. pp. 389. 393, 396 ; vol. v. p. 460. » Ibid. vol. iii. pp. 132, 133.
» Ibid. vol. i. p. 393 ; vol. iii. p. 293. For cruel punishments, see vol. ii. p. 46.
'" Bunsen's Egj-pt, vol. i. p. f,6. '• See Manctho, in Smith's Biography.
'- Bunsen's Egypt, vol. i. p. 90.
'■' Smith's Biog. Diet. vol. i. p. 678.
'* Bunsen's Egypt, vol. i. pp. 92, 94. '» Ibid. p. 95.
u
AFRICA.
succossorH within (lie province of lii.st
ill K^'vpt " eacli pliysi
ciiin iipj»li«.s liirnHelf t
313
Ty." Herodotus ' says tliat
not m<,re.» The %yptiun monument
o one disease only, and
nient of prisoners of war.''' Hc.skins^
B prove the linrbarous treat-
111
man form ho })adly l)ecause tl
rijj^nres o
f til
i(
ns3 says the Egyptians drew the
y^'iFi'sititiously copied the older
heir de.ti,.s depicted on their t.-mples. It was not till
e ™..ans were fertilised hy (ireek mind that thev prod ,
Mieir onJy historian, Manetho.
to haw. r y.ned three myriads of years. Kuscbii Chronieon, p 5
Syn-lh Ch.on. p. 28. Bryant's Ancient Mytholo^.y, iv. 127 's'^;''
^ > kmson says, "The oldest monuments ;,f K«ypt and p .bab y
the world are the pyramids to the north c^ Memph s.^' V n
ti.en- d.mensn.ns see iv. p. 2(;. Pliny's remark on the Pyram ds
rztm^'^:. ^'-T"i^ ^'^ -"'-^ ^'-t^ the indi^;:;;";::::
of the enthusiastic Bun ,,''
The Pyramids, the l.abyiinth, and
p. 32 After these, Dendeia, pp. 188, 201. At p. 237, "In no
1- ;.t^ K^ypt are more colossal sculptures seen oif the walls of^^
u - .n..iding- t an on the larger temple at Kdfou." At iL
Jl e temp es o Karnac and Luxor, the tomb of Gornoo, and tin
<n-ottos of Kleithias." r/../..s.-()n the colossal statues ^fMem
;- -0 pp. 214, 217. At p. 74, it is said that Plutarch I'i Is
that Mesicrates proposed to Alexander the Great to turn Alount
Atl.os into a statue of him. Hamilton^ says, "The Ivn,. Tn
ns'' n/nv s'rr/'^ ^^'^ ^-^"«r composi-
Itv i ^:^ 1*'^ '''" ^''^* ^'''"Ple at Thebes is even biUr
nihodorus Sxculus describes it. There is a notionin E.^^p
^b^» TT^n^r-n"^' " ^ P^^'^'^^^'^" against any f^u^
rtelugc The hnest buiklmo-s are at Phihe, 24° X. lat., where it
u fioin "the granite quarries of Syene;" but he says,"' that in
Lpper Egypt they are chiefly of sandstone. The P^air^^d of
arto^r r' '"^^^ ^ ^ -nomical purposes, and chc^ rten
-said to contain no chambers.'3 Abd Allah says of one of the
' Herodotus, Book II. chap. Ixxxiv. p. 125
^ ^lo.^. ins Travels in Ethiopia, pp. 354, 355.
ilist. British India, vol. i. p. i-jo.
I jy'"'.'"'""''^ Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 19
Hamilton's Egyptiaca, p. 89.
" lliid. p. 29.
1; Ibi.l. p. 68.
" Iloskins's Travels in Ethiopia, pp. 70, 153.
« Bunsen's Egj-pt, vol. i. p. 1 53.
' Ibid. p. 124.
" Ibid. pp. 43-49.
" Ibid. p. 112.
vi
ijii.
"!;,
m
■; t
m
.-.'/-
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
1.0
!.l
1.25
1.8
ii- ill 1.6
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
33 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. USSO
(716) 872-4503
%
'•0^^
Si
'^6
■0^
&
•
II ■
i'i
4',
314
FRAGMENTS.
Pyramids, « Lorsqu'on raborde de pres et que les yeux ne voient
plus que d'elle, elle inspire une sorte de saississement, et I'ou ne
peut la considerer sans que la vue se fatigue." — Eelation de
I'Egypte, p. 173.
Statio7iary. — T\ie Egyptians hated strangers.' Hamilton «
says : « The monuments of antiquity in Upper Egypt present a
very uniform appearance ; and his first impressions incline the
traveller to attribute them to the same or nearly the same
epoch."
Diatrihution of WBalth,-~M\\\^ quoting Herodotus/ Strabo,*
Diodorus Siculus ^ says : " In Egypt the king was the sole pro-
prietor of the land ; and one-fourth of the produce appears to
have been yielded to him as revenue or rent." The population
at its zenith was 7,500,000 (see Wilkinson, i. pp. 216, 217,
where there is a very vague statement as to the area ; and see
vol. i. p. 180). The wealth and luxury of the higher classes ./as
extraordinary : and " the very great distinction between them
and the lower classes is remarkable as well in the submissive
obeisance to their superiors as in their general appearance, their
dress, and the style of their houses." ^ « Nor was any one per-
mitted to meddle with political affairs, or to hold any civil
office in the state. ... If any artizan meddled with political
affairs, or engaged in any other employment than the one to
which he had been brought up, a severe punishment was instantly
inflicted upon him." » -'The fourth caste was composed of
pastors, poulterers, fowlers, fishermen, labourers, servants, and
common people." » They hated shepherds, and would not allow a
swineherd even to enter their temples.'" Wilkinson " says of the
land that « a fifth part (I suppose of the produce) was annually
paid to the government by the Egyptian peasant." At p. 263
he adopts the assertion of Diodorus, that the only landed pro-
prietors were the king, the priests, and the military order ; tue
land being equally divided into three parts. •''
iJe%io/i.— Wilkinson says : '^ "The idea of death among the
ancients was less revolting than among Europeans and others at
the present day, and so little did the Egyptians object to have
it brought before them, that they even introduced the mummy
of a deceased relative at their parties, and placed it at table as
' Laws, Book XII. chap. vi. in Plato's ■Works, vol. v. p. 619.
' Hamilton's Egyptiaca, p. 18.
• Mill's Hist, of Britisli India, vol. i. p. 303. * Herodotus, Book II. chap. xix.
Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 1135. « Died. Sic. lib. ii. see. 2, chap. xxiv.
' Wilkinson's Egypt, vol. i. pp. 232, 235. « Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 8, 9.
„ }K';?-P/^ '» Ibid. pp. 16, 17.
" Ibid. vol. I. p. 74. " Ibid. vol. ii. p. 2. " Ibid, p 4U
AFRICA.
315
one of the guests." At p. 204, vol. iv., the Egyptians "were
the hist ank, and fron. them were chosen hi. confidential and
^J.ns.1^^^,,, j,, ^" ^^« Pr^-ipai offi^r^^
fnlfiH.-l .1 ^- '-Besides their religious duties, the priests
fulhleJ the important offices of judges and legislators, as we
as counsellors of the monarch."^ At p. 271, vol v "£^1,
mi^taiy ^eguhjtions ..re subject to the in'fiuenc; of the ;;cerdo:i
Ob !;rl ft f V' ^^^' ^^^lki^^««^ ^^y«' " The priests were not
obliged make the same sacrifice of their landed property nor
Tt : rtlf ')l '''' T ^' '^' ^'^'^'^^ -^-^^^' "P- i^
" Tu tlv cHd , " .^Tt ^^'"- ^^^'"- '«>•" ^^'^Ikinson a .ays,
Justly did the priests deride the ridiculous vanity and ionorance
y tinTt ::' '?"".? '''-'' ^"^"^ ''^^ ^^^ ^-^d'- ' "^^
nu s't hi f §7ptians ever c//c^ offer human sacrifices, it
iiut .mce Plutarch quotes as his authority Manetho,« I do not
ag.ee with Wilkinson that "it is scarcely necessary to 'attempt a
tutation of so mprobable a tale." The Egyptians had esTeric
d exo enc religion.^ The Greeks laughed' at the EgyptTan
01 ^^^l■slupplug ammals." Indeed, they even adored "fabulou
insects and fabulous quadrupeds." ^ The sense of the dignity o^
nito anmidls. There is plenty of evidence of their [the Eoyptiansl
worship of animals in Wilkinson, who however somitimesftfem"
xi t^ ' f "'"^ ^' '^' ""'^^'^^ --8—^ of the non-
th . r ^-fr' '" '^' nionuments. On transmigration of
the .ou see \^ ilkinson, vol. v. p. 440-44(3. At p. 446 he quotes
Caesar that "the Druids believed in the- migration of thlsou
hough they confined it to human bodies." A curious proo}!^^
tie Lmopean Imman dement. Human sacrifices are not men-
toned on the [Egyptian] monuments; but there is no dTubt
that they ^..r. practised in Egypt; though they are said to have
en abohshed under the old empire.." Diodorus Siculus - say!
that the Egyptian priests " are free from all public taxes and im-
positions, and are in the second place to the king in honour and
' Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 257.
' Ibid. vol. iv. p. 169.
' Il.id. vol. V. pp. 43, 341, 344.
' Ibid. vol. iv. p. 275.
" Ibid. vol. V. p. 1 28.
" ?.""^""'» Egypt, vol. i. pp. 17, 18, 65, 441.
■ -l-ib. I. cap. vi. vol. i. p. 76. By Booth.
* Ibid. vol. ii. p. 23.
* Ibid. p. 269.
" Ibid. p. 341.
Ibid, pp. 161, 162; vol. V. p. 9R.
'a
l> !
' i
m
I ai*;i4-g3Mihiiai
816
FRAGMENTS.
authority." Herodotus snys, ' " They are of all men the most
excessively attentive to the worship of the gods." At ii. 64,
p. 119, « The Egyptians, then, are beyond measure scrupulous in
all things concerning religion." At book ii. chap. Ixvi. he says,
p. 21, of the Egyptians, "In whatever house a cat dies of a
natural death, all the family shave their eyebrosvs only ; but if a
dog die tliey shave the whole body and the head." Richardson »
found at Ghadames, in 30° N. lat., that " the notion of the trans-
migration of souls lingers in these parts, but is a doctrine not
generally received." Plato » believed that the human soul trans-
migrated even into beasts (see the Statesman, chap. xxx.). "In
Egypt it is not permitted for a king to govern without the
sacerdotal science, and should any one, previously ot another
caste of men, become by violence the king, he is afterwards
compelled to be initiated into the mysteries of this caste." "•
Their religion is like that of India— but from similarity of
causes not from contact. "The excavated temple of Guefeli
Hassan, for instance, reminds every traveller of the cave of
Elephanta."* Eussell « says that above Cairo rain, thunder, and
lightning are hardly known. The combined effect of slavery
(caused by mal-distribution of wealth) and superstition caused
by power of nature. Russell ^ remarks that the Egyptian clergy
persisted in using " imitative and symbolic hieroglyi^hics " long
after they became acquainted with alphabetic and phonetic
writing. The Mahometans in Kordofan " firmly believe in me-
tempsychosis." 8 Heeren ^ says that in Upper Egypt the temples
are all built of sandstone which is found in Middle Egypt ; but
that the great monuments of one piece were composed of the
"Syenite or oriental granite," found near Philse. In India
granites are found very like those of Syene.'o
Women. — Wilkinson says among no ancient people had Vvomen
such influence and liberty." Herodotus is wrong in saying
women were never priestesses.'" Polygamy was legal ; but not
usual. '3 " A woman who had committed adultery was sentenced
to lose her nose ; " the man " to receive a bastinado of a thousand
' Hprodotus, Book II. chap, xxxvii. pp. 108, 109.
2 Richardson's Travels in the Sahara, vol. i. p. 206.
* Timieus, chap. xvii. Plato's Works, vol. ii. pp. 317. 347.
* Plato's Works, vol. iii. p. 244.
» Russell's Egypt, in Edinburgh Cabinet Library, p. 21.
"^^'■^'■P-4^- 'Ibid. p. 147.
Pallme's Travels in Kordofan, p. 188.
" Heeren, African Nations, vol. ii. pp. C6, 67.
'" Journal of Asiatic Societj-, vol. vii. pp. 122, 124.
" Wilkinson's Ancient PZgyptians, vol. ii. pp. 58, 59, 61, 166, 389.
" Ibid. vol. i. pp. 261, 262. .3 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 02.
AFEICA.
817
blows." > According to Herodotus, «If a son was imwillinff to
mamtam his parents he was at liberty to refuse • but aT not
ir''%CVr^^ the. , on^efusingn;a^arnSt
H.n'v V ' ^^^^^'"«^°'' ^^^thout evidence, thinks proper to
tZ ]yZ ^'"°f • T''' *''"'^^ ^' ^^^'I'^'-en, remain so by me e
habit. Diodorus Siculus' says of Egyptians, " In their contrac !
marnao-e authority is given to the wife over her i'.sCd at
, ^ 1 .1 P' • ^^ ^^^^ of adultery the man
was to have a tho..and lashes with rods, and the woman' her nos:
cut olt. At p. 82, "The priests only marry one wife, but all
others may have as many wives as they pLse." Herodotus"
ays, "No woman can serve the office for any god or godd^s '
but men are employed for both offices. Sons are not compelled tj
«uppor iheir parents unless they choose, but daughters are com-
peUed to do so whether they choose or not." Richardson" sa^s
•There are several women now living more than eighty. How
ong these poor creatures sm-vive their feminine charms' A woman
n the desert gets old after thirty." Muller ^ s.v.. that in Afdca
nmth The Arabs and Berbers of North Africa still buy their
wives.s Richardson" says all the Africans like not women but very
young girls. He says - that near Lake Tchad men always buy the^
wu-es. Mayo •> says, " In the hottest regions of Asia, Africa an
America, girls arrive at puberty at ten, even at n ne years of
age; in France not till thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen ; whUt in
ftl t;o H' '"' ''T""' ''''' ^''''' '' -t at'tained t m
hom two to hree years later. Habits of activity and bodily
exertion ijtard the arrival of puberty." At Konka on like
Tchad, and in the Alardara country about 10° N. lat., women are
guarcled by eunuchs.- In Central Africa the heat is immense >3
At Katunga, in 9° X. lat., women are bought as wives '^^nd al'so
nc^th of Katunga. Russell says,'^ " For vai-ious i -elsoTs', eieci 1 ;
the want of trees and the low elevation of the whole plaL fitm
' Wilkinson's Ancient Eg:yptians, vol. ii, p. 39
. J'-l«™s Siculus Book I. chap. ii. vol. i. p. 33. Booth.
Heiodotus, Book II. chap. xsxv. p 108
" Rieljardson's Travels in the Desert of Sahara, vol. i. p. 362.
Muller s Physiology, vol. ii. p. 1480.
; See Kennedy's Algeria and Tunis, vol. i. pp. 138, 280.
Kiehardson's Central Africa, vol. i ud 218 21 Q 1. ti • 1 , ••
;; Mayo's Human Physiology, 39?. ^^" ' ' ^'^"^- "°^- "' P" ^^^
" Denham's Central Africa, pp. 97, 130, 134, 215
1^" Ibid. pp. 92, 96, 107, 109.
I* Clapperton's Second Expedition, pp. 49 9'>
Bussell's Egypt, i„ Edinburgh Cabinet Librarj', p 43
• Ibid. p. 60.
* Ibid. p. 81.
■m
1 (''"'■■■4
>W L»
i'
''i
m
ii
I 'I
318
FRAGMENTS.
Rosetta to Assouan, the avera<ife degree of heat in Egypt is con-
siderably greater than in many other countries situated in the same
hititude." In Kordafan, the south-west province of Egypt, " they
grow old very rapidly, and a woman in her twenty-fourtli year
is considered pasaee." ' Wives bought in liot countries. In the
north of Nubia, near the first cataract, girls often marry before
twelve.* On the great heat near Shendi about 16° 30' N. lat.,
see Hoskins, pp. 97, 126. "The Mohammedan law prescribes
that the unmarried woman shall perform the pilgrimage " to
Mecca.' And " in general women are seldom seen in the mosques
in the east." *
Sea. — Wilkinson* says, "Those who traded Avith them were
confined to the town of Naucrates." But at vol iii. p. 191,
Wilkinson supposes " the early existence of an Egyptian fleet."
Diodorus Siculus ^ says, " It is a piece of religion, aad practised
among the Egyptians at this day, that these that travel abroad
suffer their hair to grow until they return home." This is illus-
trated by Herodotus,^ who says that this was the mark of mourn-
ing; "The Egyptians on occasions of death let the hair p- iw
both on the head and face." Hamilton » says "It was another
principle with the Egyptian government to discourage foreign
navigation ; and as a step to this it was necessary to check every
mechanical and nautical improvement at home."
Food. — Dates in extreme south of Egypt .» At Makkarif (IS"
N. lat.), close to the fifth cataract, and at Dousolah, nearly in
the same latitude, both in Nubia, dourah is abundant.'" Dates
the favourite and general food of Arabia.
In western part of Africa the ordinary food is Shea butter, on
which see Common Place Book, art. 1709.
Russell " says, " The Phcenix dact^ylifera, or date tree, is of great
value to the inhabitants of Egypt, many families, particularly in
the upper provinces, having hardly any other food a great part of
the year ; while the stones or kernels are ground for the Use of
the camels."
Bunsen'» says, in Egypt "the quality of the atmosphere ' par-
ticularly favourable to the generation of organic life." Lo -ion '•''
' Pallnie's Travels in Korrlofan, p. 63. = Hoskins's Tnivels in r-:thiopia. p. 11.
' BurekhfivrU's Arabia, vol. i. p. 359. * Ibid. vol. ii. p. 196.
* Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 76.
* Diodorus Siculus, Book I. chap. ii. vol. i. p. 25. Booth.
' Herodotus, Book II. chap, xxxvi. p. 108.
* Hamilton's Egyptiaca, p. 61. ' Ibid, pp. 64, 71.
"• Hoskins's Travels in Ethiopia, pp. 53, 179.
" Russell's Egj-pt, in Edinburgh Cabinet Library, p. 450.
"^ Bunsen's Egj-pt, vol. i. p. 104.
" Loudon, Encyclopsedia of Agriculture, p. 173.
ASIA.
819
says, « In a good season-that is, when the rise of the Nil.
occasions a great expansion of its waters_the nrnfit nf flf
pnetors of rice-fields is estimated ^t fifty pt'eent cLr Tall
expenses." Diodorus Siculus ' savs " In vZZ Tf 7 , "
allowed to enter any of their temples." rI ZZflL T
reign of Cheops, the king "made al fh. P T "" *^^
" harnessed to the plouffh " « a ltl,n„ ^ f^'^'J"* ^SJPt men were
who wrote on Eo-y^t f with ch?^ . "J"'" ^'''^ ^'''''^'^'
nothing worth WvL° s 11 ' h '"''i' '^'"""^^ *^" "«
ments L the degradatto'n o the peopir Whfn H ^'-u" """""
Egypt, the peasants borrowed money a '25 or To ''" 7' ^"
quote BurckhlrSrlx V 1 i P% 8 ^"^^^^ ^^^^
of money is 30 to 40 per cent.« ^' ^' ^'"■"' *^' "^^^^"^^^
} i
;}i ^!
fr'J
i.l^ll
ri
ASIA.
Jf'od.--In Arabia and Egypt the same food-dates- but
in Arabia little accumulation of wealth • and in J.V ^ \
nomadic countries, where there is no aLcumuhtio'i tT.
o^a^ liWty.o The three parts of th::;^!;^:^' ^. ^
mo t potent, are Asia, Africa, and America, and in none of thp,l
could man work out civilization. The pressure ^1:7.^"
^ Diodorus Siculus, Book I. cap. vi. vol. i. p. 77.
' Il>!d. lib. i. cap. v. vol. i. p. fi6.
' Herodotus, Book II. chap, xlvii. p. 114 4 ;,,;,, „. „
Hamilton-^ Egyptiaca, p'94. ^ » ^ ;^^P; f-^^^" PP' J*^- ^o.
■lliid. p. 253, B -D 11 , . —
' [See] vols. vii. and viii. of Sir W Joneflrr^'' '''"f'''f-}'- ?' '''■
^<>arches. Colebroke's Digest of Hinio La v' On hI, .- r ' """^ '" ^"'^^'^ ^«-
>" Mill's Hist, of B;i,. India, vol.T p 283 " ' ^''''' ''" ^''"^""'^ °°'^
''fi' !■' %
Ik
320
FRAGMENTS.
and he could only do it in Europe ; and first in feeble Greece.
"NVilson ' seems to adopt Colebrooke's estimate that the Vedas are
" about fourteen centuries prior to the Christian era." Wilson '^
praises " the valuable works of Colonel Vans Kennedy on the
affinity between ancient and Hindoo mythology." General
Eriggs^ places the Vedas at B.C. 14.
Dl fusion of Wealth. — Incredible numbers followed Xerxes into
Greece.'' The gigantic works of Babylon and Nineveh were pro-
duced by slaves, squandering labour instead of economizing it
by machinery. They are proofs, not of civilization, but of
barbarism. Grote * says that such great works proved " a con-
centrated population under one government, and above all an
implicit submission to the regal and priestly sway, contrasting
forcibly with the small autonomous communities of Greece and
Western Europe, wherein the will of the individual citizen was so
much more energetic and uncontrolled." The Persian soldiers
were driven into battle by whips." Xenophon describes the
luxuriant food the Greeks saw in Retreat of Ten Thousand.^
Enormous w^ealth of a Phrygian in time of Xerxes.^ In India,
different governments succeed each other, but there was no revo-
lution out of the government : the people never rose. The
Edinburgh Cabinet Library '•* says of tl. j present Hindoos, " As
the rent in India usually exceeds a third of the gross produce, a
farm can yield only a very small income, which, however, enables
the tenants to keep over their heads a house that can be built in
three days of nmd, straw, and leaves, to eat daily a few handfuls
of rice, and to wrap themselves in a coarse cotton robe. Their
situation ma/ be considered as ranking below that of the Irish
peasants. The ordinary pay of a rural labourer is only from 50s.
to 70s. a year, which, indeed, compared with the price of neces-
saries, may be worth from 4L lOs. to 6^. in Britain ; but with this
small sum he must provide his whole food, clothing, and habita-
tion." In Menu,'° " A king, even though a child, must not he
treated lightly, from an idea that he is a mere mortal ; no, he is
a powerful divinity, who appears in a human shape."
' Note in Vishnu Purana, p. 225. And his Introduction to Eig Veda Sanhita,
p. xlviii.
- Vishnu Purana, p. xv.
* Eeport of British Association, for 1850, p. 169.
* Mure's Hist, of Greek Literature, vol. iv. pp. 399-401. Also Grote's Hist, of
Greece, vol. v. pp. 43, 48, 52.
' Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. iii. p. 402. ' Ibid. vol. vi. p. 613.
■ Ibid. vol. ix. p. 79. * Ibid. vol. v. pp. 38, 39.
" Edinburgh Cabinet Library, vol. ii. pp. 426, 427.
'" ileuu, vii. 8. Jonts'o Works, vol. iii. p. 242.
. '-IV:j!
ehle Greece.
i Vedas are
' Wilsou ^
idy on the
General
Xerxes into
1 were pro-
omizing it
m, but of
id " a con-
•ove all an
contrasting
Jreece and
izen was so
an soldiers
icribes the
Thousand.^
In India,
,s no revo-
•ose. The
idoos, " As
produce, a
er, enables
>e built in
w handfuls
be. Their
the Irish
' from 50s.
! of neces-
t with this
,nd habita-
ist not be
; no, he is
''eda Sanliita,
jte'b HiBt, of
613.
38, 39.
ASIA.
321
l.dl, named Calasutia." ■ it W 1 ?'''°''f.''°" '" "">
interest thoy must pay > One T. '""' ""' '"'"•'' *■>"<
ven,d: and ae rXl^n^llT^ "f "■«* J"»«ee became
Debtors were comnellTtr!^ , 'f?" ""^ ^''^ """•'
creditors; nor was tlr any' doHf "^he 7^ n"'^" "^ *»''
of an equal divi.lend." < (viL„° ,,, '^LT^ "^^"'8'''°''"'
populous than now. Mill« ^^Z ote bif "wT'f ""'^
common people of all sort. .„■„ „ i- ■ . " Indostan the
«tb those of higher a tes ° S >T'"r ™°'' '" '=<»"P»ri^<"'
"There cannot ho a more eo„t '""""='•" »"ill adds,
extreme oppression, even of .ZLT:"? -T' '""' " ^'»'° "^
l»en the wretcued lot "f the W ™''"^'™'"'' '"« ■-■» aH times
Both Modes and Perils were IMd"."^' f'"'" '" Hindustan."
»y3 Elphinstone,. " h,Sr:nd mtci: rtd'' ^' ^"''-"•
immense premium, and with verv hil . """""y ^ "n
the immense wealth of TmZ^.'^, '=?""P°™d interest." For
p. 188; and for be aim °sf in ™ r '''^ '•^'^ 'E'P"^^^^^
PPj,48., «2; and i^r\hl;rj:,:n:t -53^11""^ '' ^'"'-
Cra:s."°tnlnry:.^^-t:£^' *^^ --.ans and
to work in his service " On fl. ^T""' '?? compelling him
.a. soil „f^.outhe™ ^
;.at.dS:ie!--:-^^^^^^^
Menu '» classes " a navioator nP ih^ » ^ Institutes of
"who are to be avddfd'" it ^raH ^ " ""£ f « f'"'"^''
commanded Alexander's fleet ar ifi j-j ''"'"'cl'us. who
skip in eoastins from the Indot' f' ^'^ ™' °"''" " ™gfe
from Arrian th^.Tfa^a^" » t^.j:f^i ^^ « «""
Indians employed in this sea"; while'trAthrSdr.h:
^>luls India, vol. i. p. 240 » ^T
« — - — - P- ''^'- Noto on Mill's India, vol. i. p. 330.
^ Mill's India, vol. i". p. 477".
I'"d. pp. 183, 202.
.1 S:'^°'«,Works, vol. ii. p. 120.
Wilsons Theatre of the Hindus, vol. i p,rt ii ,. ^,
.... ^^''^^.Hi^t. of Greece, vol. iii.'p. 360.^ ' ''^ '''
^'-P. 3... 158. 166. Jones's AVorks, vol. iii. pp. 141. 142,
EIphinstone'sHist.ofIndia,p. 174.
" !
I !
i-i
i
II l'{
H
822
FRAGMENTS.
wrote " in the second century before Christ," it appears that the
trade between India and Yemen in Arabia " was entirely in the
hands of the Arabs." ' Herodotus ' t(^lls a curious story ilhis-
trating the horror the Asiatic natives felt for the sea. Even tlie
Siamese, who have so long a line of coast, are bad and timid
navigators.' Wilson^ has idly attempted to prove that the early
Hindoos were bold navigators.
Human. — Renouard ' says of the Hindoos, " Leurs connais-
sances medicales so trouvent rassembleos dans un livre qii'ils nom-
ment Vagadasasti ; " and of this he gives a short notice,^ and says
they had " des idees si ridicules sur le generation et lo diagnostic
des maladies."^ The P'dinburgh Cabinet Library » says, "The
Hindoo drama was a branch of literature very imperfectly known
till the important specimens and analysis furnished by Professor
Wilson showed it to be one of great importance. Its produc-
tions, indeed, are very limited as to number when compared to
those of European composers ; and it seems doubtful if all the
plays extant, even including those mentioned in literary history,
much exceed sixty." ^ Sir W. Jones '" says, "As to mere human
works on history and geography, though they are said to be extant
in Cashmere, it has not yet been in my power to procure them.""
The Institutes of Menu '* speak with tlie greatest dislike and con-
tempt of "physicians." '» Sir W. Jones '* places the oldest Veda at
B.C. 1580, and the Institutes of Menu B.C. 1280; while Elphin-
Btone'" assigns the Vedas to the fourteenth century B.C., and iAIenu
about B.C. 900 ; but this, he allows, is calculated " very loosel^r."
Mill '" says, " Hardly any nation is more distinguished for san-
guinary laws ;" and he gives a striking list of their horrible
punishments. The Hindoos preached penances compared to
which the mortification of the most rigid monks were refined
* Elphiustone's Hist, of India, pp. 166, 167, who quotes Vincent's Commerce and
Navigation of the Ancients.
* Herodotus, Book IV. cap, xliii. p. 251,
' Journal of Koyal Asiatic Society, vol. iv. pp. 105, 106,
* Ibid, vol. V. pp. 137, 139.
* Renouard, Histoire de la Mcdccino, tome i. p. 44. • Ibid. pp. 44-46.
' See also Sir W. Jones' =( Works, vol. i. p. 161.
' Edinburgh Cabinet Library, vol. ii. p. 308.
* See the strange asserHon of Sir W. Jones, Works, vol. vi. p. 206,
'° Sir W. Jones's Thirtl Discourse on the Hindoos, vol. i. p. 33. " Ibid. p. 147.
" Institutes of Menu, chap. iii. 152, 180; cluip. iv. 212. Sir W. Jones's Works,
vol. iii. pp. 140, 144, 190.
" See also Elphinstone's Hist, of India, pp. 42, 144, 145, and Preface to Wilson's
Vishnu Purana, p. xxxviii.
" Sir W. Jones's Works, vol. iii. p. 56; vol. i. p. 348.
"> Klphinstone's Hist, of India, pp. 225, 228.
'« Mill's Hist, of Brit. India, vol. i. pp. 254, 265.
ASIA.
Jommerce and
e to Wilson's
323
luxuries.' Mill » finolv sav<i «T1.« it- i ,
monly n^istuke minlr::^',^^:,^:' l-givors who corn-
says there are Hindoo histories 3 con W^n ."' ^^'""^^ ^'^
for "The bias of the Hindoo mind v^Tomlhr^ 7^' ^^^^^
matters of speculation • and ,> iV ^"^ directed to
interest to the con rns' of ephemeral "" .'v'^'^'' ""^ ^'^'^ «^
worthy of record." EIplsL^^^ them
;iKh pitch of civilization withotanTlork'^^^^a^^^^^^
the character of a history." At n 93 Tnl ^^ "\ '-^J. ^PProaches
poem, the Maha Jiharat of whir I, r-fi: ^f ''^ ""'^" ^^^^'^^c
Crislma is the .rreatesf f.vn f ^ f '"^ '' "' ^""'^ ^^^ ^^'^
"there is a Ltal ignora^of ? .Ity '' ^nT'^' ^"^^^^"^^
MaJia Bharat, see pp 20G 2n7 v i ^;.i , ^''"^ Kamayana and
first poem, " vhen^h-ipped of It! fT .^^P^""^^^"- «-y« that the
tions merdy relates Sll^ '^"'";" "^'^ ^'^^^'^^^^ ^ecora-
Hindostan/a^dtlt'h'ii^S^^^^ ^^"^^- -
the island of Ceylon, which he cor^nu^red " 'fm -^T'"''^ ''
no doubt of the real existence oTZnat^ ^.'P'jnstone makes
nor of the historical value of .laha w't "I.^^^^^^P^^^^ion ;
safest sources for the ancient le^e ds of the JiinT . T' " ^^'
are no doubt the two great poC; tL ^ ' ""^''^ ^^" ^^^^^•^'
rata. The first offers on y a'f'^Lt th v ^o!?' ''*•'''''"
racter. Tlie Mahabharata^is mo f'rtUefnltio ' ^K?-."-" ^'^^■
miscellaneous, and much that it conta L is of ^ :' \' "™°^'
ticity and uncertain date Still 7n^ i equivocal authen-
- genuine, and it is tide^ y t^L^^J Si^r ''V^^f
most, if not all the Puranas ha^-e drawn " T he A?., i? '"^'''^'
mentioned in Vishnu Purana ^ nnri f h T t ^^^^^^^arata is
pencd about f„„rteen centuries d.c." And at „^«f w r"* '""^
to tile conquest of Lanka y Rama." \^'ilson » savs of f i ^ ^^
Purana, "The fourth book contains all t t fl. w ^ ' ^''^^""
"^eir ancient history." This fo:::;rbo:k1 It^^^' ^
^ mvlfi^ "■'f'""' '" ^'"'« ^'"^^^' ^°I- '■• PP- 410-412
■ftlui s India, vol. i. p. 444 ^^ ^•
; Wilson, note in Mill's India, vol. ii. p. 67.
i-iphinstones Hist, of India to. 10 -^Si » t, . ,
: Wilson, Vishnu Pnrana, p. TvSE ' ?.' f ?• ^««-
] Ibid. p. Ixv. il^id- pp. 276, 614, 48o.
' Preface to Viblmu Purana, p. kiv.
T 2
'•';■ 1^1
? I
1 .
1 i
824
FRAGMENTS.
J J,
is at p. 347 et acq. Wilson ' thinks tlie date of this Parana's com-
position to be A.n. 104.5. The most important part of tlie Bha-
gavata is the tenth hook " appropriated entirely to the history of
Krislma," and translated in Maurier's Ancient History of Ilin-
dusta-.i.' Colebrooke thinks it is only six hnndred years old : '
and with this Wilson agrees, and says/ " The twelfth century is
probably the date of the Bhagavata Parana ;" and this he repeats
at p. 481.
According to the Hindoo medical writers there are "three
humours, namely, wind, bile, and phlegm."* Herodotus^ says
of the Babylonians, whose civilization some people vaunt, "They
bring out their sick to the market-place, for they have no physi-
cians : then those who pass by the sick person confer with him
about the disease, to discover whether they have themselves been
affected with the same disease as the sick person," &c., and if so,
advise him as to the treatment. Wilson ^ says the Mahometans
never had any dramatic literature. Of the Hindoo plays he says,**
« The greater part of every play is written in Sanscrit. . . . They
must, therefore, have been unintelligible to a considerable portion
of their audiences, and never could have been so directly addressed
to the bulk of the population as to have exercised much influence
upon their passions or their tastes." He says,^ "The dramatic
mythology contains curious evidence of the passion of rude people
foi large buildings." It is said '" that " The first mention of tlie
caves of EUora is in the fourteenth century." In Indra's heaven
there are thirty-five million nymphs." Wilson says" that in
the west of India the history of Eama is still " represented in
the dramatic form." Eavana, who made war on Rama, had ten
heads;'' and a king is mentioned with 60,000 sons.'^ Wilson'*
gives an analysis of "the Veni Samhara, a drama founded on
the Mahabharat." '^ On the rock-cut temples of India see an
elaborate essay in Journal of Asiatic Society, vol. viii. pp. 33, 34,
44, 51.
Women. — The jealousy felt respecting women is one of the
causes of the backward state of medical knowledge.'" Besides
' Preface to Vishnu Purnna, pp. Ixxi, Ixxii. * Ibid. p. xxvii.
» Ibid. p. xxviii. < Ibid. p. xxxi.
' Eig Veda Sanhita, p. 95. ' Herodotus, Book I. cap. cxevii. p. 86.
' Wilson's Theatre of the Hindus, vol. i. p. iv.
» Ibid. pp. V, vi. 9 Ibid. pp. vi, vii.
'» Elphinstone, History of India, p. 343.
" Wilson's Theatre of the Hindus, vol. ii. part i. p. 12.
" Ibid. vol. i. part i. p. 16. " Ibid. vol. ii. part iii. p. 4.
•* Ibid. vol. ii. part iii. p. 10. " Ibid. vol. iii. part iii. p. 17.
'" Journal of Asiatic Society, vol. v. p. 291.
'' Renouard, Hist, de la Medicine, tome i. p. 428.
AHlk.
825
tins, there could be no f?reat social and historical generalisatiouB
when society was thus maimed anl imperfect: heuce ferodtvZ
Another fact is that there could be no good education ;Zfable
men have had able mothers. The httory of the inZnceTf
(ToH Vt ^'"^'';;/"^^"' '^'^ ^^^"^'^^'^ Cabinet LiSa;'
vol u. p. 343) says of the preaent Hindoo women, " Every avenue
by wluch an xdea could possibly enter their minds is dfhgent^;
1 rt th " Tr "'"' '" ''T '' ^p^" ^ ^-'^ = *^«y -- nol
their hnh r^^^%7^'^« ^^ '^'^ t-'npl-B ; and any man, even
their husbands, would consider himself disgraced by entering into
onversation with them." Women even ^of the highest orde'
mve no concern with the Vedas.' In the advice respecting mar-
riage, sensual beauties are dwelt on, but there is no idea of com-
paruon or soccety.^ Brahmins are forbidden to eat with t^r
Dossiblv H^r"'^\"':' ™^"^^«««d several times in Menu, though
po.ibly ths meant impotent men.« Very jealous. « Let not a
rTtions" Th'' "' ^\', -^"f -^d place with his nearest female
t . ir : \ ^7«'^1^^'^ of corporeal organs is powerful enough
to snatch wisdom from the wise."^ To talk with the wife of a man
act n?iv * r'"' "'^''' ^^'^ ^'' '' ""^""^^''y-' And if adultery
Wt i^i v"r^"T '''°^"" ^^ '' ^' ^^^«"^-^d ^y dogs, the adulterer
burnt dlive.=' Under some circumstances men buy their wives i e
pay a dowry to the father of the woman. But on this point there'iJ
some confusion, though the custom was evidentlv not unfrequent.
304^1?^.?.^ Sir W.Jones's Works, vol. iii. pp. 123' 126
t\r ,!? *'' *^^ "^^^ '" Elphinstone's History of India r> 33
and Ml I's History of India, vol. i. pp. 447, 456, 457. WoYe'n fn
law smts "maybe witnesses for women;" but the evidence of
one man « will have more weight than many women, because
emale understandings are apt to waver."«o a woman miy marry!
even though she have not attained the age of eight years •" " and
"a man aged thirty may marry a girl of twelve /or a man of
; Menu, chap, ii 06. Jones's Work,, vol. iii. p. 92, and chap. ix. 18 p 337
Menu, chap. m. sec. 10. Jones, vol. iii. p. 120 ' ^' '"
Mill's Hist, of Brit. India, vol. i. p. 517.
* Menu, iv. 43. Jones, vol. iii. p. 167.
^ Menu, vii. 150. Jones, vol. iii. p. 261.
• Jones's Works, vol. iii. pp. 189, 190, 363, 364, 422
Menu, li. 215. Jones's Works, vol. iii. p. 113
Menu, viii. 356, 357. Jones, vol. iii. p. 325.
Menu, viii. 371, 372. Jones, vol. iii. p. 327
HiIt'!;'^tUT^^J^' ''■ •^--' -^- -• PP- 284, 285, 286. See also Miira
" Menu, ix. 88, see also 94. Sir W. Jones, vol. iii. pp. 347, 348.
328
FI{A(}MENTS.
twenty-four a damsel of ciglit." Polygamy is distinctly allowc^d.'
" By a girl, or by a young wonuin, or by a woman advanced in
years, nothing must be done, even in lier own dwelling-place, ac-
cording to her mere pleasure." 2 «A woman must never seek
independence ;"3 and « a woman is never fit for independence." ■«
Of jpreaent wonu n Elphinstor^e Hays,^ « Women are everywht're
almost entirely mieducated." PerJiaps from physical laws genius
is hereditary on tlie female side. At all events I shall hereafter,
from a vast collection of evidence, prove that the popular opinion
is correct, th^t able men have able molliors. Women ou<.'lit to
educate their diildren, and, in fact, neaily always do so after a
ftislnon ; for education is not books. The decline of public schools
and of early education by men I shall prove to be one caxiso of
our diminished ferocity of manners. ;,iill sjiys, " Of all crimes,
indeed, adultery appears ni the ojvs of Jfindoo lawgivers to be
the greatest." Among barbarians a woman labours liard ; hence
she IS valuable property, and her fatlier will not let lici- marry
imless bribed to do so. But in India women were also looked on
us toys. Mill '•' quotes Menu ^ Uiat '^ neitluu- by sale nor donation
can a wife bo released from lier litisbiuul." « Tliis," says Mil], « is
a remarkable law; for it indicates tlie power of tlu; luisband to
sell his wife as a slave ; ^m, by conseqiience proves tliat lier con-
dition while in his house was not regarded as v(>ry different from
slavery." ]Mill« ,ays of tlie Greeks, "In the time of Homer,
though the wife was actually purdiascd fn)ni the fatliev, still lier
father gave with her a dowe -."o iMill '» refutes the notion that
the Hindoos borrowed tlieir seclusion of women from t]:e I^Ialiom-
medans. T^]ven by the iAIaliommedan law, « In all criminal .uses
the testimony of the woman is excluded ; and in ([uestions of
property tlie testimony of two women is held only euual to that
of one man." "
Sattts, or burning women for their husbands, is not in iAIenu.
bu^ IS said by Diodorus ^iculus'^ to be as old as n.r. 300 ; and lie
ascribes it ^' to the degraded condition to which a woman who
•Mm,, yiii 28 201; ix. 77. <^1. Jane, vol. iii. pp. 270, 304. 345. 346. Also
V>iliion.s notoin Miir.x Indiii, vol. i. p. 45-,.
••' Monii, V. 147. V(,l. iii. p. 219.
» Momi, V. 147. Vol. iii. p. 219, and sec. 118, p I'^o
« W ')v\ '"^-^V'^- "'^'l ' J^lplunst^no-^ Hist, ot India, p. 187.
« Mill .s Ilist. of Bnh Iiidiii, 1 ol. i. p. 448. ^
' M:-iiu, ix. 4G. "Woriw of Sir W. Jones, vcl. iii. p Ul
-0 m!!!-! ^!- f^f ^"'I'"^ ™1- '• P- ■»^'- " IHad, Lib. IX. vor.os 117, U8.
'• Diodoius Siculus, Lib. XIX. cap. xi.
llh ^feMMt^futUcu. 1 u. .-.
ASIA.
327
outhveB her hunband is eondoraned." • Elphinstone^ says. -Murders
aie ottener from jealousy, or some sucli motive, than for gain."
«k>urf"n •''^' '^'"^ Megasthenes^ affirms that the Indians
bought their wives for a yoke of oxen." Polygamy was com-
mon. Women who « voluntarily burned themselves with their
husbands • have a very high place in hoaven.« Women must not
™^ a'^ ^'' "^"^ '^'^ ^' " witness, except for another
7^' ,^^«^^^™^y ^-J"P W« ^ife.' "A man both day and
night must keep his wife so mucli in subjection that she by no
fTee wi. nT':;' f v' *^^" ^^'^^"^= '' '''' -if^ ^-- her own
she w r;.ri T ""'^. "^, '^'' ^^ 'P'""^ ^^""^ ^ ^^P^'^-i^r caste,
slie will yet beliave amiss." ^o «.jpi,, ^^.^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ J^^^^ ^^^^, ^^^
m Tm f T"" """^^^'^ ''^''^'^^' '''^^' ^'^'^ ^^"^ th^t children
might be born from them." " In Halhed's Gentoo Laws,'no talk
to a woman, or send her presents, is punished as adultery. "If
a woman goes of her c „a accord to a man, and inveigles him to
liave criminfil commerce with lior, tlie magistrate sliall cut off that
woman s ears, lips, and nose, mount her upon an ass, and drown
lior, or cause her to be eaten by dogs." " « A woman shall never
go ouo of the house witliout the consent of her Jiusband, . . a
woman also shall never go to a stranger's house, and shall not stand
at tlie door, and must never look out of a window." "^ Polygamy
common.'^ Polygamy arose because beauty soon decayed. Dio-
clorus Sicu us •« mentions the prevalence „f polygamy in India, and
also wives burning themselves when their husbands died. In the
oldosc of the Hindoo books, tlie Eig Veda Sanhita (p. 281) it is
distinrtly said that men are to buy their wives. Herodotus »7
says that among the Persians « a son is not admitted to the
presence of his fatlier, but lives entirely with the women."
Uimate does not affect tlie proportion of sexes. Polygamy caused
by ho. climate. Early marriage. Comte '« says that among the
Mongolians, girls are mairiageable between nine and twelve. I
tlunk polygamy is only firmly established when heat increases
tlcsire and wealth is unequally distributed. Plato '^ contrasts the
» lilif '!!''Z' "'''• °^ '";^''' P' '^^' ^"*^ «'-"' '"^ P- 243. the reference to Strabo.
• 8 TT^il ?■ PI . ., ^^'^' P- ^'^- ' ^''■''^"'' '^"i'- ^^' P- 488. edit. 1 A87.
.'00 ILdhod s Code of Gontc ) Laws, pp. 37, 08, 178.
^ Ibid. p. xlv. and p. 263. » ibid, p i
n }!;;:(• p' US' M'.id.p.208. -ibid. 249.
imu. p. 2oO. ,j ji^jj 2;?7. 238.
Mb.d. pp. 243 211. -Ibid. p. 252.
_^ Wilson 8 , ishim Pur-ina, pp. JoO, G13.
.' it r ''^'™'7' J^""k XLX. cap. ii., translated by Booth, vol. ii. p. 346.
^^ iluodoius, I5o(,k I. cap. xxxvi., in Holm's Cla.s.sical Librarv, p. fi-i
v.omte, rraite de la Wgisiation, tome ii. p. 93.
Pluto, Works, vol. iv. p. 343.
^fr
<' I'l
i \
i
1
t . f
T^^
■' -^
'^ ■'
!
Ii
1
i
328
FRAGMENTS.
education of the Greeks brouglit up by nnvses with that of the
lersians brought up by eunuchs. Wilson ' says, « It seems pro-
bable that the princes of India learnt the practice of tlie ri-nd
exclusion of women in their harems from the Mahommedans."
J^or instances of polygamy see vol. iii. part i. p. 22; part iii
pp. 44, 46. Women burned on dcvath of their husbands in b.c.
200.» Wilson" says, "To have touched the wife of another
with the hem of the garment was a violation of lier person "
Compare the present law of Nepal ; Journal of Asiatic Society,
vol. 1. p. r>0. According to Malioramedan priests, the pulx-) ty of
a girl IS at nine years. See Van Kennedy s Abstract of Mahnm-
medan Law m Journal of Asiatic Society, vol. ii. p. 101. The
same high authority says (p. 98), "Amongst the Mahommedans
the liberty ot dissolving marriages by divorce is left entirely to
the inclination or caprice of the husband." On their unwillino-.
ness to receive the evidence of women see p. 118. On state of
women see Niebuhr, Description de I'Arabie, pp. 44, (,.3, 65, 67.
In the fourteenth century Ibn Eatuta (Travels, p. 108) in India,
saw those women who burn themselves wlien their husbands
die. Herder* mentions that in hot countries early marria^^es
cause wives to be treated as children. He saysU^hat burniV-
women m India was caused by the husband's being afraid tlnit his
wile, lusting after another man, would put him to death. In all
barbarous countries, hot or cold, m..n despise women because tluy
areiymZ-, and, having neither knowledge nor love of society,
their only standard of merit is strengtli, :u)d physical, not moral,
courage. Polygamy among the Arabs of Madagascar, see Journal
ot (leographical Society, vol. v. p. 241.
iW^.-Elphinstone «■' says, "The nature of tlin soil and
climate make agriculture a simple art. A liglit plough which
he daily carries on his shoulder to the Held, is sutlicient with the
Help ot two small oxen, to enable the husbandm;ui to mak.' a
shallow furrow in the surflice in which to deposit the grain," and
_ the Hindoos understand rotation of crops, though tlieir almost
inexhaustiuie soil renders it often unnecessary." ^ ' Rice not now
general.^ Mrs. Somerville ^ says of the Himalaya, "It is also a
peculiarit,y in these mountains that the higher the range, the
higher likewise is the limit of snow and vegetation. On the
' Wilson's Theatre of Hindus, vol. i, pnrt i. p. 30.
\ ^^''^- !""•' "• P- 199- " ilml. p. 39.
Uorder Gescbichte dcr Monsehheit, Baud ii. Seito M8. « Il,id. Seitrn 151, 152.
Elplnnstone s Il.st of India, p. ICl. , i^id. p. jc^.
Soo W ilson s note in Mill's Hist, of India, voi. i. p. 478.
Mi-s. Somervillo's Physical Geography, vol. i. p. 07.
ASIA.
320
lo'oooT f T °'„"" """ '■■"■"" «■•• 0«rarf found cultivation
erof, are ra, Jd ,5,000 feerXv'e t 3 a 'crSn^r^^ *-'"""
pasture and low bushes up to 17,009 feet- and el T,!"''
even 18.644 feet." But of SiWia sLe sts .' " N^thof tl e ? t"'
any other eountrv on^h . { '""'' '""''" ''"'"vation, than
enfpire.'"Terv"'%ice .'•""■■'' """^'P' ""' Chinese
nutritive ,n,'t tin an" thTt™ Ih 'htt"'" "T'""" °^
-eessive u,„i*„-e, and a' ten:pt:tr '^ r aTw T^
chief among the feu.ale doiliL, and i^kf^'\ if^lf "X?' "«
Sto-?- -«-;---• ,£^5^^
name, her own beinff orioinallvParv.h A ?i^ ' ^''^ ^'''
as ear-rin,.s a i ecH.t If t";V""""';^"^'"^"^^ ^^^« ^^'^^ bodies
«lauoi.tered M-iLt land 1.. • "' '"^ -^''^ ^'^"^'^ '^ ^^^^-^
« Tlip ^« '''' '""'"'^ ^^ '"^ Kii-fHe » (vol. ii. n 94o^
i h^.Wga, or superior mansion, commonly translated I'avin''
n"24n' A.r, """P^" "^ i^M^mta is tl.e " wonder of AsTa »
(P- 240). At the « wond-ous structures of Ellora rL . I, n •
I'omplotely cut out into a range of temple ' V'" ^'
imposed fear. Metempsychosis is mentioned in In-
4 V) I • . ^'Ji''- P- 127.
^ f:'P'i'n.'-lone'sHist.ofIndia, p. 86.
^•-.lUil.urgh Cabinet Library, vol. ii. p. 249.
* Ibid. vol. ii. p. 220.
''^ir W. Jones's Works, vol
'•p. 271. MiiiV Kist. ofind
in, vol. i.
pp. 114, 415.
I' i i
'.ii I
I '4
, , I
11 .5
I'M
n'l
t >
!'
J
*
1
!
1
«
330
FRAGMENTS.
stitutes of Menu.' Sir W. Jones" sayj of the Chinese, "Of
paintinjr, sculpture, or architecture, as arts of imaf>ination, tliey
seem " [like other Asiatics] " to have no idea." Mill ^ says the
more ignorant a country is, the greater the power of clergy, and
he adds, " The Brahmans among the Hindoos have acquired and
maintained an authority more exalted, more commanding and
extensive than the priests have been able to engross among any
other portion of mankind." "Nowhere among mankind have
the laws and ordinances been more exclusively referred to the
divinity than by those who instituted the theocracy of Hin-
doostan." * " Of the host of Hindoo divinities, Brahma, Vishnu,
and Siva are the most exalted." " Elphinstone « says, "The
Greek gods were formed like men with greatly increased powers
and faculties, and acted as men would do if so circumstanced ;
but with a dignity and energy suited to their nearer approach
to perfection. The Hindu gods, on the other hand, though
endowed with human passions, have always something monstrous
in their appearance, and wild and capricious in their conduct.
They are of various colours, red, yellow, and blue ; some have
twelve heads, and most liave four hands. They are often en-
raged without a cause, and reconciled without a motive." At
p. 38 he quotes Colebrooke ^ to the eftect that in the Vedas « the
worship of deified heroes is no part of the system." A sort of
Pantbeism in Vishnu Parana (by Wilson) pp. 6, 255, 256. See
in Vishnu Parana, p. 527, a "legend having reference to tlie
caves or cavern temples in various parts of India." Diodoriis
Siculus 8 says of one of the mountains near the Hellespont, " In
the middle is a cave, as if it were made on purpose to entertain
the gods." The Hindoos practised human sacrifices.'-* In the
oldest Hindoo book •" we find the metempsychosis into animals.
At pp. 83, 111, 112, gifts to the priests are ordered. Asiatics
will not change religion. Only a few years since the Hindoos
believed that Vishnu had again become incarnate " in the person
of a boy."" Human sacrifices which indicated a contempt of
man are noticed by Colebrooke, Digest of Hindoo Law, vol. iii.
p. 288. At vol. vi. p. S 56 of Journal of Geographical Society,
it is said in Guyana of a " singular rock, that the Indians, as is
• Jones's Works, vol. iii. pp. 81, 111, 133, 140, M6, 184, 339, 381, 443, 462.
' Il'i^i- vol- '• P- 102. » Mill's Hist, of India, vol. i. p. 184.
♦ Ibid. pp. 179, 329. 3 Ibid. p. 347.
* Elphinstonc's Hist, of India, pp. 96, 97.
' In Asiatic Ilosoarclies, vol. viii. p. 494.
» Diodorus Siculus, Eook XVII. cap. i. Vol. ii. p. 164. By Booth.
» liee Eiff Vndi!, Sanhita, pp. sxiv, fi9. '» Ibid. p. 8.
•' Journal of Asiatic Society, vol. vii. p. 109.
ASIA.
831
gonorully the case with phenomena of nature, make it the seat
world.'" Colenmn" menMon^.thr T "^ ""^ '^''P'" '" *'"'
EUora, Karli, ElepLarta"' & '^; *=''^°"™ »^vem temple, of
Vie« of the HinCvd.^: p ^''Tr/""" 1'° ."^""'^
.to .o.e. ,ee WarJ. View o^f l^e H^rotrt"™ ^67
vol. ii. p. .79, vol.^^ pttStur;^ ''■' ^''^' ^°'''
Immense—The remains at Eiophanta inrl q.V. h
me cayti, ot Jillora is m the fourteentli century " In ^mh•■^\
Heaven there are thirty-five million nymphs ^ W^on ^llTZi
in the west of India t],e liistory of Kama i till "7 I ,
t IP flrniTinf w. f ,. » T. -^ iv.iirici is still represented in
<*" S """?■ ""'° """^'' ™'- ™ K^'' '■"d ten
«. ;..::;:x,,. 5 ;;: S.S£;,'r;,-x.t
^fa.^^0Har.y-In Halhed's Gentoo Laws (p. 190) it is said
It a man of i..ferior east, proudly affeetin . an eouali v S
i"m, the magistrate in that case shall fine him to the extent of
;C"leniun'.sMyt],olo^.y,p. 165.
pp. .iu.:';'.-^,!'^!?; /:!?;; "'"''• '«-««.. vou. pp. .,, ... ,., ,,, ,.,,,.
' Colonian's Mytliolof^y, p. ir,5
;MiirsHist.ofIn<lia,vol. ii. pp. 4, r,.
^ •'IpI'insfonr.'sHist. oflmlii,. p. 343
il«o„-« Theatre_of tlu. Hindus, vol. ii. part i. p. ,2
ii'ifl. vol. 1. part I. p. 16. r i <>
Jl'itl. A'ol. ii. part i. p. oq
"■■'' - ;l
i! l.p. 13.
8
10
" Ibid
° Il^'<J- vol. ii. part iii. p. 4.
291.
part lu. p. 17, et acq. And see Jour
ual of Asiatic Society, vol.
II
'r t .
832
FRAGMENTS.
his abilities." Asiatics arc notoriously averse to cl»anp;o. And
this is shown by their retention of their old religion. It is said
that the Indian vessels wliich sail from the Gulf of Cutcli are
now made in the same way as in the time of Alexander the
Great.'
Astronomy and mfifaphysics. — IJeforo the European 8tn.(,'(!
there was no scieutifie kuowled<;e except tliat of astronomy — tlio
heavens. The Hindoos have an astronomical writer, h.c. 548.2
Wilson ^ says, " An astront)inical fact known to the author of the
Vedas,, that the moon slione only tlirouyh rettectinjif tlie li<,dit of
the sun." In Mirchchakati, tlie ac(iuireraents of an accomplished
Hindoo are thus summed up: " Ho was well versed in tlie Ki;,'
and Sama Vedas, in mathemical sciences, in the elegant arts, and
tlie management of elephants." ■» In Wilson (Theatre of tlio
Hindus, vol. i. part ii. p. 73), the Maya or pliilosophy of illusion
is noticed. On tlie astronomical knowledge of the Hindoos, see
Journal of Asiatic Society, vol. v. p. 6.
AiMKRICA— EXCJ.USIVK OF UNITED STATES.
In Central America the volcanoes are frightful, and one of
them is said to have been heard "eight hundred miles discaut."^
Stephens " mentions the extraordinary number of volcanoes on the
Pacific along the southern coast of Guatemala and Nicaragua.
At Palenque " tlie design and anatomical proportions of the
figures are faulty ; but there is a force of expression about tliein
which shows tlie skill and conceptive power of tlie artist."^ Soe
also the hideous colossal figures in plate at p. 315 of Stephens's
Central America, vol. ii., and gigantic statue, p. 3-1:9. Steplion.s'
says, " The inference is, that the Aztecs, or Mexicans, at the time
of the concpiest, had the same written language witli the people
of Copan and Palenque." For an account of Mayapaii ruins,
about twenty miles south of lAIenda in Yucatan, see Stephens's
Central America, vol. iii. pp. 131-138. For an account of Ticul,
close to Uxmal, see vol. iii. pp. 273, 277. Account of Nophat,
' Journal of Asiatic Society, vol. i p. 12. And compare Journal of Gaograpliiml
Society, vol. v. p. 273.
'' Vislmu Puraua, p. 206.
' Wilson, note to Itig Veda Sanhita, p. 217.
* Wilson, Theatre of the Hindus, vol. i. part. ii. p. 12.
* Seo Stephens's Central America, vol. ii. p. .S?. • Ibid. vol. i, p, •'ino.
Ibid. vol. ii. p. 311.
Ibid. p. 4>')5.
AMEKICA-EXCLMVE OF TUE UNITUD STAm 333
"but], l.avo unuatunl u r ^* Kabul,, two %,u-os ;
For account of Labpl.nk, sec vol. iTji^l , J"^" ,'"• ?' ^^2.
clx'n, vol. iv. pp. 284, 318. ^ ^" ' ^^^' ^"^ "^ <^'''i-
For compai-iKon of (Jrock inri ir- i
|.rais™ Mo„„,.t,„ut Kin i, "ton.?"?, t ,"''7, ■■"''';'°" P''''^™'* '
k- rmijwture. ^ '"' M^'^ns, but this rau»t
by a b,„»,l tract callod tbo W (7,/t , ."""■^ '" '■"*«<J
iB» tlio usual high tc.mnJr,tur„f • " '"" '"Ki"", »luel,
from the Strait, of MaL l 'f T""*:"™ "'"'^l'. advaucing
about 17%outl,; and, after croiit ,o L 'T'!/''"*'"™'
into bill, of inconsiderable magn ude L it on't* I'"",^ T'^'"^'"
Panama. Tin, is the famou, (iri Iloratf bTAnd ° 'p'"'"^ "^
saj.», "The Cordillera of the Andes h! ' 1 ^ "' ' "'"^'f
ln.ver,in. South America Tnd t I „ f In "■''"*■" '""'' ""'^
- it enter, Mexico, into that va,; sh S™ ' „ J tXl'T'^ °"'
tains an elevation of more than -iv tl,„, ""i^ '■™'' "'"oIi main-
of nearly two hundred ^InT ;,?» '™'' '<»' i-r the distance
I'igbcr latitude, of the ^It ' 1' "" ^r'""' ^""""' '» t""
a chain of volcanic hill, str, f ,.|,^= ' • "'"' !'"! """""'"'n rampart
more stupendous d ntn io, , fo" '", ITT'^ *'«^«''° »' '"H
land in the globe." Inch i, th? *= , ' '"""° "'' ""-* '"«'«*
J.;; work. In^ournal^rlLttf^'LTi: ; (^ i.^l^'t'™ ""^
' 'i'-k maccurately, that the highest pIA of)^Z!y^,^JlZ;
^ Prcscott's Mexico, vol. i. p. 47.
' Ibid. vol. iii. p. 302.
^ CenfrnI Amcri.-a, vol. i. p. 294
' I'rcscotfs Peru, vol. i. pp. 4, 5."
/•■'•vol, p. 50; vol. iii. p. 320.
Mbul. vol. ,.pp. ,„^j.^,
Pre.c„ff« .Mexico, vol. i. pp. 2 3
i'rescott'B Mf.vico, vol. i. pp 5 q
J, li !^
f ; ^"
. / * I'
m t:-:
t il
334
FRAGMENTS.
m
five thousand foot, l»io;li('r tlian Ohimborazo." Moy(>n ' saw from
persoTiiil ebsorviition, that IVru is vory "dry, and oxtroinoly .ste-
rile;" but he was only from 16° to 19° south. On tho oarthciuakcs
of Peni soo Lyoll's Principles of Geology, pp. 347, 453, 458, ">()1,
502. On tho volcanoes of Central America see S(iuior's Contr.il
America, vol. ii. p. 101, et seq. On Geof,n-apliieal boundaries
of INlexico proper, compare with Prescott, JIund)oIdt, Nouvelle
Espa}>ne, vol. i. pp. G, 7, 11. Human sacrifices of Peruvians, .sec
Kobertson's Works, p. 923. Walsh » says, « Mandioca meal is tho
great farinaceous food used in all parts of Prazil." Tht' mandioc
ia grown in Paraguay.' Maize is common in Soutli lirazil, I'ju-
guay, La Plata, and Paraguay.* On tin; different foods grown in
Krazil, s(^e Henderson's History of Hrazil, pp. 7 1 , 100, 222, 23"), 21(;,
265, 284, 293, 301, 314, 319, 325, 378, 405, 422, 440, 446, 4Si)'
522. On food in western part of South America see lllloa's South
America, vol. i. pp. 36, 69 ; vol. ii. p. 324. Gr(>at population of Peru,
see Prescott's Peru, vol. ii. p. 101, and Pullook's jMexico, p. 420.
Ixtilochitl, Histoiro d(>s Chechomegiu;s, vol. i. pp. 289, 290.
Immeme.—Vro^cott'' says that " the P{>ruvians, though lininij
a long extent of sea coast, had no fonngn commerce." Tlie
Mexican temples "were solid masses of eartii, cased witli brick or
stone, and in their form somewliat resembled the pyramidal struc-
tures of ancient Egypt. The bases of many of tiiem were more
than a hundred feet wpiare, and they towered to a still greater
height."* The most celebrated was " the temple of Cludula, a
pyramidal mound built, or rather cased, witli unburnt brick, risiu^,^
to tho height of nearly one hundred and eighty feet."''
In the Vatican are Mexican paintings "the cycles of which
take up nearly 18,000 years."" "In casting tlu^ eye over a
Mexican manuscript or map, as it is called, one is struck with
the grotesque caricatures it exhibits of the human figure.""
Torquemada says, " It was not till after they had been converted
to Christianity that they could model the true figure of a man." '"
Human sacrifices formed part of the religion of Peru and ]\lexico."
The priests were very numerous and had great influence.'^ They
' Seo also a Rood description in M'Cnllocli's neographieal Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 313,
and Ward's Mexico, vol. i. pji. 7, 8.
= Walsh's Notices of Brazil, vol. ii. p. 13. See also vol. i. p. ,'512.
" Azara, Anieriqno meridionalo, tome i. p. 145. * Ibid. p. 146.
' Prescott's Pom. vol. i. pp. 13G, 137.
• Ibid. vol. i. p. 60, and vol. iii. p. 331. » ii,i,i. vol. iii. p. 311.
« Prescott's Mexico, vol. i. p. 51. • Ibid. p. 78. "> Ibid. p. 119.
" Seo Pi-escotfs Porn, vol. i. pp. 31, 86, 100, 101 ; and Preseotfs Mexico, vol. i.
pp. 20, 30, 4S. 53, 62, 68. 106, 1G3; vol. ii. pp. 8, 128 ; vol. iii. pp. 12G. 177.
'-' Presootfs Mexico, vol. i. pp. 55, 102. Peru, vol. i. p. 06.
AMffllCA-EXCLUaVE OF THE UNITKB STATE.- 335
wnre cannil«ils • h„t not in IVr„ . m I„.i,
wore oxt,o,n,.|y „,.v,.ro, ,li„|,t ,,,« ! , . '""' '"'"tnos tho laws
of 1,423 f„ct on ea i r ™ i , '!^;";™" "^ •"">'"'» '« » ^l"-"
Ana on fertility of Tn,xill„f ,". . v^l 1 "' 0™"'"?'; •"''• ''• P' ''*2-
ClMli, pp. 241, 242, 270. (>; aJV^M „ .', ';""" P' ^^ ' »'
v"l. i. pp. 279, .312, 319 ,4, ."^ ' ".rf"' <'.-'rtl..|iiako», see Ulloa,
^«^2..,,3«, v„i.ii.'';;y'-int";2;,,T2'„ '• '*''• '""■ ^'*-
J""i entered it, and spnL ov« h ^ '""' nxysteriou.ly as they
and the nei.^ld/ourin; i h s 7^ ^ ^^'^^ ''' ^^^^^ ^--ca
the mnjostic rnins of Mith nn T 1 ""' "'^^ «P««"late8 on
this extraordinary peon " r tL m" '^"^ '^ ^""^^^'^ *''« ^«rk of
" and arrived on 1 1 bonlers of H Jr"' 'Z"^' ^^'^^ '^^^ ""^^h,
Anahuac, toward, th^ '^ ;1 ";r ^ ^l^r^'^ ^ ^'^'^'^ "^
I'-'ly in the .sixteenth eentur^tlu «t/ ""•' '^"*"-^'"
across the continent from flu. Afi 1- / nominion reacJied
tl>o bohl and bl ody Th J tl^^^^^^^ -^I under
over the limits ah-eady no 'mI ^s d fi '"^ ^''"'' '""'''^'^^ ^^^^
into the furti.est coZToTZT^
cott .0 ,,,, that " th A thl^n t T ' ' ^--V--." ° Pros!
called " were .ore eivt^Xr , elTe'::^'^'' ^h"^^^ ^^ "^^T
>e Peruvians had no knowledo-e of each other'! •f"'"''''.? ^"^
tlie inexhaustible fortilitv of Af i ' existence." On
statistical evidence in lUmi'itrN"^ -« «-
PP- 384, 380. Humboldt^':' ^ ^^^;X ''^T''^ -^- -
into ]\I(.xico. ^ ^ ^""^^^^^ introduced maize
DWusion of Wealth and Food T).„
foo^; i. pe..,„ an. only „,. m ci^P;;::,-:;! ^.^
, Prescotfs Jl-xico, vol. i. pp. 63 131 o-^o . ,. , -
' Prescott's IVru, vol. i. p. loo ' ' '"• ^P" ^<'»' 126.
• J'rc.spott's Mexico, vol. i.pn 29 14 '-, P„n,. t-
; M.c,,„„,,.. oe.sn.phici.io,,:,;;: v„^ ™;;° ;» """ ''• *'■
Ward s Mexico, vol. ii. p. 48 ^
" Pi-escott'.s Mexico, vol. i p 9
' I'-icl- pp. 11, 12. ■ ■»■ J,,;,, , ' I'"i<l. p. 10.
See Pre.scott'.s Mexico, vol. i p 104 p'^^^ u- -n -^''''^- P'^' '^r, 173.
H;.mboM.-s Nouvello E.pn^ne, vo 'ii p '40^ "*' ^ '^'"'^ ^•°'- '• H^' 1«. ^6, I34.
,: Ilumliohir. Nouve!!.., Kspag«e, vol
|Pofiito3und bail!
na iu Peru ; banan
!'■
I
i'\
i
h \
j
ti A
^ i'
\\
(
v\
i
^ 1
; '
i
^
• 1
,( ^ii
ilJ jfcu* : i
a only in JIcx; Ed. Note.]
836
FRAGMENTS.
I.
popr^ous and less free th.an Mexicans. Milk was used by 710
native Americana.' In Mexico the severity of taxation made
men dissaflfected, and aided the Spanisli cont[iiest, and taxes were
so cruelly levied that " by a stern law every defaulter was liable
to be taken and sold a slave." ^ M'Cullocli ' says of Mexico, " Tlie
soil is also in most parts extraordinarily fertile : and wherever
water can be procured for irrigation, the most abundant crops
can be raised with very little labour." Wlieat, barley, &c.,
succeed badly in JNIexico, and indeed will not grow there " under
the level of 2,500 feet above the sea." * M'CuUoch ^ says of
Mexico the capital, " Tliere is, or at all events there used to be,
an extreme disparity of wealtli in this city. Many of the noblrs
and successful speculators in mines were excessively rich, but
the bulk of the population were at once indolent and indigent."
Ward ^ mentions " the lowness of wages in Mexico." He say.s ^
that in some states " the daily wages of the labourer do not
exceed two reals, and a cottage can be built for four dollars."
Ward* says that Humboldt is not far wrong in making the
Mexican population double itself every nineteen years.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE SPIRIT AND TENDED OY
OF COMMERCE AND MERCHANTS.
I believe tliat Adam Smith, and, so far as I know, all political
economists, have overlooked one cause of the decrease of mercan-
tile profits in England since the sixteenth century — and that is,
the increasing estimation in which merchants are held.
The Venetian ambassador in the reign of Mary I. reports that
" there were many merchants in London with 50,000^. or 60,000/.
each, that the inhabitants amounted to 180,000, and that it was
not surpassed in wealth by any city in Europe."^
One of the most infallible marks of an improving country is a
rise in wages and a fall in profits ; and yet this very fall in profits,
which is an evidence of national prosperity, is protested against
by m ichaits as an evidence of national ruin.'° This shows that
merchants are bad judges of national prosperity.
' Prescott's Peru, vol. i. p. 138. ^ Prescott's Mexico, vol. i. p. 34.
' MCulloch's Geographical Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 314. Ward's Mexico, vol, i.
pp. 12, 16, 36, 37 ; vol. ii. p. 228.
•• M'CuUoch's Geogr. Diet. vol. ii. p. 315. * Ibid. p. 322.
« Wurd's Mexico, vol. i. p. 14. ' Ibid p. 249. « Ibid. pp. 20, 21.
» Lingard, vol. iv. p. 387, Paris 1840. He cites MSS. Barber 1208, p. 137.
'» See Smith's Wealth of Nations, p. 38.
0.«KUVAT,ON-,, 0„ T„B ,P,R„ oP COMMEKCK. 337
On tlieir iiatunil waiif of •,l,;i;fv *•
Woltl, of Nati„„,.. In 1^1 tu^ m" gover„„,e„t, see Smith',
de cette ville" (i.e. ofl^d, ;/„:m f r,',:''^ "'''■■"''' """"''and,
for »omo exproLioa, t " t !,' f ''^.'^'^^'['»"■» " ""e pillory
cloth, tin, lead, copper, Ju, « '" ' """^ '" '«'■ """L
motion than either thet ^fa"^^ L^:/™f f '^ '»"»« into
of course that all these employ an e"Ll an tal "' °"''''°"°'''
rosrTK:rj.ft:;;fe~^^
adventurer, two of her Ireat slH™ ", *'"'°''"' '" *''^ """"'"'nf
Bid she pay their expensefv See T , "" "^"^ "> "^burg.
State Pa'pers, p. 300. I„ 'isro «" °^""'' '™"'»™ '- M"rdin'.
i" Martin vlube', attemn t'" ^f'"" """'^'-^d" 5001.
Indies."' The eivilizinreffect, of el"'" " "'" ^°'*'' ^^»'
Alison.' For the etvmowt fj- '^°"""""'« are admitted by
Anderson has ^Id'rSkt tH'-aT'^"''^^' '"""'' '' - »d
I-oetry, 8v„, 1840, p. 17n"e "' "'''"^ »' English
.i:t:^tp:£:ji;;™^^^^ "e^^ amon,
^y Miss Martineau ^ "^ P"'""'* ^^« well refuted
chSirirthaTtireaUrir '^ li"'-'"' f- "»'<""« the
wimt is called .HheLlnceoft;^^^^^
'"dy «ys,.. was a great improVemen't on 1 1, ' "« .^'C"""'^''
hat gold and silver 5,onld no't be "ported ■ AtT,1 M^/?,"™
lias a remark on the mercintll,, . V *"• ^'P- 32M'Culloch
However, it was a g^-eaHt'Tn af J T. d"'"'"!^ '""^' """ '™-
to the Kast India ComDanv .. t * direction, and was due
liaveheen first vi^JZi^^ILkedt iTsTttT'T T^ '°
and early in the eighteenth eenturf L^L^'r^sCete:
' ^- f * ■■ ^f^ ■'•'^o PP- 263-266, 316, 344.
. "'™!'l' »"»«»"". pp. 148, IM.
,r''."',"'^'"'»'»P"-'l'P-'«3,304.
; f
' ' .^i
i! i.
r. 38.
p. 40.
888
FRAGMKNTS.
apfainst it.' However, Locke knew that labour is the constituent
principle of value.'
In 1820 the principal London merchants presented to the
House of Commons a petition in favour of free trade. It is a
short and able document, and may be seen in M'Culloch's Dic-
tionary of Commerce.' M. 8torch says,* " Ce n'est point une
exaggeration de dire qu'il y a peu d'erreurs politiques qui aient
enfante plus de maux que le systeme mercantile." But this is
expressed much too strongly. The mercantile system, absurd as
it was, was yet a great improvement on the system which it
superseded. The eminent merchant Gresham, though employed
by Edward and Mary in some very delicate negotiations, had not
received from them even such trifling honours as princes can
bestow. But one of the first .acts of Elizabeth was to confer on
him what was then considered the honour of knighthood, and
send him to Brussels as her representative at tha court of the
Duchess of Parma.'*
Morellet has published a !'i„t of fifty-five joint-stock com-
panies established with exclusive privileges between 1600 and
1769, and it is an instructive fiict that every one of these
companies failed.^ Mr. M'Culloch truly adds, " Most of those
since established have had a similar ftite." ^ As to the confusion
in the customs' laws, see the striking picture drawn by M'Culloch,
Dictionary of Commerce, p. 846. In 1531 the Exchange of
Antwerp was built, and "Die Stadt zahlte jetzt einmal hunder-
tausend Bewohner." * In the Egerton Papers " there is printed
Francis Cherry's Narrative of his Voyage to Kussia in 1598. In
1681, 20,000 ships were employed in commerce, of which 15,000
to 16,000 were Dutch, and 500 to 600 French.'^
Mr. Mill has well stated the moral and economical advan-
tages of commerce." He truly says, "*" The only direct advan-
tage of foreign commerce consists in the imports." He finely
says,'' that commerce has succeeded war as a means of contact
between nations.
The first commercial dictionary ever published in Kuglin d
I
> M'Culloch, p. 43. ' P. 67. ' 8vo, 1849, pp. 384, 385.
• Economie politique, St. Petersbourg, 8vo, 1815, tome i. p. 122.
' Burp lin's Life of Gresham, vol. i. p. 2"9.
• M'CuUoch's Dictionary of Commerce, Svo, 1849, p. 386.
' See, iio-iVf-'cr ray note in Smith's Wealth of Nations, on Joint Stock Companies.
• Schillrr'« Werke, Bi'.i.l viii. p. 44, Stutfgard, 1838.
» Climber. iVv.at.r, pp. 292-301.
'» Twis". s'i,r.,"ss of Political Economy, 8vn, 1847, p. 74.
" Principles of Political Economy, 2nd edit. 1849, vol. ii. pp. 112-122.
'2 Ibid. p. 118. " Ibid. pp. 121, 122.
constituent
OBSEIiVATIOKS ON T„K SPIRIT OF COMmWe. 33»
(lid not appear till 17,)i i ^v^n \f *
justly acctse,! of underv- uin! ^^^•^"*««4"io.. who laas been
softenedthoferocit;' r^a ' .^r';"^^^^^^^^ that it has
insfmulaHn^ the inventive faculfi ' '""^''"'" of commerce
in liae's New Principles oH^lm^^^^^ "''"7^''^ ^'^^^ ^^^^^^s
in London was not a separ.^^^^^^^ ^"^ 1599 banking,
smiths were bankers.^ ^ '''""''' ^"* "^^^^ of the gold-
n.^rt tlWier' r-^^'^ °" ^^^ --^ ^^-^ts of com-
probity, tl,o basis f^omme^cTr" ^'/'"'^ "^^'^'^^ -'--»
national morality." » AccoXft .r^""'"' "^"^^ "^^^e to
law at the accession of EHiSth '" '''°f ^''^ P"°^^PJ^« ^^
recover a debt from an imp nc^^ W >?' 'I'""''* impossible to
^'- money could defeat 'an acS t^ J ' ''\?^ "^" «"^°^'
wapng his law-that is, by swIZ 1,77. '^' '^^"'^^ ^^^
order to put an end t.» /)„•; """"^^ *^^<^ ^'^ did not owe it. In
been for'som^ ^^l^r^^'Z a''^'''!^^ '' ^^'^^^^ ^'^
-tion,notofdebt,butofTiu;^Jrbv;^^^^^^ ^° ^""^ -
was avoided, and the question Z1 1 , "'^ '^^^'"'^ "^ law
t'- mode of proceedi rwlnel. vast "A' "'" "^"^^^ ^-'
had never bee'n reco^ni^^d v ;e "J^ ^ 1„d"th '''''' '^"^°'
sequently, considerable doubts 4 tri -^""^.^^"^-^ ^^^e, con-
action. These doubts, by increasIL th ' '' '^'*^ '^ ''''^' ^'^
actions, tended not a 1 tUe to 1 "k Z ' '' '"'^"^ ^^^"-
mercial adventure. The udls of En. FT'"^' '^""^^ ^^ ^«'«-
credit,have always aided aS not unf' ^^ '' '^'"^ ^^^^^^^
wisest efforts of the legi It'e wee on S'""*^^ .^"^^^^P^*^^ the
to their duty ; and two venrT W n . ''''''''''°" "^^^ W'^nting
solemnly deLmrne^not'oX^tTin t^^^^^^^^^^^ of Elizabeth, the^
contract, an action of Ju^'TVl^V^'^ °^^^^t« of simple
l-ngin, the action shSTrCef;; 1 ^ 'r''^ ''' P^'^^
as well as for the special oss 7 Th'^^^"' *''' *^^ '"^^^« ^«^t,
^vas one of the la tat InL 1 • '"^P''^''^"* *^^^'^^'^"' ^^l"^!^
once gave to a great body of !o ^7 ''^«"" '^ ^^^^^^eth, at
z 2
« n
Jl ..'i.
? ^^ €,
340
FR'OMKNTH.
reports of the reign cotioain more questions upon personal rij^hts
and contracts in one shape or other than perluips those of all the
precediajjf reigns puu together." ' Tlie old common law was
very sc\ cve towards insolvent debtors (?), and this was a great
discouragement to persons 'vho otherwise might have engaged in
commercial pursuits. At length the 13 Eliz. cap. 7, tirst distin-
guished between bani<rupts and insolvents, and gave protection to
the former.'* The same statuta gave the Commissioners of J3ank-
vuptcy power to dispose of a bankrupt's landa and tenements.'
In 1575, Fenelon writes to tlie king resprcting the English:
^' Lear principal revenu et ct lluy de I'Estafc et de la noblesse est
fonde ou bieu depend du commerce."* Indeed, in 1568, the French
and i'Jngli'-^h [Qy. Spanish ?] ambassadors residing at the court of
London, had a long conversation on the possibility of compelling
Elizabeth to become a Catholic by establishing a continental block-
ade against the English commerce.-'"' In 15(58, Fenelon writes"
that the chief commerce of England is with Flanders and Spain.
In 1569, he writes that commerce "est le seul soubstien dii
pays."^ There was a sort of stock-jobbing in London in 1509:
at least they made bets on the "bource," respecting political
events. See Fenelon, tome ii. p. 281. In 1569, in spite of tlie
opposition of many of her advisers, Elizabeth expressed a desire
that the commerce with Fiance should be perfectly free.^ In
November 1570, Fenelor writes^ that the Muscovite ambassador,
having left London in disgust, had caused all the Englisli in
Muscovy to be imprisoned, and that this put an end to the idea
of estiblishing a commerce with Russia. The French ambassador
was present at the opening of the Exchange in January 1571, and
has given an account of it.'° In 1571, Elizabeth asked the advice
oi the chief merchants of London, (iv. 204). In November 1571,
the London merchants, in consequence of the heavy duties levied at
Rouen, became disgusted with their commerce with France, and
turned their eyes more towards that of Antwerp." And in De-
cember, Fenelon writes ^^ that Elizabeth was negotiating with Spain
for reopening the trade with Antwerp : and he suggests to the king
• Reeves, Hist, of English Law, vol. v. j). 188.
» Bliifkstone's Commentaries, vol. ii. pp 473-475, and my notes on Bliickstono,
p. 130.
• Blaekstono, vol. ii. pp. 28r), '^86.
• Correspondanee diplomatique, Paris, Svo, 1840, tome i. p. xxxi. See alfo p. 70.
' See the Seeret Dispatch, in Fenelon, tome i, pp. r>(i-73.
« Ibid, tome i. p. 72. ' Ibid. p. 1G6.
" rinelon, tome ii. p. 330. » Tome iii. p. ,?.75.
" Correspondanco do FLnclon, tome iii. pp. 4ii0. 451.
" Ibid, tome iv. pp. 290, 291. " Ibid. p. 313.
'fional riji^htR
ie of all the
on law was
was a greal",
engaged in
, first distin-
)rotection to
ers of J3ank-
ements.'
he English:
noblesge est
1, the French
the court of
compelling
lental block-
ilon writes"
and Spain,
oubstien dii
m in 15G9:
tig political
spite of tlie
!ed a desire
f free.^ In
ambassador,
English in
to the idea
ambassador
y 1571, ami
i the advice
miber 1571,
ies levied at
France, and
And in I)c-
>• with Spain
I to the king
on Bliickstone,
3co alfo p. 70.
ON THE TENDENCY OF MILITARY INSTITUTIONS. 341
of France' that the duties at Rouen should be reduced, and the
same privileges given to the English as those which they po. .ssed
at Antwerp. In June 1574, a private Englishman, named « Grin-
vil, fitted out ten good ships of war to discover a northern
passage." In July 1574, Elizabeth told the French ambassador in
lull council, that commerce and navigation "estoient les deux
chosc3 qui princirallement maintenoient son estat ;"3 and in Au-
gust, the ambassador writes to his own court* that commerce and
navigation were our two chief props. In Wright's Elizabeth,'
there IS a letter from William Smitli in 1572, from Joraslave
T ,J«/.rT"' '' '" K»««ia?), respecting the Russian trade,
in 15b7, the Muscovy Company was incorporated, and several of
the nobility joined its speculations. See Lodge's Illustrations of
^ritish History, ii. 46 ; and see p. 148. See also Common Place
•-00E, art. Insurances. In 1558, Bacon, in a speech to Parliament,
says, " Doth not the wise merchant, in every adventure of danger,
give part to have the rest assured." «
Colbert says commerce was conducted with 20,000 ships, of
which the Dutch had 15,000 to 16,000, the French 500 to 600.'
^ocquevilles says it is not commerce which causes a taste for
material pleasures; but it is the taste which pushes men into
commerce.
It was not until early in the eighteenth century that the great
merchants thought it worth while to keep separate books, such as
cash books, books for bills of exchange, &c.9
OBSERVATIONS ON THE TENDENCY OF MILITARY
INSTITUTIONS AND CHARACTER OF SOLDIERS.
I BELIEVE the experience of every country in modern Europe
proves that the army is not only less educated than any other
profession holding an e(iual estimation in public opinion, but
that soldiers generally are deficient in intellect. This effect was
brought about by the same causes which converted war from an
art to a science. The soldier is now essentially a machine. His
will is constantly in abeyance. And, thus relieved from the ne-
cessity of thinking while he is on the field, he soon learns to
; J'^n/lon, t..7no iv. p. 326. « Jbid. tomo vi. p. 127.
, ;:f P-.273, < Ibid. p. 218. « Vol. i. pp. 416-422.
^ J'Jiwess Journal of Parliament, 1682, p. )4.
^ liliinqui, Ilisfoire df I'Kc'onomio politique, tomo i. p. 370.
Uemoeratio en Ani.'i|-i(ino, tome iv. p. 242.
• See M'CullocIi'f Dictionuty of Commerce, 8vo, 1849, p. 164.
! ' i
842
FRAOMItlNTS.
avoid tlunkinj. wl,nn ho is off tl„> fiold. L.-iin^' ol.s.^rvos tl.at we
rospect, m.lKiiry nun. i.vss than forniorly, bocanso wo find a great
^•oneral may h(^ a V(>ry woak man. ^
Smith say«» th.t, in mod(«rn Enn.po not moro than o,h>
huiK^redth of tlio inhabitants can bo omph.yod an sohliors with-
ont rn:n to tho conntry. Uonvo wo m> tho impoHanco of his
•omark AuH jpmpow.lm', by roruh-rinf? tho hal,its of Knbunlinu-
tion and obo,h(>nco moro nocossary in a s..hlior thnn in<livi<h,ul
«tronoth nuust havo tondod to (U) away with tho n.ilitia, and to
snbst.tnto s<a.ul,n«- unnios. Tin's, of conrso, wonhl aid oivilizaf ion
by rodncnifr tho nnmbor of soIdi(.rs.
1 «upposo that no ono will d„„bt, thc> nantioal knowl<.,lj.o „f Sir
.Tohn Ws; stdl loss will any uno aocnso him of dosiri;;; to do-
proc.ato iHs own prof<«ssion. llo is, thorofor,., a witnos^ worth
lu;anng, and 1 shall j.ivo his own words. II„ is sp,.,U<in. of
saih.rs. '' ^ Pho m,>n,' as thoy aro oallod, aro not mnoh ^Wvn to
thnd<n.-v, It ,s oortain ; thono-h .oan.,.. of lh(. prosont day (and I
<vn mnyto mj, a) think much moro than thoy did in tho days of
my jnmor scu-vicN an,l most assnrodly an.l certainly aro all tho
wors(> tor It. .Soo also a sin.ilarly concoivod pnssao(> in Trofiuv
J), X. '.ociuoviUo woU says^ that tlu, ton.h-ncy of war is to
mcr(>aso tho powor of ruh-rs. Tho c-ansos of tho natural thouol.t-
lossness of rnd.fary mon havo boon w.dl stated by Adam Smith «
1 suppose (^.ptain Marryat Unows his own protossion. Jfo
says, " Ihoro ,. no oharaotor so d.>void of ininciplosas tho Jhitisl,
.soldier and sailor. In l)il„lin\s son^^s wo certainly havo another
vorsion ' Jrue to his country and kino-,\tc. ; but I am afraid
hoy do not deserve it: soldiers and sailors .re mercenaries:
they risk thcnr lives tor mon->y, it is tlu-ir trade to do so, and if
thoy can g-ot higher wagos, thoy never consider tho iustic.. of
tlie cause, or whom they tight for."
Military men commit suicide oftoner than oth(«r classes and
much ottener than sailors, who are more cheerful. See my notes
on feuicide. -^
Sailoi-s are more liable to dis(.iso than soldiers, but they do
uot so often sink under it. Joui-nal of Statistical Society, vol. iv.
' Tour in Swodon, pp. 401, 405.
' Weftlth of Nations, p. 291.
* Njirmtivo of u Swoiui Vovage in Senrch of n ISTnifl, W,,..* n' ' ' '^''' ,"" J."", ',
Koss. I'aris, 8Vo. m.X p. 4.VS Noifli-W.st rM.ssngo, l,^- .S,,. John
* lVniO('r;iti(> en Aiiit''rii)uo. tonip ii. p. 20.
1822!"!'2mo. '^'''""''^' "'' ^'"'"^ -^^''""'"«'"*^.'l'art V. olu.p. ii, vul. ii, pp. 37, 38, Ln„,l.
* A niiiry in AmpriiM, l.on.l. Hyo. !«;!<), ynl. iii. ,,. ;ii
voH tlint we
find )i great
tliiin one
Idicrs with-
iUH'v (»f liis
Miilionliiiii-
individiial
till, and to
civilization
'd^»•(• of Sir
rin;; to dc-
iK'SH worth
icakiiio- of
li K'v<''i to
iliiy {(ind I
Hui days of
aro all tlio
in IVfacc,
war is to
1 tliou,i>lit.-
1 Sinitli."
isioii. Jfo
Iio J^ritish
^o anotlicr
am afraid
u'cenarios :
so, and if
justice of
assos, and
my notes
t they do
by, vol. iv.
296, 207.
li}' .si)' Jiiliii
7, 38, Loud
ON TJ[K TKNDKNCy OF MILITARY INSTITUTIONS. 343
p. 2, 3, and vol. viii. p. 7H. And at vol. ix. .3.50, it h shown that
Huilors livo lonjjjcr than woldiers.
Mr. Jiac tndy says that war has l)oen a great means of
advancing mankind hy diss(!minating arts and industry.' Of
course tlie remark oidy holds of a l)arl)arous state; of society. Lord
JJrougham says,^ "Perhaps the gnsitest captains have always been
among tlie gn^atcst state^smi^n in (ivery age and in all countries."
'J'he imprudt^nce in monarchies of giving great civil employments
to military men is forcibly stati^d in Ksprit des Lois.^ On the
tendency of ei vili/ation to ditninish war,se(;(iuetel(!t,Sur I'llomme.^
It is said to be a well-ascertained fact that, during tlie reign of
NapolcHm, th(i continued wars diminished the average height of
men in France.'"' WilJiain Sehlegel .says: "War is much more
an epic than a dramatic object." « S(!e also pp. 243, 244, wlu-re
Ii<! is doubtful as to the propricity of nipresenting batthis on tJia
stage, J)ut s(>(>ms to think that it may be dime.
The rudeness of th(> military character is admirably hit off in
ih(! charactiir of Ironside in The Magnc^tick Lady.'
8oe JIallam's Kuroju; during tlus JNIiddle Ages.« During the
twelftJi and thirtcentli centuries tlie Italian armies were com-
posed of the whole poi)idati(>n." I<:arly in the fourteenth century
th(( proportion of cavalry was incrcjased.'o In L33y, Azzo Visconti
dispensed with the personal service of his stdyects, which in IS.'Jl
was clianged into a mouthy payment." Mir John llawkwood in
tlie reign of Kdward III. was "tlie first distinguished commander
who had ai)peared in I':uro])e since the destruction of the Koman
Empire." '2 And in the fourteenth century " historians for the
first time discover that success does not entirely despond upon
intrepidity and piiysical prowess." '^ Even in tlie fifteenth
century in Italy, battles w(U-e \^n'y bloodless.'* The bow, indeed,
ivm used before tlio (Jrusades, but armour was almost impene-
tialile.'^ The cross bow is said to have b(!en used in the battle
of Hastings,'" but, even under Philip Augustus, was scarcely
known in h rance.'^ Early in the fourteenth c(nituiy, camions were
invented, or rather mortars, and the application of gunpowder to
war was understood."* The French made the greatest improve-
' New rrinciplori of rolltiojil Econnmy, Boston, 8vo, 1834, pp. 48-50, 255, 256.
' I'oliticiil I'liiloKophy, 2ii(l edit. 8vo, J81!), vol. i. p. 33.
" Livro Y. clinp. xix. (Euvrcs do MontcHquion, Paris, 1835, p. 225.
* IVris, 8vo, 1836, tonic ii, jip. 2!)1-2<J3. ' Quetclct, Sur I'lJoniine, tome ii. p, 16.
' Loctiiros on Dnumilip Art, nnd Litcraluro, 1840, vol. ii. p. 239.
' Jonson'H Works, vol. vi. .Sco in ]mrti(niliir, [). 50.
" l!:i!!:iri!VK!ivnp,-, Wh edit. 8vo, IStO, vol. i. pp. 328 313. » Ibid. p. 328.
J'. 329.
'» r. 338.
" r. 331.
'« r. 339.
'■' r. 334.
" I'. 389.
'» P. 335.
" P. 341.
1
1 : 1
1' 1
1 i 1
i
Ii ^11
WM
' 'n'if n 1 5'
: Lb i
ii'
I '■';
t Ii
■It'
t;
H;
•« P. 337.
tMr
^44
FRAGMENTS.
.<!*;
inents. (It seems tliat the two most important phenomena are
the invention of gunpowder and the disuse of heavy armour )
Farquhar and Steele went into the army from choice. The
degree to wliich subordinate European soldiers reason, and the
military evils which their reasoning causes, are very fairly stated
by Chevenix.' He supposes,* and I think with reason, that
under the same circumstances proud nations are likely to be most
powerful at sea, vain nations at land. On the tendency of the
mind in our present early stage of civilization to prefer militarv
achievements to scientific discoveries, see some good remarks by
l)v. faris.^ Jackson states with regret the decline of militarv
enthusiasm in England.^ He says dancing is a cause of the
success ot the French in war.» In 1589, Forman writes, "This
yere, I was preste a souldiar to serve in the Portingalle voyage
whereupon I was constrained to forsake my country and dwellin-'
and all my frindes."« Lord Brougham thinks that the foolish
notion which still exists, that war is a very honourable occupa-
tion is the result of feudalism. See his ingenious remarks in
his lohtical Philosophy ;r but I am rather inclined to assign it
not to any special cause, but merely to the general ignorance of
men which makes them unable to appreciate the highest order of
excellence Happily, in our times, this respect for militarv
heroes is fast waning. ■'
Dr Fergusson « says that English soldiers, "however hideously
mangled, are generally uncomplaining:" and he adds, "According
to my observations, the most querulous under wounds and sick'"-
ness have been the Scotch Highlanders. The Irish may be more
noisy, but then it is with less plaint."
_ The great causes of war are : 1st. The respect paid to warriors
in an age when courage is considered the first virtue. 2nd. A
beliet tliat, like the ordeal, war was a judgment of God. 3rd. In
more modern times, a jealousy of each other's wealth. 4th Re-
ligious hatred. 5th. An ignorant contempt of each otlier's
strength. Eut now power is passing into the hands of the
industrious classes who are pacific.
; Essay on N,itional ChMracter, 8vo, 1832, vol. ii. pp. 20G, 207. '- Ibi., p -ly
L,t. of S,r Humphry Daw. Svo, 1831, vol. ii. pp 162 lo4 ^
formation and Discipline of Armies, pp. 189-19'J
' Svo, 1819, vol. i. pp. 324, 325.
' Notes aud KocoUoetioiis of a Professional Uf", 1846. 8vo, p, 8.
>mena are
flour.)
•ice. The
t, and the
irly stated
isoii, that
be most
icy of the
r military
imark.s by
E" military
ie of the
es, " This
Ie voyage,
dwellinir
le foolish
3 occupa-
marks in
assi<>-n it
orance of
t order of
military
L.ccordin<r
md siok-
be more
HISTORY OF MILITARY INSTITUTIONS AND THE ARMY. 34.5
HISTOKY OF MILITARY INSTITUTIONS AND
THE AKMY.
vanitv whiVh *f ^'''^".P^"^^^^ °^ ^^'^thers and ricli aeoutrem. ats, a
'.word, bayonet, and pi.st'I." '^(Lntt^^^^s^^^^^^^ "^"^^"^
Elilbe^h from p"'-"'l', 'f ''; ^" ""^""^^^ Throckmorton writes to
Wizabeth from Pans that the French " suspect much the pre-
paration and readiness of your Majesty's ships to thl soa and
Pari tHt'"^h; '^ ''"'"' '' Tlu-oekmorton, the ambassador at
e enl en to^ I """'"""^ ^^" ^'^ ^'^'^^^^ throughout from
seventeen to threescore years old," &c. ; "every shire hath his
muster master apart." » ^ ^
When v^^s corporal punishment, in the sense of flogging first
rvXthe f"7,' /;• '^^^'"^ '' ' '^'' of "orderst f L ob-
rvariet/of 1^ ir 'f f''' '^ Newhaven," to which are affixed
punis L^^^ ^^^' "^**""^ '' -i^ «f the ignominious
ments at pp 181-183, nor in the Duke of Medina's orders to the
L a dt .1 ^^ ^^^tmoreland and Northumberland offered
d!l day to whoever would join their standard." This, no
?a UeZif 7^ '^^ '''''''?^. P^^y- ''^^ q-en's levies at Barnard
16? a Z'' T"'"'' 'f'''' ''^- ' ^'^^' ^^--^^-^^ --d archers,
IM. a day.7 It us said in Laing's Sweden « that Gustavus
Adolphus invented the bayonet. v^uscavub
tln^''nh?.'h' ^''^' '"'^' ^"™"^ ^"^^ ^^ '^'^ ^'-^1 of Warwick
eleof .t^'' men among the infantry, "being above the
£ hive -Tr "''""' ™^^^ ''^^^ 12d a day, and the rest as
otiieis have. However, out of their pay they had at leasfc
when in garrison "to make some smal^ ^llowILe oit of t e
mouhly wages of the soldiers towards the maintenance of sur-
geons, as in other garrisons hath been always used." ">
from NW H ''' V' ''"' '' "^ "^"^^^'^ ^^^^^^ ^o the Council
trom New Haven for "200 pickaxes, helved, and 1000 black
; FoiW State Papers, vol. i. p. 18 t. . j,,;,,. p. 4,3
Seo Harle.an Miscdlany. edit. Park. vol. i. p 116
■"^ec i'ui'lics, vn], ii. J,. 1)2.
' Vol. ii. pp. 87, 88.
Sli
1'. 57.
iirp's Moiiiorials of I Mi),
" l-OTh
pp. fi!>, s;!.
PN, vol. ii. pp. iiG, 417.
^00 the list in ,Sli:
IM
I; .
I, M^
.^ .'i
111
rp, pp. 210-218.
.1. p 4 48.
846
FRAGMENTS.
bills."' In 1569 we find the Earl of Northumberland "armed
in a previe cote under a Spani.she jorkyn, being open so that the
cote might be seen, and a steele cappe covered with green vel-
vet." « Tt appears* that for light horsemen, the arms were:
" playte coyte, jack, bowes and arrows, and bylles " and * « horse-
men armed in corsletts and coyts of playt." ^ At p. 80 " certain
ordenance, which is a fawcon and two slyngs," and see p. 90 " a
falcon of cast yron." In 1685-6, all " fire arms " could be made
r.t Dubhn cheaper than in England ; and pikes could be made
"and furnished into the stores for 3,s, lOd. each." "
I have met with several things which make me believe that in
the sixteenth century the Italians were considered the greatest
masters in the scientific part of war. In July 1563, Elizabeth
writes to the Earl of Warwick, that she approved of the "inven-
tions" of "Signer Melionni" for the defence of a town, and had
rewarded his ingenuity ; ' and in 1560 "an Italian is the fortifier
at Dunbar." «
In July 1563, Lord Montague complained that so many men
had been taken from Sussex as soldiers, that if more " shall be
taken, the harvest of the cuntree must end itself." »
Chevenix says, '» « It is not a little remarkable that in the
only two battles since the days of Joan d'Arc down to 1745 in
which the French obtained an advantage over the English, tlicy
were commanded, at Almanza, by the Duke of Berwick, an Eno-
hshman, and at Fontenoy, by a Saxon." In an able tract by
Anthony Marten, printed in 1588, the object of which was to stir
up the English against Spain, it is said : " We must consider with
ourselves that the bands and cornets of liorsemen, and especially
of lances, have ever been, and yet are, the most necessary and
puissant strength in wars, both to defend ourselves and offend
our enemies."" Mr. Hallam says '^ that, under Henry yilL,
" except the yeomen of the guard, fifty in number, and the com-
mon servants of the king's household, there was not in time
of peace an armed man receiving pay throughout England.
Henry VII. first establislied a band of fifty archers to wait on
liim. Henry VII. had fifty horse-guards, each with an archer,
demilance, and couteillier." .... but on account of expense
' Forbes, vol. ii. p. 451.
» Pp. 29, 30. 4 p. 37,
• Clarendon Correspoiideneo, edit. Singer, 1828, vol. i. pp' 2i\ 'W^
[ i^orbes, vol. ii p. 464. . » sharp'b Eobcllioirof 1 0G9, p, 79
I'orbcs, 8tatp Papers, vol. ii. p. 404.
'» Essay on National Character, 8vo, 1832, vol. ii. p. 229.
" Harleian Miwrllany, edit. Park, vol. i. p. 108.
••' Constitutional History, 8vo, 1842, vol. i. j., HJ.
' SJiarp's Rebellion of loCO, p. bi.
' See also p. 94.
\, Elizabeth
HISTOEY OF MILITARY INSTITUTIONS AND THE ARMY. 347
"this soon was given up." In 1559 it was usual in England to
draw a cannon w th thirty horsp^ • nnri +1,. n •/ '^"^ana to
the Duke of TVnrf >iu ^ ^ \ ' *^^ Council complained of
tLe Jjuke ot Norfolk because he used sixty.' In 1560 an Italian
was employed as "fortifier" at Dunbar.^ In January 1569 he
French ambassador at London writes that itcl e7er « es't le
pnncipal arsenal de ee royauhne."3 As to tht va ue f armou
P intdT^^^^ ^'t'; ''''T''' ^'^"^^"•^' -^ ^ --- ^o:ZZ
punted from the Leber MSS., by iMr. Williams" In HHl
Churchyard boasts that he is "one thnf l,.fl, ai\, \
St of ul oh" '' ^^^'"^" "^ ^^^^^^^''^'^ Elizabeti:^ For
a hst of the Ordinance and Stores in the Tower in 1578, see
ilieLirerton Paner^ ^ Tn ^^Qn +1 a^io» &be
Uidinance Office as to excite the Queen's anger a-ainst Sir Wil
ham Pelham.; In 1586 Walsingham propl ed a Ithoro;
raining, by which " two pounds of^vvder wfu serve one man for
four days exercise of training." « In the Loseley Manu^rTpts ^
tZTT'^V.^'"'/"'^'^' ^^^^-lations for the'E^glilX.
Their date is 1513, and they were unknown to Grose. Henry VIII
a^Iurald'off ''"''^°' '"" ^^™^"^ "*^^ -^ of mak^g body
armour and offensive weapons:" and in the reign of Elizlbeth
te^diro; J^'r !f ^^'-'^^ ^^ *'^^^^ armouitinakers : but in
the reign of James I., there were only five '« In 1 554 thp nnvnl
ut::i^\:fr^ '1--' ^^^ --^^ was^ietd;:::^!
kn vnlt ff . .?r '^^"* ^^""^'^^^'« ''^y^'^^^ bastioune" was
'n 1567 Lit '^ f '^^""^ ^^"^^^^•^' -^ -gularly executed
rl548of' '''P* ^^^^P^^ti"^^ the employment in England
e Tvtlei^s Tr"'7vr'^"' '"^ *^"^ '^^^™^ ^ ^^^^'^ they se^rved,
coin of fl";^ ^' f ^ '^^"■^•" ^" 167^ J^°«ke gives an
account of the uniform of the French troops.-" In 1687 bombs
tun thftrtT '"':' "=^^^ ^"^^'^ ^-^^Pid military marches
than the ancients .•« It is curious that even in some nautical
; ILiynes's State Papers, p. 249. 2 i,,;,, „ 3,,
^ Corrcsponclanc-e do Fen.IoM. Paris, 1840, ton.c i. p. "158 *
^^^ ^ote^,„ Chron.equo de la TraV.on do Richart L. d'Englotorro. Londr., 8vo,
' Vol. ii. p 143. 6 -n aa ~
I Soo Leyce.ster Co.espondeneo, p. 37, Camd,.,. ll '''''' ''"'''^° '"•
Lodges Illustrations of British History, 1838, vol. ii. p. 285
J'V lv(!inp(', pp. 107-117 i„ T 1 I- -"'J-
;: Maehyn-s Dia.y, Ca„,de; Soc. vol. .1., ,p. ^O^m^^' '^^'""^"''P'^' ^P" '^«. 1^7.
■ «;;"- Corres,.o„da„,. li.t.'.raire, ton., x.v. p.' 602."
«vo, 1839, vol. I. ],. iGi. ^
" Kinir's Life of I n •'•(! Q,-- icon 1 •
■>|' I'.vclvM H Diarv. vol. iii. pp 220 3U
Ails,m'sni>tnryof|.:un.p,.,voI.viii! p. ,;■„,.
im ■ '■
I? i
! I
; (.
V 1
r, M
I Ji.1
n
;
1 '1 ^^nl
^ H
IMM
m
jBflll
in
ill
1
Ih^H
'H
HHh
ill
348
FRAGMENTS.
matters, soldiers have been found quieker than sailors.' Alison '
a};ro(;s witli Napoleon that eavahy (ran bri'ak an etiual nnniber of
infantry. In the middle of tlie r(*i{;n of Elizabeth "the hghtiu<j
men" iu En^rland were about 1,172,000.'
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH ARMY.
In Hiiynes's State Papers* there is a memorandum by Cecil of the
urraiiii^ements made for plaeinsj; the troo|)s on i\w 2(itl» of Novem-
ber, l,)r)2, in eleven different counties, and in London. The total
force is 1312 liorse, and 10,000 foot, of which 110 horsetnen and
2,.')0() footmen were for TiOndon. None of the more nortlierii
counties are mentioned. The footmen are divided into corslets,
archers, bilmeu, and harquebuzers.
Hume quotes" Lives of the Admirals, vol. i. p. 432, to the
effect that "in the year 1575 all the militia in the kin}j[dom
were computed at 182,929. A distribution was made in 1596 of
140,000 men, besides those which Wales could supply."" It
appears indeed from Murdin,' that in 1588 the al)le-])odied men
•were only 111,513, of whom 80,875 were armed, and 44,727 woro
trained. But Hvune thinks that "these able-bodied men con-
sisted of such only as were rejjjistered, otherwise the small num-
ber is not to be accounted for." However he (piotes Journals
of the House of Commons, 25th of April, 1(121, to the elfect that
Coke said, that about the same time, he and Popham, th(i cliit'f
justice, found on a survey that there were not more than 900,000
people in Enj^land, wliich would give about 200,000 to bear
arms. And yet, adds Hume, we are told by Harrison, " tliat, in
the musters taken in 1574 and 1575, the men tit for service
amounted to 1,172,674, yet was it believed that a full third was
omitted." The paper mentioned by Hume is in Murdin,* but it
is singular that he should not have noticed that the list," which
lie refers to as giving for all England only 111,513 able-bodieil
men, in reality gives tliat number for tweuty-oiglit counties. For
the expense of the army in 1587 and 1588, see Murdin's State
Papers.'" On the 1st of lAIay, 1572, there was a great festival at
Greenwich, on which occasion, the queen reviewed 3000 troops.""
' Alison, vol. xiii. p. 42.
' Jounuil of Stivtistioiil Society, vol. iv. p. 202.
* In ApppiidLx to Elizabeth, No. III.
* ytr_vpe, vol. iv. p. 22.'. ' P. 608.
■-' P. C)(18. '» P. 02(1, r
•' CorrcsinjiKiiiiico de I'Viieloii, tome iv. p. 4 to.
» Ibid. p. 139.
* Pp. 662, 663.
» Pp. 594, 01 1.
rn.' Alison '
il miiiiber uf
TUK R.SF OF A(mfCITLTURr-:. t^j
Tho ^M<.aUucc.<.,ss of the K„.]|sh {„ w.-tr lad, d.irinr' tho four-
eentl. ami f,ff..o„t,h conturios, d.u.fly dopond., on the kil of
u r Hrchers. iut flu, invontion of ^nupLlor and it. ,.,„om L.
.'Hl.e.y. („e of the lat(,.st attomptn made to rovivo archorv wis
).. a warrant issued hy Kli.al,oth in 159(5, which diroctcd tlu- en-
nvernen o an Act of J>arlian.ont, which had bo.n ^a s! , „
1.^42, for the maintenance of archery in 33rd H.mry VIH «
n>evulence of the decline of archery in the reij^n of Mair st,
Lodges IlluHtrationH of Hritish History.=> In the last vear^-fT
s Hted, "that ,n th,s shire, cannot be made, levied and furnished
able njen above the number of 100 men, belides thorwho" ff
heinhenance or within the offi.os and rules of o.^v ry "^^^^^
-rd, the Karl of .Shrewsbury." ^ Sir John Smith in is Al^hW
anb.y.^ Snuth nays'' that the muskets then used were Zt
inp oy.Hl m Italy about sixty years before, that is abo^ 1 52 ,
n the south west of Kn^lar.d, bows and arrows did not fin m;
THE PIdE OF AGRICULTURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON
CIVILIZATION.
wealth', '''""' ^^. ^^''^^f^^r- in increasing, the material
As civilization advances, the progress of manufactures greatly
outstnps the progress of agricidtru-e ; because agriculture ifas les^
•Smiths health of Nations, p. 3. See also p. IQG, where he
don Snel; """""'' '"' ^''^ '""■'■^'« '^'^' '" ^^^^™ ^'''F-. PP. 217-220. Cam-
! sSfh •"'■/; ^'^^1-r ' ^•"'e"'« Il'"«f rations, vol. i. p 364
^ Sec, Kll,s. On„„a. Lettera of Lito.^ Men, pp. 5.-.C, Ca.dea ^;!^. „;,
' -.it.« WeaUI. of Nation. Boo. u'^^l'^'^^^Z ^S.^' ^^ ^^'^•
I'
! I
H '
I
m
^
';^i ■
11
350
FRAGMENTS.
notices the bad effects of this on the intellect and knowledge of
landed proprietors. In America, where tlie inhabitants are
equally remarkable for tlie greatness of their wealth and the
coarseness of tlieir manners, agricultural prejudices are very
strong. Miss Martineau says,' " It is not five years since the
President's message declared that ' the wealth and strength of a
country are its population ; and the best part of that population
are the cultivators of the soil.' "
Observe that sailors are more superstitious than soldiers, because
more dependent on nature.
The prejudices of great landlords against travelling in the reign
of Charles ir. are well expressed by the rich and ignorant Sir
William Belfond.''
M'Culloch 3 says that, even economically speaking, agricultine
is not more important than manufactures or commerce.^ He
notices the inferiority of the intellect of those who cultivate the
soil. "The spinners, weavers, and other mechanics of Glasgow,
Manchester, and Birmingham, possess far more information tlian
the agricultural labourers of any part of the empire ; " -' and '• lie
mentions the dislike of agriculturists to improvements. This
seems a sort of brute instinct, for there is no doubt that the im-
mediate tendency of agricultirral improvements is to lower rent.
M'Culloch, indeed, says ^ " Tliere is no such opposition between his
interests and those of the rest of the community." But this is put
much too strongly, for it is certain that the immediate tendency
of agricultural improvements is to diminisli rent ; and it is im-
possible for rent to reach its former height until an increase of
population compels the cultivation of inferior soils. Indeed
M'Culloch says as mucli.* Landlords are perhaps the only great
body of men whose interest is diametrically opposed to the interest
of tlie nation. Every agricultural improvement tends to diminish
their rents. This was first laid down by Ricardo, and is admirably
worked out by Mr. lAIill." This requires to be clearly stated.
Mill says '" " If the assertion were that a landlord is injured by
the improvement of his estate, it would certainly be indefensible ;
but, what is asserted is, that he is injured by the improvement of
the estates of other people, although his own is included." If,
' Soeirty in Anirrica, Paris, 8vo, 1842, vol. ii. p. 26 ; part ii. chap. ii. sect. 1.
' Rpo Shmlwcll's Scjuirp of Alsatia ; Works, vol. iv. pp. 44, 45, LonJ. 1720, 12mo.
' Principles of Political Economy, Edinl). 18 tH, 8vo, pp. lGJ-171.
* See also p. 173. ■'' P. 180. « p. 463.
' P- 159. 8 p }(J2.
" Principles of Folitieal Economy, 2nd edition, 8vo, 1849, vol. ii. pp. 270 -27i5.
'"P. 275.
THE RISE OF AGRICULTURE. 05 j
indeed, acfricultural improvemont mnif-.l ..v, 1 1 .■
in an e,ua, ratio, ,ho,/t,,e 1^2^ rteSttd'T" H™""''
pn,veme„t, ^ in tl.at ca«o, h„ al„„V will li ^^ a', rr-
eutail, a positive loss o„ the UnZl^''^;Z'Sit7V'
form Bill, the landowners hnv« i '^^m io»« to the Ke-
..■Ki^latu,.; l,ut have „3\ :; JTnv?;?° '", "'° ^■"«"»"
lesson the pressure of those buidl I'i f ^ ° ""■"""" '"
their eountiV. Mr. MilH mild Iveall H °'"^* ^ '""'"'>' ™
to improvement;" bu i is Ll^" ''''"'■■'■''"""''' ''»^'ili'y
body of „,e„ who'are ual ppi.;t ort^Zf ?'':, "^"''^ "' "
they are contemptible for theifignorrce ' """• P"™ "'
On the importance of towns even f,^ n • i^ .
Political Economy.'' ^'' a^^nculturists, see Mill',
Mill says « " In France, it is computed that two-third. nf fi
who^ populat on are agricultural; in England at mo^ o'-t iid "
lowns are the great centres of knowledge ; the i^^no an H I
to the country. There is on the whole no f r. • f ^^
civilization than the proportion betwl t ,c ru/ and" '"" °'
;tion,a.d between tl J engaged in I^^I^Jw^S^
gciged n other occupations. (Of course this would not annlvL
countries whose soil is ill adapted to agriculture^ In ^l^^wi
original anecdote related by Captain felef ' " ™"™" "»"
Agriculture has made scarcely any pro..ress Hnm „n„ n • ,
tar* increase in civilization sLe'tlfey dr^t i^ irinTot
leclge 1* Storch observes that in an advanced ^t.f^ .f 7
we says, "Dans la production agricole, c'est la terre qui foit K
plus grande partie de la besogne; dans les manufact • .
commerce, c'est I'homme." And ^o-aiu ■« '^^ "w ^
arlmof lo TV, • i ^■ ■ . a^am, J^ Industrie aoricolp
acimet le moms de division dans les travaux." He adds n Hat,
' Jtill p. 281. 2 Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 303, 301 s ti • i .
^ N;o Thontto,, on Ovor Population, 8vo, 1846, p. 82 ^
^ j;^iieof J5t,vu Brumnioll, 8vo, 1841, vol. i. pp. "2 73
. ;;--i;^-litique, St. l>et.,.bou.^. 8vo. ,8„, t^nj i. pp. 1^-174.
ll^iJ. p. 211, audtomeii.p. 210.
1, .»ii.i;
^■< ■( ■
|; .,
I ik«^
I i
■i -H
i i
• ! ;
B52
FIlAdMKNTS.
in Hpite of tlic protcctictii and pntroiiaj^c of p^ovcnimcnt, uf^riiMil-
turc is not niuclj adviinccd beyond tlic stato in which the ancients
left it. This is partly the result of tlie ij^noranco of the country
gentlemen.' Mr. Hae draws an aecnrato picture of the operations
of an ordinary aji^riculturist ; all of whicli resolve tlieniselves into
mere observation of the economical phenomena of natnre.' ile
well says ' tlnit it is in>possiblo (i priori to construct or even to
impiove a ]dou^h.
It is well known tliat the immediate tendency of ajjricultnral
improvements is to lower rent. This truth to an eccmomist is
almost self-evident ; but there lias been found a fj^entleman —
a certain Rev. Kiehard Jones — who has not only the unparal-
leled liardiliood to attack this principle, but who considers a
belief in it to proceed " from imperfect observation and liasty
reasoning;." See the amiisinjj; remarks in Ji>nes's Kssay on tli(!
Distribution of Wealth,'' and compare his remarks'* on Ricardo,
one of the most acute and orij^inal thinkers tliat this aji^o has pro-
duced. Oldys says that the works on Husbandry and A}i;ricnlturp,
published in the reij^n t)f James I. "are so numerous tliat it cim
scarcely be ima<>ined by whom they were written or to whom they
were sold."" Mr. Alison is, I tliink, mistaken in sayinjj; that
capital laid out in agricidture is more productive than when laid
out in commerce or manufacture.^ Even he observes^ tl it
agricultiue has made little or no progress. In towns, women
reach puberty sooner than they do in the country ; and among the
ricli sooner than among the poor.^ Archdeacon Hare gravely says,
" The strength of a nation, humanly speaking, consists not in its
population, or wealtli, or knowledge, or in any other such heart-
less and merely scientitic elements, but in the number of its pro-
prietors."'" On the slavish tendencies of the agricultural mind,
and the progressive spirit of cities, see Coleridge on Church and
State." Comto '* observes that as society advances, agriculturists
must foil in the scale. Among the ancients agriculturists were
the most superstitious.'^ Laing'* says, "The great difference
' Eeoiiomio politiquo, St. Petprsbnurg, 8vo. 1815. tomo ii. p. 213.
- New Principles of Political Economy, Boston, 8vo, 1834, pp. 85, 87.
' P 87. ■• 8vo, 1831, pp. 303, 304. » P. vii.
* Harloian Miscellany, vol. i. p. xvii.
' Pi-inciplcs of Populiition. 8vo, 1810, vol. i. pp. 118, 119. ' Pp. 193, 194.
" Sic the additions of Dr, Cerise to Iloiisscl, Systemo de la Femnie, Paris, 1845.
pp. 337-339.
'" ITnrc's Guesses at Truth, first scries, p. iii. ; 3rd edition, 8vo, 1847.
" Pp. 22-26. " Philosophic Positive, tome vi. p. 586.
" See Maokay's Progress of the Intellect, 8vo, 1850, vol. ii, p. 43.
«« Sweden, 8vo, 1839, p. 194.
THE RISE OF AORICULTtJRE.
353
Ssiar;!:::;! t'::^ ^^^™? '- r ^" ^^^ -- ^^
In France, two-thirds LrenraS •„ ,? T^"'''^ ^""'"^ ^''« «««d."
soil." • Tocqueville says Hlmt if , '"•''. «»ltivution of tho
af,'riculturists while Sn^ln, '"' /"'^^'^'^ "'^*^°' ^"^ the
political power. In thnhn TaTr ^'T-/'!" ^^^ interest and
Kobespier're in the spHn,"'" 93 ^^rcult "^ ^'V""'^'"'' ^^
le premier des travaux Kobef i'orr, ^'' '^^"'"P« ^^^^^
lateurn de l'anti<,,ut^, considta^ ?' "'7 '^^^ *""^ ^^^ ^^^^«-
ccnme le plus moral et ^ plus o L ?""/ '^^"^'"^ ^ ^^ *-^«
Directly after the Kestoration L 6^ H " f'' '^' ^'homme.-
of le,nHlation, by the landed in U.^f^;"" '"" "^ "-«y«^-m
Our lawH, by encouraL^inL. tl . i "" "'''' i'»munity.''<
into large e;tisX ^S t di^^^ "^ ^-^^^ property
the severity of pr moreniture and ''1 ''«^'^"^^"^«- besides
general in Fra/ce, was checkrL m' ' "A" ^'^^""f-^^tion, so
in 18th Edward I.'by the " ^^^^^^^ '^''T' ^"'^ '^^'^^^^^^
too, escheats were frequent npf, ^^T ^"^P^^^es.' Thus,
power of willing awayZd 1^ ? ' ^'''"'^^^ '^'^^« ^^-« ««
economic causes'and 'Llties o S^^^^^ ""'^[^^ '^^^*«^ «f the
New Principles of PoliticIfE o/omy "T„ ^Jwi ^^^^^^
Davy published his Elements of Wultural r f ^^", ^""^P'^^^
Bays Dr. Paris,' « may be considered a!. 1 ^^'"""^''^'y^ ^^ich,
sophical agriculture Jver pn^^:^:^::^^^'^ '\ P^!^^"
been the progress of agriculture, that, in 1723 I L Ml "^^'^
havmg proposed that a school for teachinJln , ^^ ^"J^^^^^th,
established, could find no better fTi? T^"""^'^ '^«"^d be
which was ^ublisheTin 1577 'r^'i ""^ '^^"" Tusser's work,
devised by ^lill until the 32nd Hen ^Vir^ ^^-^ ^"^-'^ ^« be'
««Boccage lands, and two^Wrdf of L^s ,V ?5-;'' ""^^'^ ""°^^d
devised. These last at the ^stLl ofwVr ^'n^Zi'^^^^^^ '^ '^
%-Henryvi.,...t;iri^— ^^W.
; Laing's Notes of a Travollor, Ist scries, p 48
Dimocrafe en Europe, tomo v. pp. 40, 4?
^ L-^marfno. Histoire des Girondins. to^e v p 288
; Life of Davy, 8vo, 1831, vol. i. p 373 ' ^'"'""' ^''°' ^^^^' PP- 149-155.
,^,^S- Ws Preli...^ B^tion to Tusse.s P.Ve H,.d.a Points 8vo
'" C-hnstian's Note on Blackstone'e Co.n^ent. 8vo, 1809, vol. ii p ,2
A A
t
1
1
1
1
'fl!(
' I ; 'If
■:■ i!
f
I I!
' ,1
N-te!
Ill: .-.
354
FEAGMFNTS.
tition, to divide their lands. Before tliis statute they ha^l no such
power.' It is stated by a very competent authority that, among
the recruits for the army, labourers in the field display more
strength, and mechanics more aptitude for learning the exercises,
&c.* As the great landowners were soon able to enslave the rest
of the proprietors, the possession of land became not merely the
only mark of honour, but the only title to security.^ Posterity
will not believe the extent to which this foolish respect for land-
owners has carried us. Lord Brougham says, " In a manor in
Essex, at this day, the power of appointing justices, who have a
criminal jurisdiction over a population of 5000 souls, belongs to
whoever may purchase the property."'*
Mr. Mill truly says that " great landlords have seldom seriously
studied anything;"^ and he notices their idleness.*' Mr. luglis's
valuable travels in Ireland contain abundant evidence that the
grasping selfishness and bigotry of the landlords is one great
cause of the miseries of that ill-used and lovely country. See a
remarkable instance at vol. i. p. 26, 2nd edit., 8vo, 1835; and
compare Thornton on Over Popidation.^ See also " Mr. Thornton's
jiist remarks on the shameless rapacity of the English landlords.
The fall in the value of money injured the landowners in
two different ways ; for while, on the one hand, they were pre-
vented by the terms of their current h'ase from raising tlieir
rents to the fiUl point which would restore them to their former
position, so, on the otlier hand, the extent to whicli they did
raise their rents exposed them to great obloquy, and serionsly
affected their popularity. There are innumerable attacks on
landlords for rais'ng their rents made by popular authors in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.'-* In Maroccus Extaticus,'"
"the covetous landlord is the caterpiller of the commonwealth.""
Even Bancroft, in the famous sermon he preached at St. Paul's
Cross in 1588, notices the charges against the landlords.''^ The
decline in the value of the precious metals fell chiefly on the
> liliiekstone, vol. ii. pp. 185, 187, 188.
' Jackson's View of the Formation, Disciplino, and Economy of Armies, 8vo, 18J5,
pp. 1.5, 16, 188.
» Brougham's Political Philosophy, '2nd rdit. 8vo, 1810, vol. i. p. .'JOS.
' Ibid. p. 318. * Political Economy, vol. i. p. 283. « P. 307.
' 8vo, 1846, p. 97. ' Pp. 292, 293.
' See, for instance, Dekker's Knights Conjuring, 1607, p. 72, Percy Soc. vol. v.
See also p. 112 of Rowland's More Knaves Yet? published about IGIO, and ropriutod
in Percy Soc. vol. ix.
'" 1596, Percy Soc. vol, ix. p. 15.
. '• See also to the same effect, Rich's Honestie of this Age, 1614, pp. 62, G3, Percy
Soc. vol. xi.
'■' See Collier's Ecclesiastical History, 8vo, 1840, vol. vii. p, 81.
,\-l
THE RISE OF AGRICULTURE. 355
mo„ reeove.., ,„feed b"'t' taoTft: ttwd "'b TT
male over female births is greater th.n !l ^''''®'' "^^
taryones, as commerce an/ ^iT.f tm-^^^^ ^Vt^H" ^^'^
the more agricultural a people the fpwT. -f '"PP°'^
says 3 that, in America, « the proportion of th T"''"" "^^^^^^
soi! to the other clasLs of soS "boL tl^^^r^^^^^ ''^
also p. 549, where he says that « i " ^8 ! ^^^ See
millions of inhabitants there were on v fom h,... 1 °T^^ *"^
thousand employed in commerce and IwJ'u^^^^^^^ and twenty
cultural, there is about the same criiSnn ft .r ^^' ^^"■
cultural counties.'' cnminahty as m the non-agri-
In the discouragement given to agriculture s the. 1 ^ .r.
material wealth of the countrv >,n= ^^"''"""^f ^he loss to the
the ,ain, if I may o e'pe f "^^^^^ by
intellectual inferiority of CerHo tradl'""; '"'''^- ^^^
be disputed. And I find S e:u t es-l^ fr 'f '^
as China-which have encouraged agriculture at thl "'.
trade, have gained wealth witLut fe l^g eWil atiro" t
causes of this lie in the natttre of their respect" 2^^^ V,
any man compare a merchant with an ao-rfcXrist Th
of a great merchant is immense H/^^ 1 / ^^^ '"ange
surface of the world KpT T . 'P^^"*»^^ons cover the
tant voyages are familiar to h mm V^^ uZT' "^ ""^
arCiS iTo'rsfr; "-, -'r^^^^^-^'^z:^
0- country, and ofterf: otfX i " U'^U^ "thtt ,'*
g™ .a intensity he loses in grLp. His inter "L ^^
very aspirations are small and cramped; and unle.s "',""''""
". considerable natural power, he Lin'dk^ aCIy S pt/^t "ofT-
Quetele , Sur I'llommo, Paris, 1835, tomo i. pp. 4«J 50 ^'
^ l^r,no,ples_ of Population, 8vo, ISW.vol. i. p.^fio '
^ c.'o I ort«-« Progress of tiie JVution, vol. iii. p 197
• Si"T.»2,"'l,"" """""' "'""^ "' "°'"'- ^-"1' -"""io,,., book ii,
A A 2
J
iflff
,' (
' t
mi'
iii
i '■' ^^H
^"
f^ |. ;gU
1
' : 1 ■
J ^IK^^I
1 •
'"^^1
>
ittM
w
I, i!|E lH
356
FIUOMENTS.
w
tellect to a gaping rustic who cultivates his soil. Now look at
history. In every struggle for freedom, in every struggle for
onward progress, the nu^rehants and the inluihitants of towns have
thrown themselves into the breach, and often have led the forlorn
hope. But the ugriculturista, the inhahitanls of the country,
always have bc^en and still arc in the rear of tlieir age. Their
voices have always l)een lifted against iinj)rovenient ; and they
have but too often succeeded in drowning by clamour what they
never could hope to convince by reason. Thus, too, a nation
of agriculturists is more liabh? to superstition than a nation of
traders or nuinufacturi'rs. The fiunier is V(u-y d('p(!ndtait ou
nature. A single unfavoural)le season will baffle tlie most scien-
tific calculatiitns that he can make. Hence, we find that they
resort to astrology, &c. Hut the manufacturer is not so much
operated on by tlie whims of nature. Wliether it is wet or dry,
whether it is cold or warm, litthi matters to the success of liis
operations. He learns to rely on himscdf. He puts his faitl' in
his own skill and in his own right arm ; nor is he very anxious
about the progn- stieation of the astrologer, or the prayer of the
priest. Besides this, in manufactures the inventive powers aro
infinitely more used than in agriculture. A very obvioiis consider-
ation will explain the cause of this. In agriculture the principal,
I may say the solo expense, is that incurred by producing the
raw material, the corn ; but in mamifacture, the price of the raw
material is generally much less than the value of the labour by
which that raw material is worked up. Now, it is a well-known
law, that the produce of land increases in a diminishing ratio to
the quantity of labour employed.' But, to the productiveness of
manufacturing labour a precisely opposite law is applicable. The
consequence is that manufactures are much more susceptible of
mechanical improvement than agricidture,' and therefore to them
mechanical improvements are oftener applied.
HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE.
In 1585, a proclamation was put forth against those who con-
" verted arable lands and the richest pasture grounds " to sowing
woad for the use of dyers.* On the 29th of November, 1569,
Sir G. Bowes writes to the earl of Sussex that the rebels mean
' Mill, Political Economy, vol. i. p. 221.
' Camdou's Eliaaboth in Keunett, vol. ii. p, SIO.
» Ibid. p. 224.
[ow look at
tr»ig}j[lo for
t()wii8 have
till) forlorn
10 country,
ige. Tlioir
; ; and tliey
• what they
I), a nation
a nation of
xnulont on
moKt Hci(!n-
i tliat they
jt 80 much
wot or (hy,
CCCS8 of Ills
Ilia faith iu
cry anxious
ayor of the
powers are
us considci-
e principal,
duclng the
of the raw
labour by
well-known
ing ratio to
ctiveness of
sable. Tlie
sceptible of
ore to them
3 who con-
" to sowing
ober, 15G9,
ebels mean
224.
HISTORY OF THE PRICKS OF CORN. 357
to post th,;inselvos a],.>ut 8tock<,..n, when, « the best counfrv nf
At p. 138, h r C. hharp has printed an estimate of the land and
tenements of the n>bels in the County Palatine of Durham wIth
the exception of the earl of Westmoreland's which is 574/.rno
appear bir G. Eowes bought tor mU. tenements worth Ul. ayear.»
It has been supposed that, if the processes an.J implements of
industry used in tlie best farm(,d counties were generally adonted
of p2"t\lT' ''tr ''^'' ''" P""^^Pl^ "- «-t introduced
of putting a duty on the exportation of wheat. This, of course
depress^ed the agriculturists, as also did the statute Lf 'ap^ren:
nunsofrii^l'rl "•' "' '"^ 1«- allotted to the prioress and
nuns of (Jester, 'as a compensation for acres of land in Godes-
baeh, which they had sunvndered to the king's father."" TMs «
only 2s 6d an acre, but it does not appear'wliat sort of la d
was In 2nd Henry VIII., Ralph Davenport of ])avenport " he Id
the manor of Davenport from Thomas Venables of Kinderton F^
in soccage, by the render of ISd. per annum, val. xl.."? M^brlko
Edward VI. hind « let at about a shilling an acre "«
In 1628 in farmers' houses the maids were employed in break-
ing hemp.o Alison says,- « If the annual consumpLn of g ain
by the presen inhabitants of Great Pritain is thi ty millions of
quarters, which is probably not far from the mark," &c
It has been supposed that buck wheat-^arm^^r.-was intro-
W.u ''""^' '^ ''^ ''^^''^ ^'"^ ^^^« - ^--^ by Dawson
HISTORY OF THE PRICES OF CORN.
In 1595, Elizabeth allowed corn tobe imported from the free Hanse
Towns, and thus greatly lowered its price, which had risen so
' Ibid. p. 287.
^ Sharp's Memorial of Rebellion of l.OfiO, 8vo, 1840, p. 80.
' Thornton on Over Population, 8vo, 18 10, p. 292. '
* Dictionary of Commerco, 8vo, 1819, p. 412. ' » Snn nrf A„„
• Ormerod'« History of Choshiro. 1819 vol. ii. p 81 '^"^"^ • ArrnKxr.cKsn.r.
; Shakcpoaro and his Times, 181 7, 4t;, vol. i. p 101 "^" '"'• "'■ P" '''
&c„ the Mad Pranks of Robin Goodf.llow, p. 19, Percy Society, vol ii
Prmeiplos of Population, 8vo, 1840, ii. 4,56. ''
" Tumor's Normandy, S-o, 1820, vol. ii. p. 158.
ii-?;^
I*' 'i 'ri
f' 111'
I ; ; j.
1;^ f ;
\-
i'i
p
I :
358
FRAGMENTS.
i:
higli, that " some of the poorer sort in London began to mutiny
on that account."' However, in 1600, complaints were again
made of the scarcity of corn.^
In July 1563, Lord Montagu stated, that if more men were
taken from Sussex as soldiers, " the harvest of tlie country must
end itself." 3
On the 18th of July, 1563, Sir Francis Knollys writes to tlie
earl of Wa'-wick, who was tlieu at Newliaven, " Forasmuch as I
understand you liave great store of wheat in the town, and no
grinding for the same, I thouglit it good to inform your lordship
that some are of opinion tliat tlie same wlioat being sodden will
make good victual ; and was the chiefest succour of the French
soldiers in Leith."^
In 1645, Sir William Brereton having for some time besieged
Chester, reduced it to such straits tliat the people began to
murmur. To satisfy them, Lord l^yron asked the chiefs of the
discontented to dinner, " and entertained them with boiled wheat,
and gave them spring-water to wash it down, solemnly assuring
them that this and such like had been their only fare for some
time past."*
In the fourteenth century, in England, wheat was by no means
so little used by the lower orders as is generally supposed.** After
the accession of Henry VII. « it ceased to form part of the food
of the peasantry, and had been superseded by rye and barley,
except in the northern counties, where oats, either alone or mixed
with peas, had always been the usual bread corn." But towards
the end of the seventeenth century it became again general.^
Mr. Jacob * has brought forward some reasons for looking on
corn as a very bad criterion of value ; but this ingenious writer,
like nearly every author I have seen, underrates the consumption
of wheat in England during the middle ages.
Mr. Lloyd has published the Oxford prices of corn, which,
however, "present a blank from 1328 to the year 1583.""
In 1439, the mayor of London "sent into Prussia, causing corn
to be brought from thence ; whereby he brouglit down the price
of wheat from 3s. the bushel to less than half that money." '»
What bread did horses eat ? We hear of " horsebread " in
Maroccus Extaticus, 1595."
' Camden's Elizabeth, in Kennett, vol. ii. p. 587
• Forbes' Elizabeth, vol. ii. p. 464
» Ibid. p. 62fi.
* Ibid. pp. 467, 478.
» Ormerod's History of Choshire, vol. i. p. 207.
" See the evidence in Thornton on Over Population, 8vo, 1846, p. 176.
' Ibid. pp. 202, 203.
" Historical Inquiry into tlio Precious Metals, 8vo, 1831, vol, i. pp. 339-343.
" Jacob on the Precious Metals, p. 7G,
" Stow's London, edit. Thorns, Svo, 1842, p. 42. «• Percy Soc. vol. i.\. p. '■
''i
359
INFLUENCE OF THE CLEKGY UPON CIVILIZATION.
When the clergy of any country are richly endowed, two serious
evils arise : 1st. The revenue given tu the clergy is taken away
Irom the capital of tlie country, and tlius prevented from putting
into motion a great amount of productive industry. 2nd. By
holding out rich prizes in the church, men are withdrawn from
the umversities to the church, and Smith observes' that in ail
countries wliere church benefices are rich and numerous, few men
ot great attainment remain long professors at tlie universities:
but tliat when the church benefices are poor and few, the univer-
sities are amply supplied with eminent men. Of course both
clergy and professors crowd to whichever pays tliem best. The
civilians favoured the church in reference to the oath ex officio,
winch was borrowed from their own jurisprudence, and which
compelled the taker to answer all questions put to him. The
common lawyers of course took the other side; and Archbishop
A^hitgift could not conceal his hatred and contempt of such oppo-
sition. _ Cranmer recanted seven times, but, finding the queen
determined to take his life, withdrew his recantation at the stake.^
btrype confesses that Cranmer recanted six times."
Fee8.—mt only did the clergy sink in estimation; they also
declined in wealth. " Before the Beformation tlie bishops could
increase the allowance of the vicars out of the tithes of the bene-
^ce to what proportion they pleased." This was ordered by
15 Kic. IL, cap. 6, and by 4 Hen. IV., cap. 1 2, and, though fallen
into disuse, has never been repealed.^ In the reign of Edward VI
he clergy of the Lower House of Convocation had not sat in Par-'
lament since the reign of Henry VI. ; « but they now availed
themselves of the weakness of government to demand a restitution
01 tins obsolete privilege.''
Hallam gives the letter supposed to have been written by Eli-
zabeth to Cox, bishop of Ely ;« but I have found no contemporary
mention of it. ^ ^
Todd 9 finds fault with Hallam for saying that the early
Wealth of Nations, pp. 340, 341,
llallam's Constitutional History, 8vo, 1842, vol. i. pp. 207, 208.
hoe Lingard's England, 4th edit. Loudon, 1838, toI. rii. pp. 200
iwclosiast. Memorials, vol. iii. pt. i. p. 395.
Collier's EcclesiusticalHistorv, 8 vo, IK 10 v^l ^ m I'V, in«
,^-,'^'^' .P- ^.^3- '■ Mbid.pp;220,'221.''
toustitutioual History, vol. i. p. 219. ' Life of Crunmor, vol. i
04.
pp. 309, 310.
iM
^ • :i !
\ !
860
FRAGMENTS.
! i
h«.
Ill ii'
Anglican church held bishops and priests to be of the eamo
order.
The fees of the clergy greatly declined. Formerly they were
considerable. On the death of Jane Seymour, Sir Kichard Gresluvm
writes that " by the commandment of the Duke of Norfolk I
have caused 1,200 masses to be said within the City of London
for the soul of our most gracious queen." ' In a curious work,
written in 1548 by Crow8ley,a complaint is made of the great fees
received by the clergy.' It has al'-o ,'-> ■^ published by Mr. Hasle-
wood, who seems not to have been ; v ;hat Strype had printed
it. He refers it to 1547.*
The Shakers and the Eappites are two flourishing sects in
America, " both holding all their property in common and en-
forcing celibacy." *
A writer, whose knowledge on such subjects few will be rash
enough to dispute, says that even in the middle of Elizabetli's
reign "the majority of the clergy were nearly illiterate, and
many of them addicted to drunkenness and low vices." ^
An accidental circumstance greatly lessened their numbers.
Almost immediately after the accession of Elizabeth there broke
out one of those frightful epidemics, then so common, which
carried off immense numbers.®
Soames ' quotes Neal to the effect that in 1576 Elizabeth said
there were too many preachers, and that three or four in each
county were enough.
The Bishop of St. Asaph says that Henry VIII. transferred church
property to the amount of 150,000^. yearly.*
The clergy have ruined Italy. In the Eoman States, where the
population is only 2,700,000, there are 35,000 secular clergy,
more than 10,000 monks, and more than 8,000 nuns, while in
England there are less than 20,000 clergy of the Established
Church, and about the same number of sectarian teachers.^ Lord
Brougham says, without any authority, tliat Elizabeth " in 1586
made the clergy pay an assessment not voted by Convocation." '"
' Burgon's Life of Gresham, 8vo, 1839, vol. i. p. 24.
» See the extract in Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials, vol. ii. part i. p. 223.
• Brydge's British Bibliographer, vol. ii. pp. 291-293.
• See an account of them in Miss Martineau's Society in America, Paris, Svo, 1842,
vol. i. pp. 216-220, part ii. eh. i. See C.P.B. 2199.
» Hallam's Constitutional History of England, 8vo, 1842, vol. i. p. lOH.
• Heylin's Hist, of Presbyterians, quoted in Soames's Elizabethan Eeligious His-
tory, 1839, p. 33. 7 Ibid. p. 223.
• Short's History of the Church of England, pp. 146, 147, Svo, 1847.
• Brough.im'.H Political Philosophy, vol. i. p. 509, Svo, 1849.
>» Ibid. vol. iii. p. 269.
%\]\
F the samo
rred church
INFLUENCE OF THE CLERGY UPON CIVILIZATION. 361
The queen was at one moment resolved to issue a commission
toinqmreinto the misdemeanours of tlic cbrgy (this was in 15G7)
hut Its object would have been to inquire into the waste they had
committed;' b.it more pressing matters diverted her attention.
Strype who always favours the clergy, says that in 1571 "scarce
halt ot them understood Latin." '
Strype mentions the dislike of the court to the bishops.' The
tale about the Jiishop of Ely seems to have some foundation.^
We learn from an official report made in 1501 to the arch-
bishop of Canterbury, that in the archdeaconry of London only
one-third of the clergy were preacliers.^ Strype confesses that, in
15«3,most of the clergy could not preacJi at dl ; "their skill
:fdt:ni;ii:s." ''" ''^^ '^ ^'^ ^^^'^"^- ^^' ^^^ ^^---- ^^-y-
For proof of the poverty, ignorance, and unpopularity of the
clergy in the reign of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., see Strype's
Ecclesiastical Memorials, vol. i. part i. pp. 291-304- vol ii
part 1. pp. 74, 223, 590 ; part ii. pp. 27, 143.
In 1550 Lever complains that parishes are left without cler-v-
men ;7 and in 1552 the same thing is said in a sermon preached
by the famous Bernard Gilpin.^
Dr. Turner, who wrote in the reign of Mary, has left us some
curious evidence of the poverty of the clergy.'^ The entire fortune
1 Tn; .0 ? ^^ ""^^ "'^^'^^ archbishop of Canterbury, was
only 30^. j'" and yet such was his pomp that in a list of his yearly
expenses, in 1573, his servants' wages are put down at 250/., and
heir hvenes at 100/. ;" but, before he died, his servants' ^ages
(exclusive of board wages) were 448/. a year.'' The arclibishop of
Canterbury, in 1599, estimates the value of the archbishopric at
3,000/. a year, out of which « there goeth in annuities, pensions,
subsidies and other duties to her majesty, 800/. at the least." '3
liut in the very same year the steward of the archbishop stated in
the House of Commons that « the revenue was but 2,200/., whereof
were paid for annual subsidies 500/.'^ Aylmer, bishop of London,
kept a good house, having eighty servants with him in his
family ; and « he laid out 16,000/. in purchase of lands not long
before his death.'"" In 1568, the bishop of Chester wrote t!
• s£eVp V"'^ '^'°"^^^' -'• ii'p-^^° PP^'oi! 502, 533, 'l^' "^ '"'■
Strype 8 Parker, vol. ,. p. 189. . gtrypo's Whitrrift vol i n 240
; Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials, vol. ii. part i. p 41 1 ^"
Ibul. part ii p. 29 ; seo also vol. iii. part i. p. 437. ' « Ibid. pp. 420 422
Strype's Parker, vol, . p. 75 n Ti,i,i ,-^i •• „„ , ^^ ' *'^^-
- Ibid." vol. iii. D. 344 ■ ^ „ ;^"': ?'; ' • .p- .t'^^ ' ''' "^'^ p- ^^3.
Ibid. p. 423.
p. 344.
Strype's Whitgift, vol. ii. p. 422.
Strype's Aylmor, p. 127.
'!(;
11
Ii
•ij
1 li
i »
.1 • n\
m
r1 V
MVl
rUAOMKNTH.
111!
01^
it;:
Kliziibotli thai li<> had "not much more than ^OO inurks for him
to inuintain hinisclf and his poor lainily."' Parkhurst, bishop of
Norwich, dii'd in 1574. " Ho kept twenty-six inon HcrvnntH in his
house, and idso six maid-servants."''' In 1^2, a report was mad(!
to jjoverninent respecting,' tlie l)isiiopric of St,. David's, by whicli
we b'ani that its nt't vahie was h-ss than 2f)'M.; I)ul in 27
lien. VIII. it had been 4r)7lJ In 1 ")S7, tln^ Hisliop of Winchester
liad less than 400/. a year clear, if I rijj^htly umh'rstand tlic
schedule in Strypt>'s Annals,' in 1.)!).'), the Mishop of liochester,
in a hotter to the lord tr(>asurer, statvd tiiat the total yearly
revenue of liis bishopric was :VU)L, out of which be says nearly
throe-fourths — that is '2')()l. a year — was (\xpendcd in lu)spitalily,
or, as ]jo calls it, "moat and drink."''' The archbislu)p, at all
ovents, used to Ik^ ])receded by a bare-headed usher." In ir)7«,
the Bishop of CarlisU^ writers to the earl of Siirewsbury, "J pro-
test unto your lionoiu-, before the living (Jod, that, when iny
years accoimt was made at JNlichaelmas last, my expenses did sur-
mount the year's revenues of my bishoprick, (iOO/." ^
Voltaire " says that IleuryJ. of KnoliMid " ])our mettre le cleri^o
dans ses interets, il renonva an droit de resale (pii lui donnait,
rusufruit des benefices vacants : droit i\w. los rois de France out,
conserve." The celebrated letter said to have bc-en written by
Elizabi'th to the Bishop of Ely is oiven by Voltaire.'-*
See the complaints maile in Ecclesiastical J'olity, in Hooker's
Works.'"
Even Archdeacon Ifaro allows that the clergy are more Bu])j(!ct
to pride than other men."
In the Tolynesiau Islands generally "the office of the priest-
hood was hereditury in all its (le})artments." '^ Medicine AViis
formerly studied by the clergy.'^ At the end of the seventeeiitli
century it was nsual to pay the clergymen who preached the
funeral sermon a guinea.'^ In 1G89, Evelyn'^ says tliat many
• Strviio's Annals, vol. i. }i;u't ii. p. 206. " Ibid. vol. ii. part i. pp. 508, 509.
■ Soo tho Kopt)rt in Strypo's Annuls, vol. iii. part ii. pp. 220-228.
• Vol. iii. part ii. p. 203.
• Seo his Letter in Strypo's Annals, vol. iv. pp. 310, 317.
• Sue Au Epitome of Dr. bridge's Dofence, 1588, p. 53, 8vo, 1813.
' Lotlgc's Illustrations of British History, 1838, vol. ii. p. 137.
" Essai sur les Mceurs, chap. 50, O-luvros, tome xvi. p. 83.
» Ibid. chap. 108, (.bhuTos, tome xvii. p, 524.
'» Vol. ii. pp. 371, 425, 431 ; vol. iii. pp. 230, 2J8, 249.
" Tho Mission of the Comforter, 8vo, 1850, p. 458.
" Ellis, Polynesian Researches, 8vo, 1831, vol. i. p. 342.
" See Southey's Life of Wesley, 8vo, 1840, vol. i. pp. 4, 439, 442. On tho ignor.ineo
of the clergy in the reign of Elizabetli, see ibid. pp. 271, 272, 403, 494, 4iJ(i,
" See Caiamy's Life of Himself, vol. i. p. 354, 8vo, 1829. Seo also at vol. ii. pp. 217,
218, evideOL-os of the fallen state of the clergy. " Diary, vol. iii. p. 27S.
lNFl,lfKN(;K OF TIIK OLKliOY iri'ON ('IVIMZATION. lUi'.i
H<Tf,7 " in «,„„(, .,pul(,ni piiiiHlu-H mmlr ■AiuuhI us unid, of por-
iniHsmn to bury in M.e d,a,.c.,l un.l the- church uh of their livings,
H.Hl wcro jKti.l with considcnihl. iulvunfuj-o un.l giftH for l,ap-
.s.n,r „. <,hun.bcrH." Th. ch-r^y fron. an early period wcrl,
K'cncrully Hpcakm^., kept bolter within boun.Js in England than
in other C(,nten.poraneou8 BtateH." ' Kemble =< Hays that in the
••"th centnry there were uh.olu/ehnnur. chnrches in l-ln^^dan.l
than there are at present; a7i,l on the power of the d.-r-y, s.-e
vol ,. pp. 14.5 14(5. The vices <.f Kon.e, I think, ,uve riset the
iiHcctic.sm an<l stoicism of Christians. Toc<iueville •' says that
|noMast,c.sn. ^vas the resnlt of epicnrism. (;apefij,ne ^ Jyn that
n the htteenth century the church possessed n.ore than a third of
ho proper y ot uirope. IJallani " says iilixabeth " had no regard
lur her l)ishops." *^
In 1574 the celebrated San.pson taunted th..- Archbishop of
York with be.nj. called lord, (irindal replied "that Inwevor
the utle ot lord was ascribed to him, and th.3 rest of the bishops,
r f n \r," "'"'^ ''^'■'^'•'^•"^ -'" ^'^y' ^^"^'' "f <'"-' I'urJtans
ta.mted the liishop of London that "lie must be lorded, ^ an it
l.lcase your lordship ' at «>very word." ^ ]<'lassan « says that Charle-
inuj^ne tavonred the cleroy from policy, not from superstition,
hurbiere, who was in England very soon after the Kestoration,
bays that " the inferior clergy are mean enough, and cannot without
gu.it difficulty preach." '^ J^shop Sprat'" has an amusing remark
on the d(,cline of episcopacy. Until the fourteenth century,
ecclesiastics were forbidden to eat at the table of princes." Gri
goire says '-^Charlemagne w.is never legally canonised. The clergy,
with a few honoura},Ie exceptions, have in all modern countil-s
been the avowed enemies of the diffusion of knowledge, the danger
which to their own profession they, by a certain instinct, seem
always to have perceived.
Stvype notices the impoverishment of the clergy by the cessa-
extent '3^ """''''^''' ' ^'""^ ^'' "'''^''' """ ^^^''''^'* *^ "'^^^^^^^ '^'
J Korablo'8 Saxons in England, vol. ii. p. 373. » Ibi,! p 511
Uomoeratie on Anitu-iquo, iv. 2J0, 211 ' i* •
« slrvn'-' V ? ^^"^T-"' '°'"'' '■ P- '^•" ' Const. Hist. vol. i. p. 200
^^^.Strype« Parker, vol. n. p. 37C, and compare San.p.son'. reply in vol. iii. pp". SIO^
' Strypo's Aylmor, p. 39. See also Strypc's Annals, vol. ii. part i w 407 410 ■
; IT A 'r'l- '^:f " ^" ^•^"'•^^'" ^" "- '^'-^"^1'^ Priests, 158^8 pp'^'s 5 ;
«»o, 843. An Lp.tomo of Dr. liridgo'. Defence, 1588, p. 69, 8vo, 1843.
i^iplomatio Fran^'aisp, tome i. ->, 88.
^^" «orbifero's Voyage to P^ngland, pp. 18, 19.
ObsorvatiuiiN on Surbi6re's Voyage.
" I'^^'Xlf^^T "^'^ Confe«seurs, p. 106. .^ Ibid. p. 159.
fstrypes Whitgift, vol. i. p. 541.
iifl
r:
364
FRAGMENTS.
s f
Tn tlio sixtociiMi contury tli(^ cl(^r<,'y marricHl Horvants.' Tn the
midcili) of tlu) «"i^'ht»'('n«h century it was usual for livinj^s to bo
conferred upon condition that the clorgynmn should marry tho
cast-off juistress of tlio patron.'
Tht* Rev. J\[r. White, who lias boon a clerji^yman in tho two {,'reat
Christian sects, (Catholicism and I'rolestant ism, and has, perhaps,
seen more of their secnit workinj^s than any man of his day,
notices " tho poisonous natunt of that t)rthodoxy, whicli is sup^
ported by church (^stablishir -nts. J)octrines Innn^^ made the
bond of union of a powerful oody of men, whose oidy legal title
to the enjoyment of wealth, honour, and influence is adherence to
those doctrines, there must of necessity exist a bitter jealousy
against every man who shakes tho blind confidence of the multi-
tude in the supposed sacredness of those doctrines." ^ On tho
drunken habits, Ac. of the clergy, see Jiaxter's l.ife of Himself,
London, folio, 1(596, part i. p. 2 ; and i)art iii. p. 4(5. When iu
1681, Stephen College was murdered at Oxford, some of the
clergy brutally said they W(;re pleas(>d to iiave " one college more
in their miiversity."-« In the fourteenth c(>ntury, before sermon
began, books were exposed and read at the doors of the churclios.''
Monteil adds* that in tho fourteenth century the clergy were
more loved in Paris than in Languedoc. For the fees receivorl
by tlie clergy see Monteil, ii. 300, 307 ; iv. 130. In the fifteenth
century in France, eve-i the porter of the chapter of a cathedral
or abbey must be a priest.^ In courts of law, in the fifteenth
century, advocates quoted sermons.s In 1781), Earl Stanhope
gave some curious instances of tlie persecuting laws of the Eng-
lish church.9 And "> ho says he had " uudovgone the drudgery of
going through the whole s'-itute book, and found tliat there wore
no less than three hundred acts in it upon religion." Very
religious men are always called atheists. In 1626, Sir B.
Kudyard said " he knew two ministers in Lancashire who were
found to be unlicensed ale-house keepers.""
* See Loseloy Manuscripts by Kempo, p. 251.
* Menzel's German Litemture, vol. i. p. Ifi3.
* Lottor dated Liverpool 1S35, in the Life of tho Rov. Blanco Wliito, written by
himself, London, 8vo, 1815, vol. ii. p. 114.
* Wilson's Life of Do Fop, vol. i. p. 83.
* See Monteil, Hist, dos Fran9ais des divers Etats, tome i. p. 32 « Ibid. p. 36.
' Ibid, tome iii. p. 103. . ji^i,,, tome iv. p. 92.
Burl. History, vol. :,xviii. p. 102 ei seq. •" At vol. xxvii. p. 1280,
" Ibid. vol. ii. p. 45.
865
B.' In the
vinj^s to 1)0
murry tho
o two parent
iH, piirliupn,
jf liiH (liiy,
it'll is 8up-
mado the
le}j[Hl title
IhorciKte to
LT jealousy
[(.rjry ^vcro
lis received
le fifteenth
I cathedral
D iifteeiith
Stanhope
' the Kng-
ru(ljr(^ry of
there won;
II." Very
6, Sir B.
who were
,0, written by
« Ibid. p. 36.
p. 92.
p. 1280,
TENDICNCY OF TlfK T.AWS KKSI>KCTINC|
APPUKNTICKS.
Skr Smif h'fl Wealth ui' Nat
entirely
lonn,
the 1
imkiiown to file ancientK.' Jf
pp. /;()-/53. Appn^ntiecKliipH w(
re.
awH re.speetinj,^ ifi,.rn wen; to increase tj
e Kays' that th(( effeet of
Mie expense of tluf wealth of tl
i(! wealth of towns at
raisinjjf the price of uianiifaet .,
{•■•(.(its of Tnannfacturcs, they diverted a ^ii^iiliiai
aj,Ticidtur(^ to inaniifaet
lo eoimtry, wi.ieh they did by
iires. Of course, hy ituTcasin^r (),<..
of cafdtal from
:.f th
o Jaws resfx-etinj,^ apprentices. Sev
ires. Sinith has }riv<,n a a slij^ht Jiistory
th(! tenn of its duration in I
,UVf)
t'li years was orij.,n'nally
which incorJ)oration^ were called
Klizabeth, called the Statute (.f Ai»j"roHUce'sl
pc for incorporated trades, all of
un'versities. Hy the r)th ..f
that
no person should oxcrc
lip, it was enact(((l
ise any trade unless he hiui served to
h:r;!::":^''±!":i!"!""/'";^''""! "--i-".-! ..»„ ,„„y
the by-law of particular corporal ioTis, 1„
ral law. 'J'h.. words of the statute ,.lainl
(lorn, but h.iv(; b(!(
only thosf! trades wliid
'i were established
hecaine statute; and f^ene-
{ihiinly rnean tho wlude kinfr-
■owns, and
n interpreted to mean only market t
Kuf^hi
..II JU.zabeth. In Paris five years is a very common term of
apprenticesh-.p; in Scotknd (where corporation laws are less op-
pressive than ui any otlu-r European country) only three years.
It IS worthy of remark that this absurd statute of apprenticeship
(5 .J./.) w... not repealed till 1814, and ev(;n then a reservation
ms made of - the existing, rights, privile^^es, or by-laws of the
.1 tferent corporations.'^ How Ion,,, will this contemptible spirit
ot corporation and of caste be allowed to predominate in our
national councils ? " Riohts and privileges ! » As if any body of
men ought to have rights and privileges which are inji.rious to
the country at large.''
Jacob observes that the effect of these laws was to prevent
he increanng manufactures from absorbing the surplus agricul-
tural population.« In that remarkable work, the Brief Conceipt
t^ft P"l^«y' P"l^l-hed i.i 1581, the author, who was L
trefxlom against the statute of apprenticeship.^ See in the
Journal of the Statistical Society,^' evidence of "the extent to
' P 51
' sl'f l'° Mfr^^S'"!:^''''' '' PolitiS'Kconlmy, Jldinlmr.h, 8vo. 1843.?3?2 "''
^ See also M'Culloch's Commercial Didionary, 8vo, 1849. p 45.
^ IntiUify into tihi TivclmiH Motiils, vol. ii. p. 1 11,
bee tho passage in Harlcian Miscclhmy, vol. ix. pp. 187, 188. » Vol i p ig
M
J •
5t ^ .
^
I
r * t
ti]
;)(')(;
I'UA(»1VTI'.NTH.
which th(> luiscliit'vous system of (MUiipulsory iipprouiiccHhip h.-id
been juloplcd in the iiu-orponitions of tho f,oiiii(i<;8 of Norfolk
uiul SutVolk" from 1820 to 183.').
I''iirly in tlio Hcvciitcrnth century, if not. hefore, rccc^ivinj^ up-
preiitices was an ordinary source of [»rolit to ^'reiit actors. Tlio
services t»f sucii ai»prentices were regularly houj^ht and sold. This
appears fntm jrcnsiowe's Diary.'
Tile ert'ects of }jfilds and corporations is to clicck population.'
Storch looks on the custom of api>renl ic('shi[» as an unmitii^ated
ovil; hut ]u\ has fallen into the er
ror of su|»posin<i^ that its ctl'ect
is to raise wao;es, and therefore raise price.' In l(i4;j, th(> appreu-
ticos assisted in fortify in<j; lituidon aj,'ainst the kinj>^, and w<'re so
important a body that (!harles attempted to fi^ain tluun over ; and
at Oxford, wliich has always been a steady friend to (U'spotism,
there was pul»lislied an " Exhortation,"' (he object of winch was to
aid the royal etibrts. It has been printed by Mr. Mackay.* Tl
old holidays beinj? laid aside aa superstitions, the apprentices in
1()-17 had a {^rand meetinji^ in Covent (iarden to obli<;e their
masters to <i;rant some other times of recreation. It is hardly
necessary to say that, they succeeded in their object. Mr. Wrij>lit,
has printed one of the notices of meeting- which the apprentices
atlixed to the walls of liondou.-' In Kio'J, they are accused of
havini,^ frecpiently run away with their masters' daughters." On
Sundays, they were t>xpected to accompany their masters to churcli;
but they not imfrequently l(>ft them at the chnrcii doors and went
to the tavern.^ An intelligent observer, wl
lo was in EnuLnid iu
the year I.IOO, says that it was usual in L(ui(lon for widows to
marry the apprentices of their late liusbands."
OBSERVATrONS UPON FREEMASONRY.
AnouT 1820 (?) "one Morgan, a freemason, living in the western
part of tlie State of New "\'ork, wrote a book in exposure of
masonry, its facts and tendencies." The consequence was that
' .Seo Collior's History of Dramiitic Poetry, vol. iii. pp. 433, m,
'■* Pco Mill's Politiciil Koonomy, 8vo, IH19, vol. i. pp. 431, 433.
» Economio Politiquo, St. I'etcrBl.oiirfi, Hvo, ISlft, toiiio i. pp. 36()-;>02 • tonio ii.
p. 183.
* Songs of the Lomlon Prentices', pp. 67-69, edit. Percy Society, 8vo, 1841.
» Politiciil Pnlliuls, pp. 18, 19, Percy Society, vol. iii.
« Wright's Political Balliuls, p. 172.
' See The Pleusaiil Coiieeitis ot Old l[(;bfoii, 1()()7. p. 9, Percy Snciefy, vol. ix
" Italian Kelatioii of England, ('aiiuleu Society, vol. xxxvii. p.' 26.
TIIK CONDITION AND INFLUKNCF-: OK WOMKN. .^67
fio wiiH nm-Htcd 1111(1 cjirricd ever into ('unmlii; «Hlmt, up in tJio
fort lit Niiitriuu vill i^r.., wh.-n. tli„ Nui^am rivoi- flown into Liiko
Oiitiu-io . . . put into u Lout, cinicd out, into tho tni.ldic of the
river, pnd thrown in with ;i .stone tied to his neck. For four yeiirs
tli.-n, were iittmipls t.. l.rin^r the conHpiriitor.s to juHtice; hut,
litll.' WHS d,.ne. Th<. lod-<..s sul.scrihed funds to carry tin, actuiil
imn-d,«n'rs out of (h.. country. Sheritls, jury.n.'u, nuistuhles, aU
..ruitted their duty with re-ard to the n-sl." The upshot was,
that the spirit of (lie Americans was nuised. Anti-inas..nic socie-
ties weiv for.ne.l; in soiik, Stat.-s the law prevents the lodj^es
takinj,' m now nioinhers, and masonry is almost overthrown.'
I!i!
V'li
TUK CONDITIOX AND INI<'[.1;Ki\(JK OF WOMKN.
Miss Mautin.uu» says, "Forty years a-o tlu, women of New
JcrH(,y went to tii.^ polls and voted at State elections. The
general terms ' inhal.itant.s ' stood uiKptalilied ; as it will aj^'ain
when the true democratic; principle; (;omes to l,e fully understood
A motion was miuhi to correct the inadvertence, and it was dono
ii,s a Tnatter of conrs.; without any appeal, as far as I could learn,
trom tlie piusons about to be injur, d. Such acriui(;scenco provea
nothin- but the; dej,n-a(lation of the; injured party." As to the
present state of women in the United States, see " Miss Vlar-
tiii.'au's Society in America," vol. ii. pp. 10(5-178, part iii. chap.'ii.
tven this partial writer says, « « The AiiH-ricans have in the treat-
ment of women fallen below, not only tluur own democratic
piinciples, but the practice of some parts of the Old World."
She says," « Divorce is more easily obtained in the United
btates than in Knoland." Tliis deli-hts her, and she adds,-^ " In
Massachusetts divorces are obtainable with pecidiar ease. The
natural consequence follows ; such a thinj^ is never heard of. A
lunjr-established and very eminent lawyer of Boston told me that
lie had known of only one in all his experience." ... At Zurich
"the parties are married by a form, and have liberty to divorce
themselves, without any appeal to law, on showing that they have
legally provided for the children of the marriaf,'e. . . . There
was some levity at first, chiefly on the part of those who were
' Miss Martincau'H Socirty in America, Pari.s, 8vo, 1812, vol. i. pp 19 ?o nirf
chap. 1. '!»'", '-••", p.trr;
' Society in A,,,orica. Pans, 6v., 1812, vol. i. pp. Iu4, lu,3, jarL i. ch. iii. section v.i.
P- 15('. 4 I. Kj.i , ^, jg^_
,!.-|
', ' (.1
■I
hi
'}\
1 1 ■
i I
I
368
FRAGMENTS.
siififerinfT under the old system, but the morals of the society soon
became, and have since remained, peculiarly pure."
Miss Martineau tolls us,' " It is no secret on the spot that the
habit of intemperance is not unfrequent amonj^ women of station
and education in the most enlightened parts of the coimtry."
Adam Smith says,'' " The fair sex, who have commonly much
more tenderness than ours, have seldom so much generosity.
That women rarely make considerable donations is an observation
of tlie civil law. Raro mulieres donare solenV^
The reason that the wages of women are generally lower tlian
those of men is, that, owing to custom opening so few employ-
ments, their field of employment is overcrowded.' Hence, I sup-
pose, the more agricultural a nation is, the higher will be the
wages of women as compared to those of men. This is the case
in France. Perhaps we may in this way discover one cause of
the declining influence of women. They are less valuable than
formerly. The advance of civilisation diminishes the proportion
of those who are employed on the soil, and thus lowers their wages.
In London we have cases of women working at shirt-making,
and similar occupations, eighteen hours a-day, and earning four
shillings a- \veek.*
For another reason why the influence of women has declined,
see art. Pukitans.
Camden says of Lady Burleigh, i'ae daughter of Sir Anthony
Cook, " She was a woman very well versed in the Latin and
Greek tongues."* His mentioning it shows that such learning
was not common.
Dr. Combe thinks that any eccentricity on the mother's side is
more likely to be prevalent among the children than if it had
been on the father's side.^
Gifford has noticed how little attention is paid by Ben Jonson
to drawing female characters. Tliis, I should suppose, was be-
cause the parts of women were played by boys.^ But the character
of the Lady Would-Be, in the Fox, shows the growing influence of
the female mind. Women must have been gaining ground when
it was worth Jonson's while to ridicule them by so comprehensive
a satire. See also his attack on the Lady Collegiates in the
' Sooipty in America, vol. ii, p. 184.
* Theory of Moral Sentiments, part iv. chap. ii. vol. ii. p. 19, London, 1822, 12mo.
» Mill's Political Economy, 8vo, 1849, vol. i. pp. 487, 488.
■• See Thornton on Over Population, 8vo, 1840, p. CO.
* Annals of Elizabeth, in Kcnnett, vol. ii. p. 609.
* Principles of Physiology applied to Health, 2ud edit. Edinburgh, 8vo, 1835,
p. 273.
' Jonson's Works, vol. i, p. 161, and iv. p. 460, but see vi. 409, and vii. 161.
THE CONDITION AND INFLUENCE OF WOMEN 369
times by every woman in England." 3 ^^ ^^^
At the very beginning of the seventeenth century, a ladv «av«
It IS unnatural to see « books in women's hands."' ^ ^ ^'
Chevenix Hakes for granted the mental inferiority of wnm.n
V.CO e^bserves that the wife bringing a dowry L e^jLlTfT;
Chevenix,' who has attempted to trace the hhtnr, „f
particlarty notiee, the effeet of arts a^d I'^ttoesTL"'
creasing their power. '^uuidciures in m-
I doubt if the attention paid to women is nf nn^fv.
The ancient Finns treated them veiy badV« '"^'"'
^ose mother did not display a eonsilerabralr o^ tfe Z^
Lawrence well says,'" « A nervous and hysterical finp 1n^ ^
her ap dog are the extreme points of degene^y and^ml ^ •r'?
of which each race is susceptible." "^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ imbecility
The first work on the education of women «ro« t^- i ,
"Education desFilles," in 1688 • bnt"./^ Fenelon's
the acquisition of knoVl'dge by' woL I'^^srS' 'l' T'
who was in Germany in 1656, gives a curious account of^^^^^^^^^^^^
pressed state of the women.- Charles XI^ of s'vlndfd ,!;
care for women.'^ oweaen did not
■wallow sand and a.hes I oMe/tt g^:!" Xt™ s':"^
' Jonson's Works, vol. iii. pp. 346, 347. , ^, . , ,
» Note m Bon Jonson, vol. v pp 220 221 ^°^- ^- P' '^^^■
; S..0 Middleton's Works, 8vo, 1840, ^ol. i."p. ig3
Essay on National Character, Svo, 1832, vol. ii 'p 3] 6
" Philosophic do I'Histoiro, p. 218. ^
I Essay on National Character, vol. ii. p. 333
See Prichard's Physical History of Mankind, vol. iii. pp 287 288
1; Lectures on Man, Svo, 1844, p. 163. ' "'
Sea Hallam's Literature of Europe, vol. iii. pp 417 413
Roresby'sTravels and Memoirs, 8vo, 1831, pp 139 140
; ffiuvres do Voltaire, tome xxii. p. 54. ^^' ' '
l-^ssaiH do Montaigne. P«riB. Svo 184S t;v,. t t,
" Ibid. Livre I., chap. xl. p. 156.
B B
i!
PI
I
;Hr
I
r-tf *.
370
FRAGMENTS.
IP
gays * that a fashion had recently grown up among women, of
pulling hair out of their foreheads. In the Indian Archipelago
women are better treated than generally in tlie East.'^ Coleridge
says,' " The Greeks, except perhaps in Homer, seem to have liad
no way of making tlieir women interesting but by unsexing them,
as in the instances of the tragic Medea, Eloctra, &c." At vol. i.
pp. 199, 200, Coleridge says: "Women are good novelists, but
indiflferent poets; and this because they rarely or never tho-
roughly distinguish between fact and fiction." Perhaps polygamy
is the first stage in the improvement of women. In Borneo
women are well-treated, because polygamy makes them dear.*
In Englard at the end of the seventeenth century women still
learned Latin and Greek.'' Mr. Marshall" thinks the sexual
passions stronger among Europeans than among Asiatics. Catlin,
who speaks so highly of the North American Indians, allows tliat
the women are the " slaves of their husbands." ^ They neither
worship nor eat with the mon.^ They marry from eleven to
fifteen, and some have even had children at twelve." It is " very
rare" for a woman to have mure than four or five children.'"
Parturition is very easy;" polygamy universal.'^ Schlegel '^ men-
tions "that high reverence for females which is everywhere
inculcated in the laws and exemplified in the poems of the
Hindoos." Herbert Mayo '* says, " Girls as children are healthier
than boys," because they are iiearer to women than boys are to
men, i.e. the voice and skin have less to alter. But, says Mayo,'"
their one disease is education, which is so absurd that they nearly
all have diseased spines.'" At Embomma, on the Congo, "the
men will not eat the flesh of a fowl, until the woman has tasted
of it, to take oif the fetish as they express it ; " '^ but at the same
place " the cultivation of the ground is entirely the business of
slaves and women." '*
Napoleon said everything depends on the mother,'^ and yet he
' Essais de Montaigne, Paris, 8vo, 1843, Livre I., chap. xlix. p. 186.
» See Crawford's History [of the Indian Archipelago, Edinb. 8vo, 1820, vol. i.
pp. 73, 76, 78.
» Literary Remains, vol. i. p. Or). * fee Low's Sarawak, 8vo, 1848, p. 148.
» See Soiithey's Life of Wesley, 8vo, 1846, vol. i. p. 30.
• Transactions of Literary Society of Bombay, vol. iii. p. 361.
' Catlin's North American Indians, 8vo, vol. i. p. 61.
» Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 232, 233. * Ibid. vol. i.
'" Ibid. vol. ii. p. 21"'. " Ibid. p. 22;^. '" Ibid. vol. i.
" Lectures on Literature, Edinb. 8V/, 18' 8, vol. i. p. 210.
>« Philosophy of Living, 8Vo, 1838, pp. 114, 115.
'» Ibid. p. 116. '• Ibid. pp. 118, 123.
»' Tuckoy'p Expedition to the Zaire, 1818, 4to, p. 124. " Ibid. p. 120.
•• Alison's Hist, of Europe, vol. iv. p. 2. See also vol. viii. p. 1, and vol. xiii, p. 200
pp. 121, 214, 215.
p. 118.
THE CONDITIOS AND lOTLUEKOE OP WOMEN. 371
fond of woL^^^ri.tez'itiexflu:-™: r
improved the position of women • and h„ !t '^''nf '"■'"y has
Paul the sole reason for Jrri °4 "th^ fZ *""* "'"*
™, vent his sensual desires. XCts tta rf'7'*r*
object, it would be better not to marrT •■ IL l I , "' '" *'"'
of the SO.W pleasures of marr^g^^-J;,::' sLs " f "f?
only in countries where Germanic sentwT) T ', "''"'''•
we see marks of any elevation rfti'ff '"'""' ''°°'' ''»
of Pagan antiquity f" ^^'T,: rf^ ^^'tZ^ZT ", ""*'
are the poets of German P„1f„r. «i^vators ot the female sex
rf^ of iove,tns ::;:::.•„:: c ,™r.?'ti/,';"
Lady Montagu 7 says: some of " our ladies who S" u„? ,'
"The ancients laid it down L incontrovertibio th^w"^ ""^"^
the source of all evil- in ,„,™it, .TV- , '•''at women are
iaflicted on them V; tt ;Lh rf' £ 1 '"' k"",,'"..""'''"''
to «.e German element the modern resect for w:n"n" ^^'^
Britam and Ireland there are more fem-il^ti,!! ,' ^"'^""^
France the excess of women is s«ll grSe ta in"s " ' """ !"
equ..!, and in the United States an f. l^'f m fa '""S ""'^
rather more male than female servants ■» oTth H ™
the Savings Banks, nearly seven in eight are women t"";:,";" '»
portionate number of female compared with TT.' ■ F""
diminishing," but in Scotland, the"^ fl tre 'rimi,^ d,""""" " "
numerous." TocauevillBi«,«„« .i,„. - 13 V "'""n-ds are more
SnlsalwayshaverrllLrl^tlianTn'carotl"^^^^^
ii:rre ;;?:f!:s''isir"'°-r -^ ^'^'^'^^
luco vtjjy great, as is the case in Ainerin TK^ a •
gnlsare chaste in manners rather than T S'nd ''JT'T
wta unmarried, they have great 1 t„ J :^„ r',*;;-'!;;;.
' Alison, vol. vi. p. 91 « c i .
' Phasos of Fuith, 8vo, 1850, pp 1G2-1G9 """ ^^'^ ^"^' "'" ' "'^'' ^"'■- P" 209.
;^id^p.l63. » Ibid. p. 163. •Ibid.p.ies '
Works, 8vo, 1803, vol. ii. p. 243. « i, , , -
I'rogross of tho Intellect, 8vo, 1850, vol. i. p. 419 ' "• ^^ ' "•
Jixons in England, vol. i. pp. 232, 233
A "a. pp. 67, 68; toI. in. p. 16. i., t, ., , ...
'* Ibid. p. 179. ^t^i'i. vol. HI. p. 147,
■" Bemocratio en Am6rique. tome r. p. 57. " /bid." p.' gg.^'
B n 2
P^
iiy
in
h
1
\i '
It t
1
i 'If r
!
» I .
I 1
f
,1 ;i
..'i
872
I'HAdMKNTH.
miirrJiMl (liry hnxo Hcnrcoly iniy-' l''<>i" iiitliiHlrioiiH tiiid iclii'itiim
nations imtiirall) »'i»nHi(lt>r miu'iiiij;;!' a vt>ry |j;nivi' nlliiir." On IIiIh
at'('«iunl, rally niarriai'oN arr vi«ry rarr in America.; and llio
Ainxricait wniutui do not marry till tlioir rcanon is ri|)(>n<>d." (Jollit<
»ayH of (ItMinany alioni 177'J, lliaf llio inlliicnco of KicliardHon'M
itovols and KrHHln^'M Saia Sani|mon iiad raini'd I Ik* KJandaid of
lotnalo njoraln.* h'ondality troalod woini'n Imdly ; chivalry wfll."
Kn^^lish w'oiniMi roinainod CatliolicH loiij^ci- than nirii did." In
IHHU, it. in saiil that (lio tdlrtlH of Smidny wno |iiinci|iidly nliowa
on woinon ; Ihoro lioinj.;' Iwii'c an many I'cmali" aH malt> Hi-linhiiH.'
In Hi>it«' of llu> <lo('i'oast> td" nimo, (ln> nnndxr of fi>malo
ollcndns
irt «>n th«« incroaHo." It haw licon allvmpttMl lo lio nliown " lliiil,
iho nnmltor of illoj^ilimattM-hildrcn is in llio m(>aNni'o <d' morals.
Han'>\ \vht> liad tlio lioHt moanH of knowinj^, HayH of tln^ womon ia
Iho Oiknoy Islands
'riioiij'li lliiMi' odncaiion, as in olli(«r
])laoos, is inferior to tlial of llio men, their niulcrslatidinj^s are ia
j;[on<>ral Hn|i«'vior.'" Until l'ol(>r I., the K'nHsian women were kept
UH H(H'ludt>d as thostM)f Asia." The Indians everywhere Ireal llieir
women with eontemitl,'* and so do tin* Mnrmese.'"
olil says:
*' Kt<mal»» V(»ii'es are nev(>r heard in the linssian Chnrehes ; llicir
j>lae«> is supplit'd liy hoys; women do not yet, slaial hi^li eiionijli
in th»* estimation of tht> ehnrehes tn- of the people to he perniillcd
to sinjj; the praises of (iod in the presene(< of men." ('lirisliiniily
din\inished tin* intlnenee of wmnen.'''' In Itil.'*, wom»>n nsed io
preaeh in London."' TIum-o is said to lit> a. j^dod art iele on (lie
ntnte of wonuMi in (Ireeee in No. •[',) of the tinartcniy Iteview.
Aooordinjj to Thirlw all,'' " The freedom of wonn'n was not peculi.ir
to Sparta. It })revailed in all Otn-ian states, tlion};h not perlmjis
otpially, and is thon^ht to hav(> heen once nniver.sal in (InMcc.
It is observtnl, that in llonn-r, th(>r(^ is no trace of the seclMsinii
of wmnen after marria<;*> ; nor do they appear (o have heen
iusij»nitioant or mneh (U'pressed." Mrs. Napier"* reters to Middlc-
• Ilml. vol.
' lliWvmtio on AmAwnui', toiiio v. p. 61.
» Iliid. Y\\ HI, ('.2. • Il)i,l. J). (;;t.
• Wiihrhcif uinl l>iclitun>j, in W(>i-ki>, Iliuul ii. Tlicil ii. p. 17!).
• Soo MiU'.s llisto'T ot' Cliivalfv. \o[. i. pp. '2',i6, '^/id.
• Ilalliuu, Cunsti'wtionMl Hisinn- oi I'lii^ilaiul, vdI. i. j
' .lournal of StHti.sticnl Sivii'ty. vol. ii. p. (i7.
• Ibi.l. vol. i\. p. IS'J.
'• IJjirry'.s Hi.storv of tlit> (>rkiit\v l.'^liuul.s, p. ;!,'13.
•' Sw> (\nnto, Tnvito dv lit^^itilivliou, vol. iii. p. 172.
" Si'O Ilobor's .loumoy through liuliii, vol. ii. p. 71.
" Sop S\iuos'.>i KnibiU'^sy to .Ava, vol. ii. p]i. 'Jli*, oS;').
" 8co Noiuidor's llislorv of llio Clmroli, vol. i. p. 2tVJ.
" i'.iriiiimriitJiry History, vol. iii. p. 4L"2.
'* Highfs and Dutios of Wonion, vol. i. p. '.til.
XIV. p,
'* Russia, 8vo, I till, ji. :'.").).
" llistoi'y of Gi'ooi'o.
iiij^H iin« III
I), ISM, i-. ^'iii.
TIIK OONhlTlON AND INKMIKNCK OK WOMRN.
378
(oii'm (:i«'((r<», lor Mki (ii(.|, (,|„i(, |,),„ \i
:(.(
Iiiiviii^if iiiii-HnH who H|n»l<o piirn hiiiii
l;i,IIK'llll|rn ,,r (,||„i,. ,.|,i|,|
riiiiiH piii<| ^r|„iil, ii(,|,(!„(,iori 1,
,0
II, HO
mil.
A(,
Kniiico, whr-io IVom IIk^ i.Miui of (!ii,|,|
iiH riol (,o roiTupl, Mi()
|>. Hi.'l, MiH. N(i|Mnr Hiiyn: " [ii
Moil
of mioi'iiIh IiiiiI Imh-ii |»rov((rl»iiil, il
iniiiir (II, ModiciH (,|ic (!ornjf>-
n'i|j;iio(| ill pvnry IriiiiHiurlidi, ,,1' ||
I'iciicli iiovor ciirrd lor (loiiii-Mlii! jif,. (
well HiiyH: " II, JH only in nid
iiivui'iiiltly n|»|»(>)iiH. In |<,w
liiipp'WiH lliiil, (lic-, iidviiiidij^d JH Olmcivffl (,u I
woninii ; lor juiy circiiinHliiii
iH well I<nowii iJiaf, wornoii
may Hay l.ho
> vain. MiH. Napier"
Mi finpiio
loiiH piirHiiilH (lio Hoporiorily of itifii
Hla|.;cH of civilizalioii i(, oc'taHionaJly
X' on l.lio Hido of
(liciii \\h\ iiccrHHily of /^'iciilcr ox
'•" in Mk'Ii- lia.l»il,H Mial, iin|
loHOH on
iiH'iil. ItiriiH llio liiilaiico in llioir I
orciHo of olmcrvalion and judf(-
iiid laliorioiiH oIlircH of oivilinod
"voiir. Hill, in ||„, complical-od
H<»<'iolioH, no cdiicaUon w(.uM
K.v.-^K'«"oral Hi.pori.Mily or ovon ..,,nali(,y |,„ (J,,, fWnalo hox
"MioiiH invrHli^ralL.nH, and 1,|,„ ln\r|„,Hl, p<,wor
• »iiHl(i,nl,, holli in prol'cHHionH
liio doniand lor lal
(ir<M»nil)ina,l.ion and invcniictn Ih (oo <
uikI Htu'i^
ii(M*M." Ainonn; harhariaiiH, (/,// havo 1,1
(!<lii(ial.ioii. Iiil,(!||cc,(, in ii
lore valiiod 1,1
lo Hainc Horl, of
mil (tvctr, and l<nowI<!dj,^)
ti woiHo odiical,('d l,li
an ovor.
iiioro a,vailahlo, and yol, vvoiru
<:aiio'H Comparative Anatomy, vol. i. pp. 274/2fm,'."j.'J7 7vol
p. i;n. Soeiel.y I.ee.MneH mon; <i..mp|.ix, and m(,n Ichh im
.See
II.
HJvo; lii>nc(! n<Uii.nd diverffenei(!H i
Jill
IK
pnl-
n-aHc, and hcna; irnireaHocl
iin* l.el,w<ien iikwi and wonu-n, and I(.hh of fernahi inll
Onmhe'^ HiiyH: "In all eoiintrioH wliie.li 1 l.ave viniled I
rcinarkt'd l.lial, ilio lot '
(l(!Veloped ill |,lie nifj^ion of 1,1
iln lieiid, llioujj^li Ichh in
Hize, iH more
if mon
iienco.
Iiavo
fully
HenliinenlH in proportion to
<!rii(!H
Uio ol.lK'r n'^'ioiiH, Mian iJial, of l.lio mal<!." Ilallam » d
ivspecl, for women in dn<. |,<, Cl.riHtianily, and nays U.ai' it .
'H<! in the HoiiM, of |.'n,.ne<i ahoiil Ih,; end of l,lM/l,(,nl,|. eunti
11 n
II
that
firHt
ry.
'.hHcrveh ol neaiiinont and Kletc.lier,^ "'J'lie hesf, of FhttdHir'n
wanl.(!(l thai, larf,^! Hwec^p of nulled.
<'-liara(!l,erH are femalt; ; 1
iiiid
<'xp(n-ience whieli in re.piired for ll.e {rreater divc-rwity of II
•iMier Hex
Ii
women tlian io Mie oUn-r
e HjiyH" of MasHinjrer, " ||«; I
loa
1(!
ifiH more variety in IiIh
tli(! JKiroiiKtH of Klelclier." |{
Hex, and tlu-y an; I(!hh mannered t]
han
oiii"'oinL''
ill),H(
SpaiiiHl
• liiitKint inconnii en Ksparfne." Townncuid
HayH tlial, l'a;deraHty "ewt
I women liaviiifr |„v(!rH (.r corlejoH, that it vih
HayH in nsf^ard to
the introduction of Ital
owni}^ "'to
an manrKiiH, on the arrival of Charles III.
' HiKlilHiuid Dnt-icH of Womoii, vol. i p 282
"^ Tiiblcmi (1(1 l'l';.s[)iiKiio, I'.iriH, IHOH, forno ii. p, 345.
' Jounioy Ihrough Hpiiiii, vol. iii. p. M5.
' n
; u
I
874
FRAGMENTS.
from Naples, with the previous want of reasonable freedom in the
commerce of the sexes." Mary Carpenter says : ' " All persons
who have come much into actual intercourse with boys and girls
of ' the perishing and dangerous classes,' have fully agreed with
my own experience, that the girls are far the most hardened and
difficult to manage. A strong concurrent testimony of this was
presented to me yesterday by one of the commissioners of lunacy,
who had been himself for a long course of years the manager of a
large institution. The females he found infinitely more outrageous
than the males ; and, when excited, they used language indicating
a depth and intensity of wickedness which he would not have
thought the heart of a man, still less, as he said, that of a woman,
could have conceived." Baretti, who was in Spain in 1760, says
with surprise, that Spaniards are not jealous." See also on the
cortejos, who are said to be ruite innocent, vol. iii. pp. 102-111.
Baretti says : ^ « In Calderon's days, it was not permitted to men
to act upon the stage ; so that men's characters were then acted
by women ; and it is but of late years that the Spaniards have
obtained this permission, I cannot tell whether by the govern-
ment or the Inquisition. See the whims of nations 1 In England,
about a century ago, no women were allowed to act ; and this
has been during many years past, and is still the practice in the
pope's capital and in Portugal." In 1806, Blanco White writes : *
"The ancient Spanish jealousy is still observable among the
lower classes ; and while not a sword is drawn in Spain upon a love
quarrel, the knife often decides the claim of more humble lovers."
In 1776, in Valencia, the farmers wouhl not let their wives sit
with them at table.* In Spain, husbands are never jealous, but
their wives are notoriously profligate." In 1766, "In no part of
the world are women more caressed and attended to than in
Spain ; " but very unchaste, owing partly to the Fandango
dance.^
Knox and Buchanan were great enemies of women ; and in 1567,
the Scotch parliament declared that no woman should hold any
r.uthority.8 Even Aylmer, in " The Harborow," though defending
women against Knox, holds the coarsest language about them.^
' Transactions of Association for Social Science, 1858, p. 239.
» Journey through Portugal and Spain, Lond. 1790, vol. ii. p. 292.
» Ibid. vol. iii. p. 23. * Doblado's Lcttors, p. 268.
* Swinburne's Spain, vol. i. p. 149.
' Townsond's Spain, vol. ii. pp. 142, 144, 147, 149-151.
' Thicknpsse's Journey through Franco and Spain, Lond. 1777, vol. i. p. 236.
" Irving'a Life of Buchanan, p. 296, Edinb. 1817.
» M'Crie's Life of Knox, p. 131.
THE CONDITION AND INFLUENCE OF WOMEN.
876
Hume > says, coiners " are more mildly dealt with if they are
males, being drawn to the gallows and hanged till they be dead.
But, by a strange distinction, a woman coiner has judgment to
be burned alive." In 1685, "the first trace in Scotland of sys-
tematic education of young ladies in elegant accomplishments,"
i.e. in boarding schools." Clarendon ^ contemptuously says that
many lawyers practice « the womanish art of inveighing against
persons." Mill * well says that even the physical and mental infe-
riority of women may be partly owing to hereditary effect of the evil
position and subordination in which they have been held. John Ly-
senes, « a Lutheran divine of the seventeenth century," wrote in
favour of polygamy.^ In 1641, the learned Anna Maria Schuman
published a Latin dissertation, "Whether the study of litera-
ture is suitable to a Christian woman." e Cardan was born
in 1501, and in his advice to his son he says, « A woman is a
foolish animal, and, therefore, full of fraud ; if you bestow over-
much endearment on her you cannot be happy ; she will drag you
into mischief." ^ Lord John Eussell ^ says, " Every one must have
observed the new influence which is not being asserted or sought,
but is falling to the lot of women in swaying the destinies of the
world." Of male criminals three-fifths are under thirty years of
age ; but in female crime, age produces less effect ; " the criminal
tendency seems to be distributed more equally over the earlier
period of active life ; and when we look to the recommittals, we
are tempted to infer that the comparatively small number of
instances in which criminals appear as female offenders, is largely
balanced by the inveteracy of the criminal tendency in that sex
when once developed." ^ At p. 557, " The number of males who
emigrate is, in consequence of the demand for their labour in all
new colonies, much greater than females." After the middle of the
seventeenth century, the Quakers set up " women's meetings," to
the disgust of many, and in the teeth of St. Paul's opinion.'" In
1616, the Greneral Assembly at Aberdeen complained that "women
take upon them to teach schools." •» Sir David Lyndsay « every-
where speaks with a sort of Turkish contempt of women."'"
' Commentaries on the Law of Scotland, Edinb. 1797, vol. ii. p. 470.
• Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 482.
' Hist, of the Eebellion, p. 123. « Logic, 1846, vol. ii, pp. 444, 445.
Rose, Biog. Diet. vol. ix. p. 369. « Ibid. vol. xi. p. 492.
' Jerome's Life of Cardan, 1854, vol. ii. p. 197.
' Association for Social Science, 1859, p. 17.
° Transactions of Social Science, 1859, p. 365.
'° Fox's Journal, RcpriHt, Lond. 1827, vol. ii. pp. 212, 21.3, 318.
" Calderwood's History of the Kirk, vol. vii. p. 225.
" Lyndsa^'e Works, by Chalmers, Loud. 1806, vol. i. p, 16,
i
1
■ I :
(
m
V f
i;
^
\'-
^1
1 V
! 1
I ,
I I
1
I
III
3?6
FRAGMENTS*
Lyndsay was born about 1490.' In 1655, "a reference from the
Session of Falkland to the Presbytery (of Cupar) wa^ presented,
craving their advice: 'What should bo done with a man that
strikes his wife and will not forbear it ? '" They referred it to otlier
presbyteries ; but I do not find that anything came of it, though
sessions and presbyteries were ready enough to punish.^ An
appellation « as from a superior to an inferior, or as from an
husband to a wife.''^ " Do not likewise the Papists and Lutherans
err, who maintain that it is lawful for laics or women to admi-
nister the sacrament of baptism in case of necessity? Yes."*
" No vow can take away that obligation wliich is upon wives to
obey their husbands." » Himtcr« takes for granted that " women
and children" cannot bear pain so well as men. "The blood
of males is richer in nutritive parts by nearly one and a lialf
pel cent, than that of females." ^ Hunter says^ that men and
women recover equally well from "local disease." He says,"
"Men will bear bleeding better than women." The editor of
Himter's Works »<> says, « Probably Haller's estimate of the actual
quantity of blood in the body approaches as nearly to the trutli
as any ; viz. one-fifth of its weight, of which three-fourths or
more were supposed to be in the veins, and one-fourth or less in
the arteries.— El. Phys. v. i. 3." Hunter says : " « Too little action
arises from a disposition to act within the necessary bounds of
health, which produces real weakness and a bad state of health
With debility, without any visible state of disease, as we often see
in fine ladies Even the habit of indolence in the mind,
joined with inactivity of the voluntary actions (which is generally
produced from an indolent state of the mind) produces the same
effects, especially as we see in women." Compare 360 on con-
nection between this and the superstition of women. Thomson'^
says, " The quantity of blood in a moderate-sized man is about
twenty-six pounds avoirdupois." Lithgow, about 1620, contemp-
tuously says, « Crocodilean sex " of the tears of women. '» Sir
Eichard Fanshaw, English ambassador at Madrid, writes to
Secretary Bennet in 1663-4, from Cadiz, that the governor of
' Lyndsay's Works, by Chalmers, Lond, 1806, vol. i. p. &,
' Selections from Presbyteries of St. Andrew's and Cupar, Edinb. 1837, 4to, p. 171.
' Dui-ham on Solomon, p. 108. * Dickson's Truth's Victory over Error,' p. 246.
Cockburn's Jacob's Vow, Edinb. 1696, p. 19.
« Worke, by Palmer, vol. i. p. 606.
' Note in John Hunter's Works, vol. iii. p. 44, edit, Palmfip, 1837
" Ibid. p. 274. 9 Ibid. p. 381. .. Ibid. p. 98.
" Works, vol. 1. f, 312.
" Animal Chemistry, Edinb. 1843. p. 349.
>' Nineteen Years' 'Travel, p. 451, Uth edition, Edinb. 1770$
THE CONDITION AND INFLUENCE OF WOMEN. 377
Cadiz was very civil ; and « at supper, he and his hidy would bear
m. and my wife company, which I, accepting as a great favour,
told Lun my ,^fe should eat with her ladyship, retired from the
men after the Spanish fashion, it being more than sufficient they
would not tlvmk strange we used the innocent freedom of our
own when we were among ourselves. But by no means, that he
woud no suffer; and, to keep us the more in countenance,
alledged this manner of eating to be now the custom of m^ny of
the greatest families of Spain ; and had been from all antiquity
to tins day of the majestical house of Alva, the generosity
whereof, particularly in the person of the present duke, he took
this occasion to celebrate very highly. So, in fine, he had his
wi 1 of me in this particular." • « Polygamy was permitted amon^
the Mexicans, though chiefly confined, probably, to the wealthy
classes In Peru, it was practised by the king and "great
nobles. In Peru, no male could marry under twenty-four ; and
no female under eigliteen or twenty.* Mr. Ward, who was well
acquainted mth the Mexican Indians, says : « I do not know any-
^ing m nature more hideous than an old Indian woman.''^
M Culloch « says polygamy ivas allo^ ed to all Peruvians. The
Mexican girls married at twelve.^ At Leghorn, about 1660,
Italian husbands were very jealous, end would scarcely let their
wives go out.« Until the middle of the seventeenth century, it
was the universal custom in Spain for women (even ladies) to
floor 9'' '"^''"''^^ *""'*"' ^^^" husbands, or to sit on the
In the sixteenth century, ladies of the highest rank, incited. by
the examp e of Elizabeth, used to kill game with the crossbow.'o
Christian" says: "Ann, Countess of Pembroke, had the office
of hereditary sheriff of Westmoreland, and exercised it in person.
At the assizes of Appleby, she sat with the judges on the Bench.
--Harg. Co. Litt. 326." The rise of modern liLature diverted
ine attention of studious women from the classical authors. This
by drawing a distinction between the two sexes, made women
more feminine, and enabled them to refine the coarser instincts
ot man. The civil law allowed husbands to beat their wives;
' Fanshaw's Original Letters, Lond. 1702, 8vo, p. 33
Prescott, vol. i. p. 128.
I Ir^'Til Conquest of Peru, vol. i. pp. 304, 107. 4 Jbid t, 107
' Ward's Mpx CO vol ii n 74 u -^ 1. . -"^D'a- P- 107.
' Tvfiii vT'V. tt'- v ,P' ' • Researches concern ng America v 364
^ Ixthlxochitl, Histoire des Chiehimegues, tome i. p. 342 ^°ierica, p. dt,4.
Lu-es of the Norths, vol. ii. pp. 328 329
u ^""JJunlop's Memoirs of Spain. Edinb. 18.31, vol. ii. p. 39G.
JNote in Blackstonos Commentaries, 8vo, 1809, vol. i. p. 339.
I 1^
i'
Niitn
in: ■ !I
^, I
!
I
378
FRAGMENTS.
!U. it
and so did tlie common law, until " in the politer reign of
Charles II. this power of correction began to be doubted."'
Christian has a long and patlief.c note in Blrckstone, iii. 143, on
the little protection which our law has given to a woman against
the arts of a seducer. But I doubt if there should be any such
protection at all, except in the case of a promise of marriage.
The truth is, that the seduction is often on the other side ; and
men are as much exposed to the arts of women as women to those
of men. On this, as on many other subjects, sentiment has been
allowed to usurp the place of reason in our jurisprudence. M.
Cousin expresses very strong opinions against female authors.'
Muller denies that there is any evidence of gallantry towards
women in the Northern Sagas ;* but it appears'' that this respect
was paid to v. 3men by the Goths before they were acquainted
with Cliristianity. See also some very ingenious rema^-ks in
Mallet's Northern Antiquities.** He says that the ancient northern
nations greatly respected women ; and that this was, because they
valued highly every appearance of nature ; and because women
are more natural, more spontaneous tl.an men. Besides this,
piracy being common, women were in want of defenders and de-
liverers. There were even female poetesses.^ Some of the Anglo-
Saxon ladies were learned.'' On the extent to which the increased
influence of women has softened our manners, it is to be observed
that the increase of towns increases the proportion of female
births. On the natural mildness of women, see Roussel, Systdme
de la P'emme, p. 45, though I cannot agree with this able writer
that this mildness is entirely due to her organisation.
Roussel well says that the Greeks, Jews, and Germans did not
cause oracles to be pronounced by women becai'se they respected
the female sex, but because their ignorance induced them to
consider as sacred those convulsive diseases to which women are
peculiarly subject.^ To this I may add, that women are more
subject to insanity than men, and that many barl)arous nations
respect the insane. The pedantic notion that women should be
scientific, or even learned, is refuted with ability and eloquence
in Roussel, Syst^me de la Femme, Paris, 1845, pp. 94-100.
In Madagascar, women pay homage to their husbands by
' Blackstcne's Comment, vol. i. p. 445. who cites i. Lid. 113, iii, Keb. 433.
* See Cousin's Litt6raturo, Paris, 1849, tomeii. pp. 3-7.
» Price's Prefoco to Weston's History of English Poetry, vol i. pp. "i, 95.
* Ibid. pp. Iii, liii. » Lond. 1847, pp. 199-201.
' See Wlieaton's History of the Northmen, 1831, p. 62. He quotes Miiiiter,
Eirchcngeschichte, Baud i. Suite 197.
' See Wricrht's Biographia Britanniea Liten-vriii, Rvr>, 1842, vol. i. pp. 32, 33,
* Roussel, Systime do la Femme, Paris, 1846, pp. 63, 64.
THE CONDITION AND INFLUENCE OF WOMEN. 379
lickiT.ff their feetj However, Elli. «ays « that women have more
liberty than m most eastern countries, and that younir people
pee each other before marriage. Ho acids' that no woman
ventures to marry within twelve months of her husband's death •
and a husband, on divorcing his wife, may prevent her from*
remarrying.
In 1812,Niebuhr, who had been reading Klopstock's Corres-
pondenee, writes respecting it : " Tlie character of the women too
IS a remarkabl.. teature of the times of Klopstock's youf 1,. The
cultivation of the mind was carried incomparably further with
them than jv.th nearly all the young women of our days ; and
this we should scarcely have expected to find in the contemporaries
of our grandmothers. It was not, therefore, the work of our
native iteratm-e ; for that Hrst rose into being along with and
under the influence of the love inspired by these charming
maidens. Por some time after the Thirty Years' War, the ladies
of Germany, particularly those of the middle classes, were exces-
sively c.mrse and uneducated, as is proved beyond a doubt bv a
curious JJook of Manners which I have },ought this winter. This
wonderful alteration must have taken place, therefore, during the
eighty years from 1G60 to 1740, though we are quite igntrant
how and when it began." * . ^ b
Comte makes no doubt of the necessary inferiority of women,-*
but he says« that though inferior to men in reason and Intel-
igence, tlu^y are superior in sympathy and sociability. See also
ome V. pp. 221-223, where he remarks that under polytheism
they are hrst allowed to enter the priesthood, a right which
monotheism abrogates. See also pp. 440-444, where he says that
tathohcism has done women great service by diminishing their
political and priestly powers, and concentrating them on domestic
hie He remarks^ tli.f, the essential differences between men
and women are, like all other differences, increased by civiliza-
In 1797 the celebrated Dr. Currie writes: "Women speak
more distinctly than men at the same period of life
When a labouring man and l.is wife come to consult i^e, the'
lemale is always the orator." »
I I I
iM-jri
' A , i>
I) ;'
' Soe Drury's Miidagascur, 8vo, 1743, pp. 6t-95, and p. 222
History of Madagasear, 1838, vol. i. p. 163. . ibid « ira
Ph.losophie Positive, tome iv. pp. 669-574. K n,:j „ „„
' Ibid. pp. 443, 44 X. P- '*'•'•
p. 2R ' and Comspondonco of Dr. Currie. By W. W. Currie. 8vo. 1831. vol. ii.
Ml
*4 cl
\
380
FRAGMENTS.
'
Lord Campbell ' says of Bacon, " Like several extraordinary
men, ho is supposed to have inlierited his genius from his mother."
So did Wilberforce."
In the middle of the seventeenth century, the ladies of the
ancient house of Savelli, at Rome, still retained their old custom
of never leaving their palace, or if they did so, only appearing in
closely shut up carriages.^
The Mongols and Tartars " marry very young : " and as they
openly buy their wives, the women of course have no portion
or dowry. Polygamy is allowed, but ' lie women lead an inde-
pendent life enough." *
In Siberia many of the shamans, or priests, are women.'
There is more water in the blood of females than in that of
males.^
The fluid which lubricates the brain and spinal marrow is
more abundant in women than in men, and in old men it is
twice as plentiful as in adults, and it is very abundant in idiots.^
In women blood contains more water than in men : and in lym-
phatic temperaments, there is more water than in the blood of
sanguineous ones.^ The reviving reputation of the humourist
pathology gives increased importance to these facts.
The increased courtesy is shown even in the way of declaring
war, in which countries now never abuse each other, but display
" la plus noble decence." ^
In the manufacturing towns males marry early, therefore they
are near the same age as their wives ; hence the proportion of
females born is increased.'"
It is not considered so respectable for a woman to keep a
school as for a man ; hence education is worse, and particularly
in France and Germany, where the state interferes.
From 1836 to 1846 "the yearly average number of persons
who were charged with offences in England and Wales was
25,812, viz., 20,969 males, 4,843 females, but comparatively no
educated woman commits a crime."
On the age at which in different climates menstruation occurs
' Lives of the Chancellors, vol. ii. p. 285.
' See Life of Wilberforce, 8vo, 1838, vol. i. p. 5.
» Eanke, Die Eomischen Piipste, Band iii. pp. 60, 61.
* Hue's Travels in Tartary and Thibet, vol. i. pp. 184-187.
* Bell's Travels through Asia, PMinb. 1788, 8vo, vol. i. p. 248.
* See Fourth Eeport of British Association, p. 126.
' Cuvier, Progres des Sciences Naturelles, tome ii. p. 397.
8 Clark's Eeport on Animal Physiology, in Fourth Report of British Association,
p. 126.
» Viittel, Ls Droit des Gong, tome ii. p. 170.
'" Saddler's Law of Population, vol. ii. p. 336.
" Sou Eeports of British Association for 1847 ; Transactions of Sections, p. 109.
ition occurs
sh Association,
THE CONDITION AND INFLUENCE OF WOMEN. 881
see Rep. of British Association for 1850; Transac. of Sections,
We take shame to ourselves for not having sooner noticed tliis
very interesting, and in some respects very important work ; tZ
autho unknown ; and yet the book gone through two editions
though written on a subject ignorantly supposed 'to be goin. on
well. That women can be satisfied with Iheir state sho^w Uieir
deterioration. That they can be satisfied with knowing nothing'
The mother of Cuvier was a very able woman »
Ilourens ''says that tlie increased desire of observin.^ gave ri^e
everywhere in the seventeenth century to academies "of eienee
where such fects could be registered. scu nee
In the progress of society since the sixteenth century, women
ave not kept their ground. Civilization increases div'^rlenTe
hence, if allowed to run its course, women must naturally dcSine'
m power. Sydney Smith, the first writer on women, eltoZy
ays there is no original diflTerence. In agricultural count" eTas
in Prance women are better treated and have more wait
Compare Sparta with Athens. Women being more deductive
have more sympathy with art than with science; hence tter
mfluence in the sixteenth century, the great age of art. The e
18 now a higher intellectual standard and a diminished regard
f^^nanners, once the source of women's power as giving sco'e
L7\ ": "''"'"'^ ''''''''' "^ ^''-^ «"P-iority ; but
morals have not progressed ; intellect has. The a'-e of imVinf
tion has passed, and that of intellect has come. gIiI ZZoTe
precocious than boys; hence coming in contact wUh nato
when unr^^pe, they are rather imaginative than critical. Phi Wa
wife of Edward 11., Jeanne de Montfort, Countess of Bi'Sne'
Under Charles IL, as physical science rose, the influ'ncf of
women decreased. The progress of knowledge, by deveLim^
differences, has increased divergences. They have earnt to
tTZ 'IV'^T^ --pounding a pleasant puddling or comSning
a tasty pie. They no longer wear their keys at their mrdles •
nor do they carry receipts in their pockets.^ They have ceased
to be useful, and they have not learnt to be agreeable Jtls in
consequence of these things that we hail wlh g'l *,t p ea u "
e appearance of the present work, which is not a' manifesr
rights, but a gmde and a clue. Writers like MU^ Afnrf,-
aud Mary Wolstoocraa have done .nuch hi™. "' "S:
»uch tlungs as natural rights, and if women are ignorant and
KM
i:?i'-i!
I ' !
L
)
kV
it!
882
FRAGMENTS.
superatitioua, the less influence they have the better. Is a woman
to have influence because she lisps broken Italian at the piano ?
Late in the eighteenth century, there rose clul)s wliich followed
up the blow of scientific societies, and still further increased the di-
vergence of the sexes. The great increase of nervous diseases caused
by increasing excitement makes men more irritable ; hence the
weaker goes to the wall ; and this we see among tlie lower orders,
where manners having progressed little, women are worse treated
than ever. Hence, among the higher classes, the increasing
influence of women is only apparent ; they are no longer beaten
or kicked because kicking is not polite. Looking at the increase
of courtesy and general kindness, the respect paid to women hiis
not increased so fast as it ought to have done. We are more
courteous to everything. We no longer horsewhip our servants,
nor flog our children into fits. Hospitals and charities have no
other idea beyond that of protecting the weak. The encourage-
ment given to intellect by government is happily passing away,
and women ought to confer on intellect social fame, and by tliis
alliance tliey would recover their old power. The increasing loss
of wealth, which is partly cause and partly eflfect of diminislieJ
aristocracy, lessens the sympathy between the sexes and gives a
new standard of merit, and this took place in the seventeenth
century, when nobles began to marry city heiresses. The laws,
too, respecting women, have improved ; but not so fast as they
have improved on other matters. The nearest approach to
perfect equality is among savages who are all stupid and ignorant.
The truth seems to be that while civil and political equality are
increasing, moral and intellectual equalities are diminishing.
Men are thinkers, women observers ; but formerly there was no
thinking, and observation of trifles carried the day. In Mrs. Grey's
works are no crude notions about women having a right to vote
or sit in parliament. In the sixteenth century began the groat
movement when, says Shakespeare, the heel of the courtier, &c.
That the democratic, sceptical, and inductive movement works
even now more good than harm, and eventually will work un-
mitigated good, is certain, but in the meantime it causes in-
dividual pain, and of this women are the natural correctives;
hence it were to be wished their influence should increase and
women could correct the too rapid democracy and scepticism.
Classical literature is no longer studied by both sexes. Women
are physically too excitable, too prone to come into contact with
external nature, and this evil nurses painting and music and
Italian— the most enervating of all literatures, the only great
thinkers being Macchiavelli, Beccaria, and Vico. If these re-
lisiug awiiy,
THE CONDITION AND INFLUENCE OF WOMEN. 383
marks are well founded, we should expect to find an increased
divergence between the sexes in the seventeenth and ei^UeZt
centuries. And such we find to be actually the case in lea Ld
societies and clubs; and in the seventeenth century, the beSu-
mng of this was coffee houses. Among the lower orders the
diminution of agriculture caused by chemical manures and in!
creased skill in ploughing, &c., has increased the manufacturing
population, and therefore has increased tlie number of p S
in which women are unable to participate. Comparing barSsm
with imperfect civilization, the infliience of wLonSncr™
hence the hastv inference th-.f if cr,...c • • ^"i-rt.dses ,
fortified , ,y 7 , ,w ^ "*" '"'''^'''''"^'' '^" inference
respect. In trance, twice as many agriculturists as in England •
hence, women have more influence and tlieir wages are h^S'
Wlule the pursuits of men have become more grert, the pursu S
of women have become more little. pursuits
fplf ^^'•'" ^r^!^"1 ^"^ ^''^""^^ *^^ proportion of male to
slightly during several years." '
Turgot ^ erroneously says, « L'asservisseraent des femmes aux
In Ireland, the number of females that cannot write is sli^rhtlv
greater than the number of males.^ ^^fe^tly
Napoleon said : " My opinion is, that the future good or bad
conduct of a child entirely depends upon the mother." ^ Moore «
ays tliat women endure pain better than men, because they have
s. physical sensibility. This theory I offered to put L th!
est by bringing in a hot tea pot, which I would answer for the
t:i:i^:.r'^ ^^^^^ ^^'^ '^ ^^'^ ^- ^ --^ wer tim:
In 1593, in Italy, "only men and the masters of the family go
n the market and buy victuals ; for servants are never sent ft r
re lock^^' ";T ""' ''''"'°' ''^''^ '^ '^^y ^' «J^^«t-' ^--ther
are ocked up at home, as it were in prison." « But, says Mory-
on; in Bergamo " The very women give and receiv; saltations
nd converse with the French liberty, without any offence to
their husbands, which other Italians would n.ver endure"' In
« fc' °^ British Association for 18,39 ; Transactions of Soctions, p. 117
Uiuvres, tonio ii. p. 247, Disc, sur I'Histoire.
- Association for 1843 : Transaction
"x^earas Napoleon in Exile, vol
Memoirs, by Lord J. Jtussell, vol
i'. p. 100, 3rd edition, Lond. 1822.
vii pp. 63, 54, 1st edit.
p. 91.
ynes Moryson s Itinerary, part i. p, 70, Loud. 1017
folio.
Ibid. p. 177.
1'f
' 1
'il ffjl
1 ! i •
• i
i
I !
;iJ;
f
m
884
FRAOMENTS.
Holland women liml moat tVocJom ; they maniifijod tlio shops and
looked after the acconnts, while the men were idle.' See alno
p. 288, where Morysou says tliat Duteli married women not only
had the right of bequest, hut possessed in their lifetime tiio
control of their hnsband's eommon every day aetions. On the
other hand, the ("iermans treated their wives very ill, and would
not let them eat at the same tabhi.^ On the inlluence of woman,
see J. S. Mill's Kssays, vol. ii. p. 1()5, and p. 449 of Mrs. Mill's
Essay in the same work ; also pp. 425, 435, 2(52. Saint-Simon,
who was in Spain in 1721 and 1722, observes" that greater favour
was shown to bastards in Spain than in any other Christian
conntry. This he ascribes to the influc^nce of the Mahonnnedans.
*'Tlie natural sterility of Spanish wonum, who, though tht^y may
have children by good luck, leave off child-bearing mu(^h sooner
than the women of other nations." ■* *' The great and main duty
which a wife, as a wife, ought to learn, and so learn as to
practise it, is to be sidyect to her own husband. . . . Tlicre
is not any husband to whom this honour of sid)mission is not due;
no personal infirmity, frowardness of natun;, no, not even on
the point of religion, doth deprive him of it."* " The sum of a
wife's duty unto her husband is subjection." Abernethy " is op-
posed to beauty in women ; for he says, " Stddom is it found that
beanty and shamefastness do agree." At p. 445, this wise man
praises persons who casfrate themselves. "Humanity is the virtue
of a woman ; generosity of a man. The fair sex, who have
commonly much more tenderness than oiu's, have seldom so mucli
generosity." ^ Hutchison ^ says that for husbands to inflict on
their wives " any corporal punishment, must be tyrannical and
unmanly." "Dr. Marshall Hall found that, from patients with
congestive apoplexy from forty to fifty ouuc(!S of blood miglit be
drawn without producing syncope ; wliilst in acute inflammations
the tolerance is usually less by about ten ounces."'-' Williams
says,'" " Nervous diseases are most common and obstiniite in tlie
female sex ; but they are more serious in the male sex." About
nine times as many men have aneurisms as women." Males are
more subject to pericarditis ; '■^ to pneumonia " in the proportion of
• Fynos Morj'son's Itinerary, part iii. p. 97. ' Ibid. p. '220.
» Mi'iiioiros, Paris, 1810-1812, Imw xxxv. pp. 240-246.
* History of Cardiiinl Alberoni, Loud. 1719, p. 2.50.
• iHTgiisson on the Epistleti, 1G5(5, p. 242. See also p. 35G,
« riiynick for tlio Soul, p. 437.
' iSiiiitli's Theory of Moral Sentiments, vol. ii. p. 19.
* System of Moriil I'hilosophy, vol. ii. p. Ifio.
" Williams's I'rinciplps of "• cdiciiie, 1848, pp. 177, c'l!3. "' Ibid. p. 449.
•" llasbo's Pntholog. Anatomy, by Sydenhnm Society, pp. 94, 142. " Ibid. p. 110.
THE CAUSKS AND EFFECTS OF DUELLING. ggg
fmiuent in „.Ies than in W I , " a ' ) :T:;"^''7*'"^''^ ""^«
pared with imm, seo JJokifnr^W i. ., , """*'" "** '^*''"«» C"'^-
P 177, vol. iv. ;;r27l 3ot"'^" Pathological Anatomy, vol. iii.
THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DUELLING.
Of all the vices natural to a modern liorml.lw. in- •
most brutal and the most constat It Vs^f , ' ^'""'^' '' ^^^
baffled cf)ward. It wis .hh! , '^ ^""'^ Tiimxivce of a
of a.,«,„a„ ,.,.t ■ '„:: c ?, ;;: iTu^i:::, ts"7r r^"
tliat wretched burle«,ue of ,m -.nci,., t 1) . i ?• '^"'™™'
tineau^ says: " I was -un-.'/o,! f„ i aocrty. Miss Mar-
I-<1 declare, wh le 13^ 1 ' "![ " '"T'^'™ ^^^^^ ^^g'
Meinbers o Cor Iress^t^^ <^;^'' ^"^olence of the Southern
Northern men noSg^uelLs^t^^^^^^^^^^^^ '' '^'
would give out that he wo U Ifi^lt ' Vn th ""' \" '^^'"^™' ^^
Orleans, « there were fouL. in" L ^'^^ /^"^le city of New
days in the year fifteen on on \t' '"''' ^'^^'^ *'^^" ^^'^^^ ^^^
were 102 duel fou . M Th^' ^ ™''"^"^- ^^ 1«35, there
and the en^of Apr " d " ^ ^'^^"^^ ^he 1st of January
.,uarrel.»» ^ ' ^"^ "" ""^^^^ ^« <^^ken of shooting in a
It Heems probable that the tendencv of civilization i« f •
crease timid tv if f i.;„ i xi , ' «-iviiizanon is to m-
asL. umiaity. ^r this t)e the case, duellinrr mnv 1... .1 f i i
wouUl". ^ " """ '""" "-■""■"PtiUe than it „ae,„i,«
B„™,!^::;;;' '^'^ *""™ ^^'"^ «« ^'-^i in . a,.... h, «ir j„hn
% the end of the sixteenth century duolIin,r h.,,1 h
re^ndar system, and l,ooks were writte.f in I "Ld f T'^x ^
goutleman how to <.ive the lie in .. V ^ ^^ "^ *" *^''''^'^' »
to ^ivc tue lie in a satisfactory manner.s The
« itt Jlf "'"^- ^"'"'"^' '^ «^J«"J-» «ooioty. p. 215.
8 o ,, V i-"--- '^"' '" -Ktiiiriot,, vol. II. .,. r.r,7,
'^'" r^rakii s hhiikoHpi'ivro and his Tinirs 1817 df., i ••
J<msun, 1810, vol. iv. p. 107. ' ' '^°'- "' P?' ^^^' ^^9. '^"J «on
C C
■iillfili
i'A
I
f '■
I 1
1, iiflj
{•I ir
/
lIBjUf
\
f:
»
'/
386
FllAGMENTS.
famous Dr. A. niarke tlioiight iJiat, in many cases, 'luelling is
more criminal than suicide'
The olyoct of duelling was to punish injuries whicli the law left
unpunished. Tliis could only lui done by putting the weak and
unskilful on a level with the strong and skilful ; thus the intro-
duction of pistols instead of swords was a great improvcunent, and,
I doubt not, has Icui the way to that better state of things when
the combinc^d authority of laws and manners will be sufficient to
repress sucli often ces.
Henry IV. of {''ranee issued edicts against duels.' Towards tlie
end of the sixteentli centiuy lien Jonson killed a man in a duel.'
In 1629 he attacks duelling in The New Inn ; but the satire,
though very moral, is also very tedious.'*
Chevenix has well said that duelling "is more prevalent in vain
than in proud nations."" This remark may bo appliiid to indi-
viduals, and I believe that nothing but an ungovernable biu'st of
passion woidd induce a really proud man either to send or acci^pt
a challenge.
In 1592 gentlemen seem not to have worn their rapiers, but to
Lave m.i.de their servants carry them."
In Porter's Two Angrie Women of Abington, ^ Coomes com-
plains that the " poking tight of rapier and dagger " was becom-
ing common, and tlu; sword and buckler falling into disuse. Mr.
Rimbault * says that rapiers " were introduced ''n England dming
Eliziibeth's reign by a desperado nam-nl Rowland Yorke ; and
their lightness and convenience soon gave them a permanent
footing in place of the heavy swords previously worn."
I suspect that as the trial by battle became disused, the people,
clinging to their old customs, became more addicted to duelling.
Blackstone says^ th.-t the last trial by battle waged in the Com-
mon Pleas was in 1571. I must therefore consider duelling as
the result of the decline of chivalry. While the trial by battle
was allowed, it was natural to punish those who went about
armed. Thus the 2 Edward III. forbids any one to carry dan-
gerous arms. — Blackstone iv. 149. Christian says,'" " the last time
' Seo his Letter, datod 17''<-, in Mrs. Thomson's Momoirs of Vlacountoss Sumion,
2nd edition, 8vo, 1848, vol. ii. p. 120.
' See Ciipefigue, Histniro de la Retbrnio, tomo viii. p, 98.
• See hie Life, by (litford, p. xix. in vol. i. of Jonson's Works.
• Ben Jonson's Work.s, vol. v. pp. ■11()-418.
' Essay on National Charaeter, 8vo. 1832, vol. i. p. 1,'j!).
• See Park's edition of Harloian Miseelhiuy, vol. v. p. 420.
' 1599 ; Percy Soc. vol. v. p. 61.
• Note t(i Rowland's F )ur Knaves, Percy .Society, vol. ix. p. I.'i2.
'■' Coiniueuianes, vui. in. p. SSS.
"• Note in Blackstoiae, vol. iv. p. 348.
THE CAU8li:8 AND EPFECTS OF DUELLING. 397
that the trial by battle was awarded in this country was in fh«
casoof Lord Kuo and Mr. Ramsay in 7th Car I " « / '
ordered jih l-ifo uu lum x- r 1 ^' "^^ it was
(lant could swear hirn^,.lf i,.,. ^^* Piools. U the defen-
wiiule of livre xxviii fn T^r;'^ r^ *. t^ ^ * ' ^ ^*^^" <^^'e
joker, had ™ h .Zhou t , ,"'; '""' ."'""S"' ""^ »' ""e
IWfi ,. ". """-.e' "'ll'rt ill" vor semen DeLrenfoidoru"' I,,
1.176 foreigners m London wore ramera « nn,7 VI ' ,' "'
' Haynos's State Papers, p 337
^ ;s.. 0„„..p.,„.„„„ „, c..„H.. v.. .aw „ Mr. „„,Jf,.^, , ,, .„_ ,^^„^
' JiroDgnum'-s Political Philosopliy, 2i.(] edit Sw. 7«... , ■
Ail... on the l'r..ro,,vtivc, 8vo! I^^lUluH ' '''' ^"^' '^ ^^ i^?; .
^^^ i^spnt a. L., Uv. xxviii. chap. xi. ..Uviii. (Eu.o, Pa.s.S^^^ie.
' Abfiill dor Nicderlando, in Scliillor's WnrUn Tinn 1 ■■■ c ■
" S.„ UjMto Corre.pondanc.., Camdo,, Socirfy, p. 22s.
c c 2
lid
»q
i'<
3 :il
i' |. ■!■
Ni li
IJV
ill
.'» I
I I 1
'i
m- ■■ i :ijl
(1 4M
i
y
388
FRAGMENTS.
In 1580 the PVonch Ambassador, while passinj^ the hnrs at Smith-
fiehl, was stopped because his rapier was hHijif(n* than the statute
allowed,' by which we learn that there were oflficers sitting at
Smithfield Bars wliose business it was to cut swords that were too
lenjifthy. In 1502 a proclamation forbad any one to carry a
sword havin<if a blade more than a yard and a quarter* lonjj;.*
Cranmer, when archbishop, challenj^ed tlu' Duke of Northumber-
land,^ Madame de Crecpiy says that the hrmness of Louis XIV.
had, durinji; the last seventeen years of his reign, put an end to
duels. " On n'avait pns oui parler d'un seul duel depuis dixsc^pt
ans."* But she adds* that after his death tlu^y became fre(iueiit
on account of the weakness of the regent ; " La fureur des duels
etait si fort encouragee par la faiblesbe et I'incurie du due d'Or-
leans, qu'on n'entendait parler que de jeunes gens tues et blesses."
Duels werr practised by the ancient Persians." In 1600, the first
instance in Scotland of a duellist " suffering death when noihinj,'
unfair was proved."^ Lithgow, who was in Spain in 1620, says
the Spaniards never fight duels.^ Respecting duels fought by
women, see Common Place Book, art. 1093.
NOTES ON THE TENDENCY OF EDUCATION.
Miss Martineau^ says: " Tlie provision of schools is so adequate
[in the United States] that any citizen, who sees a child at play
during school hours, may ask : 'Why are you not at school?' and,
unless good reason be given, may take him to the school-house
of the district." Mr, Mills says : " It is an allowable exercise of
the powers of government to impose on parents the legal obliga-
tion of giving elementary instruction to children." "^
Adam Smith " says, probably with truth, that education at
boarding-schools and colleges has seriously inj fired the morals of
' Seo Lord Talbot's Letter in Lodge'w Illustrations of British History, vol. ii. p. 168.
' Machyn's Diary, p. 28t, Camden Sop. vol. xlii.
• Todd's Life of Crauiuor, vol. ii. p, 303.
• Souvenirs de la Marquise de Crequy, Paris, 8vo. 1831, tome i. p. 255.
• Ibid. p. 348.
• See Malcolm's History of Persia. 8vo, 1829, vol. i. pp. 26, 38, 39, 41.
' Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, vol. ii. p. 112. See for this, vol. iji. p. 502.
» Lithgow's Nineteen Years' Travels, Uth edit. Edinb. 1770, j'. 423.
" Society in Americ;'., T'aris, 8vo, 1842, vol. ii. p. 185, pari iii. chap. iii.
'" Principles of Politi^id Economy, vol. ii. p. 524. Sco ; i;Mi Mill's Essays, vol. i.
p. 89.
" Theory of Moral Sentiments, parr vi. sect. 2, ('haii. i. \(<\. ii. pp. 05, G6, Lmui.
1822, 12mo.
i', vol. ii. p. 168.
N0TE8 ON THE TENDENCY OF EDTTCATION. 389
Franco and Enj^land. Southey, in a letter written in 1823 has
some good remarks on the comparative advantages of pubHc and
pnva e education He expresses the strongest horror of^boa ding-
Hcbools and greatly prefers, I think with reason, day schoIT^
By ed.icat.ng a nation you increase its wealth in two different
^vays; for you increase the desire of accumulation, and at the
ame tune, hy making the labourer more intelligent, you xnake
las labour more Drodiictiv*^ 2 if ... j. ' /"" i"a,KB
population.3 f"^'''"^^^^^- ^^ ^^l«o Prevents over increase of
Tlie adv.intages of ed.ication to the lower orders merely in an
ZkT '"1"' "^" '"^ "^"" ^'^'"^ ^^ Mr- 'i'J-rnton, who, J
think, prefers oral instruction to any other."
Of the real benefits of education, Hannah More, though she did
so much to impart them, had no competent ideL lnl801 she
Jkth and \\ ells. She says : « To teach the poor to read without
providing them with safe books, has always 'ppeareSto me an
;ZXlT'"' ^".'f/-^ eonsideration'ind^ced me to enter
upon the laborious undertaking of the Cheap Repository Tracts." »
Ihose who liave read Hannah Move's works will easily understand
bis sen ence. By safe bo.,k.s, she meant books which, und" pre-
tZleL7T''% 'P"''"'^ ^""^^^^^^' "^^^^''^^^ intellectual
Hlnnih M .r,'^' "?'" P'""' ""^ ""^^^^«^- ^^"^^rts says that
Hannah More, « adverting to the m.iltitude of improving and
u e of children and young persons, she added, 'In my early youth
^or^^^'rl '""K'r^ l^etween Cinderella and the Spec-
ator. This was said about 1820. Hannah More in her Stric-
tures on Pemale Education (the Preface to which is dated 1799)
repeats her mischievous opinion that it is of no use to educate the
poor, unless we tell them what to read, and "furnish them with
such books as shall strengthen and confirm tlieir principled' :
Ihere is yet another point of view in which education of the
that a dT" " T"T^'- '' '' ''''' ^^^"" ^« physiologists
that a deficiency of nutriment affects the brain.« It, therefore,
I36,2;2of 227!" '^^ ''""'"' ''""""^' ^''"'^- ''''■ «-' 2-1 edit. vol. i. pp. 131-
' Ibid. pp. 46-t, 465.
I n 1'^''?"^°" °" ^''*''' PoP"l"fion, 8vo, 1846, pp. 327-377
• n.id"voL if p":l32.°"'"- "'""'' """"• '"'^'^'^- '^°' '''*' -^- -■• P- ^35.
' Wurks, 8v,i, 1830, vol. v. p. 140.
" Combe's Physiology of DigostioD, 2iad edit. Edinb. 8vo, 1836, pp. 247-260.
it \
M m
;l:4'
1 ;■.
! 'i
;i I
i ^
^90
FRAGMENTS.
follows that the lower the real reward of the labourer, the greater
is the necessity of education, in order in some degree to obviate
the evils arising from the deficiency of his food.'
In and after 1557 the Quakers set up private schools both for
boys and girls.''
The mischievous effects on the health of young girls caused by
the absurd regulations of modern boarding-schools are scarcely to
be believed; but they are well attested.^ Boys have suffered
less." I suppose then that the average life of men has increased
more than that of women.
The school books commonly used in England in the middle of
the sixteenth century are enumerated by Mr. Drake.^
The way, in which an increased spirit of providence among the
lower orders increases the wealth of the country to which they b(!-
long, is very clearly explained by Mr. J{ae,« who indeed lias dis-
cussed all the causes of accumulation with remarkable ability.
In that very remarkable work, Tlie lirief Conceipt of English
Policy, published in 1581, the Doctor notices and reprobates tlie
increasing disregard shown to the imiversities. He observes that
it had become customary to remove young men from them at an
earlier age than formerly, « whereby the universities be in manner
emptied." ^ In 1 559, Elizabeth ordered that " the parson or curate
of the parish shall instruct the children of his parish for half an
hour before evening prayer on every holyday and second Sunday
in the year in the catechism, and shall teach them the Lord's
Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments." » In 1562 the Speaker
of the House of Commons stated, in his place in Parliament, that
"the schools in England are fewer than formerly by a l-andred.'"*
The North American Indians never punish their children.'"
The stimulus which Protestantism has given to great schools is
ably, but perhaps a little too strongly, put by M. Villers."
Blackstone was in favour of compulsory education, but this, I
* See also Combe's Physiology applied to iiealth, 3rd edit, Edinb. 870, 1835, p. 276.
* See Fox's Journal, reprint, 1817, vol. ii. pp. 84, 278, 279, 357.
' See some evidence in Combe's Principles of Pliysiology applied to the Preserva-
tion of Health, Edinb. 1835, 8vo, 3rd edit. pp. 130-133.
* Ibid. pp. 135, 167.
» Shakespeare and his Times, 1817, 4to, vol. i. pp. 25-27, 57.
» New Principles of Political Economy, Boston, 8vo, 1834, pp. 200-204.
' Harleian Miscellany, edit. Park, vol. ix. p. 150.
» Ncal's History of the Puritans, edit. Toulmin, 8vo, 1822, vol. i. p. 129.
" Collier's Ecclesiastical History, 8vo, 1840, vol. vi. p. 356. See also D'Ewes
Journals of Parliament, 1682, p. 65.
" See Buchanan's Sketches of the North American Indians, 8vo, 1824, p. 70.
" Esaai sur la Reformation, Paris, 1820, pp. 280-2S6.
NOTES ON THE TENDENCY OF EDUCATION. 391
fear, not from any enlightened reason ; but from an over love of
government interference.'
In 1551, Dr. Wotton promised the "searcher" at Dover (I sup-
pose of the Custom House) that he would appoint his son to «a
lioome yn our Gramer school," and expresses a wish that he should
be first examined by the schoolmasters.*
Kant proposed tliat in education 710 opinions should be con-
cealed from the student. In this aoble liberality he was not
only m advance of his oym, but of the present age. Even M.
Cousin says, : " Ce serait beaucotip hasarder." ^
Cousin speaks strongly iu favour of public education, which he
prefers to private ; because, by placing every one under the same
rule. It gives them the idea of duty.' Cousin seems to think «
that the state is bound to enforce education.''
The tendency of Calvinism is to extend education.^
Mere education, popularly so called, tliat is, reading and
writmg, does a nation little good. Tlie Chinese are a remarkable
instance ; for of this sort of education they have more than any
people in the world, but yet are unable to emerge from their
present ignorance. See some good remarks in Brougham's
Pohtical Philosophy .« This lie ascribes to the « manifest inten-
tion which the sovereigns have always had to limit the literary
acquisitions of their subjects," ^ and to the efforts of the rulers to
make education a political engine.'" The influence of education
m checking population is noticed by M. Quetelet ; " but he adds '«
that merely teaching to read and write does not lessen crime so
much as is supposed. Mr. Alison notices the tendency of educa-
tion to « restrain the operation of the principle of increase." '3
He adds '* that, in Ireland, "the proportion attending the primary
schools is greater than in Scotland." See '» his ill-written and ill-
argued attack upon the secular education of the lower orders.'"
Reed, in a spirit far beyond his age, says : " Notwithstanding the
innumerable errors committed in human education, there is hardly
' Commentaries, edit. Christian, 8vo, 1809, vol. i. p. 431.
' Haynes*,s State Papers, p. 113.
' Histoire de la Philosophio, Paris, 1846, part i. tome v. pp. 245, 2,55
' Ibid, part i. tome i. pp. .350, 351. « Ibid, part i. tome iii. p. 215.
See also tome iv. pp. 300, 301. ' See my notes on Calvinism.
2nd edit. 8vo, 1849, vol. i. pp. 162, 167, 184.
• Ibid p. 171. .0 Ibid. p. 185.
bur 1 Homme, Paris, 8vo, 1835, tome i. pp. 108-110.
" Ibid, tome ii. p. 245.
j^ Alison's Principles of Population, 8vo, 1840, vol. i. p. 93.
'Mbid.p. 511. .5 Vol. ii, pp. 292-34G.
oee also my remarks on Crime.
.1 i' ii'
m
■1 sir
.;l: I
^ !
i ij I
; ^ 1
■
x'
I
P
^K^
kif'-i
''
'i
392
FRAGMENTS.
any education so bad as to be worse than none." ' Eanke observes
that it was a peculiarity of the early German literature that its
best works were written for the purposes of education.^ The
struggles between Prc;i,e^.t.mts and Catholics must have favoured
education. Each Party wi.lu.d to strengthen itself in every way,
and there was none ho rtlecLive as education.
Glanvill says : ^ « Thus, a French top, the comi^.n recreation of
schoolboys, thrown from a cord which was woiuid about it, will
stand, as it were, fixed on the floor it lighted." And in Plus Ultra
1668, p. 117, he says: "Everyone thpt h-l,h outgrown his cherry'
stones and rattles."" Until early in the seventeenth century, or
even later, children wore "long coats" at seven years of age.'^
Evelyns son went to Oxford, in 1666, aged thirteen, and "was
newly out of long coates." « In 1 682, Evelyn ^ mentions the vast
expence « the nation is at yearly by sending children into Frauce
to be taught mihtaiy exercises." It used to be common for parents
to punish their children so severely as to lame tham.* Montaigne
had the most liberal ideas about education.^ Charron ><> has souie
sensible remarks on education, which he seems to have taken from
Montaigne. In the Polynesian Islands, the children used " to
resist all parental restraint." " An Indian expressed his surprise
that the white people were so cruel as to whip their children.'^
(xrammar schools resulted from the dissolution of monasteries.'^
' Like one of our schoolboys' satchels, made of wrought stuff, and
lined with leather." ^* Locke, who was himself at Oxford, used to
express his contempt for the system of education pursued there.'*
As to the proportion of persons educated in different countries,
see Alison, History of Europe, vol. ix. p. 221. At the Madras
School, late in the eighteenth century, one of the masters was
dism:issed because he punished children by biting their fingers.'"
In Tartary, the discipline of the boys brought up by the priests is
' Reed's Inquiry into the Human Mind, Edinb. 8vo, 1814 p 441
» Die Romiachen Piipste, Berlin, 1838, Band i. Soiten 76 7?"
» Vanity of Dogmatizing, 1661, p. 80.
• See also his Vanity of Dogmatizing, p. 243.
• See Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Biography, 3rd edit. 8ve. 1839, vol. h. p. 317.
Evelyn s Diary, 8vo, 1827, vol. ii. p. 281, and see p. 282
' Ibid. vol. iii, p. 70.
• Essais de Montaigne, livre ii. chap. xxxi. Paris, Svo, 1843, pp -i48 44&
' See Montaigne's Works, edit. Hazlitt, pp. 54-76, 63, 69 177
'" De la Sagesso, Amsterdam, 1783, Svo, tome ii. p. 177.
" Ellis, Polynesian Researches, 8vo, 1831, vol. iii. p. 205.
•2 See Catlin's North American Indians, 8vo, 1841, vol ii" p 241
" Nichols, Literary Illustrations of the Eighteenth Centui'v'vol V P
" Calamy's Own Life, 8vo, 1829, vol. i. p. 190. ' '
'* King's Life of Locke, Svo, \HP.O. vol. i.
Southey's Life of Dr. Bell, v
99.
m
pp.
ike observes
ire that its
tion.2 The
ve favoured
every way,
ecreation of
out it, will
Plus Ultra,
liis clierry-
century, or
irs of ajTo."'
, and " was
)n8 the vast
into France
for parents
Montaigne
'" has soae
taken from
I used " to
bis surprise
children."*
)nasteries.'*
t stuff, and
ird, used to
led there.'*
i countries,
he Madras
nasters was
r fingers.'®
le priests is
. h-. p. 317.
99.
NOTES ON THE TENDENCY OF EDUCATION. 393
I2n7m\!r'''''r '' " ^" '''^ ^^^-^« -*• ^"^'1-^1 and Wales,
1841), It appeared that there were 122,458 men and 18 rr«
Monteil says^ that in 1380 !. " ^J^- *^''"'"'^^ '^"'"^^-^
masters and twenty sS.nr'"" , ''-"'^ ""'^ '^'^'^ ^^'"^^-
interference in educattn ? ''* 1"'^' '''^' ^^"^^ ^^^^^
Prussi'i ,.rl.H..,fJ ^".'''^'''" ^''^« ^^"^' much harm abroad.' In
1 iu.sia, education is compulsory to a cruel extent « -ind thl
of h'". .3., ""■■'■''•"""'>« elassex - that "the .i-.y-sclllm..
Lancaster \>eg2%MXZl "t""' "'*'""'■"'' """ - "'?"
The next ™t I, . ^'•' '^""»'>"1 S»«<>ty was established.
are most dometT . , " ^"^^""'^ ^"d Wales, where there
e Z tv™ ■ , ' r,™'"' "'"" " "'""* """"""t'o"- This shows
wi hpr 11 ""'[.''^ """''""« ''"'"'""•° Edueation increases
tor^ by irritattrth """.r' 5 >'"'''' " »'"«™'' >'- done great
the pooTwho a !L ; '";"'7' "" P"™*''-" V"»t numbers of
oounWesTSno! . ^^ P"P°''"°" ''""''' ™ *«> differe..i
Jo..rnd of Stafef'. s' f- *""'' *" ""■■ "educated, see
observed th,t!f. ,'' '"'• "• P" ^•'*'' ^ ™d at p. 39fi it is
DutertolSHof ]T """f '^'"'i''i*od in Holland since the
I'Utcd in IhdO ceased to make it compulsory."
ta»,l of StMi.lic.l S«:i«,y, ,-„l" ■;■ '■„,*"■ '"> ■ PP- '«'. '68.
""'I -oi. xii. c. 2.1S ■ v; ';; !; . . ^i"'!- p- 207.
s
'" Ibid,
11
Ibid. vol.
11. pp. 68, 73.
Ibid, vol. i. p. 455. S-,.e also
I'.
il ;l 111'
I V
.1^
IIM
^:!
. i>
! I '-iHii
vol.
Soo also vol. iii. pp. 341^ 34.2
p. 213,
]
394
FUAOMKNTS.
After all, I tliink, tlio simplest ni'jj^umrnt Jipfainst Onvernincnt
intcrfcrinjij in « 'ducat ion in tliat, liitlicrto, wliiitcvor they liuve
touclu'd tlioy have injurcil. They iiave incroaned crime, usury,
irreligi«»n, smu}jf<;)injjf.
The inferior Helioola in Hirminjj^ham teach not hinti; wort li leam-
injij.' Parents prefer seudin«^ their hoys even to schools kept hy
women; and such scluxds are infinitely more numerous than tliose
kept hy men.' Hy the Visiujothic Code, " If a master shall chaHti.so
his ])upil 80 that death ensue, if he can prove that the chastisement
was more severe than he intended, he sliall not he punished or
defamed."' Hallam" says that llu;j;hes' Life of J^axrow "contains
a sketch of studies piusned in the University of Camhridj^'e from
the twelfth to the aevente(Uith centmy." He adds" that oven
INIilton, notwithstandinf; his expression, "complete and {generous
education," had narrow views, and continos his course of education
to " ancient writers." Locke is too rij>id, and rect)mm<nuls that
" children should be tauj^ht to exp(?ct nothinj^ because it will
give them pleasure."" However, he rather prefers private to
public education.^ irallam says : •* " No one had condescended
to spare any thoughts for female education till Fenelon in 1(!88
published his earliest work, ISur I'l'^ducation des Filles. . . . His
theory is uniformly indiUgent ; his method of education is a labour
of love." ^ The foundation and free grammar schools are nearly
all founded by clergymen of the Church of England, and tauglit by
them, and for the most part arose in conseciuencc of the monasteries
being broken up. Out of 43(5 fomidation schools, 11.5 date from
the reign of Elizabeth ; but, after this, the rate of increase gradu-
ally lessens, and, " in the long reign of George III., only twelve
were founded," owing to " the religious indifterence of the eigh-
teenth century." "^ At p. 22(5 it is said that the first " ragged
schools" in London were in 1844; but that " an isolated etlbrt
had been made in the country some thirty years before." On the
history &c. of pid)lic scliools, see M'Culloch's British Empire,
1847, vol. ii. p. 318, et seq. On legalised cruelty in education,
see Hume's Commentaries on the Laws of Scotland, i. pp. 13, 45,
358, 389 ; vol. ii. p. 40. " Uneducated persons are utterly imahle
to separate any two ideas which have once become firmly asso-
ciated in their minds ; but the cultivated being more accustomed
to exercise their imagination, have experienced sensations aud
' Journal of Statistical Society, vol. iii. p. 35. ' Ibid. vol. vi. p. 214.
' Dunham's Hist, of Spain, in Limlner's Cyclop, vol. iv. p. 86, Lond. ISS'i.
♦ Literature, vol. iii. p. 249. * Hiid. p. 410.
" Ibid. p. 413. ' Ibid. p. 414. ' Ibid. p. 417- ' Ibid. p. 417.
'" Transactions of Association for Promotion of Social Science, 1858, pp. 124-127.
re." On the
NOTKS ON TirF TKNDKNCY OK KDirCATION. 895
thouffhts in more variod roTnhin.-itions, htuI not formtMl inHoparahle
coml.n.at.onH. ' " Tho chMrm of the kl,onrinjf classes L very
httle ot Hchool after the ajve of ten. Th.-ir habits are ho miL'ra-
tory that only thirty-four per e.nt. are fo.uul in the same school
more than two years ; and of 2,2(;2,()()() childr.m between the aL-cs
ot tin-eo and hfttum who are not at school, 1,.500,000 are absc-nt
without any necessity or justification. Home leani nothing ; and
nu.re tor^^et entirely what they have loarnrd." » At p. (i3, " Amon..
the causes to which the absence of 1,8()0,()()() children from scho.d
are attnbutoble, that to which the greatest prominence is given,
IS the indiiforence of parents, arising not so much fi-om a dis-
re urd of the welfan, of their children as from a doubt whether
Hchnol teaching wi 1 bo of use in the daily struggles of life." At
p. 212 During the last twenty or thirty years" great improve-
ment has been effecUnl in the education of the lower classes, and
perhaps in that of the higher; but not in that of the middle
t^^^^'Z l\'''''fyj^^' J-t deficiency that in 1857 or
1858 "the Statute of Examination was passed by the Uni-
versity of Oxtord."3 The amiable Hutcheson^ allows the inflic-
tion on children of " moderate chastisements, such as are not
dangerous to life." Pain sours the temper. It has been lessened
in surgery from ether and clilorotc,rm ; also from improvement in
operations, and from medicine encroruMnr; on surgery by curing
diseases wi hout the knife. Sprengel ^ says that in operations fof
the stone, la plupart des auteurs qui ont ^crit sur la chirurgie
au seizieme sieclese plurent a compliquer le grand appareil."
The famous Baulot at Paris, at the end of the seventeenth century,
operated for the stone on forty-two persons, of whom twenty-five
died See also ^ the complicated way mentioned by Celsus of so
simple an operation as the extraction of a tooth. Even Avicenna
would not take out a tooth that was solid in the jaw ; « and « till
Arculanus, no one thought of stopping teeth with gold." ' Until
the sixteenth century, castration was a common remedy for
hernia, and even later it was believed to be the only remedy for
sarcoceles." As civilization advances, violent accidents are less
common, and tetanus diminishes. Less superstition diminishes
nervous diseases. Tlie horrible and useless operation of ampu-
^' Mill's Logic, 1856, vol. i. p. 268.
' Transactions of Association for Social Science, 1859, p. ,59
Uist. de la Mcdecine, tome vii. p. 221.
' Ibid, tome viii. p. 235.
' Tbid. p. 251.
" Ibid. p. 232.
Sprengel, tomo vii. p. 226.
- Ibid. p. 244.
'♦ Ibid. p. 229.
t tl
H
: r
'■■.\ a
i
■ ■ '(
V
•
;J9(>
FRAOMKNTS.
tiitinor the l),isom in caiicm-, Sprciij^cl, viii. 413. CliiU'ron nm\
to bo iloir^ed iiftor b(!iii,<,^ iiikeu (o rxocutioiiH.' On (Uminntion of
piiin in sur^neul operations, soo Kcmblo's Saxons in Kn<rlaii(l,
vol. ii. p. 433.
DEMOCRACY.
llxmv, lias o]is(M-V('(l tliat ropu))li(>H are nion; favonrablo to soionco,
nionaTcliicH to art. The VuiUnl Stali'8 seem unkind to the latfcr,'
Mi«s Martin(>au says,* " I did not ineet witli a o(,ud artist ainoui'
all the ladies in the States. I never liad the i)leasiire of .seeing,' a
^ood drawin.of, except in one instance ; or exeept in two, of heaiiii,"
}>:oo(l ninsie." She says : » " If tl„. American nation b(! jnd<,-cd hj
its literature, it may he pronounced to liave no mind at" ad." At
p. 212, "Tlie periodical lit(>ratur(> of th(> United States is of a
very low ord(>r. I know of no review, where anythinr^ like (^n-
lii>litened impartial criticism is to be found." As a specinioii of
their tastii, Miss Martineaii tells us:* " [ lieard n(» name ko often
as Mrs. Hannah More's. She is nuicb better known in tlu; country
than Sl)aksp»>are. . . . Hyron is scarcely heard of," Kohejts says"
of " Cttilebs," "Tliirty e<litions of 1,(KK) copies each were printed
in that coujitry duriufj^ the lifetime of Mrs. Hannah More." In
a letter written in 1820, Hannah More comnninicaLes to Sir W.
Pepys the jjfreat success of her works in Aniei-ica. This seems to
have opened lier eyes to Transatlantic virtues, for she adds : « I
am glad to have my prejudic<'s against that vast republic softened.
They are imitating all our religious and charitable institutions.
They are fast acquiring fasfo, which, I think, is the last <]nality
that republicans do acquire.^ . . . They seem to be improving in
religio!!, morals, and literature. . . . Tlu^y treat me bettc^r Uian
I deserve. They have sent me an eilition of my own works
elegantly bound." ^ Finally,** " The Americans liave little dramatic
taste."
Adan\ Smith » has a very acute remark on the importance of
the distinction of ranks.
^Ir. Mill finely says tliat it is more important in a deraocracy
than in any other form ot government to restrain the power of
' Grosloy s Tour to London, vol. i. p. 173.
* Society in Amorieii, Paris, 8vo, 1812, vol. ii. p. 177
' n.id. p. 207. 4 i,,i,i p_ 214.
' Momoirs of Mrs. Hannah More, 2nd edit. 8vo, 1831, vol. iii. p. 273.
" Ibid. vol. iv. p. !i)9. Seo in tiio same strain, vol. iv, p. 217.
' Ibid. vol. iv. p. 278.
» Society in Americ:). Paris, 8vo, 1812, vol. ii. p. 237,
• Theory of Moral Scutimonts, part vi. section 2, chap, i, vol. ii. p. 72.
MEDICINE.
397
I (luioii^m,. "><'<!<)irip;initlV('a{lvantiim.Hnf (l,.rnr,
<'f
MKIHCIxr.;.
Tr,,.; rapWIy i„cr„Hm(; i<„„wl,.,lj;„ „l „„„li,,i„„ ,•„ k„„i,„„| :„ „,„
llio 'liiniiiutum lit fiaiii is, l„„liii,.Mit (liiii.,« i„ ., i '.""'».
w™ Mill .... „f 1 „..„i:Ht, „i.[;;;i I- ::rr:x 'ii^a :
'1.0 .u«,„pl,.l„,l pliysioian. Ilia i„H,„,,c<, „„ th,, .„« «a If
in, 1 ,1,« „.,k liiifiiri. incrml, of hoi,,^; i„teu,it,iil hydZu
Dr. Com])(> notices tl.at. ihv. principle of division nf Uu i
' Principles of PolitiortlEo-momy, 2ml rdit q..,, ,0,,, , , ..
1 I
'iM
1J
398
FRAGMENTS.
the House of Commons." The College of Physicians, it was stated
by one of the Committee (No. .S44()), are so absurd as to " endoa-
vour to discourage tlie union of medicine with surgery." Mr.
Lawrence also gave his opinion that in the same course of lectures
anatomy, pathology, and physiognomy should be combined.^
In 1563, the government pay to surgeons was Is. Qcl, a day,
exactly three times the amount received by common soldiers.
See Haynes's State Papers, p. 398. In 1588, it was also Is. ()(/.*
The ague was very common formerly.* In 1568, there was no
physician at Berwick, or even in the neighbouring country.^
The increasing cultivation of medicine encouraged the rising
school of metaphysics. Mr. Morell "^ well says of physicians that,
" from the habit of outward observation, the general tone of their
philosophy flows most readily in the sensational channel " — i.e.,
adapts itself to the philosophy of Locke, who had studied medi-
cine. It is curious to observe that Reed, and, I think, most of
the Scotch idealists, were clergymen. Wolsey's physician was a
Venetian.^ See the admirable remarks in (^uetelet, Sur I'Homme.^
He notices that the great use of medicine is to increase the average
duration of life. The celebrated Gilbert, who, in some things,
was in advance of Eacon, was physician to Queen Elizabeth and
to James I.^ His great point was insisting upon experiment.
Whewell mentions him in the highest terms.'" Alison says:
" Perhaps the best test of public happiness is to be found in the
average duration of human life." " If I rightly understand Mr.
Green, he says that Sydenham was the first in England who
united science and experience in medicine.'^ He adds '^ that
Hunter's Fundamental Principles of Inflammation is " one of the
most masterly performances of inductive investigation, and un-
precedented in the science to which it is a contribution." Among
the arts, medicine, on account of its eminent utility, must always
hold the hii'hest place. In England, an immense impulse was
' l?eport from the Select Committee on Medical EJuoutioii, 1834, foliu, piirt i.
p. 223, No8. 3443-3445.
■■^ Report oil Medical Education, pavt ii. p. iOO.
' See Miirdin's State Papers, p. 614.
* Ilaynes's Stato Papers, pp. 609, ,527, fi02. Murdin'p State Papers, p. lo8.
' See Lord Hunsdon's Letter to Cecil, in ILaynos's Stale Papers, p. ,WJ.
* View of the Speculative Philosophy of Kiirope, 8vo, 184(), vol. i. pp. 40!), 410.
' See Correspondence of Charles V., edited by Mr. Bradford, Lond. 8vo, 1850,
pp. 306, 307.
« Paris, 8vo. 1835, tome i, pp. 325, 326.
" Whewell's I'liiJosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Svo, 1847, vol. ii. p. 213.
'" Ibid. pp. 212, 2i;;.
" Principles of Population, Svo, 1840, vol. i. p. 2lM,
'••' Green's Vital Dynamics, 8vo, 18 tU, pp. 70, 80. '!< Ibid. p. 87.
MEDICINE.
399
now given to its study, wliich, occupied as it is with tlie observa-
tion of phenomena, produced most important effects on the aire
Cousin says that Hartleys Observations on Man is " la premise'
tentative pour rattacher I'etude de I'homme intellectuel a celle
do Ihomme physique." Until tlie beginning of the eighteenth
''t M «n ''^' ^T """ TT ^° ^'''^'"''^ '^f ^^"dying medicine.^
In 1811, Sir James Mackintosh, who had received a medical
education, writes, "Those who frequently contemplate the entire
.subjection of every part of the animal frame to the laws of che-
mistvy and the numerous processes through which all the or..ans
of the human body must pass after deatli, acquire habits of Traa-
gina ion unfavourable to a hope of an independent existence of
the tlnn..... principle, or of a renewed existence of the whole
man. 1 hese facts have a more certain influence than any reason-
ings on the habitual convictions of men. f[ence arises in part
the prevalent incredulity of physicians. Tlie doctrine of the re-
surrection could scarcely have arisen among a people who burned
heir dead." In 1784, Gibbon writes that Tissot assured him
tiiat, for gouty persons, the moisture of England and Holland is
most pernicious ; the dry pure air of Switzerland most favourable
to a goiity constitution ; that experience justifies the theory, and
that 'there are tewer martyrs of that disorder in this than any
other country m Europe."^ Coleridge » throws out a sweeping
and arrogant reproach upon " the humoural pathologists in
general. Not one of the so-called specifics has been discovered
deductively or even been justified a priori. Medicine is still
heological A modern writer, who is in possession of some of
Locke s Mfeb.says, "For medicine, his original profession, he
had very little respect." « " Hierophile fut le premier qui s^up!
fonna 1 existence du systeme lympliatique." ^ The invention of
microscopes in 1620 focilitated induction in medicine,^ and bv
increasing materials, checked deductive flights. Fludd antici-
pated roricelli in the barometer." In 162G, Sanctorius first used
tJie thermometer m medical o})servations.'o
It is said" that, in 1635. Fournier discovered the lacteals
An eminent surgeon has sliown statistically, that the danger of
' Hist, do la Philosophii., 2ik1c seric, tome iii. p. 25
' See Bowor'3 History of tlio Univor.sity of Edinburgh, vol. ii. pp. 128 161
vol. ' rU8. ' "^''^^ "' '" '""" ''"''"^''«"' ^■^'^^'^ '-^ '^^ «""• «vo, 18C5,
^ llil)l)oii\s MiseoJliuiPous Wonks, 8vo, 18;i7, p. 35S.
' Biogivipjiin Literiiriii, 8vo, 1817, vol. i. p. 1(I2.
• Foster's Original Letter, of Locke, Sidney, &«.. 8vo, 1830, p oxiii
Sprengel, Histoiro de h Med.vine, to.no iv. p. -1). jm,,. ' 337 33^
Ibid, tome V. p. 9. 10 iIjiYi ,, 3,,,, I, ^. . , II'' "7' '*•^^•
-■ri
I
ff r
i'
vn
1
f:
\M
il
m . 1 •
kii
400
FEAOMENTS.
surgical operations is much greater than is commonly supposed.'
After operations, there are fewer deaths in England tlian in any
other country, and most in the United States of America. PerLit)ns
who return from India alive are generally very healthy.* In West
Indies, venereal disease very rare.^ Among adults, there are more
cases of diseased heart than of plitliisis and the prevalence of con-
sumption in England lias been (niormously exaggerated."* On con-
sumption in India, see Journal of Statistical Society, vol. iii. p. 133.
It is not trua that phthisis pulmonaUs is more fatal or more fre-
(pient in cold cotmtries than in hot ones.'^ « Typhus fevers cannot
be caused by animal or vegetable decomposition." *> Tlie gre^xt
measure of the spread of disease is not any particular condition of
the air, but the dew point.^ Infliience of age on disease, vi. 162.
On the influence of employments on health, see an interesting
essay in Journal of Statistic il Society, vol. vi. pp. 283-.304 ; " tlie
tendency to consumption va/ies inversely as the auiount of exer-
tion." 8 There is no connectiu.; between sickness and mortality.
Bakers are less subject to sickness than butchers, but seem not to
li/e longer. See Statist. Soc, vjii. 329, where it is also said
thi!t, in Scotland, the mortality is greater tliau in England, the
illness less. As men get older they are more liable to illness,
but can hear it better.^ All diseases, even lockjaw, which is
apparently the capricious resuk of accident, are guided by law.">
So far is scrofula from being a particularly English disease, that
no country ^s so free from it, and scrofula is generally " much
less prevalent than it was in the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
turies."" Blindness has greatly diminished since the decrease of
small-pox ; but even now half tlie cases of blindness are caused
by it.'* Owing to the police, hj^drophobia i -coming extinct in
London.'^ Bishop Heber '» says thot in Ceylon, " Most of tlio
workmen employed by government here are" Caffres. The first
generation appears to stand the climate well, but their cliildren
are very liable to pulmonary affections." Turner says tliat in
Tibet, dropsy is the most obstinate and fatal disease to be iret
' See Essay, by B. Philips, in Journal of Statistical Society, vol. i.pp. 104, 105
* .T(Hirni\i cii Siiitisdciil .Sicicty, vol. i. p. 282. -^ Ibid. p. U2
* Sue Dr. Clondiiniiiig'.s i'apor, in Journal of Statistical Sucicty, vol. i. pp. 143, I4f),
146,147.
* .louninl of Stiitistioal Sooicty, vol. ii. p. ;57. " Ibid. vol. iii. p. 2:14.
' Tbid. vol. vi. pp. i:!.5, 138. » Ibid. vol. vii. p. 239, suo also p. 239.
'■' Ibid. vol. vi;i. p. 341.
'" Soe Philips on Scrofula, in Stati.stifal Sucioty, vol, ix. p. ir)4.
•' Journal of Statist. Soc. vol. ix. pp. 153, lf.6," 157, KKwiy by Honjamin Philips.
'2 Statistical Soc. vol. siv. p. 64. " Ibid. vtri. xv! p. P(t.
" Journey ihroiigh India, vol. iii. p. 182.
CONNECTION BETWEEN MEDICINE AND HISTORY. 401
with in the conntrv ' Af r. ai^ i, ,, ^
and the stone inThe tll.'rtelTu'^^^^^^^^
Jx're." In the state of S^ 1 i '• ^i''^^'^^*^' ^'^^'^-^^'^ unknown
very oonuno ' 0.1 '*'^'' f ^""^^^"^^ America, goitre is
and state of atmolp ere lo-^f "'' '"^fT ^"''""^"" ^^^^''-^^^
Transactions of HeSions ^401 (W "^ ^'"'"^ Association,
than a few feet 3 ''''""'' P" ^ ('I • <^ontagion never spreads more
■ii^#:l
CONNECTION BETWKEN MEDICINE AND HISTORV
Anorr „„e-fif,,l, of „,„ d,,t,„ ,,,^„,j
ciiL.iry. It IS more common in mrls than in hn.r. . ^
" IS rarely seen after twenty " r> ^ ^" '^ ^'^^^ 5 ^"^
kkiloy." ''"■■'■"' "'"" "' "^""^ "™- fr»' 'li-ases in tl,e
hilt fin-. ,, , ^ ^° ^® ^^^t*-^'! treated by hleedino- •
h s .s J,,, aHowed to be bad, because it rather exci S
^''1'"^. lAInsic produces au injuriotis etfect.'^ "
' T.inior'.s Krnl,assy to Tibet. 41,:. i,S30, n 410
^ ■V..p!,,ns'« Central Amoricir ro' ;,,, 58 ""
^eionc'lp";^/^'^'"^"'"'^ ^ -■'•^n- of Medicine in Eneyclop. of the Medical
I Il'id. p. 643.
• I'"'l. rp. r)r>2, ^o3. I3iit. see Cullcn's Works fivn iq.)7 i •■
.:S-2: 'S;!- ■•...„„..
1) u
!:'-|^
»i
402
FRAGMENTS.
The sedentary halnts of civilizati^m must diminish tetanus,
which is common in armies on active service, being oft. n the
result of wounds. In civil life, it is chiefly caused by strainin«r
or contusions. It is most common in adults, and amonj>' men to
women as alj»ut five to one. I^arrey says that " this disease, if
left to nature, is quickly fatail." '
Pyrosis is caused by insufficient diet. ; and therefore h:is, I sup-
pose, diminishu^. It is still common in Scotland, in Ireland, and
according to Linna'us, in Sweden.'*
Sctu-vy, wWiA in the middle ages was n, Mai epidemic, has
now given way in consequence of tlie advance of agriculture
enablirg the formers to kill the best meat in winter ; and, ia
consequence, also of a more general use of vegetables.''
A form of worm, ( ailed Trlaocephalus dispar, is " common in
Germany, much k^ss so in France, and still more nu'ely in tliis
coimtrv." Soe Williams's Elementary I'rinciples of ."'edicine.^
}[e adds"' that worms are caused by an excess of vegetable food,
" tiuit diet favouring tlie secretion of mucus whicli is the uidus of
these animals" The Hindoos live on rice, and nine out of ten
of them sutler from worms. At p. o()(), Dr. Williams says, "Tlucd
fourths of the inhabitants of Cairo are said to be infected with
taenia."
I suppose diseases of the liver have increased,. Dr. Williiuus
says'" th' liver "receives nerves ii'om the eighth pair, thus
putting it under the influence of tlie passii>ns. . . . Jaundice is
most common in the heyday of the passions, or betwetai twenty
and forty. Women are supposc^d to be mt)rt' liable to this affec-
tion thau men."
Dr. V^'illiams says^: "The kidneys are the organs by whicli
ten-elevf»uths of all the azote introduced into the S3'stem as aliment
is discharged." He adds,** '• Tht; ultiuuite issue of every case of
diabetes is probably fatal." He says '■' that the more animals are fed
with nuiraal diet, tlie more loaded their urine is with lithic acid.
A lady cured herself of gravel by eating more tlian a jiound of
sugar every day for six weeks. Therefore h'rench wines and port
are injurious.
Excitaljility by causing amenorrhooa produces insanity.'"
Apoplexy, I suppose, has increased, being ch.ielly caused by
excessive use ol fermented liquors. In England and Wales in
' Williams'.s Elementary Principlos of Muclicinn in Eneyclop. of the Meiliciil
Scienpos, pp. 544, 540.
= Ibid. pp. 552, 553. ' Ibid. p. 560. « Ibid. p. 558.
' Ibid. p. 559. " Ibid. p. 566. ' Ibid. p. 576.
" Ibid. p. 580. » Ibid. p. 583. >» Ibid. p. 5S7.
infected with
of the Medical
CONNECTION BETWEEN MEDICINE AND HISTORY. 403
1839 the deaths from apoplexy were one in thirty-three.' It is
f1 e Ttt lif ""'^ ^"T^ '' '' ^"-" ^--' ^- i-reaL in
wlucn exhaust the nervous power. This is probably "the cause
of apoplexy prevailing to such an extent at Edinburgh and Rome
aii to be almost endemic." « i"'ir^u ana Kome
Splenitis or "inflammation of the substance of the spleen " is
;'ex remely rare" in England, and is only found for the most pa
m " paludal counties," as Cambridge or Essex. CommoT^Tbe
East Indies, and particularly in Bengal '
Inflammation of the lungs is caused by many morbid poisons
It IS probably owi..g to the paludal poison "that although afa
general principle, diseases of the chest diminish in frequency as we
approach the equator, yet that in the West Indies the 2mmr
toiy pulmonary affections greatly exceed those of this c un r^"'
An ammal, when domesticated, becomes more liable to tuW
cular disease than he was when wild. Hence, we find thiT H.
jn abitants of towns, though they have more oVthe eomt ts of
ine letuins of the army have shown to the astonishment of
everybody that phthisis is more frequent in the West Ind^s than
|.-en m this country " Dr. Williams adds : « " Race has an iXete
n the production of phthisis. In this country, the tendency of
the Creole and negro to phthisis is notorious." Religiol Sn
:n"i^: Siir--- -'' — «- -pp-i!L o^^::
atitu e Tliere is no evidence tliat it is caused by the putrefac
tion of dead animal matter, though such putiefaotion by LC'tj
will predispose to the disease.^ It prevails equally in'^aU s Lrn""^
|ut be g , known in the tropics, it seems that fhe po s n mu t
^volatilised or .Z..s^ro.v«.Z at a higli temperature ;? but -"Dr
Tt aro"n7t .^; r T "^^ ''"'^^"'^^ ^^•'"•^' ^ «P^«« «f three
itet diound the patient's person so dilutes the poison that thp
disease rarely spreads " " "TIu. rn,.uf i , , P"^"^" "^at the
f„ 1 • 1 ■ i. ^'^"''' ^"t! must remarkable symptom of tlm
typhoid poison is the extreme degree of prostration bot^,^
physical and intellectual powers o? lite whlh i^^^ltes' ^f in
^el.l!!!'r;89.''"'"^"''^^ ^""^'^'^^ "' ^•"'-- - ^-yelop. of the Medical
■ Ibid. p. im).
' Ihid. p. 689.
" Ibid. p. 721.
' ' Ibid. p. 723.
' Ibid. p. 050.
" Ibid. p. 091.
' Ibid. p. r2'2.
'= Ibid. p. 72.').
1) a
* Ibid. p. 003.
' Seo ii curious case at p. 691,
'• Ibid. p. 723.
i
. IP
i nil
II I
I
! ;
fii
404
FRAGMENTS.
France, the deaths are to the attacks from 1 in 3 to 1 in 4^.
" Women are supposed to have more chance of recovery than
males." ' Bleeding is most pernicious ; for, when an animal is
poisoned, the result is more rapid and fatal in proportion as the
animal has been bled.''*
The scarlet fever, measles, and small-pox are " supposed to have
first originated in Arabia, al)out the middle of the sixth century.^
Scarlet fever is most fatal among the poor, and is " twice as
fatal in towns as in the country." " Both sexes are attacked in
nearly equal proportions." The infecting distance is " much
greater tlian in typhus." * It is contagious, and communicatefl bv
fomites ; and the susceptibility to the disease is nearly always ex-
hausted by a first attack.^ Formerly bleeding was always used ;
but it is very injurious." In measles " the influence of season is
exceedingly trifling." ^ Measles, as well as scarlet fever and
typhus, are propagated by fomites," more fatal in towns than in
the comitry." The smallpox is infectious for many yards round
the person ; and, as we know from inoculation, it is contagious by
fomites.'" The most amazing law relating to it is that the intro-
duction of the variolous poison by the cutaneous tissue should
produce an infinitely milder disease than when the same poison is
absorbed by a mucoiis tissue. Perhaps one person in a hundred
is attacked a second time with the smallpox."
Dr. \Vi]' ms says : ^^ " If, however, the doctrine of a spontaneous
generation a poison by the human body be tenable, it is more
probably true of erysipelas than of any other disease ; " for it is
often produced by the bite of a leech, or even the slightest punc-
ture. It is infectious, contagious.; and spreads by fomites.'^
Hooping-cough is not traced earlier than a.d. 1510 ; now it has
spread all over the world. It is very rare for a person to have it
a second time. It is certainly infectious, and communicated by
fomites; and probably it is contagious.* Out of ten fatal cases,
nine belong to the poorer classes.''^
Sj'philis is entiri'ly propagated by human contagion, and is
peculiar to man ; " for, in no instance, haj matter taken from the
prinmry sore produced any similar affection in animals."'" It is
milder in tropical than in northern climates ; its matter will not
produce gonorrhoea ; nor will the matter of gonorrhoea produce
' Williams's Elementary Principles of Medicine in Encyclop. of the Medical
Sciences, p. 726.
i: i
Ibid. p. 727.
» Ibid. p. 728.
« Ibid. p. 734.
" Ibid. p. 738.
«♦ Ibid. p. 749.
Ibid. p. 728.
• Ibid. p.
• Ibid. p.
«^ Ibid. p.
'» Ibid. p.
732.
736.
475.
751.
* Ibid. p. 728.
' Ibid. p. 733.
"> Ibid. p. 738.
" Ibid. p. 746.
»• Ibid. p. 755.
jf the Medical
CONNECTION BETWEEN MEDICINE AND HISTORY. 405
syphilis.' No prior attack, however severe, will exempt the con-
stitution from a second." There wa., for a long time, no satisfac-
tory treatment for syphilitic atfections of the bones and the
periosteum ; but the iodide of potassium is a speciHc remedy '
Gonorrhoea, like syphilis, seems to be peculiar to man. It is
uncommon in hot counu-ies ; but tliis is probably the result of
cleanliness. It is of comvse contag-ious, and we know can be
transmitted by fomites. Susceptibility to its poison is probably
never exhausted ; but each succeeding attack is less violent, " till,
in some cases, the danger of infection a1mo!,c vanishes." * " T'le
matter of gleet is supposed to be non-contagious; but this doc-
trine is dangerous, and is probably tlie cause of frequent infec-
tions immediately after marriage." '^ Copaiba was first used xa
1702; latterly cubebs has been employed, but with still inferior
success; 6 and in women is "entirely inert," unless the urethra is
aifected.^
A disease, I suppose, peculiar to civilization, is cellulitis vene-
nata, which « occasionally affects the anatomist from punctures
received in dissection," and also Vutchers, farriers, and cooks,
when the animals are in a morbid state.^
The paludal poison, which is very destructive, must have di-
mmished.» Dr. Williams adds,'" « It appears that race greatly
affects the liability to this class of disease;" and, while in the
\\e.st Indies the white troops lose 4i in 1,000, the black troops
Dr. Clarke observes that negroes and ^Malays are more subject
than other classes to tubercular phthisis ; but this, says Prichard,
docs not show an essential difference of race, but merely arises'
from that change in the organic structure caused by successive
generations living in a warm climate.'*
In the Indian Arcliipelago the inhabitants are little liable to
inflammable disease. Gout and scrofula are unknown ; stone and
dn.psy rare ; but in Java there is « a disease analogous to the
venereal," and the same as the yaws.'^
In the South Sea Islands, the small-pox, measles, hooping-cough,
ac., are " unknown ; " but « inflammatory tumours are prevalent,"
and a peculiar disease of the spine is common. i^*
' \^llliams's Elementary Principles of Medicine in Encyclop. of the Modical
oi'ienei's, p. 7o6.
*]y'\-'^-rf- » Ibid. p. 767. Mbid.p.770.
. ^'.' • P- "2. » Ihid. p. 773. : i,,i,,. ,. 77.5.
, ?:' P-J88., . ,„. 'Ioid.p.793. - Ibid. p. 708.
^^ t iM'hard s Phj-Mcal rTistory of :\Iankind, vol, i. p. 1j8.
,'; Crawford's History of flio Indian Arcliipelago, EJinb. Svo. 1820, vol. i. pp 33 34
liUis, Polynesian Researches, IHIU, iii, 38, 39.
'
^
1
^
1
J
: :
■ 1 !
hW^
! mm
'II
*
i
M
!• '1
406
FRAOMFATS.
In Borneo, ague, diarrhoea, oplithalmia, and skin diseases are
common ; and " madness is said to be not uncommon " among tlie
Dyaks.' Low » says of the Dyaks : " European medicines have
great effect upon their constitutions ; so that in all cases smaller
doses than usual must be prescribed for them."
Tetanus is very common in the Friendly rslands."* TIk in-
habitants of the Friendly Islands "are very subject to induruL.on
of the liver and certain forms of scrofula." *
In 1700, Locke, who had studied medicine, writes : " A diabetes
is a disease so little frequent that you will not think it stran<,^c if
I should ask whether you in your great practice ever met with it."*
Apoplexy is caused by failure in the cerebral powers.''
On temperament, read the Introduction to Herbert Mayo's
Philosophy of Living.
" Although here, as well as abroad, they keep to the system of
leaving the public in tlie dark respecting the pestilence, tilings
come to light from time to time, from which the danger seems to
grow more and more decided. The plague does not simply slay
its victims and depopulate countries; it eats away tlie monil
energies as well, and often quite destroys them ; thus, as I have
shown in my last public lecture before tJie Academy, the sudden
and complete degeneracy of the Roman world, from the time of
Marcus Antoninus onward, may be referred to the oriental pla;;ue
which then entered Europe for the first time ; just as six hundred
years earlier the plague, which was, strictly speaking, a yellow
fever, coincides too exactly with the termination of the^ ideal
period of antiquity not to be regarded as a cause of it. In suoli
epidemics the best individuals always die, and the rest ilegenerate
morally. Times of pestilence are always tbose in which tlie animal
and the devilish in human natiu-e assume prominence. Neither
need we be siiperstitious, or even pious, to regard great pesti-
lences as something more than a conflict of the physical with tlie
human history of the earth. I fear my conviction that it indi-
cates the victory of tlie negative and destructive of the two con-
tending principles, would be thought terribly .^lanichfcan and
impious." ^
Leigh Hunt, who was a good deal in Italy, says : " " The con-
' See Low's Sarawak, 8vo, 1848, pp. 304, 3(1;'). 2 ll[^l p 3(,9_
' See Mariner's Tonga Islands, 2nd edit. 8vo, 1818, i. 189; ii. 242, 243.
* Ibid. vol. i. p. 434. Also, to diseased trsticlos, &c. ; see vol. ii. pp. 246-260.
' Foster's Letters of Locke, Sidney, &e.. 8vo, 1830, p. 71.
« See Mayo's Philosophy of Living, 1838, pp. 147-151.
' Letter from Niebuhr, dated Berlin, 1810, in the Life and Letters of Niebulir,
London, 8vo, 1852, vol. ii. p. 27.
" Autobiography, 8vo, 1850, vol. iii. p. 145.
as of Nifbulir,
CONNECTION BETWEEN MEDICINE AND HISTORY. 407
sumption, by the way, of olive oil is immense. It is probably no
mean exuaperator of Italian bile. The author of an Italian Art
of Health approves a moderate use of it botli in diet and medi-
cine, bdt says that, as soon as it is cooked, fried, or otlierwise
abused it inflames tlie blood, disturbs tlie humours, irritates the
tihres, ind produces other clffcis very superfl'<uus in a stimulatinjif
climate."
In 17l)tj, Professor Cleghorn writes from Cairo that the English
consul at Alexandria lias advised him, as a protection ai,nunst
plajjfue, "to anoini ly body with oil as a certain antidote," etc.'
("ullen ^ says: " A permauL^id ^rivi' and anxiety also, which so
often excites hypochondriac disorders, will ficM^uently cure hys-
terics. Thus, iu the year 1745, whilst tlie people laboured under
constant anxiety about the rebellion, nervous patients were ob-
served in .Scotland to remain remarkably free from their usual
complaints."
between KwO and ]{\7?,, Sir W. Temple •■» says of Holland:
"The diseases of the climate seem to be chiclly the <>out and the
scurvy.
Sir W. Temple ^ notices the great incrensa of gout in England
within twenty years, which he ascribes to the larger consumption
of wine.
Sir W. Temple " says : " The stone is said to have first come
among us after hops were introduced hca-e."
Sir T. Browne « says of rickets : " The disease is scarce so old
as to afford good observation."
For some absurd notions respecting medicine in the middle
ages, see Sprengel, llistoire de la Aledecine, tome ii. p. 401.
No specific has been deductively proved. Indeed mercury was
iirst employed in syphilis on account of its supposed similarity to
leprosy, and its use was long confined to charlatans.^
Sprengel » says that rickets are first mentioned not by Glisson,
Lut by Reusner, in 1582.
Hue" says: "The Chinese report marvels cf the jin-seng, and,
no doubt, it is for Chinese organisation a tonic of very great effect
for old and weak persons; but its nature is too heating, the
Chinese physicians admit, for tlie European temperament, already
in their opinion too hot." '"
' Soiithey's Life of Dr. livM, 8vo, 18 tl, vol. i. p .520.
'' Works, Edinb. 8vo. 1827, vol. ii, p. uOo.
' Works, 8vo, 1814, vol. i. p. 1 19. * Il,i,l. vol. iii. p. 218, 272.
' Ibid. vol. iii. p. 303. a Works liy Wilkiu, vol. iv. p. 44.
' Sro Sprengel, llistoire do In MeJecine, tome iii. p. 72.
' Ibid, tonio V. pp. ;?J8, o'J9. '■> Travels in Tartary, vol. i. p. 106.
'" See also Bell's Travels iu Asia, Edinb, 8vo, 1788, vol. ii. pp. 1 12, 143.
!. 1
i' iil'l
f
I
i^ J : HI
m
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
!.0
I.I
1.25
Hill
m
"^ 1^
1.4
2.5
llll£
2.0
1.6
i^/
V.
<^
/i
%
Photographic
Sciences
Gorporalion
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y '.4560
(716) 872-4503
',ir
it'
I
408
FRAGMENTS.
!i
'■
I
In the fourteenth ar.I fifteenth centuries, in France, bleeding
was universal. • °
The body of Charles IX. of France was opened."
TENDENCY, ETC., OF THE PURITANS.
The bigotry of Puritanism has left a living sting which still cor-
rodes the very heart of the nation. See some good remarks on
5V V. f "* 'P'"*^ ""^ ^^^ ^°S^^«^ character in Mill's Principles
of Political Economy, 8vo, 1849, vol. ii. p. 506.
^ Perhaps it is to the spirit of Puritanism that we owe the little
influence of women and the consequent inferiority of their educa
tion. Mr. Mill truly says 3 that, in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries women were relatively more intellectual than thev are
at present. This is the more to he regretted, for the civilizin.
effec cf women IS, perhaps, more felt when the division of labour
18 fully estabhshed. Women reap the benefit of that division
without incurring its disadvantages.* Just before the accession
of Ehzabeth, Knox and his friend Goodman wrote against women »
b Mar '""'^ ^''''^ *^^ ^'"''^^''* ""^ ^^^ *^'°°^ ^^^"^ °""^P^^*^
The Puritans held pleasure to be sinful; and this belief re-
mained long after their political overthrow. At the Restoration
the aristocracy were once more predominant, and their tastes
mingled with the old taste of the Puritans. The result is still
seen in our national character, which presents a combination of
love of expense and indifference to pleasure. There, perhaps,
never was a country in which was to be found so much splendour
and so little gaiety as in England. This, which makes us so un-
amiable as a people, tends in a most ey.traordinary degree to
increase our wealth. Tlie indifference to pleasure makes accumu-
lation more easy, while the love of display renders it more neces-
eary. Ihis has been admirably touched on by Mr. Mill,« who,
however, seems to consider our love of display unfavourable to
the increase of wealth. But tliis I greatly doubt. There can be
no question that the unproductive expenditure of the upper classes
IS unfavourable to accumulation ; but when united as in England
with an indifference to pleasure, it giv.>s an object and a stimulus
p. "123' '^^'"*''"' ^'''''"' '^'^ ^"^'"^^'' '^'^ "'^"'^ ^"'''' '°'"" "• PP- 78. 223 ; lome ir.
; See Capcfigue Hi3toire de la Eeforrae et la Liguo, tome iii. p. 3iO.
• Pohtiaal Economy, 1849, vol. ii. p. 532. i Ibij vol i i, l-i?
• L.nganl, vol. v. p. 356. . p^iiUeal E^ouo^'mli, vol! [p." 213.
TENDENCY. ETC.. OF THE PURITANS.
409
uneasy countenances than a-^t ^'^ f "" ^'^^^P^' ^^^ «»ore
And» "monenrall thTf i' ^T^ ^" *^" ^^^^^ besides." >
Again,3 «ThT dea oftV' ^^^^^^^^^ P^-'^ed in this nation."
do'esn^tdestrv thatLr it" ^rf"^' '' ^'' ""'"^^^^'^ ''
of self." ^""^ ' '^ '' profusion only, another species
Hallam»says- « The fiL . ^^ 5««ouraging disputes.* Mr
on Protest^t diss'enLrs^^^^^^^^^ ^f^, punishment inflicted
Strype's Parker, 242; Grirdall, lU Mr ^u ^^ '^'''^''
was a kind of xnaxim among the Puritans th^fr 7' " " '*
much the exclusive rule of hnml ? ., Scripture was so
ters, at least concernTn^ rllf. ff""' *''^*' ^^^^^^^^ ^^ «^at.
authority, was uSfu!" tT"' '°"^^ "'' ^' '^"^^ ^'^ ^^-^ its
is refuteJin « the wld secln Z^ofKT''^ f' ^^"^™'
of official « instructions," very eart iJ^ ' ^" " ^°"^ ^^^^
commissioners are charged bvTh. . "* "^'^ ^^ ^^^y' ^l^e
live in adultery.r InlstXT ^"''^*' ^''^^^^ "" P^^««"« ^^^
that "whoremongers "and "adnlf '""'P "^"^' ^^ ^ ^^^^-^ to Cecil,
Leigh Hunt s!vs • 9 ^°?,. ^^^^i^erers are not punished."
dence^offourl^^^^^^ ^ ''"^^'^ England, after a resi-
sulky faces wW h I r^eH' ^""^7''/' *'^ ^'^^^^^^^^ «f ^-^
pear^ to come tut "f Vnl^p;/^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^uth ^'^^ ^^^ ^P"
our climate, or whatever it uT In truth, our virtues or
surely worth whTl7for our nh 'in T ^"^''^^ "P^" "«' ^^^^ it is
points of moll or pol^tl^^ P^^*' '"^^^'^ ^^^*^^^' i" 'ome
taken. GyX wTll hard v Lr'^'T' T "^^ "^^ ^ ^^^^le mis-
Mr MorXo^ ^^'•diy fllow us to lay it to the climate."
bettn ^e pri, i;^^^^^^^
rality." The Puritans ' ^'.^^t^^. ^^^ ^^^se of private mo-
sidered by the CathS ^J"" '^" ''^^" '^ ^^^^^^^^h, were con-
persecutors.' ''"' '^ '^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^--g ti^eir English
; Angelonra Letters on the English Nation. 8.o. 1755. .ol. i. pp. 37. 38.
; See^th^e note in HalWs Constitutional Histo^^'^t.^is'^. vol. i. p. n9
' Haynes's State Papers, p 198 .' ll'^'^' P' ^'2.
• Autobiography, 8vo, 1850. vol. iii p 179 '^' ^'^- ®^^ *^- Jansenism.
J •««' of 'ho Speculative Philosophy of Europe 8vo 184fl v«l •
See an extract from Gerard's MS in Mr T '^.■*^' ^°'- '• PP- 360, 361.
History, vol. iii. p. 86 '° ^^- ^K^mey's note to Dodd's Church
v.l .'it
410
FRAGMENTS.
Soames says that they did not bear the name of Puritan until
1564.' Soames' mentions two instances of Catholics pretending
to be Puritans, viz., Heath, brother of the ex-archbishop of York,
and a Dominican called Faithful Cummin. The Bishop of Asaph
says : " The declaration of open war between the high and low
chiu-ch parties may be considered to have taken place in 1566,
when the proclamation of the queen gave, as it were, the sanction
of law to the advertisements, which the bishops had previously
put forth." 3 The good effects caused by increasing luxury are
well stated in Esprit des Lois, livre vii. chap. 4, QCuvres de Mon-
tesquieu, Paris, 1835, p. 239. He supposes that proud nations
are always idle : "La paresse est I'effet de I'orgueil ; le travail est
une suite de la vanite."^
In 1628, it was proposed by Bayer and Schiller to establish a
new astronomical nomenclature. The planets were to be called
Adam, Moses, and the patriarchs. The twelve signs were to he
the twelve apostles ; the constellations were to be called after
places mentioned in the Bible.*
The Puritans of the sixteenth century encouraged horse-
racing, « as a substitute for cards and dice." « Perhaps we owe to
this some of our fine breeds of horses.
Perhaps the greatest and most beneficial work of Puritanism
was the destruction of the remains of chivalry. The fire of the
ancient chivalry had indeed begun to dim since the end of the
thirteenth century, but its forms still lingered on, and were ready,
should circumstances allow, to be imbued with their early energy.
These forms, with the exception of the law of primogeniture,
whidi, to the disgrace of an enlightened age, still defaces the
statute-book, all perished in that great storm which overwlielmed
the crown, the law, and the altar. When Charles 11. returned
from exile, he coidd not restore feudality.
Did not blue coats for servants go out of use ? Common Place
Book, art. 917. This was the last remains of the dress of
retainers.
It was usual to wear linen shirts with ornaments finely worked
by the needhi. In place of these ornaments, the Puritans used to
embroider the shirt with texts from tlie Bible.^
' Elizabethan Religious History, p. o2. 2 jijij pp, yg, 79.
» Short's History of the Cliuvch of England, 8vo, 1847, p. 267.
* Esprit des Lois, xix. chap. ix. p. 339 ; and .see livro xiv. chup. ix. p. 303.
" Whewell's Philosophy of the Indnctive Sciences, Svo, 1847, vol. ii. p. 515.
^ Drake's Shakespeare and his Times, 1817, 4to, vol. i. p. 297 ; and Common Place
Book, art. 423.
' See Gifford's note in Ben Jensen's Works, vol. ii. p. 155 ; and see Common Place
Book, art. 1078.
mm
MMON Place
TENDENCY. ETC.. OF THE PURITANS. 411
Ben Jonson's Dedication to Sejanus, which is dated 1607, shows
the bitterness of feeling between the Puritans and the stJe.^ ll
?^^nV 7 particularly objected to starch in their linen.^ In
1610, the Puritans hved in great numbers at Blackfriars, where
they were the chief dealers in feathers, &c.3 Banbury wa part !
cularly farnous for them; and in Bartholomew Fair, acte'd in
1614 a Puritan is called "a Banbury-man.'"* The Puritans
would not say mas. even when the profane word was mitigated by
betng compounded. Thus, they called Christmas ChristiL Ben
Jonson was never weary of attacking the Puritans.« In Bartholo-
mew t air, acted m 1614, Jonson ridicules the long graces with
h.t hey were very fond of pork.B In the Magnetick Lady, acted
m 163. Jonson ridicules the divisions into doctrine and use
winch the Puritans used to make in their sermons.^ ]n the same
on P ^'nir.r-^f ^"^^"f;'^'^^ a""«ion to the punishment inflicted
.^tnes^es.H ^'^ ""^ '"^ godfathers or godmothers, but
At the very beginn-ng of the seventeenth century their hostility
to the theatre is mc.idoned.i^ ^
Tocqueville '3 says, « Angleterre, le pays de I'Europe ou I'on a
vu pendant un si^cle la liberte la plus grande de pensei, et les
prejuges les plus invincibles." ^ .ties
Early in the seventeenth century numbers of the Puritans fled
to Amsterdam. This is alluded to in Middleton's Works, i. 205 •
ui. 2oo ; IV. 45, 437. '
think! ^''''^'°' ^^^'^ °'^'"'-'' ^^''^ encouraged witchcraft, I
nf 'n^l?''T ^^'l """^^ *^'''' Protestant preachers in the University
of Oxford in the year 1563, and they were all Puritans." •'^ In
Cambridge they were as strong, if not stronger. The Univer-
sity had a right to license twelve ministers every year to preach
J Jonson's Works 8vo, 181(5, vol. iii. pp. 161-1G5; and for other indications of
tir- rl:oi!r;j iT-s;; ''' '''' ^-^ ''- ^-^-'-^ ^-^ ^^"- attacr-rTh:
vti ifiT 9^ H ""f- '" '^'^° '"'■ "• pp- '''-'''' 3*^; vol. virr4
VIII. pp. ibJ, 192 ; and vol. ix. p. 153. '^
Ibid. vol. VI. p. 93 ; and vol. viii. p. ISO.
|» See Middleton's Works, 8vo, 1840. vol. i. p. 206
'» W^tS '° ^"M'T' •■°'- "• P- "'• " ^"«"°^ P^*«« Book, art. 2213
-Ntala History of tho Puritans, edit. Toulmin, 1822, vol. i. p. 145.
It
\i:i i
if
ii.H
[ ;(
HiU
Im4
412
FRAGMENTS,
anywhere in England without episcopal license. This privilege
was exercised in favour of the Puritans, and Parker in vain
attempted to have it rescinded.' Neal says' that, in 1566, "in
Trinity College all except three declared against the surplice, and
many in other colleges were ready to follow their example." He
adds' that, in 1571, "the University of Cambridge was a nest of
Puritans."
But the Puritans at once began to advocate principles which
struck at the very root of all legislative authority. Their own
historian tells us that, even in 1559, they "insisted that those
things which Christ had left indifferent ought not to be made neces-
sary by any human laws." * They forgot that, when a government
pays a sect, it has a right to stipulate in return what that sect
shall do. Elizabeth bore herself high. The very year after her
accession, Sandys, bishop of Worcester, complained that she had a
crucifix in her chapel. To this complaint the queen replied by a
threat of deprivation.*
In 1560, the Puritans published at G-eneva a translation of the
Bible with marginal notes. One of these notes laid down that
disobedience to kings was allowable, and another note on 2 Chron.
XV. 16, censured Asa for not having executed his mother as well
as deposed her.« In 1562, the Puritans were so strong in convo-
cation that their proposals to simplify the Church of England
were only rejected by a majority of one.^ This decision Neal
calls " very unkind," but, if the queen had been forced to change
her policy, the Catholics, then very powerful, would certa'nly have
flown to arms, and a civil and religious war would have ensued.
It is remarkable that the chief leaders of the great separation
of 1566 were "all beneficed within the diocese of London." »
In 1556, they « excepted to the use of godfathers and god-
mothers to the exclusion of parents from being sureties for the
education of their own children." » And in 1585 they petitioned
Whitgift that " in baptism the godfathers may answer in their
own names and not in the child's." 'o
In 1571, the Puritans seem - have made their first great effort
in Parliament."
At the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, if not before her acces-
sion, Goodman, an English Puritan, wrote a work against the
government of women ; and it was with great difficulty that, in
' Noal's History of the Puritans, edit. Toulrain, 1822, vol. i. pp. 178, 179.
Il.id. vo . ,. p. 180. . Ibid. vol. i. p. 320. * Ibid. vol. i. p. 126
Ib,d. vol ,. p. 132. . Ibid. vol. i. p. 136. T Ibid. vol. i. p. 1.51
1 ..d. vo . ,. p. 197. . Ibid. vol. i. p. 194. .. Ibid. vol. i. p. 308.
" Ibid. vol. 1. p. 215.
■«
TENDENCY, ETC.. OF THE PUBITANS. 413
1571, he was induced to recant his sentiments.' The rise of the
Brownists was an important epoch. I think the Mar-Pre ate Con
oversy did not begin till after 1588. It was apparently in 1591
that Parliament passed their most cruel act against the Puritan!'
are born LSle ""t"' T"'' "^^ ^^^^^'^^ *^^* ^^^ -"o
are born w thm the confines of an established church and ban-
111 A f .^ principles of the Reformation. This was a
«Iavsh dogma, and it seems to me that Hooker was to the church
what Hobbes was to the state. cnurcn
Fenner, a contemporary, says that, in 1586, a third of the
clergy were suspended.* Neal says « that, in 1602, « the noncon
o^ing clergy were about fifteen hundred." Hithe to the dispute
and 1596, the spread of Armmianism in the church gave rise to
a controversy about doctrine, for the Puritans had alway re
mamed Calvinists.« At length, the violence of the Pur tans"
au-ly roused the civil power. Towards the end of fhe^,
teenth century they were prosecuted, not in the spiritual but
m he temporal courts, and Anderson, one of the judges declared
«'"'" that he would hunt all the PuriLs^;t of his
whl^f JP tradespeople had Bibles lying on their shopboards,
which If we may believe contemporary evidence, did not prevent
hem from cheating their customers.^ The lowest and most In-
famous of mankind did not escape the moral epidemic
^Xwl "'S" *^ ""^^^^^ ^^^^ "^^'^^ ^11 Puritans; and, in 1566,
an rtt^^rt^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^- "^" the London curaS
«ia rectors Collier has given some extracts from the attacks
made by John Knox on female sovereigns. •"
lJ^.v,^R'*^°'-r'I ^'^^'' rapidly to organise themselves. In
583 the Brownists first arose." Such was the horror the Puritans
ad of oaths hat they thought swearing as bad as, if not w^'e
than murder.'^ In 1570, Grindal, archbishop of Y,^rk, wrol to
Cecil that, at Cambridge, Cartwright, who was by far the Is?
able opponent of the bishop, was so popular that « the youtTof
\ Sf" ^''*°'"^ °^ *'"' Puritans, edit. Toulinin, 1822, vol. i. p 227
Ibid. vol. ). p. 426. , Ti -J V- '■'■t'
*ll>id.vol.i.p.382. Ib.d.vo...p.449.
• Ibid. vol. i. pp. 451, 463 Ib.d.vo.,.p.463.
; See Maroccus Extaticus, ,695, p. U. Percy Soc. vol. l^' "' '' ^^^ '''' ''''
l-olliers Eccles. Hist. vol. vi, p. 429.
'' Ibid.' vS vii^'^T ^""^ ''" "* ^" ^^^ '"'" '"'"^^'"^ ''"" *° ^I'^'^l^eth.
" See a curious passage in Rich's Honestie of this Age. 161 4, p. 66 ; Percy Soc. vol. ,i.
I I
I I,
IllJ
fl
414
FRAGMENTS.
I i 'I'
''
'I
t
.•1
the university, which is at this time very toward in learning, doth
frequent his lectures in great numbers."' In 1572, the first
Presbyterian church in England arose at Wandsworth.* In 1583,
in six counties alone, there were suspended no less than 233
clergymen.' In 1578 or 1579 appeared Stubbs' Gaping Grulph,
an insulting puritanical work.* Collier * says : " It is somewhat
remarkable that the Puritans were most active in setting up their
discipline and scattering their scandalous pamphlets, when the
Spanish Armada was sweeping the seas, and menacing the kingdom
with a conquest." For th';^ he cites Bancroft's Dangerous Positions.
In 1592, a most illiberal act was passed, forcing, under severe
penalties, everyone under sixteen to go to church. See the account
given by Collier,^ who allows that the act was directed af^ainst
the Puritans. Deering, a celebrated Puritanical clergyman in a
sermon before the queen, flatly told her that her motto might be,
" As an untamed heifer." ^
The characteristic of Puritanical legislation was, I think, the
confusion of public morals with private morals.*
Scarcely had the fears caused by the massacre of Bartholomew
passed away, when the Puritans began to assume the aspect of an
organised party. Tlie French ambassador, whose voluminous
despatches record every great movement in England, mentions
them for the first time in October, 1573, when he writes to his
court that for several days the council had been considering their
demands for toleration.^ A month later, he says that the Puri-
tans were becoming as troublesome in England as the Huguenots
in France, or the Grueux in Flanders.'" In December, 1573, he
writes that " plus de mille cinq centz personnes de qualite sent de
ceste secte."" He again mentions them at tome vi. p. 279. It is
a very curious fact that " Grorbudoc," the first tragedy in the
English language, was partly written by Thomas Norton, a
Puritan.'^ In 1565, Harding, a Catholic, taunts bishop Jewel:
" May we not yet remember the times when, at first beginning of
your sects, you rejected all doctors' authorities as writings of
men, and admitted only your lyvely Word of the Lord." '^^
' Ibid. vol. i. p. 323.
' Ibid. vol. vii. p. 71.
' Collier's Ecclesiiist. Hist. vol. vi. 483.
' Noal's Puritans, vol. i. pp. 2t3, 244.
* Collier, vol. vi. pp. 607, 608.
« Ibid. vol. vii. pp. 163-165. » Neal, vol. i. p. 283, but he gives no dale.
* See art. Metaphysics.
' Correspondance de F^nelon, Paris, 1840, tome v. p. 435.
'" Ibid. p. 456 ; see also p. 462. •' Ibid. p. 470.
'2 See Collier's History of Dramatic Poetry, vol. ii. pp. 481, 482; and Wartoa's
Hist, of English Poetry, 8vn, 1840, iii. 289.
" Strype's Annals, vol. i. part ii. p. 524.
ami Wiirton's
TENDENCY. ETC., OF THE PUEITANS. 415
Early in the reign of Elizabeth the clergy were so diminished
that the bishops did not dare to enforce the law for fear of de-
nuding the church. Sandys, afterwards archbishop of York, ob-
jected to the episcopal garments; > and so did Pilkington, bish ,n
of Durham.^ In 1588 or 1589, the Puritans began to express a
confident opinion that they could overthrow the episcopacy a
Maskell says,^ "The University of Oxford, during the fi^-st twen'ty
or thirty years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, had been remark-
able for the s rong leaning wliich it displayed towards the Puritan
view of the religious questions of die day." The Puritan onslaught
began directly after the Armada.^ The Puritans appear to have
had a great contempt for the civil law." The bishop of Winchester
declared that "men might find fault, if they were disposed to
quarrel, as well with the Scripture as witli the Book of Common
1 layer. In the same work, p. 69, the bishops are blamed for
kvounng t^ie "Papists." TJiis shows the intolerance of the
untans In 1 086 Leicester seems to deny that he was a
Punt,an.« In 1590, the queen wrote a remarkable letter to James
warning him of the rising spirit of Puritanism.^ As early as
500, the Puritans began to sneer at the "Christians of the
Court. See a very curio,,, letter from Turner to Cecil, in Tytler's
Edward V and Mary I. 333-337. Lord FountainhLll died L
1722 ; and his sittnig-room in his house at Edinburgh contained
a cabinet "ornamented witli a death's liead at the top." 'o Hallam •'
says, the Puritans under Elizabeth formed a majority of the Pro-
John Halle, an English surge(,n, in the middle of the sixteenth
century has published a prayer which surgeons should use before
undertaking a difficult operation.'^
thP^wf'''' '-^^utely says : "It may generally be observed that
he tendency of the Roman Catholics i. to slide into superstition,
that of the Protestants into fanaticism." '^
It was with difficulty that Elizabeth could hold in the bishops.
' Sandys' Sermons, edit. Pnrker Society, p. xvii.
= Sfo Collier's Ecclesiastical History, 8vo, 1840, vol. vi. p. ,396
4 «„„ TV 1 A' , . , * Ilj'*!- p. i'M.
f>ee llishop Coopers Admonition. 1589, p. 26, 8vo 1847
^ See Hay any Work for Cooper, 1589, pp. 45, 46, 8vo, 1845.
^ hce An Epistle to the Terrible Priests, 1589, p. 42, 8vo, 1843
^ Leycestor Correspondence, edit. Camden Soc. p. 31 1
.oe It m Letters of Elizabeth and James VI. Camden Soc, 1849, p. 63.
Chambers s Traditions of Edinbnrgh. 8vo, 1847, p 62
^^ Constitutional History, vol. i. p. 186, note.
Historian Expostulauon, 1565, p. 49, and see p. 47 Percy Soc toI xi
" Lewis on Irish Disturbances, 8vo, 1836, p. 401! ^
1 'i ' 'i'
'•i!
I I,
i i
':i 1
\''}
416
FRAQMENTS.
Thoy did everything to Insult and irritate the Puritons. All tliis
was a serious error.
It has been often said, that by persecuting a sect you inrronso
its power and its numbers ; and the history of Christianity in tlio
first three centuries is triumpliautly appealed to as an instance.
But nothing can be more shallow than such an allegation. If we
did not know the clumsy eagerness witli which nearly all ecclcHi-
astical writers seize every circumstance that can be supposed to
exalt the merit of their own church and blacken the reputation
of their adversaries, we should be at a loss to understand how it is
that the researches of Pearson, Dodwell, and Lardner have not
more generally diffused a knowledge of the fact that the persocii-
tior>g of the early church were slight and insignificant. The
truth is, if they had been so severe as some would have us believe
it would have been hardly possible for Christianity to have sur-
vived the shock. There can be no doubt that a resolute and
powerful government, by a coiu-so of consistent unflinching seve-
rity, can utterly destroy any sect which forms only a small part
of its subjects ; and if Augustus had possessed the spirit of Galc-
nus(?) and Maximian(?), Christianity would in all proba-
bility be but a relic of history. London might now be studded
with the gilded minarets of mosques, from which the faithful
would be summoned to their daily prayers ; and British subjects
might be at this moment bowing the knee before the shrines of a
Pagan temple. But, happily for Christianity and happily for tlie
best interests of man, the spirit of persecution is rarely aroused
until the sufferers are too numerous to be entirely destroyed. The
conduct of the Pagan emperors in the third century was an exact
counterpart of the conduct of the Christian bishops in the six-
teenth century. The bishops neglected the Puritans until tlie
Puritans grew so strong that they did not dare to drive them to
desperation. They would not pass by their conduct with impu-
nity ; they dared not punish it capitally. They, therefore, pur-
sued a middle course, which has always irresistible charms for
weak-minded men. They irritated, but, with few exceptions,
they did not strike. The treatment to which the Puritans were
subject was oftener insulting than injurious. In 1573, one of
them was brought before the commission. His name was White.
The opportunity of a brutal joke was too tempting to be lost.
The chief justice asked, « Who is this?" "White, an't please
your honour," answered the prisoner. « White as black as the
devil," Nua the reply.' In 1584, another unfortunate Puritan was
Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, i. 266.
TENDENCY. ETC.. OF THE PUKITANS. 417
thou art i,„,„„lo„t. iV ,,,1 tr ,1 T;,,,-, i ; •■;'""■"«?""" ' ^">''
for nobody.'! . Tl.ou,.,! ,1, f^ ! ' ' fi t H, T ', " "'"','"
.turdy reply. "Ho l.atl, a„ ,.rr„ -an „ ir , ^/ ' """ "'"
cared little about tb„» point, for wbiZhey pr ■ JZ ^^^
verence. Even San.ly,, arel,bi»l,„p of Canteiurv wl
active persecutor of the J'lnii-,,,. L,l i . J ^' '" """ ™
.1 i "iitan.s, ana aid not dp till I'^uu
1" id7 ::t^™:r r :r:'u " '-rf - ■- -^s
doe,notdareto™t;,,::;tb:;r*:::r;i''"'' "" -""-"'■«
they left them at 1i"l,..rf„ %? "'"' ''"K^a™, Imt «till
ea»ny fore ::. T "dtulr ""T— ""«'■' iiave been
thing singularly eaptivating in tt^l"^b„^t'l^^;t::;o^„:
ntury, the e arose a new generation, who, because thev hatc-d
tse >g„s of the coming storm, and to prepare against it.
The ™ , r'f " °'°""'°'' ™ ""^ "■'■°"'= "" ""I changed
■del ™ ^ '"T ""'"' ™"»"l'e "-ort contracted and asceHe
were ot the most frivolous nature ; and it was not ,,r,H-i +u •
umon with the patriots towards the ^d of Ihl^ixrent L ,u:;
lad lent importance to their objects, that they acquired eitter
■Sfp.^'Jre."''''" ''"'''■■'"• "'■'■■■•''^- ■Ibid.M.O.
£ E
I .il
i !' i
•^11
( ' 41
■Il
1
418
FRAdMENTS.
dignity or interest. The first overt act by which the Puritans
abandoned the church was in 1566;' and tlieir own historian
tells us that after this, and until Cartwright began to preach, the
dispute " had hitherto been chiefly confined to the habits, to the
cross in baptism, and kneeling at the Lord's Supper." " Nothing
but a knowledge of the pettiness of theological disputes could
allow us to believe that such a schism could have arisen about
such insignificant trifles. Elizabeth has been often censured for
not yielding on such unimportant points to the conscientious
scruples of honest men. But it is singular that those who advance
the argument do not see that it cuts both ways. It is true that,
the more trivial the points at issue, the more absurd it was in the
queen to retain them; but also the more absmd it was in the
Puritans to insist on their being given up. Since then one party
must yield, surely it was most proper that that deference should
be paid to the majority and to the executive government.
After the Armada the Brownisis rapidly increased. The danger,
as it diminished from without, increased from within. In 1593
Penry drew up a most offensive address to Elizabeth.' This, I
think, is the first instance in which the Puritans insulted the
queen. Another of them, Barrowe, told Whitgift to his face that
he was " a monster, a persecutor, a compound of he knew not
what, neither ecclesiaistical nor civil, like the second beast spoken
of in the Kevelations." *
It was not till 1595 that the dispute between the Puritans and
the church launched into doctrines.' This was the result of the
spread of Arminianisra in the Church of England.^ Collier says '
that it was not till 1570 that the Puritans " attacked the govern-
ment of the church ; " before that time " the habit of the clergy
and the sign of the cross were formerly the only things they
stuck at."
HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT, ETC.
Camden, speaking of Elizabeth's affection for Dudley, suggests
that it may have been caused by " something in his birth, or
planets that ruled it." *
' Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, vol. i. pp. 187, 191.
» Ibid. pp. 210, 211. • Ibid. pp. 438, 439.
* Ibid. p. 435. • Ibid. p. 451.
* Ibid. p. 453. ' Ecclesiast. Hist. vol. vi. p. 481.
* Annals of Elizabeth, in Kennott, vol. ii. p. 383, See also^. 549.
HISTOKY OF WITCHCRAtT. fire. ^jg
Camden • gravely relates that Keza, in conHe.|nence of t e an-
peanuK.of an extraordinary star, foretold the death of Charlel iT
Southey vvho was perhaps better acquainted w th what rnav t
called occult literature than any writeJ of his time7say «Th^
books of palmistry have been so worn bv Dernsii] thT.T^ ' ,
preservation is now among the raritie^ot'irat^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ '''''''
Drake says' that James's Demonoloo-v « renrl^v^^ o r •
There were days on whicli it was lucky, and others on which if
was unlucky, to buy or sell. These days were care u Ik noLd in
the almanacs, and distingtushed by characteristic maTks.' T^e
price of these almanacs was Id. a piece.'
Directly after the Restoration the* Rovil Sr.oJ^f^
blished; in 1666, the French A^J^yfTal'^Z^^T
the Observatories of Paris and Greenwich « ^'
stage'in' mf ' t' 1 ?' ''^"' " ^" ^'^ ^'^ ^-"^bt on the
finders - 1^1 i„ v T '^ ''\ -T" ^^J^«^« ^' *« "^icule witch-
Ser;ft« In tl ^P"r' 7^'^ ^ "^'^'^ ^" 1^«^' ^^ "^icules
iTal^T ^'^-^^rt^'-^ ™g books on witchcraft,nhour
aft^han thlTr'b ""; "T ^'""^ ^'^^^^ ^^ believed in witch-
cratt than that he believed in tlie Pagan deities.
scene inTheV^ T'if''^ '""^"'''^ '' "^^^^^^^ in an amusing
scene in The Family of Love, which was acted in 1607." ^
The disposition of ascribing all our knowledge to experience
a^ppears m Newton and the Newtonians by other indication^" Z!
It is idle to attribute the destruction of superstition in fh«
Reformation. Protestants were as superstitiLsa^St^^^^^^^^^^^
But Protestantism is more favourable' to civ/lization'than Ca-
' Kennett, vol. ii. p. 44«. 2 'pi,„ i-,„ , ,.^ ,„
• Shakespeare and his Ti.e«. 18,7, JZliTsU "'"' '^°' ''''• ^^ ''''
• See Ben Jonson's Works, 8vo, 1816 vol iv n .iq. i 1 o -j-j
' See G.fford's note in Ben Jonln vd h 1 42 ' '"^"^' "' '''■ "' P' 5^*
;Whewell'sPhilosopl^ of the Inductive Science's, 8vo, 1847, yol ii n 270
«ee\'ouV:p:502.'- ''' ' '^"' /" °''^' ■■"^'«°- ^ ^'^'^'^ »>« laughs at witchcraft.
• Ibid. vol. vii. •« P 141
';aiiddlet«n'8 Works, 8vo, 1840, vol. ii. pp. 137-142.
Whevvell s Philosophy of tho Inductive Sciences. 8vo. 1847, vol. ii. p. 292
■ B 2
1^
IW
i
i
In
r
|-^
*M
Ii
i
, ^
-.(
^1
U
' ft!
1
i :l :
f
■ J'
r 1
li.
'fl
n
f)
I ;
420
FRAGMENTS.
tholicism ; the Protestant believes less than the Catholic ; he has
fewer saints, fewer martyrs, fewer miracles, — in other words, fewer
ultimate facts.
On the want of harmony existing at present between science
and theology, see some good remarks in Combe's Constitution of
Man, pp. 13-16. It will hardly be believed that, when sul-
phuric add was lirst used to lesseft the pains of childbirth, it
was objected to as " a profane attempt to abrogate the primeval
curse pronoimced upon woman." ' Scepticism is shown by works
on natural theology, which attempted to prove what men formerly
fancied they instinctively believed. The injury whi h the theo-
logical principle has done to the world is immense. It has
prevented them from studyin^^ the laws of nature.
The .superstitions respecting good and bad days were by no
means confined to the lower classes. See some clever ridicule in
1619 in Middleton's Works.' In 1652, there was actually pub-
lished a popular ballad to rdicule the "belief in prophecies and
prognostications." It may be found in Mr. Wright's Political
Ballads.3 Whenever anything was lost, the sufferer had recourse
to one of the wise men who were to be found in every town aad
nearly in every village. But their power was fast waning. An
amusing description of one of their tricks is given in Chettlc's
Kind Hart's Dream.'' The almanacs sold at Id, each were a great
source of popular knowledge. If there was a storm, everyone
looked to sePi if the almanac had predicted it.^ In 1603, a
« Minister of God's Word," called George Giffard, published a
very remarkable w^ork called A Dialogue coucerning Witchec and
Witchcraft.^ The author takes an important step in advance,
for he denies the power of witches, though, by a Strang , confusion
of language, he recognises their existence. Thus, to give a single
instancj, he denies ' that witches can raise a storm ; but says tliat
the devil, being aware that a storm is approaching, iucites them
to predict it. Here we see the first dawn of that enlightened
scepticism which eventually put an end to the belief in witchcraft.
Giffard strongly censures juries for condemning persons because
•witnesses were found who declared them to be witches, and, in a
spirit before his age, asks : ^ "If others take their oath that in
their conscience they think so [i.e. think ' 'lem to be witches], is
that sufficient to warrant me upon mine oath to say it is so ? " '•'
> Combe, p. 138.
* Pp. 123-126, Porcy Soniety, vol. iii.
» See Dckkcr's Knights Conjv.rinj^, 1607, p. 9, Percy Soc. vol. v,
• It has been reprinted by the Porcy Socif^y, vol. viii.
" 8vo, 1840, vol. V. pp. 149, 150.
* ir)92, pp. .'}2-.')3, Percy Society, vol. v.
Ibid.
Ibid. p. 106.
• At all evejits the existence of witches seems not to be denied, see pp. 13, 18, 30, 71.
HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT, ETC. 421
In 1582, the whole country was convulsed with fear T?ini ^
exorcising the dev I If f^jT'v" 3"'' "'""""^ " P°™' "^
astronomy the influence of ttej;,- a„i ,^"T' ''™* ""' ''^
and how Ion, a,,, place .hall he STeirtS ?''"'™ ""'"
In a draught of Discipline, tearing the name of 'the bishon of
c er, and presented to Convocation in 1 563, it is propo """hat
V d,craft may be capitally punished," < parliament Cing in
GlanviUe on Witchcraft was a favourite book with Mrs Lewis
he fashronable and lovely mother of the author of m„ M„T«
S .they a lowed the advantages of knowing mineraW ank
l»ta„y, bnt only because they "add to our outdoor elvmel
and have no injurious effects. Chemical and pLS s"S
. m, on the contrary, to draw on very prejudicial To ,sl enc ^
hculMe, • TV r " P'"'"""' '""><"" """ti-S his finer
M^|, ,? •'^"' ,'""'"T. '"P«-''««»"s- Thoy .« phenomena
Inch they cannot expktin. Even Blackstone, who in stmal
> t. hcraft. See his amusingly cautions and, as it were, reverential
narks towards this wretched superstition in hi. Comment r"
e.«ys» that itv-as not till 9 Geo. II. c. 5, that it was foVh dd™
t» pro«,c„te anyone for witchcraft; and that, though, aceoidiirg
• Sen the Life .tndCorrcsponaeiieo of M.G. Lewis. 8vo, 1839 vol i n 2fi
"
^ i H
II II
'.If
•n
I I
i ,
■^P'lj
—I* ]
III
i 1
422
FRAGMENTS.
to Voltaire, Lonis XIV. issued an edict forbidding the tribunals
to receive informations of witchcraft, "yet Voughlans' still
reckons up sorcery and witchcraft among the crimes punishable
in France." After the captivity of Mary of Scotland, the jealousy
of government was excited by the astronomical and magical re-
searches which were instituted in order to determine her fate.
See the questions put in 1571 to Robert Higforth in Murdin's
State Papers.* Mr. Morell ^ well says that sensualism, or, as he
calls it, sensationalism, is the natural result of a too exclusive
study of physical science. Hence, I may connect the decline
of superstition and rise of Locke. Indeed, I may trace this
back to Bacon, who analyzed nature, while Descartes analyzed
thought.
Lady Southwell, one of the maids of honour to Elizabeth,
mentions that at her death there was " discovered in the bottom
of her chair the queen of hearts, with a nail of iron knocked
through the forehead of it." ■• In the system of ecclesiastical law
which Cranmer drew up in 1552, one of the articles "imposes
punishment at the ordinary's discretion upon persons admitting
the practice of idolatry, witchcraft, and the like."^
The tendency of increasing civilization to lessen the habit of
accounting for phenomena en supernatural grounds is slightly
but firmly touched by M. Quetelet, who notices the analogy it
bea.s to the progress of an individual from infancy to manhood."
Whewell says of the schoolmen,'' "though, like the Greeks,
they thus talked of experiment, like the Greeks, they showed
little disposition to discover the laws of nature by observation of
facts." ^ It has been well observed that such words as ill-starred,
disastrous, exorbitant, a sphere of action, &c., show how much
our language has been affected by astrological opinions.^ As one
religion is succeeded by another, the ritual of the old religion
supplies the form in which the witch mumbles her spells, and the
magician invokes his spirits. See this remarked by a very learned
writer, Mr. Price, in his Preface to Warton's History of hlnglish
Poetry.^ In 1562, the Bishop of Exeter presented a paper to the
ecclesiastical synod, in which he desired " that there be some
sharp, penal, yea, capital pains for witches, charmers, sorcerers,
» Du Droit Criniinel, pp. SSS, 469. « Pp. 70, 71, 97, 98.
* View of the .Speculative Pliilosophy of Europe, 8vo, 1846, vol. i. pp. 64, Co.
* See her relatiin in Dodd's Cliureh History, edit. Tieniey, vol. iii. p. 72.
' Siiames's lli.stiiry of the Reformation of tlie Chureh of England, vol. iii. p. 711.
* Quetelet, Sur rilomnie, Paris, 1 835, tomo ii. pp. 273, 274.
' Philosophy of tho Inductive ScionccB, Svo, 1847, vol. ii. p. 14.i.
' Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 490, 491. • Vol. i. pp. 44, 45.
HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT, ETC. 423
enchanters and such like/' > As early as 1574, the Puritans used
to pretend to cast out evil spirits »
For a good history of laws, &c., respecting witclicraft see „ i
« o Mr Wrighf, Introduction to the Proceeding ^g^i", Jl^;
Jvyteler, Camden Soc, vol. xxiv.
The Scotch and idealistic philosophy must have been favour-
able to the superstitions of Puseyism. M. Cousin well says that
Chnst.anity particularly relies upon a prioH argumen ^Cousin
says that all the Scotch school, from m^Ueson downwa^^s, den" d
e a jpnor^ proof xn favour of a Cfod..^ Bower says that Robert
Mouson, who was born at Aberdeen in 1620, was « tbe first per^n
who ever made the attempt to reduce botany to a science.'^ T
e end of the seventeenth century, Thomasius first ventured Z
attack the prosecutions for witchcraft, and to oppose himself to
the use of torture, though in spite of this there "L're ins ^1 of
S..C h prosecutions as late as the end of the eighteenth century ^
i>rury in a religious dispute with the natives of Madac^ascar
^2::pf'' ''^' "^ "^" ^'^^ ^"^ nb less on one sidt than
Ho'w^Z" ^'^^^^^-^^'^^ "^^^^^ ^' ^^^^-' ^^"^'^'^ even
Kabelais « ridicules judicial astrology. Since the Maliommedan
dominion, the fear of witclicraft has ceased in the IndianTrdiT
pelago.;o Coleridge " says : « Fanaticism, the univerLl orig ^
vluch IS m the contemplation of phenomena without inveftiga-
lon into their causes." Coleridge- makes it an argument^in
favour of the inspiration of the Bible, that there is nothing in it
m favour of witchcraft. The Methodists, I suspect, by encouragin..
e notion of witchcraft, prevented it from dying ouUo soon I. it
would otherwise have done.'3 Indeed, in his Journal,'^ Wesley says
; .J't.Tpe's Annals of the Refomation, vol. i. part i. p. 521 : Oxford, 8vo, 1824
l...d. vol. 11. part i. pp. 483, 484.
] ;^,""-cli, l<i:onoB,ie Politique, St. Putersbourg, 181;-,, tome v. p. 301
Cousin, Histoire de la Philosophic, 2ude serie, tonio iii. pp. 372, 373
• ilwd. pronu6re scrip, tome iv. p. .33,
" History of the University of Kdinlnirgli, vol. ii p 320
; ^^I'l.losser's History of the Eigliteonth Century, vol. i. pp. 191, 192
• Drury s Madagascar, 8vo, 1743, p. 181.
J U'luyres : Amsterdam, 8vo, 1 72o, tome ii. p. 93, livro ii. dmp. viii
&.;o trawtords History of the Indian Archip8laLro,8v.M8'>0 vol iii p r
?rary Remains, vol. i. p. 241
See fs.'Mthey-s Life of Wesley, 8vo, 1840, vol. ii
t>vo iHfjI, pp, 002, 713.
'^ Ihid. vol. iv.
pp, 89, 277 •27».
pp. 54,
liO.
I'l
I I
\'\ 1
(tl#i Mil
424
FRAGMICNTS.
i"
(n
that men who disbelieve witchcraft are deists. Besides this, his
journals are full of monstrous stories.
The first-known instance of witclies burnt in England is in the
reign of Henry II.' Wright says 2 that among us, during the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries, sorcery was used 'politically ; after
which began " wliat may je termed par excellence the age of
witclies." Our darkest witch-period was under James I.^ He
says * that credulity about witches " seems to have risen to its
greatest height at the time of the Reformation." During the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was less in England than in
any country,^ and our first statute against it was in 1541."
Wright says : ^ " The great witch persecution in England arose
under the commonwealth." He says : » " In general, the countries
of Northern Europe appear to have been less subject to these
extensive witch prosecutions than the South ; although there, the
ancient popular superstitions reigned in great force." Wright
says" that tlie case of Jane Wenham (in 1712) « is the last
instance of a witch being condemned by the verdict of an EngHsh
jury ; " and the context shows how many of the clergy exerted
themselves to procure her condemnation. Locke, at Montpelier
in 1676, mentions a man who " about four years ago sacrificed a
child to tlie devil." "> Even in 1699, in London, people were
terrified by an eclipse of the sun." In Scotland, the belief in
witchcraft survived tlie belief in England, and to deny it was
atheism.'^ In 1691, witclicraftwas punisliedin France.'^ Moriey'^
says that " Andreas Alciatus, the great jurist of his age," "born
near Como, about 1493," was an opposer of torturing witches, and
apparently disbelieved in witchcraft. He also opposed astrology,
and wished that astrologers should be punished (p. 22).
Witchcraft. Charles 77.— But even in point of morals, the
Restoration was by no means an unmixed evil. The overthrow
of Puritanism by the Independents had gone far to check the
alarming progress of superstition. The magnanimous intellect of
Cromwell was not to be imposed on by the miserable jargon of
priests ; and there is little doubt that, if his life had not been
* Ibid. p. 226.
' Ibid. vol. ii. p. 145.
' See Wright's Sorcery and Magic, 8vo, 18;)1, vol. i. p. 15.
Mbid. p. 24. 'Ibid. p. 179.
» Ibid. p. 227. • Ibid. p. 279.
" Ibid. p. 244. » Ibid. p. 32d.
'° King' Life of Locke, 8vo, 1830, vol. i. p. 119.
" See Evelyn's Diary, vol. iii. p. 372.
"^ See Burt's Letters from tlio North of Scotland, 8vo, 1815. vol. i. pd 220, 221
268, 269.
" See IMnnteil. Hist, des Fr.an^.ais dos Divers YMiB, vol. viii. p. 41.
'« Life of Ciirdun, 1854, vol. ii, p. 21.
H
les this, his
ad is in the
Qg the four-
cally; after
the age of
nes 1.3 He
risen to its
During the
and than in
i in 1541.6
gland arose
lie countries
ct to these
h there, the
!." Wright
is the last
■ an English
irgy exerted
Montpelier
sacrificed a
Deople were
le belief in
ieny it was
'3 Morley"
,ge," "born
pitches, and
d astrology,
)•
morals, the
e overthrow
> check the
intellect of
e jargon of
d not been
p. 226.
vol. ii. p. 145.
pp. 220, 221,
HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT, ETC, 425
prematurely shortened, superstition would have been checked
But this result was hastened by the Restoration. It will be
convenxent to consider these results under the two head of
There are few superstitions which have been so universal as
a behefxn witchcraft. The serene theology of PaganiZ desm'sed
th wretched superstition, which has been greedily Sieved bv
millions of Christians. Even the early Churfh, encumbered with
the most uncouth superstition, did not hold it so Tong as tht
Roman influence predominated in her councils. But when the
weir tt'fiir f '^r ' .'^^ ;"^^P-^-- - the fifth century
we hnd the hist faint indication. In our own country, it was
eageriy adopted. It was reserved for tlie reiLm of Fli^^LVw
enter the first protest. In 1594 (?) ZlinZ Lnmt^^
attacked the p^valent belief. But\i Sett contrlP '"''"
JnlZl' ^r''"';f '' "'="™'" ^^^^"^* "itches bec'ame an
awtul man a. During the years of their rule, more persons wer^
burnt as witches than in the preceding years
chatld^'The^'T" ''' ^T' '°'^ ^^'^^"^-«y ^11 this was
w^e^noiiti^ Puritans were religious bigots. The Independents
onubhc !l 1 ^ r; ^' ^'"^ ^' '^''y ^^tained the name of a
fed mt rf' *'^!{.P^^^-^«d the democratic element, they
aied httle about anything else. The course which CromweU
trr vasT '^^Ir^•^«-l- II- P— d fromtzref
Lhailes II. was thoroughly an idle man. This indifference spread
rapidly from the throne to the court, and slowly frorthe Tomfc
the people. At length Shadwell, one of the mosT wretched
ribblers even of that age, but a man of considerable Uerar-
a r^L't ,f "'r^^' 'I "'^^"^^ ^^^^^^^-^t on the pTbl i
stage. But the caution v.ith which he found it necessarv to
am, as
Ai„i . , 7 ^""' ^ """' "° it is paid of Surlv in the
fd Ce\rr //"'"^ ^' '^^^^^'" ^^' ^^ adds'that he
dt himself bound to represent actual witches; otherwise "it
t mt W ,?''" ''"^^ f '^^^'^^^^^ ^y ^ P^--li«g party, who take
1 1 tha the power of the devil should be lessened." The whole
Lnct.^ ^ '' '° " '"'''' ''^■""- '^^' °^^^^^«t and most foolish
a c er or. represented as believers in witchcraft, the more
1 nr r'l ""•" "^""^^"» ''' ^'' E'^^-^^ Hartford treat^
tlie prevailing opinion with supreme contempt.'
Boyle wrote The Sceptical Cheml.t and the Sceptical
M„i
turaliiit.
i ,
i ' , i ! i "
I I
i \l
i <
5 i
If Mi
Shadwell'H Works, vol. iii. p. 218.
* Ibid. p. 233.
I
I
426
FRAGMENTS.
The establishment of the Royal Society lessened superstition. It
called the attention of men from theology, just as politics had
done before the Restoration. Tlie power of men was increased,
and they despised theology. Besides this, new topics were
introduced. The Ne Plus Ultra contains an able defence of the
Royal Society, and supplies evidence of the hatred felt of it by
some of the clergy.
Rogers ' says that Bishop Parker and his patron, Archbishop
Sheldon, though like the Puseyites, dogmatic as to rites, were
really very sceptical. Rogers quotes Burnet for this, and as to
Parker's love of Rome, he refers to the testimony of Fatlier Petre
in Dove's Life of Marvell.
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH NAVY.
On the 28th of April, 1560, Sir Nicolas Throckmorton writes to Cecil,
" Bend your force, credit and device to maintain and increase
your navy by all the means you can possible ; for in this time,
considering all circumstances, it is the flower of England's
garland." =• In November 1562, the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl
of Pembroke, and the admiral order "that 1,000 of masters and
maryners be prest upon the coast of England next to Newhaven,
to be transported thither for the setting away of the principal
ships lirst that are at this present there." ^ In April 1563, the
Earl of Warwick writes from Newhaven to the Coimcil respecting
a "galley" which it is "necessary" to have, and which "will
occupy nine score and twelve rowars (having forty-eight oars and
four men to every owar), and thirty mariners," &c.'' On the 10th
of May, 1563, Elizabeth orders the lord admiral " to cause 300
mariners to be prested and taken up on the sea-coast next
towards Newhaven, and sent tliitlier with all spede possible." ^
Jacob" says that the 14 Henry VII. cap. 10 "gave encourage-
ment to the construction of ships, and caused the education of a
considerable number of seamen."
In 1761 "copper plates were first used as sheathing on the
,* Alarm' frigate," and, by the year 1780, "the whole British
navy was coppered — an event which may be considered as forming
an important era in the naval annals of the country." ^ It was
jeserved for Davy to discover the mode of arresting the corrosion of
• Essays, 8vo, 1850, vol. i, pp. 69, 70. « Forbes's Elizabeth, vol. i. p. 416.
• » Ibid. vol. ii. p. 172. * Ibid. 382.
• Ibid. p. 415. « History of tbe Prpcions Metale> 8vo, 1831; voL ii, p- 17-
' Parle, Life of Sir Humphry Davy, 8vo, 1831, vol. ii. pp. 224, 226.
HISTORY OF Tin-: KNGLlHir NAVV.
427
otl ers, WP8 ot the greatest importance, but which, owing to some
foTp^P f 7 '^"^°"' advantages which M. ViUers ascribes
The Prench ambassador at London, in a despatch to his o4i
wtrw^;;", ^r^rf ^'''' ^^^^« - — '-^ the ra^id^
™ de Zf t '" ^''■'"'^^ "^^"-^^ ^^«« ^^tillez, et bien
b d ^ 1 month rr^'r" '^ ^"^"^"' ^"'^^^°^' ^"^^^ -- -
men on board « dont les huict centz sont harquebouziers." * ' As
the doiermmation of Elizabeth to luvve a navy, Soame « citt
^z.'^i''-^'^ ^^— ^™ o/'eodrMet;:
n^leolr'"'' "^ ^'P"^"' ^'^'''^ ^'-^"^ "^^ '^ ^ "-««"^1 navy,
ihc people soon perceived that their prince could only oppress
sovte^^^^^ J"^'^"^' ^"'^ '""'''''^ ^'1 the attempts of
ave no IT '"r'^' ^'' ^"' ^^ '^'' "^^^^^ P^^^r they could
people were dTfrr""'' ' '"^ "" ^^'^^^'^^ ^^^ural to a free
coufdinorn •?.?.' '°''^'^^"^' ^'^^^ P°^«^ ^hich alone they
could increase without danger to themselves. The English were
the lirst who built frigates.^ ^"feiifen were
On the 10th of January, 1559, the Duke of Norfolk, in a letter
it:^;Zfr;, %?; Majestie'snavie'V and on'the 8th f
the fS; \'3Y':, ^'f' «^ ^-tblk writes that there were in
e number^ nf ?r . ' '"PP"'")' " ^'' ^^^^J^^tie's seed navie to
IbruaTv if.q I T ?;^'"-^--'" However, on the Ilth of
S to the Pn ' ,'n 5'°''^" ""^ ^'' '^^h^^^^ Chamberiain
ab"ve six V ? "f r'" "' ^'^^'"""^'^ there was «no shipp
crall nor oH "' "' '^" "^^'^'"* '"^"^'^^^ ^^th ordinance!
bJuI l.rn P '. «^"nition,as is requisitt for this voyage."-
«the O '' Ir'^'^.'^f^ ^''^^ the great pkce of assemblage for
the Queene's Majestie's ships." »> *=
J.Z'l ^"^*^t "^^««««n' P- 196," to the effect that Elizabeth's
navy at her death consisted of 42 vessels, but that " none of these
• Corrc.spoMdan..o ,ie Fend.,,. : Paris, 1840. tome iii. p. 269 » ILjd „ ^nr
LI ...othH,, lie ^,„u« lI,..to,.,, p. 91. » Sec Evelvn Diary vol iit" ^ Z'
Ihid, p. 239.
/apurs, lip. 22 J,
ti ii
Mil
,11
1 !l|
'f '1
m .:•]
Ibid, p, S.-j:, .^58.
Ibid. p. 23J
U'
I
: '.
i
428
FRAGMENTS.
ships carried above 40 guns; that 4 only came up to that
number ; that there were but 2 ships of 1,000 tons, and 23 below
500, some of 50, and some even of 20 tons ; and that the wliole
number of guns belonging to the fleet was 774." See in Murdin's
State Papers ' a list of the queen's navy in 1588, where it is said'
that she had 34 ships, bearing 6,225 men, and of 12,190 tons.
This was exclusive of vessels with Sir F, Drake, and also of those
sent by the city of London ; but the entire total of the naval
force opposed by England to the Spaniards was ships 191, tonnage
31,985, men 15,272. In 1592, Elizabeth had 38 vessels, the
amount of their tonnage is not added up.' In 1572, even the
French ambassador confessed that she had " le plus beau et
magniiique equippage de navyres que prince ni princesse de
I'Europe."^ In January, 1573, the French ambassador writes to
liis own court that Elizabeth « a faict presant d'un navyre de 600
tonneaulx, et de deux aultres de 150 tonneaulx, chacun a son
admiral," and that the admiral had given the large one to liis
son and the other two to his relations.'^ In 1543, the bishop of
Winchester and the Lord St. .John write to the earl of Hertford
that, although they cannot give " tlie peculiar declaration of the
furniture of every ship in every port," yet they are " assured that
there be departed from hence and ready to depart from other
ports the number of 160 sail of ships." "
In 1544, the earl of Hertford writes to the Lords of the Council
that there was not enough money in hand to pay " the month's
wages now expired of the captains, soldiers, and mariners of the
fleet, being about 5,000 in number." He says that 30,000^. was
put aside for that purpose.^
It seems that in 1573 it was usual for ships, before engaging,
to hoist a red cross. See Correspondance de Fenelon, tome v.
p. 317 ; but compare p. 319, where it is said that this was done
by merchant vessels in suspicious times.
Had Elizabeth in 1573 a sort of body guard of « neuf cent
harquebousiers ? " ^
In 1574, the French ambassador writes to his court that Eliza-
beth had ordered all her great ships, except four, to put to sea ;
and that 3,000 mariners were already prepared to go on board ;
but that to pay them, she had only appropriated 35,000 ''escus"
although 80,000 would be required, besides the expenses of the
' Pp. 6 J 5-618.
' See Murdin, p. 619
* Correspondance de Fenelon, tome v. p. M6.
• • HitynoBs State Pupers, p. 20.
" See Correspondance de Fenelon, tome v. p. 329,
' P. 018.
For the expense of the navy, see p. 620, &c.
> Ibid. p. 243.
' Ibid. p. 30.
" neuf cent
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE AND INFLUENCE OF LAWYERS. 429
gunpowder.' Sixteen days later he writes » that in f ,
SIX vessels with 2,500 men would ^^7 71. \l T' '^""^'^
he again writes 3 that FH...n , ^° ""^"^^^ afterwards
In June II'^Q th. v ^^'^"^'^ "^viies were at Rochester."
1""^' ^^^^' *he French ambassador writes thnt f),^ Fr, - i
wore fittintr out « nno- .n-n^ri ' • "'^^ces tnat tlie hngiish
thirty ships „f war.' I„ May 15« L ' ' l^""" '" ""
unvictualled Lny of Z l „5 '• *'' T"'"'''''''-'' *"PP'<' "'"'
ADMINISTRATION OP JU.STICE AND INFLUENCE
OF LAWVEKS.
^^rt:^:'^f'''- ThroCmorion^L ^I^
w sLidrr^d^rtC^:":^^^^ is;f ^ t^-^v^^^
fo.e the counsell, neither of them w^yn. JriendTtt^l^^"
inende. most haUe to stoude in stede tPend ZTh ^^\''^'"''
mil declare:' OnJannnwlV i\ro !i ''T' V ^^"^ J'^^^hmerit
Cecil respecting; a .tn 1 ^ ' ' '", "^"'^ "* ^"^^^^ ^^"^es to
^^ays- "Hets^v ??^^"'"^^!^ concerned in the rebellion. He
y^ . He IS my wife s cousin, and therefore, if any seek to be^
; Correspondanco de Fenelon, tome vii. p. 96. . j^a. p. 1„. ' ,
'Wd.p. 204 ' ,Ti-, 'Ibid. p. 144.
■; Ibid, tome iii. pp. 295. 296 ^^ ^^" ' '"1 '?. '^^ '^- PP' 219, 220.
^ol. i. pp. 443_ 444_ ibid, tome iv. pp. 80, «1,
n|i
f iP'
T-
: !( !
;:( !
I '• 1 •
I -h A
it i ]\
' n
■,(*)( I
i
430
FRAGMENTS.
^
M'
I
':'•
d
him, I beseech you to procure his stay in the queen's majesty's
hands." '
In Ormerod's History of Cheshire ' tliere is a curious letter from
Sir Ralph E}j;erton, sheriff of Cheshire, to John Talhot, in which
he promises to summon a jury of his own appointment, provided
Talbot does not name any of his relations on it, as in that case
they might be cliallenji;ed. The jury had to try a lawsuit re-
specting property, to which Talbot was one of the chief parties.
The letter is dated 3rd March, 1579. There were men who made
a trade of serving on juries and selling their verdicts. These, in
the sixteenth centiu-y, were so well known a body as to have a
distinct name, and were called " Kingleadeit, of Inquests."'
In 1601, Ben Jonson attacked the lawyers in The Poetaster.*
Livery of seisin was rarely effected except by open force : and
each party used to have their friends well armed. This is alluded
to in 1609 in Ben Jonson's Works.' In The Magnetick Liuiy,
written in 1632, Ben Jonson attacks the partiality of a " London
jury." ^ Indeed, false swearing was so common that a particular
word was invented for those wretches who systematically perjured
themselves for money. Such hirelings were called Knights of the
Post.'
In 1627, we find a complaint "that if one have ten shillinj^s
owing him, nay, five or less, he cannot have it but by suit in liiw
in some petty court, where it will cost thirty or forty shillinjjs
charge of suit." * Even the satirio Nash pays a high compliment
to the legal eloquence of his time.'' Rich,'" after speaking favour-
ably of the law, adds : " Our Inns of Court now, for the gn-ater
part, are stuffed with the offspring of farmers, and with all other
sorts of tradesmen ; and these, when they have gotten some few
scrapings of the law, they do sow the seeds of suits."
It is supposed that Calixtus, in 1630, was the first who raised
religious ethics to a science ; but M. Villers says," "qu'en lo77
avait deja paru a Geneve celui de Lambert Daneau ou Danieus
intitule Ethices Christiana3 libri tres, et ou la morale religieuse
est traitee methodiquement."
On horrible judicial cruelties, see Spottiswoode's History of the
> Sh<arpe'8 Memorials of 1569, 8vo, 1840, pp. 167, 158, In a note is iinother
curious begging letter.
2 1819, vol. ii. pp. 241, 242.
' See Stow's London, edit. Tlioms, 8vo, 18i2, p. 72.
• See Ben Jonson's Works, 8vo, 1816, vol. ii. p. 404. • Ibid. vol. iti. p. 4'il'
• Ibid. vol. vi. pp. 60, 61. ' Middleton's Works, vol. v. p. oI2.
• HarleiAU Miscellany, edit. Park, vol. iii. p. 211. " Ibid. vol. vi. ?■ 176.
" Honestie of this Age, 1614, Percy Soc. vol. xi.
" £«Bai dur la Bcformation, Paris, 1820, p. 265.
(]. vol. iii. p. ■t'll'
•ks, vol. V. p. nl2.
id. vol, vi. p. 176.
Amn.v,™..r,ON o,.- ju^cE ank .ni-.u^k of uwvkr.. .431
Church of Scotland, i n 91'7. ni. i > ,%
-scotknd, v„l. i. p.471 ';!,•;• ^''3"^"' ^°">^'*« ^nnal, of
Sctland, vol. i. p !)11 "^^ ^"^^ ''"'^'"'»»'> s Histoiy of
!.","« iu Franc, w,. in tlt^oi^n'o^atX """'' *"""" ™
by gift- or hy pr„„,i.o. „„» k„„„'a° tl oTrimc of Pr;°°" """'
Hla.k»to„o says, "freq„e„tinK honJof Tf ^"^^'^'^'r/
able offence." 3 Kor this hecite«"pZ 208 ••Th!f° "n" ""'•'•■'■
.0 common in the rei.m of Kli^, ^^^he forcible entries,
5 Kie. II. ,Stat. I. c. 8 Ft Va, o der':^"; J^h: r'""" ', "",' "' ""=
. ould be peaceable and easy , • and t„ '20 Zm'^JZ^^
Ibrt, If in case of illegal disseisin, on which thrmrtt Hi T
-ered le«al seisi,,, the disseisor 'shall pro e i traldilT:;'' he"
toll be imprisoned, and by a later statute, .52 Hen ill cT"l, n
^ fined. To which penalties the 13 Edi^. I. " 26 added d ll
damages to tlie party injured > In 1 UK ,1 . ""'''''
yers used to leav'e lindi ulj^ ut't^s'^Z'orrV:^:
sought after witli great ea.^erness " •« °''^'' '^^^^""g^ they are
forme D'Ajjuesseau • il ., „^T / ' '' " '"^P're «' Presque
%elar„u'teT::te; f rr&rir 'Y"^"-'""' "'
«i. .», Which, he says, were JZJJZ'jt't'iZ
' fiSr'' ^''?"^' ^^°' ^°"''°°' ^810' ^ol- i- P- 172.
Bluckstone, vol. iv. p. 140 . 7,
; Bkekstone, 8vo, 1809, vol. iii. p. 179 . ^■.''/"'"•'"Kyol. iv. p. 64.
ee Haines's State Papers, p. 7' ' * , ^ J" " '"• ?• ^««-
Ibid. p. 195 •"^'''' P- lo9.
;; J^«".« on JDi«turba„ces in Ireland, 8vo, 1836, p. I'ss!'"''"'" ''''' ^'^'"'' P" ^^S-
toumn s Littiraturc, Paris. 1840, tome iii. p. 151.
r t
i wU
I i V
m
,iA" I
lU
M'
432
FRAGMENTS.
'(
allowances enough.* In the same part ' he well points out the
real diflFerence which is and ouf/ht to be between law and justice.
St. Basil orders for murder a penance of tweaty years ; for apo-
stasy a penance of " a whole life." This is quoted by Collier, who
considers it a model of wisdom.'
Bucer wished to have " those crimes capitally punished in all
commonwealths which were death by the law of Moses ; " and he
particularly mentions among such crimes those who recommended
a false religion, or who broke the Sabbath.* As to the oatli ex
officio, see the contemporary authorities in Soamey's Elizabethan
Keligious History, pp. 403-405. At the end of Elizabeth's reign
grew up the custom of stopping the ecclesiastical cuurts by pro-
hibitimis from Westminster Hall.*
The bishop of Asaph has collected some ir^iancea of the venality
of justice in the reign of Elizabeth." On Uie absurd theory of an
original compact, see Lord Brougham's Political Philosophy.^ He
says," Hobbes " was the first writer who put forth a philosophical
statement of the doctrine of the original or social compact." He
observes,' that even in 1314 we find the doctrine of Reriistance
supposed to be originated in a.d. 1688.
Lord Brougham looks on expediency as the basis of all law and
government. Political Philosophy, 2nd edit. 8vo, 1849, vol. i.
pp. 46, 50, 494. See p. 69, where he seems to consider the judi-
cial forces more important than the legislative power. Lord
Brougham has observed that the introduction of so beautiful and
scientific a system as the civil law tended in Europe to raitie the
reputation of the men who studied it, and thus increase the dignity
of lawyers."* Lord Brougham asserts most positively that members
of Parliament should not be paid ; and he notices that in other
professions men do not mind confessing that all their property is
derived from it, while no man would make such a confession as
regards politics." It seems likely that the notion of an original
compact had its rise in the Saxon engagements between a man
and his hlaford.''^ W-):)n tlie judges were made for life, I suppose
their power lessened. Monte? \uieu we^l rn.ys : " Dans toute ma-
gistrature, il faut c ir^penscr ia grandeur de la puissance par la
« Ibid. p. 265, 266.
* Ibid. p. 117.
" Philosophy of History, 8vo, 1846, pp. 265, 266.
» Ecclesiastical History, vol. v. p. 260, 8vo, 1810.
• Soames's Eliz. Relig. History, p. 616.
• History of the Church of England, 8vo, 1847, p. 283, and as to the oath ex officio,
see p. 301.
' 2nd edit. 8vo, 1849, vol. i. pp. 34-38. « Ibid. p. 39.
. • Ibid. pp. 69, 60. »» Political Philosophy, vol. i. p. 342.
" Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 30, 32.
" See Allen on the Royal Prerogative, 8to, 1849, pp, 66-68.
B oath ex officio,
ADM.m3TBATI0K0F,trsTrCEA.^,K.,. .c. OF LAWV^, ,33
brievet^ de sa duree " ' Wif Vi *k •
always become less severe » Mnnf "''''^''' ,"^ ^^^^"''^^ P^°«l ^^^ws
du citoyen," and * " CW it f nl 1 ° P^^^^P^l^^^ent la liberty
crirnineLs^iren^chaqrepein dTla J; '^ '^'"*' '"^^'l"^ ^^ ^^^
Written libels will be tolemted fn "^^'"^^P^^^icdi^re du crime."
tocracies.' He seemi to thtl T. "^"^''^hies; punished in aris-
to ta.es, he ^.i^Z^: B^^J^^'^^^^^^^^^ l^^^e. As
la personne, la proportion injuste serait . n "' ^'"^P^^ ^«
meat la proportion des biena ; " andTe Jd ^jl"; '"^'^"' ^■^"«*-
certain sum necessary to him and th.t tlS f "'7^'"^ «"« ^'«« a
The freer the government fh?"''""^^ °"<^ be taxed.
Montesquieu ^Z 1^112 tTU^'T'lT^ *^^' ^^-^
take away a man's, life.« He wdl savs thl; , '' T '^^^^^^^ *«
do with repentance '<> I nn\LZ 'T, *^^<^ ^^^« 'lave nothing to
underrated'the ^Ln.^TlT'^^^''^^ "/^^^ '^^^^»-«^-«
siderable experience in InLZn I' ^^''^"' ^'^^ ^^« had con-
that transpLatfon I n t rareTbt"" ''^ ??^"^" ^^-•«-
gravely adds: '3 «NothinrJT ^ ^^/m^nals.'^ Mr. Alison
-ntal^rinciples^^tL^^r J :^^^^^^^^^^^ ^'- ^-cia>
he has thrown much light on them Ti! ' ^ '^°"^<^ «*^
gistracy.u He dislikes'impr^sonrnt and re'"" "Y^P"' "^^
the second offence transnnrfn^f u ',! , recommends that "for
Adam Smith coTpS ^ ^^^^^^^^^^
of all sciences by far the mo.f il . f ''natural jurisprudence,
least cultivated." t? ^ ^^Portant, but hitherto perhaps the
In 1585, Fleetwood, recorder of T^n^^r, -l
"It i, growen for a tride Mw „ tht 1°1T ' ,"" ^"■•«"'*y =
reprieves ; twenty noMrl, fJT ■ *" ""''"' ■n«™es for
be but f„; bare teVdaiL " .^^m iT'I fl T*";"/' ^"^™«'' ''
■ingham, from which it would ap4!r'tw?H " T"' '""" ^'^l-
fdons to the galley, wa, then veT^^f X'TV ^^"""-S
p. 116, Camden Soe. P„r „r„of If tlTi, ^"^'"' ^"P^"'
tfce course of law at the end of the ,t IJ"'^ ■■>terfe,ence with
";-«ious of British «i:i^ utZ:T7',TT^
Ibid. chap. iii. p. 281. ■ , i°\^- ''^'■« ^''- chap. li. p, 280
" Ibid. chap. xix. p. 289. , Z . ' "^""^P- ^'''- P- 286.
' Montesquieu, pp 226-228 , ru-f ^'^'"^ '''"• "^^*P- vii. p. 294
: fr' f « I-i«. li-e xxvi. chap. xii. pp 426 427 '' "^ ''''
■= 27 -.of Population, 8vo. [340, /oLi p.'aa/'
|bid. vol. 11. pp. 137^ 138 P-^^-'-
'Ibid. p. 139.
' Theory of Moral
Wrigi;
" Ibid. p. 139.
ins
Sentim
lilizabeth
ipnf^. 1822, vol. ii. p. 60.
11
Ibid,
pp. 140, 143.
1838, vol
. p. 24r.
F F
:Yll
434
FRAGMENTS.
■ti
) i> \
Sk
Twysden on the G-overnment of England, Camden Society,
vol. xlv.
It was usual ir the sixteenth century to hang pirates at the
lov^er water-mark at Wapping.' lu 1562, the lord keeper advises
Parliament " to make your laws as few and as plain as may be." ^
In 1584, the archbishop of York seems to taunt the House of
Commons vath having many young members.^ Cousin says ^hat
the object of penal laws should be to punish crime in proportion
to its viciousness, not in proportion to its effects on society.'' Be-
fore 1710 neither the Koman law nor the municipal law of Scot-
land were taught in any of the Scotch univernties.'
By the system of ecclesiastical laws drawn up by Craiiiner,
adultery, either in man or woman, was punished by " banishment
or perpetual imprisonment." ®
According to the Malagasy laws, a man who breaks maliciouslj one
of his neighbour's limbs is " fined fifteen heads of cattle, which
is delivered to the party injured " ; and wlioever robs his neighbour
of an ox or cow " is obliged to restore it tenfold." ' Hooker « an-
ticipates the argument of Coleridge against universal suffrage. In
the thirteenth century we find something like the social compact
laid down by a Persian moralist.^ In 1078, Locke seems to hold
it.'" Schlegel " says that, during the 180 years between the con-
sulate of Cicero and the death of Trajan, was developed the science
of jurisprudence, " the only original intellectual possession of
greac value to which the Romans can lay undisputed claim."
Alison ^^ ascribes to Mackintosh the great principle that punish-
ment should be certain, ignorant that Beccaria first laid it down.
Lord Campbell says,'^ " in the reign of Henry VIII. there were
72,000 executions."
On the opening of the Lemslative Assembly, in October 1791,
"I'extreme jeunesse s'y faisait remarquer en foule." '^ Charles
' See p. 351 of Mr. NichoVs Notes to Mtichyn's Diary, London, 1848, p. 351.
» D'Ewes' Journal of Parliament, 1682, p. 66.
» D'Ewes' Journal of Elizabeth, p. 360.
* Histoire de la Philcsophie, 2nde sorie, tome iii. pp. 189, 190.
» Tytler's Life of Kamos, Minburgh, 1814, vol. i. p. 15.
• Todd's Life of Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 29.
» Drury's Madapafica/, K\-o, 1742, p. 240.
« Ecclesiastical Polity, Book L, sect. 7, Works, vol. i. p. 90.
" See Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, vol. i. pp. 29, 30.
>» See King's Life of Locke, 8vo, 1830, vol. i. p. 217.
» Lectures on the History of Literature, i. 159.
" Hist, of Europe, vo'. ix, p. 621.
i» Lives of the Chiincellors, vnl. ii. p. 231.
»* Lamartine, Histoire des Girondins, Bruxelles, Svo, 1847, tome 1. p. 252.
ADMimSTKATION OF ^STIO. .KI, I.P.,,kcE OP LAWYERS 4.35
compared with Mr. jt ce laoTlll p" """r'' "'"' -" '«
In Hoktein or Schkswlt "f, Commentaries."
father's land.- Lamg Ls th-rtl, . ? ' '""""'* *" 'l'<"
feudal >,„p,,™a. noctCLue ei t't Z Tf'"' '" "'«
land was formerly a sort of boni J Iw,' ","'"' '"'''«"« "'«
being a man-at-arms in tie Iwot?™ 4? /,■ ''" "O" P'"''™-''
.Kat the "Mercheta mu.trrnm™;^!^ ^- r/ "^'"""'"^"'^
Cj::l:S:i«i ""it;: 'r ^f^,--^' --
»ay»:' "L'Angleterre n'ayant S d,' :? '• T°<^1"<=ville
pent dire ,„;on change saronstiS,,?; 'ZtZit"^ "'"
ducngfree institutions among a people not n'n f ''., '"•''°-
pears from what has taken place in^exico" "iZ. IT "^
favour of universal suffrao-e in wl.,Vl, m , °"1"«""« " is in
i" the American Senate, "h sly Uhat'dTr '''^ ^'°"'™« "»
rious in preventhc, produetionTh^n t t ,?""' "' '""'" ''«"-
He well says, that I ^^^^ "^ ^ n^ot^^efT."^ '"'"^•
J,; "Louis xi.';:rtL it is°rd':::id':7yt:„"".''^:
century, use^thrC' il la^ " bTC nTl", f t°' "'" *'"''""""'
nty,;: though Lord Campbell ■. "^ret, hat "Hh"' ""*"' ."""'"-
English lawyers" have always preSd he„ ^'^.P^J'-d-ces of
of the civil law. Sir William de ™ ,"'""*'' "<"■" "»»
fourteenth century.was c hteHttie? T,'' '" "'r° "''''"'' »''!"'
" from an obscure oXTn r °V '"' '''^' '"""^ Campbell,"
a churchman-a ve,T^ nu™ , : ''°"''' """^ "O"""' "'»"»"' being
law was beeominJwha til ' t ! '™"f- '" '""'^ ^'^^ ' t-"' '^e
which the middling ad ItrTn'krLF',' °T """^ «"' ''^
with the aristocracf, prevent3 1 1 e ^ ^''""' ""'" '""'"<' "P
ioto the two castes'^f^rbTe' "o'd o X wl,:,::": ™'"'"™"'
'«s in the continental states." FroTthe fi ten ^ ? '" '"•"'■
•he re.,„ of Charles U., judges of the hi^^ ^nt uTd' Z'^l^e
Reminiscences, vol. i. p. lie.
• History of Europo, vol. i. p. 199
Ibid. vol. ii. p. 20.
' IW<1. p. 16'2,
Civil Wars in France, 8vo, 1852, vol.
... ...xLiiLC, OVO,
•Liives of the Chief Justices
' Laing'g Denmark, pp. 139_ 140
Democrntio onAmcirique, vol. i.'p. 31].
Ibid. p. 138. ^
' Ibid. vol. ill. p. 23.
'; vol. i. p. 63
I. p. 101
F r 2
Ibid. vol. i. p. gj>.
I-
!'■
r M 'I
ii! 11
:' :,
436
FRAGMENTS.
h i
" differences privately by arbitration, on the voluntary submission
of the parties." ' Lord Campbell says : ' " Till Lord Coke arose
in the next generation, England can scarcely be said to have seen
a magistrate of constancy, who was willing to surrender his place
rather than his integrity." And on the merit of Coke, see p. 239.
Since 1628, "torture has never been inflicted in England."' For
lawyers, " the full bottom wig, and the three-cornered cocked hat
were introduced from France after the Restoration.* Hale was a
great student of Roman law.** The coif, " to conceal tlie want of
clerical tonsure." '^ Commercial law began under Chief Justice
Holt.^ Holt put an end to receiving evidence respecting the
antecedents of a prisoner. He also procured an act to allow wit-
nesses for the prisoner to be examined on oath ; ^ but he always
employed " the French system " of interrogating the prisoner.'
Lord Mansfield was appointed chief justice in 1756. " His first
bold step was to rescue the bar from the monopoly of the leaders."'"
" He formed," says Campbell," " a very low, and, I am afraid, a
very just estimate of the common law of England which he was
to administer." He almost created the law of insurance.'* " He
likewise did much for the improvement of commercial law in
this country by rearing a body of special jurymen at Guildhall,
who were generally returned on all commercial causes to be tried
there." '* Lord Campbell says : " " After Bacon, Mr. Justice
JUackstone was the first practising lawyer at tlie English bar who,
in writing, paid the slightest attention to the selection or colloca-
tion of words." Descartes '^ says laws should be few, but ^vell kept.
Liebig '" well says : " In times in which the means of detecting
poisons with the greatest certainty were not yet known, the rack
was used to make the discovery." Tocqueville '^ well says that the
institution of trial by jury is more beneficial politically than
judicially : it makes men feel responsible, and gives them a sense
of power. " Je ne sais si le j ury est utile a ceux qui ont des
proces : mais je suis sur qu'il est tr^s utile a ceux qui les jugent."'
Comte '* opposes the abolition of punishment of death. Mr. Mill
' Campbell's Chief Justices^ vol. i. p. 135»
« Ibid. p. 207.
<• Ibid. p. 392.
• Ibid. p. 482.
» Ibid. p. r)18.
« Ibid. p. 72.
' Ibid. vol. ii. p. 137.
" Ibid. pp. 140, 141
» Ibid. p. 171.
'» Ibid. p. 398.
n Ibid. p. 402.
'•' Ibid. p. 40o.
" Ibid. p. 407.
'* Ibid. p. 5G6.
" Dti 111 Methode, in CEuvres, vol. i. p. 141.
'« Letters on Chemistry, 8vo, 1851, p. 29."!.
" Demoeratie on Ami'riqne, tome iii. p;>. 'z"j-26,
28, 29.
" Philosophie Positive, vol. iv. p. 123.
ADMINLrPATION OF JUSTICE AND INFLUENCE OF LAWYERS. 437
ts^nttan;"'"^^ '^''f ''^' of association, ideas sprung
bfenC hroTo^ ^ "''"^^^\^^^^ --^^^-^ -« the sensations'^hav!
rtsoftsZ^^^^ "^^ ^^ ^^^d«= "Of witnesses in
w tnles Iw: 1 Wi '^ '""'^^^^ ^^^"'^ eye-witnesses and ear-
oTeTZtZiT ''""^ "^ '^' chronological order; in
otneiwoids, the ideas occur to them in the order in which the
inventing rarely adhere to the chronological order." •
wrftten nT'sfT';''' ' l^'''^^ '"^" Lady Blount to CWvell,
f an ea V ei^^^ ^' ''^^ ^'^y^' "^«-'J« ^ «""ous specimen
n X in !] "m '"'^ •'^"'^^'^"" ' ""' ^^1- "i- P- 315 there is
take ea " 1 n ■^' "^ '''^' '' '''' ^'^'^^ ^^-^"^ them
^ood o2 r H T ^T/''"^'°^'^ ^° Parliament "men given
10 gooa Older, Catholic and discreet."
In 1614, it was usual to fine drunkards five shillings =» Eurlv
to fc*,!!;",''''^'" "' """"^ "•• ""■• d^matisto constantly dlude
'^459 ^'"" "'"''• Middleton's Works, 8v„, 1840, ii. 364 ;
vo.'.'n?f Col ir; Tsr '° ''"""^"•»'" ^'°*^' «™' '«^»'
■!oV? ■^"' Pf ''' "" ^'^^^^' proclamations were put..''
abovetl^ndU'V ".^'^P^.^'^--^ ^^^ abundantly show that
vher/fl f ?' ^'"'''"'^^ ^"•'^^ ^^-^^^ disputed facts, for one
vh e the law is doubted of." At the accession of Mary 1. it was
necessary again to accredit the French ambassador at her court"
» fr''^?!r',°^'''''^''™°"^^"'^°f 'he Mind, 8vo, 1829, vol i p f,8
L tors of I „yal and Illustrious Ladies, 8vo, 1846, vol. ii^^. IC7 108
'i^d^^i'ir'^"-^-^-^"- ^ibia.voi.^v.;4r
' Commentaries edit. Christian, ]809, vol. iii. p. 330.
Ambassades de Noailles, Leyde, 1763, tome if. p. 96.
■m
i,
I m
1'^
^1
n If
Ii
I
i
t
'U
ll
11
438
FRAGMENTS.
NOTES FOR HISTORY OF MONEY AND PRECIOUS
METALS.
In France, in 1563, a crown was worth 6s. 8d. English money."
( )rmerod says : ^ " According to Stow » and a MS. chronicler,*
Richard the Second selected Beeston for the custody of his treasure
rnd jewels, to the immense amount of 200,000 marks."
Storch says ^ that in the time of Charlemagne the purchasing
power of silver was four times as great as in the beginning of the
nineteenth century. He adds:« « I^ decouverte des mines
d'Amerique a lepandu dans le monde environ dix fois plus
d'argent qu'il n'y en avait auparavant ; cependant il n'a Itiit
baisser sa valeur en Europe que dans les proportions de qiiatre a
un." Jacob, who was not acquainted with the researches of
Storch, says that diu'ing the sixteenth century the effect on price
was as three to one.^ Storch supposes » that the depreciation
of the value of the precious metals reacned its lowest point
between 1650 and 1700. See also^ Storch's estimate of the
production and consumption of the precious metals since the
discovery of America, where he seems chiefly to have followed
Humboldt. See also '« an estimate of the circulating capital of
Europe. In valuing Roman money, Storch follows Gamier," and
he evidently thinks the price of corn is a decisive evidence of
the value of money, a mistake into which he fell in common
with all the earlier political economists.'^ He says '^ that just
before the discovery of America, the proportionate value of gold
to silver was as one to ten, or one to twelve. And he adds '*
tjiat until 1545 Europe received more gold than silver. He
says '5 that Denmark and France are the only two countries
which do not add some seignorage, besides reimbursing them-
selves for the cost of coining. In September 1553, " 7,000 livres
sterlings" were "21,000 or 22,000 escuz sol;" '6 and a few
months later, Noailles writes from London, "20,000 livres de
' Forbes's Elizabetli, vol. ii. p. 470.
= History of Cbeshiro, 1819, vol. ii. p. 147. ' Annals, p. 321.
■• Hurl. MSS. 2111. 98.
' Economie Politiqu.-, St. Petersbourg, 8vo, 1815, tomo ii. pp. 199, 200.
« Ibid, tomo iii. p. fiO. 7 History of the Precious Metals.
» Economie Politique, St. Petersbourg, 8vo, 181.5, tomo iii. p. 64.
» Ibid, tome vi. pp. .')7-70, note x. '« Ibid. pp. 76-83, note xii.
" I''»l- tome ii. p. 288. 12 Ibid, tomo iii. pp. 60, 64.
" I^"<^- P- <56. M Ibid. p. 67.
'5 Ibid, p, 93.
'" Ambassades de Noailles, Leyde, 1762, tome ii. p. 137.
NOTES FOR HISTORY OF MONEY AND PRECIOUS METALS. 439
ceste monnoye est de la notre environ 65,000 escus sol • » ' and
Stn '''''k™/^^^^^^"^ ^^"^ ^"^^^- 40,000 eL so^
The Venetian ambassador m 1557 says that there were « many of
the staplei-s-those to whom the exportation of wool is committed
-possessed of from 50,000 to fif^000 sterling; all or the ™ter
part .s ready '3 j ,,,,^ g-, ,,^^^^.^ j^J^' W brought tto
MtT't 000 ''^- ';r^^'.' ^' ^"^^^' ^"^ 1«1 lbs. oTgoTd;
n l^^o'. ' nT^°' ^^'"^'^b ^^^-^ ^^"^1 t« 2,000/. sterling.*
^.l' ^i; n. """'" '"""^^ ^'^- ^^^'^-^ I« 1572, florins were
wor h three shillings and fourpence.^ In 1573, the ^rice of s Zr
in England was U. Os. lO^d. an ounce.« In 1583, seven Freneh
erLo'oT" ^»r.>^^^'^-' ^^ 1569, 60,000/. sterling
Inl571, 2,000 marks were equal to 4,000 crowns.'^ In 1575
0/. sterling were - cent, livres tournoys." - In September 1574
ene on writes that some Germans, Dutch, and French in England
ad orged 1,000,000 crowns of the coin of France, Spat and
landers, and that they had done this with the secret' permi'ssion
f some of L izabeth's Council.^ These forgeries were so admiiwy
executed that they could not be distinguished from the originals -^
and when some of the coiners were arrested, Elizabeth's Council
Int oT the ""^'-'^ '^'}' Egerton Papers,.U,here is an aC
count of the money coined between 1586 and 1590. See '»
her s assertion that, in 1602, " money was of about five times
say that the specie in France in the fourteenth century was ten
monnf !f ''?/""?' ""^'"'^ '^ ''^' 500,000,000. On the
Telv bf n " ".^^^^"^^P^ has received from America, see
of "N^^'tLnt pp 75!8r^ ''^^'^" '''''' '"''^''^ ^-^^^'^ ^^-l^h
; Ambassados de Noailles, Leyde, 1762, tome iii. p. 120.
' Michele's Report in Ellis's Original Letters, 2nd series vol ii n ooq
; f- M-d;n's State Papers, pp. 539. 540. ^ Il.id.'p Isl; '"
■P-'^l'. 'Ibid. p. 241.
' Il'id. p. 244.
;; Co>-respo„dance Diplomatique de Fenelon, Paris. 1840." fome ii. p. Ul
pp. ultl: Z "■ '"■ '''' ''' ' ^°"^^ "•■ PP' ^'2- 271 ; tome v.'p. ..13;
" Ti,;,i i ' •' ,„ "^ IbiJ. tome iv. n. 215
" Ibid n^o '■ '• ' '"' "^ '■ '''- '' ''^'^- pp- '*'• '^2
I'Pnisnio^p , „ ■ '" Ibid. pp. 245. 246.
'» hL 'j""^' ^''""^^ S'-"'-'y- . " Ibid. p. 347.
^^ H.. re des Fran.;a,s des Divers Etats, tome ii. p. 256
ibia. tome vii. p. 163.
tome vi.
!«!
'!»
1
iV
I;
^ hi
' •!
I'^l
t
h
3 1
1 1
I i
1
4rl0
FRAGMENTS.
HISTORY AND INFLUENCE OF THE ARISTOCRACY.
Elizauktii, at her accession, finding all the old nobility Cutliolics,
■was obliged to seek her ministers among men of a lower rank.
This paved the way for the decline of tlie aristocracy, and the
wretched insurrection of 1569 nat»iraUy induced tlie qiieim to
throw all her weight into the scale opposed to those haiiglity
nobles who had dared to dictate to her. The duke of Norfolk
was a Protestant. Elizabeth put Essex to death. Leiecstcr
sprung from the very dregs of the people. His grandfather was
Dudley, the wretched and base-born confidant of Henry VII. (?)
• ••••'•• «
There was yet another circumstance which knit together the
English aristocracy, and gave them the character of a caste. I
allude to the universal custom of younger brothers of rank going
to serve as pages in families of the nobility. This multiplied
their points of contact, and made them more personally ac-
(piainted with each other than they otherwise would have been.
See a remarkable conversation in The New Inn, acted in 1(529. '
Dr. Paris, whose prejudices, if he has any, are certainly not
democratic, says : " In England, we may in vain search amonj^st
the aristocracy for one who feels a dignified respect for tlie
sciences."^ And a century has jrnst elapsed since Dr. Shebbeare
wrote : " No man of letters is acceptable to the great; they look
on him as a kind of satire on their actions, and feeling within
their own vacuity, are by no means pleased with beholding in
another what they want themselves." ^
Dekker * says : " You mistake if you imagine that Pluto's
porter is like one of those big fellows that stand like giants at
lords' gates, having bellies bumbailed with ale, in lamb's wool,
and with sacks, and cheeks strutting out like two footballs, being
blown up with powder beef and brewis."
As the monarchical power declined, the aristocratic power rose,
and the Church was not strong enough to keep it down. It re-
mained for Elizabeth to destroy their moral power. Thouj>h
other great sovereigns had diminished their wealth and abridged
their privileges, Elizabeth was the first who systematically ex-
cluded them from her counsels. Mr. Hallam ^ says that the
* Ben Jonson's Works, 8vo, 1816, vol. v. pp. 332, 333.
* Life of Sir Humphry Davy, Svo, 1831, vol. ii. p, 181.
* Angeloni's Letters on the English Nation, Svo, 1755, vol. ii. p. 14.
* Knights Conjuring, 1007, p, 4.5, Percy Soe., vol, v.
* Constitutional History, vol. i. p. 131.
HCTOUY AND INFLUENCE OF THE AWSTOCRACY. 441
i« prolMl.lo from B ir,fM„ .^ ".?'''' "'"«'"•"'' '""' "'"t it
«y» that the i:n«!i.h nobi itv " ^ r .f"'''™ =""'«'-'«l"'
from tho city."' He aH H * ,, ? '""'« """'fy, rc,„„te
fell with cliivalry. Fivdon.-I. <sM , ''^''' ^"«^'^'«'acy
of chivary and the vvlw.h. Tr, "*;-'^ ''^'iy« • iJ»o heroic spirit
country, if we except the «pS.' is tt -f ""' P'"''"^ ''^' ""
NurtJnunberland was incited tf' , "^'"^^ '" conspicuous." =«
having gra^ited awa; T^^^Z t^ 1 '" r '''' '^ ^^^^ ^1"^^"
the duke of Norfolk was iiecu !^ "" "" '"^"^"'- ^" ' '^^72
son, the ea.-l of Arundd wn« '. "J '"*.'" ^^^erwards his eldest
HnoHient. The T^Tol' T ^'T^ '"^ "^ ^''^ ^"^^ '" -«""
• t"^ ^'"^ "I -North umber and was thrown ,-T.f.> +i
m power.' Lord Hroi,>,i,,,n ft^ <lce ,„es, the aristocracy rises
.f the savages who dSS tZ^'Z "^If "*'' '"T",""™
Itution of rank and nowf.r ..r..i ' P"^' "^9^^ ^^'^ present distri-
.raced to tht tr^ md'tS^o'? r"'^ ""^ ''" '" '^
Brougham says," " The first m en f '"'™*'* '"''"''■"
IWard the /cJond's rti/n „ itrfj'.f™*-- ™ «™W i"
pose, a blow to the aristocrLy. At'Z. i^!, Uilsl T ,""■"
which the uristocrati power s,at2^^,r ? >? r"" '"■'*™^ "'
W arrd .est IJ^Z^^Z ---I » ,~ -
^oanies's Elizabethan Religious History pin 4 tv ,
' Ibid. p. 306 PlJilosophy, 2ud edit. 8vo, 1849, vol. i. p. 78
•Ibid. p. 304* " T!'if!. p. 315.
" Ibid. vol. iii. p. 217. II r,^!^ '■°'- '•• P- 19-
"Ibid. p. 232.
il MM
I
'
J'!
li
ii'
i
1
■\
442
FRAGMENTS,
the barons and of all landed proprietors was exceedingly increased
by the famous statute De Donis, which allowed tliem to entail
their real property, and tluis to sustain the landed aristocracy."
During tlie Wars of the Roses, the old nobility was almost extin-
guished, and a further increase was given to the royal power by
the state of its finances. Almost all the concessions made by the
Crown had been the result of its pecuniary difficulties; but
Henry VII. was not thus embarrassed, for he was avaricious, and
"was the first king since Henry HI. who ever lived within his
income." '
Mr. Alison seems to think it of Divine origin, for he gravely
says of the " gradation of ranks " that " it may safely he con-
cluded that it is intended to answer some important purpose in
the economy of nature";'* and yet this same celebrated Tory
writer confesses the low tastes of many of our aristocracy ; ^ but
lie takes for granted * that it is the " hereditary aristocracy which
forms the great political distinction between the eastern dynasties
and the European monarchies," r.nd hence he infers * the neces-
sity of primogeniture ; but he opposes entails.^
Schiller ascribes to Charles V. the policy of impoverishing the
aristocracy of the Low Countries by sending them on expensive
embassies : " Unter dem scheinbaren Vorwande von Ehrenbezeu-
gungen."'' In 1585, Leicester was charged with improperly as-
suming the title of "excellency," but to this he replied that
strangers had always so called him ever since he had been made
an earl.8 In 1500, an intelligent observer remarked of the
English that " every one, however rich he may be, sends away his
children into the houses of others, whilst he in return receives
those of strangers into his own." » Ranke seems t' ' 'n Italy,
in the sixteenth century, the aristocratic spirit wa: v in the
north than in the south.'" See also " some interestif, '-son
the rise of the aristocratic principle in Italy early in u ^teenth
century, shown by the general introduction of titles, &c. In
1669, Pepys met " a country gentleman," who spoke "about the
decay of gentlemen's families in the country, telling us that the
old rule was, that a family might remain fifty miles from London
one hundred years, one hundred miles from London two hundred
' Brougham's Political Philosophy, vol. iii. p. 251.
2 Principles of Population, 8vo, 1840, vol. i. p. 89.
' Ibi'l. vol. ii. p. 93. * Ibid. p. 50.
' I'''J- PP- 50, 51. 8 Ibid. pp. 57, 58.
' Abfall der Niederlande in Schiller's Werke, Band viii. Seite 66, Stuttgart, 1838.
" See Loycoster Correspondence, p. 94.
° Italian Kelation of England, Camden Soc. yoI. xxvii. p. 26.
'" Die Komisehen Piipste, Berlin, 1838, Band i. Seite 394. >' Ibid. p. 489.
HISTORY AND INFLUENCE OF THE ARISTOCRACY. 448
years, and so farther or nmrAr t „ j
al«o told us that he hllh Wd rf""^ "^"'^ ""' ^''' ^'^''- "«
was so rare for T count ^1^" 7 ''^' '^'' ^" ^''^ '^^' ^'
when he did come he used ft - i'''"' ^" ^"°^°"' ^^'^^
The porter, .dP^^^^^ he set out.".
Cth bl'„^;\:rs^r^^^ ^-^-- -d Sir Joseph Williamson, ^^Ld
^^^f:zt:i:t'sif^T' ^'^^^-^^-^ ^--"^
.enerall, less intell^tC^:• ^tth e^ ^^ it' ''"^^'^ '-
argument against primogeniture t7 . v' °"''^' '' ''^^
tlie aristocraV, though itkete'-v otV''"T ^' ^'"'^"'^^"^ '^''
not maintained their rehtiv. ^- ' '^''''' ^^P^oving, have
people. Adam Sm th"d« '^ '''\r' ^^y of the
is necessary for men to be S ^ ^ •^/'' the ground that it
progress of^duc" on enles^^" 7"' ""''^ ^"^ "^^ ^he
In 1095, Evelyn « savs «tvr P^'""'"^ ^rt^mm^ merit.'^'
unsettling Ttltes shlwln. X'" ^'f f, "^'^"^ P^'^^''-^*^ ^'^^^ for
offamilii" ' ^'^'"^ the wonderful prodigality and decay
Ji^^in^j^^r::^^''''''''' ^^ ^--^ -^ ^he title
nobles and people ' "'^' ^''''''''^ ^ >«''^^ between the
^^e^Z^^T^ntr ''' r'''' '' ''^ -^^ of
years the ^tlkefamntthT'"^^'^ "^*^^" ^^^^ ^^-" fi%
right money." The sSofVh '^''''t''''' '^'' '"'^ ^^ d^^^^""
it? height in China F.rlv .7' ''"''''''^^' ""^"^^^e has reached
aristocratic power b-ar;to^"''^"^'^ ^^"*"^-^' ^^^^ ^^e
rank.« In^weden thSs ''"?^'' '^^ ^^^'^"^ ^"^ «f ^"P«"or
decorations among the middleT ''""^ '^" '''''' ^^^ P----^!
.oral standard..o^ tcqTe • e n'::;: IhTt ''^^ ^" ^^^^""^^^ '''^''
-^tJ^ln itself an aristocracy but thll";!'"" ''''' "'^^^^^
result of conquest. The power of the F ^^^^^t^acies are the
that Richelieu was accnl^ Tf i "''^^ "''^^^^ ^^« «« great
indeolarin/vvaraJnT^f ' ' ^^T'"""' "^"^^ ^^ authority"
'"iUf, wai agamst their consent.'*
P^P^ss Dmry, 8vo, 1828, vol. iv. pp. 319 320
, H.s ory of the Royal Society, 8vo. 1848 voli" p 26^
L<;etnres on Moral Philosonl.v «.. ^ ,. ° ' /: 2^^-
* Ibid. p. 328.
^' Works, 8vo, 1814, vol. iii p 59 ^'"^^''^ °f ^"ropo, vol. i. p. 100.
" ttk^j' f "'ischen Papste, Band iii. Seiten 63 64
. ,y ^"'"S. ^ '^^^'J'^". pp. 64, 6.3, 1 1 7-1 21 .
,: i^;77*it'e en Am^riquo, tome iii. p. 260
^t. Aula.re, Histoire de la Fronde, tome i.' p 10
IP
i
, i ' i ' .
I!
t.
1
f !
i
11
•1;
\ ii
,1 ;'J ;
^- -i
11
H,'!';^ ^
■ * 'I
441
FRAGMENTS.
r> :
Aristocracy, I tliink, passes through the different stages of
Btreiigth, age, birth, wealth, and intellect. Of strength, when
men have no knowledge ; oi" age, when, there being no science,
all knowledge is empirical, and experience everything ; of birth,
when the accumulation of wealth or conqxiest raise a few families
above the others.
There are hardly any really old aristocratic families in
Europe.'
It has been shown from decisive evidence that tlie shortest-
lived classes are kings, then nobles, then " gentry," then " pro-
fessional persons " — particularly " clergy " ; while the longest lives
of all are agriculturists.* The marriages of the aristocracy lue
very unfruitful.^ The North American Indians have a remarkable
respect for old people.* As the division of labour arose, there
sprung up professions, and it was soon seen that they were not
hereditary, and that men are not born great lawyers or good
physicians. In Letters from the Baltic, 8vo, 1841, vol. ii. p. 134,
it is said of the Estonians, that they pay attention solely to birth,
and " that none of that imdue preference is given to wealth, as in
countries more advanced," ii. p. 134 ; and at p. 139 the authoress
says : " In Russia, no one may advance in the militaiy service, in
Estonia, no one may purchase an estate, and in Weimar, no one
may enter the tlieatre by a particular door, who has not a de
prefixed to his name." Forbes says : ^ " I can with pleasure and
with truth record that the generality of Indians, of wliatevor
religious profession, whether Hindoos, Mahomedans, or Parsoes,
pay a great respect and deference to age ; the hoary head is by
them considered a ' crown of glory.' " '' Marriages under the age
of twenty " have bad physical results.^ Intermarriage between
relatives causes congenital deafness.^
In the agreement between the Scotch and the duke of Norfolk
in 1559, the duke has himself entitled "the noble and mighty
prince, Thomas, duke of Norfolk."* The duke of Norfolk before
his arrest assumed a high and almost independent [style]. See
his Letters in Ilaynes's State Papers, pp. 299, 442. In January
1562, the queen's treatment of the earl and countess of Hertford
' Journal of the Statisticsil Society, vol. ii. p. 463.
2 Ibid. vol. viii. pp. 73, 74, 76, 77, 30fi ; vol. ix. pp. 41-43, 45, 47, 49 ; vol. x,
p. 6o ; vol. xiii. pp. 313, 314, 315, 320 ; vol. xiv. p. 295.
' Ibid. vol. xiv. p. 79.
* See Buclianan's Noi-th American Indians, 8vo. 1824, pp. 71, 72.
* Oriental Memoirs, vol. i. p. 132.
* Transactions of Association for Social Science, 1859, pp. 506, 507.
' Ibid. pp. 544, 545.
* Ilayues's Statu Papers, p. 253.
HISTORY AND INFLUENCE OF THE ARISTOCRACY. 445
In 1570, tlie
7T t^J'T^f^"'"^^ f^'^^^ discontent in London.'
duke of Norfolk was in debt.«
Elizabeth, immediately after her irrMomr, n - . ^
ened the ari,tocracy wa, by Ikt exp™ ivTv t, ^, '"T ""''*-
;;;;;';;:;;' '"^ ■-* '° «-«""' - - '•'■» - '" tlrrura'
d.oul,l not be disturbed in tlieir possession of tl,„T, "^
tl..-y bad acquired during ti.e re^rofTurrV '"te,''^
vas ber reason we Icnow from AmbLade, de Noai 1 e,' iv « '"
To!:r^?s^-'-:Lttt:::r^T^^^^
t^^uiXteJ ,:t; orrrcrin'-rJr'rn^'f '
even tbe Londoner. a^„, '*«. <LS Tjf r 'n t" Tpart:
L™ ' "r^Tbr ^Tb" '° "^ ^°"^-'^"<' een,nred""ovC
p.™tions ;^utdin^:re:^3T "2X^^^^^^^^^
tji ^= t',f:^bt%b?d:t :^r ^f '
2^ds were doubled at tbe palace tltX t d";!™!*^
-ie^f-z«:;;:r' -: — ^^^^^^^^^ of t.^
among his dependents. ^ *''''' °^ ^ "^^^"^
In 1585, Morgan writes to Mary of Scotlnnrl fn fi,^ «• • ^,
:! ''tti^^^^ in the north of ^^ll^td riJedt^^t
Check by the appomtment of Sir A. Paulet as her keeper 'o^
The aristocracy, by the coolness of Elizabeth, were dri^^n back
ITaynes's State Papers, p. 39f5.
' Appendix to Elizabeth, No. III.
' Corrcspondance de Fiiiielon, tome ii n
Ibid. p. 262. ■ ^'
' See Murdin's State Papers, p. 177.
^ Ibid. p. 597.
* Murdin, p. 149,
' Ibid, tome iv. p. 235.
' Ibid. p. 346.
" Ibid. p. 445.
1
I 1
!! f-
1
■:f J
1
^' 4
^^jj
MM
Ip
*i|
i
r'Hi
4i6
FRAGMENTS.
it,:
ii
to the bosom of the church, which, in the hope of securin}^ her
favour, some of them had quitted. In March, \5HG^ Mor<'an
writes to Mary of Scotland : " The earl of Arundel is now a
sound Catholic, and his afHiction which followed in short time
after his reconciliation to the Catholic church had without doubt
done him intinite good." '
In 1588, a colonel in the army, if " a nobleman," received 20s.
a day ; if he were only " a knight, or nobleman's son," he re-
ceived 13«. Ad.*
In 1 548, Sharington said that the admiral (brother to the Pro-
tector) had stated that " he could make or bring of those which
be within his rules, and of his own tenants and servants, if he
should be commanded to serve, ten thousand men." ' This must
be an exaggeration. In a list of instructions drawn up just after
the accession of Mary, we tind : " To remember the lords at
London, to send away the greater part of their train." *
In January, 1575, the French ambassador writes to his court
that the earl of Oxford was very much suspected by Elizabeth.''
Mary, unlike Elizabeth, discouraged the aristocracy from
coming to London. This part of her policy is noticed by the
French ambassador.^ She even, on the apprehension of an insur-
rection ordered them to assemble their retainers in tlie countrv.'
Mary courted the aristocracy in order to induce them to con-
sent to her marriage with Pliiiip. This is noticed as her object
in Ambassades de Noailles, Leyde, 1762, tome ii. p. 272. See
also p. 287, and tome iii. p. 147.
Even before the rebellion of 1659 broke out, the Catliolie
nobility assured the French ambassador of their favourable in-
clination towards France." This is the more observable, because
at this juncture the French cabinet assumed a very hostile atti-
tude, and made Elizabeth apprehensive of a combination of
France and Spain against her.'' The French government had
just gained a victory over the Huguenots. This encouraged the
English Catholics to persevere. A month before the northern
rebellion broke out, the French ambassador at London writes to
his court : " Les protestans de ce royaulme ont faict tenir quelques
jours la nouvelle de vostre victoire si secrecte, ou bien I'ontfaicte
aller si deguysee, que n'en poulvant les Catholiques avoir quasi
' Murdin's Stnte Papers, p. 489. « Ibid. p. 615.
' Haynes's State Papers, p. 106. * Ibid. p. 192.
* See Cor-espondance Diplomatique de Fenelon, tome vi. p. 361.
° See Ambassades de Noailles, Leyde, 1763, tome ii. p. 110; tome iii. p. 30.
' Ibid, tome v. p. 321.
' Correspondance Diplomatique de Fd-nelon, Paris, 1840, tome i. pp. 231, S?*?.
' Ibid. pp. 117, 118, 209, 217.
proof, of ,|,e unpatrioti.. ftrllj, „,?",, """"'' '"" "'""7
tiK. reacler mu«t not fall i„ , L " /''" '^•"«''«'' Catl.olic.... »„;
"■■- religion. If tl.e l^l^J'^'CH'^ r"'"" """ '"
In 1.536, when Henry VIH ^^,^. „f x,. i .
tlK> duke of Norfolk wLe toTm t t T' "'''' ^^ '"'^ f^^^^^'
northern borders of EnWand s Zld ''"' "^^'''^^^^y ^hat the
of ^^reut nobility"; and L co n fw^'"?""'"^^ ^^ "«""- ^''^n
added that "his majesty .uld no b^ ." ^ T'"'"™^' *''^^' ^^^
but by noblemen." 3 ^' '""^^^^ "P'^n lii« marches
While matters were thn« fonri- i. .,
system (PnnK>.eniture) wl^L Tf -t'V', '" -"-'J'^ation of a
would have thn>wn ull plw' 'into n 1 ^'^^ ^""7 established,
and converted England inTo in nl ^'^^ ^''"^"^^ ^^^ f«^v fandlies
au influence at work w ^ l^ftl '"' ' • " ^^^^ ^^'-^--^^'^y
clerical power. It is obvious tha ! T "''''"• ^'""'^ ^^''^« ^''«
opposed to its genius. The (^atho ics tirhT''"". '''"' "^^"'^'^^
cannot sufficiently admire hid ZT ''''''^™ '^''^^'^ ^^«
celibacy of the clergy 111 ■ .fr^^ ^^'"^^ ^^^^^^'''•■^''^"d the
whole course of their ^011^' T) i' ''",' ^«"«i«tent with the
moral power, could "nlv lot tit ^'""'.^'X ^'t^ ^^^^^'"^''^"3' -
the possibility of its funcdon. b "". '^''^^ ^^ precluding
-king their'exerc L r " It rfT"'^ 'T"'"^' ^^■^^^'''' ^^
I'ave degraded the hierarchy ttLlevef ^ff '' ""'"'''^ ^^^"'^
by which it was surrounded It wa?th^'''"P^^ aristocracy
tbat the ecclesiastical powet now ^ tt: o^^^ ^^^^ f--
antagonistic to their own policy "" Pnnciple so
The earl of Arundel had beLn otip nf fi
peace of Chateau Cambresis ; but heTn l^fi/ "^''"^" '^^ *^^
own house.^ In 1569, the- J . ,^ ' "^^^ '''^"^"^'^ ^o his
duke of Norfolk.^ '' " ^^"^^'^^ ^^^^^^^^ Cecil and the
Wd Kussell tnd Sir Wii^^' l^^ir :^; ^ ^^1'
feee Lodge's Illustrationa of British Hi«torv isog ^i •
n ."
•Ill
r
448
FllAdMlWTfl.
S()ii\('rH(>i, n'S|)t>('lin<jj " tlic vivU (liHHc^nsion wliu^li lias linppoiKMl
lu'twrtMi your j;ra('(i and tlu^ tioltility." '
In \')iy,\-f)4,, liciianl, in a lt^l.t<'r to (Hiarlcs V., Hpcakiiifi; of (Ik.
l''iii;lisli. iiKMitiima " tlu' iulcistiud liatrcd iM^tWdcu thci uoluliiy and
t lu> pcoplo." *
LAWS OF IMUMOiJKNITirRK.
Amonci ili(> variouH cinMnnstanccrt l)y wliicli ilui },'r(!ai. laudcMl pro-
prietors liad cndravourt'd to s«'cur«> their power, and perpc'tuult? it,
in (heir own families, thc^ laws of prinio}4(Mii' .ire and entail oc-
enpy a eonspioions place. Tln^ econonueal evil of these laws will
lu> h(>reafter eonsidered ; at preseiil, I shall nu^rely ^iw. a view of
tht>ir history, and parlietdarly of the at(,empts which have been
made to evade their «)pera(i.on.
When (he whoh> fabrie of Kin-opean soeit^ty wiis broken np by
the dissolution of (he \Ves(ern Kmpire, (hen* was introduced into
Kiu'ope a system which was rt^^ardh^ss, and indeed ij^norant, of
th(i refined wisdom of the civil code, and was only adapted to the
barbarians who enacted it. In such a state; of 8oci(*ty as then
exist t>d, money beino; almost unknown, and trade, manufactarcs,
anil commerce beinj^- entindy unknown, land was not merely tlio
sole wealth, but it was the sole source; of power, and (;vi;n of secu-
rity. Those who found themstdves ])ossesse(l of it iminiuliately (?)
endeavtuu'ed to strike out some modi; by which at tlu;ir deatli tlu;
whoh; of it shouhl be n^tained intact. Henci; tin; law of ])rinio-
y;eniture. And as it was found advisable to clu>ck the extrava-
pjance of the heir, a contrivance was hit upon to prevent him from
alienatino^ the estate which had descended to him. This contri-
vance was the law of entail. How much of these; laws was known
to our Saxon ancestors it is difficiilt from tlu; fewness of exiHtin<i;
documents satisfactorily to d(>t(;rmine ; but it is certain that the
statute known .as De JJoiiin was the first formal recognition of
them in Knoland.
See Jilackstone, 8vo, 1809, if. llG-119. Ho says that the
statute De Douis, thouo;h an adiuitted nuisance, was allowed to he
michecked nearly 200 years till 12 Edw. IV., when it was first
determined by the court in Taltarune's case " that a conunon re-
covery surtered by tenant in tail should be an effectual destruc-
tion "thereof. Year Kook, 12 Edw. IV. 14, 19." The next step
was the 32 Henry VIII. c. 3(5, "which declares a fine duly levied
' Tytler's Eilwai-d VI. ami Mary, vol. i. p. 217. * Ibid. 1839, vol. ii, p. 136.
LAWS OV l'KIMO(iKNiTlJ,iK ^^
^;ry::;;-i-;,;-:i--:;-- "-™.-
.'" '''";(Inn.l, Ihr ,|..-lini„.. now,..- of
" ''''-'■ Hon l.,ul only t .o sY n '■<• n^ '"' '"'^"'^ "^' "'■'"7 '•
l<"'^C- ' "'■ ''y P-'yi^' u fino !o <,1„.
^^7-<^'-KivM.n;un;n-) i ?i,'^^/''' "'^"''^ "^""'iH H'^'tufo
^'"''•tt.'nn of pn-sc-rinf ion ,,,,;! ."^ '""'' ''y '^H<^bIiHlu-n.r ,,
''•';';' """•''•'"^ - -'-ovn^;'' "'" '"'^ ™«''^^ ^•-'-''i" ti,oion;;;,t
-" -«.,. „,i,.p,,,| ,„'.,,«;." •■; -I"- - wdi a, t„ „b„,4
mliially l,,,,,„„. ,,„,„,„.,'"'• ' ""' "P^ation „f m,™ had
'hj» in „v,Ty to„„ ,„,„.„ ,„"' """ "'■ I'™ lli.'il. sixteen
-I"-" "P in 1.152, a filtlu'ripotr ?."''? "'""'' <''™'-'«-
'J'
p. 214.
no,
'"■'<''^«fiit(.,lin3I El...
IZ. p. 9
2. in R
Ihid.
•npy^
pp. 215, 21(3.
, ,. . Kiiffli.sii Liiw voi ^
■^tormaUvn of the Church of ]-ng]
Ota
p. fJi.
lb
""1. V(j1. iii. j,p_ 7jg
H,': i|i
450
FRAGMENTS.
II '
I
I
Komans, thouoh not of the Germans."' He adds,^ "the custom
of gavelkind existed in Ireland till it was pnt down by a decision
of the judges, 3 Jac. I. ; and in North Wales till the Stat. 34
Hen. VIII." On the mischievous effect of primogeniture, see
vol. i. p. 320. At vol. i. p. 360, Brougham ascribes its origin to
" the influence of the monarchical principle, especially when com-
bined Avith aristocracy." He adds^ that entails were introduced
under the empire, but "Justinian confined them early in the
sixth century to four descents." In England "the law of entail
dates from 1285;" and the introduction of entails seems to have
followed the establishment of the power of alienation.
Examine the History of Borough English. Montesquieu says *
that in Tartary, in Brittany, and the Duchy of Rohan, the
youngest son inherited ; and that this is a law incidental to the
pastoral state ; for the elders had already left their father and
taken cattle with them, the youngest son only remaining at home.
In 1721, Montesquieu enters his protest against "I'injuste droit
d'ainesse." •'' In France the division of lands, so far from in-
creasing, lias actually diminished relatively to the population.^
It was to improve the security of these important portions of
the law that Elizabeth now directed her attention. In the twenty-
third year of her reign a law was passed ordering that no recovery
nor fine should be reversed on account of any rasure, or incon-
gruous Latin, or indeed for any want of form or words. It was
also ordered that every writ upon which, common recoveries should
be suffered might at the desire of any person be enrolled in
Parliament, and kept in an office called the Office of Inrolment.'
The judges, mostly consisting of men who had an interest in
depressing the aristocracy (?), vigorously seconded the policy of
Elizabeth, and baffled all the attempts made by the great lauded
proprietors to break down the principles which had been esta-
blished.
In the same way when attempts were made to limit estates by
a proviso in a deed, the courts again interposed, and refused to
allow the limitation. In 42 Elizabeth it was decided in Corbet's
case that " a proviso to cease an estate tail, as if the tenant-in-
tail were dead, was repugnant, impossible, and against law ; for
the death of tenant-in-tail was no cesser, but only his death witb-
' Brougham's Political Philosophy, 2nd edit. 8vo. 1849, vol. i. p. 285.
2 Ibid. p. 286. ' Ibid. p. 361.
* Esprit des Lois, livre xviil. chap. 21, (Euvrcs, Paris, 1835, p. 331.
* Lettres Persaucs, No. cxx. CEuvres de Montesquieu, p. 81.
* Journal of Statistical Society, vol. vi. pp. .192, 193, 19G.
' Eeeves, History of English Xaw, vol. y. pp. 52, 53.
I'-'lWS OF PRIMOGENITURE.
vent .e:^tn^:rS^^^e.t of the courts was to pre-
I^yer, 351, and 1 Rep. 8 7whe e' it t^r T '' '^^^ ^^^ "j
an estate limited to one and thTh 1111'"?^''^^'' "^o make
as: he was natuvally dead on his 1^^.'' ^'' ^'"^^ '' ^^^-^e,
the limitation of the land or the elfl f -f ^ ""^ ^'^ ^y which
not good." It was also dete min d / v / t"^'' '^ b-^^'^' -
^oce Proviso (but when?) that i^ fi ^°*- ^^' ^" ^omlin, /^
vised lands to^ a man and\he hefrs mlle'Tv'.^ *^^^^*- -^«^^"
to cease if he attempted to alien the ' ^' ^°^^'^"^" ^"«"^Pt
Elizabeth's reig.^ provisos were rSnil.f r'°' "^'^ ^°^^^- ^ut fn
The interpretation of f i, cf T ^^^^ '" ^vills.a
•ble to the >U1';r;- t^telSrr ^^-"."-favo,,.
conrtruction of that statute had been t" "^""^^te on the
- --e Of .es . an a W^IXr^Zro^ e::^,™
4:ii$roT~;ttr irr "■- «^e to
contangent uses. They did not helftt . ' ^^^'"^^^ *^ Preserve
t^e judgment bench, [hat, soone" at ji^n^ '^^ ^'^^ p'-e on
erpetuities, they would, f there had 1 ^"'' ''°^*^«" *« «"eh
1-vof this case, have grounded the' h''" '°^ '"'^^ '' '<> the
ground of public expediency ^R« '^'"^'^"" "P«« the broad
t^^s occasion against'the SingenTu^^ ^^ '^" '^^ ^^^^ -
fje greatest importance, and Reev^ ""'' ^ ^""«i«n of
afterwards a leading decision, not on ^iT'* " ?" ^^^^ became
gent limitations." « ' """^^ ''^ ^ses, but on all contin-
In the 4 Hen Vrr if v, ^ i.
*««M be a bar'agaL; aH oSant°'"f \^*''"'^ "■>' « «-
«.7 of action or lawful entr; wfth " I ° '' ""^ '"'"''' "ai™ l>v
f Henry VIII. this provision wa. eri /r" ' """ " ">« 32"d
"■■' The great landed prZi ™ r'!"*^''' "» "> bar estates
favoured to lighten its pressure 1?? ! '° '™'''' ""^ '«''- en-
j™- W c„„„e„ced, and on The'dTa?ht ,f°™ ""' '' "« ««
fecended to the infant, such iufent,! J, "■." """^'t"' «>e right
;oan,e of age, be alowrtocw'^ ''"'"■' «™ y™rs after
•'- after the accession of E^a "■ "ws^^Snt", ""'^ *■"-
LOIS point was mooted in
^^.« ».■«.., E„gii.h !,„"«: »;-i"»-„„.
II
'/ J J
\r.
i.
452
FRAGMENTS.
the great case of Stowell and Zouch, when it was decided that the
infant should be barred. This case was reported by Plowden,
and a very lucid abstract may be found in Reeves' English Law,
V. 53-62.
The last great stronghold of the defenders of perpetuities was
the provisos allowed to be inserted in "executory devises" (?).
Our law had always paid a gTeat respect to bequests ; and under
their shelter attempts were made to secure perpetuities. Indeed,
in the 13th of Elizabeth, it was settled in the Common Pleas
" that a tenant-in-tail might be restrained from alienation by the
original doration." » But when, twenty-four years later, a similar
case was brought up before the same court, a conference was held
with the other judges, and it was unanimously determined that
such proviso was void.^ About the same time, the same decision
was given in a similar case in the Court of Common Pleas.' How-
ever, in the case of Brett v. Rigden, which was a case of devise of
land in 10 Eliz., it was decided that it was absolutely neces&aiy
that there should be a donee in esse capable to take the thing the
moment it verted.*
REMARKS ON THE POOR LAWS.
Marbiages were made very early. In 1599, the celebrated Dr.
Forman married a girl of sixteen.^ In a lawless age, marriages
{ire naturally early to avoid the risks of abduction. The feudal
system too encouraged early marriages by making the hand of a
rich ward a property. Even Montesquieu ^ says : " De tout ceci,
il faut conclure que I'Europe est encore aujourd'hui dans le cas
d'avoir besoin de lois qui favorisent la propagation de I'espece
humaine." But while population was thus outstripping capital
there grew up a strange idea that a precisely opposite process was
going on, and that it was necessary to encourage marriages. I
believe this notion lingered till the time of Malthus. Montes-
quieu adopts it in his youthful work,^ and also in his great work,
the Esprit de Lois. Montesquieu notices the stimulus given to
population by doing away with the celibacy of the clergy.*
' Reeves, vol. v. p. 168, who quotes Plowden, p. 408.
2 Moore, p. 3()4, in Reeves, English Law, vol. v. p. 171.
3 Ibid. p. 592, in Reeves, vol. v. p. 172.
* Plowden, p. 341, in Reeves, vol. v. pp. 73, 74.
» See Autobiogvaphv of Dr. Forman, edit. Halliwcll, 1849, p. 30.
« Esprit des Lois, livre xxiii. chap. vi. (Euvres, Paris, 1835, p. 404
' Lottrcs Persaiiea. No, cxiii. pp. 76, 76.
« Ibid. No. cxviii. (Euvres, Paris, 1835, p. 80.
EEMAEKS ON THE POOR LAWS. 453
J.h"™ '^;? *'""' " *■" "f ""= n-"'' «>'viou3 circumstance,
which paved the way to the depression of the people an^ he in
crease of the poor. But there is yet another cau'L, which, tioul
less obvious IS more important than any I have tated, wliich i
fJw t°T'" "' *'"' P"^""" »""'»'. ™d »Weh, a t seem
liltely to become more efficient, is almost the only real incon-
i^z^:^^ ■""" "^^ '"^'-^ '» ^^'^ f- ^^■'arrto
The feelings and passions of the mind, which are so complicated
n their first appearance, are still more complicated in thd itlti:
P hat*; of 1?'"?'™"" "' «^-''«' benevolencl ; ' 1
dis'reTe:i:L''':irhtrrard:t'tt"e'f rb""^^ >•"■
r:tLrii,tTiaZ;t s^ttVni rots;CM:s';si:
bid IS a direct incentive to bastardy and to concubinl!^ Th
IS evident on a mere view of the nRtiirB„fth,-„ "-''"';"«0' il"s
by the most decisive statislal eSe.^^ ''"^^' ""' " ^^P^^^'^^^
M. Quetelet suggests > that the religious ceremonies performed
n Cathohc countries at the bedside of a patient may often accde-
rate or even cause his deaHi Tf fi,;o -4. .-, ^ dcceie-
bP oTpnf.r ,-r, r it 1 ., *^^^ '^ *^^^' <^^ie mortality must
be greatei m Cathohc than in Protestant countries.
.^:rs;^3^^^^^^^^ -; ;r;x„~;
S e, for instance, vol. i. p. 36, wliere he quite forgets the nees'
me™ eCeV in f ™"'- "^ "^^ ' """ *-'' "-' -"™
alia men engaged m commerce must be fed by the labours of
agncultunsts ; hence he supposes that the increase of tradeld
':zr:z ^"^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^^-^^^ ^^^^ Foductivers i iX'
C bv?r r^f ^' ""^ ^^ adds 3 that the same thing it
Uvn by the low interest of money. He charitably says^ that tl e
^acksjnade on the poor laws proceed from the^vexation of the
selfish at being obhged to contribute towards the support of he
' Sur THomme, tome, i. p. 229
' P. (>3.
« Principles of Population, vol. i. pp. 58, 69.
* Vol. 11. p. 190.
> 1 I
rilivliF
IJM
1
1
1
!
1 It '
1
If
I
1
1
'",
I
If
454
FRAGMENTS.
poor. Alison, who has had good opportunities of observinfr,
says that the poorer the labouring classes are, the greater the
number of their marriages.' Amid all this nonsense, Alison has
one good remark. He says that, while slavery existed, the land-
lords were obliged to feed their slaves ; but when that was done
away with, it was necessary for government to feed them, hence
poor laws ; and, while in Russia, Poland, Hungary, and Moravia
there are no poor laws (because the poor, being the property of
the'r T-.y-cters^ h?;e a claim on them), yet we lind them in every
civ ; . )untry, in England, Scotland, France, Flanders, Austria,
Prut, t Switzerland, and Norway.'
HISTORY OF PRICES.
In 1569, military horsemen paid "one penny a meale, and one
penny night and day for haye." ^ At pp. 333, 334, of Sharp's
Memorials of the Rebellion, is a list of the expenses incurred in
1571 and 1572 for the earl of Northumberland. Among them is,
" for iij post-horses from Alnwick to Morpeth, 38. ^d.," and tlie
same from Morpeth to Newcastle, and from Newcastle to Durham.
Mention is made in 1560 of "the ordynarye hordes heare at vi(^.
the meale." * This seems to have been at one of the towns of the
north of England ; but Sir C. Sharp does not say which.
Jacob ^ has published the contract prices at the Royal Hospital
at Chelsea for 1730 to 1732, and 1791 to 1793, both inclusive, by
which it appears " that, in the sixty years, tlie advance on bread,
beef, mutton, cheese, and butter had been at the rate of 20 per
cent. ; that on pease and oatmeal more, and that on coals still more."
In Woodchurch church., Cheshire, there is " suspended a large
table, containing a list of the benefactors to the parish," in which
" appears the name of James Goodier, of Barnstow, who gave 20
marks in 1525 to buy 20 yoke of bullocks for the poor of the
parisli, afterwards set apart for the purchase of cows, to be hired
out to the poor at 2s. 8d. per annum." '
Early in the sixteenth century, Goodman's Fields had a farm,
at which Stow, when a young man, used to buy milk, " three ale
pints for a halfpenny in the summer, nor less than one ale quart
' Alison's Principles of Population, 8vo, 1840, vol. ii. pp. 206-2U.
■■' Ibid. pp. 170-17S.
' Sliarps Memorials of the Rebellion, 8vo, 1840, p. 24. ♦ Ibid. p. 378.
» History of the Precious Metals, vol. iii. p. 393. « J.icob, vol. ii. p. 219.
' Ormerud's History of Cheshire, 1819, vol. ii. p. 288.
HISTORY OF PRICES. ..^
for a halfpenny in the winter." • In 153s u „, ^ , .
London that beef should be sold fnr ni u ^' °'^^'^^ ^"
a halfpenny farthinir a\oLT ^^^^fp^nny, and mutton for
Stow, !vho fays th t Wofe £ tZ H "' '' *^. '''^'^'^'^'^ ^^'
3 lbs. ; a' fat ox 267^7^ Tl I , ^ P'"^"" ^^ ^^^^ ^^s 1 d. fur
same ;'and a f^t iam b, ud/ /f 1^7' tl' '^••'^' V V^' '^''^ ''-
was one penny halfp;.„y \ Jl^, 3 '^,^ P^V^ ^^^
sixteenth century the nrL J • ^^ ^egmnrng of the
lic^. the pound.7' n 153 st'"^-''"1.'° '""^^" ^^^ H '0
a "gr.at beef," 26. sfz ^^' ^'''? ^''' ^^P"^^« "^ London:
-ttt," 2. ioi ^'t^re^t^ri"'^^ ^"^^"^'^^'
dozen.* The rise of pricefT.lf ', • ^^^' ' P^^'^"^' ^^'^' ^
beth in I560;e but rsoTely a c i^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^-■
currency. In Stafford's r! Vn ^ clepreciation of tlie
lished in 1581, he rt of nL T '' ^"^^^'^^^ ^^^-3^' P"^"
labourers, we are told " Air/.Tn '' '''^^T'^^ "^entioned.^ Of
wages they are not Tb/e to^ive » Trd^'^T T '^ ^'^^^ ^'^^
in the country still cannot w,fh 9nn/ ^'^ °*^ "' ^' ^^ ^^'^^
we might have dLe wTth 200 V r^^"^^
Again. ^a, have seen a cap ^1^!; . "t^" years past."
2«. ed. ; of cloth, ye have Wd 'i tjf ' "" ' ''" ^'' "^" ^■^^•
pair of shoes cost l,2d, Z f^^^ ^Z.l^ ^"'l '' f'^^"' ^«^^ ^
6c/. Now I can never It . 7. , ^^'"^ ^'"°^^ ^ ^^tter for
where I have alo seej thP . ''''°'^ "°^^^ l«'^-«^' 12d,
tlmt within thirty years tt '? P"'" '''' ^'^" " ^e says "'
I could lay r:^z^z^iz:i::^zs! '\rr '^^
capon, wkich conlrl ih^r. 1 t "^°^ '*<*• to 12d. ; that a good
'i« bad taken place in L? 'wli.h^ V^ '"""/"■"P'"'"''"'''
dickens, ,vl,ich had been iT 7 J, ""^ '"'°'' ^d. each, and
m. a /ear could X L t VeU ^ f 'l T ' "" """
tae on 200i. a year. Dekker j" „ '' ™"" '"'^■''
ascribes it to tbe increase of p';,,:^' '"/n 'Sm^/T; ""*
concerning Witchp^ u ^„^ ^^ ^, P"''^"^^- -In Cxiffard s Dialogue
ftol-e, in his will dated iL" If "'"f r T '" *™ P"""*.'
says; «I bequeath to every
' Stow's London, edit. Thorns, 8vo, 1842, p 43
Survey of London, 8vo,-1842, p. 71. ^' . ti -a ..
Ibid. p. 94 -'I' /i. ' Ibid. p. 90.
p. 156.
f«:'cs™t!^s.?-"'"^^*'.
, Pere^ Society, vol
vm. p. 9.
vol. V.
" At p. 19.
P. 173.
° P. 149.
r
iVf l|
I J
ll
456
FRAGMENTS.
i
i
of my servants, men and women, a Llack livery at, 7s. or i i. tlie
yard, the men to have coats, the women gowns." .See DocmnoiitH
relating to the Croke Family, p. (!3 in Percy Soc, vol. xi. At
p. fi4, we liear of black gowns at lOs. the yard. In 1573, "the
liire of two hacknies from Sittingbourne to Canterbury" vvas 4s.;
from Kochester to Sittingbourne, the »an»e ; and, from Canterbury
to Gravesend, also for two hacknies, l().s.' In 1576, the hire of
a horse was from 18(Z. to 20(/. a dayf-* but in 1582 it had ad-
vanced to 2s. See at p. 183, four entries for that amomit. In
1573 flannel was 9d. a yard.^ In 1578 " eotten candles" were 4(Z.
a pound, and "cearing candle " 12^/. ; " and in 1580 " eotten can-
dells" were 'id. a pound."' In 1574 coals were 8(^. "the sack,'"'
and in 1576 they were OcZ.,^ and the same price in 1578." In
1580 they had risen to lO^d,^ and in 1380 they were Ls.,'" and
also in 1581 they were Is." In 1573 they were 22>s. a load. ;'2 in
1580 they were 26^. ;'3 but in 1581 they wore only 18.v." In 158G
Charles Paget writes from Paris to Mary of Scotland that " every-
tliing is excessive dear." See Murdin's State Papers, p. 507, and
again at p. 510, " all things being unreasonable dear."
The French Ambassador, in a letter to his own court written at
London in May 1574, complains bitterly of the dearness of every-
thing ; and that in one year the price of all provisions had risen
50 per cent., and some 100 per cent. ; '* but the context shows
that the French Ambassador was afraid that the French court
would cut down his salary. Early in Elizabeth's reign the usual
allowance to ambassadors for their diet was ,3/. 6s. Sd. a day."^ In
1586, provisions at " Margat, in Kent," were much dearer than in
London.!' In 1469 the price of the best sheep in Nottingliam-
shire was something above 13d each.'" In 148,1, " fat oxen " cost
18s. each.i3 In the Rutland Papers ^o there is a curious list of
articles with their prices in 1521. « Bieffes " are 40s., " muttons "
5s., "veales" 5s., "hogges" 8s. In 1516, the price of lead was
from 4:1. to 4Z. 6s. a fother ; the fother was 2000 pounds.^^' In
' See p. 45 of Mr. Cunningham's very valuable .Extracts from tlie Accounts of the
Revels at Court, Shakesp. Soc. 8vo, 1842.
See several entries at pp. Ill, 112 of Cunningham's Revels.
See Cunningham's Revels, p. 54. •» Pp. 131, 132, 144.
P. 157. « P. 87. ' P. 119. » P. 124. » P, 166.
R- 164. " P. 174. " See two entries at pp. -63, 70.
Pp. 157, 158, 171. '* P. 180, and another entry at p. 181.
Correspondance de F^nelon, Paris, 1840, tome vi. p. 119.
See Wright's Elizabeth, 8vo, 1838, vol. i. p. 449.
See Leycester Correspondence, Camden Society, p. 61.
See Plumpton Correspondence, Camden Society, p. 21.
'• Ibid. p. 41. ■■"> Camden Society, p. 41.
*' See Lodge's Illustrations of British History, 1838, vol. i. pp. 20, 29,
2
S
S
10
IS
1>
16
17
18
counts of the
HISTORY OF PRICES.
457
«l".'« fo,. „„ „a„ at "Tpiee" - ""o H,:"""""' " ''""
tuns" coHt 5«. a piece » I,, l -.oc, ., ^ . ° ^'^^^ (•) "»'»^-
%a. ,t„u,e„o,i'w„,.:. „';:tr;, t s;r«r;"rr:f,tt '";
LToat veals oi t))o -iiro ^+' • i "^i-u pntes. "1* at and
b 'ws oi tnt age ot six weekB and upwarrk fi« «.;
tilt and irood lamlw 1 9,/ 1 "pwdras t)«. 8(^. a piece ;
tlH> dozen.''« See also at p^ 27( 277 n 1 h '' """^ t^'^'"^ ^^•
beth's fishmonger proposes to SMr W 11 ' t ' '"^ ''^^'^^ ^^''^-
cost 16...the Joad.^ In 1552 In,- i '""^- ^" ^"'^^^^' ^"^^^^
i"^^ all ],utchers in London to7e I'u 7 "'^ '"""^ ^""^•'^"^■
be.t M.. the pound, a^d ne^t d lt^^^^' tl ^"' ""-^Z' ''''
the best lamb the quarter 8d^ in i r'.f f ''^l *^''" P^^'^^' ^^^
together 3^. Is. 8d. - a quartl^: nf h / '• ''"" *''"' ^*" ^^^^'^ ^"^^
9. 2d ; a side of b ef, we" L ' uf ""^' '"^^ ''" P^^*^'^^' ^^^
veal, 4..; Imlfaveal L 4^ ? ^45 pounds, cost 12.. Id.; "^
5 , luiii a vtdi, ^s. 4(^. two muttons, 9.9 4// "6 Tv, i^oi
the price of everything was low, except corn 'o ti • . ^ '
;.; noticed in a letter from Hoo^^t ^Cee i^n lo T "V ^^^^
that "the body of a nlf ia ,-,. tu i lool." He says '^
sheep at loV" VI i .3 ^"^ '^^'^"*' ^^^^ 5 t^^^ c-arcass of a
dZuu E^glan^ ^L d' S"-^" \^^^ 'Z ^'^^^ ^^ ^^^ Universal
ve,x>. allowetf t'; lam fw^^ .^'^^ ttlu '' f' '^ " '''' P"''"
12<^., 6d ; and so after that rate " In 177^ r V^^Z '''''^'
writes from Edinburgh, " tl e neJessa^L of 1% ^P'"'" ^^^^^
dearasin London.'"' In 1550 ShlT Tr *' ^'^ ^^"^"^^^^ ^«
' See Lodge's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 69. 2 ti„m
' Ibid ;' ^^^""^"'f"^^' ^'I'^^'i h- Kenjpe. p. 81. '"•
; Machyn's Dkry. Camden Society, voL xfii.^p.'li.
p. 72. 3 p 7j_
' Ibid. p. 179.
II T .1 . T-,, ■"' 'Jucioty, vol. xn. p. 52.
''ir^;:307%t"^-^"^^^^->---^-^-pp-f-367
;; Letters from Edinburgh, 8vo, 1776, p. in. " ^^^'
Tytler'. Edward VJ. and Ma.,, 8vo. ^«39, vol. i. p. 293.
*= P. 305.
" P. 365.
fh -n:
1/ J
458
FRAGMENTS.
the rise of prices in consequence of the discovery of America, see
Elanqiii, Histoire de I'ficonomie politique, tome i. pp. ,329, 330.
For lists of prices, see Monteil, Histoire des Franfais des Divers
Etats, tome i. pp. 145, 146, 156 ; tome iii. p. 41 ; tome iv. p. 43 ;
tome V. p. 216 ; tome vi. p. 240 ' tome viii. pp. 100-117. In
Journal of Statistical Society, vol. ii. pp. 214-216, there is a
curious list of prices at Penzance, in Cornwall, from 1746 to 1813.
In Journal of Statistical Society, vol. xiii. p. 213, is stated the
interesting fact that the lower classes, both in food and dress, ask
for things of a certain price, as Sd. of cheese, &c., so that a rise in
price affects not their pockata, but their comforts. In 1741, the
ordinary price of cherries at Birmingham was "a halfpenny a
pound." ' Keith's Church and State in Scotland, vol. ii. p. 387.
HISTORY AND INFLUENCE OF THE COLONIES.
It was not till 1607 that the English first formed a permanent
colony. This small beginning of so great an empire was at
Jamestown in Virginia.^ In 1611 Moll says, « Take deliberation,
sir; never choose a wife as if you were going to Virginia." ^ Lord
Brougham agrees with the general opinion that democracies treat
their colonies worse than monarchies treat theirs.'* He truly
adds® that the mother country should willingly give up tlie
colonies, and thus part with them in ^ kindly spirit. Dawson
Turner says, that the sailors of Dieppe " established a colony for
the promotion of free trade in Canada, if indeed they were not the
original discoverers of that country." ^ Twiss ^ observes that
colonies, by creating a demand for labour, stimulate population in
the mother country.
While the domestic administration of Elizabeth had secured
internal tranquillity, her foreign administration had excited public
spirit. The nation burned with energy. The great Queen well
knew how to employ the spirit of her people. Spain groaned
under the devastation of the English cruisers. In, the Atlantic,
in the Baltic, in the Mediterranean, in the Pacific, foreign flags
' Button's Life of Himself, 8ro, 1816, p.. 48.
2 McGulloch's Dictionary of Commerce; 8vo, 1849, p. 335.
» Middleton's Works, 8vo, 1840, vol. ii. p. 472.
♦ Brougham's Political rhilosophy, 8to, 1849, vol. i. pp. 510,511, and vol. iii.
p. 135. » Ibid. vol. ii. p. 20.
• Turner's Tour in Normandy, in 2 vols. Lond., 8vo, 1820, vol. i. p. 20.
' Progress of Political Economy, 8vo, 1817, p. 220.
HISTORY, ETC. OF WAGES. 455
.l.e whole naftnl r^ wit l.ol/TT^r' ^"-"^'"^Se, a„d
gathered to her father., - T„! ^' , '," ""' K™' •i"™" ™»
L„e. I. ,o-,ed ptct ™r;^orpr:T,t'''i^ p*"'-
SO much that he clieri«hefl trS u-1 , ^'''''- ^^ '^^« "«*
pHse. The national :Sot^^^^^^^^^^ enter-
spoliators of his daughter he was eauaW If /""' '^''^°'' **'^
home. But it was too late to repress the iT't '^'^'''''^'''^ ^'
the reign of James I. is the^poTo twatl'" Thl""! ^"'
tages were incalculable. On the one ha J w f ^'^'^''"
which an unpr-ceden t^rl i!. ""^ V"^^«*'' '^^re kept up,
lowered. Cfd i this 1 TM^ P'^"^"*^'^" ^'^ «^ri^"«»y
pvinciples ofT^^^^^^^^^^ °^^^ *^ ^^^ ^^--^s the first sound'
V]''
(
^;
i I
HISTORY, ETC. OF WAGES.
gardener, received 100. a X W vTt o^ tl" '" ^"'"■^"' °^
(called .m^cZmr^ house) Js LZ f ' '"^'^^"^ ^'^'-^^^
or esquires, l4 T L ^'a 1 r^T^^ ™our-bearers
93^. 15s. 6d' ' twenty-seven valets
4° ollot:ti;r£i"?fif.:°f- ? '-""' r^ «"• ^
attending upon the late TmnfttL , « ™°''' "' ^ ^^n
«re paid fo^r eigh y-ttee w™!; af ImT "'l'!"' ?' ^°"'"
maids-„f-honour at the court of LlAV-""^- '" "'^ ""'
~ Of Which the. h^Hr^re f tSorr^' :
M.,t;andri^;V4\LeL„f„"i; 'r:r; ''''^^'''' """'"""^
('iT-nri.,- 1, T -^ '^''^^^°<^"v5t*., while every "vap-ahnnH"
Sd " „rSv,rT' "" '°''^^' '°'' «f--i lilt ^,)
w JTT , P ^^ *^e day, meat and drink "^ Tn lor, i
Edward 11. the keeper of the King's leopards in th'e TowtreX^d
; pid. vol. ii. p. 314. ^- ^^^' ^^^' ^^^- * Ibid. vol. iii, p. 9..
■ SLow'6 London, edit. Ttoms, 8vo, 1842, p. 8.
1 '*
^^■k
\\
f
%'\
ii
i]i
^
i
460
FRAGMENTS.
"three half pence a day for diet."' In 14th Edward II. the
allowance fixed for prisoners in the Tower was, " a knight 2',' a
day, an esquire 1(/. a day, to serve for their diet."* In l;j;i2
West, bishop of Ely, had a hundred servants " continually in his
house." Half of them received for wages 538. 4f/., the other half
408. each yearly, besides a winter and summer dress.^ In .3Hth
Henry VIII. it was arranged between the king and the city that
" the vicar of Christ's Church was to have 26L 13«. Ad. tVi.i year ;
the vicar of Bartholomew 13L 68. %d. ; the visitor of Newgate
(being a priest) 10/. ; and five priests who aided in administering
the sacrament, &c., each 8/. ; two clerks, each 6L ; and a sexton,
4/. * In The Devil is an Ass, which was acted in 1616, Pug offers
himself as a servant without wages ; an offer which Fitzdottrel,
" a squire of Norfolk," accepts, and lie says he will turn away his
other man " and save four poixnds a year by that." * This makes
it evident that wages of servants were Al. a year, and as the scene
is laid in London, this probably applies to the metropolis.
In a curious tract in 1538, directed against the monks, it is
said : " Who is she that will set her hands to work to get three
pence a day, and may have at least twenty pence a day to sleep an
hour with a Mar, a monk, or a priest ? What is he tliat would
labour for a groat a day, and may have at least twelve pence a
day to be a bawd to a priest, a monk, or a friar ? " "^ In the time of
Tusser it was estimated that one-tenth of the produce of a farm
went for rent, and another tenth for wages.^ It is stated in a
proclamation of Elizabeth, in 1560, that just before the reforma-
tion of the coinage, wages of soldiers and serving men were from
208. to 20 nobles " and so upward by the yere." ^ Money wages
did not advance in the same proportion that the value of money
fell. In 1581, Stafford writes of labourers, "all things are so
dear that by their day wages they are not able to live " " and we
are told ^^ that the chief sufferers in the rise of prices were those
who had " their livings and stipends rated at a certainty, as com-
mon labourers at %d. a day. . . . serving men to forty shillings a
year;" and again" "where 408. a year was honest wages for a
yeoman afore this time, and 20 pence a week board wages was
sufficient, now double as much will skant bear their charge."
' Stow's London, edited by Thorns, 8vo, 1842, p. 19- « Ibid. p. 20.
' Ibid. p. 34. * Ibid. p. 119.
* Ben Jonson's Works, 8vo, 1816, vol. v. pp. 21, 22.
" Harleian's Miscellany, edited by Park, vol. ii, p. 541.
' See Five Hundred Pc'nts of Husbandr)', edited by Mavor, 1816, pp. 195, 196.
* Harleian Miscellany, vol. viii. p. 70.
° Brief Conceipt of English Policy in Harleian IVIiscellany, vol. ix. p. 147-
" Ibid. p. 164. " Ibid. d. 174,
HISTORY, ETC. OF WAGES.
In a song, published in 1609, we have •
" Th(
461
servnpr man wn.teth fro' Btreet to street,
With blowing Ins nails and beateth his feete
And serveth for forty shillings a yeare " > '
In 1571 the waijop of norters wpr« TO./ j «
find an „„„,, „„d„ .„C7.X't l^^JTl^''"! "«
and as moche the night." In Hfid „i ^ , ^^ 1 2r/. the daye,
day.^ In 1580 » wyerd avvers " frnt ^ «!? T '''''^'^ ^^'^- ^
painters had from 2^0 Le*;^ in H74%f' ^ '" ''''^
down at 20d.r In 1579 nn^J, 1574 they are all put
and the same in 1584. '3 • > m Jo8i, also 16d;'a
In 1573-74, the wages of tailors were 20.7 i«7
day.'^ In 1576, I2d. and 20.^. ; '^ I 'H'^) S„ '.^^ '''^- "
remained the same in 1582 and 1584 >r ' '"''' ' '^"^ ^^^7
that the soldiers and the g.mner ec^X'ef ea^^^^^^^^^^ "' '"""
wages of household servants are put down at 6/ 8 ' ^f^' ''^^
and » one surgeon " at 1.. 6d. a d^y.- iri588 th. ' ^''^■'"
had on y Is, 6(? « Tn T^sh *t ■^"^^^''' ^oe surgeon still
45.' . the artillery^; 6d tt^Ts^.a °r it'""^" '™
piitl a female servant Jane K,^,' ^" '^*''' ^r- Dee
quarter-, but Z^rZ^nl!:' '^JT"' """ " "™= '«'• "
ceived 6«. a month." HoTje in isSr,™' " "' ""^''' «-
nurse," who is to have " sTher vl,. " ' ""^^'^'"^ " " dry
'«et." » In ijglJL wit s "SLIT'' '"." '^ «°" <='-"'' »?
yearly and a livery." . In \lo2. trenTeeei"r,«r '.■'»'•
labonrers, I2d j and diggers of ffravd T nr , '"'"^ '
»f berche," lod BricWa^-s ree'eie;t8,/.''f L" " ;;f'"'
,;^^.^^^.h. Lonaon P„„..„, „„■„, ., „,. „.,., ,„ ,„^ ^^^^ ^^_ J*"'
, J-e^. ,p.8i. ,^-90. ,p.,5g_
J- 69- "Pp. 156, 169. ..p'78 ;P-52.
Pp. 62, 77, 81. » Pp. 102, 115. ., p ' ;• , ., ' ?• 190.
Pp. 397-401. .. p. 400. .„ p^if ' ^^^- " Pp. 178, 189.
at P. 184 of his edition r/cSoSi/,;;! ^^ZS:}^:!!^^^^^^^ the note
;; Dee's Diaiy, Camden Society, vol. xix p fi ^''''' "^ ^'^Shterre, Lend. 8ro, 1846.
ip. 15, 34, 36. 2» P 54 '
" See Sle's account in the Egerton Papers. Camden -Societj- p^34t
j r
i^i.l
I ; 1
f' ' 'r'
!» r,
.7''
/l».fr
/
J : .■' I
\
l' "h
'H!
1'
■
^-./■r \?'
462
FRAGMENTS.
5^:;
soldiers received %d. a day.' In lo21, the hire of labourers was
6(Z. a day.'' In 1557, the English soldiers received %d. a day
for the infantry, and dd. for the cavalry ; but the council in
the north proposed that, on account of the " dearth of things "
they should be raised, " the footmen to %d. and the horse-
men to 12cZ."' In 1589, it was ordered that "every soldier
at all musters and trainings, shall have, over and besides %d. a
day for his wages, a penny a mile for the wearing and carriage of
his armour and weapon, and other furniture, so that it exceed not
six miles." * In 1540, the wages of painters for the king's revels
were"! 2d per diem."' In 1551, we find carpenters receiving
1(^. per hour; bricklayers the same; labourers, \d. an hour;
plasterers, 11(Z. a day; painters, la. <od. a day.^ In 1548 (?), Sir
Tliomas Ca warden paid his servants 40s. a year.^ In 1621, the
labour market was in England so overstocked that many persons
offered "to work for meat and drink only."^ In 1512, Sir Edward
Howard received as admiral 10s. a day, and the captains 18(/.;
the men 58. every lunar month for wages, and another os. for
victuals.'' In 1541, workmen at Calais received M. a day, and
the commonest labourers 6di° In 1841, Bishop Copleston ^vrites
to Archbishop Whately that he wishes more notice to be taken
" of my speculations on the origin and occasion of the first poor
laws in this country. The depreciation of money, I am persuaded,
war the main cause, wages not rising with the price of provisions
and other necessaries." " In 1686, there was such jobbing in Ire-
land that, though the king allowed 6(Z. a day, the soldiers had
only '2d. to live upon.'''' In 1705, the common wages of a labourer
were 9s. a week ; those of a tile-maker 16s. to 20s." In 1676, at
jMontpellier, " wages for men 12 sous, for women 5 sous at this
time" (in January); "in summer, about harvest, 18 for men and
7 for women ;" '< and in the Grave coimtry, in 1678, peasants re-
ceived 7 sous a day." In 1680, the English silkweavers received
' See Lej'cester Correspondence, Camden Society, p. 27.
2 Rutland Papers, edit. Camden Society, p. 42.
' Lodge's Illustrations of British Uistory, 18S8, vol. i. p. 323. See also p. 330.
* Ibid. vol. i:. p. 403. ' Loseley Manuscripts, by Kempe, 183o, p. '0.
« Ibid. p. 96. ' Ibid. p. 179.
' Yonge's Diary, Camden Society, vol. xli. p. 52.
» Chronicle of Calais, Camden Society, vol. xsxv. p. 67. '" Ibid. pp. 198, 199.
" Memoirs of Edward Coplc^on, Bishop of Llaudaff, by W. J. Copleston, Loml.
8vo, 1851, p. 85.
'•■' See Clarendon Correspond-,. , 1828, 4to, vol. i. pp. 340, 341. See also iho
details at pp. 379, 380.
" See "Wilson's Life of De Foe, vol. ii, pp. 311, 313.
" King's Life of Locke, 8vo, 1830, vol. i. p. 102.
" Ibid. pp. 146, 147.
Si'o also iho
CHIVALRY. ^^3
of wages from 1800 to 1 836 e ^oZ^'t^ '^^"^'^^^- ^or a list
vol. ii. pp. .251-254 ; Mo^ilmZ \^'T''' '^ ^^' ^^^^on,
fitats, tome i. pp. 117/119 47 t' ^'^ ^^""^^^^ ^^« ^^^vers
p. 124. In CorLall, eaHv in ti.o ""' f^' ^^^' ^^^ 5 tome vi.
of the labourers in tl!; Un 'n^L^^^^^^^^^^^ '1 ^''^T^. '^' ^^^^«
labourer bad to spend more than sTft « A^ ""'^ ^^^^^^^^^ tJ^«
drinke." In 1601, R^'h latd tit ^^T'^^ '' ^^^^^
patent" in 1585, ^ges bad risen t p"" Wt ^^'"''"^ ^^^^
of Statistical Society, vol. ii no 017 oV^ t^^^^' '^« Journal
travelled through the sou b of' France and* Vfr' '^^^^-^^^
jays, at J3eaujolois, « The wajres of a Tnl ^^ ^*^'^- ^e
louis ; of a woman one ba^'^' I labouring man here are five
"Day labourers re eive d^ Ln of Ih^''^^"""' ^" ^^P'""^,
themselves.-' At St Remis « . T^"" ''"' ^ ^^^' ^"^ feed
one hundred and fifty Ws' a wo^'Tir^^'^ "^^"^ ^^^ -«
"ear Marseilles, "the wa^ ^ IiT ^^ ^' '"'^ ^'^'^ '"' ^<^ ^ix,
and fifty livres the yel" I woln " ?^. "'''' "'" ^^"^ '^""^^^^^
fed.- At Bordeaux'^Ah^y ne'r hiri ^ " "'^^^^ "^^■-' ^-^
day wages for a man are thirty sous aw "1^ ^ '^' ^'^^' '^'
themselves." « On wa^e and r' '''' ^^"*^^ ^""'''' ^^^ding
CHIVALRY.
'ke system of ward h p whi h^waf 't V :''™''' "'"="''"™ °f
and lower classes of society '•• ^ ''"' ""^ '" "»> raWJk
Puritanism destroyed chivalry.
'^ZtV^lylu^r '-'''- ^' »""-^ -t» alone was
MwTS""""*""""'''^ «»"**'."■-■. p. ..9. .,,„
'• P.. ..^''^ '^"'^ ^i^"«frious Ladies 8ro 1«j« ,. i •• " ^'^'
Essajr on National Character 8vo lfiS9 tl?" • ' ?'" "■ P^" ^^r, 268.
"^itr, 0^0, 1832, vol. 11. pp. 387, 388.
* I'>iil. p. 122.
' ^iiiJ. p. loa!
M
I
I !
• ,1
464
FRAGMENTS.
Among the various circumstances which resulted from tlie
decline of chivalry, one of thu most important was the rise of
duelling, which, though unnecessary, and even barbarous in a
refined age, has contributed not a little ta refiniag the manners
of Europeans,
At the end of the sixteenth cenhiry the minstrels declined so
much in fame that, by the 39th of Elizabeth, th-ey were classed
among " rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars." " This Act,"
says Percy, " seems to have put an end to the profession," ' though
the name is sometimes used.* Percy has published ^ a curious
poem, " The Turnament of Tottenham," in which chivalry is ridi-
culed. He does not mention the date, but from the language I
should assign it to the fourteenth century. There is another
ballad, called '' The Dragon of Wantley," which is a satire on works
and romances of chivalry, and was written early in the seventeenth
century.* Even in the reign of Elizabeth the minstrels were
exceedingly well paid.^
William Schlegel says : " From a union of the rough but
honest heroism of the northern conquerors and the sentiments of
Christianity, chivalry had its origin, of which the object was, by
holy and respected vows, to guard those who bore arms from every
rude and ungenerous abuse of strength, into which it was so
easy to deviate." ^ Schlegel adds : ^ " The spirit of chivalry
has nowhere outlived its political existence so long as in
Spain."
Warton says^ that in 1237 we have "the most early notice of
a professed book of chivalry in England." It has been supposed
that Milton was a great reader of the romances of chivalry, but
this is doubted by Mr. Keightley, a very competent authority."
Ever since the foundation of the Order of the Garter by Edward
III., there had been held on St. Greorge's Day a grand feast, which
lasted for three days. But in 1567, Elizabeth, with the view
apparently of doing away with the custom, ordered that for the
future it should be kept wherever the sovereign might happen to
be.'" In A.D, 1600, a gentleman in Shropshire died, and his widow
actually offered the Secretary of State 1,000/. to be permitted to
' Prrcy's Reliques, 8vo, 1845, pp. xxi. xxii.
" See p. xxxviii,
• ?p. 92, 95. " Pp. 268-271. » P. 132.
• Lectures on Dramatic Art, Loud. 1840, vol. i. p. 14.
■' Vol. ii. p. 355.
« History of English Poetry, 8to, 1840, rol. i. p. 118.
• See Keightley'a Tales and Popular Fictions, Lond. 1834, p. 25.
'" Lodge's Illustrations of Britiah Ilistory, 1838, vol. i. p. 413.
TOWNS AND CITIES
^''^' 465
isting which could haveVo^edaTo;^^^^^^^^ ^"^^ ^^^ ^'^^ -
TOWNS AND CITIES.
In a curious Discourse, written in 1 ^^78 1.x. ^ • .
said : "Navigation, I must confeVf ^ T""^ "^ '^^^^'«' ^^ ^^
port towns, Ld AourTshe h t^' ^cT^^^^^^^
early in the seventeenth centurv it h.H f ^ London"; 3 and
the paternal acres and livefn Sdl 1^^^^^ '^ "-'^1 to sell
in Every Man out of his Humour ^I'n! f ^T''' '' ^^^^^^
State of England, published in i 627 comn, ?"'' ''^" ^^-^^
eagerness with which people flocked to 3 ". '' "'"^^ '^ ^he
In Stafford's Brief Conceint nf F i f^^?° ^^'^^^ ^he country.^
tbat "the most paz-^ of all the towf V'p^"?' ''''' '' '' -^<i
excepted," is " fallen to III! ! '^ ^^S^v^nd, London only
-h'to London f:tri wCth'rZ^t T '''''''''''•' ' ^^^
pelled several country promie^o . ^^ / '"^ P''""' ^^^^^ ^^m-
"and get their chamirfnt: do^^ o^: ?u? f^ ^^ -^^^lishments
spend their timer's Earlv in T/ , *^^ '^^"^t, and there
-tices that those whoselLi^ii::rt:tii"^^r' ^^^^^
Pnnces m their countrv br-ivplv n+f 7^ t ^''^^ P^^^^^^s like
-n now come and V^^Z 1^ 'HT^^'- f P-P-
teed in 1569, contrasts the opu ence 'f hn!h '/^ " ^''''' '"^
poverty of artificers. •" ^P^lence of husbandmen with the
A.imal decompLtion is no ^It .^rr r?"'""""'"
"imtry has been overrated.'' salubrity of the
' Sydney Lettepfl, e<Iit. Collins folm I7j^ . i -
! Jto«''« London, edit. Thorns, 8vo, 1842 p 205
Beu Jouson, Works pdi> p;V i o ^'
J Mr. Cunningham's Introduetiou to Ruil' H.„ .• ! '^'.'' "''° PP- ^79, 186.
':;■ I'- P- ^-iii. ''^' ' "°"'^^"« °f tl>i« Age, Percy Society
^.VeHaynes's State Papers, p. 519.
,^,^ Ahsons Principles of Popula.ioa, 8.o, 18.0, vol. i. pp. 4. 46, 47. I40. ,4, 5>7
" ^"^''' -^l^iiosopl^y of Living, 2nd edit. 8vo, 1838, p. 214.
If H
■ ;/ i
! i
1
1
■
4^1i
IB!
i
!
466
FRAGMENTS.
Corate * points out the beneficial effects ariBing from the con-
densation of population." The Anp-lo-Saxons had no idea of
citizenship like that of the Athenians and Romans, but made the
possession of land and not birth the full qualification.^ Kemhle^
observes that situation is the most powerful element of the pro-
sperity of cities, as we see in Munich and Madrid. He says * at
first those who assembled in cities were under the authority of
the castellan ; and " in truth burh does originally denote a castle,
not a town." In France, in the fourteenth century, none but
artisans and tradesmen lived in towns ; the clergy and nobles re-
mained on their estates.*^ Monteil ' says that about the time of
the crusades, at the very end of the eleventh century, citizens
began to free themselves. It seems to be doubtful* whether
Laon or Noyon is the first commune ; that of Noyon dates from
the beginning of the reign of Louis le Grros. Alison ^ says with
great simplicity that cities are always democratical. Tocqueville'"
thinks that for the future, cities will increase according to the
increase of political rights. In the battle of Crecy and Poitiers,
the French nobles were almost annihilated, and this aided the
civic communities, which were also favoured by the kings of
France." Louis XI. did immense things for the to\vns.'2 This
shows the unimportance iiationally of morals ; for a bad prince
like Louis XL did great good. Henry III. was the first king-
who regularly lived in Paris, and under him the city wonderfully
increased.^' In 1588, the population of Paris was half a million.'^
In the middle of the fifteenth century the " bourgeoisie " of Paris
were becoming important enough to be courted by kings.'* Cities
are not in themselves unhealthy; but the mortality is great
because in them many persons follow unhealthy occupations.'" In
London, bricklayers are more subject to fever than persons who
clean the sewers and collect the night soil ! ! ! '^
' Philosopliie Positive, vol. iv. pp. 642-644.
^ See iilso tome vi. p. 96.
» Kemble's Saxons in England, vol. i. pp. 88, 89. * Ibid. vol. ii. p. 307.
» P. 323.
• Monteil, Histoire des Fran^ais des Divers Etats, tome i. pp. 18, 19.
' Vol. iii. pp. 122, 123. ' Pp. 123, 125.
» History of Europe, vol. i. p. 224.
'» Deraocratie en Amerique, vol. ii. p. 206.
" See lianke's Civil Wars of France, 8vo, 1852, vol. i. pp. 60, 61. See also p. 63.
" Ibid. vol. i. p. 101. " Ibid. vol. ii. p. 108.
'* Ibid. vol. ii. p. 101. " See Monteil, Divers Etats, vol. iv. p. 307.
" Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. viii. p. 312.
" Ibid. vol. xi. pp. 73, 75, 76, 77, 80.
467
BEGGARS m EmLAm.
Even as late as the enrl nf ^.u •
^/«i?J^^./^ a wooden vessel mth f '^ ^'^ ^° ^t)out ^Sth a
-nich theygave notice of the^t.trT^^^ ««--r by elappL.'
ton s M^orks, 8vo, vol. ii. ['^'Z ''' ^^ - ^607, se'e m!^
In Every Man in his Hnm.
f'"-f-ttobeknown;talTrL"'^^ ''''^ ^-n-rm,
c^^aracter of a mendicant soldi- and P "''"'^^ ^^^^'"«« the
Humour, acted in 1599, there I T , ^^''^ ^^^^» «"t of his
b^-.-p pretendin, to 4 a ,ie/ jtH" ^^'^^ ^^^ '^bot
r soldiers to beg, that there y^Ta'Jt f '* ''^' ^ «<^"^^on
l^ose who solicited charity under tirn,T'' '''''^ ^"^^^^^^-^l for
tl>e army. Such beggino^as ']lS f f "'" ^^ ^^^^-^ng- been in
mentioned by Ben Jon^'son ' rf 1^''^'^^' ^"^ ^^ ^epelted v
f-Iing for charity, uTdio say ?r l"^^°'^^ -^ie', S
l-e become almost proverbial.^' ""''' ^'y^' This seems to
in ihe Bearing Girl in 1 «n i
M were obliged to " beat elSlt ,^'7- '""' *° «'«'«»^" in
» pmars of the Temple were "h,;r<^ ''-en,- &.. i„ Ki^J"
W tbere many J„dica"t Ir^^Tfr'T^'^VetiUons''^
«,e bare tlian Iri.b !»„, '" \ '", P»''»'' ? Dekker' bas
"■"■»« D'u^y, a parag»°„f\rJs" '^'»'. «°°g« »"»«. = "Sk
-ember, to say th^t tlfe soldie'rf En ,1 ,''''^' ^™^ «■"> i
f<"0 three ends to look for Tr,! ,*''""""»'' "'^ys one of
;'"»-"••; fiich has pr sertd t he 1^^ .'° '"--'" *» be
•!» London beggars early in the ! ?"'" "^ =<>mplaint used bv
; Jonson's Works, vol. i. p 5,' ^™' ^^^^' ^°1- '• P. 44.
' J!>eHonestieofthisA.e,r.,4P . • "' ^'" ^^^"° ^^3' Society,
S-'-th-s Letters to Burghleig; l' Wr ,3u's VV '^1"'" ' ^"^^- «-
fa fe in Wrights Elizabeth, vol. ii. p 99
H H 2 ^ " •
^I'
1' <
; .1
ut
1
^■i ■ 1
fc'i'
i
r^ \
t
1
^y.h
468
FRAGMENTS.
Evelyn ' was struck by the admirable arrangements made in
Holland for the poor.
On the poor laws in France, see Monteil, Histoire des Franjais
des Divers fitats, tome vi. pp. 88-92. A sort of one seems to
have been known in a.d. 1530.* Foundling hospitals increase
illegitimate births.^ " The Foundling Hospital of Palermo
receives all children deposited in the wheel, without inquiry,
and without distinction of sex. About half of the foundlinas
die within the second year." ■* The poorer people are, the more
tliey marry. ^ In Frankfort, persons are not allowed to marry
unless tliey have a certain income ; hence, says Colonel Sykes,''
an immense increase of illegitimate children. The bad influence
of foundling hospitals is noticed by Comte.^ In 1592, the House
of Lords made " a contribution for the relief of such poor soldiers
as went begging about the streets of London." '
HISTORY OF RENTS.
In a "supplication" to Henry VIII., printed in 1544, it is said
that " scarce a worshipfuU man's lands, which in times past was
wont to feed and maintain twenty or thirty tall yeomen, a good
plentiful household for the relief and comfort of many poor and
needy, and the same now is not sufficient and able to maintain
the heir of the same lands, his wife, her gentlewomen, a maid,
two yeomen or lackeys." ° So that the rise of rents did not meet
the risii of prices.
In a very curious pamphlet, published in 1627, it is stated
that within sixty years rents had quintupled.^" The rise of rents
is mentioned by Grreene in 1592." But there is no doubt that the
rise was not equal to the rise in prices. In Stafford's Brief
Conceipt of English Policy, 1581, the knight says that he is
compelled to raise the rents of those lands which fall in, but
that he has comparatively little opportunity of doing so. " I do
either receive a better price than of old was used, or enhance the
rent thereof, being forced thereto for the charge of my household,
that it is so increased over that it was ; yet in all my lifetime I
" Diary, 8vo, 1827, vol. i. pp. 28, 29. " Monteil, vol. vi. p. 91.
' See Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. ii. p. 109.
* Ibid. vol. V. p. 200. ^ Ibid. vol. vi. pp. 152, 153, and vol. i. p. 1"0.
" Ibid. vol. vii. p. 34-1. ' Traito de Legislation, tome i. p. 506.
» Pari. History, vol. i. p. 864.
» Harleian Miscellany, edit. Park, vol. ix. p. 464.
"• Ibid. vol. iii. p, 207. " Ibid. vol. v. p. 400.
its made in
ROYAL REVENUE AND TAXES. 4^9
in men's holdiri either bv r. . i '"'""^ ' ^"^ '^ '^^^^ be
time and still co'ntiXXdTet^H^ ''^''' ""^'^'^ -^
state for the most part cfurin^ mv 1 f ? '°''^"'"" '" '^^^ ^'-^^^
Dr. Lingard straiK^eir ^ ^ f '''"'^ P^"'^'^ "^^ ^o^^es.'" '
middle of the sixtetfc^^^^ "^'^' '^^ "^ «f -^ts in the
of produce, whid'in turn ^ '""' '""^'^ ^^ ^ "^^ ^" ^^^^ '-^-e
cuiency.^ In 746 Mr PnJ'';'"''^ ^^ ^ depreciation of the
at 3^. a year in Great ^'^r'^^'^: '^'^ " ^ P^^^^ ^-^^t room
near the Seven dS " a ' ^^^'" ""'''''^ ''' '^' ^^8" of the Dove,
■iv
KOYAL REVEx\UE Ax\D TAXES
^^^t^^^^Zs^'i^'^''^'' -- ^^^^^^ «P^^" -^
^t least, which was LtTe mo ty X^^^^ ^'^ ^^"--'
expenses." " He menfiVm^ • ! °*^^' disbursements and
she superintended r 11:: ^^ f ^'- -- with which
Conceipt of English Policy ToTl Stni 1 °^T' ^" ^^^^ ^^'^^^^
tliat way of eatherino- tZ' '"^ '''^' ^^ *^^^^' " ^^d yet
prince/surety Td° 1 " '' "^'.^^'^^^^ ^^^ -f- f-' the
-bsidies spent'^i'n ?L " eaTn ^r^"" *'^ ^''^'^ '' --^
that the "loans" demanded bv Fi;.T n ''''' '' "^ '^°"b*
Pukory. There is mW nff. • • ^^^f^^^^^^ ^ere in reality com-
addsHhat the queen alwrf^l/,^ ^^'- ^^"^^ ? ^ but Hallam
no debt till near tl^cS i\" ''P'^^ '^^"°^' '^^'^ "i^'^^'d
" From the aeport f tre s ^0; u "^ ^"^^'"•" ^^-8-^ ° -ys :
(communicated b/n Howard 'frr V'' ''''^'' ''''^'''''^-
the king's (i.e. Edward YtT "^^' ^'^•^' '' '^PP^'^^-« that
expenditure t tlmlof I^;^ ^"'^T 'f "'"'^^ '"^^^^^^ ^^^ <>rdinary
anS the latter 'rut'2£S " ^^^^^^
adds Lingard « had nln^ V 1 • ^^''''" ' '^^^ ^^ Scotland,
him to bor ow monev^f'T^A ^ ''^^^^ '" ^^^^' ' ^^^ ^--d
money ftom Antwerp at very high interest. In
' Harleian Miseell. vol. ix. DD us iiq c
Kiel «rf.on,Copre8p„„d,„e,8vo, 1801, ™l ii t. 147
IX. p. 155
Constitutional History, 8vo ISP
^ans, 1840, vol. iv. d. 260
p. 260.
vol.
i. p. 239.
' P. 86.
P. 240.
lu;
:w
li
470
FRAGMENTS,
September, 1553, Mary borroived of the Londoners "24,000 on
25,000 escuz sol." « In the same letter Noailles says * that 7,(){)()/
sterling are 21,000 or 22,000 escuz sol. But five months later^
we find her so poor that she could scarcely pay the purvevors of
her own palace ;3 and yet in the very same montli s..e lent
money to the emperor to enable him to fit out his fleet with
greater rapidity." Philip was himself surprised at her poverty,'-
to remedy which she adopted the ruinous expedient of borrowing
money at high interest.« In October, 1555, parliament granted
her 16 deniers in the pound, which Noailles estimate's ^ would
amount to " environ un million d'or." Butler » quotes Andrews,
History of Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 35, to the effect that EliztJ
beth received yearly 20,000^. from tlie rich Catholics as the price
of dispensations permitl,ing them to abstain from church, .^lou-
tesquieti, from whom so many political writers have stolen
without acknowledgement, says: "Regie generale ; on pent
lever des tributs plus forts a proportion de la liberte des sujets."^
See Wright's Elizabeth, 8vo, 1838, vol. i. p. 143, and vol. ii.
p. 361. In the Egevton Papers '" there are printed the instruc-
tions issued in 1600 respecting the sale of crown lands. For an
account of the revenue of Henry VII. in the year 1500, see
Italian Relation of England, Camden Soc. vol. xxxvii. p. i7etseq.
Alison" says Cromwell raised nearly 5,OO0,000L a year, "or
more than five times as much " as that raised by Charles I.
In Haynes's State Pajiers '^ there is one of the queen's privy
seals for a loan of money, dated 1569. In it the amount is
guaranteed to be repaid within twelve months after it is received.
For the expense of the army and navy in 1587 and 1588, see
Murdin's State Papers, p. 620, &c., and p. 619, where the yearly
expense of victualling the ships and of the wages is 113,438/.
This, of course, is exclusive of the cost of repair and the chance
of loss. The accounts which follow are very confused.
In 1571, the queen could not pay the loans borrowed under
the seal when they became due ; and she therefore thought it
necessary to apologise, and to request that her creditors would
" be content to forbear payment for such a time as seven months
IS
" 13
In 1579 [it was] proposed that there should be regular
' Ambassades de Xoaille, Leyde, 1763, tomf ii. p. 136. a p. 137.
» Ibid, tome iii. pp. 96, 9'. ■• Tome iii. p. V2.Q.
' Tome iv. p. 80. 6 Tome v. p. 171. ' Tome v. p. 187.
" Historical Memoirs of the Catholics, 8vo, 1822, vol. i. p. 292,
" Esprit des Lois, livre xiii. chap. xii. tEuvres, p, 296
'" Camden Society, pp. 285-287.
" History of Europe, vol. vii. pp, 3, + u p, 518.
" Murdin's State Papers, p. 181.
mat(;s^ would
PROGRESS AND TENDENCY OF ENCLOSURES. 471
loans made and kept for the government in banks, wher
should be one in each shire.'
•eof there
In 1580 the
1 n nr .n/ !f ^f f ^' ''^ ^^^ '1''^®^ ^" ^^^^^^d alone were « above
10,000 . a month.- See also p. 664 where Raleigh writes lo
bir Robert Cecil in 1593: "Her majesty hath good causi o
remember hat a million hath been spent in Ireland not many
years since. -^
In Haynes's State Papers 3 there is a minute made by Secretary
Paget, from which it appears t'uat in 1545 the military and na al
expenses were for six months 104,000/. and that an intended
benevolence was expected to produce 50,000/. to 60,000/. He
suggests that "lands" should be sold for 40,000/. li HaVnes's
State Papers^ there is presented a minute by Secretary Cec 1
from which It appears that in 1552 the king owed nearly 220,000/'
The embarrassed Secretary suggests all sorts of expedien s fo^:
meeting the deficiency. ^
In April, 1575, Elizabeth borrowed by privy seal 60 000
hvi.s esterlin (qui sont 200,000 escus) ; "Vthis^oln^aid
half, the clergy one-sixth, and the other two-sixths, "le commun
du royau Ime.".^ In 1570 the queen found greaJ difficulty n
raising' lemprunt de trois mil prives seek qu'elle a nao-uferes
imposez," and would not use force, fearing another insurrect on "
t.
r M I ' :
I • t .1 -.
H :, I
;) -
\1
PROGRESS AND TENDENCY OF ENCLOSURES.
Greene says : ^ « and first I alledge against the grasier that he
tores alleth pasture and medow grounds for the feeding of his
cattail, and wringeth leases of them out of poor men's hands." «
But tlie fu lest view I have seen of the tendency of enclosm-es is
in .Stafford s Brief Conceipt of English Policy, published in 1581
and reprinted in the Harleian Miscellany.^^ The author says:'
I have known of late a dozen ploughs within less compass than
SIX miles about me, laid down within these seven years, and
where three score persons or upwards had their livings, now one
man wit^ h^s cattell hath all." - The great increase of enclosures
IS said to have been within thirty years, and chiefly in Essex,
; Murdin's State Papers, p. 327. . Ibid. p. 346.
^ Pp. 04-06. 4 Pp. 126-128.
' Srrnrr Sr^^"^" '^ f-elon Pans, 1840, t^e vi. pp. 4.3, 414.
: Harleian Mi.^I.r;. edit. Park. vol. v. p. 4?8r' '"^ ^" '^"^'"^ '°^^^''^^' ''''•
vol. ix. pp. I3u-iai!. 10 p. i47_
'i
ill'
1
§
,'j
It
■'I IfJ
!•
m
i
472
FRAGMENTS.
Kent, and Xortliamptonshire.' The reason is clearly stated:'
" So lonsjf as tiny find more profit by pasture thaii by tiilaj^e, tliey
will enclose and turn arable land to pasture ; " and it is proposed'
to reduce the profits on pasti^re lands by putting a duty on tiie
export of wool, and at the same time ■' allow the free exportation
of corn. Mr. Lewis* seems to consider that tlie enclosures in the
sixteenth century were beneficial by destroying the cottier system,
and thus relieving the peasants from a " state of quasi-villenage."
In Tytler's Edward VI, and Mary « there is a letter from John
Hales, one of the commissioners apjKiinted to investigate the
causes of the conversion of arable into pasture land. It is dateil
July, 1548, and addressed to the protector ; but contains nothing
of moment. See also ^ a letter in 1551 from Hooper to Cecil in
which the bishop complains that the price of meat had become
immense because cattle w,^re no longer bred, but only sheep ; and
" tliey be not kept to be brought to market, but to bear wool,
and profit only to their master." In 1551 it was estimated that
there were in the realm "thirty hundred thousand sheep" of
which 1,500,000 were "kept on the commons, and rated at Ir^.
the piece." ^
PEOGRESS OF TOLERATION.
Neal says : » "In tlie first eleven years of her reign (Queen
Elizabeth) not one Roman Catholic was prosecuted capitally for
religion," and that during the next ten years theri; wers only
twelve priests executed. In 1591 (?) a law was passed which
Neal call>^ the most cruel that had yet been enacted against the
Puritans.'" 1:-: 1584, Whitgift, archbishop of Canterbury, drew
up twenty-four articles for the use of the Court of High Commis-
sion." These articles were so violent tiuit Burleigh Avrote to liira
stigmatizing them in the strongest terms. He says : '^ « i tintl
them so curiously penned, so full of branches and circumstances,
that I think the Inquisition of Spain used not so many questions
to comprehend and trap their priests." Two months later— Sep-
tember, 1584 — tl'.e lords of the Council remonstrated with the
archbishop ; '•' and a treatise to the same effect was written by
' Brief Conceipt of English Policy, Harl. Misc. vol. ix. p. 160.
■•' P. 161. » P. 162. * P. 163.
- Irish Disturbances, 8vo, 1836, pp. 314, 315.
« Tytler's Edward VI. and Mary, 8vo, 1839, vol. i. pp. 113-117. ' Ibid. p. 365.
« Ibid. p. 370.
» History of the Puritans, vol. i. p. i44. '» Ibid. vol. i. p. 4?6.
» Ibid. vol. i. p. 337. ''^ Ibid. vol. i. p. 339. " P. Uh
PKOORESS OF TOLERATION. 473
•"(jry letter t., the co, noil .Tt^ f .^'""'^°"' "'■'''<' ""
was to rem„,„t™to wm 'tM v I ""/^ "° ■°'' "'"^ "'"'^ "' "
« eiile was first introduced..™™, ■ F ""™li^>"' that
<!"> 39th of Eli."S''i?rlir .?''"' ''^ "'" '"'«'*'""■'' i»
An act of parham™ .' „rde " • "" ""'"-"'' "'" •'•'°™™-"
.™.l Coke« mentfon" ,„vrr,T ''°"™7 '" '"' '"*'"' '» death,
pumshment.t 1^,1 sv vent JT™ T''" "f"'" ""» «''"'«"1
et'l.t year., old «' nfftetTn^L'r f '""/'>-'' '"'^
B.aek„.,n<.,. who quotes F^ly": Tl'Z^t ^ .f ^'u '"'
the authority of Foster 72 th-,, ",■„ ' , '*" '"'''''> "1
"f ten was iL, f„,. ^.'.rt^r "his' ,Sir'"Tin""'?" " ""^
Etoheth of introdnein. the Inquisition it •j.-u'^.S". T""'
remarkub proof of flio ,.ffi„.i- t • ^ ^ ^^'lyi'ind/ It is a
of c■ath„Iics^o ftoti'ift ir;rr "t 'f'" ""'- ™""
regularly incmasintr fmm n ''.'^'^"* . ^ '-' therefore, gone on
Lewis well ad 1 > • U^aU-di. ^'"°^ "* •"^''' Revolution.'' -o Mr.
efficiently enlrge f L^ ':^tT,'^'' ^^T'^ '' ^' "'^^
schichte, p. 470, to the .Z. fl Tn ^""^'^'^'''^^'^ Deutsche Ge-
.n the sa^e wa WrCat:^:'!*^-^^''""' '^-'J-
In 1550 it; „,rr/ "^ ''*''■** ""y™''*™ ill England '<
Mwa'd„.i;rtl«™rnto°, "'>"*>''' """•*" '" ■"O""'"^'
Kent, to he ^^JZ^-^^^Z?"''" '- '- -
au'r^t I"'*;:; J^^r ^f -^beth hated she would not
-..H.hop of Can^terhnry, wMj^fJ^So^rtysrit ttt;'
; fall's History of the Puritans, vol. i. p 343 , ti • ,
Ancient Stat. p. 269, quoted by C]„ «H.,n . . 1 '"'^' P?' 3''^' ^^O. 351.
™'- '■ p. 137. ^ '^ Ohnstian note to Blackstone's Commentaries
-■i Henry VIII. c ii . -Blackstone, vol. iv. p. 18,
'Blackstone,vol.iv.p.i96 > l^^^' ''^■
' HLstory of England, Paris, 1840, vol. iv. p 3oT '' '*'
" Pp "V/ 3r ' disturbances, 8vo. 18.36. pi 346.
;;Conier.Eecb.sSrH;:;^--^-^'-
We.s Eli^betban P.Ii.ioS Ili.tor;." 8vo; 1839, p 42
f
S I
474
FRAGMENTS.
conciliatory measure towards the Puritans.' In 1579, Hammond
was burned at Norwich for denying the Trinity, &c.' In 15H1,
Campion was executed — but the usual butchery was prevented by
Charles Howard, the Lord Admiral, who would not allow him to
be cut down till he was dead.^ In 1588, Francis Kett, « a master
of arts, and probably a clergyman," was burnt at Norwich fur his
opinions on Christ ; but, says Soaraes, " his case was the last in
which Elizabeth's government answered reflections upon its
catholicity by iire and faggot." * In the reign of Elizabeth, live
person- were burned as Unitarians (two in London and three in
Norwi .), and live Protestants, Nonconformists, were hun•^■'
Soames says," that only five persons in the reign of Elizabe'th
were " actually condemned as religious offenders."
It was in an age of dissoluteness that toleration grew up. The
dissoluteness passed away ; the toleration remains. The Kegency,
which, as Mr. Macaulay has observed, presents a strong analoijy
to the court of our Charles II., seems to have given rise In
France to toleration.^
A strong argument against severe laws is their needless cruelty;
but a still stronger one is the impossibility of adininistering
them. M. Quetelet, who has made a curious calculation from
the criminal statistics of France, shows that if an individual is
accused of crime against persons, the chances are 477 to 1000
that he will be condemned ; but in an accusation for crime against
property, the chances of condemnation rise from 655 to 1000.* I
may add that tliis inequality, which can only arise from a reluctance
to inflict severe penalties, is in reality more than 655 to 477,
because we naturally look with more severity on murder than on
robbery, so that a priori the chances of punishing a murderer
would be greater than of punishing a robber. The influence of
sympathy on the executive is shown by the fact that women have
a much better chance of acquittal than men.**
In 1585, the archbishop of Canterbury ordered inquiries to be
made if the minister " once every Sabbath day put the church-
wardens in mind of their duty to note who absented themselves
from divine service, and upon the goods and chattels of such to
• Elizabethan Religious History, p. 220. 2 Ibid. p. 234.
' Bartoli, p. 214, quoted in Soames's Elizabethan Relig. Hist. p. 306.
* Elizabethan Religious History, p. 354.
' Ibid. p. 595. 8 Ibid. p. 598.
' See a remarkable pnssage in No. Ix. of Lettres Persanes, published in 1721,
(Euvres de Montesquieu, Paris, 1835, p. 41.
» Quetelet sur I'Homme, Paris, 1835, tome ii. p. 297 ct sea.
» Ibid. pp. 209, 600.
lishcd in 1721,
PEOGliESS OF TOLERATION.
' "Mft'
I ■
1 in 7 475
levy 1 2(1. a ni'ppp " i c*
ttf cl,„rcl,i,.«.> "^ "'""'^ """«''' to be removc.a f,„,n
»oi»eahaben,da,I'rKot!ref •" u'", """ «"""'■" '"«-
P^ecutioo was perceived befo,; its ,v ISI^"' n^' "l*"''"* °''
^ol'„:it,/ttf;r:!!;;j:^ e.™e„..d .
<l™, in order as usual to b to or il ' K ' ,""^ '^^''"' '"= ™»
»""U not allow.' An imfoMi " "' " ' """ "'''' '^e people
""■' ktter a hereto^ U t™ 1?/T" r °""'"' ' " » 'l^^
»™te at the end of l,e shle Z, ; * ' """'^ ^^''■"»"' "■"><>
favour of toleration ' " rl I "^' ''''"'"'''■' "">'''« »
f de 1680;". buiu Per u n Tbe iT'"'' -''''-^ " Madrid
"»' ""s tl,e last is nerlnn . ™' " "^^■- ™d "mt
J'"n.esq„ieu.» Chelr etteri "' '''"'"'»' '""P'- »'
«diness to change his rel^'on*: ,fg,-" n"': '"''■■'°™K ^s
I-terary Men.'» M. Cousin wl" , °"8'°''' I'«"«s of
'■■■favourable view of Locke Jm .7 •, '., "''°''-* '"''«» " ^'T
-mtofalwaysappealii to ';««■" r:, ''"''' '"^ '"" '"' 8'--'
■:--:e:iit5t:-:st--at^-.^^..^
'V\wf'p-i^?''^'-PP- 330-332. ^
. ""'vc, Band vni. pp. 2I7_2''o
' '■ille"»in,Liufa ."""i . "■,^™'^- '"""■ "'•"•P- 'as-
• IMA p. ik '"" '*'*''«• 'O"'" "i- P- ■«», P»ri., ,m
!
1 1
■|
476
FRAGMENTS.
^
m
in-
i
I'l
I'JI '.
Cecil declaring that he had been a Protestant more than twenty
years.' This I may add to the case of Sir John Cheke, who also
became a Catholic at the accession of Mary.
Drury, who was iifteen years in Madagascar, says that reli-
gious persecution is imknown, and this he ascribes to the
absence of any separate order of priesthood.' Ellis observes
that the king of Madagascar is the high priest.^ Mr. Newman ■•
observes that, with the exception of the Persians and Jews,
all the ancient nations were to a certain degree tolerant — i.e.
they had none of the proselytizing spirit : but " this kind of
toleration by no means gave scope for inquiry or progressive
amendment. It was a toleration of public religions or sects, not
of individuals " ; ^ and ^ he says that the toleration known to
paganism was not " conducive to the advance of truth." Charron'
opposes toleration on religious grounds. In Bohemia, in 1508, it
was first publicly laid down that a Christian ought not to compel
any one to embrace the true fiiith.^ Even Fuller thought tlie
magistrate ought not to punish error." Coleridge truly says
that Whitgift and Bancroft were more criminal than Bonner and
Grardner.'° The miu-der of Servetus was approved by Melanchthon
and the Protestants generally." Coleridge ^'^ makes the curious
admission that " toleration then first becomes practicable when
indifference has deprived it of all merit.'' Even Locke in liis
first work, written in 1660, is inclined to deny the right of com-
plete toleration, but in 1667, he had very liberal sentiments.'^
Mr. F. Newman, who looks on toleration as the result of hitel-
lectual progress, says,'"* " Nevertheless, not only does the Old
Testament justify bloody persecution, but the New teaches that
God will visit men with fiery vengeance /o?' holding an erroneous
creed." The popes were the first who attempted to secure tolera-
tion for the Jews.'* Kead Zeuss, Die Deutschen und die Nachbar-
stiimme, Munich, 1837, praised very highly in Kemble's (Saxons iu
Tytler's Edward VI. and Mary, vol. ii. p. 148.
See Drury's Madagascar, 8vo, 17'13, pp. 188, 231.
History of Madagascar, 1838, vol. i. p. 3t59.
Lectures on the Contrasts of Ancient and Modern History, Svo, 1847, pp. 37-12.
P. 39. « P. 40.
' De la Sagesse, Amsterdam, 1782, 8vo, tome ii. p. 13.
' See Talvi's Languages and Literature of the Slavic Nations, New York, 1850,
. 190.
'■> See Coleridge's Literary Remains, vol. ii. p. 384.
=» Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 388, 389.
" Ibid. vol. iii. p. 74, and vol. iv. p. 379. " Ibid. vol. iii. p. 1S9.
" See King's Life of Locke, 8vo, 1830, vol. i. pp. 11-15, 289, 290.
'< Phases of Faith, 8vo, 185(1, p. 168.
»* liemble's Saxons in England, vol. ii. pp. 89, 90.
PROGRESS OF TOLERATION.
477
I'histoire du droit public nZ ' P^"' important dans
fois la liberte rjnl^ InT ^1?^' '"t^"' ^^"^ ^^ P^^^--
d'un principe tou politique" ^^P^f"; f "'^^^^ ^^"^ ^'«"^P»-e
Servetus to death '^ In ?607 it ' i '.f P^^^^^^^^ned to put
te conquer an infi^ i 1' ""''' ^^'^ ^°^» <^^at the kin/ if
George III. are thHnlv r. ^ ' ? ^^^^^•^^8•»« «f James II. and of
which som; add^tLal V ^^T ''"'' '^' '''^' '^ ^"^^" ^^ary, in
Catholics." Srt "atTw^^^^ ^^'^"^"^^ ^"--
"has the honour of bein.tl?T^'"^''*'''''"^^^^
eated, when hispaL,Zt!rl ."^T "' ^"^'land who advo-
and who continufd t t' TT'''^^'''' '^'^ ''^^''' ^^ conscience,
The pHnciproVto^eX LT^^^^^^^^^^^ ^'^-•"
cerned, is clearlv In,'^ .1-. • i tatiiolics were con-
reformation of all abuses at emnln, ^ , '" ''"™ " ?■=*"
prescribed by our laws 3 '»«™Pted to deform the uniformity
offered to dee "e e tter onX > r^' ""' """ """"= ^"°"W ^
".edirectlinelimi dWan X °f 01" '.1''" '""' '"■™
tions."« In 1579 Lord R?, n ^ ™'' '"^ °"<1 '"J"ne-
".e-eomfortofobkt tePalt--T7tr 'f " '-^'^y ^inst
i-ereased upon recusants •^^'' , f /"'' ''""'''" •"= " ?"""!'!«
Curie. dated\beSof Janua; ,"l ';\lr "Z™" ""**''" '»
;te Elizabeth "hath baniS v ll^ e"t'X'''r;,"^'
l"'«dred priests, or thereabouts, whereof some of 1 , ■''
ma»y years close prisoners in England and s^!,5 JT 'T'" ''""^
lame and impotent " '« '•°»">'"'' aM some of them be grown
[ Butler's Rrminiscennes, vol. ii. p 235
■ Histoire de la IWformo et la Ligue, tome i. p. 348.
iuKi. tome II. p. 72. ^
; C|unpboJi;s Li,^s of the Chief Justices, vol. i. p 936
Life of Pitt, vol. ii. p. 402, note. » ? ;r p ^
Hajnes's State Papers, pp. 591, 592. a i^Sdi -?r;.'|' ^°'' '''•
Ibid. p. 331. ,„ t.". , ' ^ • f^*:*^ Papers, p. 153.
" Correspondance de Fdnelon, vol. vi. p. 490. ^' '^^'■
t '■
Hi- -f
; il
478
FRAGMENTS.
justiciez par-dessus les portes." ' In February, 1554, he writes
to his court that the burning the heretics gave great delight to
the people, and even to the very children ; * but in May, 1556, he
says that the executions had reached such a height as to disgust
the people,^ In October, 1 573, the French ambassador writes from
London : " Ces libelles que les angloys qui sont a Louvein en
avaient envoye semer uug nombre, ont mis du trouble beaucoup
en ceste court." ■•
An able but eccentric writer says : " Genuine belief ended with
persecution. As soon as it was felt that to punish a man for
maintaining an independent opinion was shocking and unjust, so
soon a doubt had entered whether the faith established was un-
questionably true. The theory of persecution is complete. If it
be necessary for the existence of society to put a man to death
who has a monomania for murdering bodies, or to exile him for
stealing what supports them, infinitely more necessary is it to put
to death, or send into exile, or to imprison, those whom we know
to be destroying weak men's souls, or stealing from them the
dearest of all treasures. It is because — whatever we choose to
say — it is because ive do not knoiv, ive are not sure, they are doing
all this mischief ; and we shrink from the responsibility of acting
upon a doubt." ^
A writer greatly attached to Christianity, says : " It is a fact
not to be disputed that some of the most enlightened minds of
the day have nurtured a secret opposition to the doctrines of
Christianity, owing to the intellectual intolerance of its abettors.""
And ^ he adds, " We cannot conceal our fear that should the theo-
logical odium pursue the spirit of philosophy with the raucoi;r
which has too often been experienced, the result must in time be
fatal to the best interests of morality and of religion itself." Aoain,"
Morell says: "In England, a distrust and contempt for rcasoii
prevails amongst religious circles to a wide extent ; many Christians
think it almost a matter of duty to decry the human feculties as
poor, mean, and almost worthless : and thus seek to exalt piety at
the expense of intelligence. Delusive hope ! Is not Christianity
itself a matter of intelligence ? Must not its claim to authority
be weighed by the human reason ? "
Mr. Butler, who from his religious bias had a natural tendency
' Ambassnrles de Noailles, Leyde, 1762, tome iii. p. 83.
» Ibid, tome iv. p. 173. •» Tomo v. p. 370.
* Correspondance Diplomatique de Fenelon, torae v. p. 424.
» Froudo, Nemesis of Faith, 8vo, 1849, pp. 81, 8").
* Morell's History of Speculative Philosopliy, 8vo, 1846 vol ii p 225
' Ibid. p. 227. " » Ibid. p. 505.
PROGEESS OF TOLERATION.
Jh^^^il^?^?;:^- :^^^^ ^^^^f - ^y Elizabeth, Z
popish recusants by that na' .n I ^T^ '''''''' °»^de aga S
-usants.". HeaddVnhTs"f;CedTh "'"r^^"^ ^-- ^t'e
agamst her English Catholic subjectt " ?T? ''^' '^ ^"^^beth
pnestswere sentenced to die ^Tweiv. ^"'''^ ^"^ 1^82, fifteen
deny the right of the Pope to depi pf V'?"' "^« -f"-d to
the remaming three, who consented 1 ^?'?^*^' ^^^« executed ;
were pardoned.a Butler says ' f Rr'^^'''^{ '' ^'^y «"ch right
death of Elizabeth, more than on. f?'^ ^^' ^™da and the
-d embowelled, merely ve" " 1? ^'^ ^^'"^^^^^^ ^^^ ^-^ed
lehgxon." Between 1558 and iVjtV"' ''^ ^"^^^^^^
acts against the Catholics/ But of th'es.T,^' V ^"^^ ^°^ ^^ree
he queen's supremacy, only aff^ete^^^^^^^^^
astical or civil offices ; the LonT"JTJ' T^^° ^^^^ ^^^^^si-
^lergy, and persons ii general thol^'n °°^^ '''' ^'-^'^^^-^t
Common Prayer-Book." tL t] ird t. "^ '^''^ ^^'^^^^^ the
Elizabeth, and extended the peSirV''' ^""'''"^ ^° *^^ ^^1. of
^^"Pjemacy to all who had saM or he , ' " '"^'''^ '^' '""'^ '^
evidently a mere vindication of thiwi T" ""''' ^'^^ ^^"« --«
nd at the same time Butlpr!.?''''^''^-^^"^^ the Church
being generallv '™®/"*^er confesses ^ that " it wis f,,- ^
t, ^i:ueiaiiy earned into pyponfi^v, » t ^ *'" f^m
History r there is an elaborate hTll] ^" ^^^d's Church
-Pitally in the reign of El! ab h?'.'',"-^ ^'^'^^^^^^- -^o suifere
-yone ,,, ^^^J^^^ J -beth; but.n:tl do not find that
^^ odhouse.« But I think thei s In f.rH • '"^^ ^"^' ^^^^^^^
In the system of eccJe.i^cf i , ^'^^ instance.
^^5^, the punish! tTlatT-^T '""" "^ ^^ ^^^— , in
For this Lingard quotes he Ke o La'rr""' T'''^' ^-^tics.
This Soames cannot deny, but he . .IT ^''^^^^i^'^^tiearum.
^eant those who rejected' ChlttntJ'rf ^'' '^^""^"^ --"^
J was not intended to punish apiSi. "'' '^ ^'^^'" t^^'^t
Reformatio Legum are called herSll ^,T"^°°^ ^'^^^^^ ^« the
;'^o reject " the Christian r 1 ion >' L ! ? ''''"^" " ^^'^t those
' Butler's HistonVn I ivr .- _ .
I»l(l- vol. li. p. 11 4 XUKI.
; Edit. Tiorney, vol.' iii. pp i59_i^';;'- '"'• '' ^P' ^'•'"'^^7. „ p 3,,
H. Jorv of the Rofornuufon of tj Church of V ,' 'r P' '''■
iDia. vol. 111. p, 722.
'.-h t
M!
I ^ ji';'
J «.i
'^■i
480
FRAGMENTS.
•„. '
bishop Whitgift, who therefore sent officers to apprehend him, to
avoid whom Broughton fled the realm. Eventually the arch-
bishop adopted that very opinion for maintaining which he had
persecuted Broughton, but refused in any way to further the
ecclesiastical promotion of the man he had so cruelly injured.
For the particulars of this disgraceful affair see Strype's Life of
Whitgift.' The reputation of Broughton was so great, that the
Turks offered him the use of the temple of Sophia, if he would
go to Constantinople and read in Hebrew or Greek.'^
Grindal, in 1559, asked the celebrated Peter Martyr to write to
Elizabeth not to continue the cruciiix in her chapel. But Peter
knew better ; and politely refused.^
In consequence partly of the general increase of knowledge,
and partly of the diminished influence of the clergy, there had
been gradually growing up in the minds of men an indifference to
mere rites and dogmas of religion. Sir John Cheke, the learned
tutor of Edward VI., in order to save his life, publicly recauted
his religion during the reign of Mary.* Men became less super-
stitious and more moral.
Strype, whom no one will accuse of loving the Catholics, fully
exonerates Elizabeth from the charge of having an undue regard
for their religion.^ In 1558 and 1559 Elizabeth deprived in all
192 spiritual persons, of whom fourteen were bishops."
Bonner, ex-bishop of London, was kept in prison for his own
safety. Indeed he was so hated by the people, that when he
died, it was found advisable to bury him in the middle of the
night, " to prevent any disturbances that might have been made
by the citizens." ^
In 1587, some justices of the peace were Catholics.*
In Strype's Annals ^ there is a list copied from a book, printed
at Antwerp, of the Catholics executed in London from L570 to
1587. For evidence of the intolerant spirit of ^he bishops, see
Strype's Parker, vol. ii. p. 120.
Alphonso de Castro, confessor to Philip II., preached in Eng-
land in favour of tolerance.'"
In Older to check violent recriminations, Elizabeth, in 1558,
forbad any one to preach without a licence. Lingard represents
= Vol. ii. p. 407.
* Strype's Life of Chek?, pp. 111-12".
« ibid. p. 106.
» Vol. ii. pp. 220-222, 320, 355, 389.
' Strype's Life of Grindal, p. 48.
' Strype's Anuals, vol. i. part i. p. si.
' Ibid, part ii. p. 298.
* Ibid. vol. iii. part ii. pp. 462, 4G3. See also vol. iv. p. 402, and Strype's Life of
Whitgift, vol. i. p. 514.
" Ibid. vol. iii. part ii. pp. 494, 495.
'* Sec White's Evidence against Catholicism, p. 250.
H^TORy, EIC. 01.- Tfl. ™,„„,
this as dirppfpf^ o„ • . '^^^
obey .t ' In ,578 j, bidl t EW '■*^7''° P'^'™"'' '<> dT^
o.ced tta her majesty wa« soLwhf ^. """^ """" '"' '""«'' re-
tte papists. Would God tliatTir., '"" "S'lmst her enemie,
would follow dnigeutly her ' ol !■'' ™f ''»'-- Wgh andTow
i.gh„ess and her majstratef w [, T"- ^ '"'*'' ''"^"fer, hS
-de.". I„ 1580,the\rchtshop"f';Tr'' "'"^'"^ "=" ime
X '°^ him "to deal roundrwitVaitr''.'" *''^ ''"''»'■'•«■■•.
calling soever, noble as well as .^Tn "a"" ""= "'""'■'''te. of what
t^tP^Z;^::^'^-^ --d *» a partla,lty
J^^stonan has advanced any evfdence f ' '''^^ g^'atuitous. No
come a traditional hypothesis and . f'"^^"'' ^^'"^^ ^^^ °ow be-
't IS not warranted by ^nv '. , ^^" ^' «^^ ^^^din^ extends
come down to us. The IZh.'^^'''''^ ^<^«^'"^«nt f hich ht'
eared little for polemical dispute .^v' '°^ "" ^''^'^t objects
Penod when her temper v.as Tot, , '' "'^ "^^ ""^^^ aiVer
;cended to the level of such men "«^ opposition, that she de'
estant historians who, witJi T ^°"^'' ""^ ^ranmer. pl
^ave always been into Wiet^' ''"' '^^^^^^'^^ --Pt^o-"
'nclmation of Elizabeth. '' *' ''^P^'^^^^* ^^^^^ as the popi"h
HISTOKY, ETC. OF THE THEATKE
The Puritans, who harl K , ^^^iKE.
;;'■';■ power, ;ow l"::" ,^; : lXZ\Tr' ^^^'^ " ™«"«
^1377 appeared the 4t attack on tt T'""' *''" ""■*■*
f "'f against Dancing, Dicitl m '^^''' -^o'thbrooke's
oolofAb,,„.i„ ISsf or S ,f.'Ti, '" '«'9, Gosson's
f5 ions; "in 1583 Stubbe's A, It '"" ! P%s eoufuted in Five
;;'« Wrror of Monsters ; in J^ri "'/''"-' ^ » 1M7 fi I!
*»ge Hays, in lejo mZoL^.lt! "'■""""'» Overthrow "f
"f the Apology for A^^r ■" ti^ '^'', ""' "I'efutation
«*o ite.ature advanced with a r?„ rt°' "'"''•'''"'«'''» dra-
"" " ™''" ^« *-»euIt ;'l5 „^ '^:^^;j d-l„p„,ent for
lu. vol. 11. part II. p. 196
I -« "f Go««o„-« «el,ool of Ab,i«e: "'""' ^^^ ^- "^ ^"^ Shakespeare Society's
I I
I," ^
)]■■
> ill !
, : !: 1
482
FEAGMENTS.
II ii
as if even the imagination of the Puritans was captivated by that
splendid array of genius which toward the end of the reign of
Elizabeth adorned the theatre. At all events, it is remarkable
that after the work of Kainold's in 1599 there was, witli the excep-
tion of the two anonymous tracts I have just alluded to, no formtil
attack on the stage for thirty-four years, when Prynne's Histrio-
mastix was published.' But in the meantime a still more for-
midable opponent appeared. It is remarkable that the Lord
Mayor and Aldermen of London had from the beginning so
steadily opposed the stage that neither the players nor their
patrons could ever succeed in obtaining a fixed place of exhibition
within the limits of the city.' They were therefore driven to
tlie liberties and suburbs, from whence they not unnaturally made
war upon their persecutors, and covered them with ridicule. The
friends of the city magistrates were not slow to retaliate, and a
bitter and long-continued enmity grew up between the two
parties, and the citizens were ready to aid the Puritans in over-
throwing the theatre.
Heywood observes with regret that it had become usual in
plays *o satirize great persons.^
in 1805, Southey writes : " Fifteen years ago, the more melan-
choly a tale was, the better it pleased me ; just as we all like
tragedy better than comedy when we are young." *
Mr. Cunningham, whose valuable works upon our early litera-
ture are so well known, says that James I. " saw five times as
many plays in a year as Queen Elizabeth was accustomed to see,
In the middle of the sixteenth century, the Dutch Protestants
availed themselves of the stage to ridicule their opponents.^
Hooft at the beginning of the seventeenth century created the
Dutch drama, which has, however, always been poor in comedy.'
Like the Greek, its chorus was very important.* Just before
the breaking out of that great Protestant rebellion which secured
the independence of Holland, the Dutch ridiculed the clergy on
the stage.^
• See Introduction to Shakespeare Society's Reprint of Heywood's Apology for
Actors, p. i. ...
2 See some evidence in Mr. Collier's Introduction to Nortlibrooke, pp. xi. and xii.
' Apology for Actors, edit. Shakesp. Soc. p. 61, and see note at p. 66.
• Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey, edited by the Rev. C. C. Southey,
8vo, 1849, 1850, vol. ii. p. 322.
» Revels at Court in the Reigns of Elizabeth and James, edit. Shakespeare Society,
8vo, 1842, p. xxxiv.
• See Van Kt .iipen, Geschiedenis der Letteren in de Nederlanden, Gravenhage, Svo,
1821, deel i. '.;:») 70, and Schiller's Werke, Band viii. p. 54, Stuttgart, 1838.
' Ibid, vol, 1. pp. 128, 129. " Ibid. p. 131.
" Abfall der >!'f'dorlandc in Schiller's Werke. Band viii. p. 186.
"5
HISTORY. ETC. OF THE THEATRE.
Qe usual in
pp. «4-403. Sir Walter ScottnoHf ' fi. "i '''' °" '' '' '^'^
- lively, have n^ade their 1"'"' y, '^' ^^'-''^^'J^' who are
Spaniard, grave, solemn and sHf '^ ^^^^^^^^natory : " while the
tl- theatre all the buTti; o^ liv!lv^ ^:, ''"' '''^ ^''' ^« ^"^^^^uce in
flight and the escape and t^.l'^''^'^ '^'^"Plicated intrigue ;-the
Of this peculiarityTn^l'p LXd™ T n'''' ^' ^^^^^^ ^^
nation ; and as to the Spanish L' i '^' '^*""^P*''^ °« ^^Pla-
ceasing wars either betwfep ut sJT' '''??" '' '' ''''^-
tho Castilians .,nd Arra^onese ^ ^"^ ^^''''^ «^ between
was^:"S:f S^:^;^;^-^^^ outW o^ dramatic talent
know from che e.^ei:!/^^:;^^^^^^ ^^"^^^^^'^ ^^«
dramatists have preceded the mS,l '"^ """'^ '"""^^3^ t^^^
the taste is first cultivated and^,^^?'"'' ^^ ^^ ^'^"« «^at
thought. M. Cousin h::tl livT,,^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^"^^ -^^-^^
;i action.^ He finely adds • « "LW / ^ "'"' ''"^ ^^^^^ ^^^te
la beaute, et le pouvoir en nous c.nir^' [^P^^duction libre de
le genie." Cousin 7 refutes the Z ^' ^eproduire s'appelle
of a.t is to copy nature and ^ finT" ""^ '''''' '''' ^-^--
nature because it gives a ZJ^ ^"^^^ says that art is superior to
':La nature peutVL^ dC ^f it^rV^ -r./beauty.
saddresse plus directement a In t!.' ^'''^*°"«^^ Pl"^. parcequ'il
L-art pent etre pl.s patTe^nil'^rrn f ^^"^'"'^^ P^'^^^^--
mesure de la grande beaute."" 'coui; retT'.t^'-i^ ^^^°^ ^^ ^^
great object of art is illusion and thnt T <^ ^^" '^'" ^^'^' '^^
|o be perfect, should make th^ spectator hi'"',' ^'' ^"^'^^^^-'
In fact, as he says, its business is to . ^^ T *'^"* '^ '' ''^^^
transporting him above Xea HtL of" f ^^8'"^^^ "^ -an by
ret'ned manners. It was to the f 1 "'"''l'^'"- ^he theatre
;f at chivalry was to the nobles 7t '^ ''T^''' ^^^^^
;>e pomp and forms of chivalry Ih I ^'^^ «^ntury, and
' Introduction to Sh.ikesp. Soc renrinf n „••
^ ;'"• , . ''^"'^'^^'' «^". P-ms. 1837, vol. iii.
, f^ote this under James I
;S:s.t,i!r;?-'---'--i.^...». .«.,„,
I A.ms, isj,,^ j^^j^j. jj pp^
I I 2
51
ll'i
i
t' ,
- 1 fi
1
1
1
t ',
i
..;|:i'
484
fra«;ments.
i.lii
i
6
more precocious tluin the French,' but in both countries the
dramatic power has j>ono on increatiing- until tlie aj^e of iifty or
fifty-five, when it lias diminisheu, both in reyard to the value and
the number of the works produced.^ Quetelet makes the im-
portant remark' that the tragic talents (in France, at least)
develop themselves more rapidly than the comic — that is to say,
that the greatest French triigedies have been written by younger
men than the greatest French comedies.
In 1563, the bishop of London wrote to Cecil, expressing a
wish to put an end to the performances of plays in London.'* In
1584, Fleetwood, recorder of London, was violently opposed to
theatres.''"' In France, there have been more great actresses than
great actors. This is ascribed to the greater sensibility of women,
to their greater flexibility of voice and movement, and to their
general superiority in tact and address." On the slavish manner
in which the dramatic writers of Italy early in the sixteenth
cencury copied the ancients, see Kanke.^ This, I think, only
applies to Italy.* Meuzel" says the Germans have never had a
great theatrical literature, because they have no great metropolis.
It is said by the autlior of the well-known Commentary on
Voltaire, that his Merope in 1743 was " la premiere piece profane
qui reussit sans le secours d'uue passion amoureuse." '" In 1760
appeared Voltaire's Tancred, which, says the Biographic Uni-
verselle," reminds us of Zaire; but after this, his tragic genius
degenerated. Voltaire says,'^ '• La couturae d'introduire de
I'amour a tort et a travers dans los ouvrages dramatiques, passa
de Paris a Londres vers I'an 1660 avec nos rubans et nos per-
ruques." Coleridge says,'^ " The talent for mimicry seems
strongest where the haman race are most degraded." " With all
theatrical representations, not only are the Persians, but the
Moslems of every country, perfectly unacquainted." " In 157f),
Henry III. introduced the Italian theatre.'® In Germany, the
theatre has no influence, and the people do not care for it.'* At
' Sur rilomme et lo Di^veloppomciit de ses Fiiciiltes, Paris, 1835, tonic ii. p. 115.
2 Ibid. p. 115. ' Ibid. p. 118.
* Wright's Elizabeth, 1838, vol. i. p. 1^7.
« Roussel's Systeme de la Foinme, Paris, 18 15, p. 39.
' Die Romischen Piipste, Berlin, 1838, Baud i. pp. 65, 60.
9 Gernuiu Literature, vol. iii. p. 161.
"> (Euvres de Voltaire, Paris, 1820, tome i. p. 399.
" Biographic Universelle, tome xlix. p. 48G.
'" Sur les Anglais, lettre xviii., QJiivres, tome xxvi. p. 112.
'^ Biographia Literaria, 8to, 1847, vol. i. p. 74.
'* Transactions of Literary Society of Bombay, %-ol. ii. p. 101
" See Sismondi, Histoii-e des Frun^'ais, tome xix. p. 386.
*« Laing's Notes of a Traveller, 1st series, pp. 269-271.
5 Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 227, 229.
• Ibid. p. 68.
nrsTORY, ETC. or i-iiii tiikatrk.
- 485
causes wliich roffulate thn flnnf .• ''^™''^' '''''^'^ examine the
present, I slKill\te ^^elv ! , ;"' '^ ^'^"'^'" ^^^°^"« ' ^^
influence which it^xerc" ^1 L ' w' "T^^^ ^^'^ ^^ -"^ 'the
Under Charles II TZ . ""'"^ "vili.ation.
Shakespeare was neo-l'ect d L iZ 7^^-" """ ^^^^^^^^n.
oiafed by a corrupt ■mlil ^^^^ could hi« merits be appre-
-Slected^forhis t;^^,^^^^^ /-^- Jonson'i:
manners which had alreadT blZ h /". t^'''^"^^ "'^^i^^^l
'at the Germans have not^T he'r ." • """^''^'^ «'^3^« '
^H; are too speculative, aj'^^ ^^^^<^^ hter.tnre because
;p.nt is necessary. He 'add'^ 't^ lllTnu/T ' ^""'^'-^
tl'ere are only capitals of separate t.t^ if f ™'"^' ^'^^^^"^
polls, great difficulties are opposed t th'. "' ^"'"'^''^^ "^^^'•-
theatre." He forcibly stite. T. fl improvement of the
;-^ of a people. ^Sl^l^tyT Ht^-f f ^ ''^'^^ - ^^-
tlian comedy- in tragedy^he Towerf n ^^ ^ '' ""^'^ ^"o^'^^l
"'comerJy, more dispersed,' and It ™°'' concentrated;
Tragedy delights in ulit.XZdvin I "'"''^ ^""^^ ^'^^'-^^.^
^^ere he says that tragedy del wfthlr^'r" ^'' '^'^ "
an comedy " connect^ to^geX 1^/t^ T'^^ ^^^'^ «^-'^^^'^^'
and effects; but it connect^ t em v the f ^; '^''"'^ '-^^ -^"«^«
-tany reference, as in tragl^^Jle ^^^^^^^ '^''^'
-on as we sympathise with the ch^r^^f ^^' '^^^ ^^'^^^ as
,'- its business is not moa^l ^n'True^^^^^^ Tf''' '' ^"^ ^"^ ;
«Penmental knowled<.-e >2 mstniction, but to increase our
^^etthr^:^-,^^^ Trissino; but
;^^eenth century, theVsto'al'dtml^^t f ''", T'^'^ of the
'^new epoch.>3 ^ ''' "''^^^ ot Tasso and Guarini forms
'I^etters from tho Baltic 8vn isii i ••
I
' I
Hi.i J
••l?i
ti^)«M
I
'■
w
rii
'I i(
tl
h
'i .'
'.
480
l-'UAr.MKNTS.
Perliups the patronage of James I. corrupted the taste of the
drama ; and I sliould not be surpri,*td if tliis explains the retire-
ment of Shakespeare. Sclilegel well says that the taste of a court
is nea'-ly always bad.' The first French trajifedies are those of
Jodelle.'' I have already observed that the decline of the clergy
was fatal to architecture ; and by an analogous process, the decline
of the aristoc -^y was fatal to the drama. As the nolnlity sank
and the spirit of caste fell before the levelling hand of democracy,
the theatre necessarily fell. Schlegel well says of the time of
Shakespeare, " the distinction of rank was yet strongly marked ;
and Lliiti is what is most to be wished for by the dramatic poet." '
But our democracy was religious as w<dl as political ; tliis was
another motive that the Puritans had in attacking the drama.
There are yet other reasons. The Catholic religion favoured the
drama. The stage also will natm-ally decline as history ad-
vances and becomes more philosophic and less picturesque ; also,
when a sense of the ridiculous increases, and audiences becom.;
more fastidious. Schlegel * notices the advantage of oluonicles.
And 5 Schlegel says, " If the effeminacy of the present day is U
m^rve as a general standard of what tragical composition may
exliibit to human nature, we sluill bo forced to set very narrow
limits to art, and everytliing like a powerful effect must at once
be renounced." Schlegel adds,^ « It is deserving of remark that
Shakespeare, amidst the rancour of religious parties, takes a
delight in painting the condition of a monk, and always repre-
sents his influence as beneficial."
As to the rise of the drama, Schlegel is very superficial.
Indeed, he does not examine the cause, but gets over the diflR-
culty by statin fj it. See vol. ii. p. 273, where he says, « There
are periods in the human mind," Sic, but tvhy are there?!
Schlegel says" that Elizabeth desired Shakespeare to repre:-ent
Falstafif in love, hence the Merry Wives of Windsor ; but for tliis
I believe there is no good authority.
Schlegel says » that the Greeks always played with masks.!
Sophocles was almost the only Greek dramatist who was >t an!
actor." Schlegel accounts for the decline of dramatic art by al
metaphor.!" With Euripides, the Greek drama declined," and]
this was because he copied human nature too exactly.'^ Hef
ridicules women.'' Aristophanes alone saw his real faults^'^ " TIk
' Schlegor.s Dramatic Literature, vol. i. pp. 306, 307.
' Ibid. vol. ii, p. H3. * Ibid. p. 121.
« Ibid. p. 171. ' Ibid. p. 237.
" Ibid. p. 122. 10 ii,i(]. p_ 142.
" Ibid. p. 147.
" Ibid. p. 1.52.
' Ibid. p. 327.
» Ibid. p. 142.
» Ibid. vol. i. p. 6t).
" Ibid. pp. 144, 14.5.
Ibid,
pp. 1^7-222.
HISTORY. KTO. OF TIIK TIIEATKE, 437
d,..rus ' but it i J\ f"*^ ''°' "° P"™"! »»tire nor
... tra,.;,, t,,a„X:M ™, r.;w/' .r':,"^''"""" !?^"^^
«1<1 comedy." PerliuN R„n I ■ "" "''<' ''''« ^e
Plautus and Terence are not original »' 1^ o^X 1.
authors: the early Komans despiscc ttm - Th^ ,T ' '"P'^'^^
times played without m-mk. • fh, r liomans some-
Roman": (L mild llLr e a t)l ;"tW '" 'T'^' "'^
pain and death '» Th^ ,.«! '^ , ^'"^ ''^'''^ contempt of
verse to one i„ prose "ml p r** '" Pi-of^nne: a comedy in
what is di Z L; and milrt ;, ■™°'. '"''' r™"""»' ™"-
ScUegel, ,vl,„ Beak7o7 ? " f '" nervousness and mirth."
severiTv s- 1, .1,T r., .®™''"" '"■"Sadies with well-deserved
Jttriu' m'"'He:7 tfj;! F°'"Vr™ -r^-' "
^omUreSpaniardsthan^
hench, 'Racne ,s perhaps the oldest poet who seems to hive
Solilegel's Dramatic Literature, vol.
' I'jid. p. 205
' Ibid. p. 212.
' Il'id. p. 240.
" Ibid. p. 244.
[' Ibid. p. 261.
" Ibid. pp. 291, 202.
" Ibid. pp. ,334, .3,3,5
'^ Ibid. pp. 100, 101.
'' Ibid. pp. 297-328.
i. p. 191.
* Ibid. p. 206.
" Ibid. pp. 237, 238.
'" Ibid. p. 241.
" Il>id. p. 2o2.
'" Ibid. pp. 261, 262.
'" Ibid. 293.
" Ibid. p. 34.').
" Ibid. pp. Ifi2-104.
" Ibid. p. 392.
* Ibid. p. 240.
* Ibid. p. 208.
' Ibid. p. 239.
" Ibid. p. 242.
'* Ibid. pp. 2.-33, 254.
" Ibid. p. 287.
'" Il'id. p. 333.
" Ibid, vol, ii. p, 40.
''" Ibid. vol. i. p. 296,
i!
fii
i '
h
^4\
■f 1
■18H
l-'KAOMKNTH.
been altogether unacquainted with tie Spaniards, or at least who
was in no manner influenced by tliein." He says' (hat the
Italians were nmcli indebted to the Spanish tlieatre. It is to tlio
influence of Seneca that we must attribute many of the most
serious faults of Corneille.' Scldejrcl says =» that comedy is
" morality in action, the art of lite." He says * that neither the
Spanish nor English dramatists have borrowed from each otlior.
" The formation of these two stages is equally independent of
each other; the Spanish poets were altogether unacquainted
with the English ; and in the older and most important period of
the English theatre, I could discover no trace of any knowledge
of Spanish plays (though their novels and romances were cer-
tainly known) ; and it was not till the time of Charles II. that
translations from C'alderon made their appearance." He add.s,'
" Calderon had many predecessors ; he is at onqe the summit and
almost the conclusion of the dramatic art among the Spaniards."
As masks were disused, perhaps the theatre naturally became
more moral ; for masks hide the blushes of women. Schlegel is
very unsatisfactory as to the causes of the change whicirtook
place in our drama after the Restoration.^ He adds, however,
I think with truth,^ « Pope, who, however, passes for a perfect
judge of poetry, had not even an idea of the first elements of the
dramatic art." Schlegel supposes » that Beaumont and Fletcher
" entertained no very extravagant admiration " of Shakespeare.
He speaks in the highest terms of Calderon,^ and adds '" that after
him nothing of the least value appeared ; but " I recollect having
read a Spanish play, the object of whicli was to recommend the
abolition of the torture." Lessing was the first in Germany who
praised Shakespeare." Perhaps the aesthetic investigations of the
G-ermans prevent their having a great dramatic literature.'^ In
the seventeenth century, Shakespeare was hardly known out of
England.'^ The best comedies in England have been written by
young men ; but there is hardly an instance of an inexperienced
writer writing a good tragedy. '< The Count of Lauraguais, after-
wards Duke de Brancas, introduced the custom of making actors
dress on the stage according to their characters.'-'
Cibber states that the Maid's Tragedy of Beaumont and
' Schlcgel's Dramatic Literature, toI. i. p, 316.
• Ibid. vol. ii. p. 47. ♦ Ibid. p. 9;-).
• Ibid. p. 272. 7 iijij_ p 285.
• Ibid. pp. 348, 349. lo n,;,] p_ y,;;,
'2 Ibid. p. 400. 13 iijij. p. 308
'♦ SeR Prior's Life of Goldsmitli. 8vo, 18:!7, vol. i.
" Memoiros do .Segur, tomo i. pp. 131, 13,5;
* Ibid. p. 396.
• Ibid. p. 10").
' J bid. p. 303.
" Ibid. p. 374.
p. 2)4.
TlHTOny. KTC, OF TIfK TIFKATRR.
Flek'fier was forl)id,Ien to l,e
Beaumont and Flctcli
in the befrinniriL'- of
er seem to havf
th
489
acted in the reign of ChaHos ![.'
enjoy(.d a groat popularity
vohmie IS an interesting articl
P- 94. In the same
phnxiitus not hy ^v^ b::!:;:^''' " '-''"^ - —
found an unive sa n'^ t tT^^^^ "f' ''"• ^^ ^^"^ ^e
theatrical amusemontXc tV M,"^^^^^^^ advances, its taste for
there arise new tastes and new rosou ce hT" "'^^^*"-^--
and the diffusion of educatTon L ll""^' ^'^ multiplied,
thern. The advance of liwT 7"""''' ^^'' ^^^'^^ «^ '^-^'^^^S
^oeculative poli Ls 'vlll f^ tJ .rows open to all the arena of
Thefacilitiefoft'v ;tcrelr' '' 'T ""'"'"^ '' ^ f-^'
and instead of journevTti ^ 1?, '^^^ ''^"f-^' -known,
al«o made for pleasure Al f n' "''^^ ^"^' ^'"^'"^''^^ ^'^^^ ^re
the active, th/vIII^Jlou^l^Ji^i^L^g^^ '^'^ ^- the theatre
KltStir:::dtn::;1 i;!;^^:-^^ ^^^ ^^^ Restoration. Under
tainments. The m-ofits oTZ ''™' '"^^ ^"'^ P'^^^ ^^^ ^»t-
racter paid forlaWni^ their ' "''' ^'"°'"^°"^- ^^^^^ «f ^'^''^-
notiees'thecharac::::! rp-efeHhict'' ^1 f ™^^^' ''^''
on the ground of a .,m«, f ' . ' '''''' ''"^^ ^^ accounted for
the disfolute and 7^ Z >r . '' '"t"^" ^^^^^ Charles 11.
amid thunders orapXse:!^;""'^/'" '''^''^''^ -'--
of Shadwell and wCZ A^ f \^'' "^''''^^'^^ "^aldry
was only in the coi; a1.d If H .? ^'""^ *'^"^ 'he decay of taste
Ben Jonson were neg^^^^^^^^^^ Shakespeare and
%den, the Paradise Lost of ^L•f '^' '''" ^"^'"^"^ P^^^^ ^^
t'y the people. ^ ^^^'^'^"^ ^^^ ^^^^ived with raptures
^^'^r:xz:7^:::^%^^^ ^^ -ething to
ftage i, reprinted by Mr. iLberts ' tt ^.^^°''^ '''''''^ «^ ^he
't gives too high notioni of ].n Yf "'"'" argument is, that
It is hardly necessartrr 1 ""'V"^'' ^'°^"^' ^^ ^'^ ^'^^^^ ^^.^
a decisive'^objec to? to the tV'^ '"' ''"' "'^^^' '''' ^-^^ers
,«''"eh it has aided in civ H.'/' ^''''''^^ "^^ «^^^»« ^y
M^ama has done in "noTe 7 ""^ ""brutalizing man. The
modem times what chivalry did in the
fee Gibber's Apoloffv for h;« T ,V o
S- The Postmfn £ta hi M [rLrf ' ^f" ' '^ ''''
I No. xiii. "'" ^*^'"^' -Lond. 12mo, 1719, p. 149.
' Momoirs of Hannah More 8vo is-*. i ■
"••e, 8^o, 1831, vol. ,v. pp. 381-393. ^ iwa. p. .-jgG.
,>'
:f ; i
Ml
^/^
Mil
'- r
1 i-; '; 1 ■;
llit
490
FKA(}MKNTS.
twelfth and tlurteenth centuries. Under Charles IL,for the first,
and, as I trust, for tlie last time in England, the theatre became
a professed engine of vice. Contrary to the ordinary principles of
mankind, the more degrading were the sentiments and the more
indecent the language, the more tumultuous was the applause.
" It is unfair to take the stage as a proof, and to ask why we
have not Molieres and Shakespeares starting up at every period.
The preceding age has gleaned all the twenty or thirty characters
of strong and extravagant humour which ^--^ upon the surface of
society, not because it had greater talents for humour, bu': merely
because it was the preceding age. The blustering captain, the
inebriated and witty rake, the obese alderman, the squire in
London, slaving poets, homicide physicians, chambermaids, valets,
and duennas, are all jane; employed by dramatic writers who
hiul the first of the market. These characters cannot ])e re-intro-
duced on the stage ; they are worn out tliere ; but they exist in
real life, and of course must exist, v,hile men are what tliey have
been." '
Tliere were two causes of its decline ; 1st, The increase of other
amusements, such at travelling, &c. ; 2nd, Political excitement.
An attempt was made early in the seventeenth century to intro-
duce political characters on the stage. If the same licence had
been allowed that was allowed to the early Greek dramatists, it is
likely that our theatre would have continued to flourish just as
jMenander followed Aristophanes. But the combined autliority
of the court and the master of the revels was too strong. The
consequence was tliat a large amount of ability was carried from
the stage to the senate, where it soon shook the throne. Tlie
folly of .lames in all this is inconceivable. He should have
allowed the safety vdve of the tlu^atre. A government is never
so secure as wlien it allows to its opponents the liberty, and even
tlie abuses of the press. The more people talk, the less they
will do.
BALLADS.
Mr. Wright, who is a very high autliority on such matters, has
observed tliat after the Kestoration, even the very ballads became
more indecent.^ Indeed, some verses are so coarse that Mr.
" Elementary Sketches of Moral riiiloaophy, deliv.Ted at the Royal Institution, i"
the years 1804, 180'), and 1806, by the late Rfv. Sydney Smith, M.A. 8vo, IS JO,
p. 148.
Political Ballads, published by the Percy Soeicty, vol, jji, p. xiii,
BALLADS.
491
ballads." In the rei"n of ^T ^ he times of Charles I. in
xu uic reign ot Edward \I. Protestant l.nllo^^c \
to be written. Percy's Reliques, 8vo, fssS t m a . !?"
duration of traditimi ««« nL t\ °'^'^' P- ^1". As to the
U«8. In ou „™ co'unl 1 hT "™ '*"""' "'"• '"» ™1
extant; but"e know tbaf I w«,e acquainted with letters art
historic purposes Tbml .fj !, <''^^»'''™. quite unlit for
scrwples'ofcZ:i„,,h":„:: •?"*''"* '^^ -"-"<"» "-de no
to humour their'hear rs!" Percv inarr'^" "T """^'"^^
of .earning, superficial dissertiti^T on 2T-:::t^jT
-oa„ingweassV;tas rnceof TadtT '°T f P'"' ™ ""
viri pariter ao femina, bmorL"' K t "^f""''™ ^-''^'ta
<e„tury. Tbe Z,„ q " T, '™""""« '**"" "'« ''"'""th
aiphab^; wuc\ttX;«i"i: '^s'^"Tf""' ';f " '""''°
tenturj, but "their form ? T l\ ^''^'' '''' *^'^ ^^^^^^^
extensively " n .-1 ^^ ^''""^ inconvenient for writing
tlKnr 13; f,. '". '^^'^ ^^^^^*^ *^« I^'-^^^^^ P««ts drew many of
au ^1- tl.f 1 r^'"" P""'^^'^'- ^"^*«^-y has been corrupted by
Pui'py s IJoliques, p. ,10 < TI 'r?
; ^;- l^iehaji. P1.3-sicanii«to., of Mank-ld; ^'^ p, ,84.
' MalK'fs Nort!,ern Autiquiti,,,,, fivo, 18 t", pp. 222 223
, ^^tUl.tions to Mallet, pp. 228-231 . ^ '
.» r ':!^''!:'i^'°«7P;'''^ i^ritannioa Lifovarin, 8vo. 1812, vol. i p lOo
'I.'
I »(
i 1
J iij
492
FRAGMENTS.
T^L "^,' ^^ ^""^^ ^^""^ ^^^ ^^'^«* knowledge of music » Mr
Keightley has noticed the great deficiency of lairy tales, &c., in
Spaxn.3 M. Van Kampen positively says that the' Germans we e
Ignorant of the art of writing : " Dat de oude Dentschers in den
Heideuschentyd in de schryfkunst onbedreven waren schynt
voldongen te zijn ; slechts in het x\oorden vindt men Zekere
schryfteekenen Eunen genaamd." ^ The first Dutch liistorian
seems to have been Miles Stoke, at the very end of the thirteenth
century -but there was one who wrote in Latin (SigebertTas
early as the twelfth century.^ His .ork is "vol febden in d
oude tyden." The widely-spread story of the Seven Sleepers i
an evidence of the want of invention.« Aubrey says : " My nurse
had the history from the Conquest down to Charlc I. in Zm "^
Read Thornton Romances, Camden Society, vol. xxx. In the
middle of the eighteentli century, the police in Paris used "to
not bZ r 'T??''r T^'' P''"^"^'' '^ ^"'8- any songs that have
not been licensed." >o It ,, curious to observe how little use our
early historians have made of tlie Anglo-Saxon ballads. This, I
suspect, arose from our being a conquered and despised people.
The same cause would make our forctatliers cling more to their
traditions ; and I doubt if in any civilized country ballads lingered
so long among the people as in England.
The Russians have traditions similar to tliose of Charlemagne
there? 7 " .""•". ^''^^^' "^^^ " '''^' '^ ^^^'^^-^ ^alkds
there are few instances of talking animals, but that in the Slavic
songs they are veiy common ; while in the Spanish they are
unknown The ballads of the Servians have been only recently
pi-mted but are x^uy old.- The present Dalecarlians are better
acquainted wi h the history of the appearance of Gustavus Vasa
among them than is Geycr himself.'^
' Truvel.«, 8vo, 182i, vol. is. p. 380. 2 ibid ^„ , ,n .-,. -.«
; Keightloys Fairy Mythology. Lon.l. I80O, p. 406. '' ' ''' "'"''''•
deeu"u dl'""' ^^-'^'J;!;;^^-^^"-" inde Nie.].rlan<le, Gravenhago, 1821, 8vo,
» See Gil.lnr,'. T) r iP",. ^'"''' ^''''^ ^8. ' Ibid, bliid 29.
bee G.blons Decline nnd Fall, pp. 552, 553, en<l of chap, xxxiii
" S: R>u:^'::?i;i:r "" ''f'^'^"^' ^- '''' ^'^'-^'■" ^-^'^y. i«=^«- voi. v. p. 102.
inei:'olicootl<ran('o, London, Ito, I7(i,'i. p 51
See Talvi'.s Slavic Nations, Now York, 8vo, 1850, p. 64
I^'.'^-p-f^. "Ibid. p. 379.
Lauigs Sweden, p. 215.
493
HISTOKY OF THE PEES.S, ETC
tlieir chaplain.- And in loSfi ^ ^ u ''^^^ ^^ ^^^^on, or by
--chant, to in^port cert in tl^ cl"?' ^^^^ ^' ^ ^^^^-n
In 534, the 25th Henry VIII c T . ^'''^'''
E"glis nnen w].o can print as welt Lvf ''^' '^^"' ^^'^^« ^^e
a-ount, "forbids the sale of ^1^^ r.^^""'' '"^' «" '^^^
continent." 3 Even M. Cousin isTf ^'°^^^°^P«rted from the
-dona of the press.^ Th i^fl lt'7 "V^"^'^*^^"« - ^^e
timated by one of the most or 1., ' ^'''' ^'''' '^^« ^>een
• Quetelet observes that its endC^Tr. ^' ^"^^ ^^"-^
thezr violence by hastening- thepel ' 'P;'.''' ^'evolutions
'^o.v ,f every reader will imme LTelv , /"T'^'"' ^ ^'^'^^t
^ nnpossible to give an abridgmetofL^^^^"^^^^^^^ '^''' '^^^ ^^
pressed remarks. * "^ °* ^^^ weighty but very com-
^^f^ofSS'^^rr;:^^^ "P -hop against the
^m to have it in the churched « On f™'" ^'^^"^^ »«<^ -"^w
ee some original remarks in ToCevilleDe' ^'""' ^^ *^^ P^-s,
^« 1563 there was in France a x g d enstt'l h ^" ^^^^'^' ^-^
issai historique sur la Liberte d'/.!" . ^ f ^^^" P^'^^^^-"
%-Age ; sur la Liberte d la JW '\T '" ^""^"« ^^ ^^
-ele par Gabriel Peignot, kds i'^ fP'"%^« ^^in^i^me
onsistmg of 218 pao-es pJhnZ I ' ^''°- "^^ <^l^i« work
eyond bibliograpmLra^ecdor T^e 1^" """^^^^^ ^^y^
being exceptions. "* ^"^ following facts I note as
% a statute in IR'^-i ^nv.« i •
*-d "que k. '11: "S: JLeff.""'' '" '^^ > " ^s
WMquer aucm soit par veDt; ! •* , ™ P»"raimt com-
.«i
«'«foire de la PimosopncpL '';?''"''' •^•°'- '• l^" ''■
QuetoK,, 8ur liro„,nu^ ji'r^ ?■"' ^"." '• ^"'"^' '"■ PP- -'MO, 34]
i''mM. pp. OS-no, and ,,,n,oh ,/,,"" ,
'■!'« Journal of St.if.-.f- 1 a . *P' '''-182.
, p. ••-, n.K! !)avm;,l, Auti.pute.s de I'an-, p, U8.
" -fl"''!. p. 283.
Jlji.i.
.•)I.
I- ].
I .1
Jj(1
;"i
ii
I'i
!'; :
494
FEAGMENTS.
li:i^
sions de Haarlem et de Strasbourg." ! ! 1 He does not offer the
slightest argument to support his positive assertion respecting a
subject which has been, and still is, warmly disputed. Peignot
states : ' "En 1543 on publia a Venise le premier Index des livres
defendus, qui soit connu ; 11 a pour titre : Index generalis
Scriptorum interdictorum, Venetiis, 1543." He says that the
first index was published in Spain in 1559.^
In p. 58, Peignot says, "Voici I'un des premiers actes de
rr.utorite qui exige une sorte de garantie relativement ii k
publication des ouvrages. C'est une declaration de Henri II, du
11 Decembre 1547, ' qui ordonne que le nom et surnom de celiii
qui a fait un livre soit expriiae et expose au commencement dii
livre, et aussi celui de I'imprimer:- avec I'enseigne de son
domicile.' "
In p. 76, Peignot says : " II nous semble que c'est de I'ordon-
nance de 1629 qu'on peut dater la veritable origine des censeurs
nomme par le chancelier, et pris parmi les honimes des lettres ct
les savants." This order is given in pp. 74, 75, in which, after
expressing the great inconvenience arising from the extreme
libert; of the press, it proceeds to forbid any book being printed
before it has been seen in manuscript and approved by sucli
persons as the chancellor or guard of the seals may appoint for
that purpose. Respecting this order Peignot however remarks,'
" Ce n'est pas que la censure proprement dite ait commence a
I'ordonnance de 1629 dont nous parlous; elle etait exercee,
comma nous I'avons vu, par I'universite, des le treizieme siecle ; et
pendant tres-longtemps ce corps, qui s'etait rendu si ibrmidable,
a fait valoir ses droits exclus'fs a la censure universello, comme
les tenant du pape. Mais depuis Charles IX et les troubles qui
out signa. le regne de Henri III, and surtout la Ligue, I'lmi-
versite ayant un peu perdu de son credit et de sa puissance fut
insensiblement reduite a la censure des ecrits sur la religion."
Peignot says^ that the first statute respecting the liberty of
writing is in a.u. 1275. In pp. 104, 105, Peignot rays tliat it iri
a very difficult, not to s "'/ im-poss'ihle thing to remedy the
licentious evils of the pr> j without trespassing on the rights
" d'une sage liberte." Men ueur Peignot then proceeds to observe
that " this difficulty has been perfectly felt and very well .n
pressed by a celebrated Englishman, Samuel Johnson, iv. hie
reflections upon the Areopagiticus of Milton ; " a work, add-
Peignot, « oil ce foiujueujc repnhllcain. cite deja dans la note
precedonte, soutien la liberte indefinie de la presse." Thus he
' Piigiiol, p. oij.
» Ibid. 61.
Ibid. p.
* Ibid. 11.
OBIGIN OF Ti,E MWDLl, AND MONKVED CLASSFS. ,05
speaks of Milton ! 1 1 in n 107 Aft
lie observes : • '^ Ces rSexion '^^^^,'1"«*'"^ J^^^nson's remarks,
V i. J. ■, renexions sent fort iiirlicipimp« -pii^ a ■ 1
dautant plus nous Irapper, qu'elles mrt. r r^""' ^^'"'^^^
attache a tons les genres de I it ,^^^^ " ''"^''"^' ^^^^
republican"; and Jolmson th T v.- .''^^^^'"^ ^""^ ^ " ^^^^
to every sort of liber vTrwl ,i'-"^ •'^■'*' '^ ^ ^^" "attached
Peio-not » sivs thnf ^ 1 ^ < ? ^'^ ^'' '"""^^"^ ^^ celebrated » ! M
of the press. However l^Tl^Tt^ ^^^ '}^ ^^^erty
de la Presse et des Pamp^^lets 8vo^l"8q4 P l"' ^ '''''' ^^''^
earlier instances. ""P'''"^'' «vo, 1834, Pans, has given some
In Le Clerc, Bihl. Ohoiqio vxx-; O'tr *
inR remarks o,, the law rf 'he a ' i™t',f "'■' "'■" '°"'' '"*^""^-
Leber, De I'fitat de la IW a :r'" "rn"""»' '''''"•^■
■ib«t,y ef the pre. in the si..rth „en.un, a "^'™"""^ °V '''^
It was the Eeformation which iiidnf..wl 'v ■ t .
the liberty of the press/ The p' .^ t ' " "wl n '"'"^
were directed as to the manner in Ivhioh f *''^''^^,^f f^'' «^'"tury
topics of the day.« '' "'"^ '^^"'^^^ ^^"^l^^ tlie
III
ORIGIN OF THE MIDDLE AND MONEVED CLASSES
talh wit to gathe w^lth "' L, «, ' ''" T" "'* *"" '"' "»'
traced the history of fte Line of ■ f"-'""> '''"'''"' ' ''''™
•idinary course of 0^,*) 1 , ''°''''*'° P"™' = """^ '" 'be
taope. and m that mighty republic of America. JL^heth
!i i
I'll
I
11^- I
496
FRAGMENTS.
cle»*troyed villenage ; at all events, at tlie accesriion of James I.,
there was hardly a trace of it.'
Montesquieu finely says: " E^gle generale : dans une nation
qui e«t dans la servitude, on travaille plus a conserver qu'a ac-
querir ; dans une nation libre on travaille plus a acquerir qua
conserver." ^ Mr. Alison has well observed that it is the middle
classes which prevent the increase of wealth being fatal to a
country.'
■ : n!
ARMINIANISM.
The first four books of Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity appeared in
1594, and in 1597 the fifth.'' In 1595, the disputes between the
Puritans and the Church first became doctrinal — the former
maintaining the divine origin of the Sabbath and predestination.'
In 1595, to appease this, the Lambeth Articles were drawn up
and consented to by Whitgift, by the archbishop of York, and by
Fletcher, bishop of London, (tc." In them, it was laid down that
the number of the predestined v^as fixed. Neal says ^ that, before
this dispute, " the articles of the Church of England were thought
by ail men hitherto to favour the explication of Calvin." Even
Collier confesses that when in 1594 Arminianism arose, "the
Puritans held the Calvinistic side, and here it must be confessed
they were abetted by no small number of the conforming clergy."'
He makes no doubt ^ that Whitgift believed the Lambeth
Articles, but he imdertakes to show '" " that these Lambeth
Articles were not the general doctrine of the English Keforma-
tion." But Collier promises more than he performs. His first
quotation is from Jewel's Apology, and is not decisive. Dr. Baroe,
indeed, professor in Cambridge in 1574, attacks the Calvinian
doctrine of predestination ; and Harsnet, in a sermon at Paul's
Cross in 1584, "takes occasion to break out with some warmth
against the Calvinian doctrine of reprobation." Collier observes"
that in 1595 the University of (Cambridge "began to make a
stand upon the predeptinarian novelties, to throw off the imposi-
tions of Calvinism, and recover the old doctrine of the lie-
' Brougham's Political Philosophy, 8vo, 1849, vol. i. p. 292.
'■' Esprit des Lois, xx. chap. iv. (Euvres, Paris, 1835, p. 351.
=* Principles of Population, 8vo, 1840, vol. i. pp. 118, 119.
* Neal's History of the Puritans, 8vo, 1822, vol. i. p. 446.
» Ibid. pp. 451-453. » Ibid, pp 454, 455.
« Ecclesiastical Hi.story, 1810, vol. vii. p. 184.
'" Ibid. pp. 188-191. " Ibid. p. 195.
» Ibid. p. 453.
• Ibid. p. 186.
3n of James I.,
OBSEnVATIONS UPON SUICIDE. 497
formation." Sep »lar, +1,.
Elizabethan KelU^: H" toayT ^f f!'^^ ^r''' ^" ^^^^^'^
of the Church of England, Svo/S/t p 30H "' ''"'^ '^^^^^^
Cheney, bishop of Gloucester, di!dh^'l,rH U
Lutheran and a free-wilier"' \m • ^^'^' ^^^ ^^^s «a
caused many, such •!« Pnrr^r.: * ^ • ^fe'»oi"ince of the clerrrv
m eminent danger of di,,„I,C^lf ^ , '""" °' f "*;''""' ™
fame of Armiuim suKKosted tl„° f . "wment, the ndiii;
might .tad midwayt'tleVc Ivt '"",1 " ^''^ "'"<=h
my James I. inclLd, for he wj , "'"' ''"l-'r- To tUi,
Calvumts,andthebi*„p/fo„„, r„v ,T '"^ "'"' "'" «^°'*
Armi„™ favourable to^bel orZ' Thf '" ""^ ""'"«» »'
Dutcli ,„ London also favoured tW. T f fence of many
Arminiani™ wa. brou-ht from t *■ T " '"'"''' "^ *''"
sirteenth century, there wal^r'"*^- ^* ""■' ™'l "f "'o
Hollan.1 and Soo land and 'he SV , """"""««<>- between
Holland.' ' "'" •^""'"l' «>-e often educated in
fj
)/^
OBSEKVATIOXS UPOX SUICIDE.
De la Manie du Suicide et dp I'F r^, -^ 1 n - ,
Professeur de Philoso^ t I ^^^^^^^^ Pa. J. Tissot,
Paris, 8vo, 1840. ^ '^ ^ ^"^ ^-^^^Ite des Lettres de Dijon.
M. Tissot thinks that suicide i=- .<^n,v..i 1
nations, and that the more a pLle .fl t^^'"'" ^' ^'''^^'^^^
are to commit it.a He WeH expHm 1 ' '". "^^'^^ ^^"^^'^^ '^^^y
among barbrrians : « C'e t fo^ • ^ """^"^ ^^'^^ uncommon
passions feroces so portent L deL:"^^"/ ^^"""^^"^ ^^'"-
eux-memes," &c. He srtpposes^ that if '''^''^'''''^' P«» «"r
suicides would be less frequent, .nd V ''^''^^T '^°'' ^^^^'^^^^
-t du plus souvent a drcaus" mo , ,'"' i' ^^''^ ^^ ^"^^^^'^
siques." At all event, thl ''' '^""^ ^^^^ «au«es phv-
evidence l^rouiM r;*;-l;TTi: .ot'tf " ".T """'«-'
eentury the number Of suicides h/ .1 '"^ *''^ P^«««»t
:^:^Cfi.-n3}^"?rrs^:n^
! f -ype's Annals, vol. ii. part ii. p. ^2
^^''l- P- 77. , T . ■ ^" o', ' il"'<l. P 1.32
• «..*«i„„ ,,„,„„„ „ „,.„ , ,■';;,■;?:, i.2 ^,»„^ , ■ i..i.t l af
"' rt-iuii (..nroiMi'iino. n. i,-)i
K K 1 •
Ii
':li
hi
IKI
498
FllAGMENTH,
obH<>;eaient los membres A, se donncr la mort. En Pnisso, 1(^
(lernier meml)re de cette affrouse tontine a, dit-oii, terinine sos
jours en 18iU." It is probable, but not certain, that as civili-
zation advances, suicides increase.'
Tissot says* that animals never intentionally kill themselves.
Comte says that suicide is known to animals ; but this is denied
by Lewis.^
At p. 15, M. Tissot quotes Schoen, Statisti((ue de la Civiliza-
tion, p. 156, to the effect that suicide is more common amoii;^-
Protestants than among those of the Greek and Romish Diurchfs.
Tissot says^ that suicide is much more common in towns thnii
in the coiuitry. Indeed it is said that, when other things are
equal, the proportion is 14 to 4.'*
It has been supposed that climate has much to do with suicides,
and that they are most common in cold, damp countries ; but this
Tissot denies,'' because there are fewer at 8t. l*etersl)Urgli than at
Paris, and more in summer than in winter. See also the evi-
dence,^ from which it is evident that they are more common in
summer than in spring, and in spring than in winter. .See also
evidence to the same effect in Quetelet, Sur FHomme, Paris,
1835, tome ii. pp. 152, 158.
Tissot says" that tiie greatest niunber of suicides are between
the age of 20 and 30, and, according to Esquirol, particularly
from 20 to 25.'-' Tissot"' quotes M. Broussais to the effect that '• les
deux tiers de suicides sont des hommes." In Berlin, the suicides
committed are in the proportion of live men to one woman ; in
(xeneva, four to one." Most of the women who commit snieide
are married ; most of the men are single.''* Tissot '^ says that
according to Falset, quoted by Broussais " les deux tiers des
suicides sont celibataires " ; but M. Prevost " n'en trouve que sept
centre six."
Tissot says:'* "Nous de\ons signaler ce qu'il est convenu
d'appeler I'onanisme comme une di s causes eloignees les intiiiis
equivoques des suicides. Les medecins sont unanimes a ec
sujet."
In the above work, Tissot has attempted an exhaustive analysis
of the causes of suicide. Blackstone says, " the attempting it
' Quetelet, Sur rHonimo, vol. ii. p. 151. « Ti.ssot, p. 20.
' Obsen'ation iu Politics, 8vo, 1852, vol. i. p. 25. •* Ti.ssot, p. 21.
' Quetelet, Sur rilonime, tome ii. pp. 147, 152. * Tissot, p. 50.
' Ibid. pp. 149, 150. » n^jj^ p_ (jo_
• Ibid. ICl. '" Ibid. p. 119.
" Quetelet, tome ii. pp. 152, 153. '^ Ibid. \). 154.
'» Tissot, pp. 147, 148. " Jl)id. 142.
oimnv/moys uvos suicwk.
49f)
iMonte«.iuioii, w),o luid been in Fn. l .
- tt.ent .sann qu'on puil L" ,' .«^""''' •^■■'>'" ; " ^-^« Anglais
--J- to the entire r^u^ic^lTt 18 (mo'^ 7^^''^" ^'
proportion was 1 to 20 000 •' 1H,000.-' In 1835, tfie
«S .r.r'' ™'' ^'"■"'''- •'^'-" ■'•' -'-' «. wo,„e„bot,vee„
Xapoleon, after abdicatin^r jn IS14 ...; , ,
^^-jeau is s„.p tea to hav^ killed 11 ^ '' ^^^^^^ ^'^^^^^
tomte says the ancients adn-'red it • but r-.fl r • ,
great merit of discourao-ino- it ' ^ ^''^^'olmsm Jias the
J^nni.r'' take, f,.,- g,,„.,, „,,, ^„,.^^, .^ ^^^^_^_^^^_^ ^^
JnTssTr" "'"f""' "' "'""""■'■ *"- '•" -inter -
-"S;:reS:ru"'''^-' ^-"^ -- --'y 3«0.000, a„c.
-'- -die., a.:: s^;^iT„t;t"';r^^^ '^^-^'^ -" *-^"'
In Prussia, in 1838, out of 100 000 H., o-
suicide.'G iuu,000 deaths, 370 Avere by
A.«enc.an indi: ,;: ^ ^0 °t, r. r2i:iir' '":' ■"■ "'■ -'^"'■"'
J inem. feuicide is not considered by
; Commentaries cnlit. Christia,., 1809, vol. iv p is-) ■■ r, • .
ispr.t des- Lois, livro xiv. chap xii CFuv .^^^^ m " ^^"''- '^°'''' P- ^OO-
Q-telet, 8ur l'Hom,„e, tomo t ,11?^'""" '" ^^^-'/-j--'. Paris, 1835, p. 305.
,Il;|d.Tol.ii.p, 159. but .seep. l.L » IM. p. 158.
;; il^id. p. 253 ; ,s.eal.tvo]. iv. 12,13
^'"'l- pp. 3(J0, 3Cr. ,, n-, ..
■ioia. viii. .'io.
K K
%
T)
VI
I...
i 1- "
i. I
i
I3r
M)
Kill
ill
■i I
11
\i\
500
FRAGMENTS.
the Indiiins eith(>r as an act of heroism or of cowiirdice ; nor is it
witli them a subject of praise or blame. They lew this despe-
rate act as the consequence of mental derani^i tneiit ; and the
person who destreys himself is to them an objcet of pity. Siioh
cases do not frequently occur." ' At and nf.ir Benares, suicide
(independently of the suttees) is very coramn i. The usual way
is by drown inji^, and this h done sometimes ^ ith relij^ious views,
sometimes after a quan, i, that their blood may lie at their
enemy's door.'' In Kamtschatka and in the Kurile Islands,
suicide is very cummon, and this nut on religious grounds, hut
simply because " they think it more eligible to die than > leud
a life that is disagreeable to them." ^ Kohl ■• says : " There are
fewer suicides in St. Petersburgh than in any capital in Europe.
On an average, not fifty occur in a year ; for every 10,000 in-
habitants, therefore, not more than one yearly lays violent hands
xipon himself." Among the earl, r monks, there were several
eases of suicide.'^ But in the sixtli century, tlie Church exerted
itself against suicide." Ford ^ says that in Spain " suicide is
almost unknown." Suicide was rare among " the lively Greeks,"
})ut common among " the proud Komans."*
niPROVEMENT OF MORALS.
TiiR lord had the right of selling his female tenant until Avardship
was abolislied. It is remarkable that her lord lost the benefit if
the marriage was delayed till she was sixteen ; and that the
18 Eliz. c. 7, which makes it capital crime to abuse a consenting
child imder ten ' seems to leave an exception for these marriages
by declaring only the carnal and unlaivful knowledge of such
woman-child to be a felony. Hence, the abolition of l;he feudal
wardship and marriage at the Restoration may, perhaps, have
contributed not less to the improvement of the morals than of
the liberty of the subject."^ What distinguishes Ireland from
all other civilized countries is that crimes intended to produce
' Buchanan's North American Indians, 8vo, 1824, p. 184.
» Heber's Journey through India, vol. i. pp. 353, 380.
' Grievo's History of Kamtschatka, pp. 176, 200, 238.
* Russia, 8vo, 1844, p. 194.
' See Neander's History of the Church, vol. iil. p. 337. ' Ibid. vol. v. p. Ml.
' Handbook for Spain, 1847, p. 337.
' Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, vol. ii. pp. loT, loO.
• Christian's note in Blackstone's rommrntaries, 8vo. 1800, vol. ii. p, 131.
Ji
Ibid. vol. V. p. HI.
ilORSKH.
oOl
\ZZterTt "'' " ^^-*-i%' notices, murders to intimi-
date otheya &c., uro more numerous than crimes committed
. th a v,ew to benefit the criminal, such as robbery, or murll as
an act of personal rovenffe.' For horribl,. n,-., u • '""™*-^ ^»
see Tvt\iir\ U,-«f f « *i f "' nornl)le cruelty m pmushment,
2V 2^'9 An 1 • ?''' ^'^"^^••^^'l'. 1«45, vol. i. pp. 201
^J/, -ijy, J30; vol. in. p. 150. '^ '
irOJiSES.
F«OM an early period great attention had been paid in Fnirl.nd
to encoura^nng tlie breed of horses. Indeed, I b.^i^'e there '".s
no personal chattel so protected.^ In 1555, th ivn r- m
bassador in London writes to the kin,, of Navarre th t he Hd
endeavoured to procure for him » des^'uments b an es de e
pav^. pour mettre en son pare de Pau ; " but after inq^i ' ,,
he Lno-hsh fairs, he had not been able to m et w th my bu
n 1559, there were no horses "for- the drau-^ht of .>-rete or-
than.nvnn ^"»i""^"P^-°^J^^«^« - greater numl,er of
eak and of b..H • Tf? '^ ^"^^P^' ^''' ^^^ ^— t>eing
veak and of bad wmd, fed merely on -rass, bein- like other
le and ammals kept in field or pasture, 4ich ?he mnlr
of the chmate admits of, they are not Capable of anyT at
exertion, and are held in no estimation. ... Tlie hoiseJwl ^
^^^^^''z:':^.t:Z:- ^^ -ei,n,^:;Xit^
" 00 000 " F? . If '"''''" '^"^^' ^^^1 i^^-"-" -ntains
-,0U0,000 Fowin of Worcester, who died about 718 "before
leaving Mercia ordered a smith to make for him eavy fettei^of
lof Shrewsbury, froir Charing Cross: "There are two Fric.!
Und horses, ot a reasonable price for their goodness I 1 vl
promised the fellow for them *«/ 1 tln-nl- ,f """^^'- .\ ^''^^^
Lutm ,^6i. i tlunk them especial good
■' 8eo B^rn^'p ^'^'"^^'^."^'- i» I-1->'1- Lond. 8vo, 1836, pp. 9-1-D7
bee Ulaek.tone s Commentaries, 8vo, 1809, vol. ii. p. 4. 1 ^^
AmbassMdes di! NnaiUes Lovd,. T-fi-j t »•■*"•
^«eHayne».Statel'aper.s, pp. 230-212.
' IwS'r -'VT'" "/ ^"'''" '''''«'"'^^ ^'^""•«' 2"d ^"'ies. vol. ii. p 224
Irinciples of Pomilatron. «rr, lei/. ..„i : . .,.„ ' • "■ !'• -■«*.
ipulation, 8vo, 1840, vol.
Wright's Biograpbia Britanni'ra Lit
p. 198.
craria, Svo, 1812. y,
p. 224.
r.
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
I.U 1^ ■■■
I.I
11.25
|S6 |j^
2.5
1 2.2
2.0
U 11.6
v^^.^-^*-
CM dS,
>
> -S
c>^
Riotographic
Sciences
brporation
K.i
\
'4^^
•sj
V
<^
*%
'^A ^\
'f\'
^V
33 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, .4.Y. I45S0
(716) 972-4S03
^
. • ..'>
/,
^ .<^4>
V^
C/.
f/^
\^o
^ «c*.
"I)
"**^*wf^r^»il
tfimmmmmmmmKi
m2
FRAGMExNTS.
for my ladyship's coach." In 1687, the bisliop of Chester
01. is. Od. In 1/47 » 1 orkshire is esteemed the best county in
England for horses- m Great Britain, more than 600,OOo
HEREDITARY AND DIVINE EIGHTS OF KINGS.
cannotTnittr '^'^ '" T'\''''' '^^ ^^"^^ and parliament
cannot h,mt the crown was "a high misdemeanour, punishable
with the forfeiture of goods and chattels," during the n^hTof
the seventeenth century. Indeed the 13 Elizabeth, c. 1, made t
high treason during the life of that quecn.^ In 593 w
published « A Conference about the next Succession, by R D
man. In this work, which is attributed to the famous Parsons
It IS distinctly laid down that the right of succession t a'
government does not depend on natural and divine laws, bul
?dv" 'd vr r™"' ''^"' P"^*''^^ ''''''''■ ^^^ "- accession
Edward VI., Cranmer, archbishop of Canterburv, in the corona-
tion sermon, said that the king's « crown being given him by
God Almighty, could not, by a failure in the administration, e
^t; d D ir :■''''' f r •^^"'"" ' ''^ ''^'^ ^^^ ^-^'« ---
" i,T I: l"""^ !■' '^'"P^""' ^' ^^^ '^ t^" ^^' that Edward
expre'ed diff" T'^^'-^ '' ^^^''^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^-^ ^iines
expie..ed different opinions respecting passive obedience « At
vol. 1. pp.-9y-101 of his Political Philosophy,- Lord Brougham
has given a good though popular account of the tendeiu-v of
civilization to con.jrt an elective into an hereditary monarchy.
The comparative advantages of hereditary and elective monarchies
are very temperately discussed }>y Lord Brougham." Ho, ik
most able political writers, prefers the hereditary form TJ
grea increase of the royal autiiority under the Tudors is shown
the pi^" ; .r r^"'^ '^"-^ ^^^^^^"^^ - --p--d with
the Plautagenets.'^ Allen says, " Under the Saxons, the crown
I I;'^%e's Illustrations of British History. 8vo, 1838, vol. ii p 90
Nirholss Literary Jllustrations of the oiglitmuh Century vol iii n r-.fi
Alison's History of Kurope, vol. x. p 247 ^'
e !!'"?' -'"I'r'" ^.^""'»''"f'"'i''S ^'lit. Christian, 1809, vol. iv p 99
I Burier'H Memoirs of the t'afholies, 8vo, 1822, vol. ii. p 22^'
Colliers Lee lesiastieal History, 8vo, 1840, vol. v. p. 184. " » im „ .,,
•- S.C the List in Brougham's Political Philosophy,\'ol HL p 2o2.
was elective."' > He
HEREDITAKV ANI. WviXE UlUms OF KINO..
503
of
^".-uu wiao can be s id to h'''' "'* "" '^^ ^^^^ ^'
tl^eformatleastofandection 'Z''.?'^'^ '^^ ^^^'^^^ ^vithout
elapsed between the deat] onn'^ H ''"' '"^ "^'^^'^^^ ^-^"^
-on. There are publ fc a ts in if 'T' "'^^ ^^^ «-» ^^^es!
of his reio-n, be Je his co o "ati ! hT. f '' '" "^^ ^^^ ^-^
ford says that Henry III rs° ^fV^'" P^"'^"-" ««°^i°g-
dajs that elapsed betLenhLhe^'^^^^^ '"' *^^ "^"«
tion are "considered as an in enw^ .'^^-""^ '"' "^" ^«^-«"a.
-vacant; 3 and even tie TccesroT?^^^^ ^^^^ *^--
from his father's death, but from lis ow ' ' '"'' ^''''^' "«*^
" since the accession of EdU rd T h , ^'^^^^-nition.^ However,
UDle&s when the line of succession h^''! ^'"^ "^ interregnum
accession of James I., " i w" decl^.d . '? ^r^^"'" '-^"d' ^' ^^e
'that there can be no i^re'nut ih ^f " ^^^ of England
«ays,« "There is no trace amor ^^1^"'/^" '"^"•'"^ Allen
^he Franks, of a genS oaS of f\''''^^'-^^^ous, as among
'"« subjects," and^he oa?h taL b "^ ''/'^^ ^^'^^^ ^^'^"^ -^
Waford "contains no reservation .f f^^ ^^-^^^-'^■'^-'^«n to his
ing.- But William In oe^L^^^ to the
freeman in his dominions to k In ,1;: :^7\: f ^ ^^^^'^
^vithout reserve or qualification ''oa^ fn "^^^^ *'' '"^ P^'-^o"
tl'at the etymology of kino is ;«/ t, "^ ^""'^^'^ ^^^ ^« ^^jing
is derived from .J^, which^m L^ H^d^eT f^r; T " ^^^^^^
Md in Anglo-Saxon "is manife^tll ? ' ^'^^' *^''^^'' ^^tion,"
bishops, &c., see Co L^ S H "^™^"" On hereditaz^
^^^otton, who wrote at the end of tj"'. ""'• '^'- ^'^ ^^^'y
;!;o"8h cautiously, affirms Li ^I ^f Iw" "^ J' '''^'''^
1 be resistance, he savs mu.f T.. "*"\ot lesisting bad princes.
-vereign refu'se t '^l^^n : "Lr '^ ^^r ^'^^ ^ ^"^' ^^ *^«
right of compelling him tTdo so -o'"'' '''' "^*^«^ ^- the
^arly m the sixteenth centjirv n ri. •
ously entertained of makim. S'n ^^"l '''""' *" ^^^^^ ^'^'^ ^^ri-
-ys the Visigothic Va^ba "4t eTJ '^^■^^^^->" Voltaire -
-droits en%e fesant sTcro et if Jr '" ^•'" "* "'" ^J«"*^^^^
ol'asserent du trone." HookerW i ^''"'''' ^"" ^^^ P^'^tres
'i'ough on shallow grounds u^Eir^^^^^^ ^^ ^'^^ -8»^t one
,.• ,, ^^^'^ <^l^^"^ngworth held the mon-
Rise of the Rnv«l P • „ . muu-
' Ibid. p. 45.
Ibiil. pp. 46, 47^
■ILiid. p. 70.
Mw. ;'.?„• "°'-"' ''"»=••-. »™.>8«. p. «.
E>Mi «iir Its H<rm-.,, ,.|,„, ':: ',f, '"■'*•"'• ' "'«l >• PP- 4M0.
t. ,
Y?!
M
604
FRAGMENTS.
strous doctrine of passive obedience.' Lord Dartmouth » says it
was not heard of before James I. The language of Montaigne i
most unfavourable to divine right.3 I„ Java there is no hereditary
nolnhty and the sovereign is supreme.* Charrou dintinctly says
he kingly power is limited.^ At the end of the sixteenth can-
tury, the Jesuits denied the divine right, and said that all power
nffiTnl T.**'' ^p!'-' ^^^'' Protestants, on the other hand,
affiimed the divine right.' Ranke « says that in the works of Holt'
mann, a trenchman, in the reign of Henry III., "the idea of the
sovereignty o the people makes its appearance in French litera-
ture. See also Capehgue.« Calvin distinctly upholds the doc
trine of passive obedience : •» and the divine right is supported by
the Prench Protestants early in the seventeenth century." Indeed
Amyrant wrote a work expressly to advocate passive obedience '»
OBSERVATIONS ON ^METAPHYSICS.
Tut. increase of Puritanism was increased by that school of
Jansenists and Mystics which asserted that things were only just
because God wi led them to be just. This dangerous erro in
morals is well refuted by M. Cousin. >»
Hobbes, who iirst ( ? ) laid down the idea of government bei„.
founded on an original compact, added that if the government
broke the compact the governed were nevertheless bound by it >^
mctlnr'. ""'r;'!' '''■^\ '' ^''^''^ ^'^oognised the original com-
pact, but denied the right of infraction. The idea of an orioinal
compact which was the foundation of government now beg^u to
many other errors, of signal advantage.
wc^J^rsfTl^^^f^'Sls"" '"• ''''• '■'''' -'^^-M.i.eaux, Life of Chiili,,-
l J"t« i" «"rnot'« History of His own Time, vol. iii. p. 382.
hae l.«.am do Montaigne, Paris, 8vo, 1843, livre iii. chap. vi. p 573
V 5 sir^EU;?:?,"' '" '^''"' ^''^^'P^'"^"' ^^dinb'urgi;,'8;o, 1820. vol. iii.
!V, T^ . Polynesian Researohos, 2nd edit. vol. iii p '.)4
Dekbagesse.Amstmlara.Svo, 1782,ton,eii.pp. i;;,38 "
Kanko, Pupste, vol. ii. pp. 186-190. ' Thi.l r.^ ,qq ,n.
; Civil Wars in France, 8vo, 1852, vol. ii. p. 62 ^^ ^^^ '''' '''•
.0 S'lr'T t '" ^^'^^"''"'" "^ ^^ ^^'Sne, tome iii. p. 311.
Med eys History of the Reformed Religion in France. 1832, vol. i p 110
^^^^ce ii^ucks Synod.con n> Gallia, Lond. folio, 1692, vol.'i. p. 412, an J vol. ii.
'^ iiiogrnphie Universello. tome ii. p 81
;; "''*,?'•" .^'; l''/l»ilo«ophio, Paris, 1846, p.avt i. tome ii. p. 278 &c
N. Cous.n's H.sto.re de la Philosophic, Paris. 1816. par' i tome iii. p. 282.
' Paris, 1846,
' See Cousin's
'' History of f'
' Philosophy
° History of S
Philosopliy (
' Political I'hi
" Philosophy c
ifo of Chiiliiiff-
OBSI.:JiVATIONS ON METAPilYsics. 5^5
The less beautifulthe climafp fh^ ^
See in Cousin's Histoire d^ 1= p. i t".
- I think, deei.ve ^^^J: ^^ a .agnifieent and,
metaphysics for affording proofsT?.Pvf ''^"'^ ""P^^^'^^^ «f
raatics. *> P"^^""^^ ^« certain as those of mathe-
Perhaps Hutcheson ^as the first whn .1 i
ment was not founded on a contract » ^'^ ^ '^"^ *^^* ^'^^^"^■
Morell, an enthusiastic studpnf * f r-
"The great peculiarit; with disl^rT" ^.'^'"^^^^^^
losophy of Germany fro'mthrto':^^^^^^^^^^^ tie modern phi-
of the ontological instead of the IZI i , ''"''^'y '' *^« "««
trary, he says, to J3acon, Desca esTn.^"^^ T"-^'' ^^
laying down the most primitive an'^w' ^^^^^ "^^^in by
existence, as though it werTa reaHtv T"' ""''''" ^' ^^'^ '^
^tepbystep tbeylave c nst^ured ^L'';^, P^^^^^ onward until
«ajs of the Germans, " They have nnf l"^^ ''''''''''' '^^^^ell
anything whatever that is merel ' vn "" ""^"^"^ *« ^^^^^^te
dudes an inductive proL^' ' S '^T"''''^"^' "^ ^^^^ ^^^t in-
Morell says that theVermns alwT T^* "' P' '^^' ^^e^e
tive synthetical method tTthe 1 ^ "- '^' ""^^^"^ ^^d"-
method. ^ ^° *^^ Baconian inductive, analytical
Frederick Schlea-el sav^ « tt,
tianity was from Arianism^ which L''''"^ corruption of Chris-
ti-^nes is called rationahsm!" tS '°"^^P°°^^ *« ^hat in modern
-^-'tl7i:^^^^^^^ metaphysical system we
fairly and logically drawn f ' v ^^^'^^^^^ces which can be
This shows h!s igLance o Z^ -knowledged principles." a
"i^tory. The real tendency of a syt^em"'"^ '^^ metaphysics to
cdly inferred from it, but what is ^L7 I' J"'* ""^^^ ''^^ ^^ %^-
Whewell well refu esfhr / ^^ *° ^^ ^"^^^^^^d.
accidental.^ '' '^' P^P"^^^ "««on that discoveries are
wi^^iSfrSLlt ^rt?^^ "^^ --^ ^« -tent
^^eiences employ." « ^"'"^ *^ ^^^^^ ^^^''Ji the mathematical
Wi.ewell » says, « In the inductive sciences a definif .
^-is. ,846, part i. tome v. pp. 240-244 "^ ^'''
•See Cousin's Histoire de I; Ph 1 .^
Ph, osophy of History, Lond. Svo'lsTc r In "• ^^ '^"- ' l^^'J- P- ^^L
I
i
ii
■fl
;}'■
m
f
fy4
s !
|i
M'
ii
1
|:^:
u
506
FRAGMENTS.
not form the basis of reasoning, but points out the course of in-
vestigation." There appears to be no doubt that Schelling a
'priori anticipated the discovery that electricity was producible
from common magnetism.' It has been observed, and I think
with great truth, that there are more false facts than false theories
in the world.'' A very competent authority, Mr. Green, says that
Schelling's speculations " cannot but be admitted to have had an
invigoratmg influence on the progress of natural science." ^ Even
in physical science it is allowable as it were to feel one' 8 way, and
to draw inferences from analogies.'' Metaphysics, as it must be
the end of all knowledge, so it was the beginning of all know-
ledge. Coleridge well says, "Thus in the thirteenth century
the first science which roused the intellects of men from the
torpor of barbarism was, as in all countries ever has been and
ever must be the case, the science of metaphysic and ontolcgy." *
Lord Brougham is certainly mistaken in supposing that Hume
was the first who asserted " that we only know the connection be-
tween events by their succession one to another in point of time ;
and that what we term causation, the relation of cause and effect,
is really only the constant precedence of one event, act, or thiii^'
to another." « Brougham talks ^ of "the necessarily imperfect
na»-ure of inductive evidence." On the nature of axioms and on
logic, read Cousin, Histoire de la Philosophie, 2nd series, tome
iii. pp. 272-340. Cousin says that Locke's system leads to scep-
ticism and materialism.8 Baxter, who lived in Scotland, appears
to have directed Lord Kames's attention to metaphysics.'' In
1751, Kames published Essays to show that the laws of morality
are certain and unchangeable.'" Bower says," " The University
of Edinburgh possesses the high honour of having been the first
public seminary in Europe in which the Newtonian philosophy
was publicly taught." This was by David Gregory, about 1G90."'
Hooker '^ anticipates Locke in denying the existence of innate
ideas. Glanville very clearly saw that the senses do not deceive
' Whewell, vol. i. pp. 371, 372. « Mayo's Outlines of Medical Proof, 1850, p. i3.
' Green's Vital Dynamics, 8vo, 1840, p. 38.
< See the rules for ascertaining causps laid down in Herschel's Discourse on l^' iral
Philosophy, 8vo, 1830, pp. 152, 161, 165.
' Pints towards the Formation of a more comprehensive Theory of Life, by S. T.
Coleridge, edited by Dr. Watson, Lond. 8vo, 1848, p. 28.
" Brougham's Lives of Men of Letters and Sciences, Svo, 1845, vol. i. p. 200.
' Ibid. p. 391.
" Histoire do la Philosophie, 2 de serie, tome iii. pp. 243-253.
' See Tytlor's Memoirs of Kames, Edinburgh, 1814, vol. i. pp. 31-37.
'° Ibid. p. 183.
" History of the University of Edinburgh, vol. ii. p. 81. '« Ibid. p. 82.
" Ecclesiastical Polity, bonk i. sect, 6, in Works, vol. i. pp. 85, 86.
«Ui^,sTA^•CJ•:.
607
...ppo«es that tl e C « tZ/t- "J- .^o'-MS"* erroneously
doubtfully, that JoX;S Tth "fi'T "". "' """'''• ''"^
before 1688 who uses ofe „?i •/ ■■* S"'"* ^"s"*'' ""«
ridge says • that Xt ;Zfct aV '"''"f' ''"''«^-" '^°'-
He insists on the groat imSlT , v !■" '"''■"^'i^-"''!/ an idea,
reason and the undertaS t7h°f *^"»S"i»U"g between the
De Foe has .omo acute tuSIofr"' '^'."""O conceptions.'
i.. those works of nature X,, 7 V" '°9"'"»S "fter God
'ting, are plain and d:r:*-,,t7:1:"?67ri "l" ™""^ °^
contemptuously "an Hobhi.t "9 t , ,,^ ^ ^^9, Locke mentions
taire " clearly Ltes "e Xlrdi, 'of 11"'^. " ' '=*' ^'°>-
must be an atheist. Dr WJ,.™ i i "'"''mg that a materialist
cessfully, but certa nly wi^h :Z Lrrt r"'""' ' "-""^ ™™-
the idea of substance by the Sllf ^' '" r,""™ ""• *™"' "f
Romans as thinkers were infi; f T^ / '^""'' knowledge." The
queville says," " Une Tdfe f '^ '"'""" *" "■" ^'eeks." Toc-
toujours plus de putean e da'sT """^ "^""T "' P^«-- aura
eoes through three staw, w ? ^ ^'eat truth always
«ng anything of conseaince T. '^''' "^ '"■■'"' ''efofe
deep a night ,.;on it? and Xn 'i?"? ' *"/?''' ^'' "'"»" ""d
following day, t is the real It ■" "' *'" '^■"•' "P'-e" "-e
- only a caprice c whim " u"*''"""'"'"" "' «» mind ; if not, it
\l
ri
Ml
hi:
ill
I.J: .
SUBSTANCE.
^Znd": Z' ?„f J:::!/ f , --. --"e. the colour, the
~g, we in.n^tt ^Z2 l^^t^^ ]T TStV:^!
Unireh and Stato, 2nd edit ISSo', p. 7. , '•" " P' f *•
, jy";<^"'« L.fe of Do Foe, vol. ii. j 26^ ^'^"'- P" ^'•
,,^0 Kings LifoofLooko,8vo, 18:^0. vol. ip loj
^_ 'Euvre.s, tome ]vi. p. 392 P"
508
FIIAGMKNTS.
i : 1
stratum. This substratum, when closely examined, is not distin-
guishable from cause. It is the cause of the qualities ; that is,
the cause of the causes of our sensations. The association tlion
is this. To each of the sensations we have from a particular
object we annex in our imagination a cause ; and to these sevenil
causes we annex a cause common to all, and mark it with the
name substratum." ' Again,* he says : " The term ' quality,' or
' qualities of an object,' seem to imply that the qualities are ono
thing, the object another. And this in some indistinct way is no
doubt the opinion of the great majority of mankind. Yet t}i<\
absurdity of it strikes the understanding the moment it is men-
tioned. The qualities of an object are the whole of the object.
What is there beside the qualities ? In fact, they are converti])le
terms : the qualities are the object, and the object is the quali-
ties." Reid's mode of proving a substance is whimsical enough.
He says that because we call a phenomenon a quality, and be-
cause qualities must have a subject, therefore substance exists.'
Locke, in his Essay, seemed to doubt the existence of substance ;
" but in his first letter to the bishop of Worcester be removes
this doubt, and quotes many passages of his Essay to show tliat he
neither denied nor doubted of the existence of substances both
thinking and material." * Reid, with singular presumption, says
that a man who denies the existence of substance " is not fit to be
reasoned with." » Mr. Newman^ truly says that " we should not
attain greater accuracy by expunging the two words " (substance
and matter) " from our vocabulary." But I do not know of any
metaphysician who has proposed to expunge them. The real
question, I apprehend, is not whether substance is a useless word:
but whether it is expressive of that which has an objective exist-
ence, or whether it is a mere verbal generalization.
LEASES.
The Statute of User, 27 Hen. VIII. c. 10, turned user into pos-
session by making cestui qui use terre tenan The courts in
interpreting this laid down that as the statute only spoke of those
who were seked to use, it did not extend to term of year or any
other chattel interest of which the termor cannot be seised^ but
only possessed; "and therefore if a term of 1,000 y-^ars be
' Analysis of tlio Mind, vol. i. p. 2(53. * Ibid. vol. ii. p. 33.
• Essays on the Powers of the Mind, Edinburgh, 1808, vol. i. p. 276.
• Reid's Es.s.'-ys, Edinburgh, 1808, vol. ii. p. 278. » Ibid. vol. i. p. 38.
• Natural History of the Soul, Svo, 1819, p. 92.
.ISSTHETICS AND UISTOKY OF TUE ARTS. 509
would encourage long w" "' """""'"' '""•" ' TW-, I suppose,
OHANCEHY AND ITS KQUITAnLE JURISDICTION
Xt;/ ZEef byT^ r ^Jt "r"^ •''"'* °f ««.„e,t.,.
reisn of Henrv VIIT 7 """^ »■ "'i' Common Council in the
a layman being iade Lord ChancelW " ^"' '""'""'='' "'
■ESTHETICS AND HISTOUV OF THE ARTS
Jtr:e:r<ir„:hS;t?;rinr?:i''°' """■«'■ "- ■•■>
by Henry VIII. and Edwa"d VI < bSh " ™' f"'™'*"
to have been to paint the rtanda;d., & „' treT *™' "'""'^
■n a conversation between Mr mit .^ ,, *™^- '" >««8.
question was raised as to whefcr ! „ '""^ "' *"°"™<1, a
with the needle" was "the ttt el' '^'Jm" ""«' "' ""■"'"^K
inclined towards paintinT bTMr C-f ''""'"'^•" ^arv
other way.' On the d ffSence W„c °. ''™,'^ '" '"=" »"«
« Cousin, Histoirc de la PUlotnW p""' Ti "'"' *"» "■'-.
» 386. Cousin -7» that Hut tZ™ fSil'' ""^ "^ ^P"
Platon.c theory that all beauty was rrfernble^! ^r^" ""^
He adds, that Hutcheson first placed sen«mlf\''' ^""'^-^
.nd Reed first placed reason abL L„,w1r "^ T"*'"" '
lie la scholastique, la philosonhi. TT Ho»8ys:» "Fille
temps etrangj aux graces etle. T^TV '""""""^^ '"-S-
»tent,je clis, le pr'eS tiW spj 1^7 ifj"'"''?"" ^'^
«n raoderne. Ellcs ont pan, en ulTZ „ "'"• ^"'' I«"
Aerobe ,ue IWvrage fo^rt cnnVt^.' ^i: ^^.Tti^, ^
I Ibid. 8vo, 1809, vol. iii. p. 82,
; Ibid, tome iv. pp. loo, 166.^ ' ^ ' '°"'' "• ?• ^'' ' '^^ '^^^o tomo iv. p. 61.
• See White's Letter to Cecil in Hiivnes\ Sf.,i,. p
; «.-»<.... PMo»pH,, P.H..S; p^rii-fp, t^^' ■■
■ Ibid, tnnu' iv. p. ,S(.
'1
; I:
iii
([■ t
f'MIII
!
.10
FKAG.MI'INTS.
]?eau,' Amsterdam, 1712). Ct-tto date est nresque colic ih
rav^nement de reHtheticjiu! dans la pliilosophio (Miropecnne,
L'onvrage du ptke Andre en France est do 1741, celui de Haum-
{j^arten en Allema^ne est de 1750." He adds' that in U'stlietics
Ifiitchesun's {^reat merit is havinj; distinguished the farulty
which perceives pure beauty from the two which were jfenerully
supposed to comprise the entire soul, viz., imderstaiidiu;,' and
physical sensibility. He says » that tlie theory that beauty is tin;
agreement of beauty and variety was borrowed by Hutchcsoii
from Plotinus. Cousin ^ says, '' Le dix-huitieme siecle d'un l)out
de I'Europe a I'autre n'a pas produit un artiste de genie, et il a
manque la grande poesie parcequ'il a ignore la vraie morale ot
la grande metaphysique." But I believe that when metaphysics
began art would decline, because men became hypercritical. Tiie
influence of chivalry upon the arts is noticed in Hchlegel's Plii-
losophy of History.* Lord Brougham says of despotism, " Tlie
arts of poetry, painting, and sculpture may well flourish imdor its
influence." * He adds that it is not tyranny, but want of cultiva-
tion, which has prevented them flourishing in the east ; " but
surely many parts of Asia were more cultivated than England at
the time of Chaucer. I rather ascribe it to a want of imagination
in the Asiatic mind. Brougham says ^ that under free govern-
ments the fine arts " have at all times flourished the most steadily
and abundantly." M. Quetelet thinks that among the moderns
art has suffered from a too servile imitation of the ancients.'
Dr. Whewell has an ingenious idea that the middle ages owed
their feebleness in science to the indistinctness of their ideas;
and that it was the arts, peculiarly the fine arts, which first re-
medied this evil. On their indistinctness of ideas, see his History
of the Inductive Sciences.^ He well says '^ that one of the proofs
of this is " the fact that mere collections of the opinions of phy-
sical philosophers came to hold a prominent yjlace in literature." "
He then observes '^ that " in all cases the arts are prior to the re-
lated sciences ; " and '^ he gives a view of the architecture of the
middle ages ; and says " that the " indistinctness of ideas
which attended the decline of the Roman empire, appears in the
forms of their architecture ; " but by the twelfth century " every-
Histoire de la Pliilosophie, Paris, 1816, part i. tomo iv. p.
Ibid. p. 98. » Ibid. p. 101.
Lond. 8vo, 1846, pp. 371-374.
Political Philosophy, Svo, 1849, vol. i. p. l.'yU.
Ibid. p. 15.5. ' Ibid. p. 156.
Quetelet sur rilomme, Pari.i, 1835, tome ii. pp. 256, 257,
Svo, 1847, vol. i. pp. 253-279. '» Ibid. p. 255.
Ibid. p. 361. '3 Ibid, tome i. 360-369.
99.
" Ibid. p. 280.
'• Ibid. ].. ;ifil.
tiling sh
with stej
support.'
\\liewell
.'lahit of
the art o
visible.
soinetliin
tation of
selves. ]
ence in i
poetry no:
perfection
peared in
the fourte(
hcgimiing
the laws o
form." H
the sixteei
men of sou
suspect civ
Heed says :
which we b
disuse, and
the use of
century, an(
orator." ^ ]
connection 1
p. 165 he re
is necessary
from the ju(
magnitude, {
'"No man lu
I fn-ecian art.'
I different part
I movements,
I liuman motio
' History of th
' I'liilosopliy o(
' Ibid. vol. ii. j:
' Reed's Inquir
' Il'id. p. ]il. ■
' Lcntims on 1 1
" Green'.s Vital .
.l.e art of ,l,wl„,, „.„,.,j " , -nrTot ?"' "" """"'"^ "^
v...ble But „Kai«, even ia thj "nle t ,, ''" "'"'■'' """ "
sometliinK wbidi we do not se^ "^^ """I''™' Jrawinff, wo exl.ibit
ta'-n of ..bj™.,, it «:,"■ .r:,J^;'::™ »';""'' » »- repre»e„.
•elves. For wo draw an okuZ X ' "" """'*'' f<" ""■-
ence in nature." Ho 1" . " f. "^"^ "" """i"'' '«» "o exirt-
pootry nor paintins, nor H,; „tl , ,- .T"'", I";"''''''''' "''" ""'tlm-
perfoetion a lofty a^.d .„.ir t mitod ' " ■'' '""^'""' f"' »'"''
pearod in ,l,o noble a, fl Hf ,1 "'""'"" '.°"' -""M bave ap-
11.0 fonrtoenth and «to< ntre^t!! '"''"° ' """^ ""»»"■<''' ■»
l«si..ninK of tbat period Id" i'- " ""':" f «""'"» '»'l ■•" the
tl.e laws of natnre.'^and to "; ' r'' '"i"" '"""""" '° "'---
f--n." Ho add,, tbatl L :' ' : . ™ ^ "./'""""" '»'■-««"
Ihe sixleentU oentnry a rati n, nHl , "P'" *° '"""'' "'
men of science but by men of t f '"^ """ """'» -»' ''^
>i.»peet civilization HeLral'lv nn,: "" f,"""'''' *' ^'"«'- ^
«eed says: " Tla-y are t„ !',,:'[ ™"f° '° *» «- arts,
wbich „c brought into the worid w tb ltnd\T*» f "'""'''
disuse, and so find tlio irreatost di«, . ° 'mlearned by
Ihe use of articulate t.^rndsVnd:f„'""°^ ^^""*
™ntnry,and every ,nan wo, 1, it a ."Lr°"" "^"""""or a
».»to.-."« He adds 'that the lino artsTe ',1 f" T^' '""^ ""
ronnection between signs and the ttL "' ' f»""fl«l upon the
p. .60 be remarks that ;i"t1„l!' s ^ I,:""'/' -"^ "'^'"•' ^^
IS necessary to distin-niish " the nL ^ profession in which it
tan the pigment wrLm'' / STt:eir"''^T'^ V'"'''
-Snitude and %„re." William « dell' " if^"'''"'^-""'
"No man bas so deeply noneti-ited ,„ " ' '''•>^' °' " '"^elmann,
Sreeian art.- Mr. "ee7ol«rv , ^ " '°"°™"' 'P'"
Jifferont parts "all tend to th ci ,U, L " T'™f "' ""'
movements, a eiicmstance wbiemlt, 7 ;""""" "'"'^
liuman motion the character of Icaury'"" "^C '" ""'"' "^
oiaiity. But may not the fact
I History of tlu- Inductive Silences Svo irj^ . i ■
:;;=*.,,... i„tot„„H.. H:„„,.«iS;-»»-»«^^^^^^
*
' .i
,1
1 ,
i
"f ■
,
i
1.
j
1
i ■
t 1
512
FKAOMKNTS.
'• •
that they do tend to the circular have given rise to the notion
that the circular has the character of beauty? In his ^[ental
Dynamics ' ho says that, although the ancients invested the Finik
with beauty, yet we have the merit in the fine arts, poetry, and
the drama of the expression of the Infinite. Schiller says, I think
truly, " Mit kiirzen Worten ; die Katholische religion wird ir
Ganzen mehr fiir ein Kiinstlervolk, die protestantisclie melir fiir
ein Kaufmannvolk taugen." « Ranke ascribes the decline of art
in Italy, in the latter half of the sixteenth century, to the decline
of religious enthusiasm.' He adds * tliat when, at the end of the
sixteenth century, the church of Rome recovered its power, the
fine arts began to revive, and there arose in poetry Tasso, in
painting Caracci. Adam Smith * observes that in painting we
may, but in sculpture we may not, imitate mean and disagreeable
objects. Sir J. Reynolds (Works, vol. ii. p. 24), could not under-
stand the reason. The reason is " that in statuary there is not a
sufBcient disparity between the imitated and the imitatinj,'
object ; for, he observes,^ the exact resemblance of two objects of
art always lessens the merit of both. Thus, colouring is un-
pleasant in sculpture, because it still further lessens the dispa-
rity.» Hence we often grow tired of looking at the most beautiful
artificial flowers, but never of looking at a beautiful paintinj,'
of flowers. This is because the first are too like.^ Thus, the
pleasure we receive from painting and sculpture, so far from
being connected with deception, is incompatible with it, and is
altogether founded upon wonder at seeing how well art has sur-
mounted the disparity nature has put between the two things.'"
In painting the disparity is greater than in sculpture ; hence we
are pleased at many subjects when represented in a painting
which would afford no pleasure in sculpture." Schlosser says that i
Baumgarten " is the well known inventor of a new philosophical
science, aesthetics, which was afterwards transplanted to Berlin by i
his disciple Schulze." "» Grimm observes that the more is tvntten \
on the fine arta the less they flourish. '^ Morellet supposes that the
more men reason the less they are alive to mere artistic beauty;
* 8vo, 1847, pp. 24, 25.
» Abfall der Niederlande in Schiller's Werko, Stutfgart, 1838, Band viii. p. 53.
» Die Romischen Papste, Berlin, 1838, Band i. pp. 491, 492.
* Ibid. pp. 496-498.
* Essays on Philosophical Subjects, Lond. 4to, p. 138. • Ibid. p. 140,
' Ibid. p. 136. » Ibid. p. 140. • Ibid. p. Ml.
•• Ibid. pp. 145, 146. >' Ibid. p. 147,
" History of the eighteenth Century, vol. ii. p. 173,
" Coprespondance Litt^raire, tome iii. pp. 98, 99.
ESTHETICS AND HISTORY OF THE ARTS.
513
often the j^rent of th 't;' "'ZT, ""r^ °'' ««"". i'
eie», which was ,0 prev ™ ;" 1 f' "" " "'"' "'''"' '"'"l«-
.nd Caroline divine/ir a "ill,! V f •'"'"""' "' »"'• ■'"-Wte
There may be some truih hf/relrl^.'^ri''^ "','"" «'""""•
ieti:;rwr^rin""' "'° """"i^-^"^
combinations for immrin..fivJ ''«^' '^"^ ^antasfical
is this practicelS; rt e'Xri^ ? H '^^"^"^^«' ^^-
characteristic of the state of traSn bet^ ' "•'' '" ^"^'"'^''y
spiritual age, and one und r t^ nllt '" ""^.^'i"a<ivo or
critical understanding;'°Tb:tr::frars^^^ old"" '''■'''''
hea.itythat they flatten the heids n/ih , ,. "" "^^^°" ^^
Lieber, whose admiration for Niebu^- w."' f^'J '' ^'"•*'^-''
him: "Though he loved The W !l ,^«b"»ndod, says of
masterworks, still I belie^Ue had . ."""^ ''^' ^'^'^^^'^^ by
some ingenious remark n Har.'^ T ''''*' '^' ^'^ ''^^"•" ' »-
PM8-70, 3rd edTt Lol^: is'^r'rf/'"''^
that "a taste for the picturesql'wtr '^^^ i^-re s.js^
country, because it is the result o^'lTT ?^' ^"'" ^"*^^ i» ^
fine arts, and on wit, humouf^^^^^ ee r ^ ''/" 'T'" ^^" *^«
-ins, vol. i. pp. ^0, 131-l'3^15 I't^^^^^^^^
vol. 11. pp. 7_83. Townley, who by h s LiIp! ^ ^^^-^^^'
Uuch for the arts, was a Stholic;^ a^d so I tT' ' '^' "
Arundel, his ancestor.'" It is remarkablp ^i ,T^'''' '""' ^^^<'
never been represented by any gr"at ' et - ^!"^r^""•y ^«^
savR- « All a J "^ '"ij' great poet or painter." Lninn, i'
I »y. . All Swedes are performers on some iusical insJlei,
; JKmoiresdeMorellet, Paris, 8vo, 1821 tome i nn ^-« .r
SrrH'^ ^f l^il-ophie. part ii. tom^ Tpp ifif ' ''•
Lite ot H.mself in Miscellaneous Works 8vo 18S7 n "o
Jhe 3I.s.on of the Comforter, Sro, 1850 p 221 '' "^ ' ''
^Jol. ,„. pp. 104, i,7_i75 'P-^^i-
See Lawrence's Lectures on Man, 8vo, 1844 p 2.51
Bminiscences of B. G. Niebuhr, Loud 8vo IH^^\ «n
Hare's Guesses at Truth, p 48 ' ' P' ^''•
^,,^«ee Kichols'H Literary Illustrations of the eighteenth Centur,, .ol iii p -0,
■; Ibid. p. 735. ■ '^' '
" ^ee Alison's History of Europe, vol. iv. pp 432-433
Tour in Sweden, 1839, p. 08.
LL
11 ! J
514
FEAGMENTS.
^,4,.-.
avd understand music ; " and he adds ' " that the taste of tlie
♦Swedish people for the beauty of form in the tine arts is far more
advanced and developed than ours." Protestantism unfavonraLle
to the arts.* Sir J. Keynolds, " at a very early period of his life,"
showed taste for the arts ; ^ but to the end of his life never knew
anatomy.* Keynolds says '' that taste is acquired, and some good
judges do not at first admire Kaphael. Reynolds lirst come iuto
note in 1752, when he was twenty-nfne.^ From Henry VIII. to
George I. all the painters in England were foreigners ; and even
under Greorge I. and George II. there were, with the exception of
Hogarth, lio better ones than Richardson, Thoruhill, and Hud-
son.'^ But in 1760 the lirst public exhibition was opened,^ thougli
ill 1711 an attempt liad been made to establish au academy.'^ It
was in consequence of the exertions of Boydell that we ih-st ex-
ported instead of Amporting engravings.'" Sir J. ReynttkU- ulwavs
says " artists must not imitate nature ;" " for he says : ^'^ " The end
of art" is not to imitate nature, but " to produce a pleasing effect
upon the mind ;" and "the great end of art is to strike- tlie iina-
gination." '^ A painte" "must compensate the naiural deficiencies
of his art ;" and as " he cannot make his hero ta.ik like a great
man, he must make him look like one." ''' And I may say tliat in
the drama where they do talk, we are iiurried for time In
painting we have time h at no voice, Reynolds observes that all
accessories should be sacrificed ; but that we do not esteem art
sufficiently to make " the sacrifice the ancients made, especially
the Grecians, who sntfered themselves to be represented naked,
whether they were genr.als, lawyers, or kings." •* Sculpture
having only " one style," can only correspond to " one style " in
painting ; and the sole object of sculpture is beauty.^'' Rejiiolds's i
remarks " on architecture are unsatisfactory. From Angclo to ,
Maratti the Italian painters constantly declined.'* The Dutch
painters only address the eye ; "* and for a list of the great Dutch
pointers, see p. 206, and see vol. i. p. 358, 359 ; vol. ii. p. 128.
See also at the end of Reynolds's works ^^ a chronological and alpha- 1
betical list of painters. K^either Scotland nor modern Germany
have produced great i-'iinters. Why? Metastasio sold tluitthej
'■ Tour in Sweden, 1639, p. 73.
* Seo the reifliirks of Betclicy in Sir J. ReynoId?'s Works, vol, i. pp. 7-12 ; seeiifejj
Eeynolda's own Ob.servations, vol. ii. 189, 190.
♦ Ibid. pp. 6, 48. " Ibid. pp. 62, 63, 67.
' Ibid. pp. 26, 26. • ibid. p. 143. » Ibid. p. 147.
^> Wcrks, vol. i. pp. 329, 336, 394 ; vol. ii. pp. 68, 127.
" Ibid. vol. i. p. 347. '* Ibid. pp. 348, 349, 439.
>» Reynolds's Works, >ol. ii. pp. 6, 7, 12.
»9 Ibid. p. 129.
«» Ibid. 205.
• Ibid. vol. i. p. 37.
• Ibid. pp. ll.i, lis.
'• Ibid. pp. 183, 1«4.
'» ibid. vol. }\.\\li-
" Ibid. p. 420.
" Ibid. p. 75.
*" Ibid. p. 428 c! «;/.
^THETICS AND HISTORY OF THE ARTS. 51,5
Iraprovisatori had done much h-ii-m +^ ...
F-encli, merely from hosti^ v fn ? . ^■''^^'^- ^^ '^^3, Ihe
the fine art./ Vila tys ^t in '7'^' "'^"'^ "^^ '^^'^^
poetry is 3ublime, becaufe ^l^C^^ ^^ ^^ t^^^^^^"«"
art of engraving metals must Pcl:uLt^Z^Z T' ''^
the latter is most abstract. In the fonrtlLfh . " ,'"'''''"
was still hardly known in France ^TntTT. '"'' "'^ ^^'^ ^^«
was laid down 7 that in ....J ? n "* fourteenth century it
century great opposition was made in 7.^1* to th " ?""!
for painting-8 Monteil ^hinb^a fV. T , "^ "^^'^ t^«te »
genJTal tili'the beI•^:t^o?^,e ^^^^^^^^ ^^^/^^ b—
«ays: 'aa musiqu'e, le LL nte^^^^^^^^^^^
tons les arts." See som^ i,„...« , ^^ P^"^ ^«n«"el de
Legislation, tome i pp sTar^H"""':/" ^^"^^' ^'-^^^^ ^'^^
perfect beauty Jn iLts^^ fn ! .-"^^ ^^'"* ^"^^'^ ^'^^^'^ t''i«ks
"Mr. n^il^:Z^'^Z:^^^2^^^l own peculiarities.
of human knowledrre exceDMvt. . ! ^'"^^ ^''^^'"^ '""^'J^^^
the r,>v nf p '^':^'^^,''^^^P" two, gaming and music." " Betwf^fn.
tJie city of Gruatemala and the Pacific th^m n,.^ J^etwteu
waterfalls, very accessible bnf «.tT ^re some beautiful
adds"tl,«t r,!'.?'''*^'''^^ ^^'^^ visits them." '2 He ■
auus tuat near Leon, in Ni.>ni-if.i ^ ;^ ^ , "**
body ever goes to see Tl!^ K * ', r?"" ™''''"° ^'""i"'' "«-
BcaLarchL' Eu,,en Te h^XuT"" " ':^?.'"='-"'' " -F that
.vait d„„„, re.e™' rd': .oTp ZTe 'rS:'.'-? ""™'"
Striking article on mnvjiV ;« v T "^ ^amiiie. See a most
(ctai'tog Jviewof riot) X'» r'^r °'=*°'"^'' '««'
:r:4"tr^--;:-™
i«g." Ford?'rvs «^rn s' ■' ^'""'^''"^^ '^"^ '^'^t «f P^'int-
J«-...oS-aetX'::rst:^^^^^^^^^
J Works of Sir J. KeynoUs, vol. ii. p. 46
boe Otorgv,!, Memoiros, vol. iv. p. 387.
Philosophic, de I'Histoire, p. 11 7. « j^j.
S<,e M„„teil, Histoire des Divers Etats, vol. i p 223
; Monte.1, Hi.toire de« Fran^ais, tome i. p. 240
i»>id. tonioii. pp. 311, 315. »n'i , •
;' ^'i^toire de« Girondins, vol. vii . 81 ^^'^' '''^- ''• ?• ^^L
; B.s«efs Life of Burke, 2nd edit. '18OO. vol. i. p. 108
otephen's Central America, vol. i. p. ^-92
Ibid. VoL ii, p. 14. ' U rr
" Tieknor's History of Spanish LiteraUve, vol ii 'ZVe.- llf 00
feins.spain, 1851. vol.ii.pp. 174- 176 ''' '°'- ";^P- *36 vol. in. p. 22; and Hos-
" Handbook lor Spain, Zi7, p. 341. *'^'"' "''' '' ^ " -''■
L L '2
• Ibid. p. 260.
i; 11
11*
i' h
616
FRAGMENTS,
i ,.
as a principal, either in art or literature." At p. 432 *' the pen
and pencil were sculpturesque rather than picturesque." Toin
Moore was born and died a Catholic ; and his mother, who had
great influence over him, was "a sincere and warm Catholic."'
Sir Walter Scott " confessed that he hardly knew high from low
in music," and " Lord Byron knew nothing of music." "^
The essential difference between ancient and modern art is that
the lirst is 'plastic^ the other ■picturesque, and as Hemsterhuys
says, the " ancient painters were probably too much sculptors."' ^
Schlegel applies the remark to poetry. Greek art is the perfec-
tion of beauty, but too sensual,'* and " among the Grreeks human
nature was in itself all sufficient." ^ The poetry of the ancients was
the poetry of enjoyment, ours is that of desire." ^ " The moderns
have never had a sculpture of their own." ' This, as Schlegel
well says,^ accounts for the ancients having so great a love for
the " unities." Sculpture fixes our attention on a group regard-
less of external accompaniments, whereas painting delights in
secondary objects. Thus the plastic spirit of antiquity is dif-
ferent from the picturesque spirit of romantic poetry. Schlegel
well says' that "genius is the almost unconscious clioice of tht}
liighest degree of excellence, and consequently it is taste in its
greatest perfection."
In 1814 Campbell writes from Paris: "Any little taste in
painting I know full well I have not got ; but the pleasure of the
paintings grows upon me ; thougi still far, far, inferior to that
of the statues." '° Dr. Beattie, the intimate friend of Campbell,
says of him, " He was always fond of music : particularly those
airs with which he had been familar in early life." " In 1838,
Campbell writes that Burney has not done justice to the early
English musicians : " Handel studied Purcell and looked up to
him as a master. . . . The fact is that England, imtil fifty years
ago, was fertile in great musical poets. Witness her Purcell, her
Bull, her Locke, her Lawes, and Arne."'^
Crawford '^ says that the Javanese, " in common with all semi-
barbarians, are good imitators ; but in this respect they fall short
of the H
pp. 127-
In 18
favourite
' Moore's Memoirs by Lord J. Russell, vol. i. pp. xxii. 29 ; vol. iv. p. 305; vol. \<\\.
p. 6J.
■^ Ibid. vol. iv. p. 342. Lond. 1853.
" Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature, by A. W. Sohkgel, Lond, 1840, vol. i.
pp. 9-70.
* Ibid. p. 12. » Ibid. p. 15. • Ibid. p. 16.
' Ibid. p. 18. » Ibid. p. 357. » Ibid. pp. 7, 8.
'" Beattie's Life and Letteis of Campbell, 8vo, 1849, vol. ii. p. 268.
I' Ibid. vol. iii. p. 362. " Ibid. p. 265.
" History of the Indian Archipelngo, Edinburgli, 8vo, 1820, vol. i. pp. 47, 203.
' Memoirs of S
' Autobiograph
' Analy.sis of tli
' Tile Life of Si
' Iliid. p. 13.
' Cnnninghjmi's
• JWd. p. 68.
^rHETICS AND HISTORY OP THE /DTS. gj,
of the HM,,.,. See aUo .e.pee«„,, the Javanese theafe, vol. ,
natural scenery i, TZ'J. '"""'"'"J' '» "'<> f'oauties of
Twining, in ii L,, ! ''Tl"^"''"'*' "^ '"'^'""^ ""i. Mr.
Leigh Hunt' oSe ;;"„;«" ^.''""' '" 'P'-Pect-""
elementelimate, Sin. ,n a r^-f ?""*'' '*'' '" »» '-
Imve such line poetfour L "t '«"'"?«»"«'■ Hence, while we
express Hunt/wea WsaW h T '"f'«T""- ' °^J' *"<«■%
from »«m; pai„U„7fr r:|,t ""S^ """I?. "^ """^™''
tliat tlie greatest norf. „f n " ^e says : « It is observahk
i-Sreat^ea^^l'fS^ „ttT' '""" ^'T"^' ""ere there
from Venice, Kome an" other „ V""™"- ^'"' P""'"" '""'o
more northern are more ^T '' "°™ "'' "'"''>' "■""Sh
Florence made PetLXan/n '1'^ ".V""'- ^'"^ '"»» abm.t
...d .he. werealsrrrsr:X';u3r"^ "''^ ™'--
an .t'rc i::f i::^;'i:;!:;:r-»^-' ->-. o^ «theties,
i'l.«trations, are aipted CMr Jales Min'T' ?" """^ °""»
•»;t an error of his in'relation to W Wnlfe" tT'' f ""'"
when his fame was h\^h f^ a i 7, vvukie "has been heard
™;M read, andTl'ttfJ^ettTu '"ste .""tilr ""'"TT
e— m;r:xt:'r r -f-™' »^ --vVd''
and weaving.. wZe"™ , o-n " vT ^'"' "* "' "■"e-making
8» ^^^1^ was born in Fifcshirp in T7o« xi n
» was only twenty-one when in l«nfi I ' "'™*-"-''.
Village Politicians raised him i '^, ? ^ f" ''PP'=a™ce of the
Vnikie constantly fa ,-stinr„n „ L'""*-''" "^ '"■"«•' «'" «"<!
from nature to imagfaS,"' 7„ 180^" 1""™°"'^ "^ >»'"'■"»'
"I am convinced now th^t ? ' "" """''*'™. "«■ wite,"
■'"'- *' i> a .i-:^ r;esrtrn ^„rrn:" .tj ;r' '-t'
sr-rr/- -j.f i„^"' '" •B36,whe':-he r:^:^z
1 «uld be pr^tisld wM , "-T' '*P'™»'ation of nature it
I -cess, b.^thtttytfi^trrhsrrndr''^ -■— -
' Il'id. p. 13. ' ^^ '^"''" CunninKlutm, 8vo, 1843, vol. i p ij
■ " Ibid. p. 76.
^l
518
FRAGMENTS.
II
Kh
mm P
only art when it adds mind to form.'" In 1825, at the age of
forty, he complains that after Michael Angelo paintings seem to
have been made « more for tlie artists and connoisseur than for
tliP vmtutored apprehension of ordinary men."" In 1827 and
1828, when he was in Spain, he notices the striking similarity
between Velasquez and the best English paintings.^ But, he
observes,* that among all classes in Spain, Murillo was the
favourite. Wilkie was never fund of painting portraits.'' Allan
Cunningham says" that Wilkie did not care for the "picturesque"
in scenery, but preferred men. Wilkie is said once to have been
in love; but that is doubtful.^ Early in 1825, Wilkie, then
aged forty, was seized wHh a " nervous debility " which prevented
him from painting, or, indeed, attending to anything more than
five minutes at a time, and yet otherwise he remained in perfect
health.8 At length, in April 1827, he writes, "I have again
begim to paint."5 He afterwards recovered, but died apparently
rather suddenly in 1841, aged fifty-six.'" Allan Cunningham
says" that Wilkie's first style was copying nature; the second
style, which he did not live to work, was grander and more
historic. Wilkie thought colour one of the very first things.'^
Wilkie says that the Catholic religion is more favourable to art
tlian the Protest.mt.'^ He thinks'* that the Greek sculptors
began by learning painting. In 1840 he writes from Constan-
tinople that the Turkish religion was so unfavourable to art
that he found no one there who took any interest in it.'^ Wilkie
observes that none of the great Christian painters had taken the
trouble to go to the Holy Land.'« Dr. Burney, who was a frieu<l
of Herschel, mentions that that great astronomer told him in 1797,
" that he had almost always had an aversion to poetry," unless
" truth and science were united to fine words." " Dr. Burney,
who knew Pitt, writes in 1799 that he was indifferent to music.
" Mr. Pitt neither knows nor cares one farthing for tiutes and i
fiddles." '8
M. Comte '^ has admirably shown that the love of imaginative
expression is the result of personification, characteristic of the
early xorms of superstition. On the rise of the aesthetic principle,]
' Cunningham's Life of Wilkie, vol. iii. p. 131.
- Ibid. vol. ii. 197. » llv:,l. pp. 486, hl9. * Ibid. p. 610.
> Ibid. vol. iii. p. 62. 8 Ibid. pp. 477, 478. ' Ibid. toI. ii. pp. ,54, o.5. ,
" See the interestuig details in vol. ii. pp. 219, 251, 252, 286, 287, .3(13, ;i2.3, 34:!,j
^*-'*' ^*^- ' Ibid. p. 414. i" Ibid. vol. iii. pp. 472,4:3.1
" Ib.d. pp. 494, 495. " Ibid. vol. ii. p. 443. >• Ibid. pp. 223, 437.
" Ibid. p. 269. » Ibid. vol. iii. p. 354. '« Ibid. pp. 415. 438,
" Madame D'Arblay's Memoirs of Dr. Burney, 8vo, 1832. vol. iii. pp 253. 'Jol.
" Ibid. pp. 274, 275.- »» Philos'.phie Positive, vol. v. pp. 47-49.
suig, or rat
^SmETICS AND HOTOnr OF THE AKTS. Slfl
«. al«„ tome v. pp. I04-IG1, where are «ome ingeniou, rem.rk,
on the influence of religion „„ the fine art,. Atfome vi Ti 8
^•^>f:-*:L=,rtrtSC~H
„reit aUrm. Holmes says" of Mozart that, " when travoUin,.
attentively and in silence on tlie view hefore him; by decrees
.« the ordinary serious and even melancholy o.pr^sion of hi'
countenanee became enlivened and cheerful, he won dhe.^n to
ng, or rather to hum, and at last exclaim ' OhT I h^b, t
be thema on paper.' . . . Jtoart alwa;, composed Hi tte
r rs:d'b 'his""';"'-", '^^'-tho'^g- often cSatid;
monomania, that he had bettoile" ^ dtd Tvnl 1
lie age of thWy.five years an'd ten montl"" » Hota s add '
bv Z b"°.'r **"" '" '""' l*™ P"»oned was alZs treat'cd
by those about him as a fantastic idea ; and in fact th^ nntt „ 7
'roTfbrtr-'' -^"^ -tra'„rdin"Jt::rirmr
ion ot tlie brain. riora the account given by Holmes Mo7,rf
man ^m'"*; "' ""i"*""^ S™e-"y -ciLdt ai ul Xs'
a man of the most remarkable mildness and of n ^<..^ f
'emper. His generosity was almost crtoina, prof:isI n "^'""^
Keats greatly preferred association to scn^nj. He savs-
Wry IS fine, but human nature is finer." " Wordsworth Z '■
composition has throughout my life brought on more or less
•Ibid. p. 231. ,,S"f- •IWJ.p.20.
iifi
I
! J 1 III
W^
i ! 1
520
FEAGMENTS.
bodily derangement ; " and he mentions that when he wounded
liis foot, a cure could not be eflfected until he left off composing '
He adds : « « Nevertheless, I am at the close of my seventy-third
year, in what may be called excellent health ; so that intellectual
labour is not necessarily unfavourable to longevity. But, parhiips,
I ought here to add that mine has been generally carried on out
of doors." In 1 822, Wordsworth had an accident, from the effects
of which he rapidly recovered, which, says his nephew, Dr.
Wordsworth, "was owing, humanly speaking, to his very tem-
perate habits. To the same cause it may be ascribed, that
during his long life, he was scarcely ever confined to the house
by so much as a day's illness." ^
« Sculptm-e had always languished in England, even while paint-
mg had flourished under Vandyke and his successors." * In 1773, Dr
Brown published his Dissertation on Poetry and Music, « to show
that music, dance, and poetry, were united in the savage state of
man, have been separated by civilization, and ought to be reunited."'^
Comte says « that the real cause of the decline of the aesthetic
prmciple is that owing to a diminution in the theological spirit
we cease to sympathise with its objects.
Lord CampbelP says, "Few poets deal in finer imagery than
is to be found in the writings of Bacon ; but if his prose is some-
times poetical, his poetry is always prosaic."
Hue 8 says of the Tartars, west of China, "The Lamas are
far better sculptors than painters." In 1780 an intelligent
Oerman says of the Bohemians, "Their fondness for music is
astomshmg."9 Laing^o well says that we overrate the fine arts
because we associate them with great persons, i.e. we see them
favoiu-ed by kings, nobles, &c. Laing says," " The Swiss appear
to be a people very destitute of imagination and its influences;
remarkably blind to the glorious scenery in which they live.
Eousseau, the only imaginative writer Switzerland has ever pro-
duced, observes 'that the people and their country do not seem
made for each other.'" This, Laing ascribes >« to the fact that
they have always been hirelings, as warriors, or as domestic
servants. Laing »3 is very severe on music as a civiUzing medium.
'Memoirs of WUliam Wordsworth, by Christopher Wordsworth, 8vo, 1851, vol. ii
P- 65. 2 Ibid. pp. 65, 56.
* Pictorial History of England, vol. iv. p. 757.
" Philosophie Positive, vol. vi. p. 184.
' Lives of the Chancellors, vol. ii. p, 430.
« Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China, vol. i. p. 90.
' Riesbeek's Travels through Germany, vol. ii. p. 140.
'" Notes of a Traveller, 1st series, Svo, 1842, p. 13.
» Ibid p. 211.
» Ibid. vol. V. p. 637.
'^ Ibid. pp. 320, 321.
» Ibid. p. 320.
" Ibid. 2nd series, pp. 348-308.
HISTOBY. ETC., OF LITERATURE. 501
«vo, it follow, ttt " n ^i„5t „r : rr "" "'•:;';'; '"""»'•
clironom impressions wir^„ l T^ *'""° ^^''^itj, »y.l-
more moderate susce^ Mil; ,„''™r "'■"»'«'" "Wk P'-sou, of
tendency to assoZ '^/s ^ eV^TXr^^f r" "'" '^™ "
aud become men of scienc-SrC 5^ TolTptTf
526. See also vol. ii. n 4"^. wJ,«..^ u • i. , PP" "''^^'
HISTORY, ETC., OF LITERATURE.
In 1553, the French ambassador, writing from Tnn^^«
"n„« libraire Franfois qui se tie'nt i^;! on^teml °"' 2tn
London booksellers sold so few bnnt fu , "f ''*'™PS- ^n 1571,
lend their services in l^nT^J^^'.^'^i::^ '^^:"^ '»
f-nt-ZTS^BrntrrsetS^^^^^^^^
tinf th« »-.,.fV, ' ^-^"'^^i^^s. ibe celebrated Clarke observed
.Ii,ch the v,srble objects of sueh a region can be refLedTand
; WI»w.ir.Phil„„ph,„, the M„e.i™S,ie„c..,8vo, 1847 vol i „ 11
; o. lews " Ibicl. L. 356.
8vo, 1847. pp. 22, 23. ^
* l •
522
FRAOMRNTfl.
almost all its men of letters are still natural historians or
chemists." » And « « since the days of Aristotle and of Tlieo-
pliraat.is, the li^^ht of natural liistory had become dim until
it beamed like a star from the north." At p. 4(52 he says of a
Swedish clergyman, " Like almost all the literary men of Sweden,
he had attended more to natural liistory than to anything else,"
At vol. X. p. 32, lie says of the natural history of Sweden, "This
branch of science is more particularly studied than any other.
There is hardly an apothecary or a physician who has not either
a collection of stuffed birds, or of insects," &c. A writer, very
h-arned in European mytliology, says, respecting the different
tales of dwarfs, « Like the face of nature, these personiHeations
of natural powers seem to become more gentle and mild as tliey
approach the sun and th(! soutli." » Of the Celtic race ho. t^ny^)
"Its character seems to have been massive, simple, and sublime,
and less given to personitication than those of the more eastern
nations. The wild and tlio plastic powers of nature never seem
in it to have assumed the semblance of huge giants and ingenious
dwarfs." Lord Burghley never patronised literatm-e ; and in a
letter written in 1575 to the earl of Shrewsbury, sneers at "human
learning." » Paper and printing were so dear in London that, in
1538, Coverdale and Grafton went to Paris to print their Bible
there. See the account from manuscripts in the Chapter House
at Westminster in Todd's Life of Cranmer, vol. i. pp. 228-234.
In 1675, Evelyn" says of Sir W. Petty's Map of Ireland, " I am
told it has cost him near 1,000^. to have it engraved at Amster-
dam." In 1686, Evelyn mentions ^ "that Milton wrote for the
regicides " ! ! 1 Kemble « says : " The genius of the Anglo-Saxons
does not indeed seem to have led them to the adoption of those
energetic and truly imaginative forms of thought which the Scan-
dinavians probably derived from the sterner natural features that
surrounded them." On the state of public libraries in 1848, and
the ratio which, in the diff"erent countries of Europe, the number
of volumes bears to the number of inhabitants, see Journal of
Statistical Society, vol. xi. pp. 251, 252.
« Clarke's Travels, toI. ix. pp. 108, 109. ' Ibid. p. 212.
' Keightley's Fairy Mythology, Lond. 1850, p. 264. « Ibid. p. 361.
» Lodge's Illustration of British History, 1838, vol. ii. p. .56.
• Diary, 8vo, 1827, vol. ii. p. 403. ' Ibid. vol. iii. p. 210.
» Saxons in England, vol. i. p. 4'»5.
523
TRAVELLING.
In 1593, the LordH of tho Council wrote to the Lord-Lientonant.
^..m _nbi ad. 1 hose who were Protentaiits were not to Ix, rnolented
but the fnends of thos., who were Catholics wore to be <^.lled m
10 give security for their appearance on a certain day.' This letter
spns to have been a circular; for a copy of it addressed o
Hnrohley is in Murdin's State Papers, pp. 667, (;(>8.
A very able statistical in.juirer says of Europe, « On pourrait
dire quon trouve le plus de lumieres la ou iU^iste le^plus de
communications, et oi^ coulent de grands fleuves comme le Khin
lo heme, la Meuse, &c.- As travelling increased, pol ith^Il'
economy arose. ' t'""''*^'*^
Perhaps the immediate effect of the acts passed by Mary were
bad A very intelligent traveller who was struck wifh the (.xee!
ent state of the roads in Sweden and Denmark, ascribes "'t.
the emulation and nvalship excited among the inhabitants to
excel each other in their respective shares of the work "There
as formerly in England, each peasant has to repair some particulT;
part of the road a plan, Cbrke thinks, which « might bcfimtat^
advantageously in Great Britain." a In 1557, all the waggons L
^veen ^ ork and Newcastle and all the sacks within twent^ mUes of
Newcaste, were insufficient to convey about five hundred^qua.^" s
of wheat from Newcastle to Berwick.^ The Swedes mend their
own roads ; but the moral inconveniences of this are considerable ^
ImnTlVn"'^ '"'''"' information respecting the wretched tra-
velling, 150 years ago, see Clarendon Correspondence, edited by
Singer, 4to 1828, vol. i. pp. 19.3, 198, 202, 203. See Llso p 269
where we ^nd that in 1686 there was no packet-boat bLe^
Scot and and Ireland, but correspondence had to go througl^
London At vol. x p 197, the earl of Clarendon writl in 1 6^5
horn St. Asaph, "There is in the city, as it is called, two very
pretty nns who have room for fifty horses." In Italy, in 1655
It was « extraordinary to get clean sheets." « For the mode of
travelling m France, and expenses in 1677, 1678, see W's life
of Locke, 1. 149. For the cost of travelling ii F^ance'in Jht
' Ellis's Original Letters, 2nd series, vol. iii. pp. 17 1.174
; Quetekt, Sur rHomme. Paris, 1 835, tome ii!^p. 185
'I ' t
I' I "i
r.24
l"HA(l^fl';NTN.
HixtiM'iitli «'t'iihirv, Hcc IMoiilcil, HiHloiro <1ch DivorH PJuIm, fmnrv.
|i{i. .J()-.'i;i. Ill 1(12."), |iiiiliaini>iit i(«(|ii(-Ht(>(l, and <lir kiiij^ inn-
inimMl, Miiil no niir should lie alltiwrd to liuvc llirir cliililivn
rdunitcd nhroiul.' TIii- I'onimlioii of ioiuIn in llic Mii^lilaiidH hm
lt>Hs»'iu'd criiiu'.'''
Kv«n in our own times, iho impoHaiu-c of f nivclliiijj; Ih nlivioiis,
and w(* ian>ly find an nnliavcUrd man who Ih not full of |»ic.
jndicc and l>ifi;ofrv. Mnl in Hie Hixicrnfli coiitmy IIh iniiiorlancc
was nuicli jficalcr; for, uh tlioic wrn- no anllicnlir accoimls df
for(«i;;n «'oiinlri(<n, it wuh inijioNHilth^ lo know IIu'Iii t«x('c|»l hy
nmhiif llitMii.
A wiitt>r early in fliis ccnlury, cinotcd hy Mr. LcwIh," Hays llmt.
in Ireland 'Mo liorHewliip or heat a servant or labourer is a t'lc-
• luent iiio(h' of oorn'elion. Mut the evil is not ho ^reat anion;; llic
Nielli leineii of liirj>f(> {m»i)(>r<y, whose inanneiH havc^ g<Mieially been
Hoftened by ediicuHon, Iniirlli ii;f" vte.
FRKMir IN KN(II.ANl) IN TIIK SIXTKKNTH (M^INTl'UV.
SiU'ii j-n'iit numbers of l-'irneh Profestunts fled to Knj^dand that
in ir>()H (.Vi'il was oblip'd to upolo^ise to the French and swuinr
t\»r allowinjj; tli(«m to settle in London;* and immediately after
the luiuxsaero of St. Hart ludomew, ii }j;r(>at number (»f Kreneh oiiiiu'
to liiindon.'* This caused continued remonHtrances from tiio
French cabinet; but Klizabeth iiositivcOy refused to send tlicin
from Knj;land.*^ However, they soon l)e;;an to return to Krainv.
In October, 157.3, more than tive hundn^d of them left liondon for
that purjiose," and in November, l.')74, they were f(dlovved hy "la
]tluspart de tout/, ces frat^'oys <]ui rest(»ient icy." » And yet in l.n')
tliey were so numerous that the French ambassador complaiiiod
of the rejoiciu}; they publicly made in London for a defeat sii.s-
tiiined by the French kin<j^.» IndtHul, there were four ministers
settli'd in London as "conseil d'estat de ceulx de la nouvcllo
relioion de Franco et de Handres." '<> In 15()3, a sermon was
' I'rtrlinmontftrj' History, -ol. ii. p. 23.
* 8o<' Portnr's Propross of vlie Nation, vol. ii. p. 10.
• Loail Diuturbanoos in Ireland, 8vo, 1836, p. r)3.
* r.invspomliinoo diplonmtique do La Motlie Finolon, Paris, 1840, Ionic i p.
800 itlso tome iii. p. 311.
» Ibid., tomo V. pp. 136, 162, 177, 202, 302, 410; tome vi. pp. 9, 59.
» Ibid. p. 231. ' Ibid. p. 420. • Ibid, tome vi. p. 280.
• Ibid, p, 394. w Ibid. p. 380.
74;
RI'FIIIT, K'lV., OF JANHKNr.SM.
IH
. IH. hv,,.. n. UK-., in Km»,Ih,..| . ,., „. .. /, '
121 ut AlH,vl., .^',H ,|...IiH, having a.....,,,.,, M.„ ronun. ,
dHy,llat th. Hhn^H of a„ ..v.-ut, ..f ho m„,.|, ln,..n.„,, ,li,|
' '<■; ''"'* •'---nofHo<.a„oMlyh.,.xplain.n.yMM|ov
tiuin^ luk-rcHt in |iiil)lic amiiiH."
\v
III
JMJMMC AND INTKKNATIONAI. lAW.
On tl.., ,I,.ufh of (;|,a,l,.s IX., Kli.al.Hl, f,oI,| „... ,.-,,,„.,, ,^„,,„,„.
-lor hat iHH pow.rH l.a.l ..xpin-.I, an.l M.af, Iw, umnl l.av f '
oneH tron. U„, n,,w kii.K;' an.l in npih, of hiH pnM, h.- i^^^^
r.-v..n..lint.nHvi..w. ^o.•.l M..o,l,,.a,n nay.': ' ^ '^
mtt.ouH aroN., out of < ho fod.-rai nni.,n of GcTinany/
TlIK HJ'IULT, ETC., OF JANSENIHiVT.
|(,W,s,N olmorvcs" that IfMtclK.Hon'H Manual of Lome waH or.lv -tn
I ahrul-numt of the Port. Uoyai hojric ; and 1.,. HavH ^ f h-U I ..f ^^
1,1, I/' I ,1 . , h"^ »"■">' n(. M.iyH inai, lIutclW'HOn,
K<- iM-noion, made /o.« the ImHin of all ndi^ion ; and ^ „,,t hi
eory inchned t.. inyHtici«n.. Indood, Cousin nayn " that
Hi.choHon borrow..! from tho I-gic of the Port Jioyal his ....h-'
n-rated diviHion of the facultien of the undru-ntandin-. Mr Mon-11
^fnuigely nayn, " l>aHcal',s Hce,,tieiHm k uU aimed aijainst the
(/i>w« of philosophy."'" '^M'n.st li.e
Cousin well nays that inyHtu^ism is « le coup de desespoir de
luraisou ]nimaine,(iui apr^s avoir cru naturellement a elle-meme,^
' See Mdohyn'N Diury, Camdon Socioty, vol. xlii. p. 305.
' AdditioriH to llolicrtsoirn Charlos V. p. Ma.
' CVrreHiHindiince diplomiitiijmi do Fenoloii, toino iv p l.-JS
' Ihid. pp. \r,(i, 170, l»r».
' Political PhiloHophy, 2iid edit. 8vo, 1819, vol i. pp. 400-492.
' IliHtoire di, la niilcsophie, I'i»ri»», 18 Hi, tome iv p 4.5
';;'i'i.P-l««. • Ibid. p. 1, 08. ''Ihid.p. 414
Mordis View of Speciiktivo Philo.sopliy, 8vo, 1316, vol. i. p 2;,'^
'I
i
n
^
. ■^
l;
^^1
Mil
^^H
i 1
l^^^l
1
|H
Hi
#■■■
If
^H
If
'?
IM
:
U^H
u
' >■
"f^^^l
lif
r
7^H
526
FRAGMENTS.
et debut^e par le dograatisme, effrayee et decourag^e par le
Bcepticisme, se refngif^ dans le spntiment, duns la jmro C(»nt»'tn-
plation et rintuitiori iinm^diato." ' It is therefore, as Cousin well
says,' that mysticism naturally came after sensualism, idealism
and scepticism.
STATISTICS.
Cousin has a foolish note on statistics, in which he depreciates
what he does not understand.' The metaphysician despises the
statistician, the statistician laughs at the metaphysician ; and to
these petty quarrels are sacrificed the interests of knowledge. In
France, 100 marriages produce 408 births.* Quetelet * agrees
with Malthas that if thei^ were no checks, population wuuld
increase geometrically. In 1835, the homicides in France were
estimated to be annually to the whole population as 1 to 48,000/'
In cor.sequence of the general advance of civilization during tlie
seventeenth century, there =prang up those habits of prudence
which so eminently distinguish civilized men from savages. Tliis
gave rise to the desire to equal the vicissitudes of life, and hence
the origin of insurances, which can only exist in a people far
advanced in the scale of society. Young rams perhaps have most
female offspring. See some experiments recorded in Combe's
Constitution of Man in relation to External Objects, Edinburgh,
1847, pp. 483, 484. When old men marry young women, the
offspring are geneially daughters, hence the reason why in the
east, where polygamy is practised, more females are born than
males.^ In 1757, Voltaire* writes : " C'est a Breslau, a Londres, 1
et a Dordrecht, qu'on commen^a il y a environ trente ans a sup-
puter le nombre des habitants par celui des bapt^mes. On
multiplie dans Londres le nombre des bapt^mes par 35, a Breslau
par 33." In 1686, there were great disputes about the population
of London and Paris.^ Comte '° peremptorily rejects the applica-
tion to sociology of the doctrine of chances. Poitur t-ays'' that!
the diminution of births and marriages is not owiro' t > jvreased
prudence, but to " the increased duration of life," wLich increases |
' Cousin, Histoiis de la Philosophie, 2nde s^rie, tome iii. p. 13. ' Ibid, p. l'.|
' Histoire de la Philosophie, Paris, 1846, part i. tome iv. p. 173.
* tiuetelet Sur I'Hoinme, tome i. p. 80. * Ibid. p. 273. • Ibid, tome ii, p. 1.^8. |
* SfcB Corabe's Lectiires on Moral Philosophy, 8vo, 1840, pp. 134, 136.
* 0^:nv ei. , tome. )x. p. 326.
'' H< a ?.' ""s Cor;'i ijpondence, edited by Dr. Lankester, 8vo, 1841, p. 189.
'" ?hik.s ..ihle Lositive, vol. iv. pp. 512-516.
" rr.)gr0ijtj of the Nation, vol. i. p. 33.
. STATISTICS.
^1]
627
the „„mhor of those who cuu,iot becomo parent. Tl.
."W«tu„„ to a 1,„„.„ 1„ K„,la„,l a,„ 5.6. T AlicWk' x tT^
Alison • savs thn*- in l>....- i.1 Ml . ^'iiuiuesex, 7*4.'
v«"ery have few ohillr' '" ''"'"""^' "'"' "- «'-" *"
la,ed „„ flgur"./ '^ "' "'""'"""y '" iaductive, and i,
.ftir;f;:"f"iro:^r?''*''V" '"""'• '- "-^ «"' '■><•■■"«
*T • -^raon^^ the poor who nurse thmr n«,r. i -i i
n.e. .. «en™U, an interval of two ,ea„ hefrtUSth":!' 'H:
the Report of 4e t^i rari^e^for .srih'"' "'="""^' '"
i« the case in En.Maiid • " the 1™-^' f . ' " """""' "'' ">'«
.oo,.rjs wMie,h:ir.;«it;t:^:n;'s%x?"%^*?^;^ '°
influences the proportion o s xeTborn ■' H .'wT'" °"""'^
and Vil,ero.4 and Quetelet, l.'atM^e M^U ^^1°"'^'
XXI. of Memoires de I'Acarlpmw. p. i i , 7.' ^^' ^" *"™«
Hoc. xii. 231. Bishop nlr.^";'^^^^^ l^Bel.i^ue, Statist.
is guessed at 300 000 But Arnf "i ^^^^ P^P'^J^tion of Lucknow
tolu^ber theTpie a^a ^a kX^T^^^^^^^^^
presage of famine or pestilence • so th.t . .1 ^ ^' ^°^ ^ '"'"
" Journey through India, vol. ii. p. 90.
'• Traitd de Legislation, vol. iii. i> 1 05
ill I
528
r.iAGMENTS.
/ it) f
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
The foundatior of this great science, without which it could not
for a moment exist, is the supposition that men are the best
jud;i^es of iheir own material ii'terests. Mr. ^.lorcll strangely
says, "The axiom, that men follow their interest whenever tliey
know it, cannot, we contend, be sustained with any approach to
plausibility ; " and this lie makes out by adding tliat many men
have desires contrary to their own interests.' Eiit whoever snid
that a^i men follow their own interest? It is a, c/eneral, not an
universal rule, and no mixed sciences have universal rules for
their base.
In 1721, Montesquieu distinctly says thai an increase of money
would not be an increase of wealth.^ Alison actually supposes " tliat
prices inevitably rise in the old and wealthy community from tlie
great quantity of the precious metals in the existing currency which
their opulence enables them, and their numerous mercantile trans-
actions compel them, to keep in circulation ; and consequentlv,'
&c. &c. ! ! ! ^ In 1829, Soutliey writes to Dr. Grooch : " As for the
political economists, no wordw can express the thorough contempt
wliich I feel for them. They discard all moral consideration from
their philosophy, and in their practice they have no compassion
for flesh and blood.""' As to Southey's knowledge of political
economy, see* his remarks on Malthus. A living philosopher,
whose extraordinary abilities have even ennobled the name of
Herschel, speaks in a very diiferent way of political economy.*'
Foreign travels, by showing a greater number of political
phenomena, made men think, and gave rise to political economy.
It is thus, for instance, at a later period, that Malthus collected
the materials for his great work on population when travelliiig in
the north of Europe witli the celebrated Clarke.^
Mr. Keightley has an ill-,5uppressed sneer at political economy.'
Ferguson gravely says, " To increase the number of mankind may
be admitted as a great and important object." ^
' History of Speculative Philosophy, 8vo, 1846, vol. ii. pp. 461, 4G5.
' Lettres I'ersaiies, no. t-vi, Pnrii?, Svo, 18;!"), p. 71.
' Alison's Principles of Population, Svo, 1840, vol. i'. p. 409,
* Life and Correspondence of I{. fc-outhey, Svo, 18o0, vol. vi. p, 58.
» Ibid. p. 100.
° See Herschel's Discourse on Niitural Philosophy, 8vo, 1831, p. 73.
' 8 R Clarke's Travels, 8vo, 1824, vol. ix. p. 43, and compare on Malt'.uis, Ottii'lj
Life of Clarke, vol. i. pp. 442, 476.
' See Keiglitley'8 Tales and Fictions. Lond. 1834, p. 8.
' Ferguson oa the History of Civil Sociity, Loud. Svo, 1786, p. 96.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
iilt'.uis, Otti'i'i
The ii * "' ^^^
economy in Penny CycIoZa^T i ^""^^ ^^^«^« «« political
Peared the Tab JuXrmt;:t'o"- ^^ '''' ^^ '''^t
Plijsiocratie.-* At n iss .' ^"^^^« Quesnay ; and in 1768 bis
fieial remarks o^wLf ' T .'f p^'^"^^^^ i^-« «ozne very sf' ,
t^at Anderson wasTSst wbo p^tT'^Tr ^°^ *^ ^' -a^e"
I «"^pect Adam Smith val Xaf ""'I '^ ^^'^'"^^ «f ^-nt'
-nomists. At all eventsrin 755 h?"'"' "^'^ ^^^ ^^-^^an
foreign hterature.« The s udy of Imi i' ""'^ ^^"^^^^^^ ^^^b
n^ust greatly have favoured fre5discu^.^.r'°°^-^ in France
;ho was a fne.d of Quesnai^^ls . iHr' ^^fT' '" «^«,
^o^nes de tons les partis, mai' en n^f . '^* '^'' ^"^ ^es per-
avaientunegrandecLfianeeenlui ''t'^''^}'-^ ^t qui toutes
de tout." r She ^^^ « that ol • ^ P^'^^^* <^^^« hardiment
be the only man fit to conduct the T'^t'f ^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ t
jell says that the realauthor o the de t'1-^"""^^" «^h^«««er
d.ns.on 0,,,.,, ,^^ eclomistr^^^^^ ^^^^^ P^-^^al
^o«- .In 1759, Grimm^rites from p'^. ^?.^^ ^ ^'^^^t sensa-
■nauvais a-.-eurs faisaient dTJ^l TV "Autrefois nos
"jourd'hui tout le monde vL 7cZ v "'^^ ^^^estaMos ;
--nierce, sur la population/" In T^.f^ ^^-^^^ure, sur le
fi-Jger par tout le rova,im« ^ . "^^ ^^ ^"tes, " On a vn
M.y of fixing prices by a™ i^^lf/T'^ '"'"=' *''"'"P''^--
Fjt.cal economy ,, ^^ ^^ ";• thaf 'f *?, "' "'' 'S""""' °f
•■a rents would rise." He «• Lntl / *■"' "™ ''»™ away
""dently despised it,i. and Southey
„ »«l.t.m.iii.p.385, »,.„,";:,?('"■ " ™<1- pp. 404, 40«
■ I-'terary Eemains, vol. i, pp. g^s, So." "'" ' ""'^ ^^'"^''"'^ ""^^ Stufe, p. 91.
M M
i;\
530
FRAGMENTS.
makes the same error.' De Foe's economy is sometimes sound
and sometimes the contrary.'^ Combe ^ ip^norantly supposes that
•when profits fall, wages will fall. He adds"* that " the leading aim
of the economists has been to demonstrate the most effectual
means of increasing wealth." Alison * says of Paul of Russia,
" his prodigalities even contributed to the circulation of wealth."
Fox " had never read the Wealth of Nations." ^ Comte speaks of
political economy with the greatest contempt.^ Sir W. Temple *
shows a complete ignorance of political economy. Manufactures,
&c., carried on by the Danish government, were a pure loss, but
falling into private hands they became profitable.^ Whewell '-
calls political economy an inductive science. Eicardo objects
that a legacy duty is bad, because it falls on the capital ; but to
this Porter replies that because it falls on the capital it is not
felt, and is therefore so far good because it does not engender
irritation." Laing ^'^ shows a complete misapprehension of one im-
portant point in political economy.'^ Our political economists,
by showing that each man was the best judge of his own affairs,
thus extended the suffrage. Tocqueville thinks '* that tlie
Americans construct instruments, such for instance as ships, veiy
slightly, because they are constantly expecting new improve-
ments. But I believe the real cause is a higii rate of profits.
In the middle of the seventeenth century, Tonti, an Italian, pro-
posed what are now called tontines.'^ For a curious instance of
the way in which great crimes were caused by an economical
blunder of the Sicilian Grovernment, see Journal of the Statistical
Society, vol. ii. p. 454. The first chair of political economy in
Europe was founded at Naples, and occupied by Genovese.'^ On
the influence of the price of food on revolutions, see a remarkable
essay in Journal of Statistical Society, xiii. 152-167, and quot"
> Life of Wesley, 8vo, 1846, vol. i. p. 264.
2 Wilson's Life of Do Foe, vol. ii. pp 309, 310.
» Lectures on Moral Philosophy, Svo, 1840, p. 225. * Ibid. p. 254.
' History of Europe, vol. v. p. 547.
• See Alison's History of Europe, vol. vii. p. 172, and for Hnother piece of ignor-
ance see vol. xiii. p. 294.
' Philosophie Positive, tome iv. pp. 264-280, 645 ; tome v, p. 447, 756; tome vi.
332, 334, 440.
» Works, vol. i. p. 176; vol. ii. pp. 117, 118 ; vol. iii. p. 2-58.
" Liiing's Sweden, pp. 16, 16.
'0 Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, vol. i. p. vii.
" Porter's Progress of the Nation, vol. ii. pp. 312, 313.
>■■' Denmark, 8vo, 1852, p. 189. " Ibid. p. 307.
'♦ D^moeratie en Amerique, vol. iv. pp. 53, 64.
" Monteil, Histoire des Fran^ais des aivers Etats, tome vii. p. 103.
'• See Mr. Goodwin's valuable papers on the Two Sicilies, in Journal of Statistical
Society, vol. v. p. 67.
POLITICAL EC0N03IY
•D J. ... ^31
Porter, xiii. 216, who says that when all ih.
labourer are employed in proeurin/food the . ""T^' '^ '^''
or moral progress. In 1799 x^Uu J ^^T "^^^ ^^ ^*^ ««"ety
gather materials for his work on Pn ' 1 ';"'"'^ ""''^ ^^^-'^e to
says Otter, he had already publisLdTfr^'.'' "'^^^ ^^^-^-^
At the end of the sixteenth tn^^^^^ t 1 '"."'
finances.' He was a great friend to^^''''^'^'^ *^^ ^^^^"'^l^
those taxes which pre^d on X * " ^^.^"^^'^'-^'^ and repealed
forbad the exportatL of sped Ld I "" f ''^ ^^"^ ^'^ 1-
mnnfactures and commer'ce " 'E„gTaS ^'t !f "^^^ <>PPo-d
allowing the exportation of the n£ ^^^ ^^^"^P^^ of
chiefly effected by Thomas JV^^ ZT^Tt ^^"^ --
gave rise to the commercial system « h f .^^^ ^'^^'-' This
that full permission was ^1; Par • T "^' '^" '^''^
precious metals.» Twiss thinks thaTtK.-/^ ^^P°^<^ th«
duced a spirit of commercral fea ou v TT''^' '^'''"^ ^^^^o.
ference on the part of the "Xme Jo ^^' ^ ^^^P^^-" to inter-
After the death of Henrv TV ^
1661, when Mazarin died, havin'i r^"" ""^^ ^^ ""^^'^^^^n «"
Colbert, whawasentirelyo 'led tfthr""""'"^'^' **^ Louis XIV.
and who looked upon agricu W '. . rT""'''^ '''^' ^^ ^ully,
and commerce." He fSrbad^h! '^^^^^^^^e to manufacturi
result was that its pri efelt one hTf.r,;' ^^^"' ^ -^ ^^e
out of cultivation.^3P m ht tariff I'^lfel^ ''' ^^^' ^^^^ P"^'
exportation of French raw materi.l« a\ ^"^ouraged the,
Portation of foreign manTfac"oods ' 'TlTfiV'^ -"
the import duties still bi-.her but Int !,* .. ^^^'' ^^ raised
^imeguen in 1678.- He en^ura^ed T '^ ''^ P"^^^ "^
exportation of the precious mlak'" ""''''' ^^^ allowed the
fo/nVtfo'n^ftl^"^^^^^^^^ labour was the
able statement of the tl priSle'o^ '^^ ""^^^^ "^^^^ -«
distinguishes between naturl^Z u 11^"?"" ' '^^^^^
and ascribed the difference to the amount of ^1 T '^''^^^ ^^^"^^
Fo duee them. But by the vahmel^^T "^"^^.^^ *^
satisfying the wants of men " and « n-. 7 , ^^ capacity of
' Ibid. pp. 47, 48 8 T, •' • PP- *^' ^*-
■• Ibid, p.^66 . t'I P- ''• '^•
-oid, p. 74,
Ibid. p. 8J, 82
p. 71.
' Ibid. p. 39.
^ Ibid. p. 46.
* Ibid. p. 49.
" Ibid. p. GS.
u u 2
Ibid. p. 83. I
Ibid.
Ibid.
p. 71.
'V >
: ; i'
pp. 8S, 87.
532
FRAGMENTS.
the difference between value in use and value in exchange ; but
he wanted the clearness of Petty ; ' and Law, in 1705, was the
first who broadly laid down the difference between value and
utility .'^ His fund i mental error was confounding money with
capital.^ On account of the fluctuations in the precious metals,
he proposed to substitute land, and at the same time save expense
by making paper supply the place of coin.* Owing to the dif-
ferent methods of taxation, the economists of England paid more
attention to the production, those of France to the distribution,
of wealth.^
The failure of Law weakened Colbertism, and paved the way
for Quesnai's system.^ Quesnai proposed only one "-hx, levied at
once on the real produces of the land.^ De Oournay, too, aided
Quesnai in attacking the mercantile system.^ Turgot was the
greatest of the economists or physiocrats ; their great opponent
was Necker.^ In 1768, Beccaria, and, in 1771, Vein also opposed
them ; but did not fall into the errors of the mercantile system.'"
The establishment of the mercantile system was an event of tlie
greatest importance. According to its expounders, labour em-
ployed in manufacture was more productive than labour employed
in agriculture.'' This was an error, but an error productive of
the best effects ; for, by weakening the influence of agriculturists,
it accelerated the march of civilization. I have no doubt that
the influence of Quesnai's school has retarded the progress of
general knowledge in France as compared with England ; for
though the French want some natural advantages we possess, the
deficiency is not enough to account for the prodigious excess of
their agricultural population. The first stimulus was given by
Sully, who laboured to destroy the French manufactures. Re-
specting Malthus, see Twiss, Progress of Political Economy,
pp. 203-225, and 213, 222. On the economical policy of Sully,
see Blanqui, Histoire de I'lllconomie Politique, tome i. pp. 347-
361. He despised manufactures,'^ but freed France from debt."
On the system of Colbert, see Blanqui, tome i. pp. 362-378, and,
in particular, pp. 363, 366, 368, 372. He exempted from all
taxes a father of ten children.'* M. Blanqui '^ is not afraid
to say that without smuggling commerce would have been
destroyed. ' C'est a la c .trabande que le commerce doit de
n'avoir pas peri sous I'influence du regime prohibitif." M.
' Twiss, Progress of Political Economy, pp. 88, 89.
• Ibid. p. 98. * Ibid. pp. 96, 99-101,
• Ibid. p. 141. ' Ibid. p. 148.
" Ibid. p. 163, '» Ibid. p. 153, 155.
" Blfinqui. op. cit. tome i. p. 349. " Ibid, p, 361.
" Ibid, tome ii, p. 25.
» Ibid. p. 93.
' Ibid. p. 130.
• Ibid. p. 152.
" Ibid. p. 182,
'* Ibid. p. 37i
ETHICS.
633
fvt^rn \Tvr"\ '"' "'"^^'^^^ ^''^' ^^^^ ""* ^^«n beneficial,
hereTs LluhT P^^^./^^/^^^ ' -^ of course economically
tnere IS no doubt as to their evil results. On oridn of banks
see Blanqui, tome ii nn ■?« n ri -21. ""^'" "^ Dankh,
H > ^^lUK 11. pp. d»-41. iJlanqui ^ observes that Oiip«in«i
;.te ; Quesnai, g;| ^tpj. ^^ i:^^^;^:? ^ s^^
Sfe of AH. <: It! ^"'^ Brougham, at the beginning of hi
of no?ftii1? '' ^r / P^^"^ ^««^ ^-«-«* «f the^istory
thVF In ^ 1! ?^' ""^ "^^'^^^^^ ^'^^^^ i« the eighteenth century
woricing at it at the same time. This shows how its studv
depended on general causes. ^
i !
ETHICS.
fwTf V^^J ^^^'.^ *?' ^"'^ ^^^''^^ ^"^'^^"^^ ^^ "^'^dern times are
tJiose of Jouffroy in his Melanges Philosophiques.
1 he sensual school of metaphysics fail in aesthetics: but, I
think, they fail still more in ethics. James Mill, for instance,
resolves friendship and kindness into association; and says : « We
never feel any pains and pleasures but our own."« His analysis
of the origin of parental affections, though inducted in the same
manner, is perhaps more satisfactory,'' but still I strongly suspect
that something has been overlooked.^ At pp. 244, 245, Mill
observes that we know that our own virtue is the reason why
men are virtuous to us; and, therefore, with the idea of our own
acts of virtue are associated the ideas of the great advantage we
derive from the virtuous acts of our fellow creatures. "When
this association is formed in due strength, which it is the main
business of a good education to effect, the motive of virtue
becomes paramount in the human breast." In the same way he
accounts for the desire of posthumous fame," and see in particular^
his ingenious attempts to explain why we often prefer praise-
worthiness to praise.
I Blanqui, Histoire de rEconomie Politique, tome ii. pp. 33-35.
, Ibid. p. 75, 76. . Tbid. p. 127.
H.Story of Speculative Philosophy, 8vo, 1846, vol. ii. p. 414
, ^S;';^"' °^ ^^' ^^'°^' 8vo, 1829, vol. ii. pp. 174, 175
• Ibid. pp. 246, 247.
Ibid. p. 249.
says at p. 212.
584
FRAaMENTS.
Jeremy Taylor took great pains with the Ductor Dubitantium
which he looked on as his capital work, and which he published in
1 660.1 At p. cckxii. Heber ignorantly says of Taylor's Ductor Dubi-
tantium, « he has preceded in the same track the labours of Tucker
and of Paley."^ "Sous le rdgne meme de Louis XIV, tromper
aujeun'etait pas une action deshonorante dans la bonne societe " «
Neander* says Ambrose of Milan was the first who applied
ancient ethics to Christian morals. " Fortune favours fools " is a
proverb « in all the languages of Europe." » Melmoth pub'hshed
notes on Cicero's De Amicitia in which « he refuted Lord Shaftes-
bury, who had imputed it as a defect to Christianity that it gave
no precepts in favour of friendship, and Soame Jenyns, who had
represented that very omission as a proof of its divine origin " «
The New Testament overlooks the importance of pride and in-
dividuahty, and takes a gross view of women.
CHUECHES.
In 1594, London churches were used as prisons.^ We know from
a sermon preached in 1561 by the bishop of Durham, that it was
common in St. Paul's church for persons to be " talking, buying,
and selling, fighting and brawling." « In 1561, the queen was
obliged to issue a proclamation forbidding persons to " shoot any
handgun or dag within the cathedral church of St. Paul." » In
1571, the archbishop of York was obliged to order throughout
his diocese that no minstrels ormorrice dancers should be allowed
to perform in the churches during "the time of divine service or
of any sermon." «o In 1562 the bishop of Exeter presented a
paper to the ecclesiastical synod in which he requested "that
there be some order taken for the punishment of them that do
walk and talk in the church at time of common prayer and
preaching, to the disturbance of the ministers, and offence to the
congregation." "
XCVl.
^ See Heber's Life of Taylor, in vol. i. of Taylor's Works. 8vo, 1828, flp. kxvi. and
' See King's Life of Locke, 8vo, 1830, vol. ii. pp. 122, 123.
Comte, Traits de Legislation, vol. i. p. 64.
! ^I'SV^ the Church, vol. iv. p. 365. » Mill's Logic, 1856, vol. ii. p. 335.
• Roses Biog. Diet. London, 1848, vol. x.p 85 6' . r
^ Stonyhurst MS. in Mr. Tierney's edit, of Dodd's Church History, vol. iii. p. 115.
r rin^ 1 ^c7 ' "^ '" ^""^P"'' ^'''•^•'"' 0^f^^4&24, vol. i. p. 187, and Strype's
GnndHl,p.8. » Strype's Grindal. p:84. ^ '» Ibid. p. 250.
btrypes Annuls, vol. i. part i. p. 522.
635
CALVINISM.
It is often said that speculative principles do not influence the
conduct; and this is undoubtedly true of many subjects, particu-
larly of morals. However, we know that a belief in predestination
does mfluence the conduct of the Turks.' Those infamous
assassms the Thug« are fatalists. « Fatalism is a prominent
dogma of the creed of the Thugs." =» On the democratic tendency
ot Calvinism, see Esprit des Lois, livre xxiv. chap, v., (Euvres de
Montesquieu, Paris, 1835, p. 408.
The doctrine of justification by grace, and a contempt of good
works made immense progress in the sixteenth century, even
among those who had no regard for Luther and who venerated
the pope.3
The Calvinists reciprocated the hatred of the Catholics.
At the end of the sixteenth century, Kollock was very active in
spreading Calvinism in Edinburgh.*
Todd boldly says that the tenets of the Church of England, as
settled by Cranmer, have been but little altered and are es-
j sentially anti-Calvinistic (Life of Cranmer, vol. ii. p. 268). See
also pp. 301-318, where, on the authority of Waterland, he denies
the Calvinism of the Seventeenth Article,* and he quotes « Arch-
deacon Tottie, who says that the Liturgy is the best comment
upon the Articles I In 1543 Cranmer says, "Men are to them-
selves the authors of sin and damnation ;"' and it issuppos>d*
that Cranmer required the pre-existence of good works as neces-
sary to salvation.
In 1636, Knott, an English Catholic, says that Calvinism
once a darling in England, is at last accounted heresy ; yea
and little less than treason." » J ' J ^
Coleridge says,'" " And this, I fancy, is the true distinction
between Arminianism and Calvinism in their moral effects
Armimanism is cruel to individuals, for fear of damaging the
race by false hopes and improper confidences ; while Calvinism
IS horrible for the race, but full of consolation to the suffering
individual." Southey >' has a most violent remark on Calvinism.
' Brougham's Political Philosophy, 2nd edit. 8to, 1849, vol. i. p. 404.
^ Illustrations of the History and Practices of the Thugs, Svo, 1851, p. 113
See Eanke, Die Eomischen Piipste, Eerlin, 1839, Biind i. pp. 138-146
See Bower's History of the University of Edinburgh, , ol. i. p. 104,
Life of Cranmer, p. 303. « Ibid. p. 308.
' Ibid. p. 309. . Ibid. p. 316.
" Des MaizBRiix, Life of Chillingworth, 8vo, 1725, p. 112.
. '• Literary Bemains, vol. iii. p. 303. " Life of Wesley, Svo, 1846, vol i p 321
If :
f
\\
I
636
FEAGMENTS.
The Church of England till 1620 was Calvinistic*
On the bad effects of the doctrine of election, see Kinff's Life
of Locke, 8vo, 1830, vol. ii. pp. 98, 99. In the sixteenth century
the Protestants became more Calvinistic ; the Catholics more
Armmian.a Arminianism was chiefly held by the Jesuits, who
by their support of free will injured their influence in Spain
when they were attacked by the Inquisition and Dominicans »
The Dommican doctrine was favoured by Clement VIII * who
however did not venture to givo any decision.' It wis also
favoured by Paul V."
On Calvin's miserable bigotry see Eanke, Civil Wars of France
8vo, 1852, vol. i. pp. 216, 218. Orme says: ^ "Previous to the
f^^'l. ^L \ ^^"""^^ individuals might have believed and
taught differently, Calvinism was the prevailing theological sys-
tem of this country. The complexion of the Thirty-nine Articles
18 evidently Calvinistic."
Mr Morell« says that "Hartley and Priestley drew the doctrine
of philosophical necessity from their peculiar psychological prin-
ciples. This was followed up by Goodwin, Belsham, and Bray »
According to Morell, this school holds that man is born without
moral principles, and that what produces pleasure is good, what
produces pam_ is evil,'" that pleasure in contemplation is desire or
!?7'. '^^]''^ '' therefore never free." Morell adds'^ that the
Calvinistic metaphysician would consider crime almost entirely
as the result of bad government. From this, I suppose, would
follow sympathy with the criminal, and perhaps mildness in laws
which punished eivil offences ; severity in those which punished
state offences. Hence the Calvinistic school would value highly
education as well as laws ; for they are the most effective modi-
fications of the will. Indeed Morell •« says that Socialism « is the
fullest development of philosophical necessity which the present
age has known ;» and adds " that the great error of Socialism is
to deny the freedom of the will, and exaggerate the advantages of
education. Mr. Morell, I regret to say, has made very improper
remarks on Mr. Owen.
Dr. Jackson, who had seen and thought a great deal of the
military profession, accounts for the courage of the Scotcli by
1 5® f "'i,"''' ^'^''^'y Illustrations of the eighteenth Century, vol. iv. p. 326.
Banke, Papste, vol. ii. pp. 296, 297. » Ibid. p. 301
Ib.d.p.306. » Ibid. p. 307 •Ibid. p. 353.
' Life of Owen, p. 32. y « •
• View of the Speculative PhUosophy of Europe, 8vo, 1846, vol. i. p. 367.
""*-P'^^^- "Ibid. p. 386. >* Ibid. pp. 386, 396.
MANUFACTURES. gg^
preordained brProvidence r? t'"^ "'"' ''''"'™" '» '"" "
"dual life is as secure ttL ^'^^V ^-^^''^'ly that indi-
Peace. Such op tairini f?,° °^ ''=""'' '" '» *•"> ^-^es of
ror««ed Ms .r rtL:X"'f\ra?'i:°"''' ^°"'"'' «-•
a doctrine of seIf.dia"rot a„71„T "r T*"'""^ """P^-^
batred, and of their referring „! "" f ''^'' lanK-age, of self,
exclusively to the all wf n ^ ''°"°"' "-JoJ-ment, and hope,
Scotland,ySwFtLrfi'nd IfH ,75 ^'«' ^'''"»""'' P-^OP^ »f
bsea more morl' than 'th. """V"" »' «« Englaudf have
Those who p"aled faith l'"'"*' ™°''8 """^ """"n^-
•Iways produced torf™' °f " °*'"" ''°"^' " P"'" "''■"'. I'»™
good works, or ttemereSw-""*';' """" *'"""' "l'" P'-'"""""*
mode of consider n7ES':*X:f, ;"'"'<' -'- The latter
especiallv when aurinnw" , y S"''' ™« *« ""suistry,
co'fessorVhaveTsl'e 'T ^'°"' "=''"'' " "''"''^^y &' -^T
»d advice t: hrpen"ent"°Tr/t d""' ■'r='° ^-''^ °P'"'™
discover ineenious „r!.tl , <■ , tendency of casuistry is to
»d hurdensrr^pe^^t: whicMftLfln T™^ -™"'y
are apt to be establish..! Zl I ^ first ardour of religion,
practicable by o dini' t' ' '""f '''''''' '^^^^ of conduct more
These admirlb^ el\ " '" '^^' '^"^^'^^ ''^^^ of the world."
1808, and arelMrot^rMl^t .'' f "^ ^^^^^^^^ ^
1835, vol. i. p. 41 ;'""'^'^^ of Mackintosh, edited by his Son, 8vo,
ehth^:f^^ ^''^ Episcopalians liked oruaxnents in their
' " * "^ hated them.^
MANUFACTURES.
;«e already poifted out hit t "St oTthe'f^d'fn""- '
'» create a powerful „„l,n,-t„ , •. • ™ ''""'''' "y'"™ ™s
I »«» must have len „ ft f "." '"'''■'* "''" ♦I'" '™«
Because prope.trin'^an" wl fhe o7 • '"f"^ *" ^*""™*-
|v-in«ueLe^ofassolti:;lSloT^^^^^^
, ;_ «.o.. Vie. Of tt. Fo™..io„, «„.„;„, „, ^„„„„^ ^,,^^^. ^^ ^^^^ _^^.
' Bmon'. HiMo^y of S»otl.nd, 1853, ,„|. ii. p. 5„.
538
FRAGMKNTS.
of it, even when its possession ceased to confer rank.' At the
same time the dread of novelty made men look with contempt on
the innovations of manufactures and commerce. The influence of
feudal association in makinji^ men respt^ct landowners still exists
among the unreflectinjjf part of modern politicians. It is seen in
the huif^uaj^e that is held by some men respecting the supposed
importance of the agricultural interest ; and it is seen in the
insane laws of primogenitiire and entails which are still permitted
to deform our statute book.
In 1568, Sir Francis Knollys writes to Cecil: "I am glad of |
your bettered news of the matters of Count Lodowyke. I must
needs commend the artificial usage of your copper mines." * In
1549, it was proposed that a law should be passed compollin^f
every possessor of a certain number of acres of ground to sow
some of them with flax and hemp. It was also proposed that the
families of all farmers should not be allowed to wear any shirts
except those spun within their own houses, or at least in the I
country .3 In the same paper ■* it is proposed that whoever fells
a tree shall be obliged to sow and maintain another for it. At
p. 284 there is a letter dated 1598 from Sir John Popham to the
queen respecting tin, in which he says that for five years together
"there was yearly brought to the coinage xiiHhousand pounds weight
of tin," of which about a fourth was spent in England , and about I
"ix" thousand pounds" exported. The usual price was 48s. the!
hundred. On the extraordinary adaptability of iron to the wants I
of man, see a good passage in Front's Bridgewater Treatise, 8vo,j
1845, p. 127. In 15G2, a petition from Kingston upon Thamesj
complains that an iron mill in the neighbourhood has consumedj
so much wood that the price of it has been raised from 3s. to 4s.j
a load ; and that of charcoal from 10s. to 20s. The petitionersl
request that the mill may be put down by act of parliament.'!
In 1575 the council orders that no more iron ordnance shall bej
made in Surrey, because it had been exported to foreigners, and]
because iron mills and forges had " greatly consumed the woods."'
In 1586 the inhabitants of the neighbourhood of Gruilford com^
plained " of an Italian having erected a glass-house in those part.J
whereby the woods are likely to be consumed to the prejudice on
the whole country." In consequence of this petition the counciij
ordered that the Italian should appear before them, and that in
' Broiigham'p Political Philosophy, vol. i. p. 319.
* AVright's Elizabeth, 8vo, 1838, vol. i. pp. 293, 294.
' Egerton Papers, CYmdeii Society, 18-10, p. 12.
* Loacly Mauusicripts, by Kompe, p. 488.
* Ibid. p. 13.
« Ibid. p. 490.
MANUFACTUBES. ggg
«- of coal by d'inl aC" "^.tr °"'' T','"'"-' ''""^' «™°™'
velvet wa» «et up i„ Irll n, L .rrf J' ", '"»""'»"""•» »f
St. Esprit in France " tl , "^' '^"^^ """ »' '""nt
liioat liritain t„ any evtenV HI \ . ^JP" """ "'" ''"""<' '■>
mannfacture, are preMc/al f ",' k'^""; '' '' '''"""«" 'f
those who work at E . < '"'*''' ""<* " " ''^""to "'at
make attar o/ro„ We^ "' "™"°* "'' *= ™^ "'-^
n
ll
I ■:
Tin
THE EEFOEMATION AND PROTESTANTISM
•mounted in the C eel 't "''''''""*""' «f Catholic holiday.
...eHin«.. The'Ri?oi:t:y::Y:L':fT;'^''''""^^^^^^
la no": te ^.r^T >T "' ''^"^^^^ °^ »'«»";'
veiie secte qu on appelait la primitive enll^P^'io ti.-
Voltaire savs. was flip wr..!/ e ', ■ -t'''""'''''^'^^ ec/use. Jh,s,
that fhp pi !• •'^ ^vvinglms. On the vulvar ide-i
tnat the Keformation secured the lihprfv nf nr.r. ■ ^
good remarks by Lord Kin/n t^ p^/ conscience, see some
by doing away with hoh-dnvf ^ !i ^^formation lowered waoes
already pre^d Ld respeli^.t^^ '^^' T ^^^^^^^^"^^ ^-
the Reformation ^llowinTS^^^^^^^^ tsT IsT't ''
Hanke does not venture to explain the sucfe's's oUhe limft^
' Losdey Manuscripts, p 493
Msai sur les Moeurs nU.r. „, ■ m . '''^""g^". lo-Jo, Band viu. p. 194
" Life of Lo ke 8^0 I's 0^" 7 ^^ ®""'^' ''^ ^'°'''"'^'^' ^^'"- P- 217.
i: q ^. '^^' ''^°' lo30, vol. II. pp. 68, 69
I ^^^^See on th.s BIan,„i. Histoire de rEeonon^ie Politique. Pans. 1845, to.e 1. p. 288
" Philosophie Positive, tome v. pp. 643. 644.
£40
FRAGMENTS.
I
in some countries, and its failure in otheta. He merely says '
" es verdiente wolil," &c. Kanke ^ seems to ascribe the failure
of the Reformation in France to the alliance between the crown
and the church. The emperor Maximilian acknowledged that he
had no power over his own subjects.' Connect this into the
success of the Reformation in Germany. Ranke * candidly con-
fesses that: "Many had adopted the reformed system in the
expectation that it would allow them greater freedom in tlieir
personal habits." » He says, " The rise of German protestantism
was possible only because a number of the princes and cities Imd i
been permitted by resolutions of the Imperial diet to refuse the
aid of the secular arm to ecclesiastical laws." This remark had !
already been made by Capefigue.« Ranke "> thinks that the tradi-
tions of the Waldenses did favour the Reformation in JSuuthern i
France ; but, he adds, this is a point not yet proved. In the six-
teenth century the great vassals used to sign their letters in France
with all the pomp of the king.« Capefigue truly says tliat tlie
Reformation, under the pretence of freedom, compelled men to
adopt its opinions.^ Reformation connected with the Albigenses.'"
On the coarceness of Luther, see Capefigue, i. 337, 338 ; and on
his enormous influence in Germany, p. 340. Capefigue " says that
the Interim of Charles V. having a political view, was attackedj
by both parties. He says»2 that the Act of Passaw is the first pro-
clamation of liberty of conscience. On the encouragement toj
political inquiry, see iv. p. 160. Capefigue" says that probablyl
Lutheranism, so far from emancipating the multitudes, merely!
took property from the clerks to give it to the barons, and thus!
reconstructed feudality. Capefigue " says that in 1615 the Dietl
of Ratisbon cared nothing for material interests, but only for
religion. « At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the prin-
cipal booksellers came from Basle in Switzerland." '^ The objec^
tion of English Roman Catholics to marry during Lent is graduallj
diminishing.'^
' Piipste, vol. ii. p. 23.
* Civil Wars of France, 8vo, 1852, vol. i. p, 188.
" Ibid. p. 150. * Ibid. vol. i. p. 214. • Ibid. p. 228.
• Histoire de la R^forme, tome i. p. 62. » Civil Wars of France, vol. i. p. 234]
' Monteil, Histoire des Divers Etats, tome v. p. 162.
' Histoire de la R6fornie, tome i. p. 164 ; tome viii. p. 336.
" Ibid, tome i. pp. 192, 193.
" Ibid. pp. 345, 347. " Ibid. p. 348.
" Ibid, tome viii. p. 330.
•* Richelieu, Mazarin, et La Fronde, tome i. pp. 142, 143.
" Journal of Statistical Society, vol. iii. p. 165.
" Ibid. vol. iv. p. 41.
M
CIVILIZATION COMPARED WITH BARBARISM.
Rou„eau, suppo.es that barl,a,i„ s^™^ . L' ^'""^ °!
I men." The error of suppo.n, that o,d t.^ afe b fte" tZ The
present one, ,s amongst uninformed men almost unWersaM
Pnce, who has ably examined its canses, observe, thltt
[.LonofchZi-ij/i^rTa^rfotrrrtrird
men are more powerful than savages. Ritter ha, „oted t ,
«t,on between the extent of sea^coast and civliza o„ . Arel""
kL"»Elt". !,,"!{ "' "i"'i=^ati»n is towards bar
r .ere are many thing, which distinguish us from the 11,™*]''
. ™h.a«„u We have publie opLon, and pHMilgTo d" s r
« ler,;':"' ^vhilel, "' '""^'' - '"at natr^ons gairb^
iieis gdin. v\ hUe Jiuropo is secure against interml fl....n^
t e chances of an inroad of barbarians is still less The "nv.tr ^'
; ?it"rr'c.sr-~ ■■■ ^^ ^^- • --ra,^t
Pnclmrd's Physical History ofMankind.LondSvo, 1837 vol ii n. .-.i o«
,_ Poljnesmn Researches, 8vo, 1831, vo.. :. p. 98.
•-•ee Johnson's absurd remark.
I
. /'
i!
542
FRAGMENTS.
creasing.
II
Finally, our experience is greater, and \7e have no
slavery.
Democracy is no longer dangerous. The influence of mind
increases in three distinct ways : 1st. Those classes who oppose it
are losing their power. 2nd. Civilization, as Comte says, increases
the difference of men. 3rd. Education increases the ease into
which that difference is perceived. Even Alison ' confesses that
after Napoleon's expedition of Egypt, our decisive superiority over
barbarians is no longer a disputable point. Alison "^ thinks nations
must decay. Porter says,^ "Of 5,812,276 males twenty years of
age and upwards, living at the time of the census of 1831, tliere
were said to be engaged in some calling or profession 5,466,182,"
&c. Laing * thinks Europe is tending towards federalism. Toe-
qiieville* denies the existence of a stationary state. The regular
labour of a policeman is immense, certainly greater than any ex-
ercise savages can go through.'^ The only peculiarity I have found
common to all barbarous nations is improvidence — indifference to
the future. The assertion of Whately, &c, that civilized men are
stronger than barbarians must not be put too generally.^
Polygamy has been succeeded by adultery. » Insanity is, like
crime, more often cured than formerly, because treated more
mildly. The tvanta of men have increased faster than their
resources, so that countries have not spare strength enouoh to
go to war.^ Lord Mahon '" says, " Drunkenness, a vice wliich
seems to strike deeper roots than any other in uneducated minds"
One of the most intelligent of modern missionaries very frankly
says, that the introduction by the Christians of vaccination into
Thibet would probably overthrow Lamanism.'*
CRIMES, THEIR STATISTICS, ETC.
In France, for every 4,463 inhabitants, one is yearly accused of j
crime,"' and out of 100 accused 61 are condemned.'^ In the Low
Countries, the proportionate number accused is nearly the same,'*
" Ibid. vol. vi. p. 120.
' History of Europe, vol. iv. pp. 652, 653.
* Progress of the Nation, vol. iii. p. 2.
* Notes of a Traveller, first series, pp. 26-28.
* D^mocratie en Amerique, tome ii. pp. 87, 88.
* See .Journal of Statisticiil Society, vol. ii. p. 194.
' See Comte, Traiti^ de Legislation, tome iii. p. 327 <t sea. " Ibid. p. 432.
* See Laing's Sweden, p. 417. '° History of England, vol. ii. p. 187.
•' Hue's Travels in Tartary and Tiiibot, vol. ii. p. 199.
" Quetelet. Sur rHomme, Paris, 1835, tome ii. p. 165. '» Ibid. pp. 166, 160.
" Ibid. p. 171.
against e(
CRIMES, THEIR STATISTICS, ETC.
543
tl.e proportion rtich" to fatto rj ''^"' ""^ S'""*- ™»
P-perty- but from thrnf'e'lri ^' '° """"''^ ''«"™'
.gainst eclucation.3 In wLtor wlh. ' T ™°" '^"' "* <'"'™
against persons, and the m<^;™!,™ ,"": "''«™«™ "f crimes
i. summer pre'eisel, Z 'Z:::^^;^ Z^ ZT '''""'' =
m Trance, there are 23 women accused » buffi '" '"=™='"'
property the proportion is 26 to ino f„ Vl ""'"'' "«""»*
only 16 to 100.« This nerhans i, H ' , "'" "S""'' P™""^
cases of poisoning the mmtZ "^f*' "' «"^-«<'»' &>■ «
tlat the dWerenc! in morauL is Tt "*""" '" "'" '™ '''<"■'' -
po-d.. In men at ^r^^'^o \" t^f f* .^ - «--aIIy sup.
the tendency to crime is at Hs heilt /& VT° "' "'"^^'
dways remains.™ Of all tl,e ^f . tendency to theft
tendencies to crime a»e is ^h '"'T^''!"'' »l»eh control the
-the prodigious inrL^o/L ^ sTeu" t d" ■> "i'^-Hrif ' °'
m Lanarkshire " crime is inrrpn^,",. '".'^>^''"^- He adds '3 that
»f people;, and he quVtlXtr ' t. :X: ^l^'T '"""^'
«r;r t« r t;ii^:!r- " -^^^^^^^^
i» Scotland, 230 per cent atd ;. ^"'^"f ' '° '■'''land, 200;
more than SO per ce, t "ov'er ,1 P?"'"""" ^ "ot advanced
augmenting fo^^ t mt in Hh' " 't ""P"'' ^•'"'"'» ™™ "
munber of the neoSo •' S ®™ '""'' ^^ ""es, as fast as the
*at the commitrntre uL 'l : t"^n^^ ^^,'*' '^T ^ «"«
w 1820 they were in m.I. 1 ? J^ng^and and Ireland;
13,000; in iLs/ss 000 To 2^0^ Ts' ^ '"" ^^'««^ ^°
"ime is even greater >« ' ^ ^^"^"^ ^"^ ^^^^vay, the
c/^eTin-^XlItrtstnfriS-sn-'^
t«own-. indeed, almost the only crimeTl-no™ " T""^
*.nst property, . and even these afe ^:J:Z^S'TZ
'IliiJ p 213 ■ IM- pp. 176-179.
^ Ibid. p. 211
' Ibid. p. 217.
' Ibid. p. 242.
4\m i
I V
544
FRAGMKNTS.
Swodon, hij>-1i\vay robherics aro liardly known.' In 15/53, Rcnard
seoins to say tliat tlu^ ViUf^lusli ooinniitted more viohmt crimos in
aiiminor than in winter.'' Couilx! nays:' "Thus a puhlic oxoci-
tion, Trom the violent stimulus which it communieates to the
lower faculties of the spectators, may within twenty-foin- hours of
its exliibition he the direct cause of a new crop of victims for the
jj^allows." At pp. 372-374, lit^ lias some clover n^marks on the
bad workiufjf of tlie jury system. Mr. Wright* says positively
that crime diminished from tlie Keformation to the end of Eliza-
beth, increased under .Tames I. and C!harles I , and since then has
been constantly diminishinjjf. Comlu; '' thinks punishment slioukl
be entirely addressed to reforminji^ the criminals, and not as an
example. Plint " says : " The absolute r.atio of crime for all
England in 1801 is sliown in the table to have been .54 in I ()(),()()(),
and in 1845, 15(5 in 1()(),()()0— nearly threefold." He says ^ that
many people, owing to igruiranc^e of the method of calculation,
believe that the increase has been greater. When food is dear,
crime is increased and marriages diminished." However," Pliut
quotes, and apparently believes, some evidence to show that crime
is now decreasing.'" Increased longevity must, I suppose, less(>n
criiiK^ ; for, says Plint," "Mr. Neison has shown in an elaborate
paper in the Statistical Magazine for October, 184(5, that about
64 per cent, of all criminal oftences in England and Wales is
conunitted by persons from fifteen to tliirty years of age." Alison '^
actually supposes that the increasing crimes in England are the
result of diminished punishment. Laing '^ says tliat Sweden is
" in a more demoralized state than any nation in Eiu'ope." J5iit
Laing's coarse and slovenly estimate '"' of " persons convicted of
some criminal oflfence " is worth nothing imtil we know what the
laws punish as criminal. The only precise statements of Laing
are that in 1836 the rural population of Sweden was 2,735,487,
which supplied " 28 cases of murder, 10 of child miirder, and 4 of
poisoning ; 13 of bestiality, 9 of robbery with violence." '•'"' FroTU I
1 in 140 to 1 in 1.34 are yearly convicted of " criminal offenco,"'"
while in England and Wales, in 1831, 1 in 707 were accused, and
1 in 1005 convicted.'^ In 1836, the rural population of Sweden,
' IMllon's Winter in Lupland and Icoland, 8vo, 1840, vol. i. pp. 154, 155.
' Tytlor's Edward VI. and Mary, 8vo, 1830, vol. ii. p. 334.
• Constitution of Man, 8vo, 1847, p. 853.
' St. Patrick's Purgatory, 8vo, 1844, p. vi.
' Crime in England, Svo, 1851, p. 11.
» Ibid, p. 27.
'» History of Europe, vol. ix. pp. 623, 624.
» Moral Philosophy, 8vo, 1810, p. 301.
' Ibid. p. 12. « Ibid. p. 40.
• Ibid. p. 138. " Ibid. p. 86.
" Ibid. p. 110.
<!on, Svo, 1839, pp. \0H, 1()9.
'• Ibid. pp. 109, 110.
'« Ibid. p. 109.
" Ibid. p.m.
CRIMES, THEIR STATISTICS, ETC. ka.
«,7.>j,000 ; committpd ^ ^oc „>•
J'f l.aing »y, that/" ; [837 M?'' °"'''™ ' '" «22. and
2.735,487, 1 in 4(iO lu« been m ni.h h ! ™"""'^ P'T".latio„ „f
.l."w« tl,„ absurdity of tlLexp™,: /"""'" ""' "«'"""''•" ^'W"
-inal, ..are in L ^^•^^7^7^:^^'""'' ^-""'''
An the province of Gifle lao m,-i ^ 1
population is 95,822, T'llfrT^^^^^^^
in 1837 for moral offe^l not J, r '' ^"^ ^^^'" condemned
R-sions or offences ^ml^ZT ""^. "'^" ^'^^^^ ^--
were murders.^ The illeliri I T "'V ''""'^ '^^ ^^^^'^^ «ve
2A,» while in Paris thc'v are jn f' ^V^'°'^''^'^"^ ^^^« ^ ^o
ofFrance 1 i„ 71 ; i„ iLln a^d MicWl " f""- ^^'"^ ^«--
'women who can afford it evrnu,l^i Ti/ ^" '' ' ' ' ^«
J with the exception of Denmark .n I ''"^^^''"•" ^"^^ y«t,
f-den. Lai;;,.s ascribrThf't.'^reirT "-f^"^^^^"'-
their state of restriction and r nn n ,r '^^^^ condition,
h-ee use and enjoyment of tluirnf T ^^^^'^^^ relates to the
works out a low moral cond t on whi h" '^ '"1 ^''^'^'y^ ^'^i^h
and education cannot elJva ^ "tnd T". ''"^'^^'^^^ ^-o.led.e
servants.9 ^''' ''"^ masters may boat their
\^^ l^'ofrUo^;:JSi^~e^ We find.o .... ,^
Wish people their reliS and n^'"^^.'^- ''^ *^'^^h^"^' «-
t'-e is «one minister of reli.'ion T '^'''" ^^ ^^^^land
and crime there is immense ' And . T? ^^^ ^^^ividuals ; » n
W - well as numero r LinXet "''"' ^'"^'^ ^^^ P--
%^'in^' a woman for having an H 7 ' T' '*" ""^^ «*" ^'^^"^
country in Europe is ih. T^ u '""^'^^^^^^^ ^^^^d- "In no
perfect" u ^"'"P' " '^' ^'^^^'^^ establishment so powerful and
'e«^^^^^^ *« -'e out that education
N^'partments where trgreattt am7 , ""T-'T *'^^ " ^ ^^^
"nparted, there the gr^test a^^- "^ '"'''''' ^'^ ^''"
-«t;" but Porter peVnenVXS es thTt'h '"''■ '^""^ *^
hmmuted by the uninstructed and thL '"''''' ""''^
«''ere many persons were instfuc^ed th'y ruVt"'' 1^^^^"^^*
I Tour in Swede., 8vo, 1830. p. „6 '^^^^^^^^d monopolise em~
' Jbid. p. 276. 9 i,,i,, P :'l- ^^ . J'"J- pp. 186, 242, 243 276 42.-/
" Ibid. p. 32'. •> T ■ P" ^l*^' "'"^ «^« P- *30. 'u T. . / '' *;•'•
Ml'id.p.278 ,;;f:'-PP-322.323. Ib.d. p. 24.1.
;; P-gres« .f ihe Nutlon, v U,f pp^of 22/" ''" ''^ '^ ■"^°^°'-- P" 324.
•''tat,«tique Morale de la France ^'^''^- • 211 212.
N N
i )'
"it,
546
FRAGMENTS.
ployment, and poverty would drive the ignorant to crime ; besides,
in an insti'ucted community offences would not be so readily
overlooked as in an ignorant one. But ' Porter seems to say that
education will not diminish crime. " The great end of all punish-
ment, the deterring of offenders." ^ More than ^ of persons in
gaol have previously been in prison.^ During 1834 nearly 100,000
persons were in prison in England and "Wales. This includes
all the most trivial offences.'' Porter says : ^ "In England and
Wales the number of persons now committed for trial is five times
as great as it was in the beginning of the century." " The num-
ber of convictions in proportion to committals is now much greater
than formerly." ^
In the fifteenth century, in France, all criminal prisoners were
kept on bread and water alone, unless the judge made an order to
the contrary.' In 1785, the solicitor-general, in bringing forward
a new police bill, said " it was a certain truth that of the whole
number hanged in the metropolis, 18 out of every 20 were imder
the age of 21."^ In 1785, Alderman Townshend,^ insisting on
the necessity of certainty in punishment, said, " So it was with
thieves ; their calculation was that, for every offender convicted,
one out of thirty-three only was executed." Comte '° positively saj's
crime is constantly decreasing. Comte •' observes that drunken-
ness is promoted by an ignorance of the results ; but Liebig '•^
says that it is the effect of poverty, deficient nutriment requiring
the compensation of alcohol. Laing '^ says that no men are so
moral as Londoners ; for none have to struggle so much with
temptation; and what is virtue but temptation conquered?
Should we praise a savage for not committing burglary where
there are no houses, or not picking a pocket where there are no
clothes ? Crime is increased : 1st. By increased ability in the
thief ; 2nd. By greater number of things to steal ; 3rd. By more
artificial wants. " It is ascertained that three-fourths of the crimi- j
nals under seventeen years of age are the children of bad parents."'*
At p. 86 it is said that crime is caused by drunkenness, and tliat j
" by foul air and the depressing influence of bad localities, bring-
ing with it a fierce desire for stimulants ; and by bad and defi-
cient water." '* " Bad water and bad air " the two causes of crime." j
• Progress of the Nation, vol. i. pp. 220, 221. » Ibid. p. 133. » Ibid p. 140.
♦ Ibid. pp. 140, 141. » Ibid. vol. iii. p. 172. « Ibid. p. 179.
' Monteil, Histoire des Fran9ais des Divers Etats, tome iv. p. .58.
» Parliamentary Historj, vol. xxv. p. 889. » Ibid. p. 907.
'0 Traite de Legislation, tome i. pp. 63, 64. " Ibid. pp. 58, 59.
" Letters on Chemistry, p. 255.
" NuU-s of a Traveller, first ser!;==, pp. 28), 282,
" Trunsactions of Association for promoting Social Science, Lond. 1859, p. 18.
>» Ibid. pp. 88, 89, '" Ibid. p. 91.
PHILOLOGY.
547
At Liverpool, the recorder " disallows th.
cutors who have been robbed thru.h , ''P'°''' "^ P""^^"
exposing goods at the doors of th.hK^ f' """^ ^'-^^^lessness in
render the shopkeepersTnfc .t'^^^ ' '"' *^^ °°^^ ^^^^ - ^^
sequent loss." ^ In L< land and ll P^^^^^^ions in any sub-
are between 20 and 2I years Tw Id" "' f"? '' '''' ^"^^"^^^
15 and 30."^ At,.SS9!^7^t!:t'^^^^^^^^ between
population range between the .,„.,,?"'• °f'""' "iminal
"With regard t! the cars of cr Se i"nVa, "' .'b'" ^' P' ^''«'
the governors assured me that Tw, *°'' ^''™""' <'''<^'' »f
fc-in the other which fllLd t^e gto "•'^ I" "f" T"'^ """
"music and singing are cultivated ». ., "^f"™^tory where
much tended to\rfdicate the low and vuf " ''°""""' '"' "^'^
lads." 3 At p. 643, " Very rarclv do ! I"! P"'''P<"'='«'=« "f the
of flowers taken up'for mi^demtnlXr^ndT '""' '^ '°'"
PHILOLOG-r.
iherrei: X:^:'! :: J2e™:" tf ''°"'"^'' -^ '» '» ^'-
thought lives," &c., ic • Kebier P^o ■' "'l^t^o^P'ore in which
. celebrated iutch ph 10^"^; wTe" ° "'f '" ''''' "-
beoefeuaars d.r spraak afterding (IZIZ, 7 ?^™°™''™t«
op uiens grouden Vossius naderbl^fwri- 0!^"'; 'f
general opinion, Cousin savs H,-«r.nf. Contrary to the
wonis, but abot^ thin^/Tord £?'^ "'' generally no^ about
Diversions of Parley t. tats .wfT '''^^'''' ^^^^ Cooke's
has some admirable remarks o, thf ^ . ^''''''^''''-' Coleridge »
^rru^e. To m.^JXh^rw^te^nT ?I ;r V/V^^^'^
also meant to tofe ^veU Spp "^^7 means to ^aAe tU, formerly
1828, vol. iv. p 2r7 PrtLrS^":^"/;/'P^^'^^^^^^'«-'
Turkish name oL^^a-^ Jormetns h Gold t ^''' ' '"^^«
the Australian and Polynesian 1^^ "^^^^X^^
^ I'STar °' ^^^""'^^^'''^ ^°' ^^'?;,«"--. l«^9. p. 355.
1821, deel i. blad 75. " "^^ ^^"^^'^'^ '^ '^^ Niederlanden, GraLhage 8vo
; Histoire de la Philosophie, 2nde «^rio, tomo iii p 218
Brougham's Historical Sketches nf^t *■ r ^' ,
i'hysical History of Mankind, Voll;. p^si'..
N N 2
'i 1
il
548
FRAGMENTS.
and plural.' Pricbard says : ' "In a barbarmia state of society,
and principally in one of early and imperfect, but growing refine-
ment of mind, the imagination has more influence in the forma-
tion of language than in a more advanced stage." Lemontey, in
his "Louie XIV.," says that first in this reign honnHe changed
its meaning, and " that till the latter half of the reign of Louis
an ' honnSte homme ' was the name for an upright, not for an
inoffensive man." ' Father Nobili, early in the seventer/uth cen-
tury, was the first European who well v-?.)<^:st(>od ''^anscrit.*
Burton * says that the inhabitants of Sc ave no proper
name for the Indus in general and vulgar us; le Mitho Daryan
or ' Sweet Water Sea ' is the vague expression commonly em-
ployed." It used to be thought that lunacy was caused by the
moon ; hence the word ; and now the word is used to justify the
opinion.* Greorgel* says that in 1790 the crime "l^se nation"
was a ''' mot nouveau." See some very ingenious remarks on the
Latin language in Vico, Philosophie de I'Histoire, pp. 125-131,
and 140-143, and 222-226. He says (p. 244) that as the Eomans
did not know what luxury was until they saw a native of Taren-
tum, they called a perfumed man " un Tarentin," &c. Compare
this with Adam Smith. At the end of the fourteenth century in
France, " le nom de serf commence a devenir une insulte." *
Monteil says : ' " Le mot de financier, qui vient de Jiner., payer,
est d'origine moderne. Je doute qu'il ait ete en usage avant le
treizi^me ou douzi^me si^cle : mais il I'etait au quatorzieme, ainsi
<ju'oi;i le voit dans les ordonnances de ee temps." Kiel, the
Tekelia of Ptolemy, is said to be still called by the Piatt Deutsch
peasantry Tokiel or Tomkiel.'° Laing says:" "Mediatise is a
word which came into use at the Congress of Vienna of 1814-15."
Tocqueville '" says: " Le seul Milton a introduit dans la langue
anglaise plus de six cent mots, presque tous tires du latin, du
grec, et de I'hebreu." He says '^ that as nations become demo-
cratic, their love of generalisation is shown even in their lan-
guage. Thus the Americans carry the abstraction so far as to
> See Prichard's Physical History of Mankind, vol. v. p. 276. * Ibid. p. 319.
» Stephen's Lectures on the History of Franoe, 8vo, 1851, vol. ii. p. 442 ; and see
note in Des Eeaux, Historiettes, vol. v. p. 213.
* Eanke, Die Papste, Band ii. p. 494, note.
* Sindh and the Races in Indus, Svo, 1861, p. 380.
» See Georgel, De la Folie, p. 440.
' M^moires, tome iii. p. 94.
* Monteil, Hist, des Francjais des Divers Etats, tome ii. p. 178. ' Ibid, p. 180,
" Laing's Denmark, Svo, 1852, p. 22.
" Notes of a Travellep, first series, p. 122.
" Deniocratie en Am^rique, tome iv. p. 103.
'* Ibid. pp. 109-110.
PHILOLOGY.
649
talk of « the capacities " for capable men, or of « eventualities " for
everything that can happen. P\t two curious instances in which
the Greeks were led into error by foreign language, see History
of Maritime and Inland Discovery (by Cooley), 8vo, 1830, vol. i.
p. 67. In 1797 "circulating medium "was a new expression.'
" Cowper Law " is said to be derived from « Cupar, a town where
little mercy was shown to the Highland rovers." ' Lord Mahon ^
wishes "Fatherland," a "Teutonic" word, to be used in English.
The word rioUe is lost in French, but from it we have riot.* In
1798 « uncandid" is spoken of as a new word, or at all events "a
word in fashion." * In 1689 it is said « that " by the employment "
of a man, v.as not good English ; but that it should be " by the
employ.'' In 1738 ^^ socking, which is a cant term for pilfering
and stealing tobacco from ships in the river." ^ The Danish lan-
guage is still understood in part of Westmoreland. » Comte » well
says that one reason why conquerors adopt the manner and lan-
guage of the conquered is that they marry their women, and that
the next generation prefers the language, &c., of their mothers
(with whom they are constantly) to that of their fathers. In
1764, Dr. G-rieve, in translating the valuable Eussian account of
Kamtschatka, says at chapter xx. : " This chapter in the original
contains an account of three different dialects of the Kamtscha-
dales, which, as they are very unintelligible to an English reader,
we think proper to omit." »« This is the whole of the chapter ! ! !
Lake Peten is in Yucatan. « In this lake are numerous islands,
one of which is called Peten Grande, Peten itself being a Maya
word, signifying an island." '• For a blunder caused by language,
see Journal of Geographical Society, vol. xii. p. 32.
' See Parliamentary History, vol. xxxiii. pp. 340, 343, 648.
« Mahon's Hist, of England, 1863, vol. i. p. 198, and vol. ii. p. 44
» Ibid. p. 213.
• Notes in Lettres de Madame de Sivigni, 1843, tome i. p. 120.
• Parliamentary History, vol. xxxiv. p. 48.
• Ibid. vol. V. p. 463. ' Ibid. vol. viii. p. 1274.
• Journal of Statistical Society, vol. ii. p. 334.
• Trait6 de Legislation, tome iii. pp. 32, 63.
•• Grieve's History of Kamtschatka, p. 222.
" Stephens's Central America, vol. iv. p. 192.
I
in
550
FRAGMENTS.
MANNERS (Jor Preface).
"^hUAx^ SCHLEOEL goes so far aa to consider taste in dress « n
criterion of social cultivation or deformity.'" Daw on T 1.
«aysthat in the country about Caen the dres's of the wom^nl 1 k
1820, vol. I. p. 8, where he also gives a representation of th's'wgh
POPULATION.
wntP« f. <!• ^i, ^^^"^r^^^^ *fae plague was in London, Cecil
PHYSIOLOGY, ETC. (/or facta.)
Denmark!"^ °'°'^" ^' '^ Scotland and
In 1774, Captain Topham says that in Scotland he "never saw
either an exceedingly deformed person or an aged toIthleJ
paralytic hiffhlandpr " » v^cS J.^ . . ^ ' ''^otniess,
Islands thpnW '^^' ^^'^^ ^° ^^^ South Sea
islands the chiefs are superior to the common people in heitrht
and ,n physical strength. But this is explained by Williamst
the result of superior diet. Catlin^ observes the peculiarity o
looking to the human race, it is certain that the average exer-
; Lectures on Dramatic Art, Lond. 1840, vol. ii. pp. 327 328
Coopers Admonition, 1589, p. 92, 8vo, 1847.
?n^ . w"''^"*' «'"' ^838, vol. i. p. 138.
• ?i r^ ""i^'J" ^'P''*"'^ ^"'^ I^^l'^^d. 8vo, 1840. vol i p 133
; Letters from Edinburgh, 8vo, 1776, p. 79 ' ^^ ^^^•
Polynesian Researches, 8vo, 1831, vol. i. p. 82
Missionary Enterprise in the South Sea Islands, 8vo, 1837 m 512 Sn
North A^encan Indians, Svo, 1841, vol. i. p. 193 ' ^' ' ^•
' Ibid. vol. „. p. 41. "Ibid. pp. 110-112.
PHYSIOLOGY, ETC.
651
cise used is excessive, and .lore harmful than beneficial." ' Ali-
son talks very confidently about the difference of race, but con-
tradicts himself.' In the retreat from Moscow the French bore
the cold better than the Russians, and the survivors " almost all
were Italians or Frenchmen from the provinces to the south of
the Loire."' In 1675 it was considered remarkable that the
blood of a negro should be red instead of black.'* On race, see
Comte, Philosophie Positive, tome iii. p. 355. Dr. Prichard " says :
" According to Burton, the offspring of parents advanced in years
are more subject than others to melancholy madness." Laing s
takes it for granted that "the Gothic" care more than "the
Celtic race" for the "enjoyments and luxuries of civilized life."
In Leeds the lowest classes have most children ; then the outdoor
" handcraftsmen ; " then the indoor ; then tradesmen ; and " in-
dependent and professional people" the fewest of all.^ Hutchin-
son, in his Paper on Vital Statistics, says : * " The pugilists, with-
out exception, are the finest class of men I have examined." The
Indians are less subject to cholera than the Europeans ; but this
is said to arise from their greater temperance.^ " A sufficient
proof, that the Malay race is never likely to become assimilated
to the climate of Ceylon." •» In India all the lower classes of
native women are short, but the better sort are the average
European height. This was told Heber by Dr. Smith." Heber •«
observes that the Brahmins are superior in intellect, and have
fairer complexions than the other castes.
Murray " says of Bruce, the traveller's, father : « It may be re-
marked as an instance of the transmission of bodily as well as
mental qualities, through a long line of descendants, that the fea-
tures and character of Robert Bruce, the firm and haughty leader
of the Scottish church in the reign of James VI., were retained by
his representatives at the distance of two centuries." Kohl '<
says of St. Petersburgh : "In no other towns are there so few
cripples and deformed people ; and this is not merely owing to
' Mayo's Philosophy of Living, 2nd edit. 8vo, 1838, pp. 125, 126, 131,
* See Alison's History of Europe, vol. ii. pp. 3o6, 338 ; see also vol. vi. p. 136 ;
vol. viii. pp. 625, 626. « Ibid. vol. xi. p. 183.
* Ray's Correspondence, by Dr. Lankester, 8vo, 1848, p. 120.
* Treatise on Insanity, 8vo, 1835, p. 159.
* Observations on Denmark, p. 154.
' Journal of Statistical Society, vol. ii. pp. 423, 424 ; see also note at vol. iii,
pp. 262, 253.
' Ibid. vol. vii. p. 203, » Ibid. vol. x. pp. 121, 122, 123. '• Ibid. p. 258.
" See Heber's Journey through India, vol. ii. pp. 609, 510,
" Ibid, vol, i. p. 120.
" Life of Bruce, p. 24,
" Kussia, 8vo, 1844, p. 30
552
FEAaMENTS,
their being less tolerated here than elsewhere, but also, it is said
to the fact that the Slavonian race is less apt than any other to
produce deWed children." Kohl, near OdeL, " found' the ^
servt^ the national features more unaltered than her h;sband ' •
8vo 18?1 n ;^^ tT '"'^' ''' ^'''^'^^' ^^"^^« °« Chemistry,
8vo 1851 p. 13. The ancient Celts in England had very smal
hands.- In 1846, Sir Benjamin Brodie told Moore " that'" '
the many dying patients he had attended he had but rarely ml
wi h one that was afraid to die." 3 . The negro race s rem^k
ably exempt from calculus ; but so are all the inhabitant of "to
pical countries."^ Chossat "found that defective nouri hmen
notab y reduced the weight of all the structures of th body
except only those of the nervous system, which were wonderfuly
InrrH^l.^^^^'" ''' '''' ''''^'- of the blood werl
TENDENCY OF CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Combe' suggests that great injury has resulted from teachii,.
children to admire the literature and history of Greece and Rote
Even Lawrences says: "Let us never forget that the princZi
literature and history of t,vo rations of antiquity, whose astonish
ing superiority seems to have arisen principally fom their S,
enjoyed freedom.'- Even Milton recommends hardly anS
bu the ancient writers.^ Sancroft, in 1663, notices Ihe decl o!
of Hebrew and Greek learning." - On the absurdity of studlj
so much classics, and on the low civilization of the Greeks and
Eomans see Combe's Lectures on Moral Philosophy, 8 vo, 840
pp. 74, 75 108, 109. In 1693, Evelyn" mentions that'his daught;
TewiJ-'f ""t '^^^' ^'""'^ "^"^ ^«°^^^ ^"*^°^« and poets."
Lewis has collected some evidence of the slow diffusion of news
' Kohl's Eussia, p. 43,5.
.* Mn ^'^M °^^''*''^ A8so,n.tion for I860. Transactions of Sections p 145
* Erichsen s Surgery, 18?7, 2nd edit. p. 946
Williams's Principles of Medicine, p. 169.
■ See GuUiver's edition of Hewson's Works, p. 282
Constitution of Man in relation to External Objects, Edinburgh. 1847 8vo p 264
Lectures on Man, 8vo, 1844, pp. 832. ' ' ^"
• Hallam'fi Literature of Europe, vol. iii p 410
'• D'Oyly's Life of Sancroft, 2nd edit. 8vo, 1840," p. 78.
" Diary, vol. iii. p. 324.
" Method of Observation in Politics, vol. i. p. 481.
TIIEOLOOY AND RELIGIOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
553
among the ancients. Even Sir W. Temple, the great admirer of
the^ancients will not allow that they generally were wiser than
we. J.aing has some very severe remarks on the boasted civili-
zation of the Romanu; and Tocqueville ^ speaks contemptuously
ot heir great works, as aqueducts, &c. The ablest writers now
never make classical allusion? or quote ancient authors ; therefore
a great inducement to study the ^lassies is taken away. In the
sixteenth century ambassadors were obliged to harangue princes
m i-atin.* Ancients ignorant of geography.' Mills « mentions
the absurdity of ascribing the progress of Europe to the revived
study of classical literature. The Venetian family, Cornaro, de-
rived their descent from the Roman Cornelia.^ For instance of
the classical pedantry of Beza, see Smedley's Historv of the Re-
toi-med Religion in France, vol. i, p. 213. On the vices of the
ancients and absurd respect felt or them, see some striking re-
marks in Comte, Traits de Legislation, tome i. pp. 51, 52, 402 ;
tome 111. p. 470; and on their contempt for commerce, p. 501 et
y., and tome iv. pp. 7, 15. On the absurditv of admirin - an-
cient languages for their synthetic and inflexional state, see Report
ot British Association for 1852, Transactions of Sections, p. 82.
THEOLOG-Y AND RELIGIOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
Only women and eunuchs are allowed to see the king of Dahomey
eat or driulc.s The Javituese robbers think that they can cause
deadly sleep by throwing into a house they intend to plunder
earth from a newly opened grave.' Low •" says of the Dyaks of
Borneo, « death to their ignorant and unenlightened minds dis-
plays no terror." The inhabitants of the Friendly Islands believe
that men were formerly giants." On the connection between lust
and religion, see Southey's Life of Wesley, 8vo, 1846, vol. i.
p. 173. Vans Kennedy thinks •» that the « indelicacy " of a part
I Temple's Works, 8vo, 1814, vol. i. p. 14.
* Notes of a Tvaveller, first series, pp. 386, 406.
• D^ipocratie, tome iv. p. 85.
* Monteil, Histoire des Franqais, tome iv. p. 154.
" See History of Maritime and Inland Discovery, It Cooley, 1830, vol. i. p. 89
History of Chivalry, vol. ii. p. 170.
' Lettres de Patin, vol. iii. p. 697.
• See Forbes' Dahomey and the Dahomane, 8vo, 1851, vol. i. p. 79
Crawford's History of the Indian Archipelago. Edinb. 8vo, 1820, vol. i. p. 56.
Saiawak, <Jvo, 1848, p. 263.
'■ See Mariner's Tonga IslanfJprs. 2nd edit. 8vo, 1818, vol. 5. p. 313.
Iransactionfl of Literary Society of Bombay, vol. iii. p. 155.
!l
> n
654
FRAGMENTS.
of the Hindoo religion " has no effect on their morals." A writer
who has seen the religious customs of many different nations
observes that the most ignorant are " the most fixed and stub-
born " in religion.' On the origin of superstition Locke has
some ingenious but, I think, unsatisfactory remarks.* For an
instance of the mischief caused by an established church, see
('ombe's Lectiu-es on Moral Pliilosophy, 8vo, 1840, p. 82. Many
Protestant theologians have maintained that prayer produces no
effect on the Deity.' Alison,^ has well observed that the diffi-
culty of Protestantism is to keep scepticism from the imedu-
cated, the difficulty of Popery to keep it from the educated ;
because popery appeals to the senses. Protestantism to the in-
tellect. Comte observes that miracles are an evidence of the
decline of the theological spirit.* At tome v. p. 44, he says, I
think with truth, that animal worbhip is not so common as ig
generally supposed. Archbishop Whately « thinks that what we
call the cause of a superstition is in reality its effect. Sir W. Tem-
ple "> thinks comets may affect mind and body. Sir T. Browne '
believes that oracles were supernatural. The diminution of
superstition will take away one cause of madness." Kemble"
seems to think that the process is that myths, as they become
popular, deteriorate and " assume traits of the popular humorous
spirit." The Saxons, and even many ecclesiastics, believed that
hell was cold." Kemble says (vol. i. p. 47), " It is indeed probable
that all capital punishments among the Germans were originally
in the nature of sacrifices to the gods." At Marseilles, in 1646,
Monconys '' was told that seven of the 11,000 virgins were buried ;
he also heard that the Queen Blanche, by entering the chapel
and making a vow to the Virgin, recovered her sight.*' In 1663,
Monconys •* was shown at Oxford a horn which the Jews said was
made like those with which the walls of Jericho were blown
down. In 1648, it was still the common opinion that an eclipse
or comet always preceded any accidents to kings or empires."
Gothe says that men soon give up a superstition when they find it
' Catlin's North American Indians, 8vo, 1841, vol. i. p. 183.
' See King's Life of Locke, 8vo, 1830, vol. ii. p. 101.
• Combe's Moral Philosophy, 8vo, 1840, pp. 434-438.
• History of Europe, vol. x. p. 240.
» Philosophic Positive, tome iv. pp. 673, 674, 679, 683-685.
• Errors of Eomanism, 8vo, 1830, p. 178.
• Works, 8vo, 1814, vol, iii. p. 45. • Works, vol. iii. p. 329.
• See Prichard on Insanity, 8vo, 1835, pp. 19, 20, 30, 187, 198 ; and Pinel, Traite
snr I'Alienation Mentale, pp. 41-45, 108, 119, 161, 164, 165, 431, 457, 479.
'• Saxons in England, vol. i. p. 382. " Ibid. p. 394, 396.
'» Voyages, 1696, 12mo, tome i. p. 195. " Ibid, tome iv. p. 22.
'♦ Ibid, tome iii. p. 96. ' w ibid, tome v. pp. 103, 104.
THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS SUPERSTITIONS, 655
contrary to their interest.' The mortality amon^. cJuldren is
rv fthV? , '™™^'' '"™' ^' P- 1^^ • ^"^ ^* P- ^29 it in ob-
Lth T>-1 '' ^^'""' ^^'--^^onieH at the bedside of a patient cauHe
on now 'nT'' '^' ''e'^^>^ ^^"«^-^ ^'3^ ^'- MahometanH
vtn now. Doctrine of a God not universal. Of the Orkney
days in which they inchne .o marry; and they scrupulously and
I il Zrn'' ^r 'f ^'^:^'"' ^""^ ^'« P^'^™^^^^" «" des menaces dont
I 1 nest pas facile de verifier I'accomplissement." * The netfroes
believe that the devil is white.' Telling fortunes by palmistry
rerrtUiotV^'^'^"-^ «y---y'^ "TheBiL'anThl7ea
uperstitious abhorrence of any person's passing over them when
t ey are asleep." The Kamtschatkans " are very great oSem rs
good or bad fortune ; and some of these dreams have their inter-
Fetation fixed and settled. Besides this conjuration they pretend
to chiromancy, and to foretell a man's good or bad fortune by the
lines of his hand; but the rules which they follow are kept a
L tT 1 -^''T "^'"'^ "^^-^ "lam^nclinedtoboLe
hat the 1 luminated grottoes of oyster-shells, for which the
.1 r !^ 1 '° ^t! ^^°"* *^" '*^"^^^' ^'^ t^^' representatives of
ome Catholic emblem, which had its day as a substitute for a
more classical idol" Neander looks on Christianity as a develop-
IJ ■ I:. I ^°^-^^-PP-118, 132, 157,164; vol. iii. p. 488 ;
oh VI. p 412. At. vol. i. p. 100, and vol. iii. p. 71, Neander has
ome unfair and uncritical remarks. In the fifth century a
number of hypocrites became Christians.'o He says:" "The
nomadic life, which prevailed over the largest portion of Arabia,
ver presented a powerful hindrance to the spread of Christianity."
in the fourth century images were first used in churches,'^ and
heathen melodies" introduced into "church psalmody." '3
; Wahrheit und Dkhtung, in Gothe's Werke, Band ii. Theil ii. p. 145.
; H>story of the Orkney Islands, p. 342. . ibid.^ 342.
Comte, TrP^t^de Legislation, tome i. pp. 275, 276. » Ibid, tome ii. p. 37.
See Turner's Embassy to Thibet, p. 284. ^
' Embassy to Ava, vol. iii. p. 255.
I J"■7*'^Hi»tor7of Kamtschatka, Gloucester, 1764, 4to, p. 206.
D iblado's Letters from Spain, p. 302
« f;« Neander. vol. iii. pp. 139, 140. .. ibid, p. 166.
^'"^•P-*"- •' Ibid. p. 451.
! t"
656
FEAGMENTS.
Neander ' says : « The weavers, an occupation which from its pe-
culiar character has ever been a favourite resort of mystical
sects." Formerly in France a man who died on Grood Friday was
deemed a saint.^ White meat mortifies the flesh by its want of i
iron.3 Laing, who is anything but sceptical, says there is no
country in Europe where there is so much morality and little
religion as Switzerland.'' He says" the Swiss are remarkable
"for a sense of property ; " and ^ that the Catholics are more reli-
gious than the Protestants. He says ^ that now Rome is busily
engaged in educating the people and propagating knowledge.
NATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE DUTCH.
Burnet, who was in Holland in 1664, says : « There seemed to be I
among them too much coldness and indifference in matters of
religion." « Hallam ^ calls Holland « the peculiarly learned state
of Europe during the seventeenth century." Burnet says : '» "I
was never in any place where I thought the clergy had generally
so much credit with the people as they have there." In 1716,
the Dutch were remarkable for cleanliness." Sir W. Temple's
Observations upon the United Provinces were written between
1669 and 1673. He mentions the great simplicity of living even
among the highest ranks, '« but luxury was creeping in." The
lower people fond of drink, but the highest classes more tem-
perate ; " but none ate much. "Their great parsimony in diet
and eating so very little flesh, which the common people seldom
do above once a week." >« The people are « cold and heavy ;" 'H
" so little show of parts and of wit, and so great evidence of I
wisdom and prudence." >^ « I have known some among them that j
personated lovers well enough, but none that I ever thought were!
at heart in love." ^^ He mentions '^ their remarkable cleanliness.!
He says ^o of rich families, " Their youth, after the course of their
studies at home, travel for some years as the sons of our gentry!
» Histo.j of the Church, vol. vi. p. 358. i Ibid. vol. vii. p. 457.|
• Liebig's Letters on Chemistry, 8vo, 1851, p. 433.
• Notes of a Traveller, first series, pp. 323, 324, 333. » Ibid. p. 354.
• Ibid. p. 430. » Ibid. pp. 349, 440.
• Own Time, Oxford, 1823, vol. i, p. 367.
• Literature of Europe, vol. iii. p. 243.
" Own Time, vol. iii. 293.
"' See Lady Mary W. Montagu's Works, 8vo, 1803, vol.
" Works, 8vo, 1814, voi. i. pp. 113, 116.
" Ibid. pp. 142, 143. '» Ibid. p. 147.
1. p
"Ibid. p. 115. » Ibid. p. 141.
la
Ibid. p. 132.
201.
'• Ibid. p. 184.
" Ibid. p. 114.
*• Ibid. p. 135 J
NATIONAL CHAEACTER OF THE FEENCH.
m
667
use to do; but their journeys are chiefly into England and
France, not much into Italy, seldomer into Spain. . The
diseases of the climate seem to be chiefly the gout and the
scurvy. In Holland the clergy never hadany jurisdiction," and
there was great toleration.' Temple mentions^ their burning
nutmegs to raise the price. As late as 1669 and 1670 "there
was hardly any foreign trade among them." After England, there
IS no country so badly off for pauperism as Holland ; and this is
owing « to the existence of so many thousand endowed institu-
lons for the rehef of the poor." « Laing « says that the impor-
tance of the Dutch herring fisheries has been greatly exaggerated.
He supposes ^ that the sole cause of the ruin of Holland was that
she was the broker and carrier of Europe ; but, as the nations ad-
vanced they did this business themselves. After Descartes,
Holland was the great refuge of scepticism.* Laing says • » « The
Dutch people eminently charitable and benevolent as a public
their country full of beneficial institutions, admirably conducted
and munificently supported, are, as individuals, somewhat rou-h,
hard, and, though it be uncharitable to say so, uncharitable and
unteeling.
NATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE FRENCH.
From phrenology it appears that the French are remarkable for
vanity, and the English for pride.'o All the ancient writers notice
the boldness, levity, fickleness," and unchastity of the Gauls • »
and Prichard adds : '» « Of all Pagan nations the Gauls aid
iintons appear to have had the most sanguinary rites." In 1818
Dr. Combe observed at Paris that the heads of Frenchmen
"sloped backwards from the nose" more rapidly than the heads
of Frenchwomen ; and, says George Combe, this difference in the
reflective organs not being found among the sexes in Eno-land
accounts for the greater influence women have in France "3 In
1753, Voltaire '< candidly allows that the French are not 'inven-
' Sir William Temple's Works, 8vo, 1814, vol. i. p. 149. 2 UuA ^ m^t
; ?'<i- PP- 159-162. . Ibid. p. 183. ^- ''^-
» Porters Progress of the Nation, vol. i. p. 113.
• Notes of a Traveller, first series, pp. 7, 8. ' Ibid. p. 9.
' See Lamartine, Histoire des Girondins, tome i. p. 221.
' Notes of a Traveller, first series, p. 14.
'' See Combe's Elements of Phrenology, 6th edit. Edinburgh, 1845 pn 87 lo
" Prichard's Physical History of Mnnki'ul vol. iii. p. 17r '-Ibid 18?
" Combo's Life of Dr. Combe, Edinburgh, 8vo, 1850. p.'fl. ' ' ^"
" See Correspondauce in (Euvres, vol. lis. pp. 313, 314.
iJ
^:|'
I
558
FRAGMENTS.
tive. M. de Barante^ says the vanity of the French is chiefly
the result of men of letters being indignant at the absence of
political power. Richelieu, in his Memoires 3 mentions the par-
ticular levity of the French. Sir J. Reynolds * observes that in
art they are very quick extempore for invention, but not for
fanishing their paintings. Laing « says that the French are more
honest than the British. He praises « their subdivision of property.
I he trench, with all their centralisation, have roads infinitely
inferior to ours." 7 Laing says : « "In France, at the expulsion
f Z'no. ?P'' *^^ '^^^^ fuiictionaries were stated to amount
to 807,030 individuals." The Prince de Montbarey says : « 'II
faut le dire avec toute la verite que je professe, le Francais dans
toutesles classes et dans toutes les circonstances, ne sait jamais
garder un juste milieu." Tocqueville 'o says that the Americans,
notwithstanding the wildness of their lives, value women so
mgh y as to make rape a capital offence, while in France, such is
the " mepris de la pudeur " and « mepris de la femme," that it is
dithcult to get a jury to convict on such a charge. In France
there are 138,000 functionaries." He says >^ that there is no
country where the social distance between master and servant is
so slight as in France ; nowhere is it so great as in England. The
lower order of French are more ciyilized than the lower order of
iinghsh, while the lower order of Germans are at the bottom of
the scale. This is explained by the language, which in Germany
IS Ike Latin or Greek, synthetic, not calculated for the difnsion
but for the presewation of knowledge. See in Journal of Statis-
tical Society, vol. iii. pp. 376, 377, " a classification of new works"
(I.e. books) "in France from 1829 to 1833." I believe one reason
Why the French have so many memoirs is because they are a vain
people, and dare not write on political subjects. The French his-
torians, long accustomed to memoirs, are now, like Thierry, Barante,
and Capefigue, become too personal and anecdotical. Comte"
says there IS nothing remarkable in the Code Napoleon, and no-
thing not to be found in preceding laws. And on the retrogressive
spirit of Napoleon, see Comte, Traite de Legislation, iv. 269.
' See also tome Ixi. pp. 41 ; Ixvi. p. 466.
« Litt^rature Fran9iiise au xviii' Siecle, p. 80
* Works, vol. ii. pp. 67, 53.
» Notes of a Traveller, first series, p. 54.
' Laing's Notes, 2nd series, pp. 118, 119.
* Memoires, vol. i. p. 162.
'" Democratie en Am^rique, tome i. p. 82
" Ibid, tome v. p. 23.
' Tome ii. pp. 132, 133.
' Ibid. p. 63.
' Notes, 2nd series, p. 185.
" Ibid, tome i. p. 220.
• Traite de Legislation, tome i. pp. 366-357,
559
NATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE SPANISH.
ScHLmEL ' says : « In general, ever since its first commencement
the poetry of Spain has always .een more cultivated hvn^^r'
and knights than by mere JMer^ and auth^'? thert'was no
^p^':n^ec:^?^'^' '^^^ -^ ^^^^^^^ -^ in^'ror: :
rCll V ""f^f ^f <^^^« ^^re very numerous and influential"
Charles V. arrested the development of towns.^ VillemaS^ ^v,
that, except Herodotus, all Greek historians were ^nh^Z^ T
so were Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Davila, Fra Paolo and TX
iiv^rofiiir ^^^ -^" -^- ^-^ ^^m^^'^t:::^i
:s an ,nte ,ing paper on mortality, &c., of Cadi^n'jou nal of
Statistical Society, vol. iv. p. 131. ' "^^"^^al ot
A Y /S?'"!^ *"". f"^ ^ physician, it was necessary to be able to
defend the doctrine of the Immaculate ConceptL.' See aL «
798 :r a « t"'"'/ ''^ ^^'^'"^ ^«^-^-- JBlanco White in
798, says,3 "The influence of religion in Spain is boundless it
divides the whole population into two comprehenTe !
bigots and dissemblers" See also ^o the extSta ^ Ly^'f
on. r-T ^""^ *^^" "^^"^-^ 1«^« of ti««« and of nume
ous Christian names. For their absurd etiquette see n^l
Men of high rank are rewarded for fightinrw h Zv' \
melancholy disease.'^ Jealousy of women has left Z^
classes but is still an active pJssion amTg th^: lower '^I^r^
^ h te >^ speaks m the highest terms of Moratin as a rirfn^Tf
genius. He adds >« that the Spanish language if too grand d'
not flexible enough for poetry; that since the beginnfng of the
sixteenth century "our best poets have been servile imitLrVof
Lectures on the History of Literature, vol. ii. p 92
Alison's History of Europe, vol. viii. p. 407. . ii,m r, ^in
See Blanqui, Hist^ire de FEconomie Politique, Paris, 1846, tome i.^p 282
Litterature au xvuii" Sifeele, tome ii. pp 391 392 ^' *
Fairy Mytholopy, 8vo, 1850, p. 456.
Comte, Traite de Legislation, tome iii. p. 497.
Letters from Spain, by Doblado, 1822, p 8
Ibid. pp. 32, 44, 323. "^ Ibid. pp. 142, 148
Ibid. p. 220. ii Ibid. p. 252 ct sea.
Ibid. p. 379. 18 Ibid. p. 381.
• Ibid, tome iv. p.
'• Ibid. pp. II, 12.
" Ibid, p, Ifio.
" Ibid. p. 268.
118.
660
FRAGMENTS.
Petrarch, and the writers of that school." Respecting the " sup-
pression of th*^ Jesuits in Spain," see Doblado, Appendix, p. 445
et seq. A celebrated traveller, Mr. Kohl, says : " The environs of
St. Petersburgh are more sterile and unproductive than those of
any capital in Europe, Madrid excepted." '
After the conquest, Guatemala " remained in a state of profound
tranquillity as a colony of Spain," and the Indians all became
Catholics ; but, early in the nineteenth century, " a few scatterin'*'
rays of light penetrated to the heart of the American continent*';
and in 1823 the kingdom of Guatemala, as it was then called,'
declared its independence of Spain," and formed a republic with
San Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. But there
were quickly formed two parties, "the aristocratic, central or
servile," and the « federal, liberal or democratic ; " « the latter
composed of men of intellect and energy, who threw off the yoke
of the Romish Church."' The clergy excited the people to
murder the liberals as "heretics;" and the most horrible ex-
cesses were committed at the capital, Guatemala.^ Stephens
went there in 1839, and he says:* "From the moment of my
arrival I was struck with the devout character of the city of
Guatemala," i.e., churches were filled. He says : ^ " There was
but one paper in Guatemala, and that a weekly, and a mere
chronicler of decrees and political movements;" "the priests
always opposed to the liberal party." « He says the brutal and
ferocious Carrera had " a strange dash of fanaticism ; " ^ and •*
" Carrera's fanaticism bound him to the church party." Stephen's '
gives an extraordinary account of the religious mania he witnessed
at Quezaltenago, in 1840. At Palenque he met a padre who had
been severely punished because " his surplice had been soiled by
the saliva of a dying man." '» In 1840, Stephens, being becalmed
in a Spanish vessel, the sailors ascribed it to the presence of
heretics on board." Stephens, who had great opportunities of
observing, says : '« « But the countries in America subject to
the Spanish dominion have felt less sensibly perhaps than any
other in the world the onward impulse of the last two centu-
ries." In Yucatan, " forty or fifty years after the conquest, tlie
Indians were abandonirig their ancient usages and customs,
adopting the rites and ceremonies of the Catholic church, and
' Kohl's Russia, p. 138.
' Stephens's Centnil America, vol. i. pp. 194, 195.
' Ibid. p. 196, 197.
* Ibid. p. 210. • Ibid. p. 222. • Tbid. 225
' Ibid. p. 234. . Ibid. p. 245. . Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 214. 215.
Ib.d. p. 300. » Ibid. pp. 464, 467. '» Ibid. vol. iii. p. 190
CHARACTER OF THE SPANISH. ggj
having their children baptized with Spanish names " • Sf . i, ,
gives a disgusting account of a bnll-ficrht h.^ . f.^^P'^^"^ '
1841. In Yucatan most of the "padres" tv ^'"^" '"^
tresses.8 On the sreat min.roi . ^ ^^^ recognised mis-
Letters on Chem!str8vo~ ^4^" ^' '^^^"' '^^ ^^^^^^'«
At Salamanca, in 1806, says Bour^oinff • * « On«r.^
reste que Salamanca outre cette cathSrale . '^'*^ ^"
paroisses, yingt-cinq convents dVo:!^ ;a^^^^^^^^^
"312,OOOprerr:sseculttSo,0^^^^ Z' "^"^^^^"-'
et plus de 400,000 religieux." « """^^^^^^^iques de moyen ordre,
According to the official returns of the census of 17fiY fi,
clesiastics of all descriptions, including 61617 1 , ' o ' ""■
nuns, and 2,705 inquisitors, amounted to lis fipT;' •^^'^^'^
And it appears from ih^ «ffi„- i . 188,625 individuals.e
Literario'of Madrid it 18^3 1? 7- P,"''"'"' ^" *^« Coreo
.ade upon the e^ZS ^.T:^^^:^^ --'^^
subsequently, it then comprised 175 574 in^ • , ? "'^'' """^
£(««!,« of 22,337 "nuns or friars "> T=K j . '"' " «*-
Spain, with a population „ri;ooO,OOotd T-nf '" "''
persons, i.e. one sixty-ninth whil. v 14' ■•'S? spiritual
which, with a popuhftion of 2toOO om °' r"'"^ '""* ^^^'^^S.
the Whole. Acerdin,toX'gorr::t::-«^--«'' of
lation was 10,268,150 of wl,iM. +k , ''"™^<^* ^'87,thepopu-
188,625, and of them 61 617 were m^t™*"^ '" '«"»»"«•«
.ven in 1833 there wlflrTCnt 'X'lT" °'t"''=' '" ^"^
clergy at 130,000. In 1S30, «ays Inglis^" ' aon'r," "'t
AvUa with 1,000 houses, had sixteen convents ^IT'T^ J"""'-
cl.urches.'3 In Segovia less than 2,000 far^U e/^d 2^ ""V*
and 21 convents.'* ^<»"Jiueb naa J5 churches
J Stephens's Central America, vol. hi. p. 270
Ibid. pp. 26-38 ^ , • . , , .
' De FEspagne, tome i. p. 62 > « T"'- "'" PP" "^-HS.
• Townsend, vol. ii. p. 213 " , bempere, tome i. p. 266.
' Ibid. p. 28. , J,'!': "'• PP- 25, 28, 40, 41.
;; MjCulloch, vol. ii. p. 711, and Townsend, voL i l^ 21^2;!' ''■
hpain, vol. i. p. 222 , o ■ PP" **' •^^■*'
" Townsend. vol. ii. p. 98. . jfT' '^ '^^''■
'" ^ ^bid. pp. ]17, 118.
O
f'l
i < I
1
1 ■
J
562
FRAGMENTS.
Income. — M'Culloch ' says : " According to an official state-
ment drawn up in 1812, it appears that the clergy were in pos-
session of about one-fourth part of the landed property of the
kingdom, exclusive of tithes and other casual sources of income,
producing in all a total gross revenue of about eleven millions
sterling a year. In 1749, in Castile," "L'etat seculier possedait
61,196,166 mesures de terre, dont les produits s'elevaient a
817,282,098 reaux ; l'etat ecclesiastique possedait 12,209,053
mesures de terre, dont les revenus etaient 161,392,700 reaux." ^
In 1555, Alva stated, "Que dans les seuls royaumes d'Espagne,
les ecclesiastiques possedent pour plus de deux millions de ducats
en fonds de terre." * Dunham * says that soon after the accession
of Ferdinand VI. (which was in 1746) the returns of a com-
mission showed that, comparing « the relative possessions of the
lay and clerical orders, the whole annual income of the former
was 1,630,296,143 reals ; of the latte., 340,890,195. The absorp-
tion of one-fifth by an order which could contribute nothing to
the community, but, on the contrary, derived its support from
the other, was a lamentable state of things. In England, where
the whole ecclesiastical revenues do not yield three millions,
while the returns from land, manufacture, commerce, funded pro-
perty, &c., certainly return 250 millions, we are sufficiently in-
clined to join in condemnation of the enormous wealth of the
church ; what shall we say to the proportion of not one eightieth,
but one fifth?"
In 1403, the archbishop of Toledo was "le plus riche de toute
la chretiente." ^ Wealth of the clergy.'
About 90 days are feast days.*
Cook estimates the clergy at 130,000.9 San Felipe, popula-
tion 12,000 and ten convents. Medina Rio Seco, population
8,000, and three parish churches and six convents. Lerida, po-
pulation 18,000, and eleven convents. Tarragona possessed
eleven convents, though its population was under 8,000. Valla-
dolid, with 20,000 souls, boasted of forty-six convents and fifteen
parish churches; and we are assured that Segovia, in 1826, with
a popuktion of 10,000, had twenty-one convents and twenty-six
churches. In Toledo, the population being in 1786 under
25,000, there were twenty-six parish churches and thirty-eight
convents. In Valencia there were, in 1786, 100,000 people and
' Geog. Diet. vol. ii. p. 711.
' Semp^re, Monarch. Espag. vol. ii. p. 162.
* Ibid. vol. i. p. 247.
" Flpury, tome ssi. p, 16,
• Laborde, vol. iv. pp. 42, 43.
» Ibid. p. 102.
» Vol. V. p. 282.
* Proscott, vol. iii. p. 435.
• Spain, vol. i. p. 222.
:he de toiite
CHARACTER OF THE SPANISH.
568
forty.four convents; in Granada, 80,000, and forty convents ; in
Malaga, 42,000, and twenty-five convents. In Xeres, in 1776
the population was 40,000, of whom 2,000 were ecclesiastics'
Alicante contained 18,000 inhabitants, and eight convents ; On-
huela, 21,000 and thirteen convents. In Guadix we find 6,000
souls, with four churches and seven convents ; in Ecija, 28 000
with six churches, eight chapels, and twenty convents; and Se-
ville, possessing a population of barely 100,000, was bounteously
provided with 100 convents. On Madrid, Laborde, tome iii p 93
and Barretti, tome ii. p. ,300. In Cordova, .32,000 souls and fortv-
four convents ; Baza, 15,000, and five convents.
These convents, churches, and chapels were for the most part
richly endowed, it being considered that the clergy having ren-
dered vast services to Spain by keeping the faith pure, they should
be well paid. The court was drained and bankrupt, the people
were slaves, but the church must be upheld. The archbishop of
Toledo, in 1786, had more than 90,000/. ; and, « besides the arch-
bishop, there are forty canons, fifty prebendaries, and fifty chap-
lams. The whole body of ecclesiastics belonging to the cathedral
is 600, well provided for."
As partly cause and partly consequence of this, the people re-
tained and still retain their ignorance ; for the clergy knew that
on it was based their own power.
In 1690, in Cadiz, there were thirteen convents.^ In 1679, the
archbishop of Compostella, in Galicia, had « 70,000 ecus de rente " »
i.e. "60,000 ducats.'"* Southey^ says there are fewer clergy 'in
England than anywhere else. Alison ^ says that, in 1787 'there
were "22,480 priests and 47,710 regular clergy belonging to
monasteries or other public religious establishments." On Toledo
see Laborde, tome iii. p. 84. In 1786, Barcelona, with a popula-
tion of 95,000, contained thirty-seven convents. « There were no
fewer than 12,000 Franciscan convents before the invasion of
Spain by Napoleon's troops." e At Alicant, in Valentia, there
were, in 1694, "six convents for men and two nunneries." ^
Prescott 8 says : " The archbishop of Toledo, by virtue of his
office primate of Spain and grand chancellor of Castille, was es-
teemed after the pope the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in
Christendom. His revenues at the close of the fifteenth century
' Labat, Voyages en Espagne, vol. i. p. 99. " Ibid. p. 164.
* Southey, Common Place Book, vol. iii. p. 635.
' History of Europe, vol. viii. p. 410.
" Quin's Ferdinand, vol. vii. p. 157.
' Travels through Spain, by a Gentleman, Lond. 1702, p. 66,
' Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. p. Ixlx.
oo 2
Ibid, p. 314,
1
hi
:l
I
564
FRAGMENTS.
exceeded 80,000 ducats. He could muster a greater number of
vassals than any other subject in the kingdom, and held jurisdic-
tion over fifteen large and populous towns, besides a great number
of inferior places."
NATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE IRISH.
In Clarendon Correspondence, 4to, 1828, vol. i. p. 373, there is a
very curious account of the wretched state of the Irish in 1686,
between Dublin and Kildare. See also p. 536, where the earl of
Clarendon writes that the old English planters were in Ireland
the most important. In 1686, kitchen gardens began to be
common in Dublin.' The Bible was not translated into Irish
*' till nearly the middle of the seventeenth century " by Bishop
Bedell.'
In 1760, there were German colonies near Limerick.^ Wesley
mentions* the "fickleness" of the Irish. In 1771, he expresses
his surprise * at the improvements made in Ireland " within a few
years." In 1747, he says^ that in Ireland there were no Pro-
testants except those " transplanted lately from England." Heber
says ^ that, unfortunately for Ireland, " among the English clergy
who were the first heralds of Protestantism to her shores, a lar^e
proportion were favourers of the peculiar system of Calvin, a
system of all others the least attractive to the feelings of a Roman
Catholic." In 1725, Lady Mary W. Montagu writes :» "Wit
has taken a very odd course, and is making the tour of Ireland."
On Ireland, read works of Sir William Temple, vol. iii. p. 1 -28.
Laing^ observes that in Ireland the division of land goes ou
without the sense of ownership. In 1799 it was observed tliat
the Irish were always superior when abroad to when at home.'"
In Limerick extremely early marriages, even at thirteen." The
Irish, it is well said, are idle, because wages are too low.'*
' Clarendon Correspondence, vol. i. p. 407.
• See Southey's Life ofWesley, vol. ii. p. 149.
' See Wesley's Journals, 1851, 8vo, p, 464. ♦ Ibid. p. 557.
• Ibid. p. 649. • Ibid. p. 258.
' Life of Jeremy Taylor, p. cxx. in Taylor's Works, 8vo, 1828, vol. i.
• Works, 8vo, 1803, vol. iii. p. 146.
• Notes of a Traveller, 2nd series, p. 82.
'" Pari. History, vol. xxxiv. p. 222.
" Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. iii. pp. 322, 323, and for their adminble
patience under the sufferings of starvation, see p. 326,
'■^ Statistical Society, vol, vii. p. 24.
565
ITALIANS, THEIR NATIONAL CHARACTER, ETC.
Bprnbt ' mentions the indifference of the Romans to religion. In
1655, Sir John Reresby « says that the Italians never got drunk.
In the time of Montaigne the Italians still preserved their repu-
tation for ability .» In 1759, Lady M. W. Monugu writes * that a
great change had taken place among the Italians, who were no
longer jealous of their women, and that this change "begun so
lately as the year 1732, when the French overran this part of
Italy." She writes in 1718 » that the fashion of Cicisbeos, which
had begun at Grenoa, " is now received all over Italy," In 1740,
" the Abbe Conti tells me often that these last twenty years have'
so far changed the customs of Venice that they hardly know it for
the same country." « And in 1752, she writes from Brescia:^
" The character of a learned woman is far from being ridiculous
in this country." In 1740, many Italians were « atheists." « In
1741, lotteries had become general." In 1741, Italian husbands
were no longer jealous.'o In 1777, Swinburne writes : " « There
is no place where music seems to be in less esteem than Naples,
or where so little is heard." A writer well acquainted with
Naples says : « The Neapolitan peasants are a rough but kind-
hearted set of people, who only require to be well used and
honestly treated to become good subjects and hard labourers;" '*
but even the better classes are miserably ignorant. '» An author
of the fourteenth century regrets the progress of luxury in Italy. ■<
fiir admirable
CHARACTER OF THE SCOTCH.
Mb. Chambebs says : '« " It is quite remarkable, when we consider
the high character of the popular melodies, how late and how
slow has been the introduction of a taste for the higher class of
musical composition in Scotland. The eari of Kelly, a man of
' Own Time, vol. iii. p. 163.
" Travek. 8vo, 1831, p. 103.
' Essais de MonUigne, Paris, 8vo, 1843, livre iii. chap, viii p. 586
* Works, 8to, 1803, vol. v. p. 89. » ibid. vol. iii. p. 51
: j^'^^- P- ^93. ' Ibid. vol. iv. p. 148.
Correspondence between Ladies Pomfret and Hartford, 2nd edit 8vo 1806
"i I; P- ^'*-. ^ ' ^^''^- '''^- "• P- ^'^'- " Ibid. vol. iii. p. 259.
" Courte of Europe, 8vo, 1841, vol. i. p. 164.
" Journal of the Statistieiil Society, vol. v, p, 1 77. 13 Jbid, p. 203,
' «ee Comte, Traits de Legislation, tome i. p. 462.
" Traditions of Edinburgh, 8ro, 1847, pp. 245, 246.
I
;
566
FRAGMENTS.
yesterday, was the first Scotsman who ever composed music for an
orchestra. This fact seems sufficient. It is to be feared that tlie
beauty of the melodies is itself partly +o be blamed for the indif-
ference to higher music." Wesley made little or no impression
in Scotland." In 1 788, Wesley ^ writes : "When I was in Scot-
land first, even at a nobleman's table, we had only flesh meat of one
kind, but no vegetables of any kind ; but now they are as plentiful
here as in England. Near Dumfries there are five very large public
gardens, which furnish the town with greens and frait in abund-
ance." Pr. CuUen » says it has long been usual in Scotland for
people of all ranks to wash their children with cold water from the
time of their birth. As to the supposed freedom of Scotland from
crime, an eminent Scotchman suggests * that this arises- from an
inditfeience about the Scotch people respecting the detection of
criminals. In Scotland there are more wills and bequests of pro-
perty than in England.* Laing says," " It is a peculiar feature
in the social condition of our lowest labouring class in Scotland,
thai none perhaps in Europe of the same class have so few
physical and so many intellectual wants and gnitifications.'' On
the management of the poor in Scotland, read Journal of the
Statistical Society, vol. iv. pp. 288-319. At p. 314, it is said of
the Scotch, "The great cause of pauperism is the custom of Mar-
rying young." In 1628, Sir BenjaMin Kudyard said of Scotland,
" Though that country be not so rich as ours, yet they are richer
hi their alfectioa to religion."^ In August, 1650, all Scotchmen
were ordered to leave England." Scotland has had a public
system of " religious instruction since 1696 ; " and " England is the
only civilized European country which in 1857 has no nationally
organized plan of education." » See also pp. 185, 186 202, 203,
where it appears that this was due to Fletcher of Saltoun. At
p. 202, "In 1696 a lav was passed by the Scottish Parliament,
ordaining that there should be, in all time coming, and in every
one of the thousand parishes of Scotland, an endowed school for
teaching the elementary branches of education. This enactment
has been in force ever since ; " but >» this system was the work of
the "Presbyterian clergy," and under it "there was little 'iealtli-
' See Southey's Life ofWosley, 8vo, 1846, vol. ii. pp. 138, 145, 146.
« Journals, Svo, 1851, p. 866.
' Works, Edinburgh, 1827, vol. ii. p. 626.
* Laing's Sweden, p. 128.
' See Porter's Progress of the Nation, vol. iii, p. 130.
" Notes of a Traveller, first series, p. 272.
' Parliamentary History, vol. ii. p. 387. • Ibid. vol. iii. p. 136S.
" Transactions of Assoc, for Social Science, 1858, p. 181
'» Ibid. p. 208. . ,t '
CHARACTER OF THE SCOTCH.
667
I.
ful exercise of the intolhct." ' Scotland is a healthy country, and
the people cautious and frujral ; hence the mortality in « country
district's " is rema-kably low, « less than fifteen annual deaths per
^ For the ignorance of women in Scotland, see Burton'a Life and
Correspondence of Hume, vol. i. pp. 196-198, and Hume's Phi-
losophical Works, vol. ii. p. 59. George Combe ' says of his
father : " His education extended only to reading, writing, men-
suration, and book-keeping. He never learned either grammar
or the art of spelling. In the middle of the last century even the
gentry of Scotland were not in general better educated." In
1786, Lord Buchan writes from Scotland: "The middling class of
people here are either too poor or too much occupied iu profes-
sional engagements to prosecute any inquiry that does not pro-
mise a pecuniary reward."* There was no middle class, and
many gentlemen educated at the universities used to be obliged
lor a living to keep public-houses." Much greater crime in Scot-
land than in England." The total offences seem to be less than
m England, but mmrder and robbery with violence is much more
common.' The Scotch consume two times as much spirits as the
English ! 8 and the illegitimate births are immense.' On the pre-
sent immigration of Scotch into England, see Statist. Soc. vol. xv.
pp. 88, 89 ; Grenville Papers, vol. iv. p. 340 ; curious letters on
Scotland in Forster's Life of Goldsmith, vol. i. pp. 446-448 ;
Parr's Works, vol. vii. p. 558 ; Correspondence of Sir J. E. Smith,'
voL i. p. 66 ; Russell's Memorials of Fox, vol. iii. pp. 344, 361 ;
Bedford Correspondence, voL iii. p. 55 ; Albemarle's Rockingham,
vol. ii. p. 300. Finish the chapter by saying that, when the
ch ^lera broke out, the Scotch irreligiously, and to the disgrace of
an enlightened age, petitioned Palmerston. Th<'n was seen the
difference between the two countries. The English minister, a
great lover of power, and though £ii able roan by no means a re-
markable one, took a large view, and England supported. But
we do not find that Scotland protested against the impiety. Con-
clude by saying that, happily, the Scotch, though superstitious,
are not loyal, and are therefore saved from being like Spain
exposed to both evils.
On the present animosity of the Scotch clergy against all in-
' Transactions of Assoc, for So<"ial Science, 1858, p. 203. » Ibid. p. 359.
* Life of Dr. Andrew Combe, Edinburgh, 8vo, 1850, p. 6.
* Nichols's Literary Illustrations, vol. vi. p. 514.
* See Burt's Letters from the North of Scotland, vol. i. p. 66.
* Journal of Statist, tsx. rol. vi. v. '236. ' Ihid. vol. x. pp. 32G, 329, 330.
* Ibid. vol. X. p. 330 ; vol. xiii, pp. 359, 360. » Ibid. vol. xiv. p. G8.
'i,
f
668
FKAGMENTS.
nocent amnacmonts, and on the connection between this and tli,.
drunkenness of the people (stimulus beinjr the only ainu«ement,,
see and quote a curious letter in p. 5 of the Times of Friduv
September 10, 1858. In the eif^hteenth century the Presbyteriaus
hated frenius, and the wits and the clergy were so incessantly at
war, that it became an acknowledged function of literature to
attack the clergy; and, as this was impopidar, literary men h.-
came a degraded class, as in Smollett and Burns.' Dr. ArchibuKl
Pitcairne was at the head of these profane wits." In the eighteenth
century some of the best Scotchmen « cmnect^'d themselves with
other countries." 3 Burton* says: "Burns, w h all his stron-.
democratic tendencies, was a sentimental Jacobite." On the
sepam^iw of intellectual and practical classes, see Burton, vol ii
pp. 552-555, where it is said that in the time of Knox and in the
seventeenth century "it was felt that the Scotch tongue was be-
coming provincial, and those who desired to speak beyond a
mere home audience wrote in Latin." "Those who are ac-
quainted with the epistolary correspondence of learned Scotcli-
men in the seventeenth century will observe how easily they take
to Latin, and how uneasy and diffident they feel in the use of
ii-nghsh. At the end of the seventeenth century " Scotland had
not kept an independent literary language of her own, nor was
«he sufficiently expert in the use of that which had been created
in i.ngland. Hence the literary barrenness. The men may have
existed, but they had not the tools." "Not till Burns came for-
ward did the Scottish tongue claim an independent place in modern
literature." But much earlier "one distinguished man wrote in
Scotch, Allan Eamsay.»» Thomson shook it off, "and became
the most characteristic painter of English rural life and scenery." «
In 1799, Niebuhr writes from Edinburgh: "Scotland stands far
and wide m high repute for piety, and has done so from the com-
mencement of the reformation. The clergy in general are not
good for much ; that is allowed by every one who knows tlie
country. The piety of the people is, for the most part, mere eye-
service; an accustomed formality without any influence on their
mode of thinking and acting." ^
In 1696, for, I think the first time, the Church conmlted with
the 'State about " appointing fasts and thanksgivings." » On
the history of the Scotch Church in the eighteenth century, see
' Burton's History of Scotland, toI. ii. p. 561. J
' I^"l- P- 563. i Ibid. p. 413.
» Ibid. p. 554. . Ibid. p. 565.
' Life and Letters of Niebuhr. 8vo, 1852, vol. i. pp. 440, 441.
• Acts of General Assflmbly, from 1638. p. 253.
Ibid. pp. 559, 560.
CHARACTER OF THE SCOTCH.
5G9
Spnldinj,' Miscellany, i. 197 fif.seq.and p. 227 t'-tfie.q. At vol. iii. p. 22,
liord Granfre writes in 1733: "neither for our own Hake nor for
our country's ougiit tlu- divines to be suffered to meddle l)eyond
their own sphere."
McCulloch ' says, « Scotland, from beinp; about the middle of
the last century one of the worst cultivated countries of P:urope,
is now one of the best. At this moment, indeed, the a{,'riculture
of tlie best farmed counties of Scotland is certainly eciual, and is
by many deemed superior, to that of Northumberland, Lincoln,
and Norfolk, the best farmed counties of En^'land. The proxi-
mate cause of this extraordinary progress must be sought for in
the rapid growth of manufactures and commerce, and conse-
quently of large towns, and the proportionally great demand for
agricultural produce since the peace of Paris in 1763, and espe-
cially since the close of the American war Down to the
close of the American war, the farm buildings in most parts of
Scotland were mean and inadequate in the extreme," and filthily
dirty. « The dunghill was universally opposite the door, and so
near it that in wet weather it was no easy matter to get into the
house with dry feet." (Htnice perhaps the custom of going about
without stockings.) "The change that has taken place in these
respects during the last half century has been signal and complete.
In none but the least accessible and least improved districts are
any of the old houses now to be met with. See McCulloch's
Geog. Diet. vol. ii. p. 655, and see his British Empire, vol. i.
pp. 428, 488. At p. 656, « In respect of farming implements,
Scotland has very much the advantage over England." At p. 6.57,
the arable land in Scotland is inferior to that of England ; but in
the former country rent is decidedly higher, owing to the greater
skill and economy of Scotch farmers. « Rent has increased much
more rapidly in Scotland than in England : so rapid an increase
of rent is probably unmatched in any old settled country, and
indicates an astonishing degree of improvement We
have, indeed, no hesitation in affirming that no old settled country
of which we have any authentic accounts, ever made half the
progress in civilization and the accumulation of wealth that
Scotland has done since 1763, and especially since 1787." ^ For
these changes since 1760 McCulloch refers ' to Robertson's Rural
Recollections. McCulloch * says of Roxburghshire or Teviotdale,
that " Dawson, the great improver of Scotch husbandry, occupied
' M'Culloch's Geog. Diet. vol. ii. p. 655.
' Ibid. p. 657 note.
* British Empire, vol. i. p. 276.
Ibid. p. 657.
4- ' ■
IM
!l
670
FRAGMENTS.
a farm near Kelso, in this county, and in it, soon after 1760, he
set to work the first plough drawn by two horses, driven by tlie
ploughman, that was ever seen in Scotland. And if he was not
the first to set the example of raising turnips, he was the first
practical farmer by whom they were profitably cultivated on a
large scale." At p. 281 : "In 1727 a small field of eight acres
within a mile of Edinburgh, sown with wheat was so extraordinary
a phenomenon as to attract the attention of all the neighbour-
hood." McCulloch' says of schools: "While within 1837 and
1845, the number of pupils has increased upwards of a third, the
proportion learning Graelic has decreased a half; and the Erse of
the Highlanders is gradually giving way to the English." On
great rise of rent, see McCulloch's British Empire, vol. i. pp. 296,
298, and Anderson's Prize Ecsay on the Highlands, pp. 130-133.
He says ^ that " tlie annual value of the agricultural produce " of
England is 141,606,857^., and that of Scotland 27,744,286L See
also good remarks in pp. 565, 567, where it is said that since the
peace of Paris in 1763, and more particularly since the American
war, "rent down to 1815 increased more rapidly in Scotland tlian
in England " ; but the " rental of Scotland has not increased since
the peace nearly so fast as that of England." This probably is
" because the system of farming having been more improved in
1814 in Scotland than in England, the former had less progress
to make." He says of Scotland : ^ " The entire rental of the king-
dom is not supposed to have exceeded 1,000,000/. or 1,200,000^,
in 1770. In 1795, it is believed to have rather exceeded
2,000,000/!., and between that epoch and 1815 it increased two
millions and a half more." In 1842, "the gross rental" was
5,586,528/.*
McCulloch shows ' " that the number of students who attend the
Scotch universities is less now than it was twenty-five or tliirty
years ago." At p. 369 is an accoxmt of the successful efforts made
by the Protestant clergy in and after 1560 to establish schools iu
every parish. In 1697 was passed " the act for the settling of
schools. By this memorable law every parish had to furnish a
commodious school-house and a stipend to a schoolmaster."
This, says Macaulay " " is the cause of the Scotch everywhere dis-
tancing their competitors." "The effect could not be imme-
diately felt. But before one generation had passed away, it began
to be evident that the common people of Scotland were superior
in intelligence to the common people of any other country iu
' McCulloch's British Empire, vol, ij, p, 876.
• Ibid. p. 567. • Ibid. p. 867.
• History, vol. iv. p. 780.
» Ibid. vol. i. p. 573.
» Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 365, 360.
CHARACTEE OF THE SCOTCH.
571
Europe. And yet in that very year, and indeed « in that very
month," the Scotch persecuted witches and infidels, and put to
death Thomas Aikenhead, a boy of eighteen, for blasphemy.' In
and after 1470, we find the first " corporations of trades." »
(What follows was written in Snptember, 1859.)
The land was inclosed, drained, and manured. The same spirit
of industry, method, and perception of regularity and sequence
which was shown in manufactures now for the first time also
appeared in agriculture, though, from the greater incapacity of
farmers, the improvement was slower: but its early traces are
clearly discernible. Chalmers, in his learned work but detestable
style, says: 3 "The star of agricultural melioration began to
twinkle at the Union. In 1723, a Society of Improvers in the
Knowledge of Agriculture was formed at Edinburgh, consisting
ot all who were either high, or opulent, or learned, or ingenious in
Scotland."^ At vol. ii. p. 32 Chalmers says: "In 1698 was
printed at Edinburgh, Husbandry Anatomized, or several Rules
for the better Improvement of the Ground. In 1706 was given
to the public by Lord Belhaven, Advice to the f^armers of East
Lothian how to Improve their Grounds. In 1724, the Society of
Improvers at Edinburgh published A Treatise on Fallowing,
liaising Grasses, &c. And other works followed in 1 729, 1 733, and
1743. In Boxburghshire, " before 1743, the practice of draining,
inclosing, summer fallowing, sowing flax, hemp, rape, turnip and
grass seeds, planting cabbages after and potatoes with the plough
in fields of great extent was generally introduced." ^ At vol. ii.
p. 868, Chalmers says: "The year 1723, when the Society of
Improvers was established, may perhaps be deemed the true era.
From this period, a sort of enterprise may be traced in every
shire." Of Galloway he says : « " One of the first steps towards
improvement, which was marked with insurrection, was inclosures
in 1724." At p, 286, "the real improvement of the soil in this
district began effectually in 1740, where shell marie was dis-
covered, or at least attended to, as a useful manure." At vol. iii.
p. 796, " Potatoes, almost the only green crop, and almost the
only instance wherein drill husbandry is practised, were introduced
to Paisley and Renfrew about the year 1750 from Kintyre, and
were at that time first planted in the field."
In the county of Aberdeen, in the parish of Kennellar, says
' Miicaulay'B History, vol. iv. pp. 781-784.
' Pinkerton's History, vol. ii. pp. 410, 411.
' Caledonia, vol. i. p. 873. « Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 311, 312, 734.
• Il^'d- PP- 143, 869. Ibid. vol. iii. p. 385.
\),l
li
li-.i
1.
:\
i'<
672
FRAGMENTS.
Sinclair, « Grass seeds had not been seen in this parish in any
considerable quantity before the year 1750; till about that
time they were not kept for sale by the merchants in Aber-
deen, and consequently could not be much known among our
farmers.'" "Improvements of land by inclosing, planting, and
raising artificial grasses, cabbages, and turnips." 2 At vol. iv.
p. 11, "it is only about twenty years ago that the farmers" be-
gan to clean their land by sowing turnips and to sow grass
seeds." " Turnip for twenty years past has been sown in the
fields, and clover and rye-grass have become a constant part of
the rotation." 3 "Artificial grass, as clover and rye-grass, begins
to be more cultivated with more attention."* "About 1740,"
the proprietor of Dankeith (in tlie parish of Symingham, in the
county of Ayr) « was among the first who introduced rye-orass
into Ayrshire."' At vol. vi. p. 193, "The people begin to see
the advantage of sowing grass seeds, and adhering to a regular ro-
tation of crops." In counties of Haddington and Berwick " Im-
provements in husbandry have within these last thirty years made
rapid progress, especially in fallowing their lands, clearing it of
stones, regular rotations of crops with turnips and grass." e In
county of Aberdeen, " Potatoes, turnips, flax, and artificial grasses
were introduced about fifty years ago (i.e. 1743) by the late Lord
Strichen."^ At vol. vi.p.439, "Before the introductionof the turnip
husbandry and the raising of clover and rye-grass, the farmers were
frequently obliged in the winter season to drive their sheep into tlie
low country and purchase hay for them The introduction
ot the use of lime as a manure has been of great benefit to tlie
arable grounds. Very considerable crops of oats, barley, and
pease have by means thereof been raised from land which in its
natural state was of little or no value. It not only occasions a
more plentiful, but also a much earlier crop." Finish by saying
t/iat atl this let loose and made available more hands for maun-
faohcres; so that the improvements in agriculture diminish the
injiuence of the agricultural classes. " Sir John Dalryiuple
grandfather to the present baronet, was the first person who in-
troduced into Scotland the sowing of turnips and the plantinr^ of
cabbages in the open field." « In the parish of Toryland, inlhe
county of Kirkcudbright, it is said,^ about 1730 John Dalywell
saw "the advantage of inclosing, subdividing, and improving
land. He was the first who discovered and made use of murl.
' Siinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol iii p 497
Mind. p. ,5.5.r s ihid. vol. iv. p. 395.
» Ibid. vol. V. p. 396. • Ibid. vol. vii. p. 403.
Ibid. vol. ix. p. 282. • Ibid. p. .14.
* Ibid p. 444.
' Ibid. p. 417.
CHAEACTER OF THE SCOTCH.
673
By this manure he raised upon the poorest land the most luxuriant
crops of different kinds of grain, to the astonishment of all the
country around. He meliorated the soil, and raised the finest
crops of natural and artificial grasses."
In part of Ayrshire "within thirty years" (i.e. 1764^ "all the
arable and a great part of the pasture lands have been inclosed " •
About 1.20, the earl of Haddington "introduced the sowing of
clover and other grass-seeds " into the county of Haddington in
the synod of Lothian.' At Salton in county of Haddington, " so
early as the beginning of this century, lime was adopted as a
manure ; but was gradually discontinued and at length totally
laid aside, from an opinion that it was of no advantage in the
improvement of land." 3 « When grass was introduced as a crop,
the old tenants were much offended, and said, 'It was a shame to
see beaat s meat growing where msn's meat should grow ' " " " Grass
seeds, such as rye-grass and clover."' « In 1740, shell marl was
discovered m Galloway, and abundant crops produced by the use
this manure." « In county of Haddington, " the first example
ot fallowing ground, in the beginning oi the eighteenth century "^
In county of Aberdeen, lime was used about 1734.8 In 1749
"the cultivation of potatoes " in the county of Ross. ^ « Benefit
of inclosures and green crops." '» "Cultivating and planting
large tracts of waste moor ground, making substantial regular
fences and liming his lands." u « The grasses sown are rye-grass
red, white, and yellow clover, and narrow plantane or rib grass " '^
"Little waste ground in the parish. What is wet they are
diaiiung, what is uncultivated and arable they are bringing into
tillage ; what is not arable they are planting." '3 « About 1750
potatoes began to be planted "at Northmaven in the county of
Orkney.'^ In county of Fife, " in the beginning of the eighteenth
century, Lord St. Clair began to plant and enclose." '« in county
of Aberdeen in 1745 "began plantations." •« "Kelp was totally
unknown in the Highlands until about 1735." '^ « Waste land
drained, levelled, and enclosed." '» In county of Forfar "some
years before 1750 he first of this parish (of Monifeth) began to
enclose land; and between 1750 and 1752 to use lime as a
manure." i« "When the use of marl or lime as a manure was
' Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. x. p. 38.
' Ibid. p. 171.
* Ibid. p. 630.
" Ibid. p. 412.
" Ibid. p. 565.
" Ibid
p. 3.i4.
" Ibid. p. 305.
» Ibid. p. 2o3.
" Ibid. vol. xi. p.
° Ibid. p. 425.
" Ibid. p. 60].
" Ibid. p. 608.
" Ibid. p. 463.
* Ibid. p. 612.
65. ' Ibid. p. 8.5.
'« Ibid. p. 503.
" Ibid. vol. xii. p. 191.
'° Ibid. vol. xiii. p, 181.
'• Ibid. p. 491.
I u
574
FRAGMENTS.
unknown, and that of dung was tlie sole one, a certain quantity
of it arising from the confinement of the cattle during winter
could only be obtained." ' " Tracts of common and barren land
brought into culture."* "Green crops —viz., potatoes, turnips, and
sown grass." 3 At vol. xiv. p. 505, " Before the Union, Scotland
had no foreign market for her sheep and black cattle ; and con-
sequently had no motive to raise more of these than her own
domestic consumption demanded, wliich was extremely small, as
little butcher's meat was used. But after the Union the price of
cattle rose, and landlords perceived that it would be as profitable
to cultivate land for rearing and feeding cattle as for raising
grain. They therefore enclosed their grounds and united several
of their small fiirms." < Rae » says that at the end of the eigh-
teenth century " The construction of the plough in Scotland was
so improved that two horses did the work of six oxen. The
diminution of outlay thus produced, giving the farmer from a
smaller capital an equal return, encouraged him to apply himself
to materials which he would otherwise have left, as his forefathers
had done, untouched. He carried off stones from his fields, built
fences, dug ditches, formed drains, and constructed roads. Lime
was discovered to be a profitable manure. The additional returns
which the hard clay thus converted into a black loam yielded
were spent in the cultivation of land, before waste. The cultiva-
tion of turnips was introduced, and instead of useless fallows, the
farmer had a large supply of a nutritive food for his cattle.
This reacted on the inhabitants of towns, and their industry
was augmented by the increased returns yielded by the comitry
and by the new demands made by it. Kocks were quarried, the
metal left the mine, large manufacturing establishments arose,
wharfs, docks, canals, and bridges were built, villages were
changed into towns, and towns into cities." In the county of
Kirkcudbright « shell marl was first discovered and used " about
1732.« In Kincardine "in so little repute was farming before
the year 1712, that the proprietor of Brotherston found it neces-
sary to give premiums in order to induce tenants to rent his
farms." ^ In 1722, the first kelp made in the Orkneys.* Lime
in Aberdeenshire about 1750." " Enclosing, draining, and clear-
ing the ground of stones." " Clear his land of weeds either by
applying proper manure, or by raising potatoes, turnips, and other
' Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. xiv. p. 9.
" I^'id- p. 104. > Ibid. p. 166.
» Npw Principles of Political Economy, p. 261.
• Sinclair, vol. xv, p. 82. ' Ibid. p. 220.
• Ibid. vol. xvi. p. 471.
* Ibid. p. 505.
• Ibid. p. 395.
CHARACTER OF THE SCOTCH.
Pfreen crops, or by exertinji; himself in summer fallowiufr." ' In
Perthshire, " the first marl-pit was partially drained and opened
for public sale about the year 1734." ^ In part of the county of
East I^othian there was in 1 700 little planting, " it being supposed
no trees could grow because of the sea air and north-east winds ; "
but " in 1707 the enclosing and planting of the moor were
begun." ' At Kelsyth in county of Stirling, potatoes were first
cultivated in the fields in 1739. They had previously been
" raised in gardens, and there was a common prejudice that tliey
could be raised nowhere else to advantage."* Even natural
manure was difficidt to get, though always abundant in the large
cities, fox " it was not till after the year 1750 that carts came to be
in general use, at least to the west of Edinburgh, though they
had been long employed on the east side ; the conveyance of all
materials having been before that period in Backs, hurdles, or
creels upon the backs of horses. About 1730, the offals and
manure of the streets of Edinburgh sold at 2d. per cart ; at pre-
sent the cart load sells sometimes for Is. Gd. or upwards."^ Adam
Smith ^ says : " It is not more than a century ago that in many
parts of the Highlands of Scotland, butcher's meat was as cheap
or cheaper than even bread made of oatmeal. The Union opened
the market of England to the Highland cattle. Their ordinary
price at present is about three times greater than at the beginning
of the century, and the rents of many Highland estates have been
tripled or quadrupled at the same time. In almost every part of
Great Britain a pound of the best butcher's meat is in present
times generally worth more than two pounds of the best white
bread, and in plentiful years it is sometimes worth three or four
pounds." ' At p. 63 Adam Smith says : " The use of the artificial
grasses, turnips, carrots, cabbages, and other expedients to make
a greater quantity of land feed a great number of cattle, reduces
the superiority of the price of butcher's meat compared to that
of bread." See also p. 93 a and b on the low price of cattle in
Scotland before the Union, owing partly to the ignorance of
manure. At p. 94a Adam Smith says, " Of all the commercial
advantages, however, which Scotland has derived from the union
with England, the rise in the price of cattle is perhaps the
greatest. It has not only raised the value of all highland estates,
but it has perhaps been the principal cause of tne improvement
of the low country." On application of chemistry to agriculture
in 1749, see Thomson's Life of Cullen, vol. i. p. 62.
' Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. xvii. p. 229.
' Ibid. p. 469. » Ibid. p. 1)76. * Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 282, 283.
* Ibid. p. 363. • Wealth of Nations, p. 626.
' See Cairns, On Butcher's Meat in Australia, in Fi-aser's Magazine, On Gold.
'i M
676
FEAGMENTS.
In 1710, " The greatest number of the Episcopalians continue
under the direction and influence of the exauctorate bishop of
Edinburgh, who is entirely in the interest of the Pretender, and
will allow none of his followers to pray for the queen." '
In 1693, by virtue of an act of parliament, no one could sit in
the Assembly unless he took an oath to William. This the
church furiously resisted as Erastianism, and William at the last
moment was forced to give way.^ This mollified the Assembly,
and " from this time there was a full reconciliation between the
established church and King William." ^ « The seeds which in
their ripening brought on the Church of Scotland the reproach of
lukewarmness, if not of a slight degree of scepticism, were thus
sown in the reaction against stern fanaticism."* In 1703, Anne
being queen, alarm was excited by the inclination of government
to favour episcopacy.^ In 1706, during negotiations for the
Union, Presbyterianism was secured by a clause " specially ex-
cluding the discipline and government of the church from the
deliberations of the comuiission,"^ and it was understood that
" each nation must keep its own church." ^ And by the Act of
Presbyterianism was declared " unalterable, and the only govern-
ment of the church within the kingdom of Scotland."* This
made " the moderate Presbyterians favour the Union " ; ' but the
zealous Covenant men and Cameronians opposed it as involving
an alliance with the idolatrous church of England.'" In 1706-7,
" the comfortable established clergy were different men from the
theocrats of Dunbar and Bothwell l^rig ; and the sagacious Car-
stairs, though no longer their moderator and chairman, led them
by his counsel." " In 1710, government slighted the Assembly so
much as to despise the fasts it ordered.'^ In 1712, even the
" patronage act," so unfavourable to the scriptural classes, failed
to rouse the church ; '^ and " it was clear that the Assembly was
now a very different body from that which twenty years earlier
had offered dangerous defiance to King William." '* But in 1 7 1 1-
12, Mac Millan " organised the first secession from the church of
Scotland." '^ In 1714 the General Assembly deposed two clergy-
men for not praying for the king ; is but the episcopalians were
the great Jacobites ; and "it was from the rebellion of 1715 that
' Ellis's Original Letters, first series, vol. iii. p.' 358.
' Burton, vol. i. pp. 231-233, 234. » Ibid. p. 236.
* Ibid. p. 256. » Ibid. pp. 354, 365. « Ibid. pp. 394 4"!
' Ibid. p. 401. 8 Ibid, pp. 466, 467. " Ibid. 429, 4g<'i '
'" Ibid. pp. 431, 432; compare, vc^-^u-rimfr the Camcronian-s pp. 32-66
" Ibid. p. 445. " Ibid. pp. 39, 40. •» Ibid. p. 55
'« Ibid. p. 56. " Ibid. p. 69. i« ibid. p. go
CHARACTER OF THE SCOTCH. 577
the landed r„°'"^. 'fit ttr/r S"'^'™"-'' ""^ - «e„d of
p°:rs rer:r ?s^rr «-- -^t:;!
laxed f hp,-r ,..1 T .u ^''^ ^^^''^ "^^^ that the cJomy re-
isted among the upper classes." « Burton iv^s^^ « Th! 7" ""'
of discipline was one of fl.« -°""on sa^s. "The decrease
d;.e„t I .he ::,Ze.?h ett„;T l":r ^ \ * t d" ml
power of rejection wa, given to the con Vat In ° n.d
Ebeaezer Erskine formed his body of seceder"' I^ S ♦, T
church of sci'd wirL'iSrL:'i'rre?E:''!' "■:
elate,".. 2,''"',.'='>™'- "^ particularly that of the humbler
m.k«l.eal amon, the feeder, to^e^p i'^tf; detuTe :fVe
After 1715, " the episcopalian non-iurors were net hn./t
by the government " ;" bu.'^" in the rLllion TnS th fe
ep,.copa church came forth again so flagrantly in mpport of th '
Stuarts that severe restraints could no lonir be To Led ■ »
fiespectmg "the secession which took place in 1732 ," see B^gue
' Burton, vol. ii. p. 220.
* Ibid. pp. 290, 291.
" Ibid. p. 303.
J Ibid. pp. 321, 322, 324, ,'?2o, 327.
'" Ibid, see some good remarks in nn 3'>8 32Q
lljflt^-f*^- " Ibid, p! 337:
" Ibid. p. 344. 1. Ibid. p. 452.
P P
* Ibid. p. 295.
' Ibid. p. 301.
*^Ibid. p. 282, and see p. 311.
' Ibid. p. 298.
Ibid. p. 357
' Ibid. pp. 314-316,
" Ibid. pp. 332,333.
'< Ibid. p. 341.
" Ibid. p. 358.
I li^
578
FRAGMENTS.
and Bennett's Hist, of Dissenters, vol. iv. p. 57 et 8eq. Martineau'a
Hist, of England, vol. ii. pp. 318, 583.
McCulIoch ' says: "At present, and since 1712, the privilege
of appointing clergymen to parishes has been vested in the crown
or in private patrons " ; but this " right of patronage has long been
exceedingly unpopular, and its enforcement in spite of public
opinion occasioned the great secession fi'om the church in 1741.
The Greneral Assembly, by the Veto Act in 1834, gave the congre-
gations belonging to parishes a right to reject a presentee if he
were not acceptable to them ; but it was decided by the House of
Lords iu 1839 that the General Assembly had no power to pass
the Veto Act, and that all proceedings under it were null and
void." This roused the General Assembly, who met in 1843, and
proteating that " the courts of the church are coerced by the civil
courts," an immense number seceded and formed The Free Church
of Scotland.'^ All the seceding ministers voluntarily gave up
*' their homes and incomes," but the greatest liberality was shown
in Scotland in building and endowing churches. In 1845, 570
new c urches had been built, and "the total numbers within the
pale of the free church may be estimated at 600,000 " ; ^ so that,
as McCulloch says : ■* " the established church is no longer the
church of a decided majority of the people, and religious ani-
mosities and fanaticism have been widely diffused." * It is said
that the Scotch clergy have become more bigoted since the
French Revolution.^
Oh persecution of Simson, see Index to Wodrow's Analecta,
vol. iii. p. 235 ; on Webster and Pitcairn, Analecta, vol. iii. p. 307.
In 1711, Wodrow writes,'' "At Edinburgh I hear Dr. Pitcairn
and several others do meet very regularly every Lord's day, ar:'
read the Scripture in order to lampoon and ridicule it." ^ Wodrow
says that this even extended among the clergy ; " young
preachers " also began in the eighteenth century to insist on
reason and inquiry, and to oppose church judicatories.^
After 1688, the moderation of the crowv attempted to dissolve
the alliance between the people and the clergy, but only checked
fanaticism for a time, thus showing how weak political causes
are in the presence of social ones. The two great evils of the
church complained of in and after 1712 by Wodrow were "tole-
» Geog. Diet. vol. ii. p. 662.
« See also McCuUoch's British Empire, vol. ii. pp. 288-291.
' Geog. Diet. p. 662. ♦ Ibid. p. 663. » British Empire, p. 294.
' Combe's North America, vol. iii. pp. 227-234, 424, 425.
' Analecta, vol. i. p. 323.
' Ibid. vol. ii. p. 256 ; see also on this increase of scepticism, vol. iii. pp. 129, 184;
vol. iv. p. 63. » Ibid. vol. iii. 147, 155, 167, 169, 178, 239, 240, 412.
' Analecta, '
' Criminal 1
* Ibid. vol. i
* Mackenzie'
' Life of Adi
* Sinclair's £
p. 165.
" Cockburn's
'* Letters froi
" History of
'* See Russell
Hist, of the C,
p. 201.
CHARACTER OF THE SCOTCH. 579
ration " and « patronatres."' However I'n t^qi ^1
Jnm^'v l7lun"V: " \""""' "='=™"' <>' 'he ^.-riage of
vol. x.«. p 7 ;rr"n^;, '"^^ """* '" Arcteologia,
eliain« po.or ofiTi k afte 688°'^°^^" °7' '"^ "-
kendo's Criminal Laws „ IbT a Wack-mail, see Mao-
A clergyman says,' « I„ mf^iZ I -» Beiste.'
fashionable for [he lower oLS of h 'T? " '" ""'^
church. The higher orders tTabl^heTutrl:"^^^^ "■^,
believing it necessary to worsli in th^rS L^ ^J prejudices of
could educated n.eniistert:';L?;uffV'lnT6/f r"'; «""
ground over educated classes " Tonl,„m i. '°f '/ "W i''™g
"Deism is the ruling principle " Th •!?? 'f '" ''<=''"™''
people were igno^nt tnd ^f "'"'''''' "''''' "' t'-^-^'-
the Catholics." On hostmt! ™oured for penal laws against
knowledge, see WodrowrcllX^r^ .t, «
* Ibid. iv. 246.
' Analecta, vol. ii. pp. 39, 133,
' Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. us.
* Ibid. vol. i. p. 209. ' s TTn„,„.„ -r- „ .
* Mackeneie-s Criminal Laws, p. 170 '^ ^r'^"^' P" ^^^•
I Life of Adam Smith, in Eo J« Biog Diet and CU 'Z' ^''y«'°I°gy. P- 403.
" Sinclair's Statist. Account, vol. x p^'eof ?« toTh ^''^- ""'''■
V- 165. • P' ''"^- To the same effect, see vol. xi.
Cockburn's Jacobins, pp. 343, 377.
" Letters from Edinburgh, 1776, p. 238.
_^ H.Story of the Church of Scotland, vol. i. p 41
p. 201. ' P- •'" ' *"^« '^^''O Burton 8 Hast, of Scotland, vol. i.
P p 2
ll
i80
FRAGMENTS.
In 1709, it began to be noticed that the clergy were less
respected.
Sir William Hamilton says that nowhere has there been so
little classical learning aa in S\i>tl:ji)d.'
In 1706, Blair of Dunfice .u Id LHome remarkably sound views
on the nervous system.'
Pitcairn tried to apply to medicine '* the rigid rules of aathe-
matical demonstration." '
.... From a general point of view we might expect that the
works of the great northern thinkers wotild have exercised a
favourable influence over the literatur > ot liiUgiand, written as
they were in our own language, and frequently published at our
own capital. But unfortunately the hatred between the English
and the Scutch at this period was as great as it had been before
they were finally united into one empire. The old feelings of
animosity, so far from being assuaged by the Act of Union,
seemed to be increased by the mutual recriminations with whicli
tlie passing of that act was accompanied. The English taunted
the Scotch with their poverty; the Scotch reproached tlie Eng-
lish with their ignorance. In 1(582, the celebrated Sir Thomas
Browne writes to his son in disapproval of a charter which had
just been granted to the physicians of Edinburgh. His great
fear was that this concession would induce too many Scotchmen
to leave their own country. For, he says, " If they sett up a
colledge and breed many physitians, wee shall bee su'-e to have
a great part of them in England." The university of Oxford
was so vexed with the union with Scotland that it refused to
congratulate Anne on its completion.
In London, those satires were greedily read which were directed
against the inhabitants of Scotland by Johnson, Wilkes, Churchill,
Junius, &c. ; and during the administration of Lord Bute, and
indeed long after it, every tale against him was willingly circu-
lated because he was a native of that abhorred country. In
Edinburgh the great writers who adorned that capital could not
conceal the contempt with which they regarded their southern
neighbours. They derided the greatest efforts of our genius.
Indeed, nothing but national prejudice could make a man of such
fine taste as Adam Smith depieciate the greatest poet tlie world I
has ever seen. Hume said * that the Epigoniad of Wilkes was
equal to Paradise Lost, and that Home's play of Douglas was
' Discussions in Philosophy, pp. 329, 338, 379, and see p. 341.
* Wagner's Ph3siology, p. .528.
* Thomson's History of Cheraiatry, vol. i. p. 208.
* See romui'ks on .Shakespeare in History of England.
superior
any n^pu
attacks,
in Whev
burnt in
possesseo
wat' not (
than any
Hume
his opini
that this
the facti
writes tc
that is A
warmed
part in p
is not ri(
are relaj
When Gi
of Hume
torian, "
your pers
man in o
smile at 1
men for £
barbarous
letters, 1
come fror
tween the
every pat)
than he ]
and Eousi
publishinj
have a g
whole wii
man, and
king."
Such se
But as oui
Scotland,
more than
this prejui
CHARACTER OF THE SCOTCH.
581
38 of aathe-
fiuperior to Macbeth. Lord Monboddo is perhaps the last man of
any n^pntjition who has attacked the Newtonian pliik).sopliy. Ills
attacks, which were made in 1779, I only know from the notice
in Whewell's Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences.' Wilkes was
burnt in effigy at Edinburgh. Lord Monboddo, who as a scholar
possessed considerable reputation, said that the Douglas of Home
wat- not only superior to any of Shakspeare's plays, but was better
than anything Shakspeare could have possibly written.
Hume, whose open disposition prevented him from concealing
his opinions, says in one of his letters from Paris, "It is probable
that this place will be long my home. 1 feel little inclination to
the factious barbarians of liundon." On another occasion, he
writes to Blair respecting Endand, "The little company there
that is worth <^onvcrsing with are cold and unsociable; or are
warmed only by faction and cabal : so that a man who plays no
part in public affairs becomes altogether insignihcant, and if he
is not rich, he becomes even contemptible. Hence that nation
are relapsing fast into the deepest stupidity and ignorance."
When Gibbon's Komau Empire was publislied, the astonishment
of Hume was unbounded. In 1776, he writes to the great his-
torian, « I own that if I had not previously had the happiness of
your personal acquaintance, such a performance from an English-
man in our age would have given me some surprise. You may
smile at this sentiment ; but as it seems to me that your country-
men for almost a whole generation have given themselves up to
barbarous and absurd faction, and have totally neglected all polite
letters, I no longer expected any valuable production ever to
come from them." Indeed, violent as were the animosities be-
tween the French and English, it seemed to be understood that
every patriotic Englishman ought to hate a Scotchman even more
than he hated a Frenchman. After the quarrel between Hume
and Eousseau, Adam Smitli wrote to Hume to dissuade him from
publishing an account of it ; for, said he, your opponcnit " will
have a great party, the churcli, the Whigs, the Jacobites, the
whole wise English nation, wli will love to mortify a Scotch
man, and applaud a man that has refused a pension from the
king."
Such sentiments as these were fully reciprocated by the English.
But as our countrymen had always inflicted great injuries upon
Scotland, it was natural that they should hate the Scotch even
more than they were Jiated by them. Even in the slightest tilings
this prejudice was allowed to appear. Horace Walpole was almost
' Vol. i. pp. 266, 267.
683
FRAQMRNTS.
tlie only Knpjlisliman of any reputation who ventured to utter a
word in their fuvour. But for doiuj,' this he was severely attacked
m the North Briton and in the Public ixul^'er, the two most in-
Huential periodicals which were then published in London.
On one occanion, Home offered for |M!rfonnanct> a tra«redy which
he had just written ; but it was considered so hazardous txj act in
London a play written by a Scotchman, that Garrick refused to
accept it unless the author would conceal his name, and would
uliow to have it attributed to an En^dishman. To this Ifouie
a-^reed, and during twelve nights the tragedy was received with
universal applause. But on the thirteenth night, the secret
Jiavmg by some means transpired, the piece was not only con-
demned, biit Garrick was threatened with having his house burnt
down for having dared to bring on the English stjige the produc-
tion of a Scottish author.
A few years l)efore this occurred, Macklyn wrote a farce called
Love a la Mode, the merits of which are anything but remarkable.
But as it contained a character in which the Scotch were turned
into ridicule, it met with immense success, and not all the in-
fluence of Lord Bute could prevent it from being constantly acted.
Nor was it merely by the mob of a theatre that such feelings were
displayed. Kawlinson, who early in the eighteenth century was
an historian and antiquary of some repute, had betiueathed a
considerable property to the Society of Antiquaries. But by a
subsequent clause he revoked the whole of the gift, and one of
the reasons which he assigned for doing so was that a Scotchman
had been elected secretary to the society. Indeed, the national
prejudices were so strong that they more than once threatened to
embroil the two countries. In 1713, the disputes respecting the
extension to Scotland of the malt tax caused such mutual re-
criminations that a motion made in the House of Lords to brino- in
a bill for repealing the Union was only lost by a majority of fiur
votes. In 1736, a tumult having arisen at Edinburgh,' Captain Por-
teous, who commanded the town guard, ordered his men to fire on
the mob. For this wanton outrage, which caused the death of
several persons, he was brought to trial, found guilty, and con-
demned to die. The English government, instead of allowing the
sentence to be carried into execution, granted a reprieve ; but the
Scotch, who were determined that the murderer of their country-
men should not escape, rose in arms, seized the gates of the citv,
burst open the prison in which Porteous was confined, dragged
him to the Grassmaiket where criminals usually suffered, and
there hanged him deliberately, and with all the formalities of a
legal execution. In our own time si
an act, if it could
pes-
CHARACTKR OF THE SCOTCH.
583
1 to uttor a
'lyattack«'(l
vo moat in-
idon.
ij,'ecly wliiih
18 to act ill
refused to
and would
this Home
;eived with
the secret
t only con-
louse burnt
he produc-
Farce called
■emarkable.
■ere turned
all the in^
mtly acted,
elings were
entury was
lueathed a
But by a
and one of
Scotchman
le national
eatened to
ecting the
nutual re-
to bring in
ity of four
iptain Por-
i to fire on
e death of
, and con-
lowing the
3 ; but the
r country-
if the city,
i, dragged
Fered, and
lities of a
30uld pos-
sibly o ;cur, would be only considered as an infraction of fh(! law,
would bo pimished, and would soon bo forgotten. But such W(!re
the feelings that a century ago existed between Plnghind and
Scotland that so slight a matter was found sufficient to threaten
the most dangerous results. The Scotch took it up as a national
question, and unanimously dedan-d that they would protect the
murderers of Porteous. The English were as determined to re-
venge his death ; and the ministers of the crown openly stated
that, if resistance were offered, the punishment should extend to
t)je whole country ; and the queen, who was then acting as re-
gent, threatened so to desolate Scotland that it should l)e tiirned
into a hunting-field. Parliament, which was tlien sitting, dis-
played the greatest warmth ; and it was actually moved in the
peers that the lord-justice of Scotland should be brought as a
criminal before the bar of the house. This monstrous proposition,
which, if persisted in, would probably have caused a civil war, was
by the influence of more moderate men with difficulty rejected ;
but to the great offence of the Scotch, their judges were even-
tually compelled to come to Loudon, and to appear as witnesses
before what they considered a hostile and almost a fioreign juris-
diction. At the head of English affairs there was at this time
Sir Robert Walpole, a man of great abilities and of still greater
moderation. He was one of the ministers of the crown during
three successive reigns, and was its chief adviser for more than
twenty years. But the Scotch looked upon him as their declared
enemy, and hated him with a bitterness which still further exas-
pe'-ated the national animosities. He indeed was driven from
office in 1742 ; but three years afterwards broke out that great
northern rebellion which he is said to have predicted, and in
which the Scotch, as is well known, penetrated to the centre of
England. They were afterwards entirely defeated ; but the in-
famous cruelties of their English conquerors left a deep impression
on their minds, and the names of Cumberland and Culloden long
remained the by-words of national hatred. In the Highlands
these feelings have lingered even to our own time ; and although
in the Lowlands they gradually died away, still they left a sore-
ness which frequently embarrassed the English government.
Towards the end of the reign of George IL, the lord-chancellor, in
his place in Parliament, complained tliat the Scotch seemed abso-
lutely determined not to pay the imperial taxes, and he submitted to
the house whether some measure could not be adopted to compel
them to do so. For his own part, he said that he was not ac-
quainted with any means by which so desirable a result could be
effeate4.
i
584
After the d^ath of Gi
FRAGMENTS.
II., the
J , reorge ^.x., unc nauie pieiuuices lono- urp-
dominated. Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, who, although a weairnvtn
was aB attentive observer of passing events, has made the remark
that the unpopularity of George III. during the first twenty years
of his reign was chiefly caused by the indignation which the
-English telt at seeing a Scotchman placed at the head of affairs
I his If true, is a remarkable proof liow inveterate tlie hostilitv
must have been; for the king dismissed Lord Bute only thr.;
years alter his accession, and never ventured again to place a
Scotchman at the head of his government. Even Lord Chatham
was violently attacked because he entrusted a Scotchman with
the I rivy Seal of Scotland. Indeed, so late as 1804, when Barrow
was made one of the secretaries of the admiralty. Lord Melville
expressed his ddiglit at finding that he was an Englishman ; for,
saict .16, "Mr. Pitt and myself have been so much taunt.i foi'
giving away all the good things to Scotchmen, that I am very
gind on tlie present occasion to have selected an Englishman"
And m 1805, so lenient a judge as Wilberforce, after hio-hly
praising Dundas, mentions it as a remarkable fact that, instead of
sending to India as governor-general one of his own countrymen,
he actually "appointed the fittest person he could find, Sii- John
Shore. And into such matters did this spirit descend, that even
early m the present century, the Scotch farmers rejected " as an
old English practice" that plan of folding sheep on tlie land,
which they now generally adopt."
The intercourse between the two nations, it may easily be sup-
posed was neither cordial nor frequent. The Scotch, indeed,
flocked to London, because it was a wealthy city, and because
they hoped to paiticipate in the riches of its inhabitants, whom
they considered to be more remarkable for their money than
for their wit. Eut the Londoners themselves did not care to re-
turn the attention. Pennant, the well known antiquary, visit(.d
the southern part of Scotland in the middle of the ei-liteenth
century. He was very proud of having accomplished wliat be
considered so hazardous a feat ; and in his minute account of
Edinburgh, he tells us that he was the first Englishman whom
motives of curiosity had ever carried to that city. ^ Indeed, several
years later, when the facilities of travelling were so much greater,
there were few Englishmen who ventured to imitate so bold an
example; and Captain Topham, who, in 1774, passed some
months in Edinburgh, says that the Scotch were greatly surprised
when they learnt that this Englishman intended to spend the
winter in their capital.
' Laing's Demuurk, n, 134,
CHARACTER OF THE SCOTCH.
686
Although the Scotch universities were in the middle of the
eighteenth century inhuitely superior to those of England, and
were possessed of men whom P:uropean reputation placed far
above the professors at Oxford and Cambridge, there was hardly
to be founa a single Englishman who would send his sons to be
educated in so hated a country.
The existence of such feelings as these tended to prevent that
fusion of the two literatures by which both countries would have
been greatly benefited. But this was not all. In addition to these
national prejudices, the almost exclusively inductive, and, if I may
so say, meclianical, character of the English still further indis-
posed them to welcome the large and philosophical investigations
of their northern neighbours. The consequence was that the few
productions of Scotch literature which in our own country met
with mucli attention were of a less elevated chixracter than those
which were treated with comparative contempt. The profound
investigations of Adam Smith, which he published at an early
period of his life, excited in England but little curiosity, altliough
they were set off with every charm that language and fancy can
aftord. Even the master-piece of his intellect, the Wealth of
Nations, was not only neglected, but was treated with contempt
by such men as Johnson and Warburton.
In ^he same way the History of England, by Hume, for some
time scarcely found a single purchaser ; and yet the History of
Scotland, by Kobertson, which is infinitely its inferior, was re-
ceived \\ith transports of applause, and was considered superior
not only in learning but also in style. Indeed, the long pre-
valence of mere practical pursuits had perverted our national
taste to an almost incredible extent. One of t}>e most popular
books of the age was Smollett's History of England, a work which
at the present day scarcely any one would begin to read, and
which, I suppose, no one who made the attempt would ever live
to iinish. The discouragement tlius given to the greatest efforts
of Scotch genius, must in the ordinary course of affairs have pro-
duced injurious results, and have tended to degrade the national
literature.
The Heritable Jurisdiction Bill, in 1747, was violently opposed
by the Scotch. Three years after the battle of CuUoden, the
Scotch pride was still further wounded by a law forbidding tlie
Highlanders to wear their national garb. Kidicule was thrown
on the speech of George III. that he was "born a Briton."
During the Wilkes' riots in 1768, the inhabitants of London were
particularly indignant that a "Scotch regiment" should be
called to c^uell the disturbences.
586
FRAGMENTS.
Wedderburn, afterwards celebrated as Lord Loughborough, was
the first educated man in Scotland who ventured to practise at
the English bar ; and this was considered so hazardous an enter-
prise that, nearly twenty years after his first arrival in London,
we find Lord Chatham expressing a fear that his country would
prevent his promotion. And when Lord Bute first received his
appointment, the Spanish ambassador, then residing in London,
foretold the speedy demolition of his administration « on account
of the circumstance of his country."
Indeed, to say a man acted like a Scotchman became a pro-
verbial expression for a base action.
•
« Learning and philosophy " ma-le « atheists," said in her « last
words " Lady Coltness, the idol of the faithful.' In 1648, Baillie
the most learned and one of the most moderate of tlie cler<.-y'
wonders what any one can see in Descartes, " a very ignorant
atheist." The Eev. J. Scrimzeor " often wished that most part
of books were burned, except the Bible and some short notes
thereon." ^ Wodrow calls Locke one of the main props of tlie
Socmians and Deists. For men to be conscious of their own
abilities was blasphemous. An eclipse sent to prevent men
knowing too much. If a youth got on too fast in his studies the
Lord sent him a fever. Tutors at the universities should not
read classics, for the fathers were better; and "philosophy is
more prejudicial to piety than handiwork or manufacture." An
eclipse of the sun was sent sometimes to prevent men studying
astronomy. From the passing of the Perth Articles (which caused
a deluge) there were twenty years of barrenness, when the ground
refused to yield until the Covenant restored its fertility. We
laugh at thi8, but look at our queen and ministers offering up
prayers for cholera and for war ! ! ! In 1621, there was an inun-
dation at Perth "on account of the five episcopalian articles
passed there by the General Assembly three years before. " There
IS nothing by which a man will be more readily puffed up than
the inward gifts of the mind, if they be not sanctified, such as
wit, knowledge, eloquence, memory," &c.3 History was only
studied with a theological view, to know all about Antichrist.
The clergy wished to stop people from reading unkrlo^vn books.
Abernethy ' says that for the study and solace of the heart, " In
old times philosophers did supply this place ; but now amongst
' Select Biographies, vol. ii. p. 504.
» Fergusson on the Epistles, p. 354.
' Ho\rre's Biog. Scot. p. 131.
♦ Physicko for the Soul, p. 16.
CHARACTER, ETC., OF THE RUSSIANS.
587
Christians the fittest man is a true theologue." The clergy hated
statistics ; and Abernethy ' says Satan « caused David to^number
his people." The grass refused to grow not on account of soil or
chemical laws, but because incest was committed there. They
insisted on humility, for that secured their own power; but
they had none of it tliem«-lves. All geological speculations as
to the origin of the world before man existed were criminal.^
Nothing known in arts and trades since Jubal and Tubal Cain.^
Until man fell, he had great reason ; but now nothing is left
save « some little spunk or sparkle." " " We have some remnant of
reason in us that hath some petty and poor ability for matters
of little moment, as the things of this life." "Believing
ignorance is much better than rash and presumptuous know-
ledge." To be even suentiy conscious of superior abilities is
"a loud blasphemy in God's ear." « « Whatever wanton and las-
civious reason can object against absolute reprobation." e On the
winnowing machine, see Burton's History, vol. ii. p. 396 ; Penny's
Traditions of Perth, p. 147. It is very foolish for men to try " to
be accounted wise and learned," " seeing that our days are so few,
and tliat we are of so short continuance in the world." ^ Cockburn
says 8 men are foolishly occupied « in curious inquiries about the
motions and transactions of some remote prince which little con-
cerns them." The Scotch clergy bemoaned the "general ig-
norance ; " and to relieve it, they recommended the most trumpery
theological books."
CHARACTER, ETC., OF THE RUSSIANS.
After forty, the lower class of the Russians look old. This is
caused by the vapour bath.>« The Russians are the greatest dis-
simulators and negotiators in Europe.'^ The Russians show their
improvidence by the rapidity and want of durability with which
they build their palaces.'^ Kohl says '^ of St, Petersburgh : " There
is no other European capital where the inhabitants are t ontent to
' Fhysicko for the Soul. p. 190.
' Cowper's Heaven opened, p. 301.
» Ibid. vol. i. pp. 30, 143; vol. ii. p. 42".
' Cockburn's Jacob's Vow, p. 131.
* See A Cloxid of Witnesses, p. 56.
•" See Mayo's Philosophy of Living, 2nd edit. 8vo, 1836, p. 176.
" Alison's History of Europe, vol. vi. p. 594 ; xi. 119 ; xiii. 220
'^ See Kohl's Russia, 8vo, 1844, p. ». •» Ibid. p. 49.
* Binning, vol. i. p. 194.
* Binning, vol. i. p. 29.
" Rutherford's Christ Dying, p. 416.
» Ibid. p. 305.
II
583
JfRAGMENTS.
m
make use of j^oods of such inferior quality, or where, consequently,
they have such frequent occasion to buy new articles, or to have
the old ones repaired A Kussian seldom buys anything
till just he wants to use it ; and, as he cannot then wait, he must
have it ready to his hand."
The "fickleness" of the Russians in their purchases is extra-
ordinary.' Kohl says:=^ "The Russian is by nature a light-
hearted creature, and by no means given to reflection." Even
the population of St. Petersburgh is constantly changing, so flue
tuating and uncertain are Russian movements.3 A great passion
for reading has lately sprung up among the lower orders ;^ and
Russian authors are highly paid.* Extraordinary superstition of
die Russians. But the Greek church is, however, tolerant.^
kohl « says : "Nearly all the charitable institutions in Russia are
presided over by Russians." The merchants are German or Eng-
lish ; tor "no Russian either in Si. Petersburgh or any other part
ot the empire engages in maritin:e trade; he has neither the
knowledge nor the connection necessary thereto, still less the true
commercial spirit of enterprise." « Kohl >« ,ays : " The Russians
know so httle of those prejudices against illegitimate births which
have descended to us from the middle rges, that there is scarcely
a word m their language to express th. idea." Kohl " mentions
the extraordinary uniformity of dialect through the empire."'
Ihe Russians hke being commanded.'^ Eccentric persons are
found most commonly in England ; hardly ever in Russia.'-^ Ex-
traordinary loyalty.u The ablest governors, merchants, &c., in
Russia are from the Baltic provinces.'-"^ Walk is between Ri^a
and Dorpat; and "In Walk, the Lettish dialect is still spoken;
but just beyond it begins hhe territory of the Esthor/ s! The
Lettes and Esthonians are two very different races, and they hate
one another with all the bitter animosity of contiguous nations.'^
Kohl says: n« The peninsula of Courland, and the country round
the mouth of the Dwina, and that bordering on the Aa, are the
t^f' '^ ^'f'^. ^^ '^" ^'''^"' ^ ^i°« drawn through Livonia
from the south point of the Peipus lake, through Verro and Walk
to the Gult of Riga, would be about the boundary between tlie
two races. The Esthonians occupy the whole of Esthonia, the
* Ibid. p. 51.
Kohl's Russia, 8vo, 1844, 227.
• Ibid. pp. 61, 52,
; l^']'^- PP- «8' 223, 393. . Ibid. pp. 132. 133.
' Ibid' Z 26;'i« '^of' '''• '''.' '"'• '"'• '''' "' -"'I- 2«2- 2''>9, 354.
AMERICA.
580
CEsel Archipelago, and the northern parts of Livonia." And '
" The country bordering on the Niemen, and on its various tvibu-
tary rivers, is inhabited by Lithuanians. The country around
the mouth of the Dwina, the whole of Courland, and the southern
half of Livonia, is inhabited by Lettes." This was in 1840. At
p. 397, Kohl has a striking passage on the eminently religious
character of the Eussians.
CHARACTER, ETC., OF THE GERM/J^S.
In 1669 it was supposed that, on account of taking opium, « the
Germans are, of all nations, most continent and least addicted to
women » In Germany, the fine arts, music, and painting, are
the only points of contact between the higher and lower intel-
lects ; hence they flourish, as they did in Greece. KohP says •
" The Germans are the most loyal people in the world. They
cling to the present ; and, whatever may be the origin or nature
of the governing authority for the time being, they always show
themselves faithful to it." Neander * says that, about the tnir-
teentJi century, the German b.sl.ops became political and too
secular. Bancroft ' says that, in 1756, the question was whether
Prussia, "a Protestant revolutionary kingdom," should be allowed
to exist in the Europe of the middle ages ; and that it was to
settle this question that "France and Austria put aside their
ancient rivalry, and joined to defend the Europe of the middle
ages," with its traditions and ecclesiastical influence, against Fre-
derick the Great. In 1758, Washington took great interest in
the fortunes of P>ederick.« In 1762, the reactionary character of
our George IIL showed itself in attempting to weaken Prussia.^
At vol. 11. p. 1, Bancroft says: "The successes of the Seven
"i ears' War was the triumph of Protestantism."
AMERICA.
The fault of the Americans is the npposite of the French. With
them liberty has outstripped sr pi nm. Read the long'account
of America in vol. xiii. of Ai- or,\ History of Europe" and for
' Kohl'a Russia, p. 372.
^ Riiy's Correspon-lenco, by Dr. Laiike=iter, 8vo, 1848, p. 52.
' Russia, 8vo, 1844, pp. 395, 396.
* History of the Churoh, vol. vii. p. 296.
' History of Ami'Hcan Revolution, vol. i. pp. SIS-S]?,
Bancroft, vol. i. p. S59.
luiJ. p, 49u.
690
FBAGMEx'JTS.
proof of the great influence of the clergy, see p. 317. Hence we
find that their only ofisfiual works have been on iurisprudence '
On the intellectual independence natural to the democratic mind
see Wahrheit und Dichtung in Gcithe's Werke, Band ii. Theil ii'
p. 192.
In 1775, Congress undertook an expedition against Canada, and
Colonel Arnold summoned De la Place to surrender "in the
name of the great Jel»o'«rah and the Continental Cuagress." » hj
1774, General Lee wnt^s tliat, latterly, even the manners and
appearance of New Eni^landers had been changed, their slouching
appearand' having become erect and lirm.3 In 1778, it was saad
that not one in one hundred of the American merchants knew
anything of Freach." In 1838, the Americans were greatly im-
pressed with the importance of spreading education^ See" a
chiKsification of the works published on the United States in 183o
The Americans liave more newspapers than all Europe put toge-
ther, but the style is wretched.^ The United States are .In-
healthy; and. litth' attention being paid to improving their
towns, the Americans ar' -hort-lived ; hence the prevalence of
young men with violt-nt passions, &c.8
The Americans have done much for establishing public li-
hraries.o On the extraordinary increase of the United States
between 1840 and 1850, see Statistical Society, vol. xv. pp. 65,
66. The white porMlation is increasing more rapidly than the
l)lack.»» The Americans, in 1851, had 10,289 miles of railroad,
while m Great Britain and Scotland there were only 7,000."
Comte ''' well says that the reason why slave states, as Virginia,
have produced great politicians, is because ability being never
turned into manufectures, trade, &c., has no vent but in politics.
Segur, who was in America in 1732, speaks very highly of the
elegance of American women.''
Bancroft'* aays that, iu 1754, Washington, by " repellin<^
France from the basin of the Ohio," began the revolution by be-
ginning the movement which freed America from France and the
' Alison's History of Europe, vol. xiii. p. 345,
^ Adolphus's History of George III. vol. ii. p. 233.
' Burke's Correspondence, vol. i. p olS.
* See Parliamentary History, vol. xix. p. 940.
' Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. i. p. 383. « Ibid vol iii p 382
' Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 120, 121. « Ibid. vol. vii. pp. 26. 27, but compare p. 48.
" Ibid. vol. XI. p. 274. '^
'"Ibid. p. 67. >' Ibid. p. 111.
" Traite de Legislation, vol. iv. p. 243.
" See Mimoires de Segur, tome i. p. 387.
'♦ History of the American Revolution, 8vo, 1862, vol. i. p. 133.
AMERICA.
591
"instituhons of the middle ages.'' ' On the proportiom of American
population in 1754, see Rancroft, vol. i. pp. 144, 146. *In 1754
the English clergy sent out to Amc-rica to hold livin-^s were " too'
often ill-educated and licentious men." » The English forbad the
Americans to print a Bible; and "no trace of an American edi-
tion of the Bible, surreptitious or otherwise, previous to the De-
claration of Independence, has been found." 3 In 1765, John
Adams says, "A native American who cannot read and write is
as rare an appearance as a comet or an earthquake." * Bancroft »
says, " The exceedingly valuable history of the American Revo-
lution, by Gordon." An able American writer, who is unfavour-
able to slavery, says that a belief in the inferiority of race is " an
opinion which the most philosophical of the citizens of the South
conscientiously maintain." « The greatest astonishment was felt
at an African girl being able to read in eighteen months.^ Lord
Brougham « says, "The never-ceasing state of party agitation,
tliere being no office from the highest to the lowest, fVom pre-
sident to penny-postman, which may not be changed at each
renewal of that high functionary's term." This must educate the
people in the art of organisation, &c. Lord Shaftesbury says,
" All the powers of government are consigned to the younger
persons ; '* « and he mentions a letter from a friend of his, who
writes, "I have travelled over a considerable part of the Union,
and I do not hesitate to say that during the last two montlis I
have not met with a single old man who was in a hale condition." »»
On the energy shown by the American^ in codifying their laws,
see pp. 195-197. On persecution of Quakers in America about
1660, see Fox's Journal, vol. i. pp. 498, 499. This was hearsay ;
and Fox, who was in America in 1672, and gives ai.. arcount of
his visit (which ends at vol. ii. p. 167), does not m'.ution any
persecution.
CtENERAL remarks on national CHARACTER.
Haue'' observes that Thirlwall and Schlegel notice the import-
ance of the great extent of coast possessed by Greece, as com-
pared with the entire surface of the country. Hare adds '^ that
' History of the Americiin Revolution, 8vo, 1852, pp. 62i, 525.
^ Vol. i. p. 151 ; see also p. 156. ' Ibid, vol.'ii. pp. 302, 303.
Ibid. vol. i. p. 430.
* Bancroft, vol. ii. p. 368.
' Tucker's Life of Jefferson, vol. i. p. 122.
' Abdy's United States, vol. i. p. 166 ; and see vol. iii. p. 237.
" Transactions of Social Science Association, 1859, p. 41. » Ibid d 00
"> Ibid. p. 90. ■ ^'
» GuessBH at Truth, «rst series, p. 100. " Ibid. p. 101.
692
FRAGMENTS.
the same advantage is possessed by Italy and England. Miilcolm
says of Kurdistan,' " I travelled through the entire country in
1810; and should judge from what I have read and seen of its
inhabitants that they have remained unchanged in their appear-
ance and character for more tlian twenty centuries." See some
ingenious remarks in Laing's Denmark, pp. 204-207. He says
the Irish, French, and Scotch have a national character very
strongly marked in each individual, but have « very little indi-
viduality of character among them." The English, Americans,
Danes, Norwegians, and Dutch have both national character and
individuality ; while the Austrians, Prussians, &c., have neither
individuality nor nationality.
Laing says "nationality of character" depends on the same
people being knit together by common interests, &c., while « in-
dividuality of character" proceeds " from a higher source," and
depends on men being let alone by government. Therefore, in
the French and German drama we find no individuality, but
always the type of some class, and the same thing in painting.^
And in his Second Series of Notes ^ he says that, from Tacitus to
tlie present time the Germans have had no nationality, for " the
social cement which binds populations together into one nation
is their mutual material interests What common interest,
for instance, have the people of Bavaria, on the Danube, or on
the shores of the ^ ke of Constance, with the people on tlie Vis-
tula, or on the shoi of the Baltic ? They have nothing to ex-
change with each oi.. r." " See also Notes of a Traveller, first
series, pp. 477-481, where Laing says this is the reason the
Italians have no nationality ; their soil and climate are too srood.
INCREASE OF HUMANITY AND VIRTUE.
Because Sir Matthew Hale would not receive a present of game
from a gentleman whose cause he had to try, his refusal " was
somewhat censured as an affectation of an unreasonable strict-
ness." •'' And Burnet « mentions it, as a " remarkable instance of
his justness and goodness," that when he had received bad money
he abstained from passing it to other people.
The real difference between this and any other age is the edu-
' History of Persia, Hvo, ]829, vol. i. p. 82.
=' See also Laing's Notes of a Traveller, first series, p. 268.
• 8vo, ISoO, pp. 5U'-522. * Ibid. pp. 520-521.
» Life of Hale in Biiniet's Lives, edit. Jebb, 8vo, p. 48. ' Ibid. p. 98.
DIMINISHED SUPERSTITION. 593
than e vc-r, but ita lm»„ is larger and more .ecure.
Lvclyn, one of the most humane men of his time went in 1 «■!«
o see a ch.ld cut for the stone ; ■ and, a few mon" Iter he t?
In 1650, the Marquis of Montrose was executerl .r,^ n
Marchioness of Argyle was present with her famut f^ 1 .
die; but, before the last moment "the mnrn^ ^ ^ ^'"^
«nifo nf +K r 11 , "^i' "iwmem, toe marchioness , :pressed hfM-
■spite at tlio fallen hero by spitting at him "3 m...* .
t^.U,e^ e. opens letted Tddres'sed* to'Tther ^l^'tZ
nobles caraottoes d'un beau siMe » wi.I,!^ ? ' .""<'««?'"■'
rii-,il,>. r 1 > I siecle, wished to assassinate Est? «
Ch.i,les Comte' observes that the procuress of m,,,.,!. T v
aided by a«iy& studies.' The breeTrf c iMvC *'" 'f""
domestic animals has been improved by 'con L't r '- "'
i^perf^ct types, and the seleefion of th'e fin s^ird wrr'" T,,i!
applies m some degree to man; for neither iZI ^ •
great criminals often marry; but'the C utM tb \^^^^^^^
hit^r. rjbV^^ hr;i?ra:'^:tittStirs
^.:Seg^rr;,s:di-e:tste-^
hos^tal^gangrene, bospita. erysipelas, hospital py.^, Zj!;;!:,'
DIMINISHED SUPERSTITION.
BuRSET, in his Life of Hale, says, "In the veir irrr
opinion did run through the nation that the end of the wo n
would come that year.- " In 1632, an eclipse of «ie su*!. Zf^
' Diary, 8vo, 1827, vol. ii. p n j ru-j
; ChH,nbers-s Traclitions o/Edinb„rgh, 8vo. 1847 ^sS ''' ''■
Es.sais, Pans, 8yo, 1843, livre ii. chap. iv. p. 224
Wilson s Life of De Foe, 8vo, 1830, vol. i. p 3? '
I Samt-Aulaire, Histoire de la Fronde, tome ii. p "hi
Traits de Legislation, vol. i. pp. r,6, 60. » See also n 1 1 1
" Lives, &c. edit. Jebb, Svo, 1833, p. t08.
Q Q
I
i
594
FRAGMENTS.
ceedingly alarmed the whole nation that hardly any one would
work nor stir out of their houses." ' The Duke of Monmouth wu8
executed iu 1685. In las pockets were found charms and spells
in his own handwriting.' In 1687, Bishop Cartwright, one of the
most corrupt of men, writes,^ « Being my birthday, I made my
last will and testament."
DECLINE OF IGNORANCE.
In the reign of James II., Lord Conway, one of the ministers,
on hearing of" the circles of the empire," wondered " what circles
should have to do with politics." *
MAHOMETANISM.
The Mahometan missionaries are very judicious." Ranke « thinks
that but for the Carlovingian kings France would have been
conquered, by the Mahometans.
INSANITY.
There are four kinds— Moral Insanity, Monomania, Mania, and
Incoherence.'
According to Heinroth, all insanity is referrible to the feelings
the understanding, or the will.s Prichard says, » " Moral Insanity
consists in a morbid perversion of the feelings, affections, and
active powers, without any illusion or erroneous conviction iiii-
pressed upon the understanding; it sometimes co-exists with
an apparently unimpaired state of the intellectual faculties."
Prichard says : «<> « The existence of moral iusanity as a distinct
form of derangement has been recognised by Pinel, Traite sur
I'Alienation, p. 156," and is now generally admitted." And yet
' Evelyn's Diary, 8vo, 1827, vol. ii. p. 52.
* Keresby's Memoirs, Svo, 1831, 3rd edit. p. 312.
* Diary, Camden Society, 1843, p. 76.
* Mackintosh's Revolution of 1688, 4to, 1834, p. 6.
» See Crawford's History of the Indian Archipelago, Edinb. Svo, 1820, vol. ii. p. 307.
* Civil Wars and Monarchy in France, 1852, 8vo, vol. i. p. 16.
' Prichard on Insanity, Svo, 1835, p. 6. • Ibiii p g
* ^^''^- P- 12. '" Ibid. p. 14. » Ibid! see p. 21, 47. 60.
INSANITY.
595
in another work Prf hard ' claims for himself the first recognition
of moral insanity, though he allows^ that Georgel recognised its
existence. He says,' « The prognosis in cases of moral insanity
is ofton more utifavourable than in other forms of mental de-
rangement."
Monomania i^ often preceded by moral insanity.*
Mania or RAViva Madness is distinguished from Monomania,
first by its violence, and se.-ondly, by the fact that « the derange-
ment ot the intollect is not partial."* In this condition, the
muscular strength is great ; ; memory remains unimpaired, and
the patient escapes contagious and epidemical diseases.*'
Incoherence or Dementia.— The "ultimate tendency of in-
sanity is to pass" into this state.^ The mind is occupied by un-
connected thoughts, sometimes "witliout any symptoms of other
insanity."'
" Insanity does not consist in disease ot the sensitive or per-
ceptive powers," 9 but " in disturljance of the understanding " ; ">
though, says Prichard,>' "Perhaps we may observe in general that
the power of judging and of reasoning does not appear to be so
much impaired in madness as the disposition to exercise it on
certain subjects." There seems reason to think « that the primary
seat of mental alienation is generally in the region of the stomach
and intestines." "^ If we except congenital predisposition, the
moral causes of insanity are more freqiient than the physical
ones.'s Insanity is often connected with disorders of the heart,'*
but not with the liver." Madness is not a disease of the mind,'6
and Prichard thinks •' that even " moral nisanity depends in some
instances at least on disease of the brain." Insanity not dangerous
to life,'* Often hereditary ,'9 and aided probably by the marriage
of persons near akin.*'* It is rare before puberty,"! ^nd the longer
men live the more likely they are to be subject to it." In in-
sanity the skull is generally natural, and the brain without disease."
Insanity is, on the whole, more common among women.," but male
lunatics are most numerous in the south of France, and in Italy
(particularly in Naples) and in Great Britain ; and it is said that
the excess of male lunatics is greater in the higher than in the
Insanity in relation to Jurisprudence, p. 36.
* Treiitise on Insfinitv, p.
' Ibid. pp. 77, 78.
» Ibid. p. 116.
122.
232.
146.
165.
pp. 162. 163, 164.
28.
" Ibid, p,
'• Ibid, p
" Ibid. p.
" Ibid. p.
" Ibid
25. « Prichard, p,
' Ibid. p. 79.
'» Ibid. p. 118.
" Ibid. pp. 173, 174, 177.
" Ibid. p. 236.
'• Ibid. p. 158.
« Ibid. p. 168.
" Ibid. p. 39.
» Ibid. pp. 71, 72.
' Ibid. pp. 83, 85.
" Ibid. p. 120.
" Ibid. pp. 228, 229.
" Ibid. p. 247.
'J" Ibid. pp. 160, 161.
«' Ibid. pp. 210, 211, ai'i
<a Q
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
//
^^ .^ii^
1.0
!.l
1.25
^ 1^ 12.2
Ui
1^ illlio
■14
m
!.6
1
^ i // ^1
u
"1
V]
v^
Am
'<^.
§^.
<i
Photograpliic
Sdences
CoiDoration
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. HS80
(716) 872-4:i03
^+ ; .
&
iL^
596
FRAGMENTS.
t •. T"*'' '' ""''* ^"^"^ *° *^« i««^^e.3 Sir A. Hamdav
who paid the greatest attention to the subject, said that in 826
14 000 ?n f! 1 ' J"" f f ^' ^'^^^-^ ^"^^ i^ 1«29 Halliday say^
re on'e fntol^"!"' ''''" '^'^^^^^•" ^^ ^-"^ ^he iLal
?n rrl R ' . ' /'"'P^'^'^" ^^'^ *^^° tl^at believed to exist
n^ Great Britain and some other countries."' Among savage
mental diseases are hardly known.* As to recovery, the most un
M^ rt; "" °' """'*^ '^ complication with geLal pra ^ s »
Most recoveries are m summer.'o i„ recent cases, at least seven
out of eight recover," but there is a case of a lady re over W
after being mad twenty-five years.'^ « Esquirol observe rtrt;he
mos favourable age for recovery is between the tweSi h a'l
thir leth year, and that few are cured after the fiftieth .3 "^
^amty IS, generally speaking, more curable in women than Tn
men. Pe.liaps m all cases one-third recover.'' There is a .re2
t^^"'i:^V^'l'Z "^^"''"^ *^^ P^^P-^y «f bleeding if n
sanity,'" but Prichard is in favour of if n p„.„„x. ^
usefuVs,,, ,.^,,,, ^^, othe7::Llict>.anfrr:^^^^^^^^^^^
cause nausea and diminish the nervous p^ver.- PineYAa su^
gested that perhaps in women reason, as well as the aberra on S
reason are sooner developed than among men. George! 2 ''^that
at Ipast ninetv-five ner n^nf nf +i.^ • vxt^urgei says that
causes G^nL^t ^ J^^ ''''^''^ ^^^^^ ^^^^1' from moral
dL?se " We fi.^ r t" ?r^^ ^^"«°"« i°«-«ity as nervous
muner; fh. f , *^' Commission in Lunacy that among
paupers the female insane exceed the male by one-third- bit
among "private patients " the number of females «fal£ short
that of the males by nearly a ninth » «»
temales. At vol. iv. p. 18 of Journal of the Statistical Society,
' Pntchard, Treatise on Insanity, pp. 163 164.
Ibid. p. 164. » Thid r, i«o'
' Ibid V 332 . Tu ^" P' • ' Il>»d. p. 331.
» Ibid. 129. 12 Ibid n 1^1" ■^^"^- PP- ^^"^ ^S^-
-Ibid. p. 135. .»Ibd"p'l38 ;' Ibid. p. 13o.
" Ibid. J. 258. » iM I S '• Ibid. pp. 252^257.
'" Ibid. pp. 273, 274. ^- ^^' " I'^''^- P- 268.
*' Alienation Ment^le, p. 416. « -n- ,. -r.^!- ,-„
- See Lettres de Gui Patin, t^me i. p J ^"'"' ^^ '"'• " ^^id- P- 440.
" fuT''^ of Statistical Society, vol. iii. p. U8.
pp. 20 24.''- '''' '''' ^""^ ^°'- ^'"- P- 3^^ = «- also on the n,ortality. vol. iv.
SLAVERY.
597
It IS said « At the Middlesex Asylum, no straight waistcoats straps
or other xnstruments of personal coercion have been used s nee Se J'
ember 21, 1 839." It is said that out of 500 English one Tnsfne I
Insamty is more common among men than among women and
Esquirol and other writers who follow him in assertigranity to
be more frequent among women, have erroneously conducted their
ttat td 1.T 'T' '"'"^' '" *'^ '"^ P^^^^^^ -/-*^d to condder
that adult females are more numerous than adult males ; and, in
the second place, having estimated not the occuTTing cases, but
the m.^^.^ cases.^ In Scotland, one in every 1,139 if mad a j^
Lngland and Wales one in 1,120.^ At pp. 59-60, it is wrongly sad
that women are more prone to insanity than men. At p. 61, Dr'
Stark ascribes the frequency of insanity in Scotland to intermar-
nage ; hence less insamty in Catholic countries,' and in Ireland «
Marsden^ says of the Sumatrans, « When a man is by s^ kne'ss
or otherwise deprived of his reason, or when subject to convu -
sions or a.s they im.,gine him possessed by an evil spirit." In
Western India (about the Rajpoot country), Bishop Heber« saw
a mad woman, and « all the people called her a Moonee or Z-
J^ired person, and treated her if not with respect, at least with for-
bearance. The phenomena of insanity were formerly surveyed
rSl M^"^ '^'' f ^ ^^^'-^^^^-^ ascribed them to possession
by demons -1 Even within fifty years, madmen were shown as a
curiosity.'^ Among barbarous people the insane are respected as
inspired. Then comes the second stage, when they are believed
to be possessed by demons. Hence formerly the keeper of the
insane became hardened into cruelty.'3 Pinel says " that preiudice
and Ignorance made men believe insanity incurable '^
SLAVERY.
TocQUEviLLE >« says that even the negroes themselves often be-
lieve the inferiority of their o^vn race. In the Northern States
slavery has been abolished because the masters saw it was theS
' Journal of Statistical Soeipty, vol. iv. p. 278.
» See the interesting essay, On the relative Liabilities of the two Sexe^ m rn.„ •♦
in Journal of Statistical Society, vol. vii. pp 310-316 and ,-n 1 . , '*'''
311, 312, 314. ^^' ' "*^ '" particular, pp. 310,
' Journal of Statistical Society, chap. xiv. p. 62. < Ibid n it
* Ibid. p. 62.
' History of Sumatra, p. 156.
Journey through India, vol. ii. p. 471
"• Quote Georgel, De la Folie, p. 10,
" Pinel, Alienation Mentale, p. 350.
" See also pp. 445, 476, and pp. 263, 264, 312
" Ddmocratie en Am^rique, vol. iii. p. no.
" Ibid. pp. 53, 54.
' Ibid. p. 477.
" Ibid. p. 68. i2 Ibid. p. 294.
Ibid. pp. 404, 405,
598
FEAGMENIS.
interest to do so ; while Christianity merely attacked slavery on
the ground that it was contrary to the rights of the slave.' I
believe that slavery was necessarily abolished as soon as labour
ceased to be disgraceful, for then it was found contrary to the
interest of the master ; and as we approach the South we find
Idleness held in honour." Tocqueville' has confirmed from ex-
perience the theoretical conclusion of Adam Smith that slavery is
more costly than free labour. In France, the diminution of
slavery was slower in the domains of the church than anywhere.*
On the history and different kinds of slavery, see Comte, Traite
de Legislation, tome iii. pp. 469-535, and the whole of tome iv.
Mr. John Stanley in 1791, spoke against abolishing slavery on the
ground that St. Paul and « several other saints" had not opposed
it.« Slavery is allowed by the French Protestants in 1 637.« In 1 799
It was attempted to show that Christianity did forbid slavery.^
Comtek says that neither MacchiavelU nor Montesquieu nor
Rousseau say anything against slavery. In 1790, the celebrated
Hugh Blair writes to Bruce from Eestalrig, «I am in the same
sentiments with you about what you call the paroxysm of modern
philanthropy respecting the slave trade ; but I do not see that
you had much occasion to enter into that controversy." »
' TocqueviUe, vol. iii. pp. 156, 164. » Ibid. pp. 166, 173. • Ibid p 161
* See note in Monteil, Hist, des Fran9ai8 des Divers Etats, tome vi. p 101 ' "
* Parhamontsry History, vol. xxix. p. 315.
• See Quick's Synodicon in Gallia, 1692, vol. ii. p. 348.
' Parliamentary History, vol. xxxir. 1136, 1137.
• Traits de Legislation, vol. iii. p. 615.
' Murray's Life of Bruce, p. 279.
WORKS BT^JOHir STUART HII.
On EEPEESENTATIVE GOVEENMENT:—
Libmry Edition (the Third), 8to. 9«.
People's Edition, crown 8vo. 2s.
PEINCIPLES of POLITICAL ECONOMY, with .some of
their Applications to Local Philosophy:—
Library Edition (the Seventh), 2 vols, 8vo. 30».
•reople s Edition, croM j 8- 5s.
DISSEETATIONS and DISCUSSIONS POLITIOAT
DISSEETATIONS and DISCUSSIONS, POLITICAT
'^%Hi?oiSi^^?^ f- .Si^™LUM HAMILTON'S
W?rgr?hldtdiL^\JS^^^^^^^ Questions discussed in Lis
A SYSTEM of LOGIC. Eighth Edition. 2 vols. 8vo 26s
STEBBING'S ANALYSIS of MILL'S SYSTEM of , r jiq Second ml
revised, in 12mo. price 3s. 6d. ^>^^^m. oj j ^k,. Second Edition,
1 . i^^^^^u^;,'®. STUDENT'S HANDBOOK of MILL'S SYSTEM •/ LORTP
lately published, in crown 8vo. price 3s. 6<i o-ioiJiM •/ LOGIC,
On LIBEETY:—
Library Edition (the Fourth), post 8vo. Is. 6d.
People's Edition, crown 8vo. Is.id
UTILITAELy^ISM. Third Edition. 8vo. 5^
The SUBJECTION of WOMEN. The Third Edition.
Post 8vo. pnce 5s. A. «iwv^u.
ENGLAND and nfelLAND. Fifth Edition. 8vo. Is
CHAPTEES and SPEECHES on the lEISH LAND
QUESTION. Crown 8vo. price 2s. 6<f. -U-Vioxi XjJi.VilJ
PAELLmENTAEY EEFOEM. Second Edit. 8vo.l5.6rf.
INAUGUEAL ADDEESS at the UNR^ESITY of ST
ANDP.EWS. Second Edition, 8vo. 6s. People's Edition, crown 8vo. Is
A FEAGMENT on MACKINTOSH; being Strictures on
K-.1 1-^''t,'". *^' D'««^rtat'on ^y Sir James Mackintosh prefixed to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica. By James Mill. 8vo. price 9s. i'" *«" '^w >"e
^^^tmJ^? ""^ *^^ PHENOMENA of the HUMAN
Jv A7;v.?L'^''*Jf' ^' ^ ^r ^'^'*'°"' ^'^^ Notes, Illustrative and Critical,
L^- t^?^"* Bain Andebw Findlatee, and George Ghote. Edited with
additional Notes, by John Stuart Mill. 2 vols. 8vo. price 28s:
London : LONGMANS and CO. Paternoster Row.
LORD MACAULAY'S WORKS.
Kept on sale in the following Editions :
HISTOKY of ENGLAND, /rom the ACCESSION
o/JAMES^Ae SECOND:— *^ »^»oxwx^
Library Edition, 5 vols. 8vo. M.
Cabinet Edition, vols, post 8vo. 48s.
People's Edition, 4 vols, crown 8vo. 1 6s.
Student's Edition, 2 vols, crown 8vo. price 125.
CKITICAL and HISTORICAL ESSAYS :—
Student's Edition, 1 vol. crown 8vo. 6s.
Library Edition, 3 vols. 8vo. 36s.
Cabinet Edition, 4 vols, post 8vo. 24s.
People's Edition, 2 vols, crown 8vo. 8s.
Traveller's Edition, One Volume, square crown 8vo. 21s.
SIXTEEN ESSAYS, reprinted separately :
Warren Hastings, Is
Addison and "Walpole, Is.
Frederick the Great, Is.
Croker's Boswell's Johnson, Is.
Hallam's Constitutional History,
16mo. Is. fcp. 8vo. 6d.
Pitt and Chatham, Is.
Banke and Gladstone, Is.
Milton and Machiavelli, 6d.
Lord Bacon, Is. Lord Clive, Is.
Lord Byron and the Comic Dramatists of the Restoration, Is.
2%eC0MPLETE WORKSo/LORD MACAULAY
S^aU R^I i^ ^^'T.I^^^JT^^'"'^.- ^^"^ ^'ti°°. ^-^i^ Portrait.
8 vols. 8vo. £5. 5s. cloth ; or, £8. 8s. bound in calf.
LAYS of ANCIENT ROME :^
Illustrated Edition, fcp. 4to. 21s.
With Ivry and The Armada, IPmo. 3s. 6d.
Miniature Illustrated Edition, imperial 16mo. 10s. 6d.
SPEECHES, corrected hij Himself:—
People's Edition, crown 8vo. 3s. Qd.
Speeches on Parliamentary Reform, 16mo. Is.
MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS :—
Library Edition, 2 vols. 8vo. 21s.
People's Edition, One Volume, crown 8vo. 4s. 6rf.
MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS & SPEECHES:
Student's Edition, in One Volume, crown 8vo. price Gs.
London : LONGMANS and CC. Paternoster Row.
<Z. L
s.
ESSION
^A
/N-i
'1
y9i>.
A
{^^
> :-
Is.
li, M.
i Clive, l5.
n, Is.
ULAY.
th Portrait.
HES: