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A
SERIES OF ESSAYS
ON
THE PRINCIPLES OF EVIL.
LONDON :
C. EOWORTH AND SONS, PRINTERS,
BELL YAHO, TKMPLE BAR.
A
SERIES OF ESSAYS
ON
THE PEINCIPLES OF EVIL
MANIFESTING THEMSELVES IN THESE LAST TIMES
IN
RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, AND POLITICS.
BY
S. R. BOSANQUET, ESQ.
" AND I SAW THREE UNCLEAN SPIRITS LIKE FROGS COME OUT OF THE MOUTH
OF THE DRAGON, AND OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE BEAST, AND OUT OF THE
MOUTH OF THE FALSE PROPHET.
"FOR THEY ARE THE SPIRITS OF DEVILS, WORKING MIRACLES, WHICH GO
FORTH UNTO THE KINGS OF THE EARTH AND OF THE WHOLE WORLD, TO
GATHER THEM TO THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY."
REV. XVI. 13, 14.
LONDON:
JAMES BURNS, 17, PORTMAN STREET,
PORTMAN SQUARE.
1843.
JBRLF
1/RL
NOTICE.
THE first pages of this Work have already
appeared in the BRITISH CRITIC. It was neces-
sary to reprint them (with additions), in order
to complete the series of Essays.
a2
CONTENTS.
ESSAY I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Signs of Improvement Signs of Decline Page 1
ESSAY II.
THE FORCE OF FASHION.
In Dress In Morals In Opinions In Religious Doctrines
and Observances 11
ESSAY III.
FAILURE OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM.
In the Pursuit of Wealth Of Happiness Of Political Improve-
ment Of Wisdom 21
ESSAY IV.
DECLINE OF RELIGION IN ENGLAND.
In the Government In the Legal and Mercantile World In
the Habits of Private Life 31
Vlll CONTENTS.
Page
ESSAY V.
ENGLAND THE LEAST RELIGIOUS COUNTRY.
General Opinion of Foreigners The English in the Colonies
Small Time set apart for Religion at Home Practices of the
Mahometans, the Hindoos, the Chinese, the Greek Church,
and others Inadequate Provision for the Clergy Liberality
of the Hindoos Religious Practices of the Greeks, and Ro-
mans, and other Ancient Nations 41
ESSSAY VI.
THERE IS NO FAITH.
The Bible practically denied Excuses for this in the Habits of
Public and Private Life Motives of Conduct What Faith
is Examples Scepticism in History Scepticism produces
Credulity The Position of England 55
ESSAY VII.
NEED OF A MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY.
Want of Unity Promises to the Church Mixture of Heathen-
ism Christianity not the Ruling Principle Doctrine imper-
fect The Bible a Sealed Book Seeming Paradoxes and
Inconsistencies Language, Reasoning, and Figures of Scrip-
ture Our Minds and Tastes formed upon the Classics Our
Habits Heathen The Classics corrupt us Opinion of Jose-
phus Of Jones of Nayland A better Literature wanted
The Asiatics European Civilization Chinese Civilization
Jewish Literature 66
CONTENTS. IX
Page
ESSAY VIII.
THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST.
Spiritual Incest The Revival and Use of Heathen Learning and
Principles The Healing of the Beast Perfected after the
Reformation Aristotle the Father of Infidelity In Succes-
sive Ages Opinions of Priestley, Fleury, Luther, Dr.
Arnold Rome revived Classical Liberty Dignity and
Worship of Human Nature Age and Authority slighted
Liberty oppressive Poor and Poor-laws of Athens and Rome
Corruption of Capital Cities Theatres Gladiatorial Shows
Hearing and seeing some new Thing Spirit of Untruth
Quaker Education 107
ESSAY IX.
CONSUMMATION OF THE FINAL APOSTASY.
Character and Signs of the Times First Epistle to Timothy
Romish Errors Second Epistle to Timothy The Final
Apostasy Second Epistle of St. Peter Epistle of St. Jude
Quotation from the Rev. E. Bickersteth ,..--, .139
ESSAY X.
FALSE PRINCIPLES OF PHILOSOPHY. LIBERTY.
Liberty the Ruling Principle In Morals The Selfish System
of Morals Liberty in Education Books teach better than
Men Liberty is Sin Democracy Modern Liberty means
Power Ambition a Virtue Liberty is Licentiousness
Money-making a Virtue Luxury a Virtue Vanity a Virtue
Liberty in Religion Christianity a Step No Man answer-
able for his Creed Impunity of Crime What real Liberty is 166
X CONTENTS.
Page
ESSAY XI.
FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. PARTY.
Government independent of Religion All Secular Governments
must fail All Governments good Asiatic Governments
European Governments Party Spirit inherent in these
Manufactures and Agriculture Machinery Self-adjusting
System of Political Economy Government the Umpire
Machinery over much encouraged Its rapid Extension an
Evil Machines ought to be taxed 195
ESSAY XII.
FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE.
Decline of Profits Bad Practices among Manufacturers Mer-
chants Tradesmen Monopoly of Cheapness Advertising
System An Old English Tradesman Decline of Honesty
and Character Excessive Competition Fictitious Capital
Joint Stock Companies Lowering of Prices Cheapness not
Quality Purchasers encourage the existing Evils The Duties
of Purchasers Luxuries become Necessaries, and make a
Country Poor How to be Rich The Evils are general . .219
ESSAY XIII.
ENGLAND IS SOWING THE PRINCIPLES OF EVIL IN THE WORLD.
Present Improvement fallacious England perfects the Inven-
tions of other Nations England the Example to other
Nations Is reviving the Principles of the French Revolution
The Commercial Principle The Power of Money The
Prerogative of Trade Fraternity of Trade and Missions
Civilise first then Christianise The Missionary Williams
The Contact of Civilisation and Barbarism is exterminating
Commercial Barbarism Tyranny of Commerce 253
CONTENTS. XI
ESSAY XIV.
THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE.
Aristotle's Opinion of Commerce and Trade Opinions of other
Writers, Sacred and Profane, Modern and Ancient, respecting
Trade and Riches Great Riches an Evil to Individuals and
to States History of the Dominion of the Sea Commercial
Empires always tyrannical Maritime Warfare more cruel
than Continental Warfare The last War a War between the
Empires of Commerce and Arms The Orders in Council
The Colonial System Manufacturing Monopoly Machinery
Political Economy Money-Worship, its Perpetual Sa-
crifice . 279
ESSAY XV.
THE PROPHETIC HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE OF COMMERCE.
The Typical Empire of Tyre The King of Tyre a Type of
Antichrist The Typical Empire of Babylon The Ephah of
Wickedness of Zechariah Commercial Wickedness The
Judgment of Typical Babylon Of Typical Tyre The Mys-
tical Babylon of Revelations The Doom of Avarice Of the
Commercial Empire 323
ESSAY XVI.
THE NOISOME AND GRIEVOUS SORE.
Cruelties and Horrors in Civilised France Recent Cruelties
and Horrors Crimes and Disorders of Modern Society, in
England In France Social Disorganization Civil Wars and
Revolutions Commercial Distresses Miseries of the Work-
people Demoralization of the Working classes National
Debts Commercial Frauds American Banks Increase of
Crime Pauperism The New Poor-law The Workhouse
Test Its Effects . . 347
Xll CONTENTS.
Page
ESSAY XVII.
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
Another Dark Age possible The Press no Guarantee against
it Ephemeral Literature may destroy the Higher Tastes
Knowledge our Summum Bonum Science makes us Blind
Moral Philosophy is extinct among us Philosophy is shallow
and Puerile Tends to Indifferentism and Confusion Our
Idea of Education confounds Religion and Learning Which
are opposite Principles The Education Heresy Education
increases Crime Apostasy of Learning 393
ESSAY XVIII.
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST.
His number is Six Hundred Threescore and Six . . . 426
ESSAY I.
INTRODUCTORY.
SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT SIGNS OF DECLINE.
NOTHING is more difficult than to determine whether
society is advancing or retrograding : in another view,
whether there is more good or evil in the world ; which
of them is increasing the most rapidly, and which is
predominating. Perhaps this is a question which it is
beyond the province of sound wisdom to endeavour to
decide. It may be wiser to leave all comparisons, and
to combat evil and promote good simply, wherever the
opportunity may be found. It is also most difficult to
compare past time with the present, and to resolve,
upon the whole balance sheet of failings and improve-
ments, whether the present times are worse or better
than those which have last, or long before, preceded
them. " Say not, Why were the former days better
than these ? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning
this."
Nevertheless in particulars we may praise or blame,
B
2 INTRODUCTORY. [ESSAY I.
and hold up the mirror to society, and show to it its
features in all their beauty and deformity, actual and
comparative ; and if our own opinions should creep out,
of all or each of them, why, we need not much care to
disguise or qualify them, when we see that a good
purpose may be served by the disclosure.
Let us first review in outline the broad and promi-
nent features to which those men would refer who con-
tend that the world is advancing, and on which they
rest their case, that it is tending to perfection. Let us
then place before us some of the most obvious circum-
stances which make it doubtful, whether we be indeed
advancing so rapidly and successfully as many sanguine
theorists delight to hope, and venture to be assured of.
One thing that we are most certain of, is the great
advance in civilization ; the morals and manners of the
world are year by year much refined and softened.
I have especially the testimony of an officer who has
been thirty years in India, and he assures me that the
manners of the people are very greatly improved
since he left England. Among the rich there is less
swearing, drinking, indecency of habits and conversa-
tion. At table, or in the club-room, not an improper
word is uttered, and religious topics may be discussed
freely. In the streets the common people are well-
behaved and orderly, and both in language and manners
are becoming and decent. This is confirmed by other
septuagenarians.
Look at the order with which the business, and the
vast concerns and trade of this mighty empire, and its
metropolis, are conducted ; the ten thousands of vehi-
ESSAY I.] SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT.' 3
cles, and the hundreds of thousands of persons who
daily crowd each other in our streets and offices, almost
without inconvenience or impediment ; uninterrupted by
the pressure and importunity of thronging mendicants,
and the sight of squalid misery, and say, is not this
the triumph of civilization ! Look at the increased
width of our main streets, the magnificence of the shop-
fronts (2000 pounds for the front of a gin-palace, and
120 guineas for a single pane of glass), the splendour
and taste and beauty of the articles exposed in them,
the sewers, the water companies, the gas lights, the
wood pavements, and say, are not these the triumph
of civilization ! Look at the general diffusion of com-
forts and luxuries, the lowest orders well clothed, and
making common use of the productions of the East and
West Indies ; the increased length of life, and great
improvements in surgery and medicine, the accumu-
lation of wealth, the extension of empire, the steam-
engines, the rail-roads, the new sciences, the rapid
discoveries, the progress of the fine arts, the power of
machines, the triumph of mind over matter, the exalta-
tion of the human mind, the triumph of intellect, and
say, is not all this perfect civilization !
But there are other points which philosophic and
thinking men will approve even more highly than these.
The progress in legislation and legislative wisdom
stamps the era with a still higher character. The
broad base which is being given to political govern-
ment, by the extension of rights to the people ; the
elevation of the people to a fitness for thpse rights by
political knowledge and education ; the greater cheap-
4 INTRODUCTORY. [ESSAY I.
ness of knowledge ; the appetite and effort to enjoy it,
in mechanics' institutes and other societies ; the dispo-
sition to associate in large and friendly bodies for com-
mon purposes, whether clubs or otherwise ; the won-
derful uniformity and simplicity the very triumph of
mechanic art now being introduced into administrative
government ; the solution of the deep perplexing pro-
blem of the poor, and poor relief; the substitution of a
simpler and better scheme of provision for the Church
than that of tithes the expediting and cheapening of
law proceedings ; the humanizing and softening the
public mind and disposition, by a more lenient code and
less frequent executions : by reformation instead of
punishment ; all these are proofs of unexampled pro-
gress in legislative wisdom and operation. And even
these are exceeded by the ground gained in establishing
the grand principle of toleration, the emancipation of
the human mind from the dogmas of sects, and the
authoritative opinions of churches in matters of religion,
which can never attain to its power and perfection
except under the perfect freedom and unfettered exalta-
tion of the human mind and intellect the great doc-
trine of liberty !
Let the still more sober and serious thinking ob-
servers reflect on the decline of avowed infidelity
scarcely such a person is to be found as a professed
unbeliever ; let them consider the much greater activity
of the clergy; let them witness the increased number
of church-goers, not women only, but men ; the vast
subscriptions for building churches, which are rapidly
growing in number on every side ; the increase of
ESSAY I.] SIGNS OF DECLINE. 5
charities ; the greater attention to the poor by visiting
societies, and to their children in the factories; the
missions extending into and rooting themselves in all
parts of the world, as though the conversion of the
nations were now immediately to be accomplished ; the
free, rapid, and constantly growing communication be-
tween the most distant parts of the earth ; the abolition
of the slave trade ; the emancipation of slaves !
We must be dull and obstinate not to be concluded
by all these evidences. But, nevertheless, as there
must always be two sides to a question, I will first
mention a few of the most obvious points which render
the conclusion less certain at least ; afterwards I shall
enter more searchingly into the particular principles by
which the question must ultimately be resolved, whether
we be indeed advancing, by long and hasty strides, to
perfection, or to ruin.
One thing is certain, that we are progressing rapidly.
Whether in luxury and wealth, or knowledge, or art,
or invention and discovery, or liberty and liberality,
all must confess that the ratio of advance has been and
is increasing, and must increase with accelerating velo-
city ; and that the tendency, if not the end of all this,
must very soon prove itself, for good or for evil. Let
us endeavour to outstrip the very rapidity of this flight
by a free but reasoned anticipation.
I will now invite attention to a few of the most pro-
minent points which make it doubtful, whether our
improvement in morals, religion, and prosperity, be
really so rapid or general ; reserving, for more particular
and detailed inquiry, the questions which must determine,
6 INTRODUCTORY. [ESSAY I.
upon grounds of reason and principle, whether in each
department and topic, and on the general balance of
the movements of the social machine, things are in
reality progressing towards a good or a bad conclusion.
The general morals are improved ; but drunkenness
is so increased that 30,000 persons are estimated to die
annually from intemperance. The general manners are
softened ; but crime continually increases ; and a new
police force is required, both in town and country, to
repress the increasing crime and turbulence of the
population. " The riots and alarm consequent upon
public meetings have increased the demands for the
military force." And as Lord John Russell goes on to
say, in moving (July, 1839) for the rural police,
" Many districts have in the present time become
peopled with a manufacturing and mining population,
and in one of them the want of a police force has been
so much felt, in consequence of the great increase in
the number of crimes and depredations, and in the law-
less habits of the disorderly part of the community,
that, after two or three years' complaints, two bills have
been introduced into parliament during the present ses-
sion, with the view of meeting the evil."
The wealth of the nation is increasing vastly ; but
the revenue is hardly collected; the public debt in-
creases in time of peace ; and the country is more and
more pauperized annually and hourly. Trade is more
active and extensive, and shops are more splendid ;
but profits are everywhere lowered ; the difficulties of
trade are greater; and bankruptcies are multiplied.
Luxuries and comforts are more in number in houses
ESSAY I.] SIGNS OF DECLINE. 7
and dress ; but rents are lower ; and every one has
greater difficulty in living, and maintaining himself in
his own station. The poorest persons have shoes and
stockings, and the labouring classes have comfortable
and even elegant clothing; but labourers' wages are
reduced from the value of twenty-four loaves to that of
twelve and fifteen, in a period of a hundred and fifty
years. Where once was sociable and merry England,
we have care and caution in the countenance of the
rich man, in the working man discontent, in the poor
man misery and depression. Hospitality is well nigh
forgotten. Education is extended, and political know-
ledge ; but classes are more separated and distinct
from one another; men are more solitary, selfish, and
individualized ; and chartists and socialists and pan-
theists rise up to deny the principles of society and
humanity ; and the only excuse we have for it is, that
we must go through great struggles and evils before we
can arrive at the happy consummation. The struggles
continue, but the end does not appear in sight.
Our political wisdom and mercantile progress have
taught the world to cultivate the arts of peace ; but
the largest standing armies are maintained that ever
existed ; the train has been laid for war and lighted,
with every neighbour of our vast empire, and others
than our neighbours ; and of late we were ready to
fight with our most powerful ally, for the mode of
effecting an object in which we were, agreed. The
emancipation of slaves is a great measure ; but let us
look at the children in our factories. Longevity is in-
creased among the richer classes ; but in Glasgow the
INTRODUCTORY. [ESSAY I.
mortality has grown from one in thirty-six to one in
twenty-five, in seventeen years; and in other towns
nearly in the same proportion.
After the moral and social and political, we come to
the religious improvement. And of this we must remark,
that it cannot be classed with the rest, and used in aid
of them ; for it is antagonist to them. The religious
movement is carried on by an opposite party to those
who would rest the improvement of mankind upon the
points which we have adverted to. The increased acti-
vity and influence of the Church is dreaded by these
men. The clergy are hateful to them ; and their name
and opinions are hooted at in the House of Commons, by
those who would halloo and hasten on the prevailing
movement of society to the perfection towards which
they think it tends, and deem it capable of.
The question here then is, whether religion and reli-
gious influence is able to contend with its opponent : is
increasing faster than its antidote ? Men are confess-
edly choosing their side; activity is in all quarters; each
side is rallying itself and gathering strength; we are
increasing our standing armies ; we are ready and eager
to rush to battle with a mighty and deadly collision,
though we are agreed upon the topic of improving and
perfecting the condition of human nature.
The activity of the Church is greater than it was ;
but so is that of Popery, Dissent, and Unitarianism.
Many new churches are being erected ; but the popula-
tion increases faster than the churches increase. Fresh
attention is given to the poor by visiting societies ; and
inquiry is made into the condition of the children in
ESSAY I.]. SIGNS OF DECLINE.
factories ; but are any of these adequate to the growth
of the evil, or are all of these things more than the neces-
sities arising out of a very bad state and system ? or are
they proofs of progress and soundness, any more than
the use of doctors and strong medicines is the evidence
of health ?* Where two spring up in the place of each
one, the cutting off one or more of the hydra's heads is
no evidence of his destruction.
The Sabbath is more strictly observed by some few ;
but Sunday travelling has very greatly increased. A
few country towns have refused to receive letters on
Sunday; it is because the government proposed to
transmit letters through London on that day. The
tithe question is settled by a commutation ; it is be-
cause the very name of tithes is hated; and people
were more ready to pay tithes even to the absentee
lay-rector than to the resident clergyman. Pledges of
temperance are taken, and of total abstinence; but
they are strong and artificial medicines, proving the
aggravation of the disease.
Our missions of Christianity are extended every-
where ; but the curses of our commercial spirit always
attend them, and are so great, that the monarchs of
China and Sandwich are forced to prohibit on pain of
death the gin and opium which the propagators of
Christianity introduce ; and contact between European
* " Where laws are many, voluminous, and intricate, 'tis a certain
sign of a very unsound constitution : like a sick man's apartment filled
with glasses and gallipots." The Art of Government by Parties, 8vo.
1701, p. 82. The vast digests of the Roman law were made in the
decline of the empire.
B5
10 INTRODUCTORY. [ESSAY I.
and barbarous manners is not productive of civilization,
but extermination.
These are some points which warrant us in doubting
the rapid approach towards perfection with which we
are urged to flatter ourselves. They do by no means
conclude the question. We must continue to pursue
the subject by a more perfect exposure of the changing
habits and principles of European society, and a more
intimate dissection of them.
ESSAY II.
THE FORCE OF FASHION.
IN DRESS IN MORALS IN OPINIONS IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES
AND OBSERVANCES.
To ENABLE us to take a dispassionate view of the general
tendency of society, it is necessary that we should have
a correct knowledge of the influence of fashion, and
make a just estimate of its force in forming our opinions
upon all subjects. In common and passing topics this
force need hardly be considered. In matters of great
and permanent concern, it requires to be observed and
estimated almost more than any other. The moon has
one motion round the earth ; which is sufficient to be
considered, in calculating the changes during one single
revolution of it. But it has another motion round the
sun, under the influence of the earth, and as its satellite ;
and this requires to be considered, in estimating its
power and place at different seasons. Neither ourselves
nor the earth have any perceptible motion round its
axis, or round the sun; and no use could arise from
considering any such motion, in reckoning our day's
march, or the projection of a cannon ball. But if the
question were to be, whether we should fall within the
12 THE FORCE OF FASHION. [ESSAY II.
lash of the tail of a comet, or should have light for
three hours more, or summer three months hence, this
consideration would be the chief and most important
topic ; and any one who calculated by clocks only, or
the last week's experience, would be deceived greatly.
So it is in topics of high interest and importance in the
affairs of life.
Nothing can be a higher treason against taste than to
call a lady's new bonnet whimsical ; though two months
ago she would not have endured to look at such a thing,
and in two months more she will call it hideous.
Nothing can be a greater offence against the enlighten-
ment of the age, and the majesty and wisdom of society,
than to question the capability to arrive at all truth by
pursuing the train of thought, and the course of study
and investigation, in which the world is at present busy,
and occupied expectingly.
It is in the nature of things, that the public mind
should not be able to perceive its own errors and de-
ficiencies. Individual minds may sometimes distrust
their own views and opinions, by collision and com-
parison with other opinions and minds, exercising an
antagonist influence. But the general mind, being one
and alone, and having and desiring no subjects of com-
parison, is led onward, and leads on those who follow
and are governed by it, irresistibly, in a blind, and as if
infallible course.
The mind which gives itself up to be ruled by fashion
and the force of example, being completely enveloped
by the medium in which it is suspended, is like one in
a balloon, unconscious of the motion of the vehicle
ESSAY II.] THE FORCE OF FASHION. 13
which bears him onward. The only possible means by
which he can ascertain his direction and progress is by
keeping his eye fixed on some known objects, the facility
of which is diminished in proportion as they become
distant. But if the shades of night should overtake
the aeronaut, or even if a mist or gloom should shut
out distant objects from distinct vision, the voyager
must pursue his course in perfect ignorance ; the winds
and currents may sweep along, but he cannot perceive
them ; storms may rush over the earth, spreading ruin
and producing changes and devastation, but he must be
unconscious of them ; he feels no storm or current
rushing beside him ; he cannot tell, having no relative
motion with the medium he is dependent in, whether
his course is backward or onward, or what is the rate of
it, or even whether he and all nature be not still and
stationary; for all around him at least is calm, and
constant, and peaceful, and contenting.*
But even should he be able to guess rightly the
direction of his motion, how can he estimate the rapidity
and extent of it.*j- " Add to this the uncertainty that
from henceforth began to pervade the whole of our
course, an uncertainty that every moment increased
as we proceeded deeper into the shades of night, and
* " The absence of all currents of air is one of the peculiar cha-
racteristics of aerial navigation." Monck Mason's Description of the
Nocturnal Voyage of the Nassau Balloon, (at the average rate of about
thirty miles an hour,) p. 32. Thirty miles an hour is the rate at which
the wind travels in a moderate storm.
f " To this step, the uncertainty in which we necessarily were, with
respect to the exact position we occupied, owing to our ignorance of
the distance we had come, especially determined us." Ibid. p. 38.
14 THE FORCE OF FASHION. [ESSAY II.
became further removed from those land-marks to which
we might have referred in aid of our conjectures, cloth-
ing everything with the dark mantle of mystery, and
leaving us in doubt more perplexing even than igno-
rance, as to where we were, and whither we were pro-
ceeding."*
How true and lively a picture does this description
present of the benighted mind, travelling onward, on-
ward, with the current of fashion and opinion : ever
thought the best, while always shifting; and all its
greater and more permanent changes unperceived by
those who look not out of the mist of doubt and igno-
rance which partially, at all events, envelopes all sub-
jects of human knowledge and occupation. *f-
In the Saturday Magazine, No. 428, for March 2,
1839, there is a frontispiece of about twenty different
* Monk Mason's Description, &c., p. 28.
t In the British Critic, No. 61, pp. 241, 242, there is a forcible
passage upon this subject of the effect of habit in opinion. " When
any evil has existed for a great length of time it becomes self-sup-
ported and self-defensive. One ramification balances another. Col-
lateral forms of the error, like the bastions of a fortification, furnish
mutual protection. A wide-spread contagion corrupts both the ordinary
ways of action, and the rules of judgment, practice as well as theory.
Words, works, and thought, are brought into perfect unison. Every
avenue of sense and reflection is vitiated. The heresy produces the
medium through which it is seen, &c." " Error becomes then at last,
we say not so specious and plausible, but so absolutely, so sensibly, so
demonstrably true, that it is as difficult to doubt one's own existence,
as the existence of those manifest axioms and realities with which
one's own existence seems inseparably connected, and which appear
the very elements of our being, &c." " Hence may be seen what a
work of works it is to oppose with effect any long standing spirit of
error." The whole passage is worth consulting.
ESSAY II.] IN DRESS. 15
ladies' head-dresses, of the 15th, 16th, and 18th
centuries. One only differs from another, throughout,
in the oppositeness of absurdity. One is like a coach-
box and hammercloth ; another like a pyramid ; a third
is an inverted pyramid, with a fat cushion at top; a
fourth has a thick club pigtail ; a fifth has lappetts three
quarters of a yard long on the sides ; another the same
at the back ; another is square behind the head ; another
is round at the top of it ; in one the face is looking out
as if at a tent door ; and each and all of them together
have much more cushion than head to them.
At one season, about fifty years back, it was the
fashion for ladies to have the two sides of their head
dressed in different modes ; the one side was plain, the
other frizzed and curled ad libitum.
Now all these patterns of outward fashion and dress,
are just so many parallels and representations of as
many fashions of mind and opinion, which have severally
prevailed, at so many similar intervals of time, perhaps
not much further apart than those at which these dif-
ferent head-dresses have been approved and adopted.
Each of these was admired in its time, and thought
alone consistent with good taste, and was necessary to
a walk in good society; and without as great an ac-
commodation to the current opinions of the world, in
philosophy and morals, we are equally unfitted to mix
with and to pursue our walk creditably in it.
We are not easily made aware of the rapid and sudden
effects of fashion, and of its irresistible influence.
Even the most violent and the most unwelcome changes,
though at first they may be highly offensive, and ridi-
16 THE FORCE OF FASHION. [ESSAY II.
culed, are, through example, in a very short time adopt-
ed. These are great and rapid it is true, in proportion
to the weakness of mind and character of those who
are led captive by them ; but still we are all weak, and
as children, in this respect, and the strongest mind
ultimately yields itself their prisoner. Fashion makes
every strange thing agreeable and acceptable. The
usual process is this : We at first ridicule a new fashion
in dress, and resolve never to adopt it ; next, the eye
becomes accustomed to it ; then it becomes tolerable ;
soon after, we admire it ; and, lastly, we order the very
same thing ourselves. It is the same with vice. At
first we are disgusted by it ; by frequently seeing it, it
becomes less offensive in our eyes ; next it seems tole-
rable ; then excusable ; and very soon after we like and
approve ; and lastly we practise it.* Again, likewise,
in a new science, or theory, or opinion ; at first the new
style of thought, and reasoning, and language, is diffi-
cult and absurd. By the time we have mastered the
few first principles, the train of thought becomes intel-
ligible ; then ingenious ; then curious and interesting ;
at length, when the theoiy has been completely
mastered, the principles are admired and approved, and
lauded to the skies as most true and certain, and im-
* The lines of Pope will be recollected :
" Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated needs but to be seen ;
But seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace."
Essay on Man, 2nd book, 1. 216.
See Archdeacon Samuel Wilberforce's Sermon, on the Danger of De-
praving the Moral Sense.
ESSAY II.] IN MORALS IN OPINIONS. 17
portant, and masterly. Lastly, in doctrine and contro-
versy, if fashion will but lay before us, and induce us
to give attention to the positions of the least approved
and most opposite party, then we shall first listen to
them with the smile of pity and incredulity, as to the
language of a madman ; then we shall begin to under-
stand, and shall confess that at least there is a shape
and method in the madness ; then the parts will be seen
to fit and cohere together, and to form a rational
system ; then it is a beautiful ; then a sublime system ;
and then at length it sets at nought all other systems,
and is absolute truth, and wisdom, and perfection.
Fashion can give an infallible interpretation to a
text : as in the doctrine of the keys, and transubstan-
tiation. Fashion can blind our eyes to a positive com-
mand : as when the Jews kept neither the sabbatical
year, nor the passover. The feast of tabernacles was
never kept from Joshua to Nehemiah.* Fashion can
kill or give life to a prophecy or a type. We are now
interpreting as of the Jews promises which had for ages
been applied to Christians generally. The Mahometans
are now giving a spiritual interpretation to the sensual
promises and threatenings of their Koran. Ten years
ago the Christians were called dogs by the Turks ; now
they are admired by them and imitated in everything.
Ten years since the Roman Catholics and Dissenters
were trodden underfoot; since that they have been
almost uppermost; and the Dissenters, at least, are
now very likely to lose all, and more than all their
* Nehem. viii. 17.
18 THE FORCE OF FASHION. [ESSAY II.
ground again. At the same time, the Methodists, not
many years since entirely condemned by the Church,
are of late years considered to have revived its spirit,
and supplied its deficiency. Twenty years since benefices
were generally regarded merely as livings, as much the
property of the clergy as any estate, the only tenure of
which was the duty on a Sunday ; but now the spiritual
cure is being regarded as the principal, and is extended
through every week-day, and the duties of it are wear-
ing out the clergy by excessive labour. Even church-
building and almsgiving might become as common and
generally esteemed as party spirit and education.
These changes are not all for the better and the
wiser; and there is no security in the dismissal and
despising of a fashion, that it may not come back, and
be as highly approved again, or that the most modern
fashion may not be as absurd as any of the preceding.
Among the Greek and the Russian priests, the beard is
the sign of dignity. In England, we have cut off the
beard ; and we have since put our judges into wigs :
preferring the artificial to the natural ensign of age and
gravity. The Chinese despise us for being, as it appears
to them, naked; and Lord Amherst was forced to
envelope himself in a doctor's robe, in order to present
himself with decency to his Celestial Majesty. In
1811, our ladies dressed nearly as tight as our men;
but now they swell and bustle themselves out nearly to
a Chinese corpulency. Was the use of trunk hose, in
which you might carry a wardrobe, a greater absurdity ?
The dresses of our great- grandmothers have very nearly
returned into use ; and even, instead of a hoop, we have
ESSAY II.] IN MORALS IN OPINIONS. 19
now only substituted a horse-hair petticoat. There is
not much to choose between these several modes and
tastes. One is not much better or wiser than another.
The only error can be in supposing the prevailing taste
to be most rational and the best. In fashions of mind
and opinion we change and re-change with a no less
rapid facility; only the subjects are apt to be more
serious, and of more important consequence. The last
fashion and theory in politics, in geology, in mesmerism,
in phrenology, and often in theology, is just as wise
and stable, and as well founded in reason, as your wigs
and whimples, and your low heads and high heads, and
short waists and long waists, and large bonnets and
little bonnets, and your hoops, and flounces, and trains,
and tails, and hair petticoats.
If such be the effect of fashion where the changes
are sudden and rapid, if its power be so great to
reconcile us to subjects which have once been hateful
and opposite to us, what must its strength be where
there has been no opposition, no apparent error or con-
trariety ; but every change has been gradual and pro-
gressive : each stage and step rising up out of the last
with an easy gradation ; and no ascent has ever been
steep enough to cause a stumble or exertion, or even to
draw notice and attention. So the human reason has
gradually gained ascendancy over revelation and faith,
in England; so the Genevan Church have gradually
digressed from Calvinism to Unitarianism ; the Luthe-
rans to Mysticism.
With these likelihoods and illustrations, and these
20 THE FORCE OF FASHION. [ESSAY II.
examples before us, let us allow something at least for
this prejudice, against ourselves, and the present fashion
in opinion, in all our discussions of the great topics
upon which our judgment must turn in estimating our
political, moral, and religious state and progress, and
comparing them with those points in which other people
and nations, and other generations, differ from us in
opinion, manners, habits, and principles.
ESSAY III.
FAILURE OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM.
IN THE PURSUIT OF WEALTH OF HAPPINESS OF POLITICAL
IMPROVEMENT OF WISDOM.
WE have noticed above, in the first Essay, when com-
paring some of the most obvious symptoms of decline
and improvement, the increase of pauperism, the de-
crease of religious reverence and good will towards the
clergy, the difficulties of trade, the increase also of crime,
of drunkenness, turbulence, and the greater separation
of the different orders ; so that we cannot with reason
call ourselves a happy, quiet, and contented people. I
will now endeavour, by a somewhat closer and more
intimate view, to show that those points in which we
most particularly pride ourselves that our riches and
wisdom are not altogether so prosperous and great;
and that far from leading us to the many great results
which we fondly attribute to them, they are producing
many of the opposite effects to those for which we ex-
pressly and confidently pursue them. Power, pro-
sperity, happiness, ease, contentment, freedom, stability,
permanence, virtue, truth, are among the ends which
we would set before ourselves, as the results of all our
labours, in learning and philosophizing, and political
22 FAILURE OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM. [ESSAY III.
economy and money-getting. It will appear that these
ends are not arrived at, but are defeated and thwarted
and placed further off at an immeasurable distance, by
the very instruments and means which we choose and
exercise, with the confident assurance of their attain-
ment.
The use of riches is to spend them to spend them
according to our wishes and choice, and without com-
pulsion of another man's will, of authority, or circum-
stance. What we pay in taxes and rates is not enjoyed ;
it is a diminution of our fortune for the protection of
the remainder. What is paid in rent is scarcely more
willingly paid than the mortgage interest of a debt,
contracted for past pleasures, or the mortgaged taxes
annually and everlastingly due, for former national
excesses and aggrandizement. Nor is the enjoyment of
a grand and roomy house and grounds, when by use it
has become necessary to us, greater than that of a trim
and tiny box, or snug villa, at fifty or thirty pounds
a-year, when we have been used to nothing more grand
and ennobling.
All our luxuries and comforts are growing more and
more into the nature of necessaries, and current expen-
diture ; so that, though comfort and luxury and magni-
cence are incomparably greater at this time, in compari-
son with any other former time in England, or any other
country, yet the proportion and amount which in each
rank and station any person can call his own, and use
at any given moment according to his discretion and as
it pleases him, is daily diminishing. There never was a
time when greater indisposition was shown to pay tithes
ESSAY III.] IN THE PURSUIT OF WEALTH. 23
and taxes and rates and public imposts. The revenue
is most difficult to raise, and, even in the time of peace,
is by no means equal to the expenditure. We are
getting deeper into debt. Rich folks cannot afford to
be liberal and hospitable ; the current expenses and
style of living, and their establishment, is too great to
bear it. We cannot provide sufficiently for our poor.
The clergy are very inadequately paid; and yet their
endowments are called enormous, and are grudged to
them. There never was a time when liberality could
less be attributed, as giving a name and character to the
age or habits of the nation. Economy is the national
ensign and watchword and characteristic. Anything
that tends to economy in expenditure, that is, not to
the moderation of expenses, but to the attaining of the
greatest possible amount and quantity of luxury at a
given cost, that is, at the full extent of our incomes,
is accepted and hailed as wise and admirable. Luxury
and economy, namely, the producing of the greatest
possible amount of magnificence and comfort, of envied
appearance and style, and personal enjoyment, at the
least possible expense, is the great problem for solution,
the great aim and object in private life. And in public
life and government, whatever is free and liberal, and
self-denying and moderate, is shunned and avoided
and out-reasoned, and is not found consistent with
sound policy, and modern enlightenment, and the wis-
dom of the age, and the general good of mankind, and
political economy. How can a country and age be en-
joying its riches, in which economy is almost the only
thing valued and vaunted, and is of absolute necessity ?
24 FAILURE OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM. [ESSAY III.
Such is the condition and character of the rich. If
we descend to the poor, there we shall find every suffer-
ing and consequence of poverty increased, and con-
stantly increasing with every increase of riches, and
always in the greatest intensity in the very neighbour-
hood of the greatest accumulation of riches, and riot of
luxury. Certainly, if the use of riches is the enjoyment
of them, the increase of them, in this country at least,
has miserably failed in its intention and object.
It has been too much lost sight of, that the prosperity
and riches of the country ought not to be promoted
irrespective of the prosperity and happiness of the peo-
ple. But there is no difference. It is impossible for
that to be wise and just and politic in a state, which is
not just and politic in the case of a private person.
But upon the facts it appears, and it may be made
more clearly and fully to appear, by pursuing the sub-
ject, that neither individually nor nationally, is the
country happier or more prosperous, from great and
unlimited increase of riches, and its rapid accumulation.
The riches and luxuries of the country are increased
about one-fifth perhaps in ten years,* the taxes in the
same time are diminished : yet retrenchment is the
one thing called for, and the sufficient answer when
any good thing is required to be done, as to build
and endow churches ; the collection of the revenue is
so difficult as to be the ground of many demoralising
provisions, such as the spirit duties and beer shops, to
support it, and many grievous fetters upon trade and
Col. Sykes's Paper, Trans, of the Statistical Society, 1839.
ESSAY III.] IN THE PURSUIT OF WEALTH. 25
maijufactures ; the toil and uncertainty of getting a fail-
subsistence by trade and labour is increased and in-
creasing, so that agriculture and manufactures are
alike calling out for protection and extension, lest they
should be ruined ; and the hours of rest and religion,
and the season of youth and growth, must be trenched
upon, and not too much protected by the legislature,
lest the making a sufficient gain and profit should be-
come impossible. Is it not strange, that in these ad-
vanced times, this march of civilization, riches, and
wisdom, we should not be able to sacrifice anything to
happiness or duty, but must be struggling for existence !
The one prevailing character of the men of the pre-
sent day, is a credulous belief in systems, and a scep-
tical blindness towards facts. Thus, it is proved upon
system, that machinery must create employment for a
greater number of workmen ; must bring more leisure
to those employed, by giving greater effect to their
labour; must create a demand more than propor-
tioned to the increased supply ; and render profits
easier. And we are by no means shaken in this
theory, by seeing that wages are constantly becoming
lower and lower; that the means of living are more
difficult ; that more and more work-people are out of
employment ; that men have less leisure than ever for
religious duties, for good offices to the public and the
poor, and for amusement ; that machines glut the mar-
kets, being subject to no control or limit, and bring
loss upon the whole trade, which agriculture never can
do ; that improvements are so rapid, that each new in-
c
26 FAILURE OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM. [ESSAY III.
vention overtakes the last, before the profits have fairly
paid the prices of the old machines.
Reforms and revolutions are projected and carried
out, for the sake of promising theories; people are
enamoured of them of experiment and change. The
machine of society is convulsed and shattered. Oh !
we have a great deal to go through first, before the new
order of things can be settled, and the blessings of it
be made apparent. Another new reform is again pro-
jected and insisted upon ; old things are passed away,
and the new ones have not yet obtained for themselves
the respect of time ; and the new theory and experi-
ment is carried into effect. The machine is again
convulsed and dislocated. Oh ! we have still a great
deal to go through, it is said again, before a complete
regeneration. The promise and fancy of future bless-
ings obtains multitudes of worshippers, with an implicit
and zealous credulity: the experience of a reign of
terror, the mutual malice and butcheries of a civil war,
the organization of armed conspiracies and insurrections,
the present miseries, discontent, hatred, fear, contempt
of law and government, all that is seen and felt, and all
realities and present effects, are disregarded as proofs,
and held to be deceptive ; but the expectations of theory,
however long delayed, are held certain. On this ac-
count we do not perceive, that modern constitutions are,
like modern houses, built less and less for stability :
being of plaster for stone, and set upon stilts, and pulled
about and rebuilt to suit the changes of fashion and
taste ; and that while the ancient states of Christendom
have been established for ages, the modern govern-
ESSAY III.] IN THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. 27
ments are, like the modern houses, most sure to be
overthrown, so soon as the moral earthquake shall in-
vade them which is coming over the earth.
Respect for parents and governors is an antiquated
prejudice ; and equality of children and subjects to their
parents and governors, is now an established maxim of
liberty and enlightenment. The correcting operation
of filial piety and obedience, among those nations which
encourage it, and the simple fact of the perpetual exist-
ence of the Chinese government, which is entirely
founded upon this principle, is not of the value or weight
of a straw, to prove to us, that our contrary course is
tending to a total disunion and disintegration of society,
and to insure, like every other branch of our policy, the
instability and dissolution of our empire.
The same ultra-liberty and conceit of itself makes the
present generation, and each individual of it, rise up
against the parental authority and wisdom of all former
times, and deem its own knowledge superior to their
experience; not considering or comparing the simple
matter of fact probability, of the experience and infor-
mation of one individual or generation being equal to
that of a hundred generations of able and active men,
urged onward by the same motives and impulses as
themselves. May we not perchance lose more by de-
spising the ancient wisdom and learning, and the accu-
mulated stores of ages, than we can gain, however well
directed and diligent, by depending upon ourselves.
But in fact, when rebelling against antiquity, we
remain its slaves; and slaves to a meaner and less
venerable master, namely, to some one generation or
c2
FAILURE OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM. [ESSAY III.
fragment of the same antiquity. For rebels are the
most servile of men, and liberals are the greatest imi-
tators ; and are abject followers of the worthless and
vile : as those who throw off reverence for the might
and majesty of God, become the worshippers of men.
However free and self dependent, we are not so inven-
tive as to be able to strike out some new path, which
has never been trodden before. The greatest efforts of
us moderns are imitative. We exult with rapturous
conceit in the progress of the fine arts ; yet at the best
it is a humble and distant aspiration after the ancient
perfection. We cannot invent a new order in architec-
ture : we can only endeavour to revive, as students and
imitators, some portion of the spirit and taste which
created the ancient models of Christianity and heathen-
ism; and this, though we have the occasion that calls
for it, and the material, in the use of iron, which admits
of a new and more slender proportion ; and the basis of
such a new order, in the slender and graceful stems of
the cocoas and palms for the columns, and their fruits
for the capitals, and their long shadowing leaves for
the vaultings and tracery. When rebellion against
God and man subverted all laws divine and human,
and left the age of reason and invention, in France,
entirely free, they at once became servile copyists
of one or two generations of Romans and Greeks ;
worshipping a fragment of antiquity with a servile wor-
ship. Thus the proud are the most mean, the rebellious
the most submissive, the independent the most depend-
ent, the sceptic the most superstitious and credulous,
and of the meanest objects. Strange ! that we should
ESSAY III.] IN THE PURSUIT OF WISDOM. '29
boast ourselves of our title to the greatest wisdom, as
living when the world is matured, and constituting its
manhood, and yet should throw off the very means and
advantages which could give us this right. The old
man is wiser than the young man, by living according
to the maxims and corrections that his experience has
taught him. But we condemn the maxims as vain and
childish, and reject the experience ; yet we claim the
fruits of it.* We claim that the experience of this one
generation is sufficient, and act upon it, and thereby
put ourselves in the position of the first generations,
the very childhood of the world ; for they too could
think for themselves even then, and reason upon their
little gleanings of knowledge, which were their toys,
and build their plaything towers and castles. We boast
that the world is again in its infancy ; it is our delight
and triumph to think that we are beginning a new career
of science and improvement which is to lead us on to
perfection. This is the world's Second- Childhood.
The rest of the principles which characterize our
modern policy and philosophy, are all of the same na-
ture, shallow, conceited, exclusive, tyrannical. Several
of them require a particular analysis ; and the above
chosen subjects require to be more fully exhibited. I
shall conclude this general view and opinion of them
* Nothing is more characteristic than the present practice of found-
ing a report, full of conclusions of triumph and success, upon a single
year's or even a six months' experience ; a new prison or workhouse
system ; a new school system ; a home colony. It is in simple truth
just like the reasoning and conclusions and pride and positiveness of
children. Exs. 1st Rep. on Parkhurst Prison Norwood Schools
New Poor Law Reports, &c.
30 FAILURE OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM. [ESSAY III.
with the support of Niebuhr's judgment, whose " high
admiration of England had turned to mistrust if not to
aversion." In his opinion, all was disorganized, de-
generate, verging to decay and ruin. The very rapid
fall of England, he says, is a very remarkable and me-
lancholy phenomenon ; it is a deathly sickness without
remedy. " I compare the English of the present day,"
he says, "to the Romans of the third century after
Christ."
In all this he premised the still greater fall and de-
gradation of the rest of Christendom. He had else-
where spoken of the deep decline of religion in Europe ;
from which he at that time excepted England. " In
Catholic countries," he said, " the priesthood is dying
out. We have the name and the form, with a general
dull consciousness that all is not right ; every one is
uncomfortable ; we feel like ghosts in a living body."*'
I shall proceed to show, in the next Essay, that Eng-
land has no claim to boast itself against the conti-
nent in respect of the warmth and fulness, whatever it
may have in respect of the purity, of its religion.
* Quarterly Review, No. 132, p. 556, 560.
( 31 )
ESSAY IV.
DECLINE OF RELIGION IN ENGLAND.
IN THE GOVERNMENT IN THE LEGAL AND MERCANTILE WORLD
IN THE HABITS OF PRIVATE LIFE.
IF England be the stronghold of religion in the world,
it is important for us to ascertain the real measure of
it ; and whether it is an increasing or declining prin-
ciple, and whether it exercises a growing or a decreasing
influence in human affairs, private and political. We
must not be deceived by any very recent change, and
any movement which has been made within our own
late experience, however rapid, into a belief that we
have gone beyond all former times in religious reve-
rence ; or even have recovered all the ground that we
may have lost in the course of ages : any more than the
increased contributions towards church building is suffi-
cient to prove that we equal the liberality of our an-
cestors, when they furnished the whole land, in town
as well as country, with its complement of churches,
adequate and ample in size, and costly in style and
execution, out of their narrow resources.
Formerly people built chapels and altars, and founded
churches and religious houses, on occasions of any
signal deliverance, and both town and country were
fully furnished with places of worship. Now, not only
DECLINE OF RELIGION. [ESSAY IV.
are churches insufficient in number, in the newly built
towns, but we are discovering that they are too nume-
rous in the old ones. Two churches were lately taken
down in the neighbourhood of the Bank of England.
Both have given place to mercantile offices. This
practice began at the Reformation. Three churches
and convents were taken down to give room for Somer-
set House in the reign of Edward VI. The same
cause is progressing now in the rest of Europe. The
following is announced under the head of Spanish Im-
provements. " Madrid. Upwards of thirty huge con-
vents have been within the last four years pulled down
to make room for elegant rows of houses, bazaars,
galeries, markets, and squares, with trees in the centre."*
An account of similar spoliations of church property at
Rome is contained in Froude's Remains. The same
is going on in Switzerland. In London, a church
tower has given place to one angle of the New Royal
Exchange.
But there is a general impression that we are con-
tinually improving, and have always been improving,
in religious respect and observance, from the earliest
times. It is my intention to show that this is not the
case ; that we have a long arrear to make up before we
can begin to talk of improvement ; and there is little
likelihood of this being done, if we already begin with
self-congratulation and boastfulness. This is a subject
of evidence, and of simple history.
The influence of the clergy in government must have
been greater when the judges and ministers of the
Mechanic's Mag. No. 886, p. 192.
ESSAY IV.] IN THE GOVERNMENT. 33
crown were ecclesiastics, and the greater part of the
House of Lords, at that time the branch of the legis-
lature which had the chief influence, were bishops and
abbots. At the time of the Reformation, Henry VIII.
abolished and deposed twenty-eight priors and abbots
who had seats in the House of Peers. The whole
number of lay peers at that time was thirty-six ; of
spiritual peers forty-nine ;* so that the ecclesiastical
bore to the lay power, in that house, the proportion of
four to three, without reckoning the comparative weight
and preponderance of personal influence.
I use this vast curtailment of the influence of the
clergy as a fact, not an accusation. The cause' may
have been good or bad, but the fact remains the same ;
and the effect has been corresponding. In those times
the law terms, or periods for business, were appointed so
as to correspond with the vacations from religious fasts
and festivals, the observance of which was deemed of
first importance ; and acts of parliament used to com-
mence with religious expression, and confession that all
government was from God. Now that the clerical in-
fluence is depressed, and is expelled from the legal
profession, and almost from the legislature, the current
practice is most opposite ; whether it proceed from this
cause, or any other, or be said to be fortuitous.f
* Henry VII. had only twenty-eight temporal peers, and Henry
VIII. but thirty-six, in their first parliaments; Charles II., 154; in
1841, there were about 450. As many as fifty-six spiritual peers
once sat, in Edward III.'s reign.
t " The act (24 Hen. VIII.), the Statute of Appeals, which took
away the jurisdiction of the pope over spiritual causes in this realm,
limited the cognizance of spiritual matters to spiritual persons, giving
c5
34 DECLINE OF RELIGION. [ESSAY IV.
The daily prayers in the two Houses of Parliament
are a mere form and interruption, and are rarely and
unwillingly attended. Religious rule and argument are
out of place in the House of Commons, except for the
abstract premiss, that Christianity is a part of the law
of the land. A schoolmaster at one time might not
teach without a licence from a bishop.* Now the
superintendence of the clergy over education is looked
upon with jealousy. Judges feel it a burden to begin
their solemn office at each assize town by attending
divine worship, and for the most part one of them ab-
sents himself, t These old customs, and others, stand
to the archbishop jurisdiction in the last resort. In the following
year, the ultimate cognizance of all such causes was given to the
King. Yet, as Gibson assures us (Codex, Inst. Disc. 22), there are
no footsteps of any of the nobility or common-law judges being ap-
pointed, till the year 1604 (seventy years after the erecting of the
Court) ; nor from that time are they found in above one commission in
forty, till the year 1639, when all ecclesiastical, especially episcopal
authority, began to be contumeliously struck at. Still, even in the
beginning of the last century, when Gibson compiled his Codex, the
number of lay judges bore only a fair proportion to the spiritual.
The proportion, however, gradually increased ; till at length it seems
to have been regarded as useless to observe even the semblance of
consideration of the spiritualty in adjudicating on appeal in spiritual
causes. In 1833, the Judicial Committee of Privy Council was made
the court of ultimate appeal in all such causes, of which court not a
single spiritual person was constituted a member." (Bishop of Exeter's
Charge, 1842, pp. 45-47.)
* Rex v. Hill, 2 Ld. Raym. Rep.
t A custom seems to have existed of one of the judges preaching a
sermon, each in his turn, in Serjeant's Inn Chapel, to the rest of his
brethren. Of late years they did it by deputy, appointing and paying
a preacher. But that they once did it in person seems to be evidenced
by the expression used, " It is Mr. Justice 'a turn to preach!"
ESSAY IV.] IN THE GOVERNMENT. 35
as land-marks, to show plainly what our former prin-
ciples must have been, and how we have departed from
them.* And in the meantime we have arrived at these
maxims of government, that the government ought to
take cognizance of no person's creed ; that governments
have no conscience, nor any opinion in religion ; that
Sabbath observance is not a subject for the legislature ;t
that prosecutions for blasphemy are impolitic, and en-
courage the evil, and obtain for the victims the respect
of martyrs, thus placing Satan on a level with Christ,
wrong with right, the fruit of a lie with the sacred
treasure and prerogative of truth.
Other symptoms in government are of the same cast
and complexion. We have now lately seen the Sad-
ducees in power.J Not only have Unitarians, though
not in the cabinet perhaps, been exercising the chief
influence in subordinate offices, and by their semi-
This custom must have arisen when the judges were ecclesiastics. It
was altogether discontinued, even by deputy, in the time of Mr. Jus-
tice Lawrence, who was the last judge who furnished a preacher, at
the beginning of the present century.
* When lately the daily prayers were established at Lincoln's Inn
Chapel, they found that the chapel bell was already rung regularly
every morning at eight o'clock ; witnessing that the practice of daily
morning prayers had formerly existed, and been discontinued.
f An effort was made by the late government to transmit letters
through London on a Sunday.
I A cabinet minister, in his place in the House of Commons, when
speaking of religious differences, inquired tauntingly, " What is truth?"
making his own the words of the crucifier of our Lord. This is an
occurrence well suited to the period in which the event has been acted
over again, in the persons of Romanists and infidels, through the
instrumentality of ministers, and for the purpose of destroying what is
good of Herod and Pilate being made friends together.
36 DECLINE OF RELIGION. [ESSAY IV.
official writings, which are accepted as the groundwork
of legislation, but unbelievers also have been among
the most forward supporters and friends of ministers.
Religious and moral character has been held to have
no connexion with politics, and the notorious want of
principle in the friends of government has been a laugh
and a joke. The annual advance by government to
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, has been
of late years discontinued. A part of the money sent
for the relief of the sufferers by the hurricane at Bar-
badoes being unspent, the government refused a peti-
tion to apply it to the repair of the churches, which had
been injured by the same hurricane. Marriage has
been divested of its religious character, and made a
mere civil contract, and the holy sacrament of baptism
practically endangered, by act of parliament. The
House of Commons has voted to open the theatres in
Lent.
But perhaps these so recent instances ought not to
be mentioned, since the evidence of recent reaction
towards religious observance has been rejected. I be-
lieve that the above related acts and evidences are real
symptoms of the condition we are in, and of the change
we have undergone ; and that these symptoms will not
be soon removed, but be confirmed and increased. We
will leave these, however, and descend to ordinary
affairs, and the practices of business, and the habits
and usages of private life.
The forms used in mercantile transactions, being
founded upon ancient custom, and legal forms, which
are of all things the most fixed and unchangeable, bear
ESSAY IV.] IN THE LEGAL AND MERCANTILE WORLD. 37
witness to the decline in religious reverence ; it being
certain that the same devotional expressions would not
now be introduced, and are not in fact introduced into
modern forms employed for similar purposes.
Indictments for murder charge, that the prisoner had
not " the fear of God before his eyes," and was " insti-
gated by the devil."
Bills of lading begin, following the old form,
" Shipped by the grace of God ;" and conclude,
" And so God send the good ship to her desired port
in safety. Amen."
Bottomry bonds used to contain these forms of ex-
pression, " I A. B. &c. do send greeting in our Lord
God everlasting :" " The first good wind that God
shall send :" " The ship whereof W. T. is master
under God." But they are now discontinued.
Every one in drawing his will, even by the hand of
an attorney, began it by commending his soul to God.
The sanction of an oath was looked for, as the best
security from persons in all situations : from church-
wardens, merchants, servants, soldiers, tenants attorn-
ing to their lands.* Now, the salary is looked upon as
the best security.
The judges' charges to the jury used to be fortified
by quotations from Scripture. *|-
The forms of enfranchisement of slaves expressed
that it was done upon religious motives J and the peti-
Book of Oaths, Edit. 1715.
t An example of such a charge may be seen in Kitchen on Courts,
p. 14. Edit. 1675.
J Guizot on Civilization, Sect. 6.
38 DECLINE OF RELIGION. [ESSAY IV.
tions of the suitors to the lords and stewards of the
manor courts did not conclude without a prayer " for
your worship's most prosperous welfare and lyfe, the
whiche I praye God presarve and long to continue unto
Hys blessed pleasure. Amen."* Petitions to the Houses
of Lords and Commons are records of the same cus-
tom ; but they stop short at " Your petitioners will ever
pray, &c "
A physician's prescription of 1642, given by a Dr.
Bray to Mr. Powell, an ancestor of Mrs. Taddy, and
now in Serjeant Taddy's possession, concludes thus,
" And by God assisting, you shall enjoy your health
and breath."f There is an entry by the churchwarden
in the Hampton Wick parish book, of the year 1699,
to the following effect, December, the 26th day, Payed
to Mr. Thomas Uvedale an apotacary for phisseck and
all other necessary means aplouyed to Thomas Tread-
well in his sickness to have preserved his life if it had
plesed God 01 : 15 : OO/'J
Formal and familiar letters did not conclude with-
out some devotional reflection or allusion ; and doubt-
less the conversation was similar in this respect, if it
were in like manner recorded. A letter of Henry V.,
* Watkins on Copyholds, vol. 2, p. 48, tern. Hen. VIII.
t Mr. Powell was no Puritan himself, but a staunch royalist.
I A short time since a very eminent physician was called in at
night to a child which was in a very alarming state. He thus related
the circumstance. " I saw at once what was the matter, and admi-
nistered the proper remedy ; and the child recovered. As soon as we
saw him out of danger, we retired into the next room, and before I
knew where I was, I found myself upon my knees, with the whole
family ; and the father offered up an extemporary thanksgiving to
God for the recovery of his child : but he said nothing about me !"
ESSAY IV.] IN PRIVATE LIFE. 39
then Prince Henry, to his father, ends thus, " I sin-
cerely pray that God will graciously show His mira-
culous aid towards you in all places : praised be He in
all His works."* There are many similar ones. Wal-
singham's Letters, Goodman's Letters, afford the like
examples. But they are to be found everywhere.
The daily services in colleges and cathedrals, and
which, according to the Rubric, ought to be used in
all churches, are a notice of the stricter religious ob-
servances of our " pious ancestors."*!- In Christ's Hos-
pital, founded by Edw. VI., there are stated religious
observances four times a day.
In other times, public prayers were offered by the
whole army before engaging in battle ; and sometimes
they received the Sacrament. These things are so
altered, that it was lately declared by a correspondent
of the leading newspaper, and it was not even met by
an observation, that it was impossible for the crews of
the Egyptian fleet to fight, for that they prayed five
times a day, and that must of necessity destroy all dis-
cipline.
* Tyler's Henry V. vol. i. p. 203. See other religious expressions
of Henry IV. and Henry V., and also of the speaker of the House of
Commons, in the same work, pp. 138, J39, 193, 194, 203, 223, 309.
f See Wordsworth's Sonnet, " Decay of Piety."
In the old time Lent was not more honoured in the breach than
the observance. We find from the household book of the Earl of
Northumberland, which was kept in 1512, that throughout Lent, "be-
ginning at Shrovetide and ending at Easter," the breakfast (a great
meal in an ancient family) consisted, " for my Lord and Lady" of
" two pieces of salt fish, four herrings, or a dish of sprats;" instead of
the customary allowance at other seasons of " half a chine of mutton
or a chine of beef;" and the food at a lenten supper was equally
meagre.
40 DECLINE OF RELIGION. [ESSAY IV.
I have observed, that if England be the stronghold
of religion in the world, it is important to ascertain
whether it be progressing. But what if this be not the
fact ! What if, however other countries and Churches
be growing careless and worldly, England and the
English be proved to surpass them all in lukewarmness
and indifference ! I will now proceed to institute this
comparison, and to ascertain the fact by a reference to
numerous instances. The result will be a step gained
in our inquiry, and important towards ascertaining our
real present position. The conclusions to be drawn will
be matter of less difficulty.
ESSAY V.
ENGLAND THE LEAST RELIGIOUS COUNTRY.
GENERAL OPINION OF FOREIGNERS THE ENGLISH IN THE COLONIES
SMALL TIME SET APART FOR RELIGION AT HOME PRACTICES OF THE
MAHOMETANS, THE HINDOOS, THE CHINESE, THE GREEK CHURCH,
AND OTHERS INADEQUATE PROVISION FOR THE CLERGY LIBE-
RALITY OF THE HINDOOS RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF THE GREEKS,
AND ROMANS, AND OTHER ANCIENT NATIONS.
IT is a well-known fact, that in all other countries which
the English frequent, and this is every country and
people whatsoever in the habitable world, they are
always considered as a people without religion. This is
said and thought of them by the Mahometans, in
Turkey and India; by the Hindoos; by the Italians,
the French, the Spaniards and Portuguese; and by
every other part of Christendom, with the exception
perhaps of the Germans.
Such a reputation does not conclude the question,
it does not establish the fact ; though it must be con-
fessed that it is a strong presumptive evidence of it.
What it does establish is, that there is less appearance
of religion, less outward evidence of religious reverence
among us, than amongst almost any other people on
the earth : not excepting the Chinese. Religion does
not consist in outward appearance. But the absence
of it may be carried too far ; as we say ourselves of the
42 THE ENGLISH LEAST RELIGIOUS. [ESSAY V.
Quakers. And the question is, whether a certain degree
of ceremony is not necessary to keep up religious im-
pression and motive in our hearts ; and whether it can
remain in full force when every thing around us is
worldly; when the whole of the outward senses are
occupied and engrossed by things that are of temporal
use and concern; when religious observance never
stands in the way of, or in competition with, human
interests ; when all hours and minutes of the day are
assignable and assigned to business, and none is set
apart for religion, but if employed for that use, must be
stolen out of business hours, contraiy to the usages of
society : whether, in short, religious observance and
ceremony can be excluded and out of place, in the
habitual intercourse and arrangements of life, and yet
that the people which has chosen and arranged those
habits, should be at heart a religious people. When in
addition to the want of religious observance, the Eng-
lish in our colonies and elsewhere, are notoriously the
most profligate of all people, being as much beneath
the natives, (barbarous though they be called,) in moral
conduct as in religious practices, it cannot be wondered
at that these natives, (barbarous though they may be,
as respects physical philosophy and commerce, and the
arts of war and luxury,) should consider that our want
of religion is actually as great as the want of appear-
ance, and that our practice is altogether consistent
with and a proof of it.*
* " Doubtless the dissipated conduct of the bulk of the European
troops in India, contrasted as it is with the externally moral behaviour
of the sepoys of our native regiments, (I speak of those of the Bengal
ESSAY V.] IN THE COLONIES AT HOME. 43
So far they are justified in their opinion, according to
the facts which are before them. We doubtless shall
reason and conclude differently, in accordance with the
difference of facts ; and say, that in this country, among
the English at home, at least, there is more morality
than in any other nation on the earth, and more reli-
gious ceremony than we can practise abroad, for want
of opportunity. Our superior morality and good con-
duct stands confessed ; (at least our breaches, if any,
are somewhat different in character from those of other
nations,) and we have certain public ceremonies of
religion, as the observance of Sunday, though more
and more trenched upon, (I do not speak of the last
two or three years,) the saying grace at meals, even
on public occasions, and perhaps the increasing prac-
tice of family worship may be rightly set down to this
class. But the question is of the degree and number
of religious observances, and their comparative exercise
and influence ; and I shall proceed to show, by some
examples, how studiously and zealously these are ex-
cluded in this country, and as it were with aversion, as
compared with other nations. And if this be proved,
and if it be made to appear that religion itself is con-
Presidency, amongst whom drunkenness is a vice never witnessed,)
must tend greatly to prejudice the native mind against the religion
professed by those exhibiting such sad proofs of inconsistency."
Missionary Gleaner, No. 33, p. 13, Communication from an officer of
the Indian army.
A few years ago every officer in India had his concubine. The
English are the importers of gin and opium, for the love of money,
and are practically the encouragers of drunkenness and vice in every
colony.
44 THE ENGLISH LEAST RELIGIOUS. [ESSAY V.
sidered an impediment and a burden, and is less loved
in this than in other nations, then it should be a subject
for reflection, whether our morality be less dependent
upon religious rule and motive than upon worldly
wisdom, and whether it be likely to stand its ground
against the increasing assaults which are yearly and
hourly making inroads upon it, from the continual
growth of our riches, our love of and dependence upon
them. And if the examples used should seem to have
been drawn from distant places and times, and to bear
the appearance of solitary instances, it must be noted
that this is the only mode in which a universal habit
can be shown ; and that it would be tedious to multiply
instances in each country ; and that one constant and
revered practice could hardly exist among a people,
without other feelings and practices existing which
would be in accordance with it ; and what is more, in
most of the examples which will be given, it will be
obvious that they are but examples, and exhibitions of
the real and well-known characters of the nations
alluded to; and further still, and this is the chief
point, it cannot but be confessed, that almost all the
ceremonies and practices which will be referred to,
would be quite irrelevant and abhorrent to our own
habits and dispositions, and tastes, and conveniences.
Roman Catholics, Mahometans, Hindoos, and other
idolaters, agree in thinking that the English have not
any religion. The first thing they see is, that we have
no processions; no outward ceremonies presented to
the eye, and arresting it in the midst of worldly objects.
We have no festivals set apart for religious purposes ;
ESSAY V.] THE MAHOMETANS. 45
no days or hours exempted from business. No : we
believe that religion would be desecrated by being
brought into sight ; not that it would hallow our com-
mon occupations. As for festivals, they are excuses for
idleness, and are a waste of business hours ; and so
we are much more careful not to abstract any the least
thing from what is the right and property and the just
due, in the service of Mammon, than we are in guard-
ing the claim and property of God, in the Lord's Day.
We may have processions of schools, and clubs, and
societies, and political associations; but no one such
thing in the honour of God ! That would be quite out
of place. As for religious festivals, it is not mere
taste and opinion, but we should grudge such a
tribute and sacrifice to God's honour and service : it
would be throwing good time away.
The Mahometans, of India especially, tell us that we
pray only once a week. It is obvious enough to tell them,
that we pray every morning and night in private. But
where is the sign and the effect of it ? They will doubt
the universality of even this extent of our profession,
when they see no trouble or inconvenience incurred;
and who can charge them with injustice ! They them-
selves pray five times a day ; and they do it moreover,
at the stated times, wherever they may be, in public or in
private. The Muezzins call them to their mosques, at the
stated hours of prayer, twice in every day of the week ;
and they obey the call eagerly. I have already observed
that the sailors in their fleets prostrate themselves in
worship, at the five stated periods of the twenty-four
hours. Among the persons received a short time since
46 THE ENGLISH LEAST RELIGIOUS. [ESSAY V.
at the Sailors' Home in the Thames, were some Lascars.
The Lascars made their devotions strictly and punc-
tually morning and evening : the English sailors were
smoking their pipes.
A resident for twelve years among the Mahometans
says, " the people really seem to make religion their
study, and the great business of their lives."* " Nothing,
however trifling or unimportant, according to their
praiseworthy ideas, should ever be commenced without
being first dedicated to God."-j- Eveiy meal and cup
of water is preceded and succeeded by their grace,
" Glory be to God ;" and so devotional are their feel-
ings, that they have not any expression corresponding
to " I thank you," but for every gift or service they say
" All thanks to God," acknowledging that eveiy, the
smallest thing, comes directly from Him, though received
by the hands of mortals. J The Mahometans even show
greater respect than we do ourselves to the name of
" Jesus." As the Jews never mention the name of God,
without adding " Blessed be He," or of Moses, without
saying " Peace be with Him," or the Messiah, without
saying " May He redeem us;" so the Mahometans
never name the name of " Jesus," even in speech,
without stopping and adding to it, with upraised hands
and an inclination of the head, " On Him be peace."
Mrs. Meet Hassan Ali, p. 155.
f Ibid. 157. The similar practices of the early Christians may
be seen in Fleury, Moeurs des Chretiens, pt. 1, s. 5.
J Ib. 256. When the distressed inhabitants of Acre first received
their rations from the Turks after its capture by the English, they fell
on their faces and gave thanks to God ; as reported in the Morning
Herald, December 18, 1840.
ESSAY V.] THE CHINESE. 47
The watchmen in the camp of the caravans, says
Tavernier, go their rounds, crying one after another,
" God is one," " He is merciful."* Their fasts also are
most self-denying, and of the most rigorous kind, ex-
tending especially, even among the women, to the total
laying aside of all comforts and ornaments, to both
which they are at other times most strongly addicted.f
When a motion was made in the House of Com-
mons for a public fast, on account of the cholera, it
was met with coldness ; and it was only upon after
reflection that the ministers acceded to the proposal.
When a public calamity takes place in China, the
emperor himself sets the first example, and mortifies
and fasts, and exercises acts of clemency, as considering
that the scourge may be on account of his own sins
and maladministration ; J and if this be not actually
done, but be only an official report, yet it has the effect
of turning the minds of the people to serious reflections,
and sets them an example of religious reverence, the
most weighty and influential, such as is always in the
hands of every government and crowned head, if they
should choose to exercise it.
The Queen's speech of the session 1841 contained no
single expression of thanks to Almighty God for the
very signal successes of our forces in all parts of the
world, which it noticed with a tribute of praise to our
forces for their skill and bravery. Public thanks have
been rendered to our commanders and troops, but not
* Voyage de Perse, liv. i. c. 10.
f Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, p. 42.
rindo-Chinese Gleaner, vol. 1, pp. 50, 51, 89, 433.
/48 THE ENGLISH LEAST RELIGIOUS. [ESSAY V.
any to the God of Battles, for two of the greatest and
most critical successes of our arms contemporaneously
during the last year.
There is a custom in the Greek Church, and it used
to be common in all parts of Christendom, for persons
meeting on Easter day, to say to each other, " Christ
is risen." The answer was, " He is risen indeed." And
then even enemies were in the instant reconciled to one
another.* Similar religious customs formerly existed
in numbers, and are still to be met with in some places.f
They all take their departure first from England.
Bremer speaks with pleasure of witnessing the sing-
ing of the Soldier's Evening Hymn, by 12,000 men,
after a review, in Sweden. This beautiful custom of
joining together in praise of Almighty God, at the fall
of night, is said to be universal among the troops in
Sweden and Norway.
It is a ready and plausible defence, to call all such
practices superstitious ; and we could not find place here
for a comparison between superstitious and vulgar re-
ligion, and civilized, sensible indifference and rational-
* Prasca Loupouloff, p. 44. The boys in the Blue-coat School,
when they walk in procession to the Mansion House, on Easter
Monday, have a printed paper, " He is risen," on their breasts. The
origin of this custom is, that Edward Arris, surgeon, in the year 1669,
left 6 per annum for ever to the Hospital, on condition, that each
boy, at Easter, should have a pair of white gloves, and wear a paper
bearing the inscription, " He is risen," somewhere upon the person,
so as to be distinctly visible ; and this to be done on Easter Monday,
Tuesday, and Wednesday, on which three days formerly they used to
go in procession, and three spital sermons were preached. Many
years since the Wednesday was cut off from vhe ceremony.
t See Bourne's Antiquities of the Common People.
ESSAY V.] SMALL PROVISION FOR THE CLERGY. 49
ism. The ultimate effect upon our lives and conduct
is no doubt the principal test of the reality of religion.
And there are many reasons, independently of anything
that has been mentioned above, for believing that the
influence of religious motive upon our conduct is not
great, and but weak in comparison of worldly obli-
gations, when Englishmen are separated in foreign
countries from the control of opinion, and the rules and
requirements of English society. At present we are
engaged with the question of the existence and depth
of religious impression; and there are some branches
of conduct and practices, which are so immediately
connected with this subject, as to afford indications in
themselves of the force and operativeness of our religious
belief and feelings.
It is a very remarkable fact, that there is no country
which provides so inadequately for its clergy, and for
the offices of religious instruction and worship. In the
midst of our enormous and rapidly increasing wealth,
we find a less facility and willingness in devoting a fair
and adequate proportion of our national revenue, and
other funds of a public character, to the building and
support of churches, the endowment of them, and the
maintenance of a sufficient body of clergy to perform
the offices of religious worship, and to instruct the
people. We have no occasion to go into particulars,
and a detailed comparison on this subject, for we have
the result furnished to our hand from the very highest
authority. The Duke of Wellington, who had taken a
view of all nations, and had an extensive experience
himself of very many, expresses himself thus, in his
D
50 THE ENGLISH LEAST RELIGIOUS. [ESSAY V.
speech to the House of Lords upon the Ecclesias-
tical Duties and Revenues Bill : " The measures must
be found for preaching the word of God to the people
of this country. * * In so doing they would not
only be doing a duty which was incumbent upon them,
but following the example of every nation in the world.
It had been his lot to have lived amongst many idola-
trous nations, and people of all sorts of creed, but he
never knew an instance of sufficient public means not
being found to teach the religion of the country. There
might be false religions indeed he knew but one true
one there might be idolatrous religions, but still the
means in all cases are found to teach that religion,
whatever it was; and he hoped that their lordships
would not have done with this subject until they had
found the means of teaching the people of this country
their duty to their Maker and to one another."*
It is related of the Hindoos, that " the bulk of the
people, rich and poor, expend by far the greater part of
their earnings or income on offerings to idols, and the
countless rites and exhibitions connected with idol wor-
ship. At the celebration of one festival, a wealthy na-
tive has been known to offer after this manner :
eighty thousand pounds weight of sweetmeats, eighty
thousand pounds weight of sugar, a thousand suits of
cloth garments, a thousand suits of silk, a thousand
offerings of rice, plantains and other fruits. On another
occasion, a wealthy native has been known to have ex-
pended upwards of thirty thousand pounds sterling on
the offerings, the observances, and the exhibition of a
Speech, July 30, 1840.
ESSAY V.] THE HINDOOS. 51
single festival, and upwards of ten thousand pounds
annually ever afterwards to the termination of his life.
Indeed such is the blindfold zeal of these benighted
people, that instances are not unfrequent of natives of
rank and wealth reducing themselves and families to
poverty by their lavish expenditure in the service of the
gods, and in upholding the pomp and dignity of their
worship. In the city of Calcutta alone, at the lowest
and most moderate estimate, it has been calculated that
half a million at least is annually expended on the
celebration of the Durga Poojah festival. How vast
how inconceivably vast, then, must be the whole sum
expended by rich and poor on all the daily, weekly,
monthly and annual rites, ceremonies and festivals, held
in honour of a countless host of gods."*
But a great degree of religious devotion and reve-
rence, such as is quite opposite to our notions and
customs, has extended not only to all places, but to all
times.'!' The Egyptians were a most religious people.
The Greeks and Romans were most religious. J Not
* Dr. Duff. Missionary Gleaner, No. 24, pp. 60, 61. The offer-
ings are given to the priests and the poor. No part of them is re-
turned to the worshipper.
f The Spinetans (of Spina, at the mouth of the Po) raised such
considerable revenues by commerce, that they sent very liberal tenths
to the temple of Apollo, at Delphos. (Strabo, lib. 5 ; Dion. Halic. de
Orig. Rom. lib. i.) Quoted, Sea Laws, p. 22.
J " Les Egyptiens et plusieurs autres Orientaux gardoient encore
leur abstinences superstitieuses. L'abstinence des Pythagoriciens etoit
fort estimee, comme il paroit par 1'exemple d'Appollonius de Tyane,
et par les ecrits de Porphyre.'' Fleury, Mceurs des Chretiens, pt. i.
s. 9.
D2
52 THE ENGLISH LEAST RELIGIOUS. [ESSAY V.
only was Athens, according to the testimony of an
apostle, " in all things most religious,"* but the Greeks
generally, as well as the Romans, were strongly ad-
dicted to religious observances and ceremonies ; and
their habits of life were formed upon this principle.
Every battle was preceded by a sacrifice, every vic-
tory was followed by a thanksgiving. Their feasts and
festivals, and almost every public transaction and meet-
ing, had a religious object and character. At Rome,
most of the year was taken up with sacrifices and holy
days, till Claudius abridged their number.f Niebuhr
particularly mentions the practice amongst the Romans
of offering up sacrifices in the time of calamity.^ Both
in Greece and Rome, the games and the dramatic re-
presentations originally constituted a part of the religious
worship.^ And Potter, in his Antiquities of Greece,
thus describes this point particularly in the Grecian
character. "The piety of the ancient Grecians, and
the honourable opinion they had conceived of their
deities, doth in nothing more manifestly appear than in
the continual prayers and supplications they made to
them ; for no man amongst them that was endued
with the smallest prudence, saith Plato,|| would under-
take any thing of greater or less moment without having
first asked the advice and assistance of the Gods." * *
" It seems to have been the universal practice of all na-
f, Religiosiores. Sclirev. Scap.
f Dio. 60, 17, ap. Adams's Rom. Ant. i. 311
J Hist, of Rome, ii. 508510.
Adams's Rom. Ant. i. 311 ; Potter's Grec. Ant. i. 415, 495.
|| In Tima-o.
ESSAY V.] THE GREEKS AND ROMANS. 53
tions, whether civil or barbarous, to recommend them-
selves to their several deities morning and evening.
Whence we are informed by Plato,'* that at the rising
both of the sun and moon, one might everywhere be-
hold the Greeks and barbarians, those in prosperity as
well as those under calamities and afflictions, prostrating
themselves, and hear their supplications. "f
Doubtless the religious festivals and holidays became
more numerous, and were made the occasion of idleness
and ill-habits, both in Greece and Rome, as religion be-
came debased. Originally their religious ceremonies
and solemnities consisted in little else besides offering a
sacrifice to the gods, and after that making merry with
their poorer friends, with temperance and propriety .J
Afterwards they tended to riot and idleness and ex-
pense, whilst they increased in frequency, as religion
degenerated into superstition and idolatry.^ And it
seems as if it might almost be said with truth, that de-
votedness to religious services has at all times increased
and extended itself in proportion to the degree of cor-
ruption and error in religion which has existed in each
place and people. Doubtless this is still a great
problem to solve ; though it is necessary that religion
should become more acceptable to the natural and cor-
* De Legibus, lib. 10.
t Pott. Grec. Ant. i. 278, 279. Hooker, in his Eccles. Polity, bk.
i. s. 8, refers to tbe same passage in the Timseus.
J Pot. Grec. Ant. i. 415.
According to Numa's institutions, and for nearly 200 years, the
Romans used no images of their gods. Vurro. August, de Civit.
Dei, lib. 4, c. 11, 31 ; Gray's Connect, vol. i. p. 108, 136.
54 THE ENGLISH LEAST RELIGIOUS. [ESSAY V.
rupt taste of men, as itself grows more corrupt, and
according to their own inventions. The true desire
must be, that religion should be pure, and that men
should nevertheless be fond of it, and still continue
to be religious. As things are, the choice is of two
evils. Superstition and infidelity, these are the weights
in the two scales. I shall proceed still further to show,
that it is not only in outward act and appearance, but
in inward thought, and motive, and conduct, that we
are far behind in the operation of religion. It will then
be for us to judge what we have to fear or boast, as a
nation and individually, upon this awful and moment-
ous subject and crisis.
( 55 )
ESSAY VI.
THERE IS NO FAITH.
" WILL HE FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH. " LU. XVlii. 8.
THE BIBLE PRACTICALLY DENIED EXCUSES FOR THIS IN THE HABITS
OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE MOTIVES OF CONDUCT WHAT FAITH
IS EXAMPLES SCEPTICISM IN HISTORY SCEPTICISM PRODUCES
CREDULITY THE POSITION OF ENGLAND.
WANT of faith is the very characteristic of this genera-
tion. Concurrent and consistent with this is a want of
charity : the charity which believeth all things. We
have no charity, or kindness, or confidence in our re-
ception of other people's assertions and evidence ; but
our study is to guard ourselves against deception to
receive as little as we can ; and as much only as is
forced upon us by imperative proof and irresistible con-
viction. Not that we receive and act upon no more
than this : this is not the fact ; since it is impossible.
But that we endeavour after this, and profess it to our-
selves, and believe that we act upon it. It is a system
of war and defence that we maintain ; and, as in the
case of war, our interchange of goods and useful pro-
duce is greatly impeded, and to our infinite loss fettered
56 THERE IS NO FAITH. [ESSAY VI.
by it and restricted ; but, nevertheless, there is much
traffic in contraband goods, which are both smuggled
and adulterated.
But the want of faith is more open and direct than
this ; and it is the most obvious and pointed upon
religious subjects. The Bible is boldly and practically
denied in every particular. No class or body of men
believe and obey it. And strange as it may seem, it is
by no nation, or people, or churches, or sects of men
less implicitly believed and followed, than by those very
people and sections of the Church who talk so much
about it. There are no persons less obedient to the
plain sense and mandates of the written word of God,
than those who most speak of and uphold it as the sole
authority and standard, and reject all assistance from
the history of the Church, and what is spoken against
as tradition. Every class of persons reject some por-
tion or other of the sacred Scriptures. If you talk to
some of temporal honour and rewards, and the observ-
ance of a day of rest, and the patriarchs, they will say,
Oh ! that is the Old Testament, and is abrogated. If
you speak to others of good works, Oh ! they will say,
that is only in the Gospels ; and the Epistles carry us
much beyond that, and are superior to it. Unitarians,
again, receive a bible of their own, that is, just so many
passages are excluded as ill-suit their own belief and
purpose. Others, of numerous sects, dwell each upon
some half-dozen chapters, or passages, or phrases, or
words of Scripture, of the Epistles especially, and dwell
upon them idolatrously and devotedly, to the exclusion
ESSAY VI.] THE BIBLE PRACTICALLY DENIED. 57
of all the rest, so far as the authority of Scripture is
concerned, from belief and practice.
This is even in the religious world the thinking and
the reasoning world. Let us now turn our observation
to the world itself; to the working and practical.
The Bible is denied in every particular. Men do not
believe that we are really to be Christians ; that we are
to imitate our Lord. They do not believe that the
world could possibly go on, if all men were to act upon
pure Christian motives, and up to a perfect Christian
rule ; if they were to forgive and forget injuries ; if
they were not to resent an affront ; if they were to give
to people because they asked them ; if they were to
lend money without looking for interest ; if we were all
to give up luxuries, and style, and costly furniture and
equipage ; if we, our cattle and servants, were strictly
to observe the day of rest. How many are they among
us who believe, that the " tree of knowledge" is not
an absolute good ? or, that we ought to receive the
Gospel with the simplicity of little children ? Who be-
lieves that we ought to honour our father and mo-
ther, and our sovereign ? Who is there that acts up to
the precept, that we ought not to judge others in their
character ? How many are there who appear to believe
that it is not right to be anxious about the future ; that
riches are not a good thing; that the entrance into
heaven is easier to the poor man ; that slavery is not
unfavourable to the knowledge and dispositions be-
coming a Christian ;* that we ought to return a tenth
* Even a commentator on the Bible can use the following senti-
ment in the way of explanation and instruction : " The slavery they
D5
58 THERE IS NO FAITH. [ESSAY VI.
to God ; that it would bring a blessing, to give freely
and largely to the poor ; that children are a blessing
and a gift from the Lord, and that the man is happy
who has his quiver full of them ? It is evident that in
all these points the Bible is disbelieved, and is practi-
cally denied ; and does not control or guide us in our
habits and principles of life and society.
Still less do we believe that the public measures, the
laws and government of the state, and the intercourse
with other nations, ought to be, or can be, carried on
and conducted upon Christian principles. What num-
ber or classes of persons believe that righteousness
exalteth a nation ? that we are punished according to
the national sins of the people, and for the sins of the
rulers ? and that if wicked and irreligious men preside
over our councils we shall as a nation suffer the penal-
ties of it ? for that the conscience of the government is
the conscience of the people, and that our rulers are
bound to take the first care for the pure religion and
morals of the country, and that if they so do, their
righteousness will bring down a blessing upon the na-
tion.
To come again to more direct practice, and to our
own habits of life. Who is there who thinks first what
is right, and according to the pattern of Christ, and
had so long endured had served to debase their minds, and to render
them incapable of every high and dignified sentiment, and of every
generous act." Comprehensive Bible, at Num. xi. 11, note (6).
Whereas God afflicted and afflicts His people for their very correction
and improvement, and for the purpose of bringing them into that state
of mind which He approves and honours. See St. Chrysostom on
1 Cor. vii. 20, et seq.
ESSAY VI.] IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE. 59
after the will of God, in what he is about to do ; and
not what is wise and expedient ? Who seeks first the
kingdom of God, and God's rule of righteousness, and
trusts that all temporal good consequences will follow
upon it ? Who is there who thinks and abides only by
the rule of what is right and commanded ? We may
almost answer in the words of Scripture, " There is
none righteous, no, not one." Who believes in and
trusts to the assistance and suggestions of the Spirit in
his designs and undertakings, and believes and acts
and writes and thinks as believing, that the most useful
and important and influential suggestions of our
thoughts and invention, come to our mind by the in-
spiration of the Holy Spirit, more than by our own
cleverness and exertion and memory ; and prays for
Divine help upon commencing every task, or writing,
or undertaking, accordingly.* Who forbears strictly,
and endeavours to expel at once all thought, and every
suggestion of the mind in worldly matters on a Sunday,
with confidence and faith that the same and more useful
thoughts will be supplied on the succeeding week days ;
and that the unqualified dedication and, sanctification
of the Lord's Day will make the labour of the six days
more effectual and fruitful than would be that of the
seven ? Who would believe now that a Sabbatical year
would not necessarily be impracticable and ruinous ; or
* " On prioit en commenjant a batir une raaison, ou a 1'habiter, a
faire une piece d'etoffe, ou un habit, ou a s'en servir, et ainsi de toutes
les autres choses les plus communes." Fleury, Maurs des Chretiens,
pt. 1, s. 5. " The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer
of the tongue, is from the Lord." Prov. xvi. 1.
60 THERE IS NO FAITH. [ESSAY VI.
that a populous country could exist under such a rule ;
or that it would not produce a debasing and demoraliz-
ing idleness ?
To mention a few more subjects, though further ex-
amples seem to be almost unnecessary. We no longer
believe and obey the precept, to use the rod to the
child ; for that we shall save his soul by so doing.*
Now we have discovered and believe that such correc-
tion is against the dignity of human nature, and is
injurious and degrading to the character. The com-
mandment, " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man
shall his blood be shed," is not now respected. We
find various reasons and excuses which render it not
imperative ; and in wholesale political murders in ge-
neral, it is now, as of course, acknowledged that capital
punishment ought not to follow, for that enough blood
has already been shed. Again, who can bear to be-
lieve now, that St. Paul was mean-looking and not
eloquent ? Who believes that Solomon was really the
wisest man that ever lived, and respects and studies
his writings accordingly, more than those of other
teachers of prudence and wisdom ? Who believes prac-
tically or theoretically, that riches, honour, and life,
come by the fear of the Lord, and humility ?f
It may be well to mention here two or three cases
and examples just to show what faith is, lest it should
by disuse have altogether lost its meaning.
It would have been faith in the Jews for all the male
population to have gone up three times a year to Jeru-
* Prov. xiii. 24 ; xxiii. 13, 14.
f Prov.. xxii. 4.
ESSAY VI.] WHAT FAITH IS. 61
salem, not fearing that their affairs must necessarily go
wrong while they were away, or that their enemies
might invade them : according to the promise given
them in Exodus, xxxiv. 24. It would have been faith
in them, not to have sown on the seventh year j be-
lieving that the six years would then produce an abun-
dance for them. It was faith, not to gather of the
manna more than the food of one day, though they had
no other store or reserve, or remedy against hunger ;
and to gather double on the day before the Sabbath,
not fearing that, as on other days, it would stink and
become corrupt. It is faith in the working-man, who
lives from hand to mouth, and is always cheerful, and
trusts that God will give him his next day's meal.* It
was faith in a poor woman who gave away her last six-
pence, saying that she knew that God would return it
her. It would be faith in a man, when he found that his
affairs had prospered, and that his returns were large
beyond his expectation, to consecrate a considerable
portion in charity, saying that, God will provide ; and
feeling that in so doing he was making more than by
investing the whole of it. It is faith to believe that
our successful efforts, that our clever thoughts, and
answers, and inventions, and writings, and acts of me-
mory, are from God ; and that we shall prosper more
in them for depending upon his assistance ; and pray
accordingly for it, on the commencement of every
undertaking or act however small, and upon every oc-
casion.
* As Henry Wm. Wilberforce says, it is only the poor man who can
pray with real meaning, " Give us our daily bread." Parochial Sys-
tem, p. 72.
62 THERE IS NO FAITH. [ESSAY VI.
It would be faith in a nation, to forbid all trading and
labour on Sundays and other holy days, except where
necessity and mercy require them ; to discourage luxury
and extravagance, and immoral trades and practices,
however seemingly prejudicial to trade and commerce ;
believing that it would result in the real increase and
advance of prosperity in the nation.
The prevailing want of faith in religious truth and
precepts, concurs with a general sceptical disposition in
other matters and evidences. We mistrust one another.
We set aside whole authors as false and worthless, on
occasion of some one or two subjects of doubt as
Herodotus, Bruce, Du Halde, Baronius, and most
writers of a different sect or party or school of philo-
sophy from ourselves. The result of such a practice is
ignorance and credulity in the greatest measure, inde-
pendent of the error and bigotry and impenetrable con-
ceit, which are the more obvious fruits of such a system.
Not to enter again upon the denial of the Scriptures,
and the number of passages and relations which must
needs be subjected to forced interpretation, in order to
suit them to our present belief, and the experience of
the existing generation as, the sons of God, giants,
God walking upon the earth, witchcraft, demoniacs
disbelief of matters of history and fact, and consequent
ignorance, has been the characteristic of the last cen-
tury ; and the credulity of the same period has of ne-
cessity run parallel with its ignorance : for the following
reasons.
The rejection of the entire writings of an author,
upon the ground of certain erroneous parts of them,
ESSAY VI.] SCEPTICISM IN HISTORY. 63
proceeds upon the supposition that men's works are
uniform ; and that faulty statements or reasoning, in
some parts and passages, are conclusive against all the
rest, and disqualify them from being a fit study or au-
thority. This is founded upon an entire mistake, and
ignorance of human nature, the first quality of which
is imperfection, and want of consistency and uniformity.
But the belief that a whole author is to be rejected on
account of certain imperfections and blemishes, is ne-
cessarily accompanied with the idea that there are some
authors which are perfect ; and the consequence is,
that those books and writings which are approved and
admitted to favour, are embraced with an entire con-
fidence and ardour of belief, and as free from all sus-
picion and imperfection. Such works and authorities
are received with a respect and confidence quite beyond
their merit, and with a credulity approaching to worship.
Even sceptics cannot but believe some things to be
true ; or at least they must follow something, and trust
to it as if they believed in it. Therefore rebels against
authority and power, and political apostates, follow
their party leaders and demagogues blindly, and with
an abject servility. In snatching at entire liberty they
fall into perfect slavery. Those who mistrust and rebel
against the authority of the Church, place their implicit
reliance upon some master of their own choosing, and
submit themselves under the power of so many unau-
thorized popes. Those who assert an entire liberty of
private opinion, and conscience, and reason, to the de-
posing of Scripture truth and the authority of revelation,
worship all of them some of their fellow contemporary
64 THERE IS NO FAITH. [ESSAY VI.
mortals, and those often the very worst of them. So
sceptics are the most timid and fearful of all men in the
dark, and the most credulous and suspicious of influences
which they cannot understand or interpret.*
Ignorance, and error, and credulity, therefore, are
the necessary effects and accompaniments of want of
faith, and of the narrowing down our reception of truths
and facts to the limits of reason of our own more or
less shallow individual reason, and the experience of
our own single generation of our own individual ex-
perience : which is made the test of the possibility of
all truths, and facts, and statements, and evidences. And
these are the characteristics of this present boastful,
proud, self-sufficient, contemptuous generation.
Mr. Palmer has concluded his comprehensive and
succinct analysis of Church History, by drawing a fear-
ful picture of infidelity upon the Continent. With
reverential regard he draws a veil over the present state
of the Church in this country, and expresses the faint
outline of his observations on this head only by a sug-
gestion and a hint. " Though England," he says,
" has, through the infinite mercy of God, been com-
paratively unvisited by the scourges which have so
* " Behold yon wretch, by impious fashion driven,
Believes and trembles, while he scoffs at Heaven;
By weakness strong, and bold thro' fear alone,
He dreads the sneer by shallow coxcombs thrown ;
Dauntless pursues the path Spinoza trod,
To man a coward, and a brave to God."
Brown, Essay on Satire.
See the superstitions of the infidel D'Argens described in the Edinb.
Rev. No. cli. p. 245.
ESSAY VI.] THE POSITION OF ENGLAND. 65
horribly afflicted the nations of the Continent, and
though open infidelity has been always met, confronted,
and subdued by the energy of religious zeal, it cannot
but inspire alarm to behold the wide dissemination of
principles which tend, by a very short descent, to the
overthrow of all faith."
Yet in the fact that, while yet young, Voltaire retired
to England, where he became acquainted with several
unbelievers like himself, and, in effect, completed his
education in the school of unbelief, and that there he
formed his resolution to destroy Christianity, is indi-
cated the part which England has been acting in this
crusade against the faith.
I trust that it is not less consistent with a filial reve-
rence and love of one's country, and of the branch of
the Church in these realms, to fill up this picture, and
to place before men's eyes the full and fearful truth ;
which unless they see and know, and confess, and be
ashamed of, they cannot correct it.
ESSAY VII.
NEED OF A MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY.
WANT OF UNITY PROMISES TO THE CHURCH MIXTURE OF HEATHEN-
ISM CHRISTIANITY NOT THE RULING PRINCIPLE DOCTRINE IM-
PERFECT THE BIBLE A SEALED BOOK SEEMING PARADOXES AND
INCONSISTENCIES LANGUAGE, REASONING, FIGURES OF SCRIPTURE
OUR MINDS AND TASTES FORMED UPON THE CLASSICS OUR HABITS
HEATHEN THE CLASSICS CORRUPT US OPINION OF JOSEPHUS OF
JONES OF NAYLAND A BETTER LITERATURE WANTED THE ASIATICS
EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION CHINESE CIVILIZATION JEWISH LITE-
RATURE.
WE must look for a more perfect Christianity, both in
doctrine and practice, than that which characterizes the
present generation, and, perhaps, than has existed,
except in a very few small societies, or among a few
individuals, whose examples have been solitary ; and
who have never formed a component part of their gene-
ration. Such rare instances of religious perfection could
be but imperfectly understood by the rest of the world
and but imperfectly recorded. But further than this, it
is even to be apprehended, that the present current of
principles and opinions is not in the direction towards,
but away from, this desired end ; and that a great re-
vulsion and moral regeneration must take place before
we shall know fully, and be able to appreciate, in effect,
what real Christianity is.
ESSAY VII.] WANT OF UNITY. 67
At all events we are not agreed among ourselves upon
this subject; and those who assert that Christianity in
its highest essence is universal equality and philanthropy,
and those who assume that it is a realizing of faith in
the Atonement, and those who say that it is works as
well as faith, and those who insist that real Christianity
is wholly spiritual, and is consistent with nothing that is
outward or ceremonial, will respectively say that those
who hold the other doctrines have need of a higher in-
struction ; and therefore it may not be so absurd to
conjecture, that there may be error in all these, and in
all the other systems of Christianity which have, each
in their turns, asserted their own perfection. When our
Lord was asked by the woman of Samaria, whether
Samaria or Jerusalem were the place where men ought
to worship, he did not approve of either as exhibiting
a sufficient standard of worship ; but referred her to
a yet unseen and more perfect form of worship. And
this very circumstance of the existence of divisions in
the Christian world, the fact that there is a want of
unity in the Church, that Christ is divided, is of itself
a sufficient evidence that the doctrine and practice must
be corrupt, and that the Church is degenerate. It is
truly said by Mr. Newman, in one of his most highly
esteemed works, " that purity of doctrine is one of the
privileges thus infringed, is plain from the simple fact,
that the separate branches of the Church do disagree
with each other in the details of faith : discordance, which
once was not, among the witnesses of the truth, being
the visible proof of its being impaired." And again,
" It is upon this very fact of the schism that I ground
68 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
the corruption of doctrine; the one has taken place
when and so far as the other has taken place."*
In approaching this subject, it must be further ob-
served, that those who are of opinion that Christianity
was never more perfect than at the present moment,
must submit the whole of Christianity, as hitherto ex-
emplified, to the tests and scrutinies which it is purposed
to apply to the existing state of it ; and those who, on
the other hand, believe that primitive Christianity was
different from that which now is, and altogether pure
and perfect, must see and feel that we have now no
knowledge of it : no capability to measure and appre-
ciate it ; but that as regards us it is, as it were, a hidden
thing and a mystery. If we have misunderstood and
departed from the perfection of the Gospel, we must
have misunderstood and departed from that also.
But the following remarks are chiefly directed to
those persons who think that Christianity, as enforced
and illustrated in the Bible, has already arrived at its
perfection, and who are looking for something further
and more exalted, as an attainment of human nature,
towards which the present revealed Christianity is but
a step. And I earnestly intreat, that when I speak of
a more perfect Christianity, I may not be misunderstood
as supposing that religion, like sciences, improves by
discovery, or as looking, with pretended foresight, beyond
that which is revealed ; but that I may be considered
as proposing proofs only of this assertion, that Christi-
anity, as revealed in the Old and New Testaments, is as
* Newman on Romanism and Popular Protestantism, p. 246, 249-
See the whole passage, p. 243 to 249.
ESSAY VII.] PROMISES TO THE CHURCH. 69
yet imperfectly practised and appreciated, and that
there is need that the Christian world should attain to
a much higher standard of it, before we may look for a
fulfilment of those greater promises of redemption of
the body, and regeneration of the whole creation, which,
in that same revelation, are held out to us.
Christianity then as it is, and as compared with the
Bible, is our proper topic ; and to this comparison there-
fore let us address ourselves.
Where is the fulfilment of the promise, to tread on
serpents and scorpions, to go upon the lion and adder,
the young lion and the dragon, and that nothing shall
harm us ?
It is said, that miracles are for signs, and they are
extinct therefore among believers. Nay, But the ser-
pent is the evil one, and the scorpious are his ministers,
and " Behold I give you power against serpents the
Devil, and scorpions his angels and instruments,
and over all the power of the enemy." These are not
for signs, but for the triumphs of Christian warfare :
and where are these victories and triumphs ? Not in
the modern armies of Christendom.
There is abundant authority in Holy Scripture for
the expectation of a more operative and perfect Chris-
tianity. In our daily use of the Lord's Prayer we
acknowledge this truth. When our Lord commands
us to make use of the expression, " thy kingdom come,"
does he not bid us daily to look to the regeneration,
and the adoption, and the redemption of the body,
which we are elsewhere said to groan for, and to desire
to bring forth ? And if this regeneration be but to take
70 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
place here on earth, it differs not that it should be at
the time of the second coming of our Saviour, or that
it should precede the day of coming to the final judg-
ment; if it be a regeneration and perfecting of human
nature, it is what we ought to look to, and hope for,
and strive after, if we might attain to, or approach, or
comprehend, even if it were but a part of it ; and I
shall endeavour to make it plain, that we are not doing
this in any proper degree, but quite the contrary of it.
Also the Bible tells us some particulars of this rege-
neration. For wars shall cease in the world ; and nation
shall not lift up sword against nation ; they shall beat
their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks, neither shall they learn war any more.
These words are not yet accomplished, or accomplishing.
On the contrary, larger armies and armaments than
were ever before known, have been preparing and in-
creasing, both by sea and land ; and we are inventing
and improving and practising more arts and instru-
ments of violence and destruction than ever, and we
call this being at peace. The wolf shall dwell with
the lamb, the leopard with the kid, the calf with the
lion, and the little child shall lead them; the cow
and the bear shall feed together, and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox, and the child shall play upon the
serpent's den, they shall not hurt nor destroy, the
counsel of peace shall be between the king and the
priest, between the clergy and the state, throughout
all the holy mountain and empire of Christ, his church
and his kingdom. But this is not fulfilled, or fulfilling,
either literally or figuratively, for the rich are more
and more separated from the poor, and the distinctions
ESSAY VII.] MIXTURE OF HEATHENISM. 71
and distance between classes are widening daily, and
growing more and more cmel and unnatural.*
What progress or approach has Christianity yet made
towards these objects ? In the first centuries it tri-
umphed over heathenism and idolatry, and overcame
many devilish vices and practices. Would that it had
extinguished them ! But very soon the heathen wis-
dom and manners mingled themselves with it; and ever
since they have been growing into closer union; and it
is still now to be seen, more than ever, that the church
of Gentile-Christendom is governed by heathen motives
and rules of action, and is filled with heathen practices
and principles. I shall enter upon this point more
particularly presently. At this time it is sufficient to
observe, that it is remarkable at least, that we should
be able so much to admire and accommodate ourselves
to the writings of heathen authors, and to make their
teaching so much the basis and principle of our own
conduct.
But we will defer this topic ; and confine our present
attention to the practical estimation of Christianity in
the world, and its real and actual influence upon the
affairs of men, in their public and private conduct, and
habitual intercourse.
* " It was announced beforehand to the Christian Church, that ' her
people should be all righteous, 'whereas iniquity has abounded. ' The
wolf was to dwell with the lamb, and the leopard to lie down with the
kid;' and there have been endless wars and fightings." " As well may
we imagine it was God's intention that the temple should be burned,
and the Jews should go into captivity, as that Christendom should be
what we see it is at this day." Neicmun on Romanism, p. 240, 242,
ed. 1838,
72 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
It certainly cannot be said, that religion is the pri-
mum mobile among men, or that religion is the first rule
and motive in governing our private conduct ; much
less the public concerns, and the affairs of the state.
The force and effect of religion, as leading to right
judgment in human affairs, is decried and doubted; and
according to the prevailing opinion, it is now conceived
to have more power for evil than for good in public
concerns; and its dictates and suggestions, through the
clergy, are considered as mischievous, and counteract-
ing all improvement.* The doctrine of seeking first
the Kingdom of God, and through faith expecting that
temporal good will follow, is scouted from public life,
and is not much more received in the private walks of
individuals. Faith, which is the distinctive essence of
religion, and of Christianity in particular, is practically
held to be a delusion ; and every thing is brought to
and estimated by the highly approved test of self-
" sufficient reason." Nothing is considered more chi-
* This remark is more particularly applicable to the period of Whig
government and influence, at which time this was written, and when
the clergy were considered the most determined and influential body
to counteract all reforms. But I do not consider this remark, and
others made under the same circumstances, as inapplicable on account
of any present reaction ; because I apprehend that such reaction will be
only temporary, and I see the same causes and principles in operation
which brought the late government into power, and which must con-
tinue, after a temporary suspension, if even such there be, to forward
and establish their policy and principles, if not to bring themselves again
into the government.
The project of increasing the number of spiritual peers to its former
proportion would still be looked upon as monstrous ; though by divine
appointment, among the Jews, the priests were made the proper judges
of the law in every controversy. Deut. xxi. 5.
ESS. VII.] CHRISTIANITY NOT THE RULING PRINCIPLE. 73
merical and absurd than the notion of governing a
country, or even the details of private life, by the
perfect law of the Gospel. What absurdities would it
be supposed to lead to, if we were to give to him that
asked us! to give up our coat and our cloke ! to
turn the other cheek ! and to observe the Sabbath-day
strictly. The world could not go on under such a rule
and discipline. Happy are they that mourn : Happy
are the poor in spirit : The meek shall inherit the
earth : Happy are ye when men shall persecute you :
It is more happy to give than to receive. If these
are accepted by any one, it is by a few solita,ry indi-
viduals only.
The plain maxims of Christianity are looked upon
as hyperbolical, and are not thought compatible with
modern civilization and enlightenment. We have made
so great discoveries, and such wonderful progress, that
human nature is re-established upon a new basis, and
is no longer subject to the same rules of action as when
it was in its infancy;* but now it is able to walk alone,
upon the ground of the knowledge of its own true in-
* Similar to this in spirit was the Puritan opinion, which Fuller
found it necessary to combat, (in his Triple Reconciler,) that the Lord's
Prayer was imperfect, because Jesus Christ composed it in his minority,
before he was arrived at his full perfection. p. 130.
Evil tendencies present themselves most nakedly and glaringly in
the first development of principles and diseases : as in the first here-
sies, the first rise of English commerce, the French Revolution; the
principles of which are still governing our counsels in the present day.
The principles are not the less operative and deadly, because, while
seemingly stifled, they afterwards advance more covertly and insidi-
ously, and possess by a slow and general invasion all the vital parts
of the system.
E
74 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
terests ; and its appetite is now cultivated and corrected
accurately to estimate, and naturally to desire, that
which is its real good. As for loving our enemies, we
need not even love our brethren. But party and op-
position are the principle and the essence of all good
policy and wise conduct: society must be sustained by
a balance of opposite interests, and a system of counter-
actions, by a war system. The nearest in opinion and
belief are the hottest in hatred of one another, especially
in the matter of religion; and every heathen and in-
fidel looker-on may point out a European Christian by
this sign, and exclaim with wonder and admiration
and astonishment, See, how these Christians hate one
another !
What has been just now said has reference to prac-
tice. I fully believe that in doctrine also there will be
a more perfect Christianity, exhibiting itself in greater
beauty, consistency and simplicity, and bringing greater
satisfaction, conclusiveness and confidence to the minds
of men, then duly patterned and prepared to receive
and appreciate it. The low conduct and principles of
Christians make it impossible for them clearly to under-
stand the sacred truths of Revelation. Where perfect
practice is, there alone can true Christian doctrine be
really seen and believed, and duly appreciated. The
doctrine also re-acts upon the principles and practice ;
and both must be perfected together, when the body
and mind shall be redeemed from the bondage of sin
and blindness which oppresses them.
Let us look at some of the symptoms of our condition,
and of the deviousness of our course: though we have
.
ESSAY VII.] DOCTRINE IMPERFECT. 75
scarcely any thing external to us and fixed, and not
coloured by our own minds and the atmosphere about
us, by which to examine our health and complexion,
and to measure our position. And I do not pretend to
define or to distinguish the doctrine at which we may
hope to arrive, or scarcely to anticipate the nature of
it. We are all surrounded and nourished by the same
atmosphere of habit and error, from which every thought
and action receives an impress, and some false colour-
ing. Neither would I be misunderstood as believing or
expecting, that Christianity is only a step and passage
to something higher than it reveals, in conduct or doc-
trine ; as those who define its ultimate perfection and
end to be universal equality and philanthropy. I mean
only to say, that Christianity will be better explained
and appreciated hereafter, both in its letter and spirit:
not that the Bible, no not even the letter of it, will be
superseded, or a sentence added to it ; but that, when
fully understood, it will be found to contain much deeper
and wider and higher truth and consistency, than we
have now any conception of, and be a grand and suffi-
cient fund and study for all purposes of instruction in
the highest wisdom.
There seems to be an incapability, as Christianity
now exists, that it should show itself entire and com-
plete in any one church or person. Each person and
each church seems to develope some one principle of
the Christian doctrine more fully and perfectly than
the rest. One portion of the Church exhibits Faith
more fully ; another, Works ; another, the gifts and
influences of the Holy Spirit ; our own Church must
E2
76 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
be admitted to be practically deficient in self-denying
Faith and Love, and spirituality and devotedness.
The Bible is full of seeming inconsistencies to the
reasoning mind, in regard to doctrines which we deem
essentially important. One rule seemingly contradicts
another; one doctrine another; the same fact is dif-
ferently described in different places, which seems to be
contradictory to truth. As it is said, Believe and thou
shalt be saved; and, Do the Commandments and thou
shalt live: and again, By grace are ye saved: and
again, Ye shall be judged by your works.
And then again The Father and the Son have both
created : and the Father has sanctified : and Christ
Jesus sanctifies : and we are sanctified by Faith :
and the Holy Spirit intercedes;* and thus the different
offices of the Three Persons seem to be confounded.
And, the Son is equal and inferior: and He knoweth
all things, and knows not the Day of Judgment :
begotten again and He was begotten before the world,
and He was at the Resurrection.
And still more in regard to moral precepts : Answer
a fool according to his folly, Answer not a fool accord-
ing to his folly : He that is not against us is with us,
He that is not with us is against us : The hand of
the diligent maketh rich, The blessing of the Lord it
maketh rich : All of you be subject one to another,
&c. c.
These sorts of moral and doctrinal oppositions and
paradoxes are continually invading and disturbing our
minds and consciences ; and are perplexing us in our
* Jude, i. ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Acts, xxvi. 18.
ESSAY VII.] SEEMING PARADOXES. 77
endeavours to fix rules and definitions of doctrine and
conduct. We feel as if in an atmosphere which is not
congenial to us, as in an element in which we cannot
breathe freely; as in a strange climate and country,
where the manners and modes of thought and action
are a constraint and impediment to us.
But more than all, the language and reasoning, and
the figures of Scripture, are not clear and comprehensi-
ble to us. They do not run on all fours, like Aristotle's
metaphors. There is an involution, and complexity, and
a double intent and aspect, and a want of order and
method and completeness, in the types and prophecies,
and promises, and images, that quite perplexes and
bewilders our senses and understandings, and leads
and leaves us in difficulty and doubt, and distraction
and amazement.
The Bible is a sealed book to every one of us. And
those who have the greatest attainments in it confess,
much more than any beginners, that they are continually
picking up only some few bright, newly discovered, un-
expected gems, which shine upon them more and more
at every step, even in the most trodden paths, each of
them being but indicators of the vast, unattainable
depths and mountains of treasure from which they have
been extracted.
Every searcher into revealed Truth perceives, what-
ever may be the stage of his attainments, that there are
rich treasures beyond his present knowledge, and fresh
paths opening themselves for the discovery of them.
Every such person finds that there are multitudes be-
hind him, to whom his present pursuits appear delu-
78 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
sive ; and he himself is apt to think that others more
advanced are wandering in mazes of vain curiosity and
imagination. It would be adventurous to advance much
in the way of example and illustration, lest it should be
looked upon as the flights of vision and imagination. But
what a field of wonder and desire and admiration opens
upon us, when we first begin to be instructed in the typi-
cal signification of the different parts of the Tabernacle :
The Holy of Holies Heaven, where God is enthroned
invisible: The ark his heavenly Church, where Christ
the heavenly Manna, and the Rod that budded is laid
up: The Holy Place his Church on earth, fed by the
shew bread, by Christ, the Bread of Life, illuminated
by the seven gold candlesticks, the Holy Spirit: ap-
proached by the laver of Baptism, and the altar of
Christ's atonement : _ together with the exact typical
allusion of each of the parts of the several sacrifices :
when we first begin to perceive that every incident in
Elisha's life, even to the weeping over the city of his de-
voted country, exhibits him as a prefigure of our blessed
Saviour ; and that every word and answer of our Lord
himself has a deep prospective and prophetic meaning ;
and that every sentence in Scriptnre is pregnant in
like manner, and waiting for the birth; we rest asto-
nished and stunned at the vastness and depth of the
ocean of divine truth, and must confess that it is an
immense field of literature and wisdom, in itself suffi-
cient to occupy a whole life in the attainment ; and
when a life so occupied should be at an end, we should
still only the more earnestly be convinced that we were
as yet at the threshold of that truth which is laid up
ESSAY VII.] THE BIBLE A SEALED BOOK. 79
for our acceptance and use in that vast treasury of
Revealed Wisdom.*
But how can we open and unseal this Treasure-house?
We have no key fitted to it. Our understandings are
cast in another mould, and can never fit the form and
rule and fashion of the language and matter of inspired
teaching.
We cannot now realize or believe the seeming para-
doxes and contradictions which we meet with at every
step in religious and moral truth. We cannot reconcile
the doctrine of a special Providence in all minute and
every-day concerns, with the law and order of nature.
We cannot reconcile Predestination and the Foreknow-
ledge of God with our Freewill. We cannot reconcile
the operation of learning and thought and talent with the
influence of the Holy Spirit in the thoughts and over
the mind. We cannot conceive that Bezabeel and
Aholiab should be inspired by the Spirit of God to work
beautiful works of art, and to have a correct and inven-
tive taste in designing tools and patterns. We cannot
conceive that demons should possess people with dis-
* See particularly the Epistles to the Galatians and the Hebrews ;
Mather on Types ; Jones of Nayland's " Book of Nature," and " Figti-
" rative Language of Scripture;" and Sir George Rose's "Scriptural
Researches." But none of these do more than open the door. Much
more profound aspirations are found scattered in the older writers; but
the subject has not attained to its proper eminence as an entire study.
A recent writer, after enumerating some others of those more hidden
and mystical figures and fore-shadowings, well remarks, " Dare any
man deny that these are great marks of Truth, even according to our
modern measures, incompetent as they obviously are to these inves-
tigations?" (Tracts for the Times, No. 89, p. 37.) The whole matter
of this Tract bears forcibly and convincingly upon the topic before us.
80 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
eases and madness. We cannot believe that wizards
and witches and familiar spirits altered the course of
nature, and afforded opportunity of commerce with the
unseen world. We cannot conceive that angels should
have married women, that God and angels should have
walked and conversed familiarly on earth.
The power of Faith over the works and laws of nature
is too difficult to be believed by us. So also is it to
reconcile the ways and omniscience of God with the
efficacy of Prayer. Even the compatibility of Tradition
with the exercise of judgment is so subtle as to elude
our unpractised understandings.
The Proverbs of Solomon are as a sealed book, and
by no means come home to us as the writings of the
wisest of men. The form and figure of them is at once
common and dull, and repulsive to our tastes ; and a
great part of them is incomprehensible. It is the same
with the figures and metaphors and reasoning through-
out Scripture. When it is said, " This shall be a token
unto thee ; when thou hast brought forth the chil-
dren of Israel out of Egypt, thou shalt serve God in
this mountain," that is, some months hence, we are
startled and perplexed and hesitating. So likewise,
" This shall be a sign," " A virgin shall conceive," that
is, after some hundreds of years. And so likewise, for
another sign, " Thou shalt eat this year that which
groweth of itself; and the next year that which spring-
eth thereof; and the third year sow ye and reap," &c.
The argument and reproof to Jonah from his gourd,
is to most of us an enigma. The reception of children
enjoined by Christ, to enforce humility; the giving
ESSAY VII.] DIFFICULTIES FIGURES LANGUAGE. 81
water to a disciple, to show ourself a disciple; the
proof to Simon from the principle, that those who are
forgiven most love most, this woman loved much,
therefore her sins are forgiven; the proof from the
Samaritan acting the part of a neighbour to the Jew,
that the Jews were to acknowledge the Samaritans as
neighbours, are examples of an inverse form of argu-
ment and metaphor which is most common in Scrip-
ture, but is abhorrent to the approved form of reasoning
among us, and is unconvincing to our understandings.
The reason is that our minds are so formed upon
Grecian models, and the fashion and taste of Grecian
and Roman literature, that we cannot accommodate
them to the form of argument and thought of Eastern
nations ; to which in most parts the language of Holy
Scripture has been assimilated. It is impossible that
our minds should be trained and rehearsed, from infancy
to manhood, in the language and ideas and opinions
of the classic authors, and that our minds and tastes
should not grow into accordance and unison with them,
and habitually love and relish that which resembles
these, and dislike the contrary.
But it is not merely from the knowledge and under-
standing of the highest doctrines and arguments of
Holy Writ, that this classical, Aristotelic colour and
habit of mind excludes us. The apprehension of argu-
ments and doctrines is so connected with duty and
precept, that the one cannot be impaired or blunted,
without the other being invaded. Our moral sense and
apprehension is much blunted by our Grecian form of
mind and habit of reasoning. The Asiatics have noto-
82 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
riously a much greater fondness for moral studies than
Europeans, and a much keener penetration into human
nature and character. Also, the vices of the heathen
character are prominent throughout the writings of the
ancients, and it is impossible for us to be reconciled
and be familiar and intimate with the principles and
gross practices of the Greeks and Romans, without
having our own principles infected by the filthy con-
tact. The notorious profligacy and corruptions of the
era of philosophy and fine writing in Greece, and of
the much vaunted Augustan age in Italy, might have
been sufficient to warn us against such company and
evil communications; and to prove to us that the highest
excellence of taste and genius, and the greatest attain-
ment in learning and refinement, is not incompatible
with the debasement of moral principles, and the grossest
and most disgusting vices.* The reading the opinions
and reasonings of heathen philosophers and poets, and
being familiar with the systems and usages of idolatry
from the cradle, and being taught in them from infancy
to manhood, more than in the precepts of Christianity,
these things cannot be, without the poison being im-
bibed, and becoming part of the nature, and of the life*
and inherent in the system.
No wonder that idolatry still exists and riots in the
Gentile-Christian world, in essential union with the clas-
* "Les Remains etoient abimez dans les delices, et se piquoient
d'une mauvaise delicatessc." Fleury, ^laurs des Chretiens, sect. 44.
See the article on "Alexandria and the Alexandrians," in the Quart.
Rev. No. 131, which exhibits that city as at once the seat of every
perfection of learning and refinement, and the grossest vices and
sensuality.
ESSAY VII.] OUR HABITS AND TASTES HEATHEN. 83
sics and the fine arts; and maintains that indissoluble
bond which the devil has joined, and man cannot put
asunder. No wonder that heathen vices are rife ; and
that faith is extinct ; and that religion declines ; and
the power of Christianity is denied; and men and
nations are governed by heathen principles of utility
and selfishness ; and that society is united, and the
peace of nations maintained, upon a system of war and
opposition, and the principles of disunion. No wonder
that the Bible is still a sealed book ; and its parables
inexact and misapplied ; and that poverty and the cross,
which it reveals, is foolishness still ; and its precepts an
enigma.
This is not an entirely new or unproved opinion ;
neither is this state of things wholly without precedent
or example, so that we might have nothing by which
to measure and judge of it. Neither has it passed un-
noticed in former times, or in its present growth and
operation ; so that we might say that we were without
warning and instruction, and were taken and caught by
it unawares and without suspicion in our ignorance.
" They were mingled among the heathen and learned
their works : insomuch that they worshipped their idols."
" Ye shall not inquire, saying, How did those nations
worship their gods? so will we do likewise." But with
more direct application to the present case, Josephus
relates, that the Jews were paganized, and their habits
and ideas assimilated to the Greeks and Romans, through
their contact with the empire.* And were the Jews im-
* " Mattathias, urging on his soldiers to battle, instigated them to
the attainment of glory : meaning, earthly glory." Joseph. Ant. lib.
12, c. 6, s. 3.
84 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII,
proved in religion or morals by this enlightenment, and
enlargement of their education ? They grew more and
more selfish, cruel, proud, corrupt, and abandoned, till
their wickedness became intolerable. At least this addi-
tional and perfected civilization did not arrest their pro-
gress towards that degree of wickedness and blindness
which brought down the Divine vengeance upon their
heads, and their utter destruction. The literature and
civilization of Greece were then as complete as that
which we now have for our study and imitation. That
of Rome was in its most palmy state of vigour and
perfection.
Josephus himself partook largely of the tastes and
impressions necessarily engendered by this contact with
heathen habits and modes of thinking ; but he saw and
lamented its effects upon his countiymen. No one has
depicted with greater force and disgust the mischiefs
and absurdity of their whole religious system. After
summing up some of the attributes and immoralities
ascribed to their gods and goddesses, he thus completes
the picture:
" Which of their own wise men," he says, " among
the Greeks, has not condemned their poets and legislators
for spreading such notions of the gods among the com-
mon people? making their number to be just as many
as you please : saying that they were begotten of one
another, and that by all manner of births : assigning to
them different fixed places of habitation and modes of
life, like the different species of animals : placing some
of them under the earth, some of them in the sea, and
the oldest of them bound in chains in hell. As for
ESSAY VII.] THE CLASSICS CORRUPT US JOSEPHUS. 85
those to whom heaven is assigned, they set over them
one whom they call father, but they attribute to him
the actions of a tyrannical despot ; insomuch that his
own wife, his brother, and his daughter (whom he
brought forth from his own head), make a conspiracy
against him to seize him and shut him up, as he had
done his father before him. These are the sort of things
that wise men have justly thought worthy of their blame
and contempt : and such things as these besides, that
they make some of their gods to be beardless and deli-
cate youths, others to be aged, with long beards : others
again to be set to trades: one god to be a smith: another
goddess to be a weaver : one god is made to be a warrior,
and fights with men : some of them are harpers : others
archers. Besides this, they have seditions and parties
among them, and they quarrel about the affairs of men ;
so that they not only lay hands on one another, but
they are wounded even by men, and complain of their
pains and sufferings. But the most flagrant of all are
their lusts and lascivious amours, which they attribute
to almost all their gods, male as well as female. * *
Nay, some of the gods are servants to men, and some
will turn builders for them for hire ; and some will be
shepherds : while others of them, like malefactors,
are bound in fetters of brass. Now, what person in
his senses would not be provoked at such stories, and
condemn both those who invented them and those
who believed them to be true. There are some too
who have fashioned fear, and terror, and fraud, and
madness, and which not of their vilest passions, into the
nature and form of gods; and have persuaded whole
86 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
cities to offer sacrifices to the better sort of them.
Whence of necessity they must call some gods the
givers of good things, and others the averters of evil
things ; and then, in the next place, they offer them
gifts and favours, as they would to the veiy worst of
men ; and look for some great mischief from them if
they withhold their wages." *
Now there is no considerable portion of classical lite-
rature into which religious opinion and fable does not
enter as an ingredient ; at least those selections which
are made and used for the instruction of our youth, are
of this description. The Greeks were so superstitious a
people, that they could not pursue any subject without
reference to religion ; and the Romans, whether as fol-
lowing their masters the Greeks, or from their original
constitution, have their writings similarly characterized
by superstitious and idolatrous fable, and still more by
immorality and indecency. The necessary ill effect of
such evil communications upon the religious impres-
sions, and moral habits of all those who are educated
in them, must be too obvious for denial to those who
have a knowledge of the effect of habit upon the mind,
and an ordinary insight into character.
" They recommended believers," says Fleury, of the
early Christians, "to refrain from reading the books
of the pagans, as being sufficient to shake the faith
of weak minds, and altogether worthless." t Jones
* Joseph, con. Apion.
f " On recommendoient aux fideles de s'abstenir des livres des
Payens, comme tant capable de renverser la foi des foibles, et d'ail-
leurs inutiles." Fleury, Maurs des Chretiens, part 1, s. 7.
ESSAY VII.] THE CLASSICS CORRUPT US. 87
of Nayland thus comprehensively grasps and expresses
his own opinion upon the whole subject:
" As there was a remnant of the Canaanites, to whom
the people were frequently joining themselves in mar-
riage, and consequently relapsing into idolatry, accord-
ing to that of the psalmist ' They did not destroy the
nations concerning whom the Lord commanded them, but
were mingled among the heathen and learned their works,
and they served their idols, which were a snare unto
them :' so the works of heathen authors, with the fables
of their false gods, the abominable rites of their religion,
and the obscenity and immorality of their practices, are
in like manner remaining among Christians ; and it has
been the custom for ages, all over Europe, to commu-
nicate the rudiments of languages and learning to young
minds from heathen books, without due care to caution
them against imbibing heathen principles ; by which
thousands of minds are corrupted, and through early
prejudice rendered incapable of understanding the value
of truth, and the abominable nature of heathen error.
How frequently are heathen moralists applied to, when
the finest rules of human prudence for the conduct of
life are to be found in the Scripture. But to go to the
heathens for divinity, as some authors do, is intolerable.
They blow out the candle of revelation, and then go
raking into the embers of paganism to light it again.
Many good and learned men, of the first ability and
taste, have observed and lamented the bondage we are
under to heathen modes of education ; but custom is a
tyrant which hears no reason." *
* Rev. W. Jones's Works, vol. iv. lect. 7, p. 165.
88 NEED OF MORE PERFECT. CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
Yet we are commanded to look up to the Greeks
and Romans for the pattern of every thing that is great
and noble in conduct, and excellent in taste and man-
ners, and wise in reasoning. We are taught from the
cradle to manhood to form our minds and tastes upon
the model of the classics, and our manners upon those
of " the Greeks and Romans : two peoples," as we have
it impressed upon us continually, " renowned for every
art and accomplishment that can raise or adorn our
nature." * Even the clergy are infected by the same
sentiments ; and are drawn in by the vortex ; and draw
in others after them. How can the young mind be
expected to distinguish between what is good in taste,
and bad in manners ; between what is good in reasoning
and bad in conclusion and belief? The praise and poi-
son is continually inculcated and administered : the
caution and antidote is not insisted on; so that we are
brought up from our birth more as heathens than
Christians.
The first evil engendered by this heathen system of
education is, that heathen objects and desires become
our aim, and heathen motives of action are used and
approved, and impel us to the attainment of them :
the Pursuit of Happiness, the Dignity of Human Na-
ture, Riches, Ambition, Rank, Liberty, Popu-
larity.
The next evil is, that logical and Aristotelian forms
of reasoning are required ; and none others are found
satisfactory and convincing. A syllogism is more ap-
proved than a proverb or a parable ; especially such
parables as the types and figures of Scripture, which
Uvedale Price, on the Picturesque, p. 300, 1796.
ESSAY VII.] THE CLASSICS CORRUPT US. 89
are oftentimes inexact in their application, have each
of them many different allusions and aspects, and are
at once as unsearchable and as superior to a simple
and perfect metaphor, as life and its motions is to a
machine.*
Sermons are approved therefore in proportion as
they are clear and lucid, elegant and well-arranged,
logical and classical.
St. Paul did not put forth such principles of taste
and reasoning, or exhibit such a classical perspicuity
and elegance : of whom St. Jerome said, " St. Paul
does not know how to develope an hyperbaton, nor
point a sentence ; and having to do with vulgar minds,
he has made use of ideas, which, if he had not in the
first place been careful to prepare us for, by stating
that he spoke after the manner of men, might have
been an offence to persons of sound judgment."f
* Exs. of double types and figures. " Who turned the hard rock
into a standing water, and the flint stone into a springing well :"
the flint stone is the heart of flint, and " that rock was Christ." The
living bird set free, was a type of our redemption by Christ our bro-
ther's blood (Cowper), and of Christ's resurrection from death (Ma-
ther). So the scape goat. The seven candlesticks, or lamps, signified
the seven churches (Rev. i. 20) ; and immediately after, the seven
spirits of God (Rev. iv. 5). "I have brought my son out of Egypt:"
of Christ, and of the children of Israel. " To day have I begotten
thee :" of the resurrection, and of Christ's High Priesthood; see Ps. ii. ;
Acts, xiii. 33 ; Heb. i. 5, and v. 5. " Art thou Elias? No." " This
is Elias." The various and opposing offices and characters of Christ
sinless and yet sinful, the Lamb without spot, yet punished for sin,
the Victim, and Himself released, the Redeemer, and Himself the
first fruits of the Redemption, and the First Born of His Church.
These have not been fully explained with reference to the types and
passages which bear upon them.
t Quoted, Theopneustia, by L. Gaussen, p. 122. Transl. 1841.
90 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
St. Augustine called his Professorship of Rhetoric,
" The chair of lies."*
A third taste which we imbibe from heathen litera-
ture is for definition and classification. Our belief is
not satisfied unless all meanings are definite and dis-
tinct, and all senses and applications square exactly ;
unless all the parts of religious truth are capable of
being arranged according to a plan and scale, every pro-
phecy referred to a certain order, time, and place ; every
word to a simple interpretation.^ Hence in part arose
" Of St. Paul's preaching their very bye-word was, Xoyo? e9tv>i/xivo?,
addle speech, empty talk ; his writings full of great words ; but in
power of miraculous operations, his presence not like the rest of the
apostles." Hooker's Eccles. Pol. bk. iii. s. 8.
* Confessions, bk. ix. s. 4, p. 158. Transl. 1838. Libr. of Path.
f I find the following table or classified plan of the Holy Sacra-
ments proposed as of great use in a recent publication.
SACRAMENTS.
BAPTISM.
i
Outwa
Bread a
LORD'S SUPPER.
I
Outward part.
Water.
i
Inward grace.
Death unto sin and
new birth unto
righteousness.
r
rd part.
nd wine.
i
Thing signified.
Body and Blood
of Christ.
Requisites.
1. Repentance. ) , r , T> i v 1- Repentance.
2-r* -ii i V iue iStiptisnia.1 \ ow. T? .
. faith. } 2. raith.
3. Charity,
i
Beneficial Results or Benefits.
I ' 1
1. A member of Christ. The strengthening and re-
2. A child of God. freshing of our souls.
3. An inheritor of the kingdom
of Heaven.
(Educational Mag. No. 2, vol. ii. N. S. p. 108.)
ESSAY VII.] INFLUENCE OF CLASSICS ON DOCTRINES. 91
the questions about Homoousion and Homoiousion, and
the definition of the Son as of one Substance* or Essence
with the Father ; and as Begotten before the worlds.
Hence the exact distinctions and definitions of Justifi-
cation, Sanctification, and Salvation. When St. Paul
says, " Who died for our sins, and rose again for our
justification," we make a distinction and a theory of it.
Transubstantiation is a doctrine having in part the same
origin. The Athanasian Creed contains a series of op-
posite propositions, as that the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost are Eternal, and yet they are not Three Eternals,
(in Latin and Greek, " Three Eternal,") which, being
couched in logical form of expression, and suited to
logical taste and theory of thought, may at the same
time be made logically and technically to disprove one
another ; and which, though needful as denials of par-
ticular heresies, are signs of the logical, scientific, clas-
sical, and false taste of the age, of which the religion of
that as well as this day partook, and out of which the
heresies themselves had arisen. The obligatory pro-
minence given to the " Proceeding" of the Holy Ghost,
attributed as a distinctive property to the Third Person,
opposed to " made" and " begotten," is of a similar
character.-f-
* The word " substance" was introduced into the Nicene Creed at
the instance of Constantine. Libr. of Fath. St. Athanasius, p. 61, 66, n.
t The word is " sxwofEusrai" wapa -ra Harps?. Our Blessed Lord ap-
plies to Himself the expression, e^xflov wapo. ra narpof, " I came out"
from the Father, three times at least. Learned men point out no
definite distinction between these two expressions. So that this obli-
gatory form of doctrine is rested upon a word not applied distinctively
to the Holy Ghost. If it were said, tbat the Holy Ghost " proceedeth
from the Father," or, " is sent by the Son from the Father," it would
92 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
I would not be understood as saying that there is
one word of error in the Athanasian Creed, but only
that the language in which it was thus found necessary
to negative errors, itself perpetuates a false and philo-
sophic habit of thought ; and that I feel convinced, that
in after times, of a more vital Christianity, this form
will not be in unison with the doctrinal habits of thought
of the most advanced Christians. The Jews are said to
have forbidden that any exposition of doctrine should
be written down, even in contradiction of a heresy; so
that when heresies died away, they expired altogether,
with their effects, and the Scriptures alone remained in
their purity.*
be the language of Holy Writ. But to say, emphatically, and ab-
stractedly, not "made," nor "begotten," but "proceeding," seems to
savour rather more of the "oppositions of science," than of the "form
of sound words," and the traditionary " faith, once delivered to the
saints."
* The following is an offspring of this incestuous union between
Christianity and heathen learning :
From " The Golden Remains of the ever memorable Mr. John
Hales, of Eton College." First printed about 1759.
"MR. 11 ALLS'* CONFESSION OF THE TRINITY.
" The sum of whatsoever either the Scriptures teach, or the schools
conclude, concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, is comprised in these
few lines.
" God is One ; numerically One ; more One, than any single man
is one, if unity could suscipere majus et minus ; yet, God is so One,
that He admits of Distinction ; and so admits of Distinction, that He
still retains Unity.
" As He is One, so we call Him God, the Deity, the Divine Nature,
and other names of the same signification : as He is Distinguished, so
we call Him Trinity ; Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
" In this Trinity there is One Essence ; Two Emanations ; Three
Persons; Four Properties; Five Notions.
ESSAY VII.] INFLUENCE OF CLASSICS ON DOCTRINES. 93
We distinguish and define the nature and use of
(" A Notion is that by which any Person is known or signified.)
" The One Essence is God, which with this Relation, that it doth
Generate or Beget, makes the Person of the Father: the same Essence,
with this Relation, that it is Begotten, maketh the Person of the Son :
the same Essence, with this Relation, that it Proceedeth, maketh the
Person of the Holy Ghost.
" The Two Emanations are, to he Begotten ; and to Proceed, or to
be Breathed out : the Three Persons are, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit :
the Three Relations are, to Beget ; to be Begotten ; and to Proceed, or
to be Breathed out : the Four Properties are, the First, Innascibility,
and Inemanability : the Second is, to Generate; these belong to the
Father : the Third is, to be Begotten ; and this belongs unto the Son :
the Fourth is, to Proceed, or to be Breathed out ; and this belongs
unto the Holy Spirit. The Five Notions are, First Innascibility; the
Second is, to Beget ; the Third, to be Begotten ; the Fourth, Spiratio
Passiva, to be Breathed out ; the Fifth, Spiratio Activa, or to Breathe;
and this Notion belongs to the Father and the Son alike ; for Pater et
Filius spirant Spiritum Sanctum.
" Hence it evidently follows, that he who acknowledged thus much,
can never possibly scruple the Eternal Deity of the Son of God.
" If any man think this confession to be defective, (for I can con-
ceive no more in this point necessary to be known,) let him supply
what he conceives to be deficient, and I shall thank him for his favour."
Though Mr. Hales thinks that those Essences, Emanations, Persons,
Properties, and Notions, are all that is necessary to be known on this
point, this point itself is surely little necessary to be known in com-
parison with these other notions and operations; The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory, the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father,
full of Grace and Truth, Who gave Himself for us, and died for us,
Who rose again for us, and ascended up on high and obtained gifts
for us, Who feeds us with the heavenly food of His own body and
blood, Who is exalted at God's right hand with our nature, the Head
over all, the Alpha and Omega, having the keys of death, God blessed
for ever: The Love of God, God is Love, and He first loved us,
and gave His Only Begotten Son to die for us, and willeth not the
death of any sinner, but that all should be converted and live through
His Son our Lord Jesus Christ : The Fellowship of the Holy Ghost,
94 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
Prayer, till we reason ourselves out of its efficacy,*
the nature of a Special Providence, of Election, of the
Holy Spirit, of Miracle, till we reason ourselves out of
the belief of their existence, the time and operation of
the New Birth, till we ask a second time with Nico-
demus, " How can a man be born again ?" Propo-
sitions the most easy and acceptable to the unlettered
and untutored understandings of the common people,
are full of difficulty to such minds, and almost irrecon-
cileable.
A fourth evil is, that we seek after doctrine and not
truth. The difference between these two is itself be-
come incomprehensible to us. Our study is speculative,
not practical. We do not understand the meaning or
possibility of " doing the truth ;" or how it can be the
the Comforter, the Helper of our infirmities, the Sanctifier of
our hearts, the Enlightener of our understandings, the Worker of
miracles, the Guider into all truth, the Giver of manifold good
gifts, but the same Spirit. The debate and dwelling upon those
Essences, and Emanations, and Persons, and Properties, and Notions,
and the engrossing controversies which they require, lead our attention
astray from these other more vital and practical operations, which are
to be learned otherwise than by reasoning, and respecting which there
is little controversy. These can be felt and understood by the rude
and uneducated mind ; those cannot be determined and fixed by the
most scientific and learned.
* A zealous and devoted clergyman, averse in general to philo-
sophical religion, reasoned with me that the use of prayer was to bring
the mind into such a state in which God could grant to us what is
good for us. Our Saviour says, "Ask, and ye shall receive;" and
this, because of your importunity.
" Do the gods delight in prayer?" was an inquiry by Stilpo, the
later Platonist. The Epicureans notoriously denied entirely the effi-
cacy of prayer.
ESSAY VII.] A BETTER LITERATURE. 95
work of God to believe in Jesus Christ. We cannot
understand or believe how there can be more right
ways than one ; how Wisdom can warrant her disciples
and votaries in opposite rules of life, and be justified of
all her children.
If it be asked what literature might be adopted as a
substitute for the Greek and Latin Classics, which have
been the groundwork of our modern civilization, I say
that we were better without enlightenment and educa-
tion than to purchase it at such cost of the purity of
religious doctrine and principle. Besides this, the lite-
rature of modern Europe may fairly be supposed by this
time to have extracted and borrowed all that is good
and enlightening from the dead languages, and to be
sufficiently matured to throw off this pupilage and
vassalage. But the languages and literature of the
East are an almost unexplored field ; and they have
greater stores of riches than are generally ascribed to
them. They have this remarkable and valuable cha-
racteristic, that the Asiatics are by far more sagacious
studiers of human nature than Europeans. Their
penetration into character, and discernment of the
mind and motives, are quite beyond the standard of
European attainment in this respect. But more than
this, their fondness for figure and parable and allegory,
and their exercise in that style and form of writing and
thinking, peculiarly fit them for the office of interpreting
the language and imagery of the Scriptures.
It cannot be but that intercourse with the Chinese
should exercise a most powerful influence over the habits
of thought, and manners of nations now living un-
96 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANIY. [ESSAY VII.
der the European system. The Chinese have all the
good qualities belonging to the other Asiatics, and have
them in a still higher degree. They have in addition a
most perfect language, of ideas and not of sounds : a
desideratum, even according to our own estimation :
capable of being the foundation of a universal language.
And they are the most generally educated people in the
world. The collision of the two halves of the civilized
world, cannot but be productive of a mighty conflict.
In both the hemispheres, civilization is carried to the
highest pitch : upon totally opposite systems. Our
own is thus imperfect and insufficient, as has been
described. It is not an easy task to picture what civili-
zation will be, when it is based upon the real principles
and undistorted precepts of Christianity. But it is
sufficient that we already have an example of a higher
standard than our own ; and it may be expected that
we should undergo the influence of that for a time, and
in some measure, before we take the final step towards
man's ultimate attainment. The principles and manners
of the Chinese are apparently such as to fit them pecu-
liarly for the reception and practice of the precepts of
the gospel ; and, having received them, to become more
perfect in their use and understanding of them, than the
nations brought up under European principles have
proved themselves.
European civilization is altogether of a low order and
character. Riches, comfort, luxury, pride, vanity, ambi-
tion, warlike courage, national and personal aggrandize-
ment by force and conquest: these are considered, if
not signs of civilization, at least not opposite to or incon-
ESSAY VII.] EUROPEAN AND CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 97
sistent with it. European civilization is low and brutal.
To be able to make money rapidly, and to fight fiercely,
are our pride and our boast; and are considered evidences
of it. A philosophy which says that population is an
evil to be repressed, and that almsgiving is culpable, is
not inconsistent with it. The Chinese are pitied by us
for their great population ; and despised by us, not for
their want of fortitude and courage, but because, being
cultivators of peace, they were inferior to ourselves in
instruments of destruction.*
With the Chinese, money is not considered as the
most desirable attainment. Poverty is no reproach
among them. Holding the precepts of the Gospel,
though not taught by it, even better than ourselves, they
consider that happiness is more consistent with a middle
than with a high station, f
" It may be considered as one proof of social advance-
ment on the part of the Chinese, that the civil authority
is generally superior to the military; and that letters
always rank above arms."J
A national education is provided for every one.
* The natives of Loo-choo declared to the English, that they had no
weapons. Indo-Chinese Gleaner, ii. 6.
t Davis's China, i. 20, 196, 200, 243, 250.
t Ibid. i. 210 ; Nic. Trigautius, pp. 92, 94, Lug. Bat. 1639.
Ibid. i. 154, 197, 272. " The proportion of the educated to the
uneducated men, is said to be as four to one." Gvtzluff's China,
Introd. by Rev. W. Ellis, p. 10, ed. 1834. Ib. 107. The same account
is given of them in the ninth century : " The Chinese, both poor and
rich, great and small, learn to read and to write." "There are schools
in every town for teaching the poor and their children to write and
read, and the masters are paid at the public charge." Account of
India and China, by a Mohammedan Traveller, written in the year of
the Hegira 237, A.D. 851. Ed. 1733; pp. 22, 29, 40.
98 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
People are educated in those arts and branches of know-
ledge which they are to practise in domestic and public
life. Office is conferred, not according to favour and
interest, but according to the proficiency in knowledge,
under repeated trials and examination; and this is the
only road to it.
We do not know in what true knowledge and educa-
tion consists ; but this the Chinese know and inculcate
eminently. They teach that the economy and govern-
ment of a family or country must originate in the govern-
ment of oneself.* " Moral instruction is ranked by them
above physical. The consequence is, that industry,
tranquillity and content, are unusually prevalent in
the bulk of the population."t " Confucius lays at the
bottom of his system, not the visionary notions (which
have no existence in nature) of independence and equa-
lity, but principles of dependance and subordination."^;
The result of these opposite principles, in the two hemi-
spheres of civilization, does not need a comparison.
" Superior and alone, Confucius stood,
And taught that useful science, to be good "
The Chinese standard of morals and manners is even
* Davis's China, i. 193 ; ii. 40, 46.
f Dr. Morrison, ap. ibid. i. 239. " The object of the government,
as Dr. Morrison justly observes, in making education general, is not
to extend the bounds of knowledge, but to impart the knowledge
already possessed, to as large a portion as possible of the rising gene-
ration, and to pluck out true talent from the mass of the community,
for its own service." Ibid. i. 273. See Gutzlaff's China, pp. 112, 165,
167, 170; Nic. Trigaut. p. 71.
J Davis's China, ii. 44.
$ Pope, Temple of Fame. The third division, " Man," is by far
the most copious in their Encyclopedia. Ibid. ii. 259.
ESSAY VII.] EUROPEAN AND CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 99
more Christian like than our own. As already observed,
poverty is with them no reproach ; and happiness is
held to be consistent with a humble station. " It is
a general rule with them in visits, to contend for the
lowest seat."* In private life and in government, their
principle is to rule less by fear and force, than by the
arts of love and affection. The Chinese study more
than we Christians, to love one another. The emperor,
in 1713, directed his ambassador to give the following
summary of the Chinese moral system to the Russian
government. " If you are asked, what we principally
esteem and reverence in China, you may thus reply :
' In our empire, fidelity, filial piety, charity, 1 ]* justice
and sincerity , are esteemed above all things. We
revere and abide by them. They are the principles
upon which we administer the empire, as well as govern
ourselves. We likewise make sacrifices and oblations ;
* Davis's China, i. 295. " They exhibit an urbanity of manner and
courtesy of behaviour highly commendable ; and in some respects a
degree of refinement and civilization beyond what has been attained by
the most intelligent and powerful nations of the earth. The Chinese, as
Dr. Morrison observes, teach contempt of the rude, instead of fighting
with them ; and the man who unreasonably insults another has public
opinion against him; whilst he who bears and despises an affront, is
esteemed." " A Chinese would stay and reason with a man, when an
Englishman would knock him down, or an Italian stab him. It is
needless to say which is the most rational mode of proceeding."
Gutzlaff's China, Introd. by Rev. W. Ellis, p. 6, ed. 1834. See Indo-
Chinese Gleaner, i. 52, 202; vol. ii. 6, 20, 81, 121, 135, 227, 425.
Nic. Trigaut. 141.
t Gutzlaff's China, 134; Indo-Chinese Gleaner, i. 47, 180,181,
vol. ii. 49, 235, 292.
J GutzlafF's China, pp 112, 161.
F2
100 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
we pray for good things, and we deprecate evil things.
But if we did not act honestly, if we were not faithful,
pious, charitable, just and sincere, of what avail would
be our prayers and sacrifices ?' "*
The Chinese have aggrandized their empire less by
war than by the arts of peace. Several nations have
joined themselves to them of their own accord, as being
the most happy empire, and the most paternal govern-
ment. In 1771, 50,000 Tartar families from the banks
of the Wolga and afterwards 30,000 more emigrated,
and put themselves under the government of the Chinese
Emperor Kien Long, instead of the Russian govern-
ment.t The Tourgouth Tartars, in like manner, did
not emigrate, but they sent an embassy, and put them-
selves under the Chinese dominion ; though the Chinese
could not even send an embassy to them, without
asking leave of the Russians, and going through their
dominions.
The maxims of the Chinese government are amiable,
enlightened and good.J One of the first and best is,
that the government itself sets an example, and endea-
deavours by its own acts to encourage goodness. The
emperor sometimes styles himself in his public writings,
* Gutzlaff's China, ii. 154.
t Vint's Geography, Turkey in Asia, vol. ii. p. 80, ap. Compre-
hensive Bible, at Num. i. 46, marg. n. &. The Chinese never aggran-
dize their empire by war. Nic. Trigaut. p. 130.
I Davis's China, vol. i. 189, 194, 234, 235, 236, 243, 260, 278,
,'352, 383, vol. ii. 13.
Gutzlaff's China, 153, 154; Indo-Chinese Gleaner, i. 186,
187, vol. ii. 23, 33, 69, 347, 352, 407, 412, 413; ibid. ii. 51, 89,
180,433.
ESSAY VII.] CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 101
"the imperfect man."* "The island Formosa has
flourished greatly since it has been in possession of the
Chinese, who go thither generally from Tung-an, in
Fuhkean, as colonists. "f A similar account is given
of the improvement of Loo-choo, since they have adopted
the principles of the Chinese government. J
The Chinese emblems of happiness, are a child, a
mandarin, and a stork. Namely, they esteem and
desire children in the first place, white we falsely charge
them with infanticide. On the contrary, we condemn
propagation, and esteem children an evil. The other
" two things they most respect, are station derived
from personal merit ; and the claims of venerable old
age." ||
The Chinese make no naked statues.^]"
In China there are few or no beggars.** And they
have no slaves. They esteem a man the most valuable
commodity in the empire ; and do not put him in com-
parison with a machine.
* Davis's China, i. 204, 373, 375, vol. ii. 72; Indo-Chinese
Gleaner, i. 50, vol. ii. 407, 411, 413, 414.
f GutzlafFs China, p. 119; ibid. 157.
I Indo-Chinese Gleaner, ii. 8, 10.
Ibid. i. 286.
|| Ibid. i. 243.
1f Indo-Chinese Gleaner, ii. 255. The use of naked figures in sculp-
ture and painting is merely alow and sensual taste borrowed by us from
the Greeks; but I cannot either contain or express the abhorrence
that I conceive, when I see our Saviour's passion made the subject of
an anatomical exercise; and to see painters and patrons and virtuosos
met together to examine the muscular development of our blessed
Lord's naked body.
** Sir George Staunton, ap. ibid. i. 235.
102 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
The Chinese do not consider luxury useful, and a
virtue ; or that it tends to the support of the poor ; but
the contrary.* Sir George Staunton says, " in the
course of our journey through the Chinese empire, I
can recall to my recollection (the seaport of Canton of
course excepted) but very few instances of beggary or
abject misery among the lower classes, or of splendid
extragavance among the higher ; and I conceived myself
enabled to trace almost universally throughout China,
the unequivocal signs of an industrious, thriving and
contented people."f
Almost all modern travellers agree in this view of the
Chinese. Mr. Ellis says, " I have been much struck
with the number of persons apparently in the middle
classes; from which I am inclined to infer a wide
diffusion .of the substantial comforts of life." Van
Braam observes, that " it was easy to perceive that the
inhabitants are strangers to poverty," and that " every-
thing bore the appearance of plenty and happiness :"
Barrow, that the countenances of the peasants were
cheerful, and their appearance indicative of plenty:
and Sir George Staunton again, that " the cottages are
clean and comfortable." While, of the alleged infanti-
cide, De Guignes declares, that in his route through
the whole extent of China, he never met with an instance
of it ; and Mr. Ellis, giving the same testimony, adds,
that " supposing any of the statements of it to have
been well founded, it was scarcely to be believed that
in passing over its populous rivers, through upwards of
Indo-Chinese Gleaner, i. 184, vol. ii. 59.
f Davis's China, i. 235.
ESSAY VII.] JEWISH LITERATURE. 103
1600 miles of country, we should find no proof of its
mere existence."* Again, "careworn and half-starved
faces are rare things in China. A plumpness of fea-
ture, cheerfulness of mien, and a gait full of animation,
though without hurry, bespeak a condition of mind that
looks on to-day's supply with complacency, and for-
ward to to-morrow's chances without apprehension.
The happiness and general prosperity of the Chinese
are conspicuous."f
The Bishop of Sodor and Man, and Sir George Rose,
both consider that the lengthened existence of the Chi-
nese empire has been a fulfilment of the Scripture pro-
mise of long-living in the land, to those who keep that
first divine commandment of the second table, to honour
and obey parents.^
Upon the whole, it appears that the Chinese have
attained to a better and more Christian like civilization
than Europeans ; yet imperfect ; and it seems likely
that, as the Israelites from the beginning became better
Christians than the Gentiles, so the Chinese will show
themselves better Christians than the Europeans, among
the Gentile nations, when converted.
But the Jews more especially have a language, and in
some measure a literature, which peculiarly fit them for
becoming the great and authorized interpreters of the
* Ap. Mr. Sadler's Life, p. 160. No doubt it will prove to be the
case tbat infanticide has existed to some extent in certain parts of
China. Du Halde says, " In the great cities, such as Peking and
Kanton, this shocking sight is very common ; but in other places it is
very rare."
t The Chinese As They Are, by G. Tradescant Lay, p. 260.
J What is Christianity? p, 145 ; Scriptural Researches, 174, 194, &c.
104 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
Sacred Writings. Every thing in prophecy and circum-
stance marks them out as likely to take an important
place, and to act a prominent part, in the events which
are shortly coming upon the earth. They have been
once, if they be not now, the wisest and most enlightened
people. Salvation is of the Jews. Their uninspired lite-
rature contains, as it always did, many valuable instruc-
tions and maxims, especially with regard to moral and
religious practice, and the conduct of life. Their long
period of affliction and persecution is likely to have dis-
ciplined and instructed their hearts and dispositions, and
prepared their minds for the reception at length of pure
religious truth and wisdom. Salvation is of the Jews.
And whether the Redeemer himself shall first come to
Zion again, and rule over his people from thence, and
from thence send forth the true and perfect law, and the
pure word and river of life, flowing from a full interpre-
tation and comprehension of the Bible as a fountain, or
whether the Jews shall first return to their land and
be converted, and devote their studies and zeal to the
eliciting and illustration of Christianity from every word
of the Old and New Testaments, preparatory to His
second coming, in either case, the Jews seem to be
destined to act a glorious part in extracting the abun-
dant and overflowing riches of Divine wisdom and
Christian truth, which are hidden, as in an inexhaustible
mine, in all the types and figures, and precepts and para-
bles, and ceremonies and prophecies, and lives of saints
and patriarchs, and every event of history, as recorded
in Holy Scripture, from the beginning of creation to the
times coincident with the first coming of our Lord.
ESSAY VII.] ANTICIPATION IMPOSSIBLE. 105
We cannot even approach to forming an adequate
conception of the sight, when we shall see clearly and
know perfectly the word of truth and revelation, as it
shall be fully developed to us. We can just perceive
some symptoms of the errors of our present systems
and opinions, as being opposed to the spirit and form
of Scripture truth, and some small signs of the direction
which sounder views and interpretations might take, in
approach towards the true spirit and wisdom of revealed
truth. We can perceive that the Bible is an immense
treasure of hidden wisdom, because each person, as he
penetrates further into it, is only more convinced that
he is still but on the threshold ; and that more faithful
practice and obedience must be the key,* for that the
whole book is sealed to us by our self-chosen principles
of conduct, and practices ; and that the Jews are not
only the natural interpreters, if they could but be weaned
from their traditions, and be brought to it with a right
intention and spirit, but that they are more likely to be
disciplined at length into this right course of thought
and a suitable teachableness, by their loner chasteniners
* /
and afflictions, because we find that all our worldly
advancements and growth in wealth, luxury, power,
prosperity and civilization, only lead us farther from the
maxims and spirit and motives and rules of Christianity,
and the capability of obeying or believing them. We
know nothing of the real nature of our ultimate regene-
ration, or of the manner of the second coming, more
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matt.
v. 8. " Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself' even
as He is pure," 1 John, iii. 3.
106 NEED OF MORE PERFECT CHRISTIANITY. [ESSAY VII.
than the Jews knew and believed of the manner of the
first coming to redemption, or whether our Lord will
bring it at once and immediately by Himself, or first by
his ministers ; but we feel and groan under the desire
of a further redemption and regeneration of the body
and mind and spirit and understanding, and of the
knowledge and practice of a more real and perfect
Christianity.
It may be, that the temple of God is already opened
in heaven, and there is seen in his temple the ark of
his testament: that is, the first signs and leaven of
perfect Christianity. But no one can enter into the
temple, till the plagues of the seven angels are fulfilled.
But now at this time, by the pouring out of the sixth
vial, it seems that the great river Euphrates (the great
flood, or ocean) is drying up, that the way of the kings
of the East may be prepared. The Eastern habits of
thought and conduct must first take their due share, in
forming our minds, and the perfecting of civilization.
After that, the seventh vial shall be poured out into the
air ; and then shall the spirit of religion become pure
and perfect ; and then, and not till then, shall the true
believers in Christ enter into the temple of God, and
worship him in spirit and in truth.*
* Rev. xi. 19 ; xv. 5, 8 ; xvi. 12, 17.
( 107 )
ESSAY VIII.
THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST.
" THAT WAS, AND IS NOT, AND YET IS." REV. XVli. 8.
SPIRITUAL INCEST THE REVIVAL AND USE OF HEATHEN LEARNING
AND PRINCIPLES THE HEALING OF THE BEAST PERFECTED AFTER
THE REFORMATION ARISTOTLE THE FATHER OF INFIDELITY IN
SUCCESSIVE AGES OPINIONS OF PRIESTLEY, FLEURY, LUTHER,
DR. ARNOLD ROME REVIVED CLASSICAL LIBERTY DIGNITY AND
WORSHIP OF HUMAN NATURE AGE AND AUTHORITY SLIGHTED
LIBERTY OPPRESSIVE POOR AND POOR LAWS OF ATHENS AND ROME
CORRUPTION OF CAPITAL CITIES THEATRES GLADIATORIAL
SHOWS HEARING AND SEEING SOME NEW THING SPIRIT OF UN-
TRUTH QUAKER EDUCATION.
BUT there is a still heavier charge, which lies against
the ruling principles in Christendom ; for if certain not
lightly pondered surmises be correct, they realize the
renewal and re-establishment of the Greek and Roman
Empires, and the revival of the heathen beast prophe-
sied of in Revelations.
It may not be easy to place the right crown precisely
upon each head of the anti-christian beast. But the
Protestant Churches have felt no scruple in affixing the
crowns of the Greek and Roman Empires upon the
Greek and Roman Churches, which renew and glory in
the same respective names of those two heathen and op-
108 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
posing empires, which Christ came to put down; and if,
in some sort, the same circle of regal dignity were said to
embrace the head and horns of the Protestant Kingdoms
and Churches, it would not be more impossible on the
ground of promised infallibility, nor improbable on the
ground of lamb-like meekness, and absence of pre-
sumption.
Sir George Rose, in his " Scriptural Researches," has
supported views hardly, if at all, falling short of this
proposition ; arid he seems to look forward to that final
consummation of wickedness in the Gentile Churches,
which it is foretold shall bring down the most signal
punishment upon them.* He speaks respecting the
essential imperfections of the Gentile-Christian Church
in this manner : " It appears therefore, that the Chris-
tian Church, the Bride of Christ, which from the first
would have been Jewish, had not Israel resisted and
rejected its Redeemer, and would have existed in the
most intimate union with him, passed into the hands of
the Gentiles, and became weak and corrupt in their
possession, one in some sense scarcely legal, and always
imperfect. And all that we learn from prophecy, and
have hitherto seen with our own eyes, demonstrates to
us, that this Church, as long as she is under Gentile
headship, will be fallen and degraded ; and it is brought
distinctly to our view by Holy Writ, that it will never
be seen in a perfect and beatific state, until Israel, hav-
ing received the Gospel, shall assume its long-destined
pre-eminence in the universal Church, under the rule
* Dan. ix. 27, Marg. upon the desolutor. Luke, xxi. 24.
ESSAY VIII.] SPIRITUAL INCEST. 109
of the prophesied David, its Messiah and Redeemer,
with whom that Church will then be united by the
closest and most endearing ties, as those of a bride to
the bridegroom. The Church, whose husband is the
mighty Head of Israel, becoming Gentile and corrupt,
could no longer claim that holy tie, though still in rela-
tionship to him. She was as it were denied by him."*
The same author, throughout his fourth chapter, goes
on to show, that Jewish idolatries and apostacies are
characterized as adulteries, being a pollution of that
which was pure and holy only in a secondary degree,
namely, the ceremonial law, the shadow and forerunner
of a perfect and heavenly; but that idolatries and
infidelities in the Christian Church are aptly charac-
terized as incest, being typified by the Moabites and
Ammonites, the incestuous progeny of Lot and his
daughters-^ And though he considers that the offspring
of the respective sisters typify primarily the incests of
the sister Churches of Rome and Greece, he does not
consider that the reformed churches are free from similar
reprehension. " The churches which broke and threw
off the Romish yoke at the Reformation, have by God's
blessing, it is true, substituted a very far purer worship
to that which they abjured ; but their divisions, and
sects, and heresies, present a picture lamentably unlike
that of such a Church, as could, in the character of a
* Scriptural Researches, ch. 3, p. 37.
f Ibid. ch. 4, p. 44, &c. " The most despicable and deplorable
being under heaven is a pagan in a Christian land." " What guilt so
deep as that of a baptized infidel ?" Young's Letters, Lett. 6, Works,
vol. ii. p. 108, 110,ed. 1798.
110 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
bride, in humble confidence claim the Redeemer as its
bridegroom." " Nor is it assuredly," he continues,
" on the score of their morality, that the Christian na-
tions can venture to appeal to the Gospel, as honouring
and obeying its precepts. St. Paul in a few words
(Romans, xi. 13 15) signifies to us, that the Gentile
Church, at the time of the reception of the Gospel by
the Hebrews, will be in a state of death."*
There is a passage also in a Sermon by the Rev.
Thomas Dale, with which I would fortify myself in the
outset, before proceeding more particularly to illustrate
and support the proposition which I have undertaken.
After referring to the graphical description of the cor-
ruptions and impurities of the heathen world, in the 1st
chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, he proceeds to
ask, " Is there any such moral or intellectual improve-
ment among the ungodly and unchristianized of our own
population, as to warrant the indulgence of a hope, that,
under parallel circumstances, such they would not be
again ? Our mighty metropolis combines within her-
self the commerce of Tyre, the magnificence of Babylon,
the philosophy of Athens, and the proud pre-eminence
of Rome republican, if not the usurping and devouring
rapacity of Rome imperial ; and can we think, that, if
infected by the contagion of their infidelities, she would
not concentrate the pollution of their crimes.''^
But the chief point to be insisted upon, which is the
key-stone to the rest, is the predominance of heathen
* Scriptural Researches, p. 36.
f Sermon of the Rev. Thomas Dale, preached at St. Bride's, July
12, 1840, p. 8.
ESSAY VIII.] HEATHEN LITERATURE. Ill
literature and philosophy in our education ; and to show
how all other heathen principles and practices have
grown out of this one, till the whole of Christendom is
in effect a revival and re-establishment of heathenism,
with a mixed and subordinate leavening only of Chris-
tian principles, disquieting and fermenting it.
" Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit, et artes
Didicit agresti Latio."
For " artes" read philosophy, and vices, and in-
fidelity, and man- worship, and other idolatries; and
then, in like manner, Rome has taken captive her con-
queror, the Church of Christ, and holds her in the not
unwilling fetters of her philosophy and corruptions and
moral system.
This evil showed itself in the first beginning of the
conversion of the Gentile nations, and the communica-
tion with their manners and system, which grew out of
it. Fleury remarks, that, from the beginning, the
Israelites who were converted to Christianity, became
better Christians than the Gentiles when converted.*
St. Paul in some of his Epistles shows the abuses and
excesses, and false systems, into which the general mass
of Gentile converts were from the first disposed to rea-
son themselves. But very soon the fathers themselves
were drawn in by the same net ; and among them some
of the most admired and influential, such as Clemens
and Origen, became subject to the charge of heretical
opinions, for the very cause of the too great assimilation
of their reasoning to the heathen philosophy.
* Mceurs des Chretiens, pt. 1, s. 2.
112 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
The disposition of philosophy and human wisdom to
resist the first truths of Christianity, as foolishness, has
been always the same, from the beginning up to this
time. It is said, that "in the disputes between the
Christian ministers and pagan priests, the teachers of
philosophy were almost invariably found on the side of
the latter;"* and this, though they could themselves
discern and expose the absurdities of their own Pan-
theon. And the certain consequences that must follow
from the familiar contact, the studious admiration and
imitation of the Greek and Roman writers, philo-
sophers, poets, satirists, dramatists, historians, orators,
must have been evident to all who had the slightest
O
knowledge of the delicate fabric and susceptibility of
the human mind, or who had not resolved hardily to
incur the risk and temptation at all hazards, for the in-
dulgence of inclination.
It was commanded by the highest wisdom, " Neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye die ;" and " Thou shalt not
covet:" and again, "Thou shalt not make a graven
image :" and again, " Thou shalt not inquire, saying,
How did these nations worship their gods?" because
the infallible effect and consequence God knoweth
of touching, will be tasting, of coveting, will be taking,
Libr. of U.K., Hist, of the Church, p. 51; of the Age of Diocle-
sian. Dr. Cave relates of St. Barnabas, that when he first arrived at
Rome, and set forth the truths of the Gospel in a speech of great plain-
ness and simplicity, which took with the populace, " the philosophers
and more inquisitive heads entertained the discourse with scorn and
laughter, setting upon him with captious questions and syllogisms, and
sophistical arts of reasoning." Dr. Cave's Live s of the Fathers, vol. i.
p. 100, ed. 1840.
ESSAY VIII.] REVIVAL OF LEARNING. 113
of making, will be admiring our own creation, and
worshipping the work of our own hands, of inquiring
and knowing, will be explaining and excusing, and in
natural and necessary course, " saying, we will do like-
wise." But, fortifying ourselves, not against the temp-
tation, but against the law, we have resolved, in indul-
gence of our curiosity and expectations, " ye shall not
surely die," " ye shall be as gods," to enter the
chamber of imagery ; and we show, by this very conces-
sion to our curiosity and desires, that we are already
more than half enslaved, and bound in chains, the wor-
shippers of the many-headed monster that rules and
revels and ravens there within.
The spirit of idolatry, of heresy, and infidelity, has
attended the use of the classics as the foundation of
learning, in each of the countries successively which
have taken the pre-eminence as the seat of science and
enlightenment, within the utmost limits of the European
system and circle of civilization. From Rome it passed
for a time to the Saracens ; from the Saracens to the
Jews in Portugal and Spain ; and it was found in the
metropolis and churches of the Eastern Christians. But
the great and chief development, which first began to
raise up heathenism to the height and position which it
now assumes, as chief ruler among us, was at what is
called the revival of learning. This revival took place
in Italy, under the patronage and encouragement of the
patriarchs of the Roman Church;* who thereby first
* M. Rio, in his work, " De la Poesie Chretienne," " On the
Painting of the Middle Ages," considers that what is commonly called
the revival of the arts under the Medici, was a revival of paganism.
114 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
invented and forged the weapons by which she was
invaded, and furnished the arms to the Reformers, by
which they so much limited her empire, and weakened
her strength. But Protestantism has perfected this
work. It is under her auspices and encouragement
that infidelity has gained its height, and developed all
the mysteries of iniquity with which it has inundated
the whole realm of Christendom.* Nevertheless it is
* I quote a few passages from Dr. Kett's work on " Prophecy," to
guard myself against some unfavourable conclusions that might be
drawn from the expression in the text:
" The prevalence of metaphysical disquisition powerfully assisted the
growth of infidelity, in those countries where the liberal spirit of the
Reformation tolerated discussion upon religious and political subjects.
Considered as matters of mere speculation, and admired as enlarging
the sphere of knowledge, the tendency of those writings was not always
perceived by minds which religion guarded from the mischief. They
saw the dazzling meteors shoot harmless into space. But infidelity
saw clearly how their course might be directed to guide mankind to
her dominions ; and the dissensions that prevailed among the nume-
rous sects, which sprung from the doctrines of Luther and Calvin,
unhappily assisted the execution of this design."
The unbelieving Frederick the Great writes, " Philosophy is be-
ginning to penetrate into superstitious Bohemia, and into Austria, the
former abode of superstition. In our Protestant countries we go on
much brisker."
" The spirit of free inquiry was the great boast of the Protestants,
and their only support against the Roman Catholics, securing them
both in their religious and civil rights. It was therefore encouraged
by their governments, and sometimes indulged to excess." (Robi-
son.) " Others went further, and said, that revelation was a solecism ;
and others proscribed all religion," &c. " Most of these innovations
were the work of Protestant divines."
" The Protestant cantons of Switzerland, particularly Berne, and the
Pays de Vaud, have long been infected by the poison of infidelity, daily
issuing from that polluted spring, Geneva."
" Far be it from me to say, that our mountain stands strong, and
ESSAY VIII.] PLATO AND ARISTOTLE. 115
one general principle of evil, spreading through all
churches and denominations in the European system ;
and Protestants combined with Roman Catholics, and
Lutherans with Calvinists and others, to heap up the
vast summit of profligacy and wickedness and infidelity
which carried itself with such a lofty head and open
front at the French Revolution. It has always been
one principle and one system, active and eminent in
different degrees and places, and in different forms and
shapes, in proportion to the degree of development
which it has attained ; and this generally in proportion
to the degree of refinement and civilization, of which it
is the foundation.
Though it attained its greatest vitality and eminence
at the French Revolution, it is not dead now ; and it
even threatens its revival in a still more determined and
dangerous shape : the evil effects of which must be
proportioned to its ultimate development.
The early Christian Church was led astray into Pla-
tonic reveries ; but the later and steadier encroachments
of heathenism have been carried on under the more
headstrong and heartless rationalism of Aristotle ; with
shall never be moved. The ark of the Lord was a security to the
Jews, only so long as they obeyed his commandments. And the
Church of England will be our protection, only so long as we feel the
value of the gospel, believe in its doctrines, and obey its precepts."
Kett on Prophecy, vol. ii. pp. 133, 167, 171, 272, 274.
"The Bishop of Meaux, and the learned Grotius, supposed the
second beast to denote philosophy, ' falsely so called.' Dr. Hartley, in
the conclusion of his ' Observations on Man,' considers infidelity as
the beast. Sir I. Newton and Dr. Clarke interpreted the reign of the
beast to be the open avowal of infidelity." Ibid. vol. i. 389.
116 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
whose operations therefore we have chiefly to do in
furnishing illustrations. The opinion of Aristotle here
advanced, as well as respecting the general encroach-
ment of pagan literature upon the opinions and morals
and habits of Christian nations, is supported by many
influential testimonies. The opinions of Josephus, of
St. Augustine, and of Jones of Nayland, have been
quoted in the last Essay. The following also add their
testimonies in the same scale.
Dr. Priestley asserts that "the great father of modern
unbelievers among Mahometans and Christians, was
Averroes, a Saracen Mahometan, of the twelfth cen-
tury." He was devoted to the philosophy of Aristotle,
whose writings are said to have made all the unbelievers
in the age of Petrarch and that of Leo X.*
Fleury, in like manner remarks, " that the too great
subtleties of metaphysics and dialectics, which were
introduced at the revival of learning, were borrowed by
Europeans from the Arabians." *f- He goes on to say
again, " that the casuists founded their systems of mo-
rals upon human reasoning." " As if," he continues,
"Jesus Christ had not instructed us in all truth, as well
appertaining to manners and morals, as to faith; and
as if we were to have to seek for them again among the
ancient philosophers."
This is what Luther proclaimed of the study of Aris-
totle, and other similar writers. "Aristotle, Porphyry,
* Kelt on Prophecy, vol. ii. p. 124.
t Fleury, Mreurs des Chretiens, part 4, c. 53, p. 244. Bruxelles,
1726.
J Ibid. p. 246.
ESSAY VIII.] ROME REVIVED. 117
the theologians of the sentences, these are the fruit-
less studies of the age. There is nothing I so burn for,
as to strip bare that actor who has deluded the Church,
in that truly Grecian mask of his, and to expose his
ignominy to all mankind : that most crafty deluder of
the human mind : so much so indeed, that if Aristotle
had not been flesh, I should not have blushed to assert
that he was the very devil." * " There is no reasoning
or syllogism suited to the things of God; Aristotle is
to theology as darkness to light."t
The Jansenists, in like manner, are said to have laid
Aristotle's doctrines to the charge of the Church.
A very recent authority and testimony, pronounced
in all the ripeness of age and intellect, and, though little
thought or expected by those who then heard him,
from within a short distance of the grave, will hardly
be less respected ; and none of his inclinations or pre-
dilections could have been effectual to lead his mind in
that direction. Dr. Arnold thus delivered his sentiments
and experience, upon the whole subject which I am
treating of. "We derive scarcely one drop of 'our blood
from Roman fathers; we are in our race strangers to
Greece, and strangers to Israel. But morally, how
much do we derive from all three. In this respect their
life is in a manner continued in ours ; their influences,
to say the least, have not perished. Here then we have,
if I may so speak, the ancient world still existing, but
with a new element added, the element of our English
* Letter to John Langus, quoted, " Waddington's History of the
Church," p. 67.
f Idem. Exposition of his Doctrines, 1517, quoted ibid. p. 70.
118 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
race."* "The peculiar stamp of the middle ages is
undoubtedly German ; the change manifested in the
last three centuries, has been owing to the revival of
the older elements with greater power, so that the Ger-
man element has been less manifestly predominant." ~\-
" For the last 1800 years, Greece has fed the human
intellect ; Rome, taught by Greece, and improving upon
her teacher, has been the source of law and government,
and social civilization."^;
Having these, among many other authorities,^ for the
* Dr. Arnold's Inaugural Lecture on the Study of Modern History,
delivered in the Theatre, Oxford, December 2, 1841, p. 35.
f Ibid. p. 36.
J Ibid. p. 38. It is said of Fox, and other eminent men, in the
way of praise, that they soothed their minds when under excitement
and affliction by reading the classics. If we were to hear of a Hindoo
making the same use of our Scriptures, we should consider him to be
more than half converted.
See S. Athanas. Orat. con. Gerites ; S. August. Confess, lib. i. cc.
1 5, 1 6, 1 7. S. Gregory, in one of his Epistles, says, " That he would not
have bishops teach human learning ; because they must praise Jupiter
with the same mouth wherewith they sing the praise of our Lord.
He says, " This is not suitable even for pious laymen." Georg. Pasor.
Lexicon in Nov. Test. His whole preface, "De vera juventutis insti-
tutione," is a treatise on the mischievous character and effects of hea-
then literature.
" Je scai ce qui a decrie les siecles dont je parle, c'est la prevention
des humanistes du quinzieme sifecle, un Laurens-Valle, un Platine, un
Ange Politien. Ces pretendus savans, ayant plus de litterature, que
de religion etdebon sens,ne s'arretoient qu'a 1'ecorce; etne pouvoient
rien gouter que les crivains de 1'ancienne Rome, et de 1'ancienne
Grece. Ainsi ilsavoient un souverain me"pris pour les Merits du moyen-
&ge, et comptoient que Ton avoient tout perdu, en perdant la pure
Latinitr et la politesse des anciens. Ce prejuge" passa aux Protestans,
qui rcgardoient le ronouvellement des etudes, comme la source de leur
ESSAY VIII.] ROME REVIVED. 119
seemingly extravagant doctrine, that the image of pagan
Rome is revived among us, and has received life and
power again in the very midst of Christendom, I may
proceed to delineate some of the features of this image ;
and to show their strict resemblance with those of their
progenitor and prototype.
There is a Liberty in name the same proclaimed to
the Christian world, as the fruit of Christian belief and
practice. But the liberty which we proclaim to our-
selves, and which we are making more and more the
object of our idolatry, and the palladium of our citadel,
is altogether founded upon a heathen model, and upon
Grecian and Roman principles. We "inhale during
the ardour of youth the maxims and the spirit of clas-
sical freedom ;"* and our motives to it are all selfish,
and none of them self-denying; but such as maybe en-
gendered and fed by the study of heathen philosophers
and poets, and the historians of their unceasing wars of
jealousy and aggression, and civil dissensions. And
reformation." Fleury, Discours sur I' Hist. Eccles. depuis 600 jusqu'a
1100, sect. 25.
" Voyons done comment on etudioit la philosophic, et commen9ons
par la logique. Ce n'etoit plus, comme elle etoit dans son institution,
1'art de raisonner juste et de chercher la verite par les voyes les plus
sures : c'dtoit un exercice de disputer et de subtiliser a l'infini." Id.
Cinquieme Discours, sect. 8.
" Et en verite il est etonnant que les Chretiens ayant entre les
mains 1'Ecriture sainte, ayent cru avoir besoin d' Aristote pour apprendre
la morale Les peres avoient meprise ce philosophe, quoiqu'ils
1'entendissent parfaitement Au contraire nos docteurs du dou-
zieme et du treizieme sibcle, qui en faisoient leur oracle, et le uom-
moient le philosophe par excellence," &c. Id. ibid. sect. 9.
See also Hooker's Eccles. Pol. bk. iii. s. 8.
* Alison's History of Europe, vol. i. p. 41.
120 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
how has this principle operated and shown itself, in the
French Revolution for example, where it once attained
to ripeness ? " Religion was never once alluded to by
the popular party ; classical images ; reference to the
freedom and spirit of antiquity, formed the great means
of public excitation ; the names of Brutus, and Cato,
and Scipio, and Themistocles, were constantly flowing
from their lips ; the national assembly never resounded
with such tumultuous applause as when some fortunate
allusion to the heroes of Greece or Rome was made ;
the people never were wrought up to such a state of
fervour, as when they were called on to follow the ex-
ample of the patriots of the ancient republics." *
I shall show, in a subsequent Essay, that we are re-
hearsing over again all the leading principles of the
French Revolution ; it is sufficient in this place to ob-
serve, that it is pride and selfishness and the love of
power which constitute liberty, according to our notion
and aim, and that the whole question is among us, as
it was among the Romans and Greeks, which party
shall have the reins of government and its advantages,
and what shall be the number of the tyrants. The
same pride rules among us, and has been shown in our
embassies to China, which demanded, when Timagoras
the Athenian, who was sent by them as ambassador to
the King of Persia, had the imprudence to degrade his
country by the act of prostration, that he should be
condemned to die on his return. The proud and petu-
lant republicans, whose element was war and bloodshed,
* Alison's History of Europe, vol. i. p. 125.
ESSAY VIII.] DIGNITY OF HUMAN NATURE. 121
and who understood not the arts of domestic life and
peace in their own countries or families, were self-
applauded for calling the Asiatics barbarians, because
their own ignorance and self-conceit prevented their
seeing or believing the contradiction of it, in the exer-
cise of the domestic arts and accomplishments, and the
active performance of the social duties of life, and peace,
and happiness.
Our aim, like the Greeks, is to extol and exalt human
nature. The human mind and spirit must not be broken,
or degraded. Boys must not be chastised with the
rod, because it lowers their spirit and dignity ; and no
motives of fear or force must be used to elicit applica-
tion and good conduct, but learning must be pursued
because it is profitable and pleasant, and it must be
made palateable and amusing for this purpose ; and
right conduct must be shown to be our interest, and be
followed from conviction and reason. Self-love and
self-indulgence are better habits than the love of pa-
rents, and obedience ! because the reason is left free,
and exercised, and indulged ! As if the indulgence of
reason and self-will were not sure to lead to pride and
a tyrannical spirit ; and the indulgence of self-love and
appetite to the perversion and abuse of reason.
<
Are we a people then that approve the precept,
" Happy are the poor in spirit ?" or this, " Happy are
the proud ?" Are we then more Christians ? or, are we
more nearly heathens ?
We extol and exalt human nature; and we revive
and re-establish the Greek and Roman worship of man,
and the deification of humanity. There is a new ele-
6
122 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
inent revived in our philosophical creed, and set side by
side with our Christian profession, a " Faith in Hu-
manity." The spirit of the phrase is in every mouth ;
but it is by no one more openly enunciated than by
Dr. Channing :
" It shows a want of faith in God and humanity to
deny to others and ourselves free scope, and the expan-
sion of our best powers.
" What I most lament in these apprehensions is, the
utter distrust of human nature which they discover."
" There is sprung up a faith, of which antiquity knew
nothing, in the final victory of truth and right, in the
elevation of men to a clearer intelligence, to more fra-
ternal union, and to a purer worship. This faith is
taking its place among the springs of human action, is
becoming even a passion in more fervent spirits. I hail
it as a prophecy which is to fulfil itself. .... We are
beginning to learn, that the intellectual, moral, social
world has its motion too, not fixed and immutable like
that of matter, but one which the free-will of men is to
carry on, and which, instead of returning into itself,
like the earth's orbit, is to stretch forward for ever.
This hope lightens the mystery and burthen of life. It
is a star which shines on me in the darkest night ; and
I should rejoice to reveal it to the eyes of my fellow-
creatures."
" I have thus spoken of the present age." *
The Present Age ; by Dr. Channing. Bristol, Philp and Evans ;
London, Simpkin & Co., pp. 22, 24, 34. The reprint of this par-
ticular address in England, and the general circulation of Dr. Chan-
ning's works, show that the sentiments are popular elsewhere than in
America.
ESSAY VIII.] WORSHIP OF HUMAN NATURE. 123
These sentiments are current and popular among us,
though not in general so openly expressed. Man is
deified and worshipped. Man is become the fellow and
fellow-worker with God, as Dr. Channing frequently
expresses ft. God in Christ condescended to brother-
hood with his saints on earth, and we exalt ourselves
to brotherhood with God in heaven. God in Christ
clothed himself with our flesh, and purified and sancti-
fied it, and admitted those whom he purifies in like
manner, to a participation with this his nature, we
have taken the fallen nature of man, and made it an
image of God, and worshipped it.
This proclaiming of liberty to human nature, is a pro-
claiming liberty to our passions, as well bad as good ;
as the proclaiming liberty and dominion to our reason,
is a licence to youth and folly, to set itself against age
and authority and real wisdom.
Therefore age and authority are derided and dis-
esteemed, parents are ridiculed and despised, and are
to be instructed by their children. It is said that chil-
dren ought to be taken away from the contamination
of their homes and parents, and be educated by the
state. This also is of Greece.
Therefore antiquity is slighted : not the antiquity of
Greece and Rome, and classical antiquity, because the
human mind, especially the proud and untamed and
ill-directed mind, is so servile that it must find a master:
but ancestors and rulers are derided and slandered
and degraded, and we have no reverence or respect for
our fathers by nature or office, our domestic, our spi-
o2
124 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
ritual, and our political fathers. The bankrupt in name
and fortune keep in awe the respectable and the rich,
as Aristophanes pourtrayed of the Athenians.* This
also is of Greece. Well did Matthias Prideaux inquire,
long since, " Whether Socinianism and slighting of
all antiquity be not an introduction to paganism and
atheism. "^
The effect of our liberty in religion presents one sin-
gular coincidence in its operation. There are said to
have been 30,000 sects in the Christian Church. This
is the exact number to which the gods are said to have
attained in the Roman Pantheon. J
The tyrannical spirit of freedom has attained to the
same results in modern states as it did in Rome and
Greece, and produced the same oppression of the work-
ing classes. In Athens there were some 20,000 free-
men ; being one many-headed tyrant over 400,000
slaves. There was about the same proportion in Lace-
daemon. The free Americans hold an overwhelming
majority of black slaves under subjection ; and the
tyranny and seventy of the Americans, and of the
English, in the West Indies, over their slaves, has been
* So Charmides, in the banquet of Xcnophon, is introduced as
stating the advantage his present poverty has over his former affluence.
" Now I threaten others, instead of their threatening me. I can go
into or out of town without any one taking exception. The rich now
pay respect to me ; they rise to me ; and offer me their chair ; they
give me the wall. In a word, I am now a king, I was then a slave."
Xenoph. Conviv., c. 4.
t Introduction to History, p. 155, ed. 1664.
J Varro.
ESSAY VIII.] LIBERTY SELFISH AND OPPRESSIVE. 125
everywhere shown, as it was in Sparta and Rome, to
be infinitely more selfish and cruel than that of masters
towards their slaves under monarchical governments.
Again, the condition of the lower orders in England
at this time is closely assimilating itself to that which
existed in the Roman empire at the period of their final
corruption, and consequent destruction. It is related
by Ammianus Marcellinus, " that when Rome fell be-
fore the forces of Alaric, the whole of Italy and Africa
was in the hands of 1760 great families, who resided at
Rome, and cultivated their immense estates by means
of slaves.*" "The race of independent cultivators had
entirely disappeared before the engrossing wealth of the
patrician classes.^" Now those who have acquainted
themselves with the agricultural counties of England,
must have perceived, how the large and important
class of possessors of small landed properties have
been declining rapidly during the last thirty years, till
they have become almost extinct ; especially in the
counties of Sussex and Devonshire, where they used to
be most numerous. At the same time the landed
proprietors have left their estates, and spend their time
and fortunes in London and places of amusement ; and
the cultivators of the land drag on a servile and hopeless
existence, without the countenance and encouragement
of the receivers of the produce, with constantly lowering
wages, under the irretrievable oppression of high-rented
and struggling farmers.
I would scarcely allude to the monopolies and op-
* Ammian. Marcell. 14, 6.
f Alison on Population, ii. 47, 48.
126 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
pressions of the manufacturing capitalists, because the
resemblance is not so exact ; but the same principle is
carried out by them only to a ten-fold greater extent of
selfishness and oppression. The greater capitalists are
systematically overpowering and destroying the smaller
manufacturers; and the labouring poor are used, and
their powers and lives are sported with, as if they were
cattle which we may at our will either breed and mul-
tiply, or destroy; or rather as tools and machines which
may be resumed or laid aside, as we please, and at our
convenience.
Mr. Alison gives the proportion of the class of landed
proprietors in England, namely, 1 in 60, of the popu-
lation, including their families.* This is a snialler pro-
portion than in any other country; because we have
carried the principles of modern civilization to a higher
pitch, and a more classical perfection.
The history of the poor and the poor laws in Greece
and Rome, when verging to their decline, was almost
exactly that of this country at the present moment :
a grievous oppression of the poor, together with a
vast distribution of public and legalized relief, which
degraded and discontented and demoralized the reci-
pients ; or rather, the oppression of riches and civi-
lization produced that degree of poverty and misery
among the working classes, which made necessary a
public provision, however destructive and disorganizing,
lest the people should possess themselves of the property
of the country for very despair and recklessness.
" The city now abounds with beggars," says Isocrates,
* Alison on Population, ii. 48.
ESSAY VIII.] POOR AND POOR-LAWS AT ATHENS. 127
" and the country with vagabonds." " The whole city
is filled with lamentations ; the poor grieve apart, un-
relieved and unnoticed."
"The poor, who, whilst they were assisted by the
charity of their countrymen, preserved their virtues and
their industry, when they were entitled by law to a
certain provision, abandoned themselves to a degrading
and reckless indolence ; charity lost both its blessings.
What the rich bestowed was the offering of their fears,
and given without a hope or intention of doing good ;
it was eagerly seized by the poor, but with feelings
rather of discontent at what was withheld, than of gra-
titude for what was bestowed. The poor increased in
wretchedness and number, till they exceeded those who
had property. One-third of the citizens were daily pro-
vided with the means of subsistence as paupers, and used
their leisure to support the schemes of the demagogues,
which tended to make all others as wretched as them-
selves.
" The contentions and pauperism of the Athenians
continued to augment, so that when Athens submitted
to Antipater, 12,000 out of the 20,000 citizens were
struck off the rolls, as unfit, on account of their poverty,
to take any share in the government of the city." *
The history of the poor at Rome is still more strikingly
analogous.
Distributions of corn to the poor began to be practised
from the time of the expulsion of the kings. Afterwards
it was made compulsory and regular, by the laws of the
* Robinson's Ancient Poor Laws, p. 33, 34.
128 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
Gracchi, the Sempronian laws, the Octavian, and the
Clodian laws.*
" The quantity received by each citizen was seem-
ingly the same as a slave was entitled to from his
master. M. Lepidus calls it scornfully " a prison
allowance ; enough perhaps to avert instant death, and
to enable the poor to starve by degrees, but insufficient
to maintain a family and home."
" In the time of Julius Caesar, 320,000 citizens were
receiving the public corn ; but after a census, in which
he examined the people from house to house, he struck
off from this number 170,000. The persons relieved
were registered, a provision was made to supply vacan-
cies occurring in the list, and the praetor was constantly
to keep up the number to 150,000."f
Augustus altered the distributions to four times a year;
but was forced to return to the monthly distribution. The
number increased to 200,000. At one time, when there
remained only three days' consumption in the public
granaries, he had resolved to poison himself, unless the
corn fleets arrived.
Several attempts were made by the emperors to recede
from this destructive state of things. But " notwith-
standing any endeavours to the contrary, pauperism
gradually spread itself over nearly the whole popula-
tion." " The distribution of corn under the Clodian law
continued, with little variation, until the downfal of the
empire." *
* Robinson's Ancient Poor Laws, p. 38 to 43.
t Ibid. p. 44.
J Ibid. p. 44 to 49.
ESSAY VIII.] POOR AND POOR-LAWS AT ROME.
So, in spite of palliations, and remedies, and new
improvements, the pauperism consequent upon the
principles of Roman civilization, and the debasement
and discontent and disorganization consequent upon
the necessary resort to public relief, when private vir-
tues and sympathies and affections became extinct,
continued to be an increasing instrument for under-
mining and overthrowing this once vigorous empire,
and of torturing it in death.
There is another feature in our poor system, which
stands convicted of a resemblance to the Grecian philo-
sophy. Plato recommended that all beggars should be
banished from his republic; and we have not only made
it criminal to beg relief, but the French Directory de-
clared it a crime to give charity; and we have sub-
scribed to the same law in effect by general consent
and understanding.
Another feature of resemblance to Rome is in the
great and increasing corruption of our capital cities ;
which are now generally described as the hotbeds of
vice, and the receptacles of rank and fermenting masses
of crime and filthiness. The great corruption which we
are ready to acknowledge is among the working classes ;
but independent of the rich being the cause, by their
neglect, of this corruption of the lower orders, the sel-
fishness and avarice of our great trading capitalists,
and the degradation of the mercantile character to
low trick and cunning, and of the habits of trade to
practices bordering upon fraud, and to speculation
bordering upon gambling, which are increasing, show
G 5
130 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
that the portrait is growing not only to a likeness of
particular features, but to a general resemblance.
Tacitus says of Rome, that there every thing in the
world that was foul and infamous resorted, and was
habitually practised.*
Sallust relates, that " every one who exceeded the
rest of men in depravity and profligacy, all who had
lost their patrimony and character in the world, all
whom wickedness or disgrace had driven from their
homes, found their way to Rome, as to the common
sewer of the republic." f
" Under the name of Roman," said Bishop Liutprand,
" we include whatever is base, whatever is cowardly,
whatever is perfidious, the extremes of avarice and
luxury, and every vice that can prostitute the dignity
of human nature." f
Fleury says of the Romans in the fourth century,
" that they were immersed in luxury, and delicacy, and
prided themselves upon a false refinement."
If the stern Roman character could be so dishevelled
and debased by riches and power and conquest, let us
see whether our own British virtue and honour be not
gradually relaxing, and being shattered and dissolved
by the luxuries and refinements of wealth, and the pride
of prosperity and empire.
Our theatrical representations furnish another parallel
with the manners of Rome ; which attained in this re-
* Tacit. Annal. 15.
f Sallust, Bell. Catalin. s. 37.
J Quoted, Kett on Prophecy, vol. ii. p. 11.
Moeurs des Chretiens, part 4, s. 44.
ESSAY VIII.] THEATRICAL REPRESENTATIONS. 131
spect to a greater profligacy than Greece. Read the
following descriptions side by side ; and they seem
meant for a description of the same state of things. St.
Cyprian thus laments the abuse of the Roman stage :
After alluding to the gladiatorial shows, he then
turns " with sorrow and shame to the theatre. It is
called stage representation," " he says, " to recount in
verse the enormities of former times ; the by-gone sin
of parricide and incest is unfolded in representation
fashioned to the life, lest the crimes which have been
perpetrated should be forgotten by the lapse of time.
Each succeeding age is reminded by what it hears, that
what has been done before, can be committed again ;
offences die not with the lapse of ages, crime is not
drowned in years, nor wickedness buried in forgetfulness,
deeds gone by in the perpetration, still live in the
example. In mimic representations, men are drawn on,
by lessons of impurity, to review openly what they have
done in secret, or to hear told what they may do here-
after. Adultery is learnt, while it is seen ; and while
this evil, publicly sanctioned, inveigles to vice, the
matron returns from the scene, with a loss of the
modesty which perchance she took to it."*
Let us now look again on the modern picture.
In the 50th volume of the Quarterly Review (for
March 1834), the state of the French drama is reviewed.
The following general description of its character and
features there appears. "Bastardy, seduction, rape,
adultery and incest, as motives the poniard, poison-
* St. Cyprian. Tract on the Grace of God. Altered from the
translation in the Library of Fathers, vol. iii.
THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
and prostitution, as means this is the gamut ; and
even these original notes they contrive to repeat in the
same monotonous succession, borrowing from them-
selves, and from one another, with the least possible
variety of combination."* The same passage goes on to
detail more particularly, the specific facts and instances
upon which this description is founded.
M. Frequier also, in his recent work on "The Dan-
gerous Classes of Paris," " denounces loudly the mis-
chievous tendency of the French drama the malefactor,
as well as the romantic division of it; for our neighbours,"
observes the reviewer, "at the present moment are, like
ourselves, great admirers of the Newgate style of litera-
ture." And the same reviewer thus describes the similar
character and tendency of our own theatres.
"Our ephemeral dramas are many of them mere re-
modellings of the mass of periodical trash which is now
poured out upon us in a still increasing flood each
monthly issue more worthless than the last. How such
works can be tolerated by the public is matter of absolute
wonderment. Were this vulgarity and vice redeemed
by any talent, any development of character, any graces
of language, our surprise would be less. The writers
of this class have one and only one device for obtaining
popular favour that of conglomerating crimes. Every
page must have its two or three catastrophes ; and they
dibble in their atrocities, one to every twenty lines, as
regularly as if they were planting cauliflowers. With
them every thing depends upon the abundance of blood
and brains, and provided the murders, robberies, rapes,
* Page 210.
ESSAY VIII.] GLADIATORIAL SHOWS. 133
treasons, trials and executions, are sufficiently numerous,
and they can get some poor artist to prostitute his pencil
for their illustration the sale is sure to be extensive,
and the minor theatres lose no time in dramatizing the
new masterpiece."*
The gladiatorial shows however, and the fighting with
wild beasts, might at least have been expected to form
a contrast to the taste and habits of Christian civili-
zation. But the bull-fights were the invention arid
delight of one of the most civilized ages and nations of
Christendom ; and above it is said, that, with us, every-
thing depends upon the abundance of blood and brains;
and the other day Samuel Scott hung himself (by
mistake !) in the presence of three to five thousand
English people ; and even now Van Amburgh has
been seen, and is to be seen, fighting with wild-beasts,
and being torn by them, under the patronage of nobility,
and in the midst of admiring and applauding assem-
blies.
The increasing use and importance of newspapers,
and ephemeral literature, is rapidly becoming a counter-
part to the Athenian appetite for continually hearing
and seeing some new thing. This is the age of news-
papers. There never surely was any age so quickly and
easily caught by the very phantoms of discovery and
invention, the first gusts of news, and the toys of fashion.
Geology, craniology, phrenology, mesmerism, electro-
magnetism, Daguerreotypography, become the prevailing
philosophic topic in their turn, in quick succession, and
each to be laid aside for some new philosophical mania,
* Quart. Rev. No. 129, p. 39, 40.
134 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
The most instructive works, and the most momentous
events, when two years old, are passed by and forgotten.
Tar-water, metallic tractors, electricity, galvanism, mus-
tard-seed, respirators, brandy and salt, homoeopathy,
hydropathy, twelve ounce doctors, St. John Long, Mor-
rison, each in rapid turn, occupy the throne of medicine,
and despotically sacrifice some hecatombs of lives of
their free, self-devoting subjects.
And the love of truth is lost in this reckless, heartless,
headless search after what is new and exciting. Jose-
phus notices that the Greeks were not given to truth.
" Grsecia mendax" fell into a gibe and a proverb. The
Greeks had received many truths historically, such as
the origin of the world, the rotundity of the globe, the
central position of the sun, and others ; but they phi-
losophized themselves out of the knowledge and belief;
and having reasoned everything backwards and forwards,
and over and over again, and found that every opinion
might be supported by argument, but that none could be
made conclusive, they became reckless of reality and
truth, as if there were no such thing in effect ; and
wearied with effort and excitement, and fruitless hopes,
and vain discussions, settled at length into a sceptical
indifferentism. We are approaching towards the same
end, by a similar process.
But one marked distortion of feature, under this
head, which likens us to the Grecian monster, is in
respect of artistical falsehood. It is of the essence of
the fine arts, and the beau ideal, to deal in untruth.
This taste and acquirement we boastfully borrow from
Greece ; and it has tended as much as anything, from
ESSAY VIII.] WANT OF TRUTH. 135
the beginning, to draw us into kindred and unison with
the Graecia mendax.
The very profession of the fine arts, of poetry, painting,
sculpture, the drama, is to misrepresent nature; and
oratory also and rhetoric, which is " the chair of lies,"
bring the falsehood down to practice, and the business
of life. Unities and exaggerations, of time and place,
and light and colour, are required, which nature does not
present. We are as false in requiring exaggeration of
shade, as the Chinese in using none. Uniformity in
feature and face is resorted to in sculpture, which are
not found in the real example. High foreheads are
pourtrayed and exaggerated, to suit an opinion, so as
to falsify philosophical truth. Great minds are put into
tall bodies; giving the lie to general experience. St.
Paul is painted as a tall man, giving the lie to sacred
history. So orators, generals, statesmen, emperors,
philosophers, are made men of great stature. The most
ridiculous instance is that of making a poet taller than
his companions.
Musssuni ante omnes ; medium nam plurima turba
Hunc habet, atque humeris extantem suspicit altis.f
All these things are deliberately and studiously prac-
tised, and imitated from the approved example of Greece;
and the world admire and doat on them ; and the artists
obey the servile tastes and dicta of their patrons, and
pride and pique themselves upon the purity and truth
of their own work, and have not the sense and under-
standing to say, " is there not a lie in my right hand ?"
Even histories are written to support opinions, and for
t Virgil. ;neid. 6, 667.
136 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
display, and as exhibitions of fine writing, and not as
plain narratives of facts ; being in this respect also imi-
tations of the Greeks, and opposite to the spirit and
practice of the Asiatic nations. They are made exercises
of skill and trials of ingenuity, to see how far facts may
be accumulated and marshalled, to support particular
theories and prejudices of parties. Josephus says, in
'like manner, of the Grecian historians, " that they were
not solicitous for the discovery of truth."*
This habit of mind, thus in alliance with falsehood, is
praised by us, and sought after as the standard of
truth in taste ; and the like taste and spirit extends
to our habits of judgment in other subjects. Our prin-
ciples of reasoning become artificial as our tastes in the
fine arts, and as nearly bordering upon falsehood. An
artificial refinement of mind, and a classical education
and exercise in the habits of thought and reasoning, are
considered an essential preparation for the acquisition
of knowledge, and the discovery of the highest truth.
A man must have a gentlemanly education to fit him
for the true study and discernment of Christianity.
That is, a falseness of mind is the best preparative for
truth. No wonder that such a system should give the
lie to the words of Gospel truth, and say, " Many wise
after the flesh, many mighty, many noble are called."
" It is easier for the rich man to enter into the kingdom
of God." It is no wonder, that the teachers and ob-
servers of such a system, should have assumed to them
selves the key of knowledge ; and should neither enter
Josephus con. Apion. bk. 1, s. 5.
ESSAY VIII.] EDUCATION AMONG THE QUAKERS. 137
in themselves, and should hinder those who would enter
in. The simplicity of the Gospel and the Cross is again
to us Greeks foolishness.*
If Jesus Christ were to appear again among us in
poor and lowly guise, and walking in a humble station
of life, is it likely that we should recognize him ?
* The Quakers have, more than others in modern times, acknow-
ledged the ability of the poor to comprehend the whole of Chris-
tianity; and they reject the notion of using classical literature in aid
of it. They say, " men of deep learning know frequently less of
spiritual Christianity than those of the poor who are scarcely able to
read the Scriptures." They contend, that " if the Scriptures were the
most vitally understood by those of the most learning, then the dis-
pensations of God would be partial, inasmuch as he would have
excluded the poor from the highest enjoyment of which the nature of
man is susceptible, and from the means of their eternal salvation."
" They reject all school divinity, as necessarily connected with the
ministry. They believe that if a knowledge of Christianity had been
obtainable by the acquisition of the Greek and Roman languages, and
through the medium of the Greek and Roman philosophers, the Greeks
and Romans themselves had been the best proficients in it ; whereas
the Gospel was only foolishness to many of these. They say, with St.
Paul to the Colossians, 'beware lest any man spoil you through philo-
sophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments
of the world, and not after Christ.' And they say with the same
Apostle to Timothy, ' O Timothy, keep that which is committed to
thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of
science falsely so called ; which some professing have erred concerning
the faith.'" (1 Tim. vi. 20, 21.) " We find Justin the Martyr, a
Platonic philosopher, but who was afterwards one of the earliest Chris-
tian writers after the apostles, and other learned men after him down
to Chrysostom, laying aside their learning and their philosophy for the
school of Christ. The first authors of the Reformation also contended
for this doctrine. Luther and Calvin, both of them, supported it.
Wickliff, the first Reformer of the English Church, and Tyndal the
Martyr, the first translator of the Bible into the English language,
supported it also. In 1652, Sydrach Simpson, master of Pembroke
138 THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY VIII.
If Jesus Christ is to come again in the flesh, shall we
receive and recognize him ?
Will not our Lord Jesus Christ, when he shall come
again, be denied in Christendom ?
Hall, in Cambridge, preached a sermon before the university, contend-
ing that the Universities corresponded to the schools of the prophets,
and that human learning was an essential qualification for the priest-
hood. This sermon, however, was answered by William Dell, master
of Caius College, in the same university ; in which he stated, after
having argued the point in question, that the universities did not cor-
respond to the schools of the prophets, but to those of heathen men ;
that Plato, Aristotle, and Pythagoras were more honoured there than
Moses or Christ ; that grammar, rhetoric, logic, ethics, physics, meta-
physics, and the mathematics, were not the instruments to be used in
the promotion or the defence of the Gospel ; that Christian schools
had originally brought men from heathenism to Christianity, but that
university schools were like to carry men from Christianity to heathen-
ism again." Clarksons Portraiture of Quakerism, vol. ii. 134, 135,
249, ed. 1807.
Unhappily the Quakers have been departing from some of their
best principles, of simplicity in education and manners; and hence
they have given scope to the dangerous points in their system to deve-
lope themselves, which are leading many of them into infidelity.
( 139 )
ESSAY IX.
CONSUMMATION OF THE FINAL APOSTACY.
CHARACTER AND SIGNS OF THE TIMES FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY
ROMISH ERRORS SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY THE FINAL
APOSTACY SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PETER EPISTLE OF ST. JUDE
QUOTATION FROM THE REV. E. BICKERSTETH.
IT is fit that we should contemplate the advance of that
final apostacy which shall precede the second coming
of our Lord : when he shall destroy the nation or
nations, the powers and principles, of the dominion of
Antichrist, and establish his kingdom. It is true that
the several symptoms of this evil have been observed,
and their consequences predicted, each in their very
first rise ; and now that the symptoms have made pro-
gress, and taken hold of the system, we notice them but
little, and think that as we still exist, when the disease
is ten-fold greater, that all these must have been bad
physicians and false prophets, and that our safety and
freedom from death is demonstrated by the length of
life which we have lived, and by experience. It is those
who have enjoyed the greatest and the most even health,
who are the most alarmed at the first appearances of
illness; and it is impossible, as I have shown,* for the
Essay II.
140 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
public mind, and most difficult for any individual, to per-
ceive the mischief of those habits and symptoms which
are become a part of the system and constitution.
It must also be admitted, that great advances towards
an improvement in religious activity, and liberal contri-
bution to sacred objects, have to be admired of late
years. But independent of the much more rapid and
extensive increase of its opposites, so that it must be
looked upon rather as a defensive than an aggressive
movement, I fear that, like the greatest and most per-
fect of all reformations in the Hebrew commonwealth,
wherewith Josiah purified it more than it ever had been
made pure, this present revulsion is only a prelude to
like utter and irretrievable disasters to those which
came upon the Jews and Jerusalem for their still ever
increasing and overflowing rebellions.
It is the marked feature of these, as it is to be of the
last times, that many run to and fro, and knowledge is
increased. These distinctions have characterized the
whole of the last three centuries ; but does it not at this
time look like a consummation ?
Almost all the nations of the world are inwardly con-
vulsed and disorganized, and fermenting with a political
uneasiness and discontent, and longing after repeated
changes upon changes, towards they know not what.
Kings are ashamed and confounded, and thrones and
governments are shaken and vacated, and they that sit
in them are ready to hide themselves from the storm
which is gathering over them, and the pitiless wrath.
The largest armies that ever existed are collected toge-
ther and maintained, by way of peace establishments,
ESSAY IX.] SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 141
and for defence ; and are ready and eager to engage,
and can hardly be restrained from engaging in war,
with the most murderous weapons that ever were in-
vented, for no one worthy or important or assignable
object, at a time when it is universally pretended to be
confessed, that war must bring to all disaster, and to no
one profit.
The churches in all countries, nationally speaking,
must be considered to be going to pieces. The spoliation
of church property is becoming the object and practice
everywhere, in Spain, in Switzerland, in Rome, in Ire-
land, in England. The clergy are looked upon with doubt
and apprehension by the government: in most countries
they are despised ; in England too they are hated.* Men
pay tithes more cheerfully to the lay-impropriators than
* Germany, &c. by Gleig, vol. i. pp. 102, 110, ct seq. Prussia.
" The archbishop, being at the head of the priesthood, he was, as a
matter of course, the most obnoxious person in Paris. The French
don't like priests." Unit. Serv. Journ. 1830, p, 546.
"It is the peculiar feature in the Popish-Protestant Church of
England, that its tithe-fed priests and their country flocks are in har-
mony only when mischief and injustice to the community are to be
perpetrated. If we wanted proof that a law was bad, we should require
nothing better than the fact that a grasping and overpaid priesthood
zealously supported it." English Newspaper.
A magistrate of character and influence complained at a meeting
of gentlemen on public business, speaking the sentiments of those with
whom he acted, that the clergy, as a body, opposed and prevented
every improvement in his county.
These expressions were current two or three years since, though
they are not the fashion of the present season. It is not the fact of
such expressions being used by individuals which indicates the temper
of the times, but their being used publicly, at this period, when public
men accommodate themselves so habitually to the prevailing fashion
and opinion.
142 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
to the clergyman: it is the very name of tithes which is
hated.* Infidelity prevails in Roman Catholic countries ;
dissent, and free-thinking bordering upon Deism, in the
Protestant states. Colonies and nations are peopled,
without a provision being made by government for the
support of churches or clergy: even the slight assistance
which was formerly given to this object, is either with-
drawn or diminished.^ If it is truly reported, in Nova
Scotia, each clergyman has in his charge a district
averaging in extent 446 square miles : in the island of
Cape Breton, in the same colony, the length of which is
100 miles and the breadth 80, and the population 30,000,
there are only two clergymen, j; In Australia things
are rather worse than better. In Norfolk Island there
is not one single clergyman of the Church of England.
Five years ago, there were in the whole colony not more
than eight acting and efficient clergymen. || It is charged
against the English by every Mahometan and idolater
with whom they come in contact, that they have no
religion ; and this charge is mostly warranted and jus-
tified, inasmuch as they have been as wanting in moral
conduct and practice as in outward religious observance.
Another marked and expressive feature is the suffer-
ings and distresses, and the heartless oppressions of the
poor.^I This is the certain characteristic of an over-
* House of Commons Debate, June 25, 1839; Educational Grant,
f The clergy reserves in Canada. The annual grant to the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
J Colonial Church Record ; Ap. Soc. Gaz. No. 3, p. 45.
Speech of Rev. A. M. Campbell, at Bath, Jan. 31, 1839.
|| Ibid. The town of Sydney alone contains 16,000 free inhabitants.
In addition to and in corroboration of what I have elsewhere said
ESSAY IX.] BONDS OF SOCIETY LOOSENED. 143
grown, effete, and rapidly declining state. It was so
in Rome, Athens, and Judaea ; and in the last case it is
expressly named as one among the chief causes of the
judgments which were denounced upon that heavily
afflicted nation.* The classes of society are no longer
held together by any personal attachment or kindness, or
affectionate intercourse. The only bond which attaches
men together is party and opposition. They are united
in offensive and defensive warfare. Thus it is a union
of disunion. It is the friendship of a common hatred :
the association of division : the concord of discord :
the aggregation of repulsion. The ancient bands and
obligations are dissolved ; the former duties and prin-
ciples are denied ; and new rights and powers and
self-formed governments are erected, in religion, in
morals, and in politics. All are equally characterized by
an intensity of conceit, independence, and enmity : the
mark by which Christians are especially characterized
is hatred and selfishness. It seems to be true, as it
has been said, that " the demons of infidelity, blas-
phemy, confusion and sedition, are busy in their dark
deeds, and would gladly overturn all that makes life
happy in church and state.f"
Examples of the triumph of reason over religion, of
the rights of man over the rights of God, are furnished
by the recent marriage and registration acts. By the
respecting the harsh feelings towards the poor, a Cabinet minister is
reported to have made this answer, when it was asserted in the House
of Commons that the poor were fed no better than dogs " If it were
so," he said, " their masters pay for their dogs' food, but these do not
pay anything for what they have to eat."
* Isai. iii. 14, 15; x. 2 ; Jcr. v. 28; xxii. 3, 5, 13, 17 ; Mi. iii. 3.
f Marriott's Serm. i. 258 ; "Thy kingdom come."
144 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
first of these, marriage without religious sanction and
obligation is facilitated and encouraged by the authority
of the legislature. In St. Pancras parish the baptisms
are decreased by 600 in the year, and in St. Margaret's,
Westminster, by 300. The proportion is still greater in
some other parishes ; and since the passing of the act for
the registration of births, this effect is general. And it
is nearly certain that few if any of these numbers of
children are baptized elsewhere. The civil ceremony of
registering the name and the religious rite of baptism are
confounded in the minds of the common people ; and
they think, when the name is registered according to the
provision of the legislature, that every thing is complete.
These acts were a concession to the devilish preten-
sion of reason and liberty, that " no man is answerable
for his creed."
Another rebellion against God, begun in this genera-
tion, is the comparative impunity of crime: the prac-
tice of examining the circumstances of crime, excusing
and accounting for it by temptation, " the serpent
beguiled me :" the temptations are considered to be
too great, especially in political offences even to
death : till the command of God is set at naught and
denied, that " Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man
shall his blood be shed." We are not to sin, though
under temptation : and without trial sin would not
exist : and from every temptation there is an escape.
But let us pass on to a review of that catalogue of
offences, by which, St. Paul tells us, the apostacy of
the last times shall be characterized. They are con-
tained in the 1st and 2nd Epistles to Timothy. Let us
ESSAY IX.] ROMISH ERRORS. 145
go through the whole catalogue ; and we shall see how
exactly the features of society, and the habits and pas-
sions which rule in these times, correspond to each of
them.
In the 4th chapter of the 1st Epistle to Timothy, St.
Paul thus prophesies :
" Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the
latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ; speak-
ing lies in hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared
with a hot iron ; forbidding to marry, and commanding
to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be
received with thanksgiving of them which believe and
know the truth."
I consider, with many others, that this reflects upon
the Romish errors ; which precede in their rise and
growth those of the very last apostacy, as this prophecy
preceded that in the 2nd of Timothy, which relates to
the final Antichrist. The spirit of error and deceit,
and the superstitions borrowed from devils, or the
heathen worship, which characterize the Romish yoke,
and weave the ensnaring meshes of their net, seem to
be expressly pointed out, and prophesied of, in this de-
scription. The pious frauds, and false miracles, put
forth for the vulgar, in which their teachers themselves
do not believe, these are there expressly designated,
as hypocritical lies. Such ministers of the holy things
of God must indeed have their minds and consciences
cauterized. And their error is not in recommending
and encouraging celibacy and fleshly mortifications, but
in forbidding to many, and forcing to abstain by fast-
H
146 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
ing according to a set rule ; thereby returning back to
the flesh from the spirit, from worship to ceremonial,
and tempting to every kind of abuse and evasion,
through putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples
which neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear.
But the 2nd Epistle to Timothy, in the 3d chapter,
speaks of another apostacy, of a different and still
deeper character ; and this is the one which seems to
be more particularly applicable to our time.* We will
pursue its track, and trace its footsteps in order.
" This know also, that in the last days (lor^araif
Yjp.eputs) perilous times shall come ; for Men shall be
lovers of their ownselves Covetous Boasters Proud
Blasphemers Disobedient to parents Unthankful
Unholy Without natural affection Truce breakers
False accusers Incontinent Fierce Despisers of
those that are good Traitors Heady Highminded
Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God Having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.
Men shall be lovers of their ownselves. What so
marks and distinguishes the character of the present
day as selfishness and self-love ? It is openly ap-
plauded. It is made a virtue of. In moral philosophy,
and the rule of human life, the selfish system of morals
is the peculiar topic of this era ; and has been the most
* Dr. Kett is of opinion, that the 1st Epistle to Timothy applies to
the Papal Antichrist ; the 2nd Epistle, ch. 3 and 4, to a subsequent
Antichrist; and he quotes Mede for this. The 2nd of St. Peter, and
St. Jude's Epistle, do neither of them, he says, apply to Papal Anti-
christ, but to infidelity. Kelt on Prophecy, vol. i. p. 387, 388.
ESSAY IX.] COVETOUS BOASTERS. 147
approved and growing principle and doctrine of the
present generation. In political economy, in like man-
ner, the new and approved dogma is, that self-interest
is the most sure to direct people right in the adjustments
of trade and commerce, and all the mutual money-
making dealings between man and man. Into govern-
ment the same principle has entered and is prevailing,
in the doctrine that people are best capable of govern-
ing themselves.
Covetous (<$Apyypo). This hardly needs illustrating.
We are confessedly worshippers of money. Wealth is
considered the strength, the palladium of the nation. As
often observed, this is the only country in which it is a
crime to be poor. Riches are really a virtue. In accord-
ance with this, almost every crime may be expiated by
riches ; therefore every thing may be obtained for mo-
ney ; every desire may be accomplished; every ambi-
tion achieved ; every secret may be known ; and, pro-
verbially, every man in England has his price ; for if the
money be but enough, every crime is palliated and ex-
cused by the greatness of this temptation. So fond are
we of money, and so great is our opinion of its merits
and power, that paid officers are now esteemed to be
better than those who give gratuitous services. Good
men, it is said, will be plentiful, if good men are in
demand and well paid.
Boasters. The chief topic of our delight is the dig-
nity of human nature : the capability of our attain-
ments : the rights of man, and the eights of the
H2
148 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
people : that we are fellow workers with Christ :
that Christianity is but a step : that we are just en-
tering upon a new era of invention and discovery, by
which we shall carry the world to perfection ; and de-
velope the great mystery of religion and liberty, of
philanthropy and equality.
Proud (wrepi)<pavo). Besides the last, all are struggling
to raise themselves above others, and to climb up out
of the rank and station in which they were born ; and
then to tread down all that remain below them ; and
this is called a useful motive, and necessary spring, and
a political virtue.
Blasphemers. Infidelity has risen out of the lowest
into the genteeler classes, and has lost some of its
grossness ; but it is vended wholesale instead of retail.
It now exists, not in individuals, but in classes. So-
cieties are formed and trained to blasphemy and scep-
ticism. No wonder then that blasphemy may be found
among the government of the country, and enter into
the great assembly of the nation. The use of the words
of Pilate, " What is truth ?" by a cabinet minister, in
relation to religious differences, as if doubting, it seems,
the oneness of Christian truth, has been already noticed.
Another member is reported to have said in the House,
that " it was as important to preserve men's lives as
their souls ; and when millions of money were voted for
churches, there might well be a grant for harbours."
Disobedient to parents (yovsuo-iv a?rsSe7c). This has
ESSAY IX.] DISOBEDIENT UNTHANKFUL. 149
been observed upon already in the third Essay. Children
are all in advance of their parents, and claim to be their
instructors. Considering themselves before them in
knowledge, they can ill brook their control ; and the
least they can assume is an equality of right with them
in dictating and governing. The rebellion against past
generations, and contempt of the wisdom of our fore-
fathers, is a still more prominent feature in our habits
and opinions. It shows itself again in the disobedience
to governments, and the people's assumption of the
right to govern, and dictate their own laws and punish-
ments ; and that it is the people's property, and the
people's government, and the people's king. This im-
pious pretension was well parodied by a Frenchman,
who is said to have entered into the church of St. Paul,
at Paris, during divine service, and to have begun sing-
ing profane songs. When the officers tried to remove
him, he said, " This church is a monument ; the monu-
ments belong to the state ; the state is the people ; I
am a part of the people, and consequently this church
belongs partly to me ; and as every one does as he
pleases in his own house, and as it is my fancy to sing,
therefore I sing."* So the House of God too is the
people's house. And so it must be : for if people have
become habitually disobedient to their parents and the
government, they must soon be rebels also against
God.
Unthankful (a^etgio-roi). This age is marked and
characterized by ingratitude and unkindness. We nei-
* Quoted from the Droit newspaper. Times, Feb. 13. 1841.
150 THE FINAL APO8TACY. [ESSAY IX.
ther repay obligations, nor incur obligations; nor lay
people under obligations by kindness and liberality.
No debt but a money debt is acknowledged; and no
link or attachment of life is thought effectual which is
not based on money, and may be estimated and made
good by the payment of it. Respect is not due to
parents, beyond the money they have to leave; their
wishes and feelings, and their memories are nothing,
for they are subject to no money admeasurement. Ex-
ecutors habitually sell their parents' and friends' col-
lections and furniture and valuables, those things
upon which their labour and skill and judgment and
affections were bestowed, with which themselves were
identified; and so their memories, and all respect and
favour towards them, are at once obliterated. Money
engagements are cheap : they may be made the subject
of strict economy ; therefore no other engagement with
our labourers, than that exact one of wages, is recog-
nized or admitted. No further link of kindness, or
protection, or familiarity, or gratuity of time or money,
may by any means be confessed ; the connection begins
with the bargain for, and ends with the payment of,
wages. Vales and gifts to servants are discontinued
in most places entirely because there is not an exact
balance of services and payment; and everything beyond
that is considered to be thrown away. We do not per-
ceive, that more zeal and goodwill may be purchased by
a small gift, than by a great payment. But we are not
purchasers of good will : which is most useful on great
occasions ; but of services : which are of everyday use,
and may be exactly measured and estimated. In con-
sequence we will not incur an obligation: we would
ESSAY IX.] UNHOLY. 151
avoid letting another person be kind to us, lest we
should have to repay his kindness. We would not
suffer our child to become the foster child of a pea-
sant, lest that peasant's family should conceive too
great an attachment, and have a permanent claim upon
us. In the last result, we would not bestow favours
ourselves, or be over kind and liberal to our equals and
inferiors, lest we should cause too great an expectation
from us in future, and be embarrassed by their attach-
ment; and find ourselves drawn in by the meshes of
kindness and love, which is disinterested and liberal,
instead of the bond of money-payment, which is selfish
and economical.
Unholy. We cannot illustrate this without showing
what holiness is; and we cannot exhibit holiness without
a pattern, or such a lengthened description as would
not find room in this place. But we cannot find a
pattern, where holiness is extinct. This matter however
must stand admitted. No appearance of real holiness
could be introduced among our present habits of life, or
even tolerated. The very term " saint," only exists for
opprobrium. Religious ceremony, or habitual devotion,
in all places at stated times, like the Mussulman's, must
be condemned as profaned by the prevailing manners
and usages. According to the words of a dignitary of
the Church, when comparing the progress of Chris-
tianity and its causes, in the first ages and in modern
times, " we have this disadvantage" (in our endeavours
at conversion), "an ungodly professing church: so that
when we tell the heathens to be converted and become
Christians, they tell us, 'You are no better than we are ;
152 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
you are drunkards and swearers, and so on ;' or, as they
say in India, ' the Christians have no God.' "*
Without natural affection. This is not only marked
by the separation of classes, which was instanced in
their unthankfulness and unkindness towards one ano-
ther ; but the ties of natural relationship and friendship
are loosened, and the feelings blunted, as was at the
same time also partially hinted at.
Among the poor, the disposition in families to hold
together, and to assist and comfort one another in want
and misfortune, has been broken down by the system of
poor-laws, and the lowness of wages, which makes it al-
most impossible for any man to maintain himself. This
fact is proved by the endeavours of the legislature to en-
force by law those natural duties, which the ills and arti-
fices of society have abrogated. Among the rich, rela-
tions become mere acquaintances, through the ambition
of all to illustrate themselves in a large circle of visitors,
of a rank above their own ; the expensiveness of this
plan requiring an economy inconsistent with frequent
intercourse of families, and friendly hospitality.
Trucebreakers (ao-n-ov&oi, implacabiles). Nothing is
so much gone down as the honour and credit of the
British merchant. There is no certainty that men will
meet their engagements, unless a writing may be shown
for it. A bale of goods of the East India Company
would be paid for, and sent up to Pekin without exa-
mination, having only their seal upon it ; and a chest
* Speech of the Chancellor of Chester, at the meeting of the Church
Missionary Society, April, 1839.
ESSAY IX.] FALSE ACCUSERS. 153
of tea returned from England as inferior, would be
received back again upon the faith of their word, with-
out a question. And merchants might have dealt toge-
ther upon the same footing. Now, few things can be
trusted to meet the sample. It is an acknowledged
practice in manufacture, to obtain a custom by selling
an article at a loss, and afterwards to make a profit
upon it by depreciating the quality. But neither indi-
viduals nor nations will meet their engagements. Once
it was an insult to be called a rogue; but now it is
scarcely a discredit, for a board of directors or a nation
to entice men to their ruin, if the stake be but large
and noble enough. This subject is too extensive to be
touched upon except by these two or three illustrations.
If the expression signify "implacable," no reference
except to the rancour of parties, the hatred and bitterness
among sects, and the estrangement of classes from one
another, and from the state, can be necessary to illus-
trate it.
False-accusers (Sia/3oAo). We are a nation of slan-
derers and calumniators. Slander is the staple com-
modity of life, and business, and trade, in newspapers,
in novels, in politics, and conversation. There cannot be
any doubt, that truth must be lost sight of, in the spirit,
and dispositions, and confusion, which such a practice
must arise from and give rise to.
Incontinent (otxpuTetg). Even the court of a virgin
sovereign has teen distinguished by the notorious in-
continence of those who have been most influential in
H5
154 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
it ; and marriage infidelity is scarcely reckoned as a
crime which ought to exclude men and women from
the walks of polished life: more than for a time. In
the lower ranks, a numerous association assert the rights
and advantages of promiscous intercourse ; and their
leader has been taken by the hand by the prime minister
at court, and introduced into the presence.
If the word be translated " unruly," what subject,
or servant, or wife, or child, or idiot, or unlearned is
there, who will obey or listen to any superior wisdom
or authority, and not claim a right to act, and think,
and to interfere with the actions and thoughts of others
as he pleases: till, as must needs be the end, liberty
assume the right to take away the liberty of others ?
Fierce (otvyftspoi, cruel). The oppression of the poor
was never greater in any country or age. In any hea-
then country it would have given rise to irresistible insur-
rection. In Christian lands cruelty may proceed further
than in heathen; because it can take advantage of what
Christian patience and endurance exists, to increase its
oppressions. It is the ungodly and irreligious, whose
impatience creates the revolutions, which restore the
rights of the enduring and patient. The cruelties and
misery which competition imposes upon the workmen
and children in our manufactories, exceed all that has
been heard of among pagan nations. The fierceness too
and rage of party spirit is such as leads to intense cruelty.
The torture of mind is fully tried, and day by day is
ingeniously inflicted. But we have not yet seen what it
is to do in this country in open and secret bloodshed.
ESSAY IX.] DESPISERS TRAITORS. 155
The reign of terror in France ; the civil wars in Por-
tugal and Spain, with the Durango decree, give us signs
of what is coming upon us also, and all nations, in the
consummation of republican Utopianism ; and the cus-
tomary dealings and delight in tragedy which exist as
a habit in Ireland, bring it still nearer home to us.
Extreme cruelty is consistent with the highest civili-
zation : it is the result of it.
Despisers of those that are good (a^iAayaSoj). The
clergy are the most jealously looked upon of any class ;
and there is no disposition in the government, even now,
to increase their power ; but they are directly opposed
by those who are the most powerful and influential class
in this country. The whole theory of government also is
opposed to Scripture truth ; and in consequence, whoso-
ever would uphold its rule of life, and maintain its wis-
dom and precepts, is even despised and hated. I refer
to the illustrations before given respecting the position
of the clergy. Many of these remarks must appear to
be inapplicable, through the, changes of the last two
years. But a change of fashion is not yet a change of
character, though happily it may lead to it ; and there
is ten-fold more to be done, where the greatest improve-
ments have been effected. When I see so many of the
principles of the French Revolution reviving among us,
after so few years, I cannot but see sufficient reason for
every apprehension and warning.
Traitors (TrpoSorai). Faith and secrecy is not kept,
in public or private transactions. No confidence is held
156 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
sacred. The newspapers have begun the practice of
buying news at any cost: and what one editor has
begun, all other editors consider themselves entitled
and bound to follow. A member of parliament has
declared, that he will divulge every secret which comes
to his knowledge in his capacity of a legislator. The
respective individual opinions of all the judges, in the
case of Frost and his accomplices, though delivered in
secret, were known on the very evening of their decision ;
though the use and constitution of the court were vio-
lated by this publicity, and the policy of government was
embarrassed and frustrated by it. There is a growing
want of honour and confidence also in trade. Each
new-invented deceit and treachery, if successful, is sure
to find its mate ; and then becomes current and allowed
and irresistible. Men would betray the dearest interests
of their friends for money enough; as they do their
country for party.
Heady (vpoTrsTsis'). The very description we use is,
that we are going-a-head. We are rushing headlong,
in our changes and reforms, in our inventions, our spe-
culations. And are we rushing on to ruin ? N'importe.
This may or may not be. But we are determined to go
on ; and if it can be, faster and faster. There is nothing
left behind worth regretting ; and nothing yet gained to
content us, or worth waiting for. Let us go on, on :
we are in a hurry to be happy, we are in a hurry to be
rich, we are in a hurry to be great and noble : we
cannot be worse, or poorer, or more miserable than we
are, nothing is present, everything is before us, man
ESSAY IX.] HIGH MINDED LOVERS OF PLEASURE. 157
is capable of perfection, and shall be perfect, and in our
own way too : let us go on, on, the present is into-
lerable, the future may be better and is before us, let
us go on headlong, even if it be to intense misery, and
desperation, and temporal and eternal ruin.
High-minded (TervQcupsvoi : inflati, stulti, caeci). This
is either a most wise or a most foolish age. This is cer-
tain, we have a high opinion of ourselves ; whether this
opinion be justified, or wisdom be stultified in it. We
have discovered that this is only the infancy of the world;
that is, that all former ages were children : and we
are going to carry it on to the strength of manhood.
Christianity is but one step ; and we are going to take
the next step, by putting our foot upon it. We must
believe all this to be true, because we say it of our-
selves ; and we must be wise enough to judge, because
we have all the wisdom of our ancestors ! At any rate,
we should do wrong not to call ourselves great ; for we
are growing fast and faster, whether it be upwards
towards heaven or the reverse ; and we are truly swelled
up in bulk to a very enormous size, whether we be filled
with dignity or conceit, with substance or vapour.
Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. God
tells us in his word to mortify our affections, but men
say now that luxury is a virtue ; and so they diligently
exercise it. The strict keeping of the sabbath, and all
fasts and feasts, must interfere with business and com-
merce ; therefore it must be wrong to encourage them.
Besides, Sunday is the most convenient day for dinners,
158 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
when you may be sure of your company; and it would
be absurd to have our time so shortened and taken up,
and our pleasures interrupted. We are a decidedly
religious people, and Christianity is part and parcel
of the law of the land ; but religion must by no means
interfere with pleasure or business : these must be pro-
vided for first, as of necessity, and at all events, reli-
gion must have what is left, and be contented ; if that
be nothing, this is a misfortune, but proper under the
circumstances.
Having the form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof. We put the Bible into our own and into every
body's hands ; and talk of it, and dispute about it, and
swear by it ; but its spirit, and its truth, and its strict
precept, we will in no wise obey or follow ; but explain
it all away, and outreason it, and distaste it.
Of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead
captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers
lusts (sTnSufuaij). Women take a leading part in the
new philosophy, and in the doctrines and proceedings
of the new sects, which continually arise out of the
familiar handling of the Bible, and the concurrent want
of reverence for its contents, and ardent use of it.*
They are led away more than others by conceit and
vanity, and the lust of novelty, excitement, and noto-
riety. Such being their impulses, no wonder at the
* The French savans, and the German illuminati, made much use
of the women, in propagating the doctrines which led to the French
Revolution.
ESSAY IX.} ST. PETER ST. JUDE. 159
multiplicity of creeds; no wonder they revive extinct
heresies, and exhausted topics of discussion and contro-
versy, over and over again ; no wonder they and we are
Ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the
truth.
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, these
also resist the truth : men of corrupt minds (
ju-svoj TOV vav out of their senses), reprobate
perversi, inepti, judicii expertes) concerning the truth.
Men's minds are distracted and distorted by their
science and learning : their wisdom and their knowledge
it hath perverted them; their attention and opinions
are" hurried backwards and forwards, and carried away
by every wind of doctrine, and every new theory and
every new study and discovery and invention, till there
is nothing settled, nothing is solid, certain, or respected,
but all is doubt, and change, and the mystery of uncer-
tainty, according as St. Peter and St. Jude predicted it,
" These are wells without water, clouds that are carried
away with a tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is
reserved for ever." *
As St. Paul in his first epistle to Timothy seems to
glance particularly at the Roman Catholic errors, and
in the second epistle at the characters of the passing
age, so St. Peter and St. Jude appear to carry the de-
scription on to the final consummation of those forms of
evil, which are now rapidly progressing towards their
I reserve the subject of the darkness of the coming age, to a
future Essay.
160 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
perfect growth and development. The description at
present needs but to be read, and the application even
now will be only too plain, after the illustrations of St.
Paul's epistle to Timothy which have been given. But
it is evident that it is capable in many respects of a still
closer application.
* " There shall be false teachers, who privily shall
bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that
bought them ;
(Jude. " Ungodly men, turning the grace of God
into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and
our Lord Jesus Christ.)
" Many shall follow their own pernicious ways ; by
reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of:
"Through covetousness, shall they with feigned words
make merchandize of you :
" Chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous
are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of
dignities :
(Jude. " Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile
the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities:)
" Speak evil of things that they understand not ; and
shall utterly perish in their own corruption :
(Jude. " These speak evil of those things which
they know not) :
" Sporting themselves in their own deceivings :
" Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease
from sin :
2 Pet. ch. ii.
ESSAY IX.] ST. PETER ST. JUDE. 161
" Beguiling unstable souls :
" An heart they have exercised with covetous prac-
tices ; cursed children ; which have forsaken the right
way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam
the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteous-
ness :
(Jude. " Woe unto them ! for they have gone in
the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of
Balaam for reward ;
" And perished in the gainsaying of Core) :
" The dumb ass forbad the madness of the pro-
phet :
" These are wells without water ; clouds that are car-
ried away with tempest ; to whom the mist of darkness
is reserved for ever :
(Jude. " Clouds are they without water ; carried
about of winds ; trees whose fruit withereth without
fruit ; twice dead ; plucked up by the roots :
" Raging waves of the sea : wandering stars : to
whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever) :
" Speak great swelling words of vanity :
" Allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much
wantonness, those who were clean escaped from them
who live in error :
" While they promise them liberty, they themselves
are the servants of corruption :
" It had been better for them not to have known the
way of righteousness, than after they have known it to
turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
But it is prophesied to them according to the true pro-
162 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
verb, ' The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and
the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire/
(Jude. " Behold the Lord cometh with ten thou-
sands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to
convince all that are ungodly among them of all their
ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed,
and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners
have spoken against him.
" These are murmurers, complainers, walking after
their own lusts ; and their mouth speaketh great swell-
ing words : having men's persons in admiration because
of advantage.
" They told you there should be mockers in the last
time, who would walk after their own ungodly lusts.
" These be they who separate themselves ; sensual ;
not having the spirit.")
I will conclude this sketch and recapitulation of the
signs of the coming of the last times of national dege-
neracy and apostacy, by quoting Mr. Bickersteth's ap-
prehensions and warnings upon the same subject in his
Treatise on Baptism.
" I cannot conclude this subject without adverting to a
deeply interesting and affecting consideration the danger
of national apostacy in our country. The general tendency
of public measures, for a considerable period, has been to
throw open the government of the country to persons not
holding the great and essential doctrines of the Gospel. At
the settlement of our English constitution in 1688, Papists
and persons denying the doctrine of the blessed Trinity
were expressly excepted from favour. The pure form of
ESSAY IX.] MR. BICKERSTETH. 163
Christianity maintained by our Church was generally viewed
as most accordant with the word of God, and therefore most
calculated to promote social happiness ; and thus the Church
of England, which holds all the great truths of the Gospel of
Christ, was sanctioned, established, and everywhere through
the land nationally maintained. Dissenters from conscien-
tious scruples, but holding the main truths of the Gospel,
were not merely tolerated but encouraged in all the good
they sought to effect, as a really valuable auxiliary to a
Church establishment. Luke, ix. 49, 50. Papists, and idol-
aters, and Socinians, as not holding the head, and Jews as
rejecting Christ, were discouraged. Thus our constitution
was truly scriptural. God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Ghost, were nationally acknowledged and ho-
noured. His blessing has been marked in our national ele-
vation, peace, preservation and prosperity.
" But our national profession of these things has become,
in the lapse of time, exceedingly formal. Step after step has
been taken to weaken it. The Protestant character of our
government has been cast off, by Socinians and Papists having
been admitted to share in that power which Christ has en-
trusted to us (Matt, xxviii. 1 8 ; John, xix. 1 1), as a Protestant
nation, for his kingdom and glory. Step after step is taken
in marriages, in baptism, in education, to dissever the Church
of England from the nation. Attempts have been made to
admit the Jews into our government, and so wholly throw off
its Christian character. Step after step is taken in the main-
tenance of Papal priests and Papal schools, at home and in
our colonies, to break down our national testimony to God's
truth as set forth in our national religious testimonies.
" This, however, is but one part, though a very awakening
symptom indeed of our tendencies to apostacy. The whole
character of our population, in its prevailing features, is of
164 THE FINAL APOSTACY. [ESSAY IX.
this cast. The measures of parliament, constituted as par-
liament now is, are national measures. The sin is the sin
of the country. And what is it prominently marks the cha-
racter of the country, against all the struggles of the Church
of Christ in the midst of it, but an intense money-getting
spirit ; regardless of all the sufferings of others, if property
may be enlarged ; and a consequent fearful oppression by the
wealthy, of the lower orders ; and a re-acting hatred of the
upper classes in the lower ? This is eminently seen, as the
author has observed on another occasion, in the state of the
agricultural poor and the factory children. Let us remember
how full the Scripture is of strong testimonies against oppres-
sion, and grinding the faces of the poor ; what stern reproofs
are given against oppressors, especially where professing
religion, and how constantly the ruin of countries is ascribed
to this cause, and we may indeed have just fears that heavy
judgments hang over our country. An unholy thirst for
gain, without reference to God's will and glory, or the good
of man, shoots very deep into the heart of our land, and
spreads very wide over it. The greater part of the misery
that now oppresses our country is from making haste to
be rich, and this connected with widely spread and largely
received false and infidel political principles of the wealth of
nations being their prosperity, without reference to moral
character. Hence men eagerly pursue the accumulation of
property, whatever distress or ruin it may bring on others,
justifying themselves by that which should be their guard,
the general practice. Exod. xxiii. 2; Matt. vii. 13. But
instead of attaining security and happiness by this selfishness
they are labouring utterly in vain. Hab. ii. 13. The word
of God speaks repeatedly and most strongly against this really
self-destructive course, and shows the great jjersonal danger
of pursuing riches to the oppression of the poor. Prov. xxix.
20, 21 ; Isaiah, v. 810 ; Jer. vi. 23; viii. 9, 10; xxii. 13
ESSAY IX.] MR. BICKERSTETH. 165
17; Micah, ii. 1 3; Hab. ii. 9 11 ; and James, v. 1 4.
May the eyes even of those making a credible profession of
godliness, be opened to see, and their resolutions strengthened
to renounce, this great evil. Whatever present losses their
singularity may occasion them, their real gain will be un-
speakably great. The vanity and emptiness of all excuses
founded on the misconduct of the poor, for neglecting their
real misery, will be apparent to a Christian.
" The real character of this idolatry of wealth is an apostacy.
When we have ceased to trust in the Lord, we trust in idols
(1 Tim. vi. 17): when we have ceased to delight in the Lord,
we delight in idols. Nothing is more clear than that covet-
ousness is idolatry (Ephes. v. 6 ; Col. iii. 5) : nothing is
more clear than that idolatry is apostacy (Deut. vii. 4 ; xiii.
1 10), and that apostacy of a nation is connected with na-
tional judgments. 2 Kings, xvii. ; 2 Chron. 36.*
" Many other signs of a growth of apostacy might be men-
tioned which are set before us in the Scriptures (2 Peter, ii.
10 22, and Jude, x. 16) and too apparent in Christendom."
* The great exertions of so many professors of religion, chiefly
among Dissenters, to set aside all national establishments of religion,
which they openly avow is, in their view, the root of all evil in the
Church of Christ ; and the vast strength of the current of Papal and
infidel men who join in this stream, and their influence upon those in
power at this day, is another fearful indication of approach to national
apostacy. The heavenly host rejoiced (Rev. xii. 10, 11) in that na-
tional triumph of Christianity which such mistaken men would, in their
self-wisdom and ignorance of God's word, overthrow. Let not any be
deceived by piety of expressions and intermingling of prayers and
praises, or peaceful professions or pretences of conscience ; as we na-
tionally honour God and maintain his truth, he will nationally honour
us. Let us remember the sure word of prophecy, and how we are
guarded against the Korah spirit of this age (Numbers, xvi. ; Jude,
xi.), and may we before it be too late, like Nebuchadnezzar, be brought
to give the glory of our kingdom to God. Dan. iv. 3-t 37.
( 166 )
ESSAY X.
FALSE PRINCIPLES OF PHILOSOPHY. LIBERTY.
LIBERTY THE RULING PRINCIPLE IN MORALS THE SELFISH SYSTEM
OF MORALS LIBERTY IN EDUCATION BOOKS TEACH BETTER THAN
MEN LIBERTY IN SIN DEMOCRACY MODERN LIBERTY MEANS
POWER AMBITION A VIRTUE LIBERTY IS LICENTIOUSNESS MONEY-
MAKING A VIRTUE LUXURY A VIRTUE VANITY A VIRTUE LI-
BERTY IN RELIGION CHRISTIANITY A STEP NO MAN ANSWERABLE
FOR HIS CREED IMPUNITY OF CRIME WHAT REAL LIBERTY IS.
THE principles and opinions which prevail in all sub-
jects at any one time in a country, are so much the
same in character, and so interwoven one with another,
that it is difficult to disentangle any one or more from
the rest, and to exhibit them separately. It is still
more difficult to discover the error and disprove the
wisdom of any policy or opinion ; because the bent of
the public mind is uniform, and a habit, and the premises
as well as the conclusions, have the same founda-
tion and the same character, and are the result of in-
clination, and bias, and taste, which are supreme in
argument.
The one ruling principle exhibits itself in different
shapes ; appearing to the familiar eye distinct in spe-
ESSAY X.] LIBERTY IN MORALS. 167
cies and genus, according to the difference of the subjects
in which it operates. It is easier to expose and assail
the leading principle itself, than to analyze and invade
any one or more of the various forms and appearances
which it assumes, each of which is a support and a
defence of all the others.
Political licence is essentially one in principle with
religious dissent ; and this with the passion for inven-
tion and change ; with rationalism in religion, and
pantheism. The selfish system of morals, the present
principles of political economy, the worship of wealth,
the praise of luxury, the oppression of the poor, the
passion for commercial enterprise, and mechanical in-
vention, infidelity and revolution, rebellion against God
and man, have one and the same origin, are one and the
same thing : and that one thing is Liberty. Liberty is
the cant word, and charm, and token, among all orders
and classes ; and unites all peoples and languages
together in one crusade of division and separation.
Liberty has power to take peace from heaven and earth.
Liberty is the watch-cry of domestic feud, of civil
war, of foreign invasion and aggression, of hatred,
rebellion, ambition, aggrandizement, robbery and ty-
ranny. Liberty is both the lock and the key to all
argument and proof. Since liberty is the one essential
ingredient in all the developments of modern policy,
and liberty is the one point and premise conceded,
the beginning and the end of philosophy and politics,
the Alpha and Omega, the datum and quaesitum,
every argument is always in a circle, only arriving at
168 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
the same point ; and no wonder it is easy, and no won-
der every step is dogmatism itself, and incontrovertible.
Let us endeavour nevertheless to test some one or a
few of these dogmas by a denial at least ; and to bring
them to a comparison with some independent system,
or other fixed point : though to find out a region free
from the disturbing influence of this our centre of force,
we must almost stretch our observation beyond the reach
of parallax.
In the department of ethics, " the selfish system of
morals" is that which is predominant and characteristic
of the philosophy of the age. The apparent conse-
quences and tendency of things, that is, their useful-
ness and expediency, constitute them right, according
to this system. This is identical in its principle with
Epicureanism. And like Epicureanism it is, and is
found to be, inconsistent with the obedient worship of
God. It constitutes man the legislator and judge of
his own rule of action ; and rejects and deposes God as
the judge of right and wrong, the divider of good and
evil, of light and darkness. This cannot long consist
with a belief in God's word. And accordingly the
Epicureans rejected God from all interference with sub-
lunary concerns ; and with a real pride, but affected
humility, and rendering a philosophic honour, but actual
insult, founded in the weakness of men, above which
they professed to raise Him, attributing pride and
idleness to the Almighty, deposed Him from his om-
nipotence and omniscience. And " the selfish system
of morals" is effectually undermining the belief in
revelation.
ESSAY X.] THE SELFISH SYSTEM OF MORALS. 169
It must undermine truth and morals themselves.
For although some few philosophers of higher intellect,
and greater strength of mind, may look to a distant end,
and, guiding themselves by some fixed star, may stretch
across the ocean in a straight course, not feeling their way
along the shore, or accommodating themselves to every
bend and winding, or shaping their voyage by the ever
changing bearings of the nearest and most trifling ob-
jects and interests, as did some of the leading Epi-
cureans, yet the multitude of the small craft, whose
appointment and science are not so costly and perfect,
must steer by the nearest land-marks, and must ply by
the oar ; and must be governed in all their course and
determinations, by present views and impulses. For
the whole foundation is the right of private judgment ;
and if we may think for ourselves independently of God,
more surely may we of men ; and if we are set free
from God as our judge, then philosophers ought not to
be our masters. So every one must have an equal right
to judge himself: however fresh his freedom, or short
his study, or shallow his intellect. Freedom is the first
and best acknowledged of the rights of man : it perfects
all things and is perfect. Therefore all things must
yield to it. It is the beginning and end of all action
and argument ; therefore all things are conclusive and
consistent. Laws and governments may be resolved
into present and particular convenience, rules of action
into impulses, society into individuals, the earth into
atoms, the universe into its elements, but this one rule
of right shall stand certain and fixed, and ultimate and
i
170 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
elemental the right of private judgment in morals
and religion, liberty, free-thinking.
M. Guizot, the great social philosopher, the champion
of human reason, has at length fairly described what phi-
losophy is. " I now call philosophy," says M. Guizot,
" every opinion which admits not, under any name or
form, a faith obligatory to human thought ; and in re-
ligious as well as other matters, leaves it free to believe
or not to believe, and to direct itself by its own labour."
So now the prerogative and pretensions of reason being
acknowledged, our task becomes more straightforward
and easy. If we have no obligatory faith in revelation,
we must be left to our own private judgment and will ;
for to reject the wisdom of God and to obey man, would
be a very blind credulity. Our own wisdom therefore,
our individual wisdom and strength of mind, the wisdom
of each child in age or in knowledge, must be our guide,
and our will, in all subjects which imply conduct and
action. Such are all branches of morality and religion :
the subject of both which is self-government, and our
own actions. But it is a first principle in justice and
government, that no man shall be a judge in his own
cause. How then can a man pass a just judgment and
sentence upon himself, when he is free to make and
change the law for himself according to his will, in his
own case, and for his own use, and upon the present
occasion ! This is perfect liberty and democracy in
morals; and it is as practicable as the existence of
pure and permanent democracy in a state, together with
high civilization and irreligion. When children will
ESSAY X.] THE SELFISH SYSTEM OF MORALS. 171
pull out their own teeth, just to produce regularity and
symmetry in their mouths; when criminals will not only
adjudge themselves to the stake, but also light the fag-
gots, and endure the fire without complaint ; when
Ulysses shall pass by the shores of the Syrens un-
confined, except by his own choice and will and self-
possession, and we are all like such an Ulysses, then
may we enjoy a pure democracy in morals as in govern-
ment, and not turn every man his hand first against his
brother, and then to self-destruction.
When such a time should arrive ; when we should
be such masters of ourselves, and such wise and just
masters, that we should all do that which was right and
good, as well for our neighbour as ourselves, according
to the code of Christian precept, we should not be
fitter then for a democracy, than for a monarchy or
aristocracy ; but for no government. When every one
might do that which was right in his own eyes, because
every one's eye was single, and looked only to that
which was right, then we should want neither king,
nor democracy, nor earthly government over us, the
Lord our God would be our King.
Out of a silly confusion of self-sacrifice with selfish-
ness, the laying down our life for a friend with self-
interest and gratification, and a shallow argument,
that because virtuous and upright conduct produces
happiness, therefore the pursuit of happiness must lead
to virtue and rectitude, men have re-edified and re-
vived the image of the dead and deadly heathen doc-
trine of "the selfish system of morals." They have not
discovered that " right" pursued from duty and obe-
i2
172 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
dience, is different from " right " pursued from desire
and choice : that it is different in effect, as well as in
principle. And all this is sanctioned and sanctified
under the name of liberty : as if liberty were made for
man, and man for liberty; and that this were a truth
and a treasure hid and laid up for ages, for this age, for
modern invention and discovery. " Man was not made
for liberty, and can no more live in it than fishes in the
air, or birds in the water." The utmost that can be
done, and this religion does for him, is that " it takes
him from one evil servitude, and places him in another
which is good." * Without this servitude or another, he
can never pursue or devise for himself a course of virtue,
or secure his happiness by seeking after it. Liberty
must lead him on to rebellion against God, against man,
against the feeble laws which he himself has imposed, to
rebellion against himself. Liberty is Self triumphant
against morals. Liberty is sin.
Christian ethics directs us in the proper use of our
desires : as love of honour,-}- power,;}; knowledge,^ love
of rest and peace ; hope, fear, love, joy,|| admiration,
fellowship ; and guides them to the proper objects. It
does not profess to teach us to act without motives. The
selfish system of morals can only mean, that we act by
passions and affections. This is no discovery. It is
only a confusion. Self-interest or self-love cannot be the
rule ; for it is the thing itself which is to be corrected.
* Sewell's Christian Morals, p. 1 78.
t Matt. xxvi. 13 ; Lu. xiv. 10; Gal. vi. 14 ; John, xvii. 22.
I Matt. xvi. 19 ; Lu. xii. 42; Lu. xxii. 30; x. 20.
Lu. x. 22, 23; viii. 10.
|| Lu. x. 17, 20; John, xv. 11.
ESSAY X.] BOOKS BETTER THAN MEN. 173
It is not to be destroyed, but improved; to be corrected,
not to reign paramount. To say that we are to act
right from desires and motives, is no discovery ; to
say that all motives are equal in merit, is confusion ;
to say that a man can exercise self-denial and self-inte-
rest at the same time, is shallow philosophy : to say
that we are to purify and perfect our desires, and sacri-
fice our present to our eternal interests, till it becomes a
pleasure and a present impulse to do so, is Christianity.
One axiom of these last times is, that books are better
than men ; that wisdom is better learned in the closet
among tables and indexes, than in the world and its
occupations, in the business of life and its realities, and
among men. They do not yet perceive, that the letter
is dead ; and that it is action and experience which
alone gives life to any truth, which is worth the name
of truth, that is, to the subjects of conduct and action.
It requires experience, and exercise in the particular
subject, to enable a reader to comprehend the meaning
and appreciate the reasoning of his author ; and a writer
cannot carry a reader far out of his depth, or lead him
into deep water with safety, till he has learned to swim.
As face answereth to face, and the heart of man to man,
and we interpret motives and reasonings in others by
the index and standard and the workings of our own
minds, so we colour our author with the complexion of
our own opinions, and sound him with the depth of our
own understandings ; and so reach and reject, and alter
and choose, and use him so far and in such manner as we
like, according to our preconceived intention or ability.
Yet all are thought equally capable, and are held
174 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
equally bound to read, and read every thing ; whether
they be wise or fools, learned or unlearned, good or bad,
young or old, prejudiced or unprejudiced. The judg-
ment of the young is thus made equal with the judgment
of the aged ; of the child with that of the parent. The
hearts of the children are not turned to their fathers for
direction and advice, nor the eyes of the flock to their
shepherds and pastors ; but every sheep wanders where
he will, in the mountain or in the plain, in the field or
the wilderness ; but all are out of the fold ; and each
chooses what pastures he will, and tramples down and
wastes what he rejects ; and no two liking the same
food and place, the flock is all scattered and divided
here and there, and the pasture is spoiled. And all
this is wise and right and proved, and incapable of
question, because of liberty.
The child has no need of the man ; that were to
acknowledge slavery. The youth with his book ought
to be as independent as the yeoman on his estate. He
may plough what he pleases, and fallow what he pleases.
He may crop which field he will, and with what seed he
will ; and gather the whole crop or a part only, when
and how he will; bring it home into his store in bundles
and sheaves, and parcel it here and there, or feed it off
upon the land, or leave it to rot, or plough it in again.
Language is feeble, and capable of many senses ; but
the sense must not be enlarged, or the mind directed,
or a higher truth elicited ; especially in subjects of the
greatest consequences, and the most important interests.
In learning from books alone, the choice is not directed,
the taste is not cultivated and formed, attention is not
ESSAY X.] LIBERTY IN EDUCATION. 175
aroused, application is not enforced, mistake and mis-
apprehension are uncorrected, dulness is unassisted, in-
dolence and carelessness are unchastised; bias, passion,
pleasure, appetite, prejudice, error, distortion, pride, con-
ceit, wilful blindness, run riot uncontroled, unhindered,
and unnoticed , and feeding upon food of their own
choice, and assimilating every thing to their own na-
ture, they continually enlarge themselves on one side,
and grow confirmed and stronger.*
It is said, we must not interfere to guide any young
man's opinions ; in order that he may be free to
choose for himself, when his understanding is ripened.
It is even a popular system, to observe the natural
characters of children, so as to educate them in that
line, and to develope that particular power and pro-
pensity, to which they have a tendency; instead of
bringing up the faculties in which each is deficient to
the proper level, by a more diligent cultivation.
What a child is born then, he must grow, according
to this system. The bias of birth, the prejudices and
propensities of youthful passion and circumstance, must
confirm themselves, if man is to be thus free of man,
childhood of age, folly of wisdom. The Christian verity
reveals to us, that a child is born in sin. Liberty is sin.
The passion for freedom extends itself to all law,
divine as well as human. The same spirit of liberty
and independence which disposes us to resist and throw
off the control of man over man, disposes us also to
resist and rebel against the laws and government of
God, and to wrestle with and burst the bands of reli-
* See Sewell's Christian Morals, p. 2.
176 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
gious obligation; which alone can fit us to use the trust
of civil liberty. For the mind of man is a habit ; and
his whole character must be one ; and the habit of love
of independence, the desire and spirit of liberty in the
breast, must become a propensity, a passion : What
passion ? let the moralists and phrenologists name it :
what passion ? the passion of selfishness and pride :
a proper pride of course ! because it is the fashion
and idol of the day, and the spirit of liberty.
But the use of liberty is equal laws, and equal powers
of doing our duty and doing good, and equal scope to
exercise ourselves in virtue and love, and self- discipline,
that is, to enjoy happiness. And such a liberty may
exist under a monarchy, and flourish under a "paternal
government ;" * and it is not excluded from a demo-
cracy : because the benignant sense of true religion
self-denying and practical must mould a monarch into
a father, and fellow-citizens into brethren ; but when
religion is absent, and the moral sense is selfish and the
mind perverted, a jury may be the instrument of the
greatest frauds and injustice, a posse comitatus an en-
gine of the greatest tyranny and misery. No matter whe-
ther the supreme power have one head or many, the love
of self will make such power a monster ; and we
heard that the hydra, because it had fifty heads, was
more easy to overcome, or the less disposed to, or less
capable of, mischief, t
* " We hate paternal governments." Edinb. Rev.
f Montesquieu said of Poland, " The independence of individuals
is the end aimed at in the laws of Poland ; from thence results the
oppression of the whole." Spirit of Laws, bk. xi. ch. 5.
Modern liberty is the lust of' power. Under the name of consti-
ESSAY X.] DEMOCRACY AND MONARCHY. 177
It is supposed however that a monarch is more hurried
to excess by the lust of power, and that power is less
tutional liberty, the Queen's government in Spain violently put an end
to the Fueros, or free privileges of the Basques and Navarrese.
The French constituent Assembly extinguished all the local privi-
leges of the provinces.
The late liberal government has made a similar endeavour to narrow
the principle of local management in England as much as possible.
Montesquieu has observed, " As in democracies the people seem to
act almost as they please, this sort of government has been deemed
most free; and the power of the people has been confounded with their
liberty." Spirit of Laws, bk. xi. ch. 2.
When " La Fayette attacked the mob, and seized the ruffian who car-
ried the head (of Francois), who was executed the next day, the indig-
nant populace murmured at the severity. 'What !' they exclaimed, ' is
this our liberty? We can no longer hang whom we please.' " Alison,
French Rev., i. 274.
On the 9th Thermidor (27th July, 1794), this principle was practi-
cally reduced to its natural absurdity, when the two parties contending
for each other's blood, both rallied their friends in the name of liberty.
Robespierre said to the Jacobins about him, " March ! you may yet
save liberty." Tallien, the opponent leader, addressed the Mountain,
" Take your place," said he, looking around him, " I have come to
witness the triumph of freedom: this evening Robespierre is no more."
Alison, French Rtv., ii. 383, 384.
Fleury calls the accession of the Church to authority, and the power
to punish heretics, "The Liberty of the Church." Maws des Chre-
tiens, ch. 48.
Liberty is tyrannical and cruel in proportion to its extension to the
people. Mr. Alison observes, " It is in the name of humanity that
thousands are massacred ; and under the banner of freedom that the
most grievous despotism is established." Alison, French Rev., Pref. 36.
" Liberty and equality was the universal cry of the revolutionary
party. Their liberty consisted in the general spoliation of the opulent
classes, their equality in the destruction of all who outshone them in
talent, or exceeded them in acquirement." Ibid. p. 55.
" From the first commencement of the contest, each successive class
that had gained the ascendancy in France, had been more violent and
i5
178 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
subject to abuse and passion in the hands of a multitude.
The multitude also may be moved to virtue, while the
more tyrannical than that which preceded it." Alison, French Rev.,
p. 426.
" The Jacobins the greatest levellers in theory, they became the
most absolute tyrants in practice." Ibid. p. 464.
" Marat, the friend of the people, asserted in the Jacobin club, Dec.
19, 1793, 'that in order to cement liberty, the national club ought to
strike off 200,000 heads.' "Kelt on Prophecy, ii. 214.
And Smyth, in his lectures, says, " Wherever the French armies
went, Liberty and Equality were proclaimed, and ' Vive la Repub-
lique ' was the cry. The meaning of these terms was seen to be,
sweeping confiscations of property, the abolition of all existing autho-
rities, and the elevation of the populace." Smyth's Lcct., 2nd series,
French Rev., vol. iii. p. 254.
The recent exposures of American principles and manners, are fresh
in recollection.
" You talked of nothing but liberty ; but every one of your actions
strove to enslave us. Can you deny it ? All your words were orders,
all your counsels were the mandates of a despot. We were never thus
commanded when, according to your false assertion, we were slaves ;
such blind implicit obedience was never demanded from us, as is now
exercised, when, by your assertion, we are free. In other words, they
forced upon us the liberty of suffering ourselves to be stripped of all
rational freedom. Open thine eyes, great nation, and deliver us from
this Liberty of Hell" Lavater's Lett, to the Executive Directory,
dated the first year of Helvetic Slavery; Zurich, May 10th, 1798.
Quoted, Kett on Prophecy, ii. 222, n.
As scepticism is timid and credulous, so Excess of liberty must needs
be mean and servile. The horse without a rider cannot win the race.
Republicans are the greatest slaves to public opinion ; and follow one
another with the tamest imitation, in the present single track, like
sheep without a shepherd. Those who throw off government, or rebel
against it, give implicit obedience, as the trades-unions, and the rib-
bon-men, with slavish fear, and the blindest submission.
" The members of the Freemasonry lodges in France, which held
the most absolute Atheism, and the most perfect hatred of every spe-
cies of government, were bound by the fear of inevitable punishment,
ESSAY X.] DEMOCRACY AND MONARCHY. 179
monarch may be a monster of wickedness or folly, a
wolf among the sheep, wholly unassimilated to them in
and an enthusiastic attachment to the cause, to inviolable secrecy, and
unlimited obedience to the commands of the superiors, though who
these superiors were, the generality of these fanatics knew not."
Kelt on Prophecy, ii. 165, 166.
" One of the chiefs told the professors" (of the order of German
Illuminati) "that death, inevitable death, from which no potentate
could protect them, awaited every traitor to the order." Ibid. ii. 197.
There is less equality in free countries than in absolute monarchies.
The comparative condition of the slaves in ancient Greece and Rome,
in modern America, and the West Indies, and in Poland, as compared
with the slaves in the French and Spanish colonies, under absolute
governments, furnishes a conclusion entirely unfavourable to the freest
countries.
The free licence given to trade and money-making and the increase
of wealth, has given a power and will to oppress the common people in
England, which exceeds any tyranny and cruelty that the world has
ever been witness of.
" The numberless circumstances which prove that there is on the
whole more unison of feeling, more sympathy, more mutual dependence
and support between the different ranks of industry, between the em-
ployers and the employed, in France, than with us." " It is to this
cause we conceive, in a great degree, that the combinations among
workmen to enforce an increase of wages, which have at different times
been carried to such a fearful extent in England, are to be attributed,
which in France are, comparatively speaking, unknown." Paris its
Dangerous Classes, Quar. Rev., No. 139, p. 33.
Alison describes the ridiculous exclusive jealousy, in America, be-
tween a milliner and a haberdasher. Alison on Pop., i. 554, n.
He observes also, that it is as unsafe to exhibit the external ap-
pearances of wealth in America as in China. Ibid. ii. 72.
Liberty by itself, is a formidable and many-handed giant: the love
of money, is an evil-eyed and malicious spirit; but the union of liberty
with money- making, is the foulest and most frightful and cruelest and
most ravening monster that ever raised its head out of the sea of
wickedness and pride, and the abyss of human corruption.
180 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
their virtues and wisdom. The opposite to the first may
easily be shown: namely, that power is more irrespon-
" The Hindoo laws recognize no less than fifteen legitimate modes
of acquiring slaves. But these servants are in general well treated :
the gentleness of the Hindoo character has softened the rigour of their
laws. A stranger can seldom distinguish between the condition of the
slave from any other member of the family. The cultivators are in a
certain sense astricti glebae, but the slavery is altogether unlike the
odious servitude of the West India Islands ; it more nearly resembles
the kindly relation which naturally subsisted in Europe between the
lord of the manor and the villains who cultivated his domains." Ali-
son on Pop., i. 360.
Of the slaves in Turkey, Lord Ponsonby lately wrote an official des-
patch to Lord Normanby, containing this description of them :
" The admirals, the generals, the ministers of state, in great part,
have been originally slaves. In most families, a slave enjoys the
highest degree of confidence and influence with the head of the house."
" The slaves are generally protected against ill-treatment by custom,
and the habits of the Turks, and by the interests of masters, and their
religious duty; and perhaps slaves in Turkey are not to be considered
worse off than men everywhere else who are placed by circumstances
in a dependent situation ; whilst on the other hand, they may attain,
and constantly do enjoy, the highest dignities, the greatest power, and
largest share of wealth of any persons in the empire." Correspondence
with Foreign Powers relative to the Slave Trade. Viscount Ponsonby
to Viscount Pahnerston; Therapis, Dec. 27, 1840.
" Liberty, in a certain sense, is the soul of the Japanese ; but it is a
liberty very different in its nature and in its effects from that which
prevails in Europe. It is a liberty which consists in the despotic
authority of the law, and the regularity with which it is administered.
But this is the result not of freedom on the part of the people, but of
wisdom and unfettered power on the part of the government. The
laws are extremely severe, but they protect equally the rich and the
poor." Alison on Pop , i. 396, quoting Thunberg.
In antithesis to this, the penal code is growing more and more mild
in democratic governments, and tending towards impunity ; because
the people have the voice. - And the consequence is, increase of violence
ESSAY X.] DEMOCRACY AND MONARCHY. 181
sible in the hands of a multitude ; and that vice requires
support and countenance, without which it cannot easily
bear the light, while virtue can stand alone, and shine
the brighter for it. Therefore, when the mob conceive
violence, and intend villany, there is no control or limit
to their enormities ; whereas kings are continually the
butt of observation and censure, and while they are still
further controlled in their choice of advisers and coun-
sellors and ministers, are themselves responsible for
all acts that are done, in their own persons and cha-
racter.*
Neither can the monarch easily be vicious and alto-
gether bad, while his people are good and wise and
religious. The character of the king and people must
go together in great measure; and the mutual impression
has at all times been strong and powerful. "As the judge
of the people is himself, so are his officers; and what
manner of man the ruler of the city is, such are all they
that dwell therein. "f The sins and punishments, the
virtues and rewards of a people, are bound up with those
of their sovereigns, by a bond which is indissoluble;
and crime, and diminished protection and freedom of action to the
good.
* When an emperor of China wished to place a favourite son upon
the throne, in violation of the law of primogeniture, he was forced to
yield to the general opinion, expressed by written remonstrances, from
the officers and magistrates, who threatened to resign their offices. Nic.
Trigautius de Regn. Chinae, p. 116, ed. Lugd. Batav. Elziv. 1639.
f Ecclus. x. 2. Even the ambition of conquerors is the ambition
of the people; and Alexander and Napoleon did not covet the empire
of the world, without the concurrence and support of their subjects,
who shared the glory of it.
182 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
and this has been the history and evidence of all places
and times, and nations and governments : though it has
nowhere been so intimately understood and uniformly
acted upon as in the Chinese empire.*
But we would not be content with happiness, with
happiness founded on virtue ; or with a freedom, which
would enable us to enjoy all the blessings of life in the
lot and sphere in which God has placed us ; for let it be
remembered, that if there be different ranks and stations,
and different degrees and orders in a state, it is God
who has placed us each in that one in which we were
born, and not man: as much as He has given us
different characters, and complexions, and talents, and
placed us in this nation and climate instead of that, and
made us, as He thought fit, a man, and not a woman.
But no, our liberty is a passion. We must have the
right to rise from rank to rank, and from station to
station. The passion of liberty being indulged, the
divine law too must be broken and reversed. Ambition
must become a virtue. And the civil government must
provide facilities for its exercise and gratification. It is
proclaimed the bulwark of the national strength, and
that which is condemned in kings, after the experience
of ages, their subjects being their judges, is entitled a
virtue in those of a lower rank, the people in this
being the judges of themselves. If men are to aspire to
* The Emperor of China attributes national calamities to his own
sins and failures in the good administration of his government; and
fasts and mortifies himself, and makes atonement to Heaven, and
orders general fasts accordingly.
ESSAY X.] DEMOCRACY. 183
rise up to eveiy other rank, they may well aspire, as
they do, to be kings also. Nay, as the laws and govern-
ments of man draw down with them those of God in a
common ruin, so the aspirations of human ambition
must teach men to emulate the thrones of heaven, and
they must at length, or even now, aspire to rivalry
with angels and gods, and exalt themselves above all
that is called God and worshipped.*
If tyranny is intenser in the hands of the multitude,
so it is inquirable whether the hindrances to merit are
not as many and active, when the public are to be
depended upon, as when a monarch is to be looked to,
to distinguish and reward it. The caprice of public
opinion may be as fickle, as false, and as erroneous, as
that of a wayward sovereign or potentate: at least it
is constantly complained of as such. The approach of
the worthy to its favour, too, is long and difficult, and
almost wholly unassisted. Whereas the enlightened
patron has it his interest and pleasure, and makes it
his business, to look out for and use the best instruments
that can be met with, to give them assistance and
encouragement; and, with all his partialities, we have
some good reason to doubt whether the choice of a free
people be upon the whole more infallibly fixed upon the
ablest, the purest, and the most disinterested instru-
ments.
* On occasion of the failure of the United States Bank, in 1840, a
resolution was passed by a meeting of the stockholders, to absolve
the clerks of the bank from their oaths to keep the transactions of the
bank secret.
184 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
But none of these comparisons can be freely and
fairly made, because the passion for liberty is supreme,
and constrains the senses ; it is the beginning and end
of the argument, the axiom and theorem, the pos-
tulate and problem: we are slaves to liberty. The truth
is, that none of these accidents of life, these construc-
tions of society, are supremely important. A man's place
or position has little to do with his freedom or happiness,
and the impediment of birth cannot easily prevent the
highest talent and merit from becoming prominent; and
for the struggles of moderate talent to attain to promi-
nence by its own efforts, without assistance, there is no
misery equal to it. The patriarchs of Scripture history
were not prevented from attaining to objects much
higher than their highest expectations, by the most
adverse and humiliating circumstances, or by their en-
tire absence of ambition and effort after distinction.
Great merit will generally find its place and use, with-
out the spur of vanity and ambition, and in spite of the
most depressing weight of difficulty. The meek shall
possess the earth. But this the world can not believe.
Or in profane story, did Socrates's greatness or death
depend upon his rank or position; or has ^Esop a less
enviable fame because he was born a slave and crooked ;
or was Raphael less great for the patronage and power
of a despotic prelate; or our own Shakspeare, did he
live and write under less advantages, because he was of
humble origin and rank, and because play-writers were
then so little esteemed, or so few titles dispensed, that
he was never knighted ? Institutions have less to do
ESSAY X.] LIBERTY IS LICENTIOUSNESS. 185
with these things than is imagined. If parliaments
and the people were to apply themselves to become
virtuous and religious, the kings also would become
better and more religious, or act as being so ; and the
people would rise to or remain each of them in their
proper position, and be much more happy in it, in spite
of obeying the Christian precept, and choosing the
lowest place. But liberty has emancipated us from
God's wisdom, and God's law. We have set up a wis-
dom for ourselves. Therefore our wills and passions
have become our rule of action. Our appetites and
desires are all enshrined and consecrated. Ambition,
as one of the strongest, is made a virtue and a merit ;
is admired in private life, and must be provided for in
the state. Liberty is licentiousness.
Another licence which is given to appetite under this
freedom from God's law, is in respect of money-making.
Money-making is a virtue and merit in each private
person ; and it is a still greater virtue in the state. In
Rome, valour was virtue ; the same in the individual as
in the commonwealth ; for the character and principles
of the two are always alike. In England, a man's
riches show what " he is worth ;" a man of wealth and
worldly substance is " a good man ;" he is " doing
well," and is " thought well of." In the state, finance
is the great principle of policy; that branch of the legisla-
ture governs the country which holds the purse. Money
is the great engine of war, the great desideratum in
peace ; political economy therefore is the great science
of good government, and best qualifies a minister to
186 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
direct immortal man, the image of God, the delight and
wonder of angels and of the universe, to the great end
of his existence, here, and in his passage to an here-
after; and this science proclaims, that the great key to
unlock this treasure, and to the attainment of this ob-
ject, is to give the people free liberty, to leave trading
people to themselves : to give avarice its head. Avarice
is a virtue.
Luxury also is a virtue. " There is no such thing as
luxury !" Wolsey was accused of luxury, because he
had clean rushes laid upon his floors every day. When
coaches first came into use, it was said that they would
weaken our warlike power ; that the breed of horses
would go down; and that men would grow effeminate.
The sale of pins was restricted to two days in the week,
in Elizabeth's reign, to discourage this luxury. That
which is a luxury one day is a necessary the next;
therefore it is mistaken to call anything luxury, of a
culpable extravagance. There is no palace too grand,
or gilding too profuse, or viands too dainty or many, or
furniture too magnificent, or dress too costly or mere-
tricious ; nor can the amount and frequency of these
things be too great, nor the habit too enervating,
nor the use too indulgent. The employment of the
poor depends upon our ease and idleness ; their suffi-
ciency upon our profusion ; their comfort upon our in-
dulgence; their gain upon our lavishing as much as
possible upon ourselves ; their health upon our surfeit.
Therefore sensuality is a virtue.*
Mandeville was one of the first openly to avow this libertine doc-
ESSAY X.] LUXURY A VIRTUE. 187
It has not occurred to these wise heads, that accord-
ing to their own theory, at least, it does not matter
whether our money is spent upon articles of enjoyment
or use, upon ourselves or upon others, for that in the
one way or the other the money is sure to find its way
into the pockets of the poor, as the wages of labour.
But liberty and licence has blinded us to every side but
one of this and every other truth. Self has got free
and reigns tyrannically over us ; and directs us how
and where it will, according to the dictates of our pas-
sions and appetites. In short, liberty is selfishness and
self in everything : it is self in morals, self in private
life, self in politics, self Jn religion and religious doc-
trine, it is self in everything. Liberty is the very spirit
of the evil one ; and is come up like the frogs of
Egypt over the whole land, upon the prince, the people,
and the servants, into the houses, into the beds, into
trine of political philosophy, in his fable of the Bees. He thus wan-
tonly deals with and sums up the arguments on this subject :
" The root of evil avarice,
That d d ill-natured baneful vice,
Was slave to prodigality,
That noble sin ; whilst luxury
Employed a million of the poor,
And odious pride a million more ;
Envy itself, and vanity,
Were ministers of industry ;
Their darling folly fickleness,
In dyet, furniture and dress,
That strange ridic'lous vice was made
The very wheel that turned the trade."
He writes so sarcastically in support of vice, that one might almost
think that he felt a virtuous disgust at it.
188 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
the ovens, and into the kneading troughs, and into the
king's chambers.
Conceit is a virtue. We ought to have a good
opinion of ourselves. Modesty is mean and pusillani-
mous. Humility is contemptible. The dignity and
capacity of man, the vast progress he is making,
his rapid advance towards perfection, his perfecti-
bility, his free will and power over himself, these
are the favourite and popular topics; and any one who
doubts them is indicted of treason against the rights
of man, and the majesty of human nature. We must
not be so mean as to say, there is anything beyond
our capacity; that there is anything so deep that it
must be to us unfathomable ; that there is anything
so high which we cannot understand ; that there is any
research vain, or any knowledge useless to us, or likely
to lead us astray, or of more cost to acquire than be-
nefit to us. Even religion is within the province of
enlightened reason ; the mysteries of religious truth are
open to us. We must, in this advanced age of the
world, understand more of it than any one else ; we
only assert the rights of age, and the maturity of
reason ; we, we are wise, we are the men, we are
wisdom.
It is said, therefore, of necessary consequence, that
Christianity is but a step : that it is a doctrine accom-
modated to a less enlightened age of the world ; and
as religions are always accommodated to the state and
minds of the people to whom they are given, so a mucli
more perfect system is in store for us, in this wise and
ESSAY X.] LIBERTY IN RELIGION. 189
liberal generation : a universal equality and benevo-
lence, which is even now developing itself.
It is too true that our Christianity is but a step.
We do not understand and practise Christianity ; and
therefore we deem lightly of it. We have not a practical
understanding and experience of it. Therefore we tread
it under foot ; and would make it a step and a ladder ;
a stage to plant our higher and newer structure upon,
" whose top to heaven," which we are essaying to
build for ourselves, and to our own glory.
The step which we really want to take is a step
backwards : that we should try by practice what Chris-
tianity is, and always has been, in its best experience.
Then we might look forward again, and hope to make
a fresh step in advance, not to a new revelation, but
to a better understanding and realization of Christianity
such as it stands revealed.
The last claim of liberty is set up no man is
answerable for his creed. To man, they will say ; but
it is to God also ; for the same circumstances and im-
pressions, which warrant all beliefs and opinions, and
arrogate their exemption from human tribunals, must
also be a justification before God; for they are not of
choice or intention; and the rights of reason must, in
the full exercise of her power, extinguish human respon-
sibility and probation, and annihilate them. We ought
not even to teach a creed to our own child ; this were
an encroachment upon his freedom. We may choose all
other branches of education for our son ; we may choose
his companions ; we may dispose him to a particular
190 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
business or profession ; we may give him an impression
and advice in behaviour, in friendships, in business, in
principles, in politics, but we must not bias or influence
him in his religious belief: this were tyranny. This is
between himself and his God. He is as good to judge as
we are : as his parents, or as the government. The go-
vernment may superintend education ; it may establish
rules for the public peace ; may promote that trade which
is most for the welfare of the country; may punish crimes
against the prosperity and happiness of the community;
may restrain men in their pecuniary follies, but not a
preference or encouragement is to be given upon the
subject of religious doctrine or form, by any govern-
ment, lay or clerical, though religion has always, in
all countries, been found the best engine of government,
and the great support of the state ; and though religious
opinions have ever proved themselves to be essentially
connected and correspondent with political persuasions;
and though certain denominations have constantly been
found uniting themselves in movements of disaffection,
and resistance to government.
They who endeavour to separate belief and conduct
in religion and politics, in things divine from things
human, endeavour to separate the concave from the
convex of the circle.
If men are not responsible for their opinions in
things heavenly, neither are they in things human
and earthly. If men are not answerable for their
opinions, neither are they for their conduct : for con-
duct is founded upon will ; and will upon opinion and
ESSAY X.] IMPUNITY OF CRIME. 191
belief. And accordingly such a tendency of philosophy
must ultimately lead to impunity of crime. And so it
has been. The tendency of modern political philosophy
is rapidly towards impunity ; and it must ultimately
lead to a denial of punishment and all punishable cri-
minality, except that the system must work destruction
to society before it can arrive at such a height. Never-
theless in political offences this principle stands con-
fessed. The circumstances and temptations of traitors
come nearer home to us, and are more easily reckoned,
among a nation of political partisans ; therefore we
already pronounce them not greatly responsible. The
system is extending itself to private crimes ; as our un-
derstanding of human nature becomes deeper, and our
philosophy more perfect.* The thief thinks he has the
same right as the traitor to pursue his inclinations ; and
claims the same benefit. Philosophy tells him he is
right, that it is all education and circumstance. If
the judge had been born and bred in the cellar or the
garret, he would have been the prisoner in the dock.
The prisoner might have been the judge. It is oppres-
sion therefore to punish for circumstances which are
beyond a man's control. I was born and bred a thief;
and nature made me idle, and revengeful, and lustful,
and gave me appetite, but did not give me industry
so I stole to satisfy it; she gave me ambition but no
estate ; so I ought to take my neighbour's : this is my
* The first use of knowledge was to excuse and palliate sin :
" the woman that thou gavest me:" " the serpent beguiled me."
So now, impunity is the order of the day. The verdict is, guilty of
murder, and parricide, and regicide, under extenuating circumstances.
192 FALSE PHILOSOPHY LIBERTY. [ESSAY X.
opinion, and I have a right to my opinion ; and there-
fore I have a right to act upon it.*
To deny this were a restraint upon liberty and free-
will. Liberty is for all. Liberty is for the people : for
all the people. Liberty is for the philosopher, the
sophist, the freethinker, the debauchee, the spendthrift,
the demagogue, the bankrupt in fortune and character,
the thief, the coiner of money, and of religions, and
constitutions : Power and liberty is for all : the peo-
ple is king,f sin and the devil reigns among us, and
possesses us.
How ever came the fair name of freedom so blasted
and defamed : her fair features so deformed : her
chastity corrupted ? Liberty is noble, is heroic, is a
vestal, is spiritual. When men have mastered their
appetites and desires, they are free-born ; when they
choose self-denial for our Lord's sake, then they are
higher in rank than all distinctions ; when they are at
ease under the yoke of religious duty which is stricter
than the strictest of all human laws, and happy and
blessed under the cruel strokes of misfortune, which are
* According to our law a jury can only find "guilty," or " not
guilty ;" not " ignorant of the law," or " not ignorant." So according
to the old constitution of England, a jury could not find, " over-
tempted," or " not tempted."
Still our law is so humane, that though it does not give a prin-
cipal importance to these circumstances of ignorance or temptation,
yet, in the amount of sentence, the judge was never wholly regardless
of them.
t It is shown that this is essentially an infidel principle, by the
source from whence it springs. Volney advances the doctrine, that the
powers, the ranks, and the riches that be, are ordered of the people.
Ruins, 79.
ESSAY X.] IMPUNITY OF CRIME. 193
more sudden and capricious and frequent than the sen-
tences of any tyrants, then they are insensible to the
weight of any human government, and are free of it :
they are free and happy and unoppressed and joyful
under the greatest tyranny. One before me has said,
and has shortly expressed what I have written, " I suspect
that an insolent pride in British liberty in some measure
inspires British licence of thought, and extravagance of
opinion : if so, vice and infidelity are as much our na-
tional distempers, as the scurvy or the spleen. Purely
to prove themselves freemen some turn infidels. Hea-
ven preserve thee, my friend, from the freedom, and
wisdom, and happiness, now in vogue. He is most
free who is bound by the laws ; he is most wise who
owns himself weak ; he is most happy who abridges
his pleasures; and he is most magnanimous, O ye
bold, intrepid, heaven-defying Britons ! who fears his
God."*
Democratic freedom from restraint is vulgar, is
rude : religion makes even the clown a gentleman, in
mind, and in manners also. Democracy pulls down
the high to a low equality : religion raises every one
to a higher level. Free-thinkers in religion shrink and
tremble beneath the opinion and frown of their fellow-
men : religious obedience and strength makes even the
feeble heroes ; the unlettered wise ; the timid courage-
* Young's Lett. 6, p. 1 16, ed. 1798. " An Asiatic cannot be made
to understand our term ' freeman.' They usually understand by it a
holy man, one who has subdued his passions, and freed himself from
the domination of vice." Quar. Rev., No. 126, p. 385 ; Davis 's China.
194 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF PHILOSOPHY. [ESSAY X.
ous ; the humble equals to the lofty and proud ; the
poor rich ; the servant free ; the mechanic noble.
How has the fair face of liberty become deformed ;
her fair fame blasted ; her purity defiled ; how has free-
dom become a slave; how is the daughter of heaven
become a harlot !
( 195 )
ESSAY XL
FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS PARTY.
GOVERNMENT INDEPENDENT OF RELIGION ALL SECULAR GOVERN-
MENTS MUST FAIL ALL GOVERNMENTS GOOD ASIATIC GOVERN-
MENTS EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS PARTY SPIRIT INHERENT IN
THESE MANUFACTURES AND AGRICULTURE MACHINERY SELF-
ADJUSTING SYSTEM OF POLITICAL ECONOMY GOVERNMENT THE
UMPIRE MACHINERY OVER MUCH ENCOURAGED ITS RAPID EX-
TENSION AN EVIL MACHINES OUGHT TO BE TAXED.
THE prominent points in modern politics are, The spirit
of Reform and Improvement ; The spirit of Education ;
The importance given to Political Economy, or the
Science of Money-making, and its peculiar doctrine,
that self-interest is both the main-spring and proper
regulator of it ; The encouragement of Manufactures,
and Machinery ; The separation of Religion from Civil
Government; and the Sovereignty of the People.
There is another principle which prevails in, and gives
operation to all these other principles, the spirit of
Party, or Division. This is as fully acknowledged, as
operative also and characteristic, as any of the rest.
The subject of Education and Knowledge is so im-
portant as to require to be treated under a separate
head. The Sovereignty of the People has already met
with some notice j and must present itself constantly in
K2
196 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
connection with every other characteristic of our poli-
tical state. The subject of our Commercial condition
and principles will occupy the greater portion of our
attention in the following Essays. The subjects which
remain, and call for present observation, are Party
Spirit, and the separation of Religion and Moral Cha-
racter, as motives, from the springs of government.
It was left for experiment in a Christian country, to
govern people without religion. All other nations of
the world have been governed by the aid of religion ;
but the modern governments have corrupted this palla-
dium of their peace, or suffered it to grow corrupt,
being indulged and over-assured by the possession of
so inestimable a treasure; and the keepers and users of
it have been deposed successively from their high trust
and privilege, and their dominion is taken away from
them. But since Christianity has already a little lea-
vened, and a little operated in the world, government
has become a so much easier thing, that we are now
about endeavouring to make experiment of governing
independently of it : not aware that our great support
and strength is thence derived, and that we are mainly
resting upon it. Wickedness must become more ex-
treme in Christendom than elsewhere, because of the
force of Christianity itself; the vital power of which
will enable the body politic to bear a greater severity
of disease without dissolution. Sin must grow stronger
and stronger in its operations, and its efforts and lan-
guage more audacious, with the very efforts and ad-
vances of religion, till at length it personally opposes
and exalts itself against and above God himself,
ESSAY XI.] RELIGION WITHOUT GOVERNMENT. 197
Christ Jesus, present, visible, incarnate, in the person
of Antichrist.
And then cometh the end : when Christ himself shall
take the kingdom: when religion shall rule; and be
the only law and power and instrument of government.
Then, and not till then, the government shall be at one
with religion, and religion with the government, and
the counsel of peace shall be between the king and the
priest. Already the governments of the world seem to
be preparing for this independent and sufficient reign
of religion, when they are separating the religious
authority and power off from themselves ; while yet the
country is resting for its chief support upon it. At the
same time, and in consequence, the religious autho-
rities and the hierarchy are asserting the prerogatives
of their office ; and preparing to exercise their high
functions independent of, and unassisted by, the civil
government.
In the meantime every form of secular government,
upon secular and worldly principles, must be tried, and
deposed for mal-administration. The monarchical form
of government has been weighed, and found wanting.
The aristocratic form of government has been weighed,
and is found wanting. The democratic must also be
weighed in its turn, and this having been found want-
ing likewise, as also every other system and constitu-
tion founded upon and secured by worldly motives and
counterpoises, then the saints of the Most High shall
take the kingdom, and rule the world in peace and
love, and according to true judgment.
Every form of human government has its use and
198 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
virtues; and its life is long or short according to the
soundness of its principle. But the imperfection inhe-
rent in it works its ruin : the evil principles of fallen
human nature infect it with diseases ; it grows from
infancy to youth, from youth to ripeness, from ripeness
to old age ; the diseases gradually get more and more
hold and power : till, with the decay of energy, the
whole body tends to abuse and corruption, and becomes
at length useless and disgusting. The monarchical form
of government is the most durable. The oligarchic is
the next so. The democratic never has endured for
any long time together. The process of transition
towards it may be gradual, and the work of time ; but
its essential element is changeableness; and its ultimate
form can never be permanent. The greatest perfection
of monarchical rule has been in China ; where it is
patriarchal; and is established and carried out in all
its branches upon the principle of filial reverence and
obedience: which disposes by essential and necessary
consequence to obedience to God, and the performance
of brotherly duties to one another.* They enjoy the
fulfilment of the promise to those who honour and obey
parents, in the almost eternal duration of their empire.f
The oligarchical and mixed governments of Europe are
full of such essential principles of evil, that they each
in turn become unbearable. The modern systems of
government in Europe are founded in no principles of
* Almost the whole subject of their moral treatises is the obligation
to the performance of " the relative (the social) duties," as they call
them.
f Sir Geo. Rose's Scriptural Researches, 174 205.
ESSAY XI.] ALL SECULAR GOVERNMENTS FAIL. 199
duty or obedience, and depend upon no exercise of love
and brotherly affection. All is claim and assertion of
right, and struggle of might ; and the only corrector of
the vices of power thought to be applied, is the balance
of some other power in opposition to it. Therefore the
use of power is oppression and violence ; the strongest
arm for the time being is exercised in tyranny; and the
operation of the whole system is only a balance and
opposition of hatred and selfishness. The vices of
such systems become so flagrant, that the people rebel
against them, and throw them off successively ; and
then make experiment of others, for very despair : not
because the new forms are better, or so good ; but
because they are new and hopeful at the time, and
their vices are not at first developed ; and because their
miseries under the old ones are intolerable.
The principle of Asiatic government is reverence and
obedience ; the effect is, that they have permanence ;
the operation is, that they are peaceable and stationary.
The principle of modern Europe is progress ; the effect
is, instability and short-lived duration; the operation is,
want of union, opposition, and party.
The Eastern nations know, that governments are for
use, and for the good of the people ; and not for the
purpose of being rebelled against, and made an enemy
of. They are conscious that all governments are good,
as compared with the reign of universal lawlessness,
and the distraction of individual interest and opinion
and choice, and universal self-government.* The op-
* noXiTixoi ovre? atro irporrayfjiaToi; jtoivs n><riv. AXXwj ya.^ ux. ott,v TE TB;
iv TI na-rtu TO.VTO TTOIEIV 'vffj.os-fji.lvaj/; aXXuXoi; (onrif nv TO TroXiTSt/Ecrflai),
200 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
pression of the worst government is light, as compared
with the malice and reverse of fortune, and the miseries
of private life ; and any the worst form of government
will work its own improvement and adaptation, with
love ; and any the best will only aggravate its diseases
and sores, with rancour and hatred. It is best there-
fore, for our country and for ourselves, to seek the
moral improvement of the people, and the good success
of their affairs ; and this chiefly by the strict and ex-
emplary performance of our own duties, and transaction
of our own business, in our own private families and
concerns, and among those immediately around us.
The founders of great empires have for the most part
been superior to the rulers who have come after them ;
and the delicate and complicate machine of government
is not often likely to be rendered more efficient and
better regulated, by introducing a main-spring or ba-
xi aXXojf flrao; vf/ueiv Ciov xoivov. "Those who live in society together, live
according to some stated rule and law. For otherwise it were impos-
sible that a number of persons should co-operate for any one single
object, (which is the use of forming a society) ; or that in any other
respect they should live together as a community." Strabo, Geogr.
lib. 16, (torn. ii. p. 1105, ed. Amstel. 1707,) apud Hooker's Eccl. P.
bk. i. s. 15.
The following is the eloquent conclusion of Hooker's first book, in
which he states the nature and use of all laws: " Wherefore, that here
we may briefly end : Of law there can be no less acknowledged, than
that her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world :
all things in heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling
her care, and the greatest as not exempted from her power: both
angels and men, and creatures of what condition soever, though each
in different sort and manner, yet all, with uniform consent, admiring
her as the mother of their peace and joy." Eccl. Polity, bk. i. the
end.
ESSAY XI.] ASIATIC GOVERNMENTS. 201
lance of a different principle from that which was
designed and applied by the original contriver.*
Looking up to their founders and political fathers
upon this principle, the Asiatic nations have for their
principles of government obedience and imitation.
They labour to enforce and observe the social duties,
upon the foundation of brotherly love and attention ;
and they honour and obey, with filial admiration and
observance, their parents, their ancestors, their empe-
rors, their founders. Their minds are disposed and
ready prepared for reverence to God, upon the same
principle. Religion therefore is an essential motive in
all their thoughts and designs ; piety is their passion ;
and an essential power in their government. The fruit
and their reward is permanence ; and therefore, not-
withstanding their degeneracy and corruptions, their
lives are prolonged for a time and a season.
Our growing principle is irreverence for our ances-
tors ; disrespect for governments, disrespect for our
parents, disrespect also towards God. Infidelity is
* In a similar manner, if my own observation be correct, education
almost always has a tendency to deteriorate, in each separate establish-
ment. Each master begins upon some well-considered plan ; but, as
he proceeds, his temper in the course of years is soured, his interest
declines, his idleness innovates upon his watchfulness and attention,
his increase of wealth introduces him to ease and comfort and indul-
gence, he proceeds more by rules, and depends more upon regulation
than personal observation ; he substitutes uniform severity instead of
a judicious and tender mixture of punishment and reward : of mildness
and rigour, of disgrace and encouragement; he looks to the profit more
than to the duties and the credit of the concern ; and his celebrated
establishment becomes a school of vulgarity and libertinism. In a
large family, the younger children are generally the most spoilt, and
the least polished and educated.
K5
202 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
indigenous here ; it is the growth of Europe.* It can
be transplanted from one end of Europe to another :
from Greece to Rome ; from Rome to France, and Ger-
many, and England ; but it cannot take root in any
other less favoured soil : it is peculiar to Christendom.t
The passion for progress produces these effects. A
constant desire of improvement and change could not
consist with a reverence for existing laws, and for those
who have gone before us, to whom we are indebted for
them. Therefore we have emancipated ourselves from
this respect. And as respect and reverence is a habit,
and habits must be consistent, and as existing laws
are all part and parcel of one another, and the law of
God is part of the existing law, and the most reverend
and established part of it, and therefore attains the
greatest respect, and affords the greatest impediment
to change and innovation, therefore the law of God
must be included in the same dishonour, and Chris-
tianity must be concluded to be only one stage in the
progress of the world, and a step in philosophy.
Since it is the interest of one part of the world that
things should remain as they are, the rich and great
being satisfied and at ease, and desirous to remain so,
and so long as wealth and distinction are the objects
of desire, and believed to be the means of happiness,
the rest of men being dissatisfied, and envious and dis-
contented, hence it arises that where the desire and
endeavour after change is active and energetic, there
* Here and elsewhere I include America, as constituting a part of
the European system of nations.
f Averroes is not an exception. His opinions were altogether of
European growth ; and they flourished chiefly in Christendom.
ESSAY XI.] EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS. 203
must be division in the world, and the spirit of Party.
Party spirit therefore has been the characteristic of
modern governments, wherever the desire of change
and reform has been in active exercise. So long as the
constitution of law and government is fixed, and ac-
knowledged to be unchangeable, the wise ruler may
select the best persons from all classes and ranks
for the executive government, and so prevent the rise
of or crush the spirit of party, where it is disposed to
grow up. But when the public mind is set upon change
and experiment, and legislative measures and reforms
are to be entrusted to ministers, as well as the offices
of executive government, then the ministers of state
must be selected from the one section or the other of
the parties in the country, from the improvers or the
preservers, from the obstructors or the innovators, in
each particular interest and department. The spirit of
party therefore has been the predominant and moving
principle, especially in England, ever since the spirit of
progress and change has been the leading object and
idea in the minds of the people.*
The spirit of party and division has grown, and must
* It has been openly announced by a senator, that for a politician,
" to the desertion of all principle, to declare that he had divested him-
self entirely of the trammels of party, was both disgusting and as dis-
graceful to all public character, as it would be for him in private life
to assert that he divested himself of the trammels of virtue, and opened
to his unhallowed acceptation a wide field of unmitigated vice." And
when of late Sir C. Bagot appointed to offices two French Canadians,
formerly favouring the insurgents, and strongly opposed to himself in
political opinion, namely, M. Lafontaine to be attorney-general, and
M. Girouard to a seat in the council, this act of impartiality was styled
an outrage on political morality.
204 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
continue to grow, with the increasing desire of improve-
ment and change, till it exhibits itself in the most ran-
corous malice, the bitterest slanders, the grossest exagge-
rations and falsehoods, the deepest blindness of opinion
and theory and belief, and blood-thirsty violence. So,
deadly hostility and division are the characteristic of a
people which professes Christianity : the religion of
union and self-denial and mutual forbearance; the reli-
gion of brotherly-kindness, and of the Prince of Peace.
Party is divided and set against party, class against
class, the poor against the rich, the ignoble against the
noble, manufacturers against agriculturists, the laity
against the clergy, fathers are set against their chil-
dren, and children against their fathers; mothers-in-
law against the daughters-in-law; every man's hand
is against his brother ; and a man's foes are of his
own house: such societies and governments shall be
divided and split, and continually rent, and broken into
smaller and smaller fragments till they become like
the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, and the wind
carries them all away, and no place is found for them.
The hearts of the fathers are being turned from the
children, and the children from the fathers, especially
in this, that the State is dividing itself off from the
Church; the laity is disengaging itself from the clergy;
politics are now said to be separate from religion ; poli-
tical virtue from private morality. In this conflict and
division, we have a feeble but growing religious prin-
ciple on the one side ; on the other side, are leagued
and banded together all the powers of the world, the
science and worship of money, machinery and trade,
ESSAY XI.] MANUFACTURES AND AGRICULTURE. 205
dissent, infidelity, the bankrupt in character and for-
tune; and all these joined themselves to the party
which of late years constituted the government, and
which, if we do not go back from our present principles,
must govern us again. Both parties are growing, and
must continue to grow, and the separation must become
more and more distinct; but mammon must prevail,
and in the end be triumphant, till it bring down the
merited judgment upon us, unless the tide of corruption
be turned, and the progress of division be arrested by
Providence amongst us. The world must prevail, at
least for a time, and reduce sound principle and true
religion to extremity, and the nations become bankrupt
in moral character and strength, as well as in finances.
One field of division and decision, in which the battle
has to be fought, is that which circumstances and the
support of the late government have marked out, be-
tween the manufacturers and the agriculturists. The
division is fortuitous and artificial ; but it will serve as
well as others to rally the respective forces, with more
or less discernment.
The manufacturing interests must in the end prevail :
there can hardly be a doubt of it. The land is of a
definite extent, and the increase of its production, or of
the population which identifies itself with it, cannot
exceed a certain rate, or advance beyond some ultimate
limit. The manufacturing population and wealth is not
limited by any necessary bounds; and it is not likely to
meet with any impediment or discouragement. It must
advance, in prosperity and in adversity. In prosperity,
its power advances by its wealth : for wealth is the
206 FALSE PINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
measure of importance in this country. In adversity,
it must advance by clamour, and pity, and intimidation,
and the stern force of famine and hopelessness, and
necessity which knows no opposition.
So soon as manufactures and machinery once become
predominant, thenceforth their exclusive power and
pre-eminence will become consolidated, and irrevocably
confirmed.* Then all legislative acts and measures
must be accommodated to this ruling principle ; and the
nation must become a nation of manufacturers. Its
chief or sole dependence must then be upon trade and
commerce ; and its fortunes must decline or flourish in
proportion to the success of these branches, which are
now become the trunk. But the trading and manufac-
turing world are not only subject to greater fluctuations
than agriculture ; they are liable to the most violent and
vital revulsions, and almost entire stagnation. They
seem to political economists to be founded upon more
stable principles than the harvests and the seasons ; but
they are liable in truth to much greater convulsions
than those of nature : far more destructive in their
effects than all natural earthquakes. This truth is
brought more and more home to us by every new ex-
* The first victory is in the abolition of the corn-laws. To the ex-
tent by which the manufacturers are benefited, and foreign wheat is
introduced, to that extent the agriculturists must suffer, and the growth
of corn be discouraged; and the wealth, population and power of agri-
culture must decrease in nearly equal proportion. Thus the relative
power of the manufacturing interest would at once be increased per
saltum, and confirmed irrevocably. I am not speaking at all of the
merits or demerits of a corn law ; but only of the operation by which
it will be done away, and of the effect upon the relative position of the
agriculturists and manufacturers.
ESSAY XI.] MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE. 207
perience; and it is evident that these revulsions grow
more and more violent, with the extension of manu-
factures, and the increased dependence upon trading
wealth, and commerce.
This is the end therefore. When our whole dependence
is staked upon our manufacturing and commercial suc-
cess, and while we are rejoicing and revelling in an un-
exampled course of expense and luxury and prosperity,
some such commercial crisis and revulsion will occur
with us as lately occurred in America, or in all proba-
bility a worse one, and the nation will at once become
bankrupt in its finances, as it will have become concur-
rently in moral strength and character.*
I would not enter upon the subject of machinery at
length ; because I am pointing attention only to the
tendency and the principle. But I must stop to suggest
one or two points and reflections.
Manufactures are commended and sought to be en-
couraged, because they make money. This is not a
false representation of them. For the usefulness and
necessity and the want of the particular articles is not
* The different effect of a dependence upon agriculture and manu-
factures is most obvious. If agriculture is depressed, still the greater
number of the labourers continue to be employed, though at reduced
wages, as land is never thrown out of produce. If manufactures
are depressed, whole works and factories are discontinued for a time,
throwing entirely out of employment immense numbers of workmen.
The consequences of the one are trying and severe indeed, but never
devoid of hope or desperate ; the effect of the other is utterly ruinous.
Several iron-works have been suspended of late, occasioning the dis-
missal of three or four thousand men each on an instant. Large
factories are often discontinued, occasioning the dismissal of from four
to five thousand workmen.
208 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
the subject dwelt upon ; this is trusted to the interests of
the inventors and manufacturers; and the creating a
want is at least as often talked of and commended
and aimed at as the supplying it. If then the making
of money is the virtue and the end of manufactures,
let the advocates of this economy call to mind the
fable of Midas, and consider whether the gold which
they so covet will serve all purposes ; and whether the
possession of it, as compared with food, may not be too
exclusive, and unsatisfying.
Manufactures being made for money, not for use, are
we not deceiving ourselves by this exclusive contempla-
tion of a fictitious object, and blinding our eyes to our
true advantage and interests concerning them? Ma-
nufactures are made to sell, not for use, like the Jew
pedlar's ; and they are bad like his in like manner.
Their cheapness more than their goodness being looked
to, for the sake of the present saleableness, the charac-
ter of our goods for quality is being lost. We depend
upon the multitude of our goods and customers, not
upon the quality of the one, and the steadiness of the
other ; we look to the number and power and rapid
execution of our machines, not to the skill and merit
and credit of our workmen. But it may be doubtful
whether so good a roll of customers can be kept up,
with a declining rate of value and quality. It is a
question whether " cheap and bad," and a numberless
host of inferior customers, be the best dependence and
security for the prerogative of English products and
manufactures.
Machines, too, may they not over-produce? especially
ESSAY XI.] MACHINERY. 209
if a check or surfeit should come to the appetite of our
consumers. But may not machines over-produce under
ordinary circumstances ? Most clearly they can. One
block-machine has produced all the blocks which have
been wanted for the British navy ; and it is not always
working. It must be the same of all other articles re-
quired for ships ; and so it is of various other articles
of use in all departments. The button-shank machine
has operated as effectually as the block-machine, to
swallow up the trade, since its invention. Four button-
shank machines, in one room, and worked by one
engine, supply all the button-shanks that are made;
superseding many thousands of workmen.*
Another point also in respect to machines is, that
inventions seem likely to overtake one another, so as
to swallow up profits. The spirit of invention is so rife
and active, that a profit can hardly be realized suffi-
cient to pay the cost of a machine, before some new
improvement renders it useless, and requires a fresh
enterprize and investment of capital. It is said in the
manufacturing world, that a new invention is worth five
years on the average ; and this period is diminish-
ing. As canals supersede roads, and railroads canals,f
* It is over-production which has caused the late depression in the
iron trade. If loss of markets can occasion ruin, over-production is
not an impossible thing. It could only be impossible through markets
being illimitable, and demand always sure to exist, at prices sufficient
to remunerate the production.
f The Exchequer Loan Commissioners often find this occur: that
after they have advanced money for the construction of a road or canal,
money is soon after required of them for another canal or railroad, the
success of which depends upon the disuse of the former work, upon
210 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
so machines follow upon and overtake one another in
breathless succession, before the debt is discharged by
means of which the former ones were constructed ; and
thus the world is getting deeper and deeper into debt,
and profitless expenditure, and hopeless embarrassment.
May not inventions, and even improvements, go on too
fast?
The political economists say that all this will rectify
itself, and work its own cure, through the operation of
each person's care and effort in his own concerns, and
for his own advantage, and the necessary and mutual
accommodation and co-operation of self-interest.
This is the selfish system of political economy ! an-
other child of our modern liberty: of the effort to free
ourselves from the restraints of government, and the
resolution to give full scope and vent to all our worst
passions and inclinations.
The selfish system of political economy ! Commer-
cial epicureanism ! Trade has continually grown, and
continually grows more passionate, artful, unsound,
deceitful, speculative, profligate, unprofitable, with the
nearer approach to this system, the same as the cor-
responding principle in morals has led to lewd indul-
gence and enervating licentiousness, yet the votaries
of money-worship and pecuniary lust look for a cure or
corrective of the galling sore, in a deeper indulgence of
the passion which has caused the distemper.
Did ever self-love and self-interest settle the affairs
the profits of which the repayment of the loan first advanced was se-
cured. Nevertheless the commissioners generally feel it their duty to
make the second advance in such cases.
ESSAY XI.] SELF-ADJUSTING SYSTEM. 211
of men in other subjects, to mutual advantage and sa-
tisfaction ? Yes, as two nations wage war together,
with deadly violence, till being mutually exhausted and
drained, they perceive it was their interest never to
have begun the quarrel ; and yet in a few years they
renew the contest again, with more rancorous vigour.
Or one nation swallows up the surrounding nations,
and crushes them successively. So do rivals and com-
petitors in business wage an exhausting war of unpro-
fitable cheapness, underbidding one another to their
mutual ruin ; and the few large houses promise to
swallow up and annihilate the minutely ramified and
health-producing trade of the innumerable retailers.*
Will self-interest settle and adjust the differences be-
tween the agriculturists and manufacturers? Will it,
between the silk manufacturers and the cotton spinners?
Will it, among the iron masters themselves? who have
increased their production of iron so much beyond the
average demand, that more than a hundred furnaces
have been lately blown out, to the ruin of well esta-
blished works, and of a hundred thousand workmen.^
Will self-love settle the interests of the sawyers ? who
* One silk factory in Macclesfield employs 8000 hands ; being one-
third of the working population of that town ; and more than a half of
those in regular employment. One woollen manufactory in Yorkshire
contains a single room of three acres ; lighted by raised skylights ; on
the roof of which there is soil and grass, and sheep feeding. One
chemical work at Glasgow has fourteen acres of roof;. and a chimney
as high as St. Paul's.
f While numerous silk mills are being shut up at Macclesfield for
want of demand in the trade, the manufacturer above alluded to has
been adding to his mill a building containing nearly an acre of power
looms.
212 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
murdered one another for receiving lower wages ; * or
of the Chartists ? who pulled down the houses of those
who gave a higher price for meat than that which they
had dictated. Will self-interest divide the inheritance
between brothers, or the custom among tradesmen,
according to their necessities and deserts, and without
advantage to fraud and chicanery? Yes, when self-
indulgence will work its own cure in a drunkard and
debauchee. These discover their true interests by fatal
experience, when age and disease have come upon
them, and they are already suffering the penalties of
their self-indulgence. But the sentence is irrevocable.
Their habit is so confirmed, and their disease so deep-
rooted, and their force and frame so enfeebled and
enervated, that they are incapable of effort even if
repentance could avail them, and their condition is
desperate. So it is with the body politic. The diseases
of self-love and self-indulgence are deeply rooting and
developing themselves, and are beginning to become
apparent ; but we do not acknowledge the origin of
them ; and by the time that they force unwilling con-
viction by their torture and aggravation, it will be a
long time too late to hope for a cure, or for the ex-
istence of the energy necessary to restore ourselves
from them.
Reason, it is true, corrects its own errors, in the long
course of time, and through dear-bought experience.
But in the meantime it introduces other errors before
the first are extinguished ; as fresh heresies have suc-
At Ashton-under-Line.
ESSAY XI.] SELF-ADJUSTING SYSTEM. 213
ceeded those which have been suppressed : like the
Hydra's heads, each one giving place to two; and
thus we are continually living under new errors of our
own invention ; while at the same time we appear to
be continually growing wiser and better, by the correc-
tion of old ones.
It is necessary that the government should take up
the questions and settle them, between the different
parties in the state, especially between the agricultural
interest and the manufacturers. The country ought no
longer to be governed by parties, getting the uppermost
in turn in political power ; by a succession therefore of
tyrannies. It is the office of a government not to be
the instrument but the umpire between parties; other-
wise it is no government. We have lived of late under
a tyranny of the manufacturers and machine-capitalists.
This tyranny must be suppressed ; or the balance and
safety of the country must be sacrificed. This rule, of
selfishness set in authority in one branch, has led us
into the principle of perfect licence of competition, in all
departments of trade : of competition for custom, to the
extent of fraud, of competition in quantity, to the sacri-
fice of quality, of cheapness at the expense of goodness;
which has brought our manufactures, through this prin-
ciple of quantity and cheapness, which is the same as
badness, as opposed to quality and price, to be de-
spised and rejected in all markets.
The same tyranny has forced for the manufacturers
another prerogative, that of exemption from taxes;
which is wholly subversive of the natural and necessary
balance between all different interests in the state, and
214 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
must in the end prove destructive to themselves, as well
as to all the other members of the body politic. It
cannot be wondered at, that the manufacturing popula-
tion and interests should have so outgrown themselves,
when everything connected with machinery and manu-
factures is untaxed, and this unnatural premium is held
out in favour of manufacturing enterprize. The rates to
the poor are paid by the landed interest, but the manu-
facturing stock in trade is unassessed. In addition to
the exemption of all moveable machines, it is a known
practice, to assess fixed-plants in trade at such reduced
rates as amount to an exemption. Every thing that a
working man eats or uses is taxed to the government
exigencies. His tea is taxed; his sugar is taxed; his
beer is taxed; his tobacco is taxed; his bread is enhanced
by a tax; the bricks and timber of which his house is
built are taxed; he or his landlord pays taxes for his house,
and therefore his rent is taxed. But the machine which is
employed as a substitute for men's labour, pays no taxes.
The house it is placed in pays no assessed taxes, like
other houses; it eats nothing that is taxed; it is wholly
unassessed to the poor or the burdens of the state; and
the materials of which it is constructed are untaxed. This
unjust and impolitic exemption gives an unnatural spur
to the increase of machinery, which while it calls for
more workmen at certain times, during the temporary
prosperity of the particular branch of manufacture, re-
quires them in no proportion whatever to the increase of
work performed, and occasions in the end a glut, and a
cessation, and a total absence of employment for these
increased numbers of working men ; and then the
ESSAY XI.] MACHINERY AN EVIL. 215
favoured speculators and theorists, who have caused the
evil, complain that the population is redundant.
The extension of machinery is a war against the poor.
It is the instrument of oppression in the hands of the
rich, to give wealth and capital an advantage in its
contest with poverty. The whole history and event of
the system has proved this. The only remedy which
the working people have against too low wages, is in
combinations and strikes. But the argument of the
capitalists to show them the impolicy of this step, is
that strikes have caused the invention of many ingenious
machines, which have superseded more than any others
the employment of labourers, and the operation has
been as successful as it professes to be in defeating the
workmen.*
The rapid increase of machinery is reducing the work-
people to ruin. It is said, why, see the increase of
numbers in manufacturing towns. This increase is
drawn thither, and fully employed for a time; just
while increased cheapness gives a temporary spur to
the demand for a particular article. But, when by all
* A strike of the workmen at Birmingham gave occasion to the in-
vention of the art of rolling gun barrels. A subsequent strike among
the welders, caused the invention of the method of welding the barrels
under the roller ; which is the same as that now used for welding gas-
pipes.
In the report of the Constabulary Force Commissioners, 1839, will
be found an account of the injury to the workmen of Sheffield and
other places, from strikes for wages.
The strikes in the potteries, in 1836, caused a loss to the workmen
of 155,000. Report of Statistical Society, London, vol. i.
See account of a strike for wages at Nottingham, by Mr. Felkin.
Mr. Slaney's Speech, 1840, pp. 5, 8, 36, 37.
216 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
running the same race, they have glutted the markets,
and produced disgust by the commonness and inferiority
of the article, then these new workmen are all thrown
off, and require to be employed and fed ; but there is
no one to employ or feed them: while the glut of
goods is utterly out of proportion to the number of
hands which produced them. In this exigency, the ca-
pitalists and machine owners have nothing to do but to
let their machines lie idle: which do not feed or cost
while keeping, or pay taxes or rates while lying idle,
like flesh and blood. These then are folding their
hands, and hoarding their riches, and crying aloud that
their machines and capital are unproductive ; which they
make more account of than that thousands of living
souls are in misery, who produced their wealth. They
do not consider that any portion of their increased
capital should go to feed those who produced it ; but
talk only of relieving the workmen's distress by fresh
employment of their machines, which, as soon as em-
ployed, will heap to themselves enormous profits, give
to the working people a present maintenance, and renew
and increase the operation which caused the evil.
Then it is said that, increase production how much
soever you will, there will always be a demand, because
other producers in the same proportion will have other
goods to give in exchange. But, independent of the
positive fact that the glut of markets actually exists,
and the misery is produced, this has not been consi-
dered, that the profits from machines and such multi-
plied production, goes into the pockets of the machine
owners and capitalists, and not into that of the work-
ESSAY XI.] MACHINERY AN EVIL. 217
men. It is the machine market which earns everything,
and receives all profit; and not the helpless workpeople,
who have a subsidiary and powerless position in it, and
hold no control, and obtain little benefit from it.
Machines are altogether an advantage to capital and
capitalists, and throw the whole control and balance
into their power, to the depression of wages and human
labour.
It is. evident that unless a tax be imposed upon
machinery, and manufacturers be made to contribute
their fair proportion to the burdens of the country, the
equipoise of interests and of population cannot be pre-
served, and society must be overturned for want of
balance. It is said that a tax of a pound upon each
horse-power in steam engines, would produce three or
four millions. This would do a little to meet the evil.
But the operation would be unequal. The four button-
shank machines, worked by one small engine, do the
work of some thousands of men. A pumping machine,
of the same power, might not supersede one-tenth of the
number; and the profits might differ in a still greater
proportion. Paper machines supersede ninety-five out
of a hundred workmen ; occupying only a few yards of
space, and paying scarcely any rates or taxes. One of
the reasons for using a machine, is to avoid taxes and
rates, and the just burthens which other people endure.
The most obvious policy is, that every machine should
contribute what would have been paid by the work-
people whom it has superseded. It is admitted at all
events that taxes ought to bear some proportion to the
means of living; and the system and returns already
L
218 FALSE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS. [ESSAY XI.
in use for the purpose of the Income Tax might be ap-
plied with success to equalize the contributions towards
the poor, as well as to the other public burdens.
An equal tax on machines would be a benefit to the
manufacturers.
( 219 )
ESSAY XII.
FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE.
DECLINE OF PROFITS BAD PRACTICES AMONG MANUFACTURERS MER-
CHANTS TRADESMEN MONOPOLY OF CHEAPNESS ADVERTIZING
SYSTEM AN OLD ENGLISH TRADESMAN DECLINE OF HONESTY AND
CHARACTER EXCESSIVE COMPETITION FICTITIOUS CAPITAL JOINT
STOCK COMPANIES LOWERING OF PRICES CHEAPNESS NOT QUALITY
PURCHASERS ENCOURAGE THE EXISTING EVILS THE DUTIES OF
PURCHASERS LUXURIES BECOME NECESSARIES, AND MAKE A COUN-
TRY POOR HOW TO BE RICH THE EVILS ARE GENERAL.
WHAT we most pride ourselves in, and most rely upon,
is our mercantile pre-eminence and prosperity. Our
wealth, it is said, is constantly increasing; and our
system of trade therefore must be wise and good, and
our national condition healthy and upon a firm basis.
The foundation of these expectations is unsound, and
the steps to the conclusion are fallacious. They rest
upon reasoning and calculation, rather than expe-
rience, in a subject which is too deep and intricate for
perfect analysis ; and facts and results are disregarded,
which alone can test the accuracy and truth of such
speculations.
There is an inherent unsound ness and disease in mer-
cantile life, which, if unchecked, works its own corrup-
L2
220 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
tion and disorganization. Trade should be for the use
and happiness of the people of a nation, not for the
foundation of its strength. If this end is lost sight of,
and wealth itself is supposed to be the proper object of
desire, it is the same whether in an individual or a nation,
the wisdom and principle must be lost, the character
must become corrupted, the happiness and health of mind
and body must be undermined, and misery must be the
end of it. The national and individual happiness and
character of this country and its people, are sacrificed to
the national and individual aggrandizement of that power
which consists in riches.
The state of trade is wretched, and growing more
and more desperate ; whether we inquire into it among
the manufacturers, among the merchants, or among the
tradesmen. No one class of manufacturers or merchants
can make a fair and steady profit ; no whole class of
tradesmen can maintain themselves and their families
by proper diligence and skill, and place out their chil-
dren, with sufficient means and fair prospects, after
them.
Together with his profits the character of the trades-
man is gone down ; and we can no longer boast as we
did, or depend upon the high character and credit of
the British merchant and trader; for this has fallen
away in the eyes of foreigners, and in our own estima-
tion. These are no empty words. I shall support them
by some examples in the several lines and branches of
trade ; and each one will see and acknowledge the
truth of the illustrations in his own department and
sphere of information, and add to them.
ESSAY XII.] MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS. 221
It is the practice of manufacturers to sell their arti-
cles, in the first instance, at a loss, in order to obtain a
custom for them on account of their goodness and qua-
lity in comparison with their price, and then, when
the reputation and custom is gained, to lower the quality,
and so to make a profit. This is done, and known to
be done, by the most respectable manufacturers. The
manner and extent in which it is done by the lower
class of tradesmen follows of course, and requires no
description.
As already before mentioned, the East India Com-
pany could have returned a chest of tea from England,
and got it received back in China, upon their asser-
tion that it was delivered in an inferior condition ; and
their goods in like manner would pass up to Pekin
under the seal of the company, without being exa-
mined; because their credit was unimpeachable. The
British merchant had in general a nearly equal repu-
tation all over the world. A single act of dishonesty
in any one of them, would have been resented as a
dishonour done to their whole body, and an impeach-
ment of their high credit and character. Now, honour
and good faith are held cheap, and are little to be
reckoned upon, even among the higher class of mer-
chants and manufacturers. Personal character still
weighs in some instances, between those who are per-
sonally acquainted and have had many dealings to-
gether, though this is declining with the rest, and
losing its influence ; and more value is attributed to the
evidences of a contract, and to the supposed money
ability, which cannot be known for certain, than to
222 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
the character and personal habit and conduct, which
may be more nearly ascertained ; but little or no faith
is now attached to a man as an admitted member of a
highly honourable class of men, and because he is a
British merchant. A consignment of English goods
would be as closely inspected by the purchaser, before
parting with the price of them, in a home or a foreign
market, as those of another nation.
The following evidence was given before a committee
of the House of Commons in the year 1840 :*
" Mr. Charles Warwick, is partner in the house of
Ovington, Warwick & Co. in the city, who have a branch
of their business at Glasgow. They are extensively
engaged in the printing of woven fabrics, generally
mixed fabrics, such as silk and wool, cotton and wool,
challis, cashmeres, mousselaine-de-laines, &c. The ori-
ginal designs for these fabrics, made by their house,
cost last year exceeding 2000Z. * * * In the years
1836 and 1837, their mousselaine-de-laines were copied
almost as soon as produced, but it was by persons of no
eminence, and their articles were of such inferior qua-
lity that it did not interfere much with them. In 1838
a circumstance occurred which induced them to seek
more earnestly for protection. During the winter
months he had been endeavouring to get an article of
superior fabric, and, as was their usual custom, they
were to make their first spring deliveries on the 20th of
February. On the 12th of February, Mr. Thomas, a
Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, ap-
pointed 7th Feb. 1840, to inquire into the expediency of extending
copyright of designs. From Median. Mag. No. 894, p. 341.
ESSAY XII.] BAD PRACTICES OF TRADE. 223
buyer from the house of Messrs. Morrison and Co., re-
quested to be allowed to have twenty-seven dresses
which he had selected. To this the witness said he had
the most decided objection. That he would not do for
Messrs. Morrison what he would not do for any one else.
That it was imperative upon him to have a delivery day,
and not to give a preference. Mr. Thomas replied,
' Oh ! I have looked these dresses out, no soul shall
see them; we are just packing a case now, and they
will be shipped this afternoon for the foreign market.'
* * * Having done business with Morrisons to a
great extent for some years, he put faith in their repre-
sentative. The consequence was he ordered the dresses
to go. There were twenty-seven dresses, containing
eight patterns, but different colours. On the 19th, ac-
cording to his usual custom, witness wrote a few notes
to the principal buyers, stating that his house would be
re,ady on Wednesday the 20th, to deliver their new
goods. On that day, two of his own customers, with
whom he expected to make large parcels, called, and
showed him a note from Mr. Thomas, stating, ' Before
you buy Ovington's goods give me a look in.' One of
the gentlemen said to witness, ' I do not understand the
meaning of it myself ; can you explain it to me.' Wit-
ness said he could not ; and wished them to go down
and see what it did mean. The gentlemen accordingly
went to Fore-street on Wednesday, the 20th, and was
shown those dresses, that had been obtained under the
false pretence of shipping, and was told, ' Those are
Ovington's goods at 22s. ; now on Saturday, the 23rd,
we make our delivery of those eight patterns in all the
224 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
various colourings ; we shall bring them out at 15s.'
That was the first time witness ever had a patron for
piracy; the piracies generally before that were of the
most mean, contemptible, shabby description. People
were ashamed to be seen in the street who had been
guilty of piracy in London, except in very low trades
indeed. This was the first instance in which their pro-
perty had been assailed by any one of any consequence;
it perfectly paralyzed their trade altogether. Witness
was enabled to trace his goods, and found the copies
were produced at Glasgow. Other houses followed the
example of Messrs. Morrison, to such an extent as to
paralyze the witness's trade ; one set of designs being
frequently copied by three or four houses; and this
tended to work a most astonishing change as regarded
the pirates themselves."
This is only one example of what is becoming too
general in all branches of commerce and manufacture^.
A man does not scruple supplanting his rival and com-
petitor by whatever means, and at whatever sacrifice of
honour and good faith. Brookman and Langdon, the
celebrated pencil makers, showed their machines to a
manufacturer in another branch of trade. This man
forthwith set up a pencil manufactory, with similar ma-
chinery. The return of the corn averages for the last
week in July, 1842, was rejected by government, as
having been studiously falsified in the principal market,
for the sake of adding some profits to the corn-factors.
Recent discovery has been made of extensive frauds
upon the Custom House, practised habitually, and for a
long time, by certain large houses, especially in the silk
ESSAY XII.] RETAIL TRADE. 225
trade. Good faith is no longer to be looked to as a suffi-
cient security either between merchant and merchant,
or between manufacturer and customer ; but we must
look for the protection of law, and to legal obligations
and securities. The use of bills of exchange was for-
merly for foreign commerce ; but now bills and promis-
sory notes are used for assurances between persons
living in the same town, and in adjoining streets. This
is a state of things which we cannot go back from.
When a disease of this kind has once got possession
of us, there is no recovery from it ; it must necessarily
grow worse. One successful act of dishonesty is sure
to lead to others, and to meet with a crowd of imi-
tators; like a successful speculation. The example
first given shows how one great name is sufficient to
give countenance and a warrant to the most evil prac-
tices, and to spread them like a pestilence. " Dis-
eases are catching, but health you know is not con-
tagious."
The condition of the retail tradesmen is even worse
than that of the merchants and manufacturers. Com-
petition is so increased, and profits are so much lowered,
that there is no facility of supporting a family by regular
trade, and of providing for them by the moderate savings
of twenty years of business. While profits are conti-
nually becoming lower, and more and more insufficient,
the expectation of amassing a fortune in a short time is
constantly increasing. There exists at once a growing
impatience to make large fortunes rapidly, and a grow-
ing insufficiency of profits to make it easy for tradesmen
L5
226 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII
to make any fortune at all, or even to maintain them-
selves.
The consequence is, that tradesmen struggle to live,
and endeavour to thrive by ruining one another. It is
not a proper competition, and endeavour to excel one
another by the perfection of their articles ; but it is a
plot to attract custom, and to monopolise a whole trade,
to the ruin of others engaged in the same line, not by
quality, but by cheapness, and by lowering prices below
what can be remunerating with only a fair share of
custom, and by every species of attraction, through
outward appearance and advertisement, and other
means of establishing, not a character, but a fashion.
We are all acquainted with this system in some of
the more public transactions of business ; as the stage-
coaches and steam-boats. We know that they carry
passengers for a time at unremunerating prices, in order
to try which shall first be ruined ; and so to obtain a
monopoly of the custom and traffic. This system enters
equally into other branches of trade, according to the
opportunity. Tradesmen sell at prices which never
could support them, and by which no one could live,
if each shopkeeper in the trade were to have his proper
share of custom. That is, they live by ruining one
another. Some firms have made a practice of watching
for the tenders of more respectable firms, and then
offering for every work, at five per cent, under their
lowest price. Some persons who had pursued this sys-
tem, have been lately gazetted as bankrupts, in the
Russian trade. A shoemaker, in Tottenham Court
Road, established a large custom by underselling all
ESSAY XII.] LOWERING OF PROFITS. 227
the other shoemakers in the neighbourhood. He con-
fessed that he could not live upon such small profits as
he made, except by the immense number of shoes which
he sold; and other shops in the neighbourhood were
ruined by him.
Honest and affluent persons ought not to deal with
such shops ; or to pay prices for articles which must
be unremunerating to the trade in general. " If," says
Sir Roger de Coverley, " a man offers me an article for
less than it is worth, I kick him down stairs for a thief;
for I know that either he must be cheating me, or he
must have come improperly by it."
Advertisement is one chief means by which a custom
is obtained which will enable a shopkeeper to thrive by
such monopolizing prices : the monopoly of cheapness ;
which is worse and more dishonest, and more injurious
to trade, than the monopoly of a charter or a patent,
or a protecting duty, or the favour of government.
There is no profit made upon silver forks and spoons,
by an ordinary silversmith. The silver is 5s. \d. an
ounce, the making is 6d., the duty is Is. 6d. The price
of the silver forks and spoons is 7s. 2d. per ounce.
The ostensible profit therefore is Id. per ounce. In
dessert spoons and forks, the making is lie?, per
ounce ; the price is 7s. 8d. The profit is 2d. This low-
ness of profit is produced by advertisements of cheap
prices ; which attract a monopoly custom, and re-
munerate the advertisers, through the losses of other
tradesmen. But other silversmiths, who maintain a
custom by character and connection, not by advertise-
ment, and by the terms upon which they stand with
228 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
their regular customers, cannot send in their bill and
require payment on delivery, lest they should give
offence; and so this small amount of profit is soon swal-
lowed up in the interest of the first cost of the silver,
and of the duty which has been paid in advance, be-
tween the time of the first purchase of the metal and
the ultimate payment.
Nothing is left towards the payment of rent, or of the
skill and superintendence and risk of the master, which
ought to maintain his family ; and so the whole of his
business is an expense and a loss, so far as regards those
articles of manufacture.
The small expected profit on the vast and beautiful
conservatory in the Horticultural Gardens, was entirely
swallowed up by the occurrence of a few wet days
during its erection ; which interrupted the workmen,
and made their labour more expensive.
This extreme lowness of profits exists in other arti-
cles ; especially those which are of the simplest and
most necessary kind : as sugar, tea, bread, and other
plain articles of food.
Trade cannot go on upon this system. Yet we can
hardly go back from it. It is evident that these things
are becoming worse. The very system itself arises from
the difficulties of trade and the diminution of profits ;
and the remedies which people apply, each in their own
case, only increase the evil, and bring down profits
lower ; till, in the end, more losses than profit will be
made, and trade will cease to be profitable. Yet people
will be all the more obliged to go on trading. The ad-
ESSAY XII.] ADVERTISING SYSTEM. 229
vertising system must fail at length ; and though a few
great fortunes may be made by it, the advertising shops
must ruin themselves at length, when in the end all
other shopkeepers have become advertisers in self-
defence. Then no sufficient profit will be made by any
one ; and the expense of advertisement will only lie as
a weight upon the whole trade, and as an additional
charge upon the profits, which the system itself has
thus diminished.
For this is another way in which trade is becoming
ruined, namely, by the additional expense with which
it is more and more conducted, and the additional
charges which are being imposed upon the diminished
profits. Setting aside, for the present, the increased
style of living, and the consideration of what are be-
coming necessaries of life in each station, far beyond
what was looked for in former times, or even by our
own fathers, the first expense of establishing a shop
is very greatly increased. The use of handsome shop
fronts was at first for advertisement ; and this is one
kind of advertisement which is now becoming general,
and a charge upon every one who thinks of setting up in
business. The competition in this line is greater than in
the quality of the goods. As much as 5000 has been
paid for a shop front ; and some of the panes of plate
glass have cost more than 100 a piece. Many shop
fronts cost 2000. And after this is paid, what capital
can remain to stock the shop ? No ordinary profit or
custom can repay these expenses ; and the consequence
is, that the keepers of shops are obliged to resort to all
230 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
manner of means to make profits and attract custom,
such as to put them upon a very different footing of
character from the respected London tradesman of the
last century. The respectable tradesman of that time
would not put an article in his window. He stood
upon his character. The personal character of a trades-
man is now little inquired into. The shop-front is of
greater importance. Reliance upon the outside and
appearance, is of kin to untruth ; oratory and adver-
tisement are an irresistible temptation to falsehood.
Tradesmen not only now put goods into their shop-
windows, and ticket the prices upon them, but, what is
an inevitable result, it is quite a common practice to
put goods into the windows which have not been ma-
nufactured by the workmen within, and are of a much
superior sample to anything which they are capable of
executing. This is done in shoes, in coats, in hats, in
stocks, and almost every other article. I have known
this done by a miniature painter. The prices ticketed
upon the articles are much below their worth; and
there are no goods inside the shop corresponding to the
sample.
The tradesmen of the last century were of a different
stamp. The following is an anecdote of one of them.
Hooker, linen-draper, in Cheapside, uncle to the
celebrated Dr. Hooker, who kept a school at Rotting-
dean, came to a merchant living in Bishopsgate Street,
one of his regular customers, and told him with much
concern, that a great misfortune had happened to him :
a gentleman had left his pocket-book upon his coun-
ESSAY XII.] AN OLD ENGLISH TRADESMAN. 231
ter, whom he never saw before, and knew nothing of;
and asked for his advice in such an unfortunate predi-
cament. " Why, open it," said his friend, " and you will
most probably find his name in it." "Open it !" replied
Hooker, with dismay, " do you suppose, sir, that I would
open a gentleman's pocket-book ? No, that I never will
do." " Then I will," answered the merchant. " Do as
you please, sir," said Hooker, " but I will be no party to
any such proceeding ;" and he walked to the window,
and looked out, that he might not be a witness to the
act. The merchant opened the book, and found the
owner's address ; and the pocket-book was sent to
him.
All this would now be called a foolish and absurd
prejudice, according to modern apprehension. But it
was a prejudice which secured him in an upright course
of dealing, and his character from being liable to any
impeachment. Mr. Hooker resisted, to the last moment
that he could, the then increasing practice of putting
goods in the shop-windows ; and at length he did it
only in the most sparing way, just enough to show
what was the kind of trade that was carried on within.
He was not such a man as would have put up an article
to view not made by himself, or ticketed it at a fictitious
value. Customers, till lately, would go after such trades-
men to the city, and into the narrow streets, where
there was no show in the window ; and a man's character
brought him customers. Now this is insufficient. Trades-
men must come to the West end of the town, and set up
shop-fronts, and exhibit goods like other men, by way
232 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
of attraction and advertisement. We shall see tickets
upon them in the end, and perhaps bills in the win-
dows, with " Bankrupt's Stock," " Great Bargains
within," and, " Below Cost Price," and, " Enormous
Sacrifice." The system connected with these last-men-
tioned exhibitions would be long to detail. They are
some of the means and evidences, among many others,
of the operations which are going on, and gradually
more and more prevailing, of ruin and chicanery.
Now it is difficult for a tradesman to be honest, in
this race of competition and advertisement and cheap-
ness. If profits are nothing, those only can live who
practise some deception, either in the quality, or the
quantity, or by the evasion of duty, or by grinding the
workmen down by insufficient wages, or by protracting
their payments to the wholesale houses which supply
them, beyond the time agreed, and so depriving them
of that profit which they hope to make by their busi-
ness. The cheating dealer, who evades duty, has
always some advantage over the honest tradesman,
who pays all his dues, and meets all his engagements
to a day ; and this, when it is only a part of his profit.
But in the case supposed, it must be the whole profit ;
and therefore it is a temptation almost beyond resist-
ance, to adopt some of the means by which other men
appear to thrive : and men of station and character
too, for money gives station and reputation in this
country. And thus examples are found in higher and
higher walks successively, like the case of piracy in
patterns above quoted; till at length deception must
ESSAY XII. J EXCESSIVE COMPETITION. 233
become the rule and principle of commerce and trade
generally and universally. Wealth is so highly ho-
noured, that people cannot resist the temptation, of
seeing those around them growing rich by speculation
and fraud, without imitating them.*
The honest tradesman, in a small way, cannot live.
The custom which might keep him going, at the dimi-
nished rate of profits, is enticed away from him by adver-
tisements and shop-fronts ; and he can still less afford to
enter himself in the race of competition by a costly win-
dow and advertisements, so as to keep his fair position.
If he is rash enough, through necessity, to set up a
front too, with borrowed capital like many,f and so
* The fraudulent contrivances by which dishonest men are obtain-
ing advantages over the fair tradesman, cannot be enumerated in any
number and detail, for shame's sake, and for the sake of the persons
concerned in them. Among examples which have been made public,
a recent bankruptcy exposed the practice of one firm giving a cha-
racter to another, which was deeply its debtor and insolvent, for the
sake of securing a greater proportion of their own debt. The transac-
tion was denied by the parties concerned; but one thing was acknow-
ledged by the trading world in general that the practice was noto-
riously a common one.
In a publication which will be presently quoted at some length,
another common practice is alluded to in these terms: " For ex-
ample, a trader purchasing merchandize on credit, and handing it over
to some importunate creditor, obtaining an advance of cash upon it
to meet his present wants, or disposing of it immediately for cash, at
such rate, as to convince a jury of the fraudulent object for which the
goods were originally purchased." Remarks on Trade and Credit,
p. 40.
f These shop-fronts, as well as the stock within, are frequently
provided for by borrowed capital. Many of the handsomest shop-
fronts are said to be rented, and to be regularly demised by a land-
lord, distinct from the house : the landlord of them being the firm of
234 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
to take his place in the higher course of competition,
he may succeed for a time, or he may not, before some
some plate-glass warehouse. The lenders of the purchase money of
the stock in trade, are said to be in the practice of taking a warrant of
attorney to enter up judgment; which enables them to sweep off every
thing, if matters begin to go wrong, to the sacrifice of all the other cre-
ditors. This is their security under so great a risk. Some noblemen,
as well as other great capitalists, are said to have large sums of money
so invested.
The subject of trading with borrowed capital is one of enormous ex-
tent and effect, in promoting all the evils alluded to in the text. The
system of renting the stock and money with which a man trades, as
well as the land or house in which he carries on his concerns, so
that a man may carry on the most extensive transactions, having
nothing of his own, is comparatively new in the history of commerce.
But the system goes farther than this. A man may rent and borrow
money which is altogether fictitious, and which does not exist. As I
do not mean to pursue this investigation at length, I will merely quote
some passages from a recent pamphlet upon the subject.
The author says, "To what primary cause are these periodical
panics to be attributed? We reply, at once, to overtrading solely ; to
the overtrading of all classes, whether traders of property, or persons
who possess nothing to the principle and facility of credit and last,
though not least, to that vile system which gives currency to credit,
and creates a feverish circulation, upon a rotten foundation; we
allude to the ' bill system.'
" As a partial confirmation of this conjecture, we will state a fact,
upon which perfect reliance can be placed. Sometime since, nine
bills of exchange, all dated within a short period the one of the other,
and each bill for an amount at or about 2000/. were sent into the
city to be discounted. The bills were drawn A. upon B. ; B. upon
C. ; C. upon D. ; and so on ; but not two bills out of the nine had the
same drawer and acceptor. They came by degrees under the inspec-
tion of an individual who felt a curiosity in ascertaining their history ;
and the more so as the parties, whose names were attached to them,
were all respectable, and in fair credit. The curiosity of the individual
alluded to was gratified. He ascertained that a quantity of goods, of the
original value of something short of 2000/., was the basis of the trans-
ESSAY XII.] FICTITIOUS CAPITAL. 235
new scheme of attraction requires a fresh outlay ; but
the nine chances to one are, that, before this, he is sold
off, and completely ruined.
action. A. had sold them to B., and drawn upon him for the amount ;
B. had sold them to C., for a small profit, and had drawn upon C. for
the amount; C. had sold them to D., and in like manner passed a
bill upon his purchaser ; and so on through the list. Here then was a
bona fide circulation to the extent of 1 8,000/., based upon the actual
existence of property to the extent of 2000/. only ! Bills to the extent
of 18,000/. were thrown into circulation, of which 2000/. were the
representatives of goods, and the remaining 16,000/. were the repre-
sentatives of nothing !
" In this instance, which we admit was an extreme one, there was
no suspicion that the sales were fictitious, and merely made to obtain
acceptances ; though it is clear, from the desire that each individual
showed to discount the bill he had drawn, that he was trading to an
extent far above his means ; in fact, over-trading in the fullest sense
of the term.
" It is a system which unfortunately pervades, but in too great a
degree, almost every important branch of British commerce ; the ob-
ject being, not unfrequently, merely to raise money, and the effect at
all times equally pernicious.
" These drafts are drawn and discounted for the purpose of raising
money to pay for other acceptances in previous transactions^//*^ now
due ; and thus the wheel of the overtrader is kept continually in motion,
his credit finding a capital, until, &c.
" In some instances there is an intermediate buyer, or jobber, as he
is called, by whose assistance the number of bills is augmented."
" Fortunately, the number of these intermediate purchasers is now
very limited."
" Is it not clear that by this mode, the needy and overtrading ma-
nufacturer has the means given to him of inundating the country with
a superfluity of cloth, to the manifest injury of his more solid and
prudent neighbour ?
" We can affirm, upon the testimony of one of these brokers, the
fact of his having granted such assistance prior to the moment of his
sale, with the sole object, as he himself stated, of enabling his sale to
' go off well,' that is, of increasing the competition amongst the buyers,
236 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
So all shopkeeping is rising to a more artificial scale,
and profits are falling to a more and more unprofitable
so as to force up the prices from a half-penny to a penny per pound
higher than the wools would otherwise have realized.
" Let the corn-dealer, the silk-merchant, the metal-dealer, the
cheesemonger, the provision-dealer, the manufacturer in every branch,
review the mode in which our remarks apply to the particular branch
of trade in which he is engaged ; he will find no difficulty in satisfying
himself that there is overtrading in all branches, to an alarming ex-
tent, that there are people, with little or no capital, carrying on large
business, manufacturers starting up, in some cases with their whole
capital invested in machinery, and, in others, without any capital at
all, hiring and paying a rent for the factory and its contents ; all
issuing bills, drawing and accepting, and absolutely existing only
upon the credit attached to such paper." Remarks on Trade and
Credit, London, Effingham Wilson, pp. 9, 11,12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
23.
The same author observes that, formerly, no such thing was known
as a bill drawn by one party upon another, both residing in the same
town, the only object of which can be to " gain time." The chief
bills in use used to be foreign bills. " We can remember the period
when even no mercantile firm of respectability in a country town
would have dreamt of drawing a bill upon his country customer for
goods sold."
The continental merchants in general are where we were, and have
not yet learned of us our modern practices. " Let us turn our atten-
tion for one moment to the mercantile affairs of the continent. To
what part can we look for ' feverish excitement and distress,' during
the last twenty years, to the extent which has existed in Great Britain.
To no part."
" If we look to the manufacturing districts of Germany, we find a
degree of sober, methodical and plodding steadiness, totally opposed
to our ' go-a-head' system at home." " He purchases his raw mate-
rial with cash, or upon a small open credit only." " If sales of his
fabric flag, he cautiously diminishes his production ; if trade improve,
and his goods are demanded, he increases, According to the demand,
to the extent of which his manufactory is capable ; but he is not de-
ceived by the excitement of the hour into an increase of his factory
ESSAY XII.] FICTITIOUS CAPITAL. 237
level. The expenses of setting up and keeping up a trade
are increased, while profits are diminishing. Even the
large houses can only just bear these great expenses,
and succeed through their very extensive custom. But
as other houses are becoming large, and are entering
into this competition, the monopoly of custom must
He adds no new wing furnishing it, upon credit, with machinery
and a steam-engine, and crippling his means for carrying on even the
former amount of his business. Still less is he seduced, by a tem-
porary demand for goods, to build new mills and factories, filling the
surrounding country with steam engines and chimneys, all smoking
and burning on credit, and he, all the while, dreaming that the exist-
ing demand for goods is never to be supplied.
" If we review the mercantile system of Germany, we find a stated
number of commercial cities, upon the inhabitants of which bills can
be negociated." " Moreover, bills drawn by one party upon another
both residing in one of those towns are not regarded with favour."
" Does any one suppose, that because in Germany credits are
less freely given, and bills looked upon as dangerous instruments,
trade is necessarily hampered ? Let them proceed to the large cities,
Berlin, Hamburg, Leipsic, &c., and witness the immense purchases of
goods, of corn, coffee, sugar, wool, cotton, &c. made for cash, not
cash with a month ' prompt,' but cash paid within twenty-four hours
after the delivery of the goods. Here then is the secret by which the
continent escapes those 'rapid and feverish alternations of excitement
and distress.' "
" ' Quick returns and small profits' is an excellent maxim where
hard cash is the medium of payment ; but it has been unfortunately
applied to transactions with the essential part extracted." Remarks on
Trade and Credit, pp. 27, 28, 29, 30, 33.
The Dutch merchant lives on the banks of the canal, and sees from
his counting house the masts of his ships ranged before his windows.
The same used to be the practice of the merchants of Venice. The
merchant stuck to his merchandize, which was as much as he could
manage ; and he was not a dealer in bills.
In this mercantile country we are losing our knowledge of some of
the first principles of trading. I say this most advisedly.
238 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
fall away from each, and be again distributed, or con-
tinually changing from place to place with the fashion ;
and so the greater number even of the large houses must
fail, which do not make a fortune in the first two or
three seasons. But in a short time some new expense
is introduced, the competing invention of some one
trying a fresh mode of attraction ; and this at length
becomes imperative upon all, and is a fresh additional
charge imposed upon the profits of trade in general.
We are quickly approaching towards that stage at
which the expenses of trade, the whole expenses of a
a trade, taking the aggregate of those engaged in it,
will exceed its whole profits. And then those who
thrive in it must thrive only upon the ruin of others.
The use of Joint Stock Companies tends to the dimi-
nution of profits. The principle of that system is, the
multiplication of customers, by engaging the interests
of a large proprietary ; and the economizing of labour,
by a few agents and directors doing the work of the
many shareholders : the rest being dormant partners.
Therefore, profits, which are the wages of labour and
character, must diminish. But the risk is proportionally
increased; as is shown by the daily examples of loss
and fraud, which present themselves. Thus the profits
of the whole trade are diminished, both by falling prices
and by losses; and the Joint Stock Companies have
the greater portion of them. They must ruin the pri-
vate tradesman. But, when Joint Stock Companies
become general, those which now exist cannot maintain
this monopoly of customers; and the diminished profits
will not compensate them. So then, they must first ruin
ESSAY XII.] LOW PRICES. 239
the private trader, and then they must ruin themselves.
Are we not losing our knowledge, in this trading coun-
try, of some of the first principles of trading ?
Yet the whole policy of government and of politicians
has been to lower profits, and to increase the necessity
which is hastening on these evils. The scheme is, to
live rather by many profits than good ones ; by cheap-
ness rather than by the quality of the article. The same
system which is going on among the manufacturers, mer-
chants and tradesmen, is extended also to labourers :
the minimum price is to be given for their work. The
government have been aiding this, not only by their
theories and example, but also by setting the value of
services low, whenever salaries and payments are fixed
by act of parliament; and also by permitting Sunday
labour, and extending the hours and means of business,
as by two post deliveries in one day.
The effect of Sunday labour, and late hours of busi-
ness, is not so much to increase the quantity of work
done, as to lower the price of labour. A workman is
paid no more for seven days' labour in the week, than
for six, as appears from those trades in which it is
practised. This is so much in the nature of things,
that in places which the poor frequent, if a lodger
occupies his bed for the six days, on the seventh
day, Sunday, it is given to him for nothing. This
would not continue to be the custom, if working on
Sunday were to become the general practice. Clerks
and shopboys are not paid more, now that the hours of
business are increased, and though more work is now
done in a given time. But the quality of the labour, as
240 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
well as the quality of goods, must be deteriorated by
this increase of quantity; and much more effective
services might be rendered in all departments, through
proper retirement and relaxation. Piranelli, who keeps
some thousands of horses in Ireland, for all kinds of
vehicles, gave in evidence before the House of Com-
mons, that he never employed his horses on Sunday,
except for the government mails; because a horse could
do more in six days than in seven. If he worked
six days in the week, he could do eight miles a day,
equal to forty-eight miles in the week; if he worked
seven days, he could only do six miles a day, equal to
forty-two. And no doubt, if we would abstract our-
selves entirely from business on Sundays, even our
thoughts and conversation, we should do nearly as
much business in the six days, as we can do by apply-
ing part of our labour and thoughts during the seventh
day, and do it much more effectively.
But this is the system with regard to labour, as it is
with regard to wares and merchandize, to increase the
quantity and the cheapness, at the expense of the
goodness. We hope to obtain the trade of foreign
nations by the cheapness of our articles. This is a race
in which we are sure to be beat. The quality is made
a secondary consideration. We can teach foreigners to
manufacture bad articles easily, and as fast as ourselves;
they could not so readily learn to make them of the
first quality. There was a time when English goods were
characterized chiefly by their excellence; and English
trading by its integrity. The endeavour now is to cha-
racterize and recommend them by cheapness: and this
ESSAY XII.] CHEAPNESS NOT QUALITY. 241
is to be at the sacrifice of goodness, in both these
respects. " Cheap and bad" is now the characteristic
of all kinds of manufactures and merchandize. There
was the time when foreigners would have some English
goods at whatever cost, and in breach of whatever
fiscal and commercial laws, on account of their excel-
lence.* The time seems to be coming, when from
grasping at what is inordinate, by unworthy means, we
shall lose what we have got; and our goods will be
scouted from every market for their worthlessness, as
our merchants for their want of faith. English goods
o o
ought to be esteemed, throughout the world, for their
quality, not their cheapness; and English merchants,
not for their wealth and activity and avarice, but for
their honour and credit.f
* Napoleon's army in Germany was supplied and clothed with
English manufactures, in breach of his own Berlin decrees.
f A naval officer relates, that he saw a consignment of muskets and
other arms opened, which had been ordered from England by an Afri-
can king. When examined, they were so badly made, and so utterly
useless, that they were at once refused and sent back again. The
goods had been shipped by a mercantile house of high character, and
were made at Birmingham.
A friend informs me, that while he was resident in Madeira, all the
English crockery that was imported was what is called wasters, that is,
crooked, mishapen and imperfect pieces; such as are set aside as unfit
for the regular market.
The Duke of Wellington makes complaint, in his despatches, of the
dishonesty of English contractors. He says, "The truth is, that English
tradesmen, particularly contractors, are become so dishonest, that no
reliance can be placed on any work, particularly in iron, done by any
contract. I have the same complaint of some carts made for the
commissariat; eighteen out of twenty-five of which broke on a good
road, without loads, in eighty miles." Freneda, llth May, 1813.
Six or seven years ago, some consignments of bad Sheffield goods,
M
242 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
But ruin and demoralization go hand in hand, for the
the reasons above given, and for others which will be
added. As the cheapness and bad quality of goods
must go on together inseparably, so the low character of
the goods and tradesman must progress together, and be
inseparable. And the character and disposition of the
customers partakes of, and gives cause and countenance
to the same system; so that the disorder and demorali-
zation of all society goes on as one operation.
We do not employ the tradesmen in our own neigh-
bourhood, and make ourselves acquainted with them ;
and continue our custom to them for acquaintance
sake. Neither do we choose them for their personal
character, and depend upon them and remain with
them on this ground ; and make character and integrity
our security, and so call for and encourage it. But we
are easily led to change our tradesmen for some trifling
reason, from fancy and caprice ; or because the best
fashion is no longer there ; or because we are attracted
by an elegant window. In this manner we encourage
character less, while there are greater and greater temp-
tations invading it; and so the only refuge of the
tradesman is the advertizing attractions, and other tricks
and inventions, by which those thrive who pander best
to the cloyed and morbid appetites of the fickle con-
sumers. No one can reckon upon a steady custom and
having the name of a first-rate maker forged upon them, destroyed the
character of English cutlery in America. Most naval men can give
accounts of the miserable quality of the goods consigned to the colonies
and foreign markets.
It was during the late war that this system made its first great and
rapid strides; though it had begun and been noticed at an earlier period.
ESSAY XII.] PURCHASERS ENCOURAGE THE EVILS. 243
established connection for more than two or three years ;
and so all must resort to those speculative contrivances,
by which all cannot live, but by which a favoured few
may make large fortunes in a few seasons, and by
which the greater number of the competitors in the same
speculation must be ruined.
The fickleness of fashion requires a constant change ;
and therefore nothing need be made substantial and
lasting. Outside appearance is the desire of the general
customers ; therefore appearance and outside show are
the qualities chiefly aimed at and supplied ; and solidity
is disregarded.* Good quality and substance are dis-
pensed with, while at the same time they are more than
the manufacturer can afford ; and so he is left and
tempted to practise all those arts of deception and cun-
ning which are of kin to outside show, and encouraged
by the love of appearance.^
* Exs. Paper, linens,' cottons, toys, furniture, house-building.
Winter-felled oak will hardly fetch more than spring-felled timber,
though it is at least three times as durable.
Loaf sugar refined from West India sugar fetches no higher price
than that refined from East India sugar : because its appearance is the
same, though its sweetness is much greater.
f The habits of the Quakers are contrary to what is here described ;
and they are among the most successful in trade. They very seldom
fail in business ; and at the same time seldom make large fortunes.
They are really tradesmen. Their practice in trade is this, they
keep the best articles, and only the best ; and charge high prices for
them. Their articles are known and depended upon for their good-
ness, not for their cheapness. We do not see articles ticketed with
the price, or bills advertizing cheap goods, in their windows. They
thrive in trade, and continue it steadily during their lives. They do
not speculate in a large way, or in new and dangerous undertakings;
and so they neither are frequently ruined, nor become suddenly rich.
M 2
244 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
The selfish economy also of purchasers, even the
richest, who desire to have the greatest possible
amount and magnificence of goods at the least possible
price; that is, the utmost extent of style and luxury
that is within the limits of their fortune, whereby par-
simony intimately allies and unites itself with extra-
vagance, obliges tradesmen to persuasion and puffing,
and to two prices for the same class of customers,
according to what they will give, and to all other kinds
of shifts and inventions. It is the duty of rich people
to give liberal prices, and to keep up profits, and to
endeavour that their tradesmen should live by them
comfortably. Oh ! but, says avarice, economy, vanity,
selfishness, and political economy, by saving our money
we extend our custom wider, and are enabled to pur-
chase more things, and so more workmen are employed,
and more shops encouraged. What is the use of mul-
tiplying misery ? What is the use that multitudes
should live by us, if none can live happily or honestly ?
It is the duty of every man to live so well within his
income, and so to keep down his establishment and
style, that he should be able to pay liberally for what
he has. It is better that a few tradesmen should make
good profits, upon a moderate extent of custom, than
that many should make an insufficient profit, and be
groaning under the evils of it.
There is a strange opinion now-a-days abroad among
politicians, that public riches and prosperity can consist
with private misery and ruin. When the trading world
are making as a body hardly any profits, we boast of
the vast increase of national wealth and public pro-
ESSAY XII.] THE DUTIES OF PURCHASERS. 245
sperity. Are we to learn that the public happiness
and wealth is the sum of the private ? Are we to be
told that the nation is happy, when the countenance of
every rich man we meet is care, of every poor man is
agony ? Are we to be told that the nation is rich and
prosperous, when five-sixths of the trading world are
struggling; against difficulties and debts, and the threats
OO O O '
of prospective ruin, and of the rest a half only are
able to maintain their station respectably and comfort-
ably?
This is a problem too deep for modern philosophy,
and philosophical patience. No scheme of society can
be comprehended or read that does not reduce itself to
a few dogmas, or a few figures. Men are wonderfully
successful by a few such processes and steps, which they
call deep, and a few partial and biassed demonstrations,
which they call reasoning, in blinding their eyes to facts,
and persuading themselves against their senses. It is a
simple fact, that people have less to spare now than
ever they had ; and that they are more unable and un-
willing to bear the public burdens than ever, and to raise
the necessary revenue.
This leads us to an important consideration, respect-
ing the advance of indulgence, and the increase of
riches, and the march of prosperity and civilization.
A luxury long indulged in becomes a necessary. The
number of necessary comforts and indulgences is one
of the evidences which we use, of our prosperity and
civilization. At the same time the profits of trade and
the wages of labour decrease, much more than in pro-
portion to the decrease of prices of the several com-
246 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
forts with which we feel it necessary to indulge our-
selves. Expenses increase, while means diminish.
People therefore live much more generally to the full
extent of their income than they did ; or even beyond
it. Profits are not greater, nor clerks' salaries higher ;
yet merchants and even clerks must live at the best
parts of the town, and pay for their coach-hire to get
there. Travelling, through habit, is now become a
necessary of life. The quantity and elegance of furni-
ture is in the same way increased ; the use of stoves
in houses as well as churches. Of the same kind are
the expensive security of an organized police ; the
gas-lighting ; the macadamized streets ; the expensive
shop-fronts, and the wood-paving. All these, and every
new luxurious improvement, will soon be required by
every body. I have observed with conviction a grow-
ing determination to have luxuries, with an increasing
indisposition and inability to pay for them. As one
example, I may mention a country town where a water
company was established. If the water was laid on to
a cottage, the rent of the cottage fell by the amount of
the water-rate : though the whole benefit was to the
cottager, who before fetched his water contentedly
from a considerable distance. This fall of rents was
general ; and many tenants lost their 10/. franchise,
which they had formerly possessed, by reason of it.
In the same town, those parts of it which are within
the benefit of the local Improvement Act, which gives
them the advantage of lighting and paving, and other
benefits, produce lower rents for the same quality of
house ; and the value is greatest of the property which
ESSAY XII.] LUXURIES MAKE US POOR. 247
is beyond the reach of those advantages. So property
may lose its value by the very improvement of it. And
this operation is going on to a great extent throughout
the country. Property falls in value in proportion to
the burdens upon it, without respect to the comforts
and luxuries and advantages of it; which luxuries how-
ever are being required, and becoming necessaries.
Now this must diminish the available riches of a
country, without a correspondent advantage. A coun-
try may by this process grow richer, and yet have less
to spare : may become poorer in fact at the same time,
in spite of it. People are unwilling to part with what
they feel to be the necessaries of life ; and they cannot
be taken away from them without oppression.* If a
country were heavily taxed, each person would have
less to spend upon himself, and he would be in effect
poorer. If what he might thus have paid in taxes be
already absorbed in the ordinary expenses of life, and
all these expenses are necessaries, he is in like man-
ner poor; and he has less to expend upon the exigen-
cies of the country, or in novel indulgences. I say,
therefore, that he is poor ; and a whole country which
is in this state is poor also : in spite of any increase
* Nothing is more common than in a great town to find a family in
beggary paying half-a-crown a week and more for their lodging. I
find such persons occupying houses more comfortable, and with better
furniture, than were used in the reigns of the first Henrys by the owner
of a knight's fee. Poor persons come for relief in handsome clothes;
and these are necessary to them. The pauper's dress given in a work-
house is as good as was worn by a yeoman not two centuries back. In
the Isle of Man all the people have enough, and to spare ; but their
style of living would be called miserable in this country.
248 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
whatever in its riches; and that there is no corre-
sponding increase of happiness to the nation or to the
individual in consequence of it.* A man enjoys his
champagne no more now than Falstaff did his sack ;
his carpets no more than Wolsey his clean rushes ; his
rosewood no more than his walnut or his mahogany
furniture, each in their turn; his hounds than his hawks;
his new carriage than his stately horse ; his modern
velvet than his ancient plush; his coal-gas than his
whale-oil ; his porcelain salvers than his pewter dishes,
or his wooden trenchers.
The people, then, are no happier ; and the country is
poorer. With the increase of riches, the love of them
increases ; our unwillingness therefore to part with
them ; and the desire to spend the whole of them upon
ourselves. Parsimony goes with riches; and cheapness
and saving are required in every thing, in order that we
may get the greatest possible amount of gratification
for our money. Therefore our charity, our hospitality,
our religious establishment, are cut short. If the peo-
ple are grudging towards religion, do the governments
suppose that they will be liberal towards the state ?
These things cannot consist. The necessary resources
must be grudged and ill-paid : on account of our great
riches. It is notorious that, in spite of the acknow-
* The new police is a heavy tax upon the property of the country,
which can never be relieved from it ; and the country is poorer pro
tanto. The rates for the building of the new union workhouses, the
paving and lighting and highway rates, the sewers' rates, the new
education rate, as well as the national debt, are mortgages of the in-
come of the country, and cannot be paid if there are no profits.
ESSAY XII.] HOW TO BE RICH. 249
ledged very great increase of our wealth and capital,
our revenue is more grudgingly paid and less easily
raised than before this increase, and while the taxes
were more numerous. What rich and luxurious nation
ever made a good stand against a foreign army, or foreign
money. The richer and richer we are growing, the
smaller and smaller the sum for which we should sell
ourselves.*
Let a man try, and he will find, that the man is rich
who lives somewhat below his income: that he is
happy, as regards the enjoyment of money, who has so
much to spare, that he can be indulging from time to
time in something new, and some occasional luxury.
It is the same thing with the state. The country is
rich and at ease, and fruitful in its resources, not which
spends somewhat less than its actual revenue, but whose
people in general live frugally, and within their incomes ;
and that nation is poor, and in jeopardy, which, hav-
* " Thus fares the land by luxury betrayed,
In nature's simplest charms at first arrayed;
But verging to decline, its splendors rise.
Its vistas strike, its palaces surprise ;
While scourged by famine from the smiling land,
The mournful peasant leads his humble band ;
And while he sinks, without one arm to save,
The country blooms a garden, and a grave.
" Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen who survey
The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay,
Tis your's to judge how wide the limits stand,
Between a splendid and a happy land."
Deserted Village.
M 5
250 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
ing the greater part of its revenue pledged to pay the
interest of an overwhelming debt, and whose people
requiring their whole, and more than their whole in-
comes to support their necessary expenses, and having
their land deeply mortgaged, and being for the most
part in debt, and at the same time being demoralized
and debased by their luxurious living, and immersed in
selfishness, would more readily sacrifice their credit and
character than their habitual indulgences; and in a time
of sudden calamity, expense, and depression, would re-
fuse to raise and pay the necessary taxes, and the interest
of their national debt, rather than relinquish a portion
of their luxurious ^establishments. This is one of the
steps in England towards national bankruptcy.
It may be said that all this is because it is an old
country. That it is not the fault of the system ; but
that these are necessary evils and diseases, which must
arise, when a populous country has become highly civi-
lized. The fault is entirely in the system, which has
indeed become ripe and rank, and not at all in the ne-
cessities of time and age apart from these inherent evils.
The same evil is found wherever the same system and
principles prevail; in the new as in the old world. The
following is one account of the state of the mercantile
world in the United States of America.
" The history of whole streets in our mercantile cities
is but a record of the rise and the downfall of their
occupants. It is a melancholy reflection that such are
the uncertainties attendant on commerce, and on mer-
cantile affairs generally, that every six or seven years
ESSAY XII.] THE SYSTEM IS GENERAL. 251
witness a complete revolution in the mercantile class of
the community."*
Neither is this confined, in the new world, to Ame-
rica. The same thing occurs from time to time, and is
now existing to a great extent, in the recent colony of
Sydney. The zeal and extravagance of over-trading,
and inordinate speculation and competition, have
brought that colony nearly to a state of bankruptcy.
And this same operation must extend, and these effects
and consequences must be felt, wherever the system of
English trading shall extend and prevail ; and that is
everywhere.
All this is irrespective of the growth and increase of
machinery ; which has swallowed up and destroyed
the fine trade and manufacture of India, and reduced
a population more vast than our own manufacturing
population to misery. This it has done in like manner
in other places. And this it must do all over the world ;
till it shall swallow up and monopolize trade and han-
dicraft over the whole face of the globe; and then it
shall swallow up itself.
For England seems destined to prevail over all the
nations of the globe, and to bring them down by a
blind and adventitious strength : and to bring them
down upon her own head. They will voluntarily sub-
mit to her, and fornicate with her, while she has any
beauty remaining in her ; but in her age and decrepi-
tude they will forsake her, and hate her, and strip her,
and make her naked, and outcast and desolate.
Flushing Silk Journal, quoted Morning Herald, February 6, 1840.
These things have since become worse in that country.
252 FALSE SYSTEM OF TRADE. [ESSAY XII.
Selfishness and self-love, instead of leading us, as
we are taught, to our best interests, can only lead us to
turn every man his hand against his brother, and after-
wards against himself. Self-love and avarice will blind
us to our own true interests : will lead and impel us to
turn our hands, first against each other, and then against
our own throats.
( 253 )
ESSAY XIII.
ENGLAND IS SOWING THE PRINCIPLES OF EVIL IN
THE WORLD.
PRESENT IMPROVEMENT FALLACIOUS ENGLAND PERFECTS THE INVEN-
TIONS OF OTHER NATIONS ENGLAND THE EXAMPLE TO OTHER
NATIONS IS REVIVING THE PRINCIPLES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
THE COMMERCIAL PRINCIPLE THE POWER OF MONEY THE PRE-
ROGATIVE OF TRADE FRATERNITY OF TRADE AND MISSIONS CIVI-
LIZE FIRST THEN CHRISTIANIZE THE MISSIONARY WILLIAMS THE
CONTACT OF CIVILIZATION AND BARBARISM IS EXTERMINATING
COMMERCIAL BARBARISM TYRANNY OF COMMERCE.
LET us not deceive ourselves into a confidence that
things are materially altered by the recent change in
political arrangements. It may lead to such an alteration.
God speed and give fulfilment to the hope ! But while
the elements still exist which corrupt the system, and
are growing in number and activity: while the season
is approaching in which storms may be expected, and
many signs prognosticate it, we ought not to be deceived
into an expectation of settled weather, by a single gleam
of sunshine. When the rain is falling all around us,
and still more when we are enveloped in a mist or
mountain cloud, we cannot bring ourselves to be-
254 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
lieve that the weather may clear up in the next hour,
or that the prospect can be worth waiting for: in a
moment the sun bursts out, and the cloud passes
away; and it is a wonder how we had been so foolish
and faint hearted. When the early morning is bright
and hot, and the sky is clear and cloudless, it deceives
even our own knowledge, and silences with hope and
delight our abundant experience, that such a sunshine
may turn to rain in one half hour; nay, that it is a pro-
bable sign of it.
The saddest seasons of misfortune and the greatest
reverses in life have such sunshines. It is so with
nations and individuals. It is so with the most fatal
diseases. It is not for the physician to be deceived
and elated by such signs; they are rather occasions
with him for increased anxiety and warning. The
present revulsion of public feeling may lead to im-
provement and healthy habit; but a change of phy-
sician is not yet a change of medicine and diet; and
still less a cure of the complaint. The disease is deep-
seated. We must see, as well as hear talked of, a dimi-
nution, instead of an increase of the largest armies which
ever existed, together with proposals for fortifying the
frontiers of each nation, and the maintaining a universal
war system and war spirit in the time of peace. We
must cease to see the practices and the spirit of war,
concurring with the praises and professions of peace.
We must not only see a change of administration in the
highest offices, but a diminished number of unbelievers
in all the subordinate departments, and a diminished in-
fluence of money- worshippers and political ad venturers;
ESSAY XIII.] PRESENT IMPROVEMENT FALLACIOUS. 255
all which together of late practically governed the
country, and pulled the strings of the administration,
who were but the puppets upon the stage. We must
look to see what is the end of the temperance societies ;
and whether, when they decline, they shall give place to
something which is worse or better, and whether, having
superseded religious obligations in their creation, they
shall not in their abolition carry both belief and practice
down with them in one general destruction. We must
look to see the event for increase or diminution of the
national debt. We must look to see luxury and am-
bition less esteemed; the riches of the country and of
the people less applauded ; the poor better regarded and
befriended, and more familiarized with their employers.
The religious establishment, not the churches only,
must be more equal to the wants of the people; a greater
harmony must exist, religious and political; party-spirit
must diminish; the children must be less hungry for
want of spiritual and temporal food; and the parents
and pastors must be more brotherly. When these
things exist and grow, and show a confirmed tendency
to re-establish themselves, then we may hail and wel-
come the approach of better things, and cease from fears
and forebodings, and exchange warning for congratula-
tion.
It is not consistent with our present object to dwell
principally upon the condition and progress of other
countries. But all nations of Europe and their colonies
are advancing together, in the same direction; and this
assimilation is growing greater and greater continually.
All nations, at this period of free and rapid intercourse,
256 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
produce an impression one upon another. But the
question for ourselves is, the extent of the impression
which we are producing upon the world by our charac-
ter and example; and whether it be good or bad. It is
likely that England should become the predominating
influence in the world : if she have not already assumed
and occupied such a position. It is to be feared that this
influence will be exercised more for evil than for good.
The position which England holds by virtue of her
natural character is very peculiar. She is seldom the
inventor and originator of new systems and principles;
but she is eminently qualified to complete, and carry
out the inventions of others. She has the power, and
skill, and steadiness, and perseverance, to mature and
perfect, and give practical application and extension to
what she approves and finds useful. England did
not begin the Reformation, but she always, from the
beginning, and at the last, gave the most practical form
and the most forcible effect to those principles of it
which she adopted. England did not invent the art of
modern warfare : but she has carried it into the most
successful operation. Her best models of ships, during
the late war, were taken from her enemies, being of
French construction; but she manned and used them
with irresistible effect against the navies of the nation
which had furnished them. The English were not the
first, or till of late the best inventors of machinery; but
they are always the best makers of machines. The
English are not the originators of manufactures and
commerce; but they have long since carried them to a
greater extent and dominion than Venice, Spain, or
ESSAY XIII.] ENGLAND AN EXAMPLE. 257
Holland, which they have swallowed up in the vortex
of their practical energy and perseverance. They are
not the originators of political economy; but they pro-
mise fair to give to this science of money, and to the art
of money-making, a completion and perfection which it
has nowhere attained, and a dignity and authority which
shall be above all other law, or obligation or worship.
England has promoted and perfected many good prin-
ciples, through her wisdom and perseverance, and pre-
vailed by means of them. If she have the dominion,
and, in her elevation and hour of temptation, choose evil
for her good, it is to be expected that she will carry it
on to a height and strength which will be invincible
except by divine judgment. England will then be the
leavening evil principle in the world.
It is to be feared that England has already justified
by her measured and cautious use, and promoted by her
success, several evil principles, which are now being
imitated and carried to an immoderate excess by other
countries, which have taken the pattern from her. The
spoliation of Church property was first carried to a
great extent in this country ; and the same proceeding
has since been carried on, in France, in Switzerland, in
Spain and Portugal, in Italy, and even in Rome itself.
The system of poor-laws, in lieu of, and in restraint of
charity, which is rather the sign of a great evil, of
which it is the ineffectual remedy, than the evil itself,
has extended from this to other countries, together with
' O
the evils in which it originates.
The spirit of party, and the plan of opposition to
government, is thought to have worked so well here,
258 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
that it has become the desire of foreign legislators, to
secure their constitutions by the balance of opposition
and faction.
England, though late, is now about to become the
champion of education, and the chief dresser and cul-
tivator of the tree of knowledge in the world.
England's rebellion has become the great model of
rebellion and revolution which is aimed at by other
countries ; and is likely to be exceeded in every one of
them.
What is more important and remarkable, having
sowed the seeds of, and given the impulse and example
to the French Revolution, out of whose fresh-tilled
and teeming soil sprung up fiercer monsters than the
dragon himself from whose jaws the seed was extracted,
England now promises to cultivate, and bring up into
approved perfection, these fresh offsets of human conceit
and violence.
England is proceeding to carry out into practical
operation all the leading principles of the French Revo-
lution : those which had already, in that hot-bed, out-
grown and exhausted themselves by their rankness.
England has become the nurse of liberal opinions : in
politics, in religion, in all departments of philosophy
and opinion.
She has adopted the propagandism of the French
Revolution ; and shown her desire to proselyte other
nations to her liberal opinions, by the sword as well
as by example.*
* This was avowed by the late ministry ; and especially and more
directly by Lord Palmerston in his speech on Spanish affairs in 1835.
ESSAY XIII.] FRENCH REVOLUTION REVIVED. 259
England is championing the doctrine of equality :
of the sovereignty of the people : of the supremacy of
reason, which she is installing upon a loftier throne,
and establishing upon a broader basis, than the popular
vote and acclamation of an excited multitude. She is
pregnant with new rational systems and theories of
government and morals : by which she in like manner
looks for the perfectibility of human nature, and the
unlimited progress and amelioration and happiness
of the whole human race. Christianity is here also
becoming superseded. Unitarianism, Socialism, and
Chartism, are at this time essential and characteristic
in the English system; and they must continue to grow
and gain strength, in these forms or some others, while
the present temper and disposition of the people exists.
By another coincidence of principle, capital punish-
ment was limited, at the Revolution, to a much smaller
class of delinquencies.
An opposition to the ordained clergy, is established
and organized. This is one of the most deep-rooted
principles now subsisting. On the 4th of August, 17 89,
a commutation of tithes into a money payment was
resolved on in the National Assembly. This was soon
followed by their entire abolition. The insecurity which
was felt for all property at that time, in France, has
already nearly extended to all property in the nature of
charitable trust or endowment in England. The number
of bishops was reduced at the same time, and the chap-
ters were abolished.
The unpopularity of the squirearchy, the invasions of
their character and consequence, and the obloquy which
260 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
is cast upon all their habits and opinions, their honour
and honesty, are of a pattern with the invasion of the
privileges of the French noblesse ; in the excess of
which, the most indifferent habits and usages were
transmuted into crimes, and all virtues and rights and
advantages were alike forgotten. The same thing is
being carried even a step further. The townspeople
and shopkeepers of France abolished the privileges
of the landed proprietors : the manufacturers in
England are not only bent upon doing away with
the protections of agriculture, but they are claiming
and obtaining for themselves exemptions and advan-
tages, which must make them the privileged orders of
this country.
Another obvious parallel to the French Revolution, is
the eager desire and endeavours of the lately dominant
and still agitating party, to plan out the country afresh
by new boundaries and divisions, obliterating as much
as possible the present ecclesiastical divisions and pa-
rishes, the object of which is, to break up the old
habits of association and fellowship, and with them the
present habits and order of society; and particularly the
local influence of the squires and the clergy.
But all desires and principles sink and become little,
in comparison with the one object, Commerce, which is
the acknowledged palladium of British greatness. This
is not a plant of the same growth with liberty and infi-
delity : though it has obtained an intimate association
with them, through innumerable attachments of common
purpose and interest. It is by infusing everywhere her
own principles and practices in the pursuit of gain, in
ESSAY XIII.] THE COMMERCIAL PRINCIPLE. 261
subjection to the one approved passion of money-
making, that England will chiefly, if it must be, cor-
rupt the world, and infect it with its evil influence and
example.
Internally, every public measure in England has a
reference to finance. The Commons govern by the
purse : by bribery they are elected. Manufactures
are by all means to be encouraged, and machinery
praised, though the health and happiness and morality
and religion of the people must be sacrificed to it ; and
even Sabbath observance may not be promoted to the
interruption of trade. Money and money's worth is the
measure of everything. In this country, " Poverty is a
crime," as is said; it is a virtue to be rich. Mo'ney
will purchase and compensate everything. Money is
the only measure and link. Paid officers are thought
certain to be the best : setting aside education, station,
manners, morals, public spirit, honour, integrity. Ma-
gistrates and officers used to be repaid by reverence ;
but this is now considered a coin not estimable or cur-
rent. Landlords used to be paid by services and respect
and influence; and these might vary according to good-
will, and desert, and character : Now, all the whole
right and claim is rendered in rent ; and it is the same
to be a good or a bad, a resident or an absentee land-
O 7
lord; and this rent is raised to the utmost possible
amount, and is exacted rigorously, by a strict debtor and
creditor account, and on the ledger system. If money
is the universal standard of every thing, even honour
and honesty must have its measure and limit; and it
is reported of England, proverbially, that " Every man
262 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
has his price." * Thus England is moved and go-
verned upon the one pervading principle of buying
and selling, of payment and receipt, of money-making
and merchandize.
This is the internal state and condition. But the
present object is to show the impression which these
principles are likely to make on other nations, if
England rises to a still higher pre-eminence, and con-
tinues to extend her example and influence. She must
carry her principles with her wherever she goes, and
establish them wherever she exercises dominion. And
if she is the most increasing in population, and the
greatest colonizer, and the most successful of any in
extending her empire by foreign aggression, it is obvious
that she must have great success in propagating prin-
ciples of action and opinion ; and that these must be in
agreement with her own principles. But the influence
of Great Britain is greater than that of colonization or
conquest ; it is the influence of example and admiration.
The pre-eminence which she has attained, and the power
which she exercises, as an ally or an enemy, excites the
wonder and envy of those who are subject to this in-
fluence ; and impels them to adopt the same means and
instruments which have contributed to erect so eminent
a fabric. The moral force of England therefore, being
* Family names are lightly changed for money. It is reported that
one gentleman answered to another's challenge, " When you have
20,000 to lose, as 1 have, then I will fight you." The open buying
and selling of livings, at so many years' purchase of the offerings and
tithes, is too significative to be passed over without mention : more
need not be said of it.
ESSAY XIII.] THE POWER OF MONEY. 263
made up of her extent, her power, her success, and her
activity combined, is already enormous, and continually
increases. It must be short-lived or lasting, in propor-
tion as the good or the evil predominates in the compo-
sition, and is the most growing. My own fear is, that
the predominant influence is already bad ; and that this
character of it is on the increase ; and that eventually
it will work its own ruin. Like all others who wage
aggressive warfare upon false grounds, and with op-
pressive instruments of conquests, we shall teach our
adversaries in the end to fight against us with success,
and meet with destruction by our own weapons.
We have set example to other countries of national
debts. They have been ready enough to adopt a vicious
system, which has seemed to afford us such facilities and
advantages. And now we are not only smarting under
the effects of our own false economy and improvidence ;
but having encouraged other nations in this vice, and
become the chief lenders to their extravagance, we are
meeting with the return which we have deserved, are
cheated of our just demands by many of our creditors,
and experience both loss and ridicule for our folly
and avarice.* War is now, by our teaching and ex-
ample, only a contest of money. Not only do national
courage and character and patriotism give place to the
national purse, the right arms and the Hearts of oak to
* We have given such an impulse and extension to this system bjr
our example, that the plan of borrowing money is adopted even by
recently established countries, and newly founded colonies. This
system which we have resorted to in our extremity, they have adopted
in their first vigour and infancy.
264 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
the military chest, as instruments of warfare, but it is a
contest not even of present means and resources, but of
credit. War is carried on by mortgaging the future
labour and energies of a country ; and the only
struggle is, which nation will draw upon its own future
energies and good faith most extravagantly. In this
contest all must be ruined. But which country is likely
to suffer most, and to fall first ? Surely that which is at
the most artificial height of prosperity and riches, and
which, in the equalizing progress of free and rapid
intercourse, is least likely to maintain its unnatural
elevation and superiority.
We have set the example of joint stock companies ;
the rationale of which is, a system of trading by idle
and sleeping partners : idle and useless like the fund-
holder : and moreover ignorant of their business. This
' O
arises out of an idea that money can make money, and
needs no personal wisdom or exertion. Money can not
make money of itself; and it increases and is profitable
in proportion to the number and skill and labour of the
persons occupied in using it. Hence the profits on large
sums of money are never so great as those on small
sums ; that is, money distributed among and employed
by many hands. The Jewish law, in forbidding usury,
or the simple increase of money, probably had respect
to the idleness and unprofitableness that such a system
tends to create ; and to the heavy tax which it imposes
upon labour ; when so much out of its return is to be
deducted and repaid for interest ; while at the same
time profits are reduced by the practice of a few bor-
ESSAY XIII.] MONEY POWER. 265
rowers or capitalists occupying themselves in the use of
large sums of money.
All the policy and wisdom of Great Britain centres in
commerce. Even government is a trade. Colonization
is used for the purposes of commerce; and the only
light in which a colony is regarded is that of being a
market. Conquest is chiefly useful as making a market.
The vast continent of India is placed at our disposal,
and is so disposed by us as to be a great mart for our
manufactures; and the force of our arms over it is
not so great as that of our commerce, nor the con-
quest of the sword so complete as that of our manu-
factures, which have paralyzed and ruined the trade
and wealth of that once industrious people. And fur-
ther than this, we have handed over the sovereignty
of this empire, and all its millions of people, to a mer-
cantile company, to use it as a simple source of revenue,
by which to pay the interest of their trading capital.
Thus we are traders even in government. But this is
not all. Even in the soil itself which is left to them,
the produce especially protected and encouraged is the
poison, opium ; which in turn must be forced upon ano-
ther country which is unwilling to receive it, for the
sake of revenue and profit.
We claim a right to thrust our commerce even upon
a nation which is backward to receive it. We claim
this as a right under the law of nations. The law of
nations is set up and used for the purposes of trade.
We claim the right to thrust our manufactures and pro-
duce upon other countries and to obtain theirs in return,
as a divine right ; even though the consequence might
N
266 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
be the destruction of industry in China as in India.
We assert the laws of God and nature for the purposes
of commerce. We claim China as a market, as we do
our own colonies. We use our colonies only as markets,
and we want to make China in effect a colony of the
British empire.
With the right to trade, must follow the right to
introduce all those manners and habits which promote
commercial intercourse. We glory therefore in the
creation of desires and wants, and in the introduction,
by our example, of all those habits of luxury, which we
commend at home as encouraging manufacturing in-
dustry. This we call civilization. And having adopted
this high-sounding, flattering term, for a representative of
all our habits, and opinions and propensities, we go
forth to spread it over the whole world, having money
and commerce as our end, and our instrument.
We trade even in religion. Our missions are esta-
blished and reported on as if conversion to Christianity
depended upon the sums of money which are paid to
the missionaries. So many pounds, so many expenses
incurred, so many conversions. This is the balance-
sheet. But this is not the whole statement and detail
of the process. Commerce and Christianity go hand in
hand, and leave this shore together, and plant them-
selves side by side wherever the one sets foot, in inse-
parable brotherhood. Wherever Christianity has planted
itself by means of a missionary establishment from Eng-
land, there follows English commerce in its train ; and
all the blessings of Christian truth are soon choked and
overpowered by the corrupting force of traffic and
ESSAY XIII.] TRADE AND MISSIONS. 267
avarice. If a missionary station is formed, this is fol-
lowed by a colony or a company. They enter into terms
of offensive and defensive alliance. Soon the power of
this world overtops the spiritual power ; and the victims
of our beneficence are made tenfold more corrupt and
lost than they were before their intercourse with Chris-
tian England. Nay commerce is not unfrequently
made the immediate instrument for proselyting, and is
supposed to be the best arid essential stepping-stone to
conversion. " Civilize first," is the motto, " and then
Christianize. Create wants. Give them a taste for
luxuries. Make our produce and manufactures neces-
sary to them by use, and then, together with our habits
and manners, they will adopt our opinions and ideas,
and will become Christianized." The accounts which
are given of some of these proceedings are shocking ;
even those which have been given with applause and
triumph by reverend and devoted and self-denying men.
It seems as if the devil himself were making a mock of
his own defeat, and leading his conquerors on, by an
affected retreat, into a well-laid ambuscade, to the se-
ducing notes of triumphant merriment and blasphemous
exultation. The missionary Williams thus writes with
approbation and triumph of the successful propagation of
Christianity by means of our commodities and luxuries.
" Another speaker, with warmth and animation that
produced great impression, said, ' Look at the chan-
deliers ! Oro never taught us any thing like this !
Look at our wives, in their gowns and their bonnets,
and compare ourselves with the poor natives of Rurutu,
when they were drifted to our island; and mark the
268 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
superiority. * * It is to the good name of Jesus that
we are indebted. Then let us send his name to other
lands, that others may enjoy the same benefits.'"
Again, in another place :
" Perhaps the following most remarkable circum-
stance may have contributed in no small degree to
induce the people thus speedily to embrace the truth.
A heathen woman had, by some means or other, been
conveyed from the island of Tahiti to Rarotenga ; and
on her arrival she informed the Rarotengans of all the
wonders she had seen. They had no need now to go
down to the water to look at themselves, because these
wonderful people had brought them small shining
things, which they could carry about with them, and in
which they could see themselves as plainly as they
could see each other. These, with a variety of other
' Mea tu ke' or very strange things, which this heathen
female told the astonished inhabitants of this secluded
garden of the ocean, excited so much interest, that the
king Makea called one of his children Jehovah, and
another Jesus Christ. And the uncle of the king,
who we hope is at this time a good man, erected an
altar to Jehovah and Jesus Christ, and to it persons
afflicted with all manner of diseases were brought to be
healed ; and so great was the reputation that this
Marae obtained, that the power of Jehovah and Jesus
Christ became great in the estimation of the people."*f"
" The chiefs wife in particular awakened our sym-
pathy, by stating that she had long wished to become
a Christian, because when she compared herself with
the Christian females, she was much ashamed; for they
Narrative, p. 46. f Ibid. p. 107. '
ESSAY XIII.] CIVILIZATION AND BARBARISM. 269
had bonnets and beautiful white garments, while she
was dressed in ' Satan's clothes.' "*
On another occasion the same missionary writes,
" Favea then specified some of the advantages which
the inhabitants of those islands were deriving from the
introduction of this new religion. Can the religion of
these wonderful Popalangis be any thing but wise and
e-ood ? Let us look at them, and then look at ourselves.
O '
Their heads are covered, while ours are exposed to the
heat of the sun, and the wet of the rain ; their bodies
are covered all over with beautiful cloth, while we have
nothing but a bandage of leaves round our waist ; they
have clothes upon their very feet, while ours are like
the dogs' ; and then look at their axes, their scissors,
and their other property, how rich they are. They all
appeared to understand and appreciate this reasoning,
and gazed on us with great interest and surprise."f
It would have been just the same with the war-clubs
and battle-axes, the brandy and scalping-knives, which
I shall presently mention. Yet this most zealous and
devoted missionary, who suffered death in prosecuting
his mission of Christian civilization, uses no expression
of alarm or warning in regard to these false grounds of
conversion, or the possible abuse of luxury and finery
to unchristianize the character, or of our Lord's caution,
that riches and the good things of this world render the
entrance into the kingdom of heaven more difficult.
* Narrative, p. 258. About the same time that I first read this
narrative, I had just heard an account from the pulpit of a penitent
young woman, who on her death-bed declared that she was going to
hell, and attributed it to her fine clothes, to Satan's clothes.
t Narrative, p. 329.
270 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
If the Jesuits had been aspiring to admiration, and
establishing faith and confidence in their creed, by
fictitious miracles, he would have quickly perceived
and exposed the error, and have inveighed against the
artifice. It is clear that the magicians of Egypt, the
jugglers of China or Hindostan, the Phoenician and
Carthagenian merchants, might each respectively have
propagated their faith, and proselyted to their idolatries
and abominations among such people, upon similar
grounds, and with at least as great approbation and
success.
The missionary was not more faithful and true in
representing to them that, even upon his own approved
principles of European economy and civilization, they
were not likely to secure to themselves these objects of
their covetousness and vanity by turning Christians,
or the mere adoption of European wants and usages ;
for that they must earn these things by European indus-
try and skill, and for this there must be a re-edification
of society from the foundation, upon a totally different
system, which they were incapable of: and that those
fine things that they already possessed were only gifts
and bribes, or an exchange for mere trifles, and would
not be repeated for ever, by a money-seeking people,
nay that they would prove their destruction.
For the ascertained effect of the contact of barbarism
with European civilization, is misery and extermination
to the former. There is no process of transmutation,
or tendency to amalgamation going on and working,
under this position of these two discordant elements, so
as to change the one into the other, or permanently to
ESSAY XIII.] CIVILIZATION AND BARBARISM. 271
unite them, and so maintain the existence of the weaker
under a new form and condition. It is the ascertained
effect of European habits and manners, coming in con-
tact with savage tribes, entirely to destroy and obliterate
the baser element, and to blot it out from off the face of
the earth. Formerly, the politic tyranny of conquerors
in war led the subject nations captive, and in the con-
dition of slaves gradually trained the people to their
own habits and modes of life, supplying them with food
and instruction in return for their obedience ; and so
increased their strength and enlarged their dominion,
by an accession of industrious subjects. The consi-
derate tenderness and liberality of commercial conquest
now abjures the slow and degrading process of protec-
tion and slavery. The free and noble process of exter-
mination is preferred, being more rapid and complete
in its effect, and more consistent with the rights and
interests of man, and the dignity of human nature.
War was the chief agent of intercourse and improve-
ment in the world up to the new era. Now commerce
is in its place, and is fulfilling the same purpose. The
effect of the first was tyranny and oppression : that of
the last extermination. The motive of the first was
ambition : of the second avarice. The operation of
the first was subjection and fear: of the last cor-
ruption.
The contact of European civilization with natural
and savage life, under the form of commerce, is de-
scribed by travellers, but especially by Mr. Catlin, as
tending to the certain corruption, degradation and an-
nihilation of its victims, under the most brutalizing and
272 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PEINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
pitiable circumstances. The subsistence of these chil-
dren of nature fails them : by the migration of the herds
on which they depend for food; and by exhaustion
of the animals, which they hunt after to extermination,
to supply the demand of British commerce and luxury
with their skins. The fine native virtues of these
people, which are striking and admirable, but unlike
anything European, fail at once ; and give way to the
worst infirmities, and the deepest degradation of cha-
racter. All their own virtues and nobleness of mind
and feeling are lost ; and the vices only of the European
character are caught by them, and rage among them
with the virulence and acerbity of a deadly contagion.
The European diseases, hitherto unknown to them, take
possession of their constitutions, and are as a destroying
angel among them. The two thousand Mandans, ex-
cept forty, which were the whole that remained of this
interesting tribe of North American Indians, were swept
off at once by the small-pox. The remaining forty
sunk soon after from other causes; and this tribe is
now extinct. This is only one example of what is
common.
These sad effects of civilization and commerce may
obtain more pity than condemnation. The same cannot
be said of what follows.
Mr. Catlin relates, that one means of progressive de-
struction which the North Indian tribes are using
among themselves is their mutual wars : partly neces-
sitated by their territory being encroached upon by
English and American settlers. The instruments of
these wars are chiefly furnished by the merchants, who
ESSAY XIII.] CIVILIZATION AND BARBARISM. 273
supply battle-axes and clubs and scalping knives by
thousands and thousands, and every other instrument
of destruction in use among them. Yet the country-
men of these civilized monsters, these traffickers in war
and bloodshed, these traders in murder, even these
traders themselves, do not cease to use the privilege of
conquerors and destroyers, and to talk with civilized
conceit, and affected loathing and delicacy, of the savage
manners of these victims of their own blood-sucking
avarice : of their own temptations and accusations.
This is the very name and office of Satan himself the
tempter and the accuser. The English are avaricious
even to blood. The British merchant murders by
opium at one extremity of the globe, by knives and
war-axes at the other. But no one may murder or
fight, or wear his honours and trophies and orders,
except in an English way : to do otherwise is brutality
and barbarism. The scalp is a single lock of hair worn
long on the back of the head, in certain countries, as
the tail is in China; and the warrior invites his adver-
sary to the attack, and to take his scalp as a sign of
victory. The piece of skin which is taken off the head,
and carries the whole scalp attached to it, is of a size ,
not exceeding a crown-piece. " I have repeatedly,"
says Mr. Catlin, " heard Europeans express the greatest
disgust and horror at the cruel and savage practice of
taking off these scalps, and keeping them as trophies of
their victories, but I never once heard any one express
the slightest concern at the slaughter of thousands and
thousands of the victims, and all the agonies of death
which must precede this after ceremony."
N5
274 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
But the most effectual instrument of English trade
and civilization, used for the destruction of the unlet-
tered natives in all parts of the globe, is spirituous
liquors. This engine of demoralization and degradation
of the human character, not only below that of savages,
but even of brutes, is employed with a vigour and a
zeal and ingenuity which nothing but avarice could
suggest, and a distress and disorganization of society,
and destruction of body and mind, which nothing but
the demon spirit of commerce could pander to, or bear
to look upon. The subtlety and perseverance of the
traders to introduce ardent spirits among the North
American Indians, is compared to that of eagles and
wolves; and their ravaging effects in like manner.
" For whatever object a body of Indians is assembled,
whether for peace, or war, or to listen to the doctrines
of our revered religion, the traders, like wolves, come
skulking around them, and, like eagles in the neigh-
bourhood of a field of battle, they hover out of the
reach of gun-shot, confident of the enjoyment of their
prey." " The horrid system has not, we regret to say,
shared the fate of those it has destroyed ; on the con-
,trary, every year it has become better organized, and
from the subtlety of the traders it is now become more
impossible than ever to be prevented."* In sum, " by
the bayonet, by the diseases we bring among them, by
the introduction of spirituous liquors, by our vices, and
last though not least, by our proffered friendship, the
work of destruction is still progressing" among the
North American Indians.f
* Quarterly Review, No. 130, p. 406. f Ibid. p. 385.
ESSAY XIII.] TYRANNY OF COMMERCE. 275
The use of ardent spirits, in like manner, in the
Sandwich Islands, where so much has been boasted of
in the introduction of Christianity, had gone to an ex-
tent which well nigh threatened the extinction of the
natives. The queen of those islands has set an example
to Europeans, by absolutely forbidding the introduction
of any spirituous liquors whatsoever into her dominions.*
It is true that the English merchants may not be the
immediate instruments in carrying on this work of evil
in all places. But it is the example and influence ot
English commerce to which it is to be attributed. The
principle is the same as that by which our merchants
are forcing on their artificial system of trade, for evil or
for good, for profit or for ruin, in all quarters of the
globe ; a principle which has never before been carried
to the same extent of selfishness and shamefacedness,
till England took the lead as the great commercial
nation. And this is the accusation : that England is
infusing an evil system and principle into the world by
her example and influence; and what if some of her
scholars exceed her in the enormity of her practices,
and outwit her by her own inventions.
We shall see whether such a system must not pre-
cipitate its own ruin inevitably.
The trade of England is corrupted and ruined by its
own success and vastness. It is so great beyond the
occasion and the call for it in all markets, that exces-
sive competition brings its profits and advantages to
nothing, and ruins itself. This lowness of profits, so
* The Europeans were expelled from Cochin China because they
introduced every kind of profligacy.
276 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
created, suggests to each merchant and manufacturer a
still further production, the only remedy for small
returns being, to increase the number of them, and
so the evil, by seeking a cure for itself, only multiplies
the causes of it ; and our commerce perishes by a spe-
cies of self-embarrassment, and mutual destruction, the
very reward of over-success, and accumulation, and
avarice. The convulsive struggle of competition thus
growing more deep and desperate, and ever increasing
by the violence and effects of its own exertions, jus-
tifies in their eyes the creating a market and profit, at
whatever cost of conscience or character or principle,
as of necessity, and fop the very life's sake.*
The working of this process necessitates the endea-
vour to extend our dominion wider and wider, over all
the markets of the inhabited world, and to create them
for ourselves over the parts not yet inhabited. The
ambition and tyranny of commerce is as great and
grasping as that of any other invader and conqueror ;
and the endeavour after Universal Empire is as eager
and insatiable in the golden Mammon as in the brazen
Mars. This empire must be universal. No man may
buy or sell save he that hath the mark or the name of
the Beast, or the number of his name. British trade
* The occasional bursts of prosperity, and the enormous fortunes
made by some few manufacturers and merchants, may seem to con-
tradict this belief of the general depression of commerce by over-
trading. But these occasions are but the fever-fits in the progress of
a consumption ; which ever advances its ravages by successive fits of
weakness and strength, of depression and encouragement, which still
become more marked, till suddenly brought to an end by the crisis
and catastrophe.
ESSAY XIII.] TYRANNY OF COMMERCE. 277
has already once had the monopoly of the world ; and
it must continually be striving to have it again. But
the other nations will all oppose it ; and at length suc-
cessfully.
Riches have been well compared to a heap of sand :
hardly and slowly raised ; but easily dispersed and
levelled by every motion and agitation. The commerce
of Britain is such a heap ; raised to a much greater
height and eminence than ever before, by the labour
and success of ages. On the top of the height of this
great work she stands, and says within herself, " Is not
this great Babylon that I have built by the might of
my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" But,
" the kingdom is departed from thee." She says in her
heart, " I sit a queen ;" but, " in one hour thy judg-
ment is come."
This empire of commerce is now the wonder and
imitation of all the nations of Christendom. The kings
of the earth give their power and strength and king-
dom unto the Beast. If the picture of trade and com-
merce which has been given be faithful, the authority
and power of this dominion must be corrupting and
debasing. It is tyrannical and enslaving, as has also
been described. Can the nations bear this monopoly
of commerce, this insatiate encroachment of British
manufactures in all their markets, and houses, and
ovens and kneading-troughs and chambers ? Their
jealousy and pride will resent and resist the humiliat-
ing yoke ; their stomachs will loathe the poison of the
Circean cup, which they have drunk so eagerly and
deeply to their own enslavement. Already the powers
278 ENGLAND SOWING EVIL PRINCIPLES. [ESSAY XIII.
of the continent are leaguing together to exclude the
manufactures and merchandize of England : the in-
struments of her power : the collectors of her tribute.
"They are all turning against her:" as they before
combined against Venice, in the league of Cambray and
afterwards, to bring down her commercial pre-eminence ;
till they effectually ruined her. " The ten horns which
thou sawest shall hate the Whore, and shall eat her
flesh, and burn her with fire." " For strong is the Lord
God who judgeth her."
" Oh thou that dwellest upon many waters, abun-
dant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure
of thy covetousness."
" And the waters which thou sawest, where the
whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and na-
tions, and tongues."
( 279 )
ESSAY XIV.
THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE.
' MYSTERY ! BABYLON THE GREAT : THE MOTH KB OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF
THE EARTH." REV. xvii. 5.
ARISTOTLE S OPINION OF COMMERCE AND TRADE OPINIONS OF OTHER
WRITERS, SACRED AND PROFANE, MODERN AND ANCIENT, RESPECTING
TRADE AND RICHES GREAT RICHES AN EVIL TO INDIVIDUALS AND
TO STATES HISTORY OF THE DOMINION OF THE SEA COMMERCIAL
EMPIRES ALWAYS TYRANNICAL MARITIME WARFARE MORE CRUEL
THAN CONTINENTAL WARFARE THE LAST WAR A WAR BETWEEN
THE EMPIRES OF COMMERCE AND ARMS THE ORDERS IN COUNCIL
THE COLONIAL SYSTEM MANUFACTURING MONOPOLY MACHINERY
POLITICAL ECONOMY MONEY-WORSHIP, ITS PERPETUAL SACRIFICE.
TRADE and commerce have been spoken against by the
wise men of all ages, as tending to corrupt the morals
of nations and individuals ; and as the worst foundation
upon which a nation can rest its strength. It has been
always looked upon as tending, not to strength, but
weakness. It was never considered either to produce
good order or happiness ; but, on the contrary, destruc-
tion and misery. It has been left to this last age to
uphold, for the first time, the opposite doctrine; and
there never has been a time in which, to depreciate the
use of wealth, and its accumulation by traffic, has been
so opposed to the general sense, and so thought to be
absurd ; and so little has been spoken against it. This
280 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
is an age of national, not only individual avariciousness.
The existence of the British empire is based upon its
commercial riches ; and other nations are desirous to be
its imitators, and to follow in the same steps, seeing
it in appearance so successful in its results. We and
they are resolved to put in proof again, and upon the
widest scale, this great experiment ; though contrary to
all experience, and the precepts of wisdom in all ages,
divine and human.
We might have found in our own Aristotle, the
author of our modern wisdom : the real founder of our
political economy, of our theories of government, of our
philosophy respecting the origin and nature of society,
and the laws of nature and nations, we might have
found in him, among others, a caution against the
course which we are pursuing, in direct defiance, as is
wont, of our own master, and of the essential limits to
the effects of his own teaching, which for its credit and
safety he would have imposed. For the scholar is ever
unequal to the master ; and he betrays the weak points
of his master's plans and defences, by prosecuting his
operations in the neighbourhood of the errors and fal-
lible parts, disregarding those which gave the entire
support to them.
The following passages from Aristotle's Politics, con-
vey his sentiments with regard to commerce.
" Commerce indeed produces nothing but it ex-
changes and distributes, as conveniency requires, the
objects and commodities already produced and accu-
mulated."
" To real and natural riches bounds have always
ESSAY xiv.] ARISTOTLE'S OPINION OF TRADE. 281
been assigned; since, like all other instruments, they
are limited, both in magnitude and number, by the ends
for which they serve, and the effects which they are in-
tended to produce. But that factitious wealth, which
is often confounded with them, is indeed boundless,
and will appear necessarily to be so, when we have
investigated its nature.*
" To get money is the business of the merchant ; with
him wealth and money are synonymous ; and to heap
up money is in his mind to acquire all worldly advan-
tages. By several economical writers, this opinion of
the merchant is treated with contempt, and considered
as mere dotage. They deride, and rightly," he adds,
" the notion of that being the most substantial or only
wealth which, to him who should accumulate it in the
greatest quantity, would only realize the fable of Midas,
and thereby expose him to the danger of perishing with
hunger."
" Of such factitious riches, the desire, as Solon said,
must necessarily be boundless."
" The merchant, if faithful to his principles, always
employs his money reluctantly for any other purpose
than that of augmenting itself. Yet political writers,
deceived by an agreement in accidental pursuit and
occasional application, confound the endless drudgery
of commerce with the salutary duties of economy, and
regard the accumulation of wealth as the main business
of both. At the name of money, they recall all those
deceitful enjoyments of pride and voluptuousness which
* Aristot. Polit. lib. i. c. 5.
282 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
money is fitted to procure, and in which wishing for
ever immoderately to indulge, they cannot fail inordi-
nately to desire that which promises to gratify their
inordinate passions. If money is not to be obtained by
(read, 'honest') traffic, the purpose for which it was first
instituted, men thus minded will have recourse, for ob-
taining it, to other arts and other contrivances ; prosti-
tuting even skill and courage, in this mean and mer-
cenary service."
" But of all modes of accumulation, the worst and
most unnatural is usury. This is the utmost corruption
of artificial degeneracy, standing in the same relation
to commerce, that commerce does to economy. By
commerce, money is perverted from the purpose of
exchange to that of gain ; still, however, this gain is
obtained by the mutual transfer of different objects ;
but usury, by transferring merely the same object from
one hand to another, generates money from money ;
and the interest thus generated, is called " offspring,"
(TOKO?), as being precisely of the same nature, and of the
same specific substance, with that from which it pro-
ceeds." *
Lycurgus, we well know, expelled gold and silver
out of the kingdom of Sparta, considering them to be
the occasion and instruments of all crimes.t He re-
quired also that brides should bring no dowries to their
husbands, in order that the men might seek for wives,
* Aristot. Polit. lib. i. cc. 6, 7. I have used Taylor's translation, which
is free, but gives the spirit of the author ; and also his division of chapters.
t " Omnium scelerum materiam." Justin, lib. iii. ap. Horat. Delph.
Car. lib. iii. Od. 24.
ESSAY XIV.] OPINIONS OF OTHER WRITERS. 283
not money.* And he drove all merchants, as well as
sophists, poets, and pedlars, out of the country, as
worthless fellows. f
Cicero says, " those who buy up goods from the mer-
chant that they may immediately sell them again, are
base and despicable men; for they can only make a
profit by practising some deception." J
Horace, in like manner, says, that " nothing deters
the merchant. The crafty seamen make themselves
masters of the seas. The fear of poverty, which is a
reproach in their eyes, impels them to do and to endure
everything imaginable, and tempts them away from the
inconvenient path of virtue."
To come to more recent authorities ; this is another
description of commerce and trade, by an author of
eminence and learning. " In the contest of buying and
selling, it naturally becomes the habit for one party to
overreach the other." And again, " in buying and
selling, it is conceded, that we must buy things for less
than they are worth, and sell them for more than they
are worth, and in so doing circumvent one another ;
and so it is allowed to be in letting and hiring." ||
Milner says of the Waldenses, in the 13th century,
" They avoided commerce, that they might be free from
falsehood and deceit."^!" And again, in the 15th cen-
* " Ut uxores eligerentur, non pecuniae." Ib. ib.
t Plut. in Laco. ap. Lycosthen. Apophthegmata, tit. De Avaritia.
J Cic. de Off. lib. i.
Horat. Car. lib. iii. Od. 24.
|| Domat, Civ. L. 1. 16, Ff. de nim. ; 1. 22, ult. Ff. locat. v. ; 1. 8,
De resc. vend. ; Domat. Civ. L. i. 45.
f Milner's Ch. Hist. 13th cent. c. 3, quoted from Allix, p. 235.
284 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
tury, about the year 1647, the Hussites already found
occasion to rebuke those very Waldenses, " because
they were too solicitous in amassing wealth."* So soon
are we corrupted, and so easily and entirely are we
blinded by success and ease to our own first principles ;
which are clear enough to ourselves and to every one,
till we are surrounded by the temptation and the ex-
ample.
Our own history will be found to be exactly the same.
As it was said by Apuleius of the Romans, that " Po-
verty was the foundation of their great empire ;"f but
afterwards its riches and venality were the cause of its
destruction, when Jugurtha said of it, that " to complete
its ruin, Rome only wanted a purchaser :" so we,
whose hardihood and strength were aforetime fortified
by simplicity of manners and contempt of riches, and
engrafted these into our first principles, are now re-
viving and re-enacting the history of Rome again in this
sense also, that we are rushimg to our ruin, by placing
our dependence on money, and not on moral strength.
The disciples of our own first reformer, Wickliff, says
Sancho Reinber, " followed no traffic, because it is
attended with so much lying, swearing, and cheating."^
* Milner's Ch. Hist. c. 4.
t " Paupertas etiam populo Romano imperium fundavit." Apuleii
Apolog. ap. Horat. Delph. lib. iii. Od. 24, not.
J Sallust de Bell. Jugurth. " Which," says Lycosthenes, in quoting
the passage, " very shortly happened ; and the Romans, hitherto invin-
cible, were conquered solely by their avarice."
Milner's Ch. Hist. vol. iv. p. 202. Again, Cent. 15, c. 1, "The
disciples of Wickliff are men of a serious, modest deportment, avoiding
all ostentation in dress, mixing little with the busy world, and com-
ESSAY XIV.] OPINIONS OF OTHER WRITERS. 285
But we, and other reformed nations, are now the most
money-making and mercenary of all people and nations
in the world, and beyond all other empires in ancient
and modern times, have placed our national strength
and dependence upon our riches and commerce.
We have still higher authority, if it be wanted, for
condemnation of the tone of morals engendered by the
spirit of traffic. " It is nought, it is nought, saith the
buyer, and when he is gone his way, then he boasteth."*
Thus far Solomon upon this subject. But the Son of
Sirach speaks his opinion much more explicitly : " A
merchant shall hardly keep himself from doing wrong ;
and an huckster shall not be free from sin. Many have
sinned for a small matter; and he that seeketh for
abundance will turn his eyes away. As a nail sticketh
fast between the joinings of the stones, so doth sin
stick close between buying and selling/'f And again,
" There is not a more wicked thing than a covetous
man ; for such an one setteth his own soul to sale."J
We could want but one other testimony, to fix the
seal of incontrovertible truth. Our Lord uses as syno-
nymous and applicable to the same practices, the two
expressions, " a house of merchandize," and " a den of
thieves."
plaining of the debauchery of mankind. They maintain themselves
wholly by their own labour, and utterly despise wealth." Quoted also
from Allix.
* Prov. xx. 14.
t Ecclus. xxvi. 29; xxvii. 1, 2.
J Ibid. x. 9.
Matt. xxi. 13; John, ii. 16.
286 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
I might here leave this introduction, and proceed at
once to the subject of this Essay. But in a matter of
so great consequence, and where the greatest efforts are
so little likely to meet with success, it would be right to
leave no stone unturned, which might discover some-
thing wherewith to stop the career of avarice, and the
progress of money- worship, at this season. Much more
is to be found in the writings of the wise among the
heathens, in favour of the Christian doctrine, that it is
hard for the rich to be saved, than among the philoso-
phers of the nations of Christendom in modern times.
Lord Brougham does languidly profess, that " The
spirit of adventure, which has for its object, either the
rapid increase of stock, with proportionate risk, or the
acquisition of some fortune without the ordinary means
of toil and hardship, is unfavourable to morals and
manners."* The Quakers, in modern times, since the
rise of the English commercial empire, have as a body,
and as a school of philosophy, most plainly protested
against the corrupting influence of trade, and of the
eager and hasty desire of money-making. Clarkson
thus expresses their sentiments: "It will hardly be
denied by moralists, that the buying and selling of
commodities for profit is surrounded with temptations,
and is injurious to pure benevolent and disinterested
feeling.''^ But these principles of the Quakers, which
for a long time gave a character to their manner of
shop-keeping, and deterred them from many of the
more questionable and speculative branches of trade,
Colonial Policy, vol. i. p. 68.
f Portraiture of Quakerism, i. 54, ed. 1807.
ESSAY XIV.] MODERN AUTHORITIES. 287
are fast declining from their earlier vigour, and being
swallowed up in the vortex of the prevailing fashion
and philosophy. Let us listen to the plain uncompro-
mising precepts of our own dear classical antiquity,
respecting the corrupting influence of wealth : the mis-
taken folly of its seekers : the misery which it brings upon
its possessors; and the evils which it entails by its rapid
accumulation, both upon individuals and upon states.
Bion says, "Avarice is the metropolis of all wicked-
ness."* The same sentiment is attributed to Diogenes.'f-
Chilon said, that "Riches were a treasury of evils, a
supply of miseries, and a store of dishonesty.''^ By
Ovid they are termed, "The provocatives of evils:"
opes irritamenta malorum.^ Horace calls them, "dis-
honest, shamefaced," improbse divitise; "the instrument
of the greatest wrongs that are done among us;" and says
that, if we are about to give up our crimes, the first thing
is to root out the seeds of covetousness. || Democrates
used to say, that "vast riches were as great an hindrance
* Stob. Serm. 10, ap. Lycosthenis Apophthegmata, tit. De Ava-
ritia.
f Laert. lib. 6, c. 2, ap. ibid.
I Ant. Ser. de Divit. ap. ibid. tit. De Divitiis, &c.
Metam. i. MO.
|| " aurum inutile,
Summi materiam mali.
Sceleruin si bene pcenitet,
Eradenda cupidinis
Pravi sunt elementa."
Hor. Car. lib. iii. Od. 24.
See also lib. iii. Od. 16. And again, Epist. lib. i. 1. 53.
" quaerenda pecuuia primum,
Virtus post nummos."
288 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
to the mind, as long clothes are to the body."* And
Demetrius, "That the ready road to riches was to give
up that of virtue.f Tully says, "Wherever the love of
money is first conceived, and reason is not applied as a
medicine to cure it, the mischief steals through the veins
and vital parts of the body, and engenders a disease
which soon becomes incurable; and that disease is
avarice.":}: Seneca says, that the possessor of riches is
more filthy than the miner who digs them out of the
earth.^ Crates, the Theban philosopher, gave a more
practical proof of his opinion; for it is related of him,
that he threw a vast sum of his gold into the sea, and
said, "Go to the bottom, bad desires; I sink you, that
you may not sink me."||
Respecting the worthlessness of riches, and the misery
of covetousness : Valerius Maximus says, "To what
purpose is it to reckon riches among great advantages,
and poverty among great misfortunes, when the cheer-
ful brow of the rich man hides a multitude of bitter
vexations, and the uninviting exterior of the other
abounds with solid and substantial advantages."^]" And
he says again, of covetousness, that "it has no enjoy-
ment of what it possesses, and it is miserable from its
desire of getting more and more."** In a similar strain,
among the more ancient philosophers of Greece, Bion
* Stob. Serm. 91, ap. Lycosthen. Apophth. tit. De Divitiis, &c.
t Seneca, in praef. lib. iv. Nat. Q. ap. ibid
J Tull. Tusc. lib. iv. c. 11.
Seneca, Epist. 94, ad Lucill. ap. Lycosthen. Apophth.
|| Ap. Hor. Delph. not. in lib. iii. Od. 24.
Tf Val. Max. lib. iv. c. 4,
* Ibid. lib. ix. c. 4.
ESSAY XIV.] ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS. 289
said, that the covetous man was not the master, but
the slave of his riches.* The same expression is attri-
buted to Democritus.f And this also, that "to desire
more than you have, is to throw away the use of what
you possess, like the dog in ^Esop's fable. "J And
Ariston said, that "the life of a covetous person was like
a funeral feast : there was everything in the world there
besides, but no cheerfulness."^
The ancient authors are full of notices of the mise-
ries caused by covetousness. Claudian, " The cove-
tous are always poor:" semper inops quicunque cupit.||
Seneca, "The poor want little, the covetous every thing."^!
"They are more wretched than beggars; for these want
but little, and those much."** The same, "Avarice
grows more and more devouring, like a fire."f -f- The
same author again, "There is one most grievous kind of
want, a want in the midst of plenty ; for the covetous
man wants not only what he has not, but what he has."JJ
And again, "All nature itself is not enough for the
covetous man :" avidis, avidis, natura parum est.
* Laert. lib. iv. c. 6, ap. Lycosthen. Apophth.
f Maximus, Serm. 12, ap. ibid.
J Stob. Serm. 10, ap. ibid.
Ibid. ib. There is no people among whom so little cheerfulness
is seen as the English ; except it be the Americans.
|| Claudian, in Ruf. 1. i. v. 200.
f Epist. 108, ad Lucill. ap. Lycosth. Apophth.
** Lib. in Sap. non cadere injuriam, c. 13, ap. ibid.
ft De Benef. lib. c. 27, ap. ib.
JJ Epist. 73, ap. Hor. Delph. Car. lib. iii. Od. 16, in not.
Senec. in Here. ^Etaeo, v. 636, ap. Hor. Delph. Car. lib. iii. Od.
24, in not.
290 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
Horace, "Magnas inter opes inops."* Juvenal, " Crescit
amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit/'-f'
Of the older philosophers, Diogenes called the amas-
sers of enormous possessions "great paupers."! He
said, "they were like dropsical patients, for the one was
full of money, and the other was full of water, and
both thirsted for more of that which was in the act of
destroying them." And Aristotle also says, that "to
the avaricious man, money is the end, but it is not the
bounds of his desires :"|| that "the poor man wants
few things, the avaricious man all things. "^[
They were equally wise in their recommendations,
that the way to enjoy our riches is to set bounds to
our want of them. Plato recommends the proper
measure of wealth, almost in the words of the prayer
of Agar, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me
with food convenient for me ; lest I be full and deny
Thee, and say, Who is the Lord, or lest I be poor and
steal, and take the name of my God in vain."** Being-
asked, what was the best amount of fortune for a man
to have, he replied, " So much that it shall not be a
snare to his mind, and shall provide necessary food and
clothing for his body."ff The same philosopher gave
advice to a covetous man, " O wretched man," said he,
* Hor. Car. lib. iii. Od. 16, v. 28, see Od. 24, v. 64.
f Juv. Sat. 14, v. 139.
J Stob. Ser. 10, ap. Lycosth. Apophth.
Ibid. ib. Eadem similit. utitur Polib. Hist. lib. xiii. ap. ib.
|| Xof, not !{{. Arist. de Repub. lib. vi. ap. ib.
U Anto. par. i. ser. 33 ; Melis. ap. Lycosth. tit. De Paupertate.
** Prov. xxx. 8, 9.
f | Stob. Serni. 91, ap. Lycosthen. Apophtb. tit. De Divitiis, &c.
ESSAY XIV.] GREAT RICHES AN EVIL, 291
" strive not to enlarge your estate, but to diminish your
covetousness."* Democritus said, to a man who was
complaining of his poverty, " If you covet but little,
little things will seem to you great."f " If your desires
are few, you will be rich though poor." And again,
being asked, what was the easiest way of making your-
self rich? he replied, "Making your desires poor."J
Epicurus, writing to Pytocleas, says, "If you wish to
make yourself rich, you must not try to add something
to your wealth, but to take away something from your
wants. "^ Cleanthes answered to the same question, in
the same way; " Make your desires poor."|| And
Epictetus being asked, when a man could be said to
be rich, answered, " When he is satisfied with what he
has got."5[ And Valerius Maximus again, "Surely,
that man possesses everything, who covets nothing."**
And in former times no more doubt was entertained,
that riches were a fatal injury to nations and states,
than to the private people. That Lycurgus expelled
gold and silver, and forbade merchants and such men an
entrance into his dominions, has been mentioned. Upon
which Plutarch observes, that so long as they observed
those institutions of Lycurgus, the Spartans maintained
their pre-eminence in Greece, namely, for 600 years ;
but that no sooner did the love of money, and avarice
* Stob. Serm. 10, ap. ib. tit. De Avaritia.
f Anton, in Melissa, par. 1, Serm. 33, ap. ib. De Paupertate.
J Stob. ap. ib. De Divitiis, &c.
Seneca, ap. ib.
|| Stob. Serm. 94, ap. ib.
Tf Stob. ap. ib.
* Lib. iv. c. 4.
o2
292 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
enter in among them, than their power decreased, and
the neighbouring states, which had before been their
friends and allies, became their enemies. Nevertheless,
because they preserved some few expiring sparks of
Lycurgus's laws, they did not succumb or pay tribute
to Philip, when the rest of Greece did, though their towns
were without walls, and themselves were much reduced
in numbers ; until, having set at nought all Lycurgus's
institutions, they became a prey to the tyranny of their
own countrymen. A grave lesson and warning, adds
Lycosthenes, to all the world, that empires are esta-
blished by virtue; that through the love of money, of
pleasure, and luxury, either they are destroyed, or they
are turned into a tyranny.*
Diogenes said, "there was no room for virtue to
dwell where riches were, whether in a house or in a
state."t Valerius also said, "that kingdom or state
stood on a firm and permanent foundation, which kept
itself free from the lust of money and of women ;"J for
these were constantly put in the same category. And
Horace, "Whosoever would set his heart upon putting
an end to unnatural murders and the rage of civil dis-
O
cords, and on having a statue raised to him as the father
of his country, let him be bold enough to curb the
unbridled avarice of the people.^
Having used this introduction, respecting the ac-
knowledged danger of riches to individuals and to states,
* Plut. in Lacon. ap. Lycostb. Apopbth. tit. De Avaritia.
t Ibid. tit. De Divitiis, &c.
I Val. Max. lib. iv. c. 3.
Hor. Car. lib. iii. Od. 24. Licentiatn. In marg. cupiditatem.
Ed. Delph.
ESSAY XIV.] HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. 293
I shall confine myself now to the effects of commercial
riches, and the character and history of states which
have founded their strength and dominion upon their
commerce. It will be found that such nations have
always been profligate and wicked beyond measure; that
they have been most cruel and grasping and tyrannical
in their policy and spirit : and that they have succes-
sively come to a disastrous, and miserable, and a con-
temptible end. The Dutch afford perhaps the most
happy exception to these consequences.*
The Cretans were the first great commercial people ;
and they claimed under Minos the dominion over a
great part of the jEgean Sea. Plato says that Minos
framed the laws of the Cretans relating to the sea.*f-
The Cretans Polybius represents as disgraced by piracy,
robbery, and almost every crime, and as the only people
who thought nothing sordid or dishonourable that was
joined with gain.J St. Paul quotes a description of
them, as liars, and evil beasts, and gluttons.
These gave place to the Canaanites and Phoenicians.
* Lord Brougham observes, (Colonial Policy, i. 53,) that " Holland
is the only country in Europe where the merchants are almost all of
foreign extraction, or foreigners by birth." Perhaps this may partly
explain their suffering less by commercial demoralization, as they
have never become a purely commercial nation. Many of their mer-
chants have emigrated to England, and are now English families. But
perhaps this is a more operative cause of the above fact, that the
Dutch never attained to the same exclusive pre-eminence as a com-
mercial power, which other nations have; or at least but for a very short
period.
f Sea Laws, 3rd ed. 4to., no date, p. 1 (5, referring to Diod. Sic. ;
Thucyd. lib. i. ; Eutrop. lib. vi. ; Plato de Leg. lib. i.
J Polyb. lib. iv. c. 8, 53, &c. ; lib. vi. Extr. 3.
294 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
The debaucheries and wickedness of the former are
recorded in holy writ, and were equalled only by their
miserable overthrow and destruction. Of the tyrannical
spirit of the latter this is recorded, that "Atergatis, their
queen, published an edict, importing, that it should not
be lawful for any one to eat fish without her licence
and permission."*
The chief commercial nation for the time has always
set up and endeavoured to maintain an absolute sove-
reignty over all the seas where their ships were used to
sail ; and all the other weaker nations have at the same
time been loud in proclaiming the freedom of the sea; and
these same have successively set up the pretension to
absolute dominion, which they before contested, so soon
as they came in their turn to the same commercial pre-
eminence. The Phoenicians, the Athenians, the Car-
thaginians, the Romans, the Venetians, the Spaniards,
the Portuguese, the Dutch, the English, have succes-
sively, while growing into power, maintained, with an
equally loud appeal to natural right and justice, the
freedom of the seas ; and again, with equal strength,
the right of dominion, so soon as they could enforce it.
" The Tyrians, according to Quintus Curtius, had not
only a sovereign dominion over the neighbouring sea,
but were mistress over all the seas through which their
ships did sail." " The Tyrians were such absolute
masters, that Tyria Maria, or Tynan Seas, became a
proverbial expression, for all seas possessed in such a
way, that the passage through them could not be ob-
tained without the permission of the lord."f
* Sea Laws, p. 18, quoting Pliny. f Sea Laws, p. 21.
ESSAY XIV.] HISTORY OF COMMEECIAL EMPIRE. 295
" By the first league concluded between the Cartha-
ginians and the Romans, Polybius tells us, it was
stipulated, that neither the Romans nor their con-
federates should sail beyond the Fair Promontory,
unless they should be driven thither by tempests or
enemies." By the second treaty, " That no Roman
should so much as touch either upon Africa or Sardinia,
except it were either to take in provisions, or repair
their ships."* Of this second treaty, Lord Brougham
observes, that it was framed exactly upon the principles
of the modern mercantile system.'f-
After the Carthaginians came the Romans, with the
same high pretensions ; and it is related, that " after
the conclusion of the peace, at the end of the Second
Punic War, the Carthaginians themselves burned 500
gallies, that they might not be obliged to pay homage
to their conquerors, of whom they had formerly exacted
the same marks of submission." " Dionysius Halicar-
nassaeus writes, that the dominion of the Romans ex-
tended over the whole ocean as far as it is navigable. "
Afterwards the Venetians arrogated the same right ;
and when the Doge of Venice espoused the sea, by the
annual ceremony of throwing a ring into it, he used to
proclaim, " We espouse thee, O Sea, in sign of a real
and perpetual dominion."^
In the year 1638, the Venetians sunk the Turkish
fleet, for entering the Adriatic without their permission ;
* Sea Laws, p. 23.
f Col. Pol. 1, 23.
I Dion. Halic. lib. i. De Orig. Rom. ap. Sea Laws, pp. 23, 24.
Sea Laws, p. 26.
296 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
and landing men on the Grand Signior's own coast, put
a great number of the mariners who had escaped to the
sword, for this insult to their sovereignty. Shortly after,
they concluded a peace with the Sultan, by which it was
agreed, " That it should be lawful for the Venetians in
time to come, to seize by force, if they did not otherwise
submit, all Turkish vessels which should enter the
Gulf without their licence ; and that even within the
ports and havens under the obedience of the Grand
Signior, situated on the Venetian Gulf."*
In 1630, they refused a passage to Mary, sister to
the King of Spain, who was married to the Emperor
Ferdinand's son, the King of Hungary, from Naples to
Trieste, except in their own vessels. And afterwards,
commissioners on both sides having met at Friuli, in
1635, after a full hearing, the imperial commissioners
acknowledged, that by the native force and evidence
of the learned Chizzola's discourse, they were per-
suaded in their consciences, " That the commonwealth
of Venice was the undoubted Mistress and Protectress
of the Adriatic Gulf, and might there impose what
custom she thought convenient."f
While the Venetians were thus supreme, and the
Spaniards were as yet only struggling into commercial
importance, one of their legal writers, Fernando Vasquez,
counsellor to Philip III. of Spain, writes thus, in his
Discourse of the Law of Nature and Nations : " Their
opinion is not much to be esteemed, who imagine that
Sea Laws, pp. 26, 27.
t Sea Laws, p. 9, from Julius Paucius's Tract, Of the Dominion of
the Sea, 2nd Bk. ch. 6.
ESSAY XIV.] COMMERCIAL EMPIRES TYRANNICAL. 297
the Genoese and Venetians may forbid others a passage
through their respective gulfs, as if they could lay claim
to those seas by prescription ; which is equally contrary
to the imperial laws, and to the primitive law of nature
and nations."* The author I am quoting from, observes
in another place, " The Spaniards have sometimes
thought fit to speak favourably of the community of the
sea ; yet when it was for their present purpose, they
have as severely maintained the dominion of it as any
other nation." " Several German authors, among the
titles of Charles the Fifth, Emperor and King of Spain,
(and particularly in the Preface to the Constitution con-
cerning public judicatures in the empire,) style him,
King of the Canary Islands, and of the islands and con-
tinent of the Indies, and of the ocean, &c."*j*
Emanuel, King of Portugal, in his preface to the
Laws of Portugal, styles himself,
" Dom Manuel, per grace de Deos Rey, &c., Senhor
de Guinee, et da conquista et navigacam et commercio
d'JEthiopia, Arabia, Persia, et da Indie, &c." Where
he pretends to be sole lord of the navigation and trade
of ./Ethiopia, Persia, &c. But all this is nothing in
comparison to what is found in the body of the laws of
Portugal, concerning the pretensions of that nation to
the sole dominion even of the vast Atlantic Ocean itself.
For among the said laws, " O Quinto Libro des Orden-
naconnes," tit. 112, there is a more positive and absolute
prohibition to any person whatsoever, whether natives
or strangers, in any ship or vessel, to pass to the coun-
Sea Laws, p. 7. f Ibid. pp. 28, 29.
05
298 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
tries, lands and seas of Guinea, and the Indies, either
upon the occasion of war or commerce, or for any other
reason whatsoever, without the King of Portugal's spe-
cial licence and authority, under pain of death and con-
fiscation of all effects, to be inflicted upon all such per-
sons as should presume to go thither in contempt of the
prohibition." " Pursuant to this law, several persons
who fell into the hands of the Portuguese were put to
death; and it extended to foreigners as well as the
king's subjects ; though the former never acknowledged
this pretended title to the dominion of the Atlantic and
Southern Sea ; which gave occasion to a very hot dis-
pute between Queen Elizabeth and Don Sebastian,
King of Portugal."*
Again the tables were reversed ; and the English
O ' O
came in turn to set up their pretensions to the dominion
of the sea, which it had hitherto suited them to deny.
And this gave rise to the celebrated controversy between
Hugo Grotius, the Hollander, author of the work enti-
tled Mare Liberum ; which was answered by the learned
Selden in his Mare Clausum.
All these other nations have perished miserably; and,
with the one exception of Holland, above noticed, have
become the most degraded, morally and politically, of
any nations on the globe. England, in succeeding to
this dominion, has followed out all the principles which
had before characterized this mercantile pre-eminence,
and has added to them ; and it is impossible but that,
if maintained, these principles must bring her Empire
* Sea Laws, p. 29.
ESSAY XIV.] COMMERCIAL EMPIRES TYRANNICAL. 299
to the same ruin, which has visited retribution upon
the heads of the other great fornicators of the earth.
England, and these other European nations, seem to
have been fulfilling that prophecy of the re-establish-
ment of commercial Tyre, " And it shall come to pass,
after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit
Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit
fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon
the face of the earth." It is also added indeed, " And
her merchandize and her hire shall be holiness to the
Lord : it shall not be treasured nor laid up ; for her
merchandize shall be for them that dwell before the
Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing."*
The evil principles of commerce will be one of the
subjects of conquest and regeneration, in the ultimate
triumph of Christ's kingdom ; and then " there shall be
no more the Canaanite (the Merchant) in the House of
the Lord;"^ but this, from its description, will not
be, till the principles and practices of commerce are
changed; and diametrically opposed to what they at
present profess themselves to be.
The principle of commercial pre-eminence has been
always that of engrossing the whole trade of the world,
not for the supply and accommodation of the people,
"to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing," as
even Aristotle says it should be; but for the purpose of
heaping up gain, and national riches, which Aristotle
says it should not be.J This principle England has
* Isai. xxiii. 1 7, 1 8. f Zech. xiv. 21 . J Arist. de Rep. 1. 4, c. 6.
300 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
been carrying to the utmost excess;* and she has
grafted on to it her own system of machine working,
and manufacturing monopoly, and her colonial system.
The engrossing principle of commercial dominion has
given rise to a system of more uncivilized cruelty in the
conduct of naval warfare, than has ever been approved
or admitted in military operations by land, in modern
times. In carrying on warfare on land, it is contrary
to all principles of justice to interfere with the trade
and dealings of the inhabitants, further than to obtain
such supplies as are necessary for the subsistence of
the troops quartered in the country. To do more than
this, in impoverishing the inhabitants, is considered the
height of savage cruelty and barbarism : it is making
war against the subsistence of man. But on the sea, it
has been held up as a principle of warfare, by the do-
minant maritime nations, to destroy all trade and com-
merce ; to make private people partakers and sufferers
in the wars of their governments, and to spoil them of
their private property and subsistence, as if it were the
object and instrument of warfare. And so it is :
because money and goods are the very subject and
means, and the instrument of commercial dominion ;
and this dominion, in its strivings to be universal, re-
quires the whole of them for itself. So haughty are
The relaxations which England has ever made in this system,
have been of necessity ; and for the sake of retaining as much as pos-
sible of what she was in danger of losing. Nevertheless, this opera-
tion, though of compulsion, is as it were an effort of nature, and of
the course of things, in the direction of a better and more Christian
system.
ESSAY XIV.] MARITIME WARFARE. 301
the pretensions of naval dominion, that a similar dis-
tinction is set up with respect to prisoners of war: who,
on shore, are only made of persons taken with arms in
their hands, but on the sea of other persons : as though
they were invading the dominions of the power which
held the supremacy.*
And England has carried out this principle of mari-
time warfare to a greater extent than other nations, in
proportion as her power and opportunity to do so
has increased ; and she has taken steps in this retro-
grade movement towards barbarism, at the time when
we have been most congratulating ourselves upon in-
creasing civilization and refinement. Wheaton, who is
one of the best modern authorities upon the subjects of
international law, thus describes the usage of nations
upon this head ; and the particular practice of Great
Britain in regard to it.
" The progress of civilization," he says, " has slowly
but constantly tended to soften the extreme severity of
the operations of war by land ; but it still remains un-
relaxed in respect to maritime warfare ; in which the
private property of the enemy taken at sea or afloat in
port, is indiscriminately liable to capture and confisca-
tion.'^ With regard to England, he says this : " The
ancient law of England seems to have surpassed in
liberality its modern practice. In the recent maritime
wars commenced by that country, it has been the con-
stant usage to seize and condemn as droits of admiralty
* Lord Brougham's Speeches, vol. i. Introd.
f Wheaton's Elements of International Law, ch. ii. s. 7, p. 84, edit.
London, 1836.
302 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
the property of the enemy found in its ports at the
breaking out of hostilities; and this practice does 'ot
appear to have been influenced by the corresponding
conduct of the enemy in this respect."* This is in addi-
tion to the system of destroying the maritime trade of
the enemy, and capturing all their private property on
the sea ; though it is only a branch and extension of it.
So that though private property is respected and undis-
turbed when on shore, whether in the enemy's territory
or in our own country, yet what happens to be afloat is
subject to robbery and pillage, according to the rules
of naval warfare ; and this country first carried these
practices farther than any other country. Such is the
ambition and tyranny of commercial dominion.
It is not necessary to dwell at length upon the ex-
tension of this principle, which the English first intro-
duced, in the pride of their growing dominion of the
sea, in what is called the rule of the war of 1756;
by which we interdicted even the trade of neutral vessels
with the ports of the enemy, and captured them with
our cruisers. This has settled down into the modern
doctrine, which interdicts to neutrals, during war, all
trade not open to them with the particular country
during peace. f The old rule used to be, " Free ships
free goods: enemy's ships enemy's goods;" that is,
nations in amity with ourselves might carry on what
trade they pleased, even in goods belonging to the
enemy4
* Wheaton's Elements of International Law, ch. i. s. 11, p. 20.
f Ibid. ch. iii. s. 24, see p. 225, 227.
J Ibid. ch. iii. s. 20.
ESSAY XIV.] THE EMPIRES OF ARMS AND COMMERCE. 303
It is this peculiar pretension of commercial warfare
which has given rise to the organized system of false-
hood and fraud carried on by means of false flags and
fictitious papers; and which is avowedly practised and
taught in naval affairs.
But we hasten to the transactions of the late war ;
which exhibit the great and final struggle of Great
Britain to attain to her commercial dominion, and her
conduct in attaining it.
The last war was a war for universal empire, between
France and England : for the dominion of the land,
and of the sea : between the empire of arms and the
empire of commerce. The first distinct separation and
array of these principles and forces against one another
is so powerfully and pictorially described by Mr. Alison,
that I cannot do better than use his eloquent descrip-
tion.
" On the 20th of October, 1805," he thus begins his
chapter upon our commercial system, " the conqueror
of continental Europe stood on the heights of Ulm, to
behold the captive army of Germany defile before him.
While every head around him swam with the giddy in-
toxication of the spectacle, while every eye, in the
vanquished thousands who crowded past, was turned
with involuntary homage towards the hero who had
filled the world with his renown, the steady mind of
Napoleon regarded only the future ; and discerning,
through the blaze of present glory, the shadow of
coming; events, he said to those around him 'Gentle-
D '
men, this is all well ; but I want greater things than
these ; I want ships, colonies, and commerce.' On the
304 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
day after these memorable words were spoken on the
21st of October, 1805 the combined fleets of France
and Spain were destroyed on the waves of Trafalgar,
by the arm of Nelson ; and a few dismantled hulls, rid-
dled with shot, alone remained, of the vast armaments
which had so recently threatened the British empire, to
carry the tale of woe to the vanquished, and ' ships,
colonies, and commerce,' had irrevocably passed into
the hands of their enemies. We now see the fruit of
that mighty victory ; we behold the British race peo-
pling alike the western and southern hemispheres, and
can already anticipate the time when 200 millions of
men, on the shores of the Atlantic and in the isles of
the Pacific, will be speaking our language, reading our
authors, glorying in our descent."*
Such was the great and conclusive separation and
array of military and commercial power against one
another ; and this rivalry grew in intensity and magni-
tude, developing new and unheard of principles on both
sides, till it resulted in the overthrow of military empire
in the world, the establishment of Great Britain's pre-
eminence among nations, and the great Commercial
Empire.
On his side, Napoleon continually increased his
armies, and his military operations ; and warfare as
continually increased in vigour and ferocity : so that,
whereas the loss of one or two thousand men, of the
vanquished party, out of a large army, decided the fate
of a battle in the early part of the revolutionary war,
* Alison on Population, vol. ii. p. 347.
ESSAY XIV.] THE LAST WAR. 305
the latter victories required sacrifices to ten and twenty
times that amount ; * and the last decisive catastrophe
was by far the most destructive, and the most deadly
contested of all. t
On the part of Great Britain, her money, which was
her instrument of warfare, and the sceptre of her domi-
nion, was lavished in greater and greater amounts, and
with more exhausting conscriptions, for though, be-
yond all former principle and precedent, she has taught
money to breed, yet she cannot, like nature in her vital
economy, repair the drain in a single generation, till
she exhibited all the nations of Europe her captives,
and herself their mistress, when she bound them in
golden chains, by her subsidies to every one of them,
and crushed the arms of Napoleon by these means,
and finally took her seat upon her throne, as their
imperial sovereign, when the crowned heads of the
continent visited her shores to do her homage, and to
pay their worship to her golden image.
The spread of the English language, which has su-
perseded the French, as the language of general use,
even in Europe, is another sign of England's chiefdom,
and the supremacy of her dominion.
England, on her part, as well as Napoleon, intro-
duced new and unheard of principles into the conduct
of the war, such as suited her pretension to commercial
empire.
Hitherto blockades had been restricted, by the law of
* Alison's Hist. Eur.
f Duke of Wellington's Despatches Waterloo, 19th June; Ni-
velles, 20th June ; Joncourt, 26th June; Gonesse, 2d July, 1815.
306 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
nations, to ports which were the subject of vigorous
siege at the particular moment. England enlarged the
above-mentioned system of warring against the enemy's
commerce, to the extent of declaring whole coasts and
kingdoms in a state of blockade, and forbidding the
approach of all vessels of trade and merchandize.
Wheaton says of this system, that it could not be
rested upon any just notion of contraband, nor could it
be justified by the reason of the thing, or the approved
usage of nations.* He says, " If the mere hope, how-
ever apparently well founded, of annoying or reducing
an enemy, by intercepting the commerce of neutrals in
the articles of provision (which in themselves are no
more contraband than ordinary merchandize) to ports
not besieged or blockaded, would authorize that inter-
ruption, it would follow, that a belligerent might at any
time prevent, without a siege or blockade, all trade
whatever with the enemy." f
It is generally urged on our part, that the orders in
council, which established these new practices in war,
were an act of necessity, and adopted in retaliation
of the Berlin and Milan decrees of Napoleon, directed
against our commerce. Among disputing parties, both
sides are always wrong ; and each opponent adopts the
practices of his adversary, and successively exceeds in
violence. But the Berlin decree, which is dated 21st
November, 1806, was preceded by the order in council
of 16th May, 1806, which declared " the whole coasts,
harbours, and rivers, from the Elbe to Brest inclusive,
Wheaton 's Elements of International Law, ch. Hi. s. 21, p. 205.
t Ibid. p. 206.
ESSAY XIV.] ORDERS IN COUNCIL. 307
as actually blockaded," with the exception of neutral
goods in neutral vessels, not contraband of war ; and
" the coast from Ostend to the mouth of the river Seine
subject to a blockade of the strictest kind."* The fur-
ther retaliatory orders were dated 7th January, 1807,
and llth November, 1807.
Mr. Alison remarks, " Was the Berlin decree the
origin of the commercial warfare ; or was it merely, as
Napoleon and the French writers assert, a retaliation
upon England, by the only means at the disposal of the
French emperor, for the new and illegal species of war-
fare which, in the pride of irresistible maritime strength,
they had thought fit to adopt ?"-f- Upon the whole, the
French emperor seems to have been as well justified, as
hostile nations are ever likely to be, in his complaints
against the English ; and in declaring that the Berlin
decree was to be in force till England should agree to
make the same law of capture applicable by sea and
land ; and to abandon the right of declaring coasts or
ports not actually invested, in a state of blockade.^
* Martens, Sup. 5, 437. This decree was repealed, as to all ports
from the Elbe to the Ems inclusive, by an order in council of the 25th
September, 1806.
Before this, the Prussian government had taken possession of Ha-
nover, and excluded all British ships from the ports of the Prussian
dominions. And this was retaliated by an order in council of 5th
April, 1806. Alisons Hist. Eur., vol. vi. p. 330, n.
f Alison's Hist. Europe, vol. vi. p. 352.
J See Lord Brougham's Speeches, vol. i. Introduct. pp. 396, 397.
In effect the same drama had been partially acted over before, in the
earlier periods of the revolutionary war. Wheaton says, " The doctrine of
the English Court of Admiralty, as to provisions becoming contraband
under certain circumstances of war, was adopted by the British govern-
308 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
I will quote one passage from Lord Brougham's
speech, on the repeal of the orders of council, to show
the acknowledgment of this peculiar and new-invented
principle of commercial aggrandizement. " I will also
pass over the still more material question, how far we
have a right to blockade, for purposes not belligerent,
but mercantile ; that is, to exclude neutrals from trading
with our enemy, not with the view of reducing that
enemy to submission, and terminating the contest more
speedily, for the general good, but upon the speculation
of stunting the enemy's trade, and encouraging our
own." *
ment in the instructions given to their cruisers on the 8th June, 1793,
directing them to stop all vessels laden wholly or in part with corn,
flour, or meal, bound to any port in France, and to send them into a
British port, to be purchased by government, or to be released on con-
dition of disposing of their cargo elsewhere" (p. 194) ; and an order
ill council to the same effect was issued in April, 1795, (p. 199).
And it appears that these were retaliated ; for Lord Brougham says
(Speeches, i. 397), " Napoleon borrowed from the Directory the out-
line of his commercial measures. The main provisions of the Berlin
decree are to be found in the decrees of July, 1796, and January,
1798." " In the month of March, 1799, the British government noti-
fied to all neutral powers, that the ports of Holland were all invested
and blockaded by the British forces, and that every vessel, of whatever
flag, every cargo, and every bottom, attempting to enter them, would
become forfeited by the law of nations, as attempting to carry succour
to the besieged. It must be admitted that in no former war had the
blockading system been carried to this extent; but this has not been
for want of right, but want of power." Mr. Serjt. Marshall, quoted
Chitty's Commerc. Law, i. 452, ed. 1824.
In 1793, the English entered into treaties with Russia, Spain, Por-
tugal, Germany, Prussia, and the Two Sicilies, prohibiting exportations
to France, and preventing the trade of neutrals with her. Alison, Hist.
Eur. ii. 143, 144.
Brougham's Speeches, vol. i. p. 447. Davis, in his description of
ESSAY XIV.] THE COLONIAL SYSTEM. 309
The next principle in our system of commercial em-
pire, is our colonial system. The only use and view
with which we look upon other kingdoms and nations,
is as constituting a market for our traffic so com-
pletely are we, as we have been called, a nation of
shopkeepers. We send out emigrants, and plant colo-
nies, and keep them dependant upon ourselves, for the
sake of securing a market. We make voyages of dis-
covery for the sake of finding a market. Our missions
are made advantage of as opening, markets for the com-
modities of the British merchants. We fight for and
purchase colonies, for the sake of adding a market. We
wage war, and conquer nations, and oblige them to
terms of forced and unwilling intercourse, for the sake
of procuring a market. Lord Palmerston declared in
his speech in the House of Commons, (August 10th,
1842), that the military possession of Affghanistan was
most important to the commercial as well as the poli-
tical interests of this country. We have carried on a
protracted and cruel war in China, for the avowed ob-
ject of making a customer of the Chinese empire : of
making it subject to the commercial system and domi-
nion of this country : of making it a colony and market
of England.*
the Chinese, says, " The mandarins had such a strange notion of a ship,
which went about the world seeking other ships in order to take them,
that they could not be brought to hear reason on that head." Vol. i.
p. 54.
* Mr. Alison says upon the subject of the British "colonial system,
" The policy of Great Britain, for a century and a half, has been founded
upon the principle of establishing a colonial empire. It was to extend
or uphold its colonial empire, that the greatest wars of the eighteenth
310 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
In prosecuting this scheme of universal commerce,
and of aggrandizing markets, the greatest enormities and
aggressions have been continually practised by British
power and policy. Our whole course in India is gene-
rally admitted to have been a continued series of acts of
injustice and indefensible aggression. Lord Brougham
admits, "The means by which, with very few exceptions,
all the colonial territories of modern Europe have been
acquired, are such as reflect no great honour either upon
the honesty or the humanity of the different nations." *
In 1832, the East India Company sent an expedition
upon a large scale, to endeavour systematically to esta-
blish a professedly smuggling trade along the whole
coast of China ; and thus to tempt the inhabitants, by
the prospect of gain, to violate the laws of their country ;
century were undertaken ; and the whole system of its commercial
legislation was rested on the desire to establish growing markets for
its produce in distant hemispheres, and maintain inviolate the con-
nection with them by means of a powerful navy, to which the benefits
of that intercourse were exclusively confined." " The colonial system,
so far as the British empire is concerned, commenced in the days of
Queen Elizabeth ; but its first considerable development was during
the troubled times, and under the influence of the vehement demo-
cratic spirit of the Great Rebellion. The puritans, who sought refuge
from the persecution of Charles I., laid the foundation of the American
states, and they have imprinted their spirit on their descendants to the
present hour ; and the Navigation Laws were the work of the Long
Parliament, and the protector Cromwell." " Lord Chatham success-
fully prosecuted this system" (the colonial system) " through all the
glories of the seven years' war; Lord North strove to prevent it being
subverted in the American war; and Mr. Pitt re-asserted the same
principles during the revolutionary contest, and reared up the greatest
colonial empire that was ever witnessed upon earth." Alison on Po-
pulation, vol. ii. pp. 349, 350, 353.
Colonial Policy, i. 36.
ESSAY XIV.] COMMERCIAL AGGRANDIZEMENT. 311
and Mr. Gutzlaff, a missionary, accompanied the expe-
dition, as interpreter. The Chinese showed them every
hospitality and kindness ; but they resisted the temp-
tation, and obeyed the laws of the empire.* A vio-
lation of the honour and the sacred office of ambassador,
on a very recent occasion, is boasted of as one of the
triumphs of British wisdom and aggrandizement. The
government of this country sent a present of horses to
Runjeet Sing. In accordance with their instructions, the
conductors of the present sailed up one of the mouths of
the Indus, which they knew to be prohibited ; taking
soundings and surveys, the whole way, of the river and
the country. When required to desist from their voyage,
they pretended obedience, and descended the river again,
but by a different channel ; taking soundings as before
throughout their course. They then ascended a third
branch, till they were again called upon to desist ; and
so they got the soundings of as many of the mouths of
the Indus as they wished ; and they finally persisted in
ascending the river to Runjeet Sing's court, where they
took merit for the present, which they had brought to
clothe them with the sacred character of ambassadors,
being in fact spies of the country.
Another branch of our system of commercial aggran-
dizement, is our endeavour after a manufacturing mono-
poly. Some of the false principles and practices which
have engrafted themselves on this system have been
already noticed. But one of the chief devices which it
uses, in pursuing this object, is the machine system.
This much encouraged and unrestrained and always
more rapidly advancing use of machinery, is the weapon
* Davis's China, i. 117, 118.
312 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
in the hand of wealth, for the control and oppression of
the poorer classes ; and the subjection of them to their
own monied empire. The operation of this instrument
is to be observed, in the universal success of the masters
of factories in the contests for wages, and the repeated
instances in which strikes for wages have given occasion
to the invention of machines, which have superseded the
employment of human labour altogether.*
The mischiefs of the too rapid invention of machinery
and our scheme of mercantile monopoly, are not con-
fined to this country, where the inventors are fast
ruining the workmen, and secondarily most of them-
selves, but are extended to the utmost bounds of our
great commercial empire. The fine trade of India,
especially in muslins, is become extinct ; and the hand
looms, once so generally active, are there idle. We
have decreed the same oppression to China; whose
active population seems destined to pine and dwindle
under our upas touch : unless the superiority of ma-
nual to mechanical art should revive it into use and
fashion, in their hands, under an improved system of
tastes and habits, and moral condition ; and so the
Chinese commercial system should swallow up our own.
This empire of commerce has its code of laws. The
legislators of this table are the doctors of the school of
political economists. " These sages in the satanic
school in politics," as they have been justly called,f
have framed a code of maxims, which are characterized
as much by their direct opposition to the precepts of
the Gospel, as by any other peculiarity.
See Essay xi. p. 215.
f See Life of M.T. Sadler, Esq. M.P. p. 151.
ESSAY XIV.] POLITICAL ECONOMY. 313
First, Wealth is established as the idol of their wor-
ship, and the rock of their strength.
* For the creation of this, the passions of selfishness and
covetousness are to be set loose ; and this great end is
said most certainly to be attained, for the best advan-
tage of all, by every one pursuing most unrestrainedly
his own private interest.
It is declared a crime, to " increase and multiply our
species ;" because, there being by this means more com-
mon worshippers to be provided for, there will be less
surplus remaining for the princes and the high-priests.*
As a branch of this law, it is a crime to build nabita-
tions for the working classes ; and he who takes down
cottages is a public benefactor.
Commons and open grounds are to be enclosed by
the rich; where the cows and pigs and geese of the poor,
have before picked a scanty subsistence.*f-
By this code, saving money is a first virtue.
Luxury is a duty.
"Artificial wants," or the desire of finery and comforts,
is the great means and attainment of civilization ; J and,
* " A man born into a world already possessed, if he cannot get
subsistence from his parents, and if society does not want his labour,
has no claim of right to the smallest portion of food, and in fact, has
no business to be where he is." Malthas, ap. Mr. Sadler's Life, p.
169. " An attention to this obligation" (the prudential check) " is of
more effect in the prevention of misery than all the other virtues com-
bined." Ibid. 531.
f See the effect on the poor of the enclosures which took place during
the first forty years of George III. Official Document. Of thirty-six
enclosures, all but one were reported injurious to the poor. Enclosure
of Waltham Forest, 1818, p. 24, 25, 26. (By Sir John Hall.)
t " Artificial wants of any kind are utterly unknown among the
P
314 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
Such civilization is the great instrument of improve-
ment in the human race ;
You must civilize first, and then Christianize.*
By this code, almsgiving is a crime ; and even a Poor-
labouring classes of the people." " Those habits of indulgence which
are the great springs of commerce." Alison on Population, i. 338.
" It is by enlisting the active propensities on the side of virtue and
self-denial that the wonders of civilization are prepared." Ib. ii. 102;
see also ib. i. 349, 379, 393 ; ii. 124.
* " The poor who are actuated by the desire to improve their dress,
to enlarge their houses, and augment their furniture, have passed the
most critical period in human existence. A working man who puts
on a gqgd coat on Sunday, has mounted one step on the ladder of im-
provement. The next may take him to church. The country has
comparatively little to fear where the great body of the lower orders
are influenced by such motives, &c." " In remote situations, tailors
and milliners would do more in the end to improve the habits of the
lower orders, than all the efforts of the benevolent." Ibid. ii. 126,
1 29. I do not refer to Mr. Alison because his sentiments are generally
such as I would condemn ; but his repetitions are constant upon this
subject. It only affords cause to lament, that this poison has become
so widely diffused, and entered so deeply. The quotation that I am
about to make will show that I do not mean general condemnation ;
but this infection has entered even among the most excellent of the
clergy, and it is on that account the more to be exposed and condemned.
The Bishop of Madras thus writes, in his Charge of 1839. Speaking
of the native schools at Bombay, founded by the Honourable Mount-
stuart Elphinstone, he says " There are, I am aware, some excellent
persons who disapprove of these schools, because Christianity is not
taught in them. For my own part, convinced that knowledge leads to
truth, I look upon them as admirably calculated, with God's blessing,
to promote most materially the progress of civilizat ion, and consequently
of Christianity, among the natives of India." And in his Charge of
1838, speaking of Sir Robert Grant's encouragement of what is good
in India, " I learned something of his ceaseless activity in diffusing
that information, and exciting that spirit of inquiry and enterprise in
commercial pursuits, on which national prosperity so materially de-
pends."
ESSAY XIV.] POLITICAL ECONOMY. 315
law, when private alms have failed under the influence
of this system, is, as Lord Althorp confessed, contrary
to the principles of political economy.*
In effect, "The modern system," as Mr. Sadler has
stated it, " which has been insinuating itself amongst
us by degrees, is an attack upon the privileges of
labouring poverty throughout." " In agriculture, this
spirit dictates what Lord Bacon calls, the engross-
ment of great farms." " In manufactures, it would, as
the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia justly expresses it, turn
out of employment the entire population, if the master
manufacturer, by the employment of machinery, could
save an additional 5 per cent." " In commerce, it ex-
horts you to buy where you can buy cheapest ; though
you leave the multitude, who enable you to buy at
all, without employment, raiment, and bread."^ "The
repeal of the usury laws has increased the tyranny of
capital.":};
The empire of commerce has its colleges of wise men,
* Life of Mr. Sadler, p. 167, note. "A youth of eighteen would
be as completely justified in indulging the sexual passion with every
object capable of exciting it, as in following indiscriminately every
impulse of his benevolence." Malthus, ib. p. 173.
t Life of Mr. Sadler, p. 145.
t Ibid. p. 537. The same spirit and principle, of oppression to the
working classes, for the sake of extorting a greater surplus profit, is
carried into all branches by the same men. " The system of these
cotton capitalists, when they purchase an estate, is to have it revalued ;
they carry out the principle of their ledger into their rent-rolls. The
rents are doubled ; and I have known many families ruined in this
way by these men." " These are the men who are to become the
possessors of the soil of England ;" "who, as Burke says, make their
ledgers their bibles, their counting-houses their churches, and their
money their god." (Mr. Ferrand's Speech, Feb. 14, 1842.)
P2
316 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
and its schools of learning. " Men who would for-
merly have devoted their lives to metaphysical and
moral research, are now given up to a more material
study : to the theory of rents, and the philosophy of
the market. Morality itself is allowed to employ no
standard but that of utility ; to enforce her requirements
by no plea but expediency : a consideration of profit and
loss. And even the science of metaphysics is wavering,
if it has not actually pronounced in favour of a material-
ism, which would subject the great mysteries of huma-
nity to mathematical admeasurement, and chemical
analysis. Mammon is marching through the land in
triumph ; and it is to be feared that a vast majority of
all classes have devoted and degraded themselves to the
office of his train-bearers.*
According to the learning of this school, as has been
said, " Worth means wealth, and wisdom, the art of
acquiring it."
The empire of commerce has its religion, its worship,
its worshippers, and its sacrifices. The religion of
money-worship admits willingly no sabbath of rest ; it
breaks down the distinction between night and day,
between darkness and light ; the fires on its altars are
burning continually ; it has its perpetual sacrifice. Let
us borrow Wordsworth's description of its solemn orgies.
" When soothing darkness spreads
O'er hill and valley; and the punctual stars,
While all things else are gathering to their homes,
Advance, and in the firmament of heaven
Glitter but undisturbing, undisturbed ;
Mammon, p. 80.
ESSAY XIV.] MONEY WORSHIP. 317
As if their silent company were charged
With peaceful admonitions for the heart
Of all-beholding man, earth's thoughtful lord ;
Then in full many a region, once like this
The assured domain of calm simplicity
And pensive quiet, an unnatural light,
Prepared for never-resting labour's eyes,
Breaks from a many-windowed fabric huge ;
And at the appointed hour a bell is heard
Of harsher import than the curfew -knoll
That spake the Norman Conqueror's stern behest
A local summons to unceasing toil !
Disgorged are now the ministers of day ;
And as they issue from the illumined pile,
A fresh band meets them, at the crowded door
And in the court and where the rumbling stream,
That turns a multitude of busy wheels,
Glares, like a troubled spirit, in its bed
Among the rocks below, men, maidens, youths,
Mothers, and little children, boys and girls,
Enter, and each the wonted task resumes,
Within this temple where is offered up
To gain the master idol of the realm,
Perpetual sacrifice. Even thus of old
Our ancestors, within the still domain
Of vast cathedral, or conventual church,
Their vigils kept, where tapers, day and night,
On the dim altar burned continually,
In token that the house was evermore
Watching to God."*
Or, as another author expresses it, " Not only does
covetousness exist among us, it is honoured, wor-
shipped, deified. Alas ! it has, without a figure, its
priests ; its appropriate temples earthly ' hells ;' its
* Wordsworth's Excursion, bk. 8.
318 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
ceremonial ; its ever-burning fires : fed with precious
things, which ought to be offered as incense to God ;
and, for its sacrifices, immortal souls."*
When Moses went up to God, for forty days, to
obtain gifts and revelations for the Israelites, at the
mount of God, " And when the people saw that Moses
delayed to come down out of the mount, the people
gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto
him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us ; for as
for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him."
And Aaron " said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold,
let them break it off. So they gave it me ; then I cast
it into the fire, and there came out this calf." " And
they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought
thee up out of the land of Egypt." " And the people
sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play."
When our Lord is gone up to Heaven, and " is as-
cended up on high, to receive gifts for men," for us his
redeemed Church, we begin to say, " the Lord delayeth
his coming," " all things continue as they were ;" we
wot not what is become of this Moses ; we have cast
our gold into the fire, and there is come out this image ;
and we eat and drink and play, and proclaim, These be
our gods in which we trust, and to which we are in-
debted for our deliverance.
" And Moses cast the tables" (of the covenant) " out
of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount" in
the very seat of God's Church ; " And the tables were
the work of God ; and the writing was the writing of
* Mammon, p. 80.
ESSAY XIV.] MONEY WORSHIP. 319
God ;" " And he took the calf which they had made,
and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and
strawed it upon the water, and made the children of
Israel drink of it." " And he said unto them, Go in
and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and
slay every man his brother, and every man his com-
panion, and every man his neighbour. " And the Lord
plagued the people, because they made the calf, which
Aaron made."*
And is not God plaguing us, and is not every man's
hand set against his brother, in this free and fierce com-
petition, with which every one is striking down his
neighbour, and establishing himself upon his neighbour's
ruin ; to be mown down in turn himself, among the
thousands that are preparing for the next sacrifice ? The
following is a characteristic anecdote of the spirit and
operation of money-getting. Among the histories of
the mines of South America, " Dr. Walsh mentions,
that at a very early period, two parties meeting on the
banks of the river, where San Jose was afterwards
built, instead of agreeing in their objects, and pursuing
their operations together, they set upon each other like
famished tigers, impelled by a hunger still more fierce
the cursed lust of gold. A bloody encounter ensued, in
which many were killed on both sides ; and the river
was from that time called Rio das Mortes, or the River
of Death."f
This is but an analogous picture of the spirit of hos-
tility and opposition which the competition of trade is
* Exod. xxxii.
f Sat. Mag. May 28, 1842.
320 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
engendering in all quarters. In the mean time, the
manufacturing system is crippling the bodies and minds
of the vast labouring population. Hecatombs of chil-
dren are the sacrifices. Witnesses to the effects of our
system of trade as now carried on, " do not hesitate to
affirm, that it is the cause of utter ruin, temporal and spi-
ritual, to eight out of every ten children that are employed
in it." With respect to the bodily frame, the report of
the Baron Dupin, to the Chamber of Peers in France,*
states, that in the manufacturing departments only 70
men in 10,000 were found fit for military service, but in
the agricultural nearly half the population.^
The demoralizing system of our trade is so destructive
and so extensive, that the Mahometan Sultan of Turkey
has been compelled to issue an edict against the enor-
mities of the Christian traffic. It proceeds in these
terms :
" God is great and omnipotent, and has appointed
bounds to all things. It being a matter of public noto-
riety, that the infidel traders of Pera have increased in
number, and stored their ships with various tempting arti-
cles, the offspring of Satan's inventions, whereby the
wives and handmaids of the faithful are excited to acts
of most mischievous extravagance, thereby injuring
their domestic felicity, and entailing great pecuniary
inflictions upon their husbands and lords ; it also being
observed that, not content with filling their shops with
these luring creations of Eblis, the aforesaid breeders of
mischief place behind their counters youths of comely
* February, 1 840.
f Lord Ashley's Speech, July 4th, 1841.
ESSAY XIV.] MONEY EMPIRE. 321
appearance, hoping still further to captivate and in-
toxicate the senses of true believing women, and thence
endangering their souls as well as their purses,
it is therefore ordained, in the name of the Avenger of
all evils, that caution and discretion be inculcated by
husbands and male relatives, and that the pernicious
practice of frequenting these infidel traps of destruction
be put an end to. Let this serve as a warning, or all
parties will have abundance of filth for their portion in
this world and the next."
These are the arts, and tastes, and practices, which
it is our principle to diffuse, and by which we operate
to extend our commercial empire ; and in proportion as
we have persuaded any people to adopt our habits and
system, we congratulate them and ourselves upon their
being the more highly civilized. As it has been truly
said, " They desire and seek for the blessings of civi-
lization, and then it proves their ruin."*
A writer already quoted gives the following vivid
description of this existing empire of money :
" Gold is the only power which receives universal
homage. It is worshipped in all lands without a single
temple, and by all classes without a single hypocrite ;
and often has it been able to boast of having armies for
its priesthood, and hecatombs of human victims for its
sacrifices. Where war has slain its thousands, gain has
slaughtered its millions ; for while the former operates
only with the local and fitful terrors of an earthquake, the
destructive influence of the latter is universal and unceas-
ing. Indeed, war itself what has it often been but the art
* Gray's Australia. Letter by Laing, p. 235.
322 THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE. [ESSAY XIV.
of gain practised on the largest scale ? the covetousness
of a nation resolved on gain, impatient of delay, and
leading on its subjects to deeds of rapine and blood ?
Its history is the history of slavery and oppression in
all ages. For centuries, Africa one quarter of the
globe has been set apart to supply the monster with
victims thousands at a meal. And at this moment,
what a populous and gigantic empire can it boast ! the
mine, with its unnatural drudgery; the manufactory, with
its swarms of squalid misery ; the plantation, with its
imbruted gangs; and the market and the exchange, with
their furrowed and careworn countenances, these are
only specimens of its more menial offices and subjects.
Titles and honours are among its rewards, and thrones at
its disposal. Among its counsellors are kings; and many
of the great and mighty of the earth are enrolled among
its subjects. Where are the waters not ploughed by
its navies ? What imperial element is not yoked to
its car ? Philosophy itself is become a mercenaiy in its
pay ; and science, a votary at its shrine, brings all its
noblest discoveries as offerings to its feet. What part
of the globe's surface is not rapidly yielding up its last
stores of hidden treasure to the spirit of gain? or retains
more than a few miles of unexplored and unvanquished
territory ? Scorning the childish dream of the philo-
sopher's stone, it aspires to turn the Globe itself into
Gold."*
Mammon, p. 78.
( 323 )
ESSAY XV.
THE PROPHETIC HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE OF
COMMERCE.
THE TYPICAL EMPIRE OF TYRE THE KING OF TYRE A TYPE OF ANTI-
CHRIST THE TYPICAL EMPIRE OF BABYLON THE EPHAH OF WICKED-
NESS OF ZECHARIAH COMMERCIAL WICKEDNESS THE JUDGMENT OF
TYPICAL BABYLON OF TYPICAL TYRE THE MYSTICAL BABYLON OF
REVELATIONS THE DOOM OF AVARICE OF THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE.
THE prophecies of the Old and New Testaments are
fraught with descriptions of the rise, and power, and
destruction, in the last days, of the great commercial
empire. Tyrus and Babylon seem to be the prototypes
of this vain-glorious and tyrannical power. The descrip-
tions of their acts and pretensions are alike ; and the
prophetic circumstances of their final destruction also
are parallel.
Of Tyrus it was said,
" The crowning city : whose merchants are princes."
" He stretched forth his hand over the sea : he shook
the kingdoms." *
" Say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry
of the sea, which are a merchant of the people for many
isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said,
I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst
of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty." f
Isai. xxiii. 8, 11. f Ezek. xxvii. 3, 4.
324 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
" Thou sealest up the sum : full of wisdom, and per-
fect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of
God. Every precious stone was thy covering : the sar-
dius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and
the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle ;
and with gold hast thou filled thy treasuries and thy
coffers in the midst of thee. In the day when thou
wast first set up" (when thy pre-eminence as a mercan-
tile kingdom was first established), " thou wast set in
the presence of the anointed cherub that covereth [that
veileth] the throne of God," (I committed to thee a
church ;) " I set thee so ; thou wast set upon the holy
mountain of God ; thou walkedst up and down in the
midst of the stones of fire ;* thou wast perfect in thy
ways from the day that thou wast created : till iniquity
was found in thee. By the multitude of thy mer-
chandize thou hast filled the midst of thee with vio-
lence ; and thou hast sinned.
"Therefore, I will cast thee as profane out of the
mountain of God ; and the Cherub shall drive thee out
of the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted
up because of thy beauty ; thou hast corrupted thy wis-
dom by reason of thy brightness. I will cast thee to
the ground for the multitude of thy sins, and make an
* " Thou didst exercise, or assume, the office of high priest, with his
breastplate of twelve precious stones ; in the midst of God's chosen
church and people." Ptscator; Vatablus; Kimchi ; Grotius. Apud
Poli Synopsis, in loco.
England became a great commercial nation at the same lime when
she first became established as the head of the Reformed Churches,
and her king as the head of the Church.
ESSAY XV.] TYPICAL TYRE. 325
example of thee before the rest of kings. Thou hast
denied thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine ini-
quities, by the iniquity of thy traffic. Therefore will I
bring forth a fire from the midst of thee ; it shall devour
thee ; and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in
the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that
know thee among the nations shall wonder and wail
over thee. Thou shalt be a ruin; and never shalt be
any more." *
Yet it is prophesied of Tyre, that it shall be restored.
* Ezek. xxviii. See Septuagint.
" Notandum quod multa quae tribuuntur hoc capite regi Tyri, ei diffi-
cillime secundum litteram accommodari possint, nisi multiplices et
excessivas hyperbolas faciamus ; ut faciunt Hebraei expositores. Veluti
quod dicitur vers. 13 : In deliciis parodist Deifuisti. Et paulo post :
Tu cherub extentus et protegens; et posui te in monte sancto Dei. Et
similiter, qui totum hoc vaticinium pertinere volunt ad casum Diaboli,
qui est princeps Tyri, id est, superborum; et ipsi difficultates patiuntur.
Sunt enim quaedam sententiae, quae proprie pertinent ad regem ter-
renum : ut quod potentia ejus consistat in negotiatione, et in copia
auri, et argenti et similibus. Itaque duae hie regulae observandae sunt,
ut hujus loci veram intelligentiam assequamur. Una est Ticonii, inter
regulas ejus 7. apud August, lib. 3, de doct. Christ, videlicet de Diabolo
et ejus corpore. Sicut enim in eodem Scripturse contextu, saepe fit
transitus a Christo tanquam capite ad ecclesiam, quae est Christi cor-
pus ; vel contra ab ecclesia ad Christum : ita non raro fit, ut scriptura
transitum faciat a Diabolo tanquam capite, ad ejus membra, hoc est
impiorum societatem ; vel contra, ab impiis, vel uno impio, ad caput
impietatis Diabolum. Ita hoc capite de impio et superbo rege Tyri
incipiens loqui propheta, aliquoties ea interserit, quae inulto conve-
nientius in principem superborum Diabolum, ejusque de coelo ruinam
dicantur et intelligantur. Alia est regula Augustini, Gregorii, et
aliorum patrum ; ut videlicet, si secundum litteram, seu historicum
sensum aliqua, vel pie, vel saltern digne intelligi non possint ; ea ad
sublimiorem intelligentiam referantur." Estil Annot. in loco.
326 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
" After the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an
harlot."
" Go about the city, thou harlot that hast been for-
gotten."
" And it shall come to pass, after the end of seventy
years, that the Lord will visit Tyre; and she shall turn
to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the
kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth."*
But the Tyre prophesied of in Ezekiel, " never shall
be any more ;" and this Tyre of Isaiah, has never till
now been restored to its former greatness, nor fornicated
with its money and merchandize among all kingdoms.
Now the term of seventy years of the Jews' captivity
prophesied by Jeremiah, is coeval with the Israelites'
captivity and dispersion; and though partially fulfilled
at the return of the two tribes, after the decrees of Cyrus
and Darius, is still running on in prophetic idea, and is
finally to be completed in the restoration of both Jews
and Israelites together, from their wandering and dis-
persion. At that time, there seems little doubt, the
figurative and mystical Babylon is to be overthrown,
as the material one was to be at the end of the literal
seventy years. " And it shall come to pass, when
seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the
king of Babylon."t And in the same chapter it is pro-
phesied that, at the same time, all nations shall be
visited with the vials of God's wrath. " For thus saith
the Lord God of Israel unto me, Take the wine-cup of
this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to
* Isai. xxiii. 1517. f Jerem. xxv. 12.
ESSAY XV.] TYPICAL TYRE. 327
whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink,
and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that
I will send among them. Then I took the cup at the
Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto
whom the Lord had sent me." Then they are enume-
rated, namely, all the nations of the world that were
then known ; " and all the kings of the north far and
near, one with another ; and all the kingdoms of the
world, which are upon the face of the earth ; and the
king of Sheshach [Babylon] shall drink after them."
The vials of the " last plagues" of the wrath of God,
seem now to have been well nigh poured out upon all
the other nations of the earth ; and that which is des-
tined for the great Babylon, to be that one alone which
is left.
" In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the
children of Israel shall come, they and the children of
Judah together"*
The seventy years of Tyrus therefore, of the great
empire of commerce, seem but even now to be accom-
plishing. *f-
It is most remarkable, that of this commercial empire
it is said, that Antichrist shall arise out of it. " Son
of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the
* Jerem. 1. 4.
f "Numerus ille, inquit Hieron., perfectam et consummatam signi-
ficat pcenitentiam ; quia ex duplici perfecto numero componitur ;
septenario et denario inter se multiplicatis. Itaque significatur per
septemplicem gratiam Spiritus Sancti, et decem prasceptorum observan-
tiam, animam, quae post varias concupiscentias fuerat fornicata, ad
pristinum integritatis statum reverti." Estii Annot. in Isai. xxiii. 15.
The repentance here spoken of, must be that of the Jews.
328 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
Lord God ; because thine heart is lifted up, and thou
hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the
midst of the seas ; yet thou art a man, and not God,
though thou set thine heart as the heart of God. Behold
thou art wiser than Daniel ; there is no secret that they
can hide from thee. With thy wisdom and thine under-
standing thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten
gold and silver in thy treasures. By thy wisdom and
by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches ; and thine
heart is lifted up because of thy riches. Therefore thus
saith the Lord God : Because thou hast set thine heart
as the heart of God :
" Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I
am God."*
But Babylon is the chief prophetic prototype of the
great mystical empire of wickedness, the empire of
commerce, the fornicator with all nations, the mother
of harlots, and abominations of the earth. Babylon
was, in its eminence, the great emporium of eastern
merchandize, the centre of Asiatic commerce ; and it
is expressly described by Ezekiel as " A land of traffick,
a city of merchants."f
Of Babylon, the same descriptions are used which
are applied to the last earthly empire.
" Thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever.
" Hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures,
that dwellest carelessly ; that sayest in thy heart, I am,
Ezek. xxviii. 2 6, 9. It is obvious that the characteristic pre-
tension of the present age is that of learning and wisdom. In Baby-
lon also, which furnishes the other type of the last empire, the Chal-
deans were eminently distinguished for their learning and wisdom.
t Ezek. xvii. 4.
ESSAY XV.] TYPICAL BABYLON. 329
and none else beside me : I shall not sit as a widow,
neither shall I know the loss of children.
" Thou hast trusted in thy wickedness ; thou hast
said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge
it hath perverted thee ; and thou hast said in thy heart,
I am, and none else beside me.
" Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the
multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured
from thy youth.
" Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels.
" Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast
laboured, even thy merchants from thy youth."*
The re-establishment of this Kingdom of Commerce
as the Kingdom of Wickedness, and identified with the
empire of Babylon, is prophesied of in Zechariah, in the
5th chapter. After prefiguring the establishment of
Christ's kingdom the publication of the Gospel under
the figure of a " Flying Roll :" written, like the tables
of the Mosaic covenant, on both sides, he proceeds to
prefigure the foundation of the Antichristian kingdom,
in opposition to the kingdom of Christ and the purity
of the Gospel :
" Then the angel that talked with me went forth,
and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what
is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it ? And
he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth." An
" ephah" is the symbol of trade and commerce : "Just
balances, just weights, a just * ephah' " Lev. xix. 36.
" Just balances and a just ' ephah' " Ezek. xlv. 10.
* Isai. xlvii. 7, &c.
330 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
It is also the subject of commercial dishonesty, and
wickedness in trade : " making the ' ephah' small"
Amos, viii. 5.
" He said moreover, This is their resemblance (their
eye,* idol, their object of desire and worship) through
all the earth.
" And behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead :
and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the
ephah. And he said, This is wickedness :" namely, the
measure of men's dealings is full of wickedness and
deceit : " and he cast the weight of lead upon the
mouth thereof.
" Then lifted I up my eyes, and looked, and behold
there came out two women, and the wind was in their
wings," to signify the swift growth of this wicked
power, and that it was to be planted at a great distance
from the seat of the then existing empire of the world :
" for they had wings like the wings of a stork ; and
they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the
heaven," it was to be raised to an exceedingly eminent
and exalted empire.
" Then said I to the angel that talked with me,
Whither do these bear the ephah ? And he said unto
me, To build it an house in the land of 1 Skinar ;' and it
shall be established and set there upon her own base."
Therefore, wickedness in the ephah, extortion in
The word is " eye," oculus, according to all the old interpreters.
And most of them give it this signification, namely, the object of de-
sire : objecium oculi, puta res visa in quam omnes conjiciunt oculos.
Oculi eorum non aliud respiciunt. " If thine eye be single : if thine
eye be evil."
ESSAY XV.] THE EPHAH OF WICKEDNESS. 331
trade and commerce, is the ruling principle in the
Antichristian empire; and this empire is the Babylon
of the Apocalypse.*
* I am fortified in this interpretation of the " ephah," and of " wick-
edness" taking her seat in it, by some of the ancient interpreters.
Cornelius a Lapide says on this passage, in his Commentary, " Utitur
symbolo amphora?, vel epha et modii, quia in his mensuris fraudem et
furtum, de quo v. 3, faciebant Judasi : unde Chald. vertit, isti sunt
populi qui uccipiebant et dabant mensurafalsa. Et mox : Propter hoc
condemnati et in exilium translati sunt, quia accipiebant et dabant
mensuraj'alsa."
But the comment of St. Gregory is the most important and conclu-
sive on the whole passage. " Symbolice, S. Gregor. lib. 14, Moral, c.
26, per Amphoram accipit Avaritiam, in quam oculi omnium munda-
norum respiciunt ; ut, cum ad caetera sint caeci, oculos solum habere
videantur ad intuendas amphoras, et mensuras emendi vendendique, ac
caetera lucri instrumenta. Hanc dua? mulieres, scilicet superbia et
inanis gloria, in altum levant. Audi ipsummet S. Gregor. totum hoc
amphoras symbolum explicantem moraliter : Volens Deus prophetse
ostendere humanum genus, et qua ab eo maxima culpa dilabatur,
per imaginem amphorae quasi patens os avaritiae designavit : avaritia
quippe velut amphora est, quas os cordis in ambitu apertum tenet. Et
dixit : Haec est oculus eorum in universa terra. * * Unde recte de
hac eadem avaritia dicitur: hoc est oculus eorum in universa terra.
Ecce talentum plumbi portabatur. Quid est talentum plumbi, nisi ex
eadem avaritia pondus peccati ? * * Impietas in medio amphora?
projicitur : quia nimirum in avaritia semper impietas tenetur. Et
misit massam plumbi in os ejus. Massa plumbi in os mulieris mittitur :
quia scilicet impietas avaritiae peccati sui pondere gravatur. * *
Levant ergo istae mulieres amphoram inter ccelum et terram, quia
superbia et inanis gloria mentem per avaritiam honoris captam ita ele-
vant, ut quoslibet proximos despicientes quasi ima deserant, et alta
gloriantes petant. * * Amphora ergo levata inter terram et ccelum
dicitur : quia avari quique per superbiam atque inanem gloriam et
proximos juxta se despiciunt, et superiora qua? ultra ipsos sunt, nul-
latenus apprehendunt. Inter terram itaque et ccelum feruntur : quia
nee aequalitatem fraternitatis in infimis per charitatem tenent, nee
tamen summa pertingere sese extollendo praevalent. * Sciendum
332 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
We come now to consider and compare the denounce-
ments of punishment against Babylon and Tyrus : both
the typical and the anti-typical. Of the Babylon of
former time it is said
" How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder
and broken ! How is Babylon become a desolation
among the nations ?
" Behold I am against thee, O thou most proud :
for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.*
" A sword is upon the Chaldeans, and upon the in-
habitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon
her wise men.
" A sword is upon the liars ; and they shall dote : a
sword is upon her mighty men ; and they shall be dis-
mayed.
quoque est quod Sennaar latissima vallis est, in qua turris a superbieu-
tibus aedificari cceperat, quae linguarum facta diversitate destructa est :
quae scilicet turris Babylon dicta est, pro ipsa videlicit confusione
mentium et linguarum. Nee immerito ibi avaritiae amphora ponitur,
ubi Babylon, id est, confusio, aedificatur : quia dum per avaritiam et
impietatem certum est omnia mala exurgere, recte haec ipsa avaritia
atque impietas in confusione perhibentur habitare." (Cornel, a Lap.
Comment, in loco.)
The Targum and Pembellus also favour this interpretation. " Epha
est instrumentum emptionis et venditionis, adeoque, per synecdochen,
injustitiam omnium Judaeorum in commerciis suis apte denotat.
Huic favet, quod hie respici possit praecedens visio de furto et per-
jurio ; et quod Targum sic 7rapa<p?a(f(, Hi sunt populus qui falsis men-
suris usus est in emendo et vendendo." (Pembellus.) Poli Synopsis,
in loco.
Bishop Lowth says, an ephali, being the measure of dry things,
denotes the Jews' unjust dealings in buying and selling. On Zech.
5,6.
Jerem. 1. 23, 31.
ESSAY XV.] JUDGMENT OF TYPICAL BABYLON. 333
" A sword is upon their horses, and upon their
chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in
the midst of her ; and they shall become as women : a
sword is upon her treasures ; and they shall be robbed.
" A drought is upon her waters ; and they shall be
dried up : for it is the land of graven images, and they
are mad upon their idols.
" At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is
moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.*
" Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every
man his soul. Be not cut off in her iniquity. For this
is the time of the Lord's vengeance ; he will render unto
her a recompence.
" Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand,
that hath made all the earth drunken : the nations have
drunk of her wine ; therefore the nations are mad.
" Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed : howl
for her ; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be
healed.
" We would have healed Babylon ; but she is not
healed.-f*
" O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant
in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy
covetousness.
" Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain,
which destroyedst all the earth ; and I will stretch out
mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the
rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
" And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner,
Verses 3538, 46. f Jerem. li. 69.
334 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
nor a stone for foundations ; but thou shall be desolate
for ever, saith the Lord.
" The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor,
it is time to thresh her : yet a little while, and the time
of her harvest shall come.
" I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
" How is the praise of the whole earth surprised !
how is Babylon become an astonishment among the
nations.
" And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise
men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men ;
and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,
saith the king, whose name is the Lord of Hosts.
" Thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the
midst of Euphrates.
" And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and
shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her."*
But the judgments against Tyre are still more ex-
pressly similar to those which are pronounced in Re-
velations against the mystical Babylon; as if plainly to
show, that it is a merchant power which is there pro-
phesied of.
"Thus saith the Lord God to Tyre: Shall not the
isles shake at the sound of thy fall; when the wounded
ciy, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?
"Then all the princes of the sea shall come down
from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put
off their broidered garments; they shall clothe them-
selves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground,
* Jerem. li. 13, 25, 26, 33, 36, 41, 57, 63, 64.
ESSAY XV.] JUDGMENT OF TYPICAL TYRE. 335
and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished
at thee (wail over thee. Septuag.)
"And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and
say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited
of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong
in the sea, which caused her terror to all who frequent
it. (Septuag.)
"Now shall 'the isles' tremble in the day of thy fall;
yea, 'the isles that are in the sea,' shall be troubled at
thy departure.*
"Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for
Tyrus; and say unto Tyrus,
" O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which
art a merchant of the people for many isles. Thus
saith the Lord God , O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of
perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the
seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They
have made all thy ship-boards of fir trees of Senir; they
have taken cedars from Lebanon, to make masts for
thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine
oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy
benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.
Fine linen, with broidered work from Egypt, was that
which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and
purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered
thee. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy
mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee,
were thy pilots. The ancients of Gebal and the wise
men thereof, were in thee thy calkers ; all the ships of
the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy
* Ezek. xxvi. 1518.
336 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
merchandize. They of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut
were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the
shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.
The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls
round about; and the Gammadims were in thy towers:
they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about;
they have made thy beauty perfect. Tarshish was thy
merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of
riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in
thy fairs. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy
merchants : they traded the persons of men and vessels
of brass in thy market. They of the house of Togarmah
traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.
The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles
were the merchandise of thine hand : they brought thee
for a present horns of ivory and ebony. Syria was thy
merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of
thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds,
purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral,
and agate. Judah [the Jews,] and the land of Israel,
they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market
wheat of Minnith, and pannag, and honey, and oil, and
balm. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude
of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all
riches; in the wine of Helbon and white wool. Dan
also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs:
bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.
Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied
with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats; in these were
they thy merchants. The merchants of Sheba and
ESSAY XV.] JUDGMENT OF TYPICAL TYRE. 337
Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in
thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious
stones, and gold. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the
merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy
merchants.
"These were thy merchants in all sorts of things,
in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of
rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar,
among thy merchandise. The ships of Tarshish did
sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished,
and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
"Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters,
the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the sea."
Thy avarice and adventure hath overstepped all bounds
of discretion; thy eagerness and competition and spe-
culation in trading, and the multiplying of thy manu-
factures, have been forced and encouraged by thee, like
a ship crowding more and more sail, or steam, in a race,
till the vessel and engine have become unmanageable,
and thou hast foundered all in one moment, upon
encountering a sudden storm, or unforeseen difficulties
in navigation; and become a total wreck, without saving
a man, or a bale of goods, or a spar.
" Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy
mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers
of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in
thee, [on board thee], and in all thy company which is
in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the
seas, in the day of thy ruin. The suburbs shall shake
at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. And all that
handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the
Q
338 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand
upon the land; and shall cause their voice to be heard
against thee, [in their lamentations over thee,] and
shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their
heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes; and
they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird
them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with
bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. And in their
wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and
lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like
the destroyed in the midst of the sea. When thy wares
went forth out of the seas, [Septuag. What reward
hast thou gotten thyself from the sea?] thou filledst
many people ; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth
with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in
depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy com-
pany in the midst of thee shall fall. All the inhabitants
of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings
shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their coun-
tenance. The merchants among the people [nations]
shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror [a ruin,
Septuag.], and never shalt be any more."*
When the corresponding denouncements of punish-
ment against the Babylon of the last days, are read
beside these descriptions of the judgments of Tyre and
Babylon, it seems hardly possible to doubt that it is
another corresponding commercial empire, immersed in
all the sins of covetousness and pride, and luxury and
vainglory, and trading abominations, against which the
* Ezek. xxvii.
ESSAY XV.] THE MYSTICAL BABYLON. 339
wrath and ruin, denounced upon the mystical Babylon
in Revelations, are directed. The bitterness of these
plagues, and the distinctive characters of the power
upon which they are to fall, are described at much
length in the 17th and 18th chapters of Revelations.
" And there came one of the seven angels which had
the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me,
Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the
Great Whore, that sitteth upon many waters: with
whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication;
and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk
with the wine of her fornication.
" So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilder-
ness.* And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured
beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads,
and ten horns."
The woman is not the beast; but she sits upon it.
Also, she sits upon " many waters," and upon " the
beast." Therefore, the " many waters" are " the beast;"
according as it is immediately afterwards described,
" The seven heads are seven mountains," or kingdoms ;
" on which the woman sitteth ; and there are seven
kings." " And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten
kings; which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive
power as kings at one time, in union with the beast."
Namely, this is the Rome revived, the Romano-Chris-
tian empire: consisting of the indefinite number of
* It is only those who withdraw themselves from the world, its fa-
shions, and feelings, and impressions, who can perceive the colour and
character and features of this hideous apostacy, and consummate form
of wickedness.
Q 2
340 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
different sovereign powers, which have grown up out of
the stump of the ancient Roman empire: namely, "all
the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth,"
with which the Babilonish whore hath committed forni-
cation. And these are the "many waters" upon which
the whore sitteth: according as it is just afterwards
described, "The waters which thou sawest, where the
whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations,
and tongues." And all these sovereign kingdoms and na-
tions, thus represented as " the ten horns," " these shall
hate the whore, and shall make her desolate, and naked,
and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." " For
God hath put into their hearts to fulfil his will, and to
agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast:" so
that the beast and the ten kings, who were formerly in
union and in league, shall afterwards fight against the
whore, and destroy her: the "many waters" upon which
she rode proudly, as a ship in full sail, shall swallow
her up in the midst of them; as was prophesied of the
sudden destruction of Tyre at the height of her glory.
The mystical whore of Babylon is thus described, in
the midst of her glory and sinfulness, on the eve of her
sudden annihilation.
" And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abomi-
nations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon
her forehead was a name written, ' Mystery, Babylon the
Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the
Earth.' And I saw the woman drunken with the blood
of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs [wit-
ESSAY XV.] THE MYSTICAL BABYLON. 341
nesses] of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration."
The fall of this great Money-empire from its towering
height of prosperity, has not been altogether unforeseen,
or unpredicted. Young has said, of the British empire,
comparing it with Tyre, " her fall is to be feared; unless
the fate of most former empires betray us into mistake ;
and that national poison which has ever proved mortal,
is mortal no more." And again, of its present state of
boasted splendour and luxury, " Most nations have been
gayest, when nearest their end; and like the taper in
the socket, have blazed as they expired."* " The night
of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. Pre-
pare the table, watch in the watch-tower, eat, drink ;
Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield" of the taking
of Babylon.f " For thus hath the Lord God said unto
me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot
of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened
diligently with much heed. And he cried [as] a lion,
My lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in
the daytime, and I am set in my watch whole nights,
and behold here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple
of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is
fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods
he hath broken unto the ground/'J
The doom of covetousness and money-worship is
more repeatedly and heavily pronounced than almost
* Young, Lett. 2d. -f Isai. xxi. 4, 5. J Ib. 69.
342 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
any other judgment in Scripture; and apparently with
reference to an ultimate consummation of the oppres-
sions and cruelties, and idolatries and apostacies, which
shall grow up out of it.
" Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to
his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he
may be delivered from the power of evil." " Because
thou (Babylon) hast spoiled many nations, all the rem-
nant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men's
blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and
of all that dwell therein." " Thou hast consulted shame
to thy house, by cutting off many people, and hast
sinned against thy soul [against thy own life, so that it
is forfeited]. For the stone shall cry out of the wall,
and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.*
" Many shall follow their pernicious ways ; by reason
of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And
through covetousness shall they with feigned words
make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a
long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth
not."f
" Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for the
miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are
corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your
gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall
be a witness against you:" our difficulties and dis-
tresses in money-matters, which are increasing as we
become a richer nation, are a witness against us, and
the principles upon which we found our strength ; but
* Hab. ii. 811. f 2 Pet. ii. 2, 3.
ESSAY XV.] THE DOOM OF COVETOUSNESS. 343
we are blind, and cannot see the sign: " and shall eat
your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure
together in the last days."*
"The righteous shall see, and shall laugh at him:
saying, Lo, this is the man that made not God his
strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches."^
" Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for
the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered and
ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked
and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye
visited me not." " The poor," says the Homily, " are in
Christ's stead. " And Archbishop Eanbald said, " The
hand of the poor man is the treasury of Christ."^ If
this be so ; and Mr. Sadler says, " The whole of the
modern system in agriculture, in manufactures, in com-
merce, in shipping, in the currency, even in science
is an attack upon the privileges of labouring poverty :
if this be true also ; and the poor are as systematically
oppressed as they ever were in Athens, or in Rome, or
in Judaea, or in the worst periods of covetousness and
luxury, and oppression ; then is the reign of riches and
commerce expressly the subject of this curse, Verily I
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall
go away into everlasting punishment." ||
* James, v. 1 3.
f Psalm lii. 6, 7.
J Horn on Almsgiving, part i.
Churton's History of the Church, p. 184.
| Matt. xxv.
344 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
The manner and circumstances of the final destruction
are described at length in the 18th of Revelations.
"And after these things" (the above description of
the great whore), " I saw another angel come down
from heaven, having great power; and the earth was
lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a
strong voice," (as Daniel before Belshazzar,) " saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit,
and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For
all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed
fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are
waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come
out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her
sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remem-
bered her iniquities. Reward her even as she re-
warded you, and double unto her double according to
her works ; in the cup which she hath filled fill to her
double. How much she hath glorified herself, and
lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her:
for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen (of the seas), and
am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall
her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and
famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire ; for
strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings
of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived
deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for
her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
ESSAY XV.] THE DOOM OF MYSTICAL BABYLON. 345
standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying,
Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city ! for
in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants
of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man
buyeth their merchandise any more; the merchandise
of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls,
and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all
thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all
manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass,
and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and
ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine
flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses,
and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. And the
fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee,
and all things which were dainty and goodly are de-
parted from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at
all. The merchants of these things which were made
rich by her, shall stand afar off, for the fear of her tor-
ment, weeping, and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that
great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple,
and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones,
and pearls ! for in one hour so great riches is come to
nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in
ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood
afar off, and cried, when they saw the smoke of her
burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city '"
" The rich man's wealth is his strong city."* " If I
have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold,
Thou art my confidence :"f " And they cast dust on
their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying,
* Prov. x. 15. f Job, xxxi. 24.
Q5
346 THE PROPHETIC EMPIRE OF COMMERCE. [ESSAY XV.
Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all
that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness ;
for in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her,
thou heaven (the hierarchy and church), and ye holy
apostles and prophets ; for God hath avenged you on
her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great
mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with
violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down,
and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of
harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters,
shall be heard no more at all in thee ; and no craftsman,
of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in
thee ; and the sound of a mill-stone shall be heard no
more at all in thee ; and the light of a candle shall shine
no more at all in thee ; and the voice of the bridegroom
and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee :
for thy merchants were the great men of the earth ; for
by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her
was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of
all that were slain upon the earth."
( 347 )
ESSAY XVI.
THE NOISOME AND GRIEVOUS SORE.
" CPOK TBR HEX WHICH HAD THE MABK OF THE BUST, ASD UPON THCJf WHICH WOR-
SHIPPED HIS IMAGE." BET. Xvi. .
CRUELTIES AND HORRORS IN CIVILIZED FRANCE RECENT CRUELTIES
AND HORRORS CRIMES AND DISORDERS OF MODERN SOCIETY, IN
ENGLAND IN FRANCE SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION CIVIL WARS AND
REVOLUTIONS COMMERCIAL DISTRESSES MISERIES OF THE WORK-
PEOPLE DEMORALIZATION OF THE WORKING-CLASSES NATIONAL
DEBTS COMMERCIAL FRAUDS AMERICAN BANKS INCREASE OF
CRIME PAUPERISM THE NEW POOR-LAW THE WORKHOUSE TEST
ITS EFFECTS.
WHEN we admire the fair features of perfect beauty,
we can hardly believe that any dark passions should
lurk beneath, or could ever disturb them. When we
witness the gay and graceful step with which society
moves: the playful smile of civilized life: her tasteful
dress, her elegant manner, her fan* and soft complexion :
we could hardly believe that any thing meretricious
even in thought could blemish such a model of perfec-
tion. Can it be then, that the more becoming the dress,
the more bright and brilliant the skin, the more studied
and seductive the manner, the more dangerous the
attraction and company, and the more certain the sign
of impurity? Rome was never more highly civilized
than at the time when she was most corrupt : nay,
348 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
brutal: Then she, even her women, delighted in the
conflicts and blood of gladiators. Spain was in her
palmy and most civilized state, when her refined females
revelled intensely in the bloody bull-fights, and all their
savagery. Spain is said even now to be such a polished
nation, that they take off the hat to a beggar, and even
the highwayman robs with the most perfect civility.
There is nothing inconsistent between the utmost refine-
ment of education and manners, and the grossest de-
pravity. We have seen evidence given in courts of
justice, of the extreme refinement of a person charged
with the most brutal of offences ; but it was no testi-
mony of innocence; if it were not even possibly an evi-
dence tending to the contrary. We may walk the
streets of London in a fair day, and be wholly ignorant
of the masses of filth and corruption, which the mighty
organization of underground sewers is draining off con-
tinually; and as if there were no creation of mud or
filth in this highly refined and civilized metropolis.
Contrary to the laws of matter, the close contact of
dense masses of people in highly civilized towns, tends
strangely to disunite them, and to make them strangers
to one another. They know nothing of the beggary
and famine in the nearest courts and alleys ; which does
not exist the less because they sweep and banish them
from the principal streets: they know nothing of their
next neighbour's joy or sorrow, or agony, or villany.
Nay, a man died, and his death was unknown to his
fellow-lodgers, till four days afterwards.* We have also
our brutal exhibitions, on a par with the pampered
Morning Herald, December 18, 1840.
ESSAY XVI.] CRUELTIES AND HORRORS. 349
Spaniards and showing a revival of the taste among us
of civilized and corrupted Rome. Crowded theatres-full
of spectators, witnessed, with morbid excitement and
shuddering delight, the daily encounters of Van Am-
burg with his wild beasts: though every one among
them felt convinced that he would one day be torn to
pieces; and in fact he was frightfully torn by them
several times. Thousands of persons went to witness
the feat of Samuel Scott pretending to hang himself on
Waterloo Bridge, and performing all the convulsions of
a man in the agonies of death: and the agonies were
real ; for after the subsidence of applause and excite-
ment, he was found to be indeed dead.
It is fairly questioned " whether the most barbarous
ages could show such scenes of horror and bloodshed
as have been witnessed during the last (enlightened !)
half century, and of which we have too much cause at
this day to dread the repetition. Nay, we may go
further, and assert, that ignorance and superstition, and
fraud, are as grossly and mischievously prevalent in our
own times, as at any former period of the world's his-
tory that can be mentioned."
The revolution, in refined and philosophic France,
discovered and developed passions and tastes far more
cruel and deep-seated, than anything that history had
before given evidence of, during a similar period of
time. The populace turned executioners; not for once,
or on several occasions of excitement; but systemati-
cally, and for a continuance. Their ready gibbet was
everywhere at hand in the street lamps. Every one
350 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
against whom there was only a private pique, or even a
jest, was hurried thither. Murder, if at any time, was
then cold-blooded. The cord broke twice on one occa-
sion; and a third time they hung up their victim.* M.
Berthier, son-in-law to the last, " after undergoing the
utmost outrages, was brought to the Hotel de Ville,
where the mob presented to him the head of his parent
streaming with blood. He averted his eyes, and they
continued to press it towards his face." The same out-
rage was inflicted on a wife : they pressed the dead lips
of her husband to hers, when she fainted ! During the
assault of the Bastille, " the daughter of one of the offi-
cers was seized by the crowd. They proposed to burn
her alive, unless the place was surrendered, and had
actually placed her on a mattras and set fire to it, when
the attempt was frustrated by one of the French guards."
These deeds were accompanied with merriment and
laughter. " The most cruel tortures were inflicted on
the victims who fell into their hands. Many had the
soles of their feet roasted over a fire before being put to
death; others had their hair and eyebrows burnt off,
while they destroyed their dwellings ; after which they
were drowned in the nearest fish-pond. The Marquis
of Barras was cut into little bits before his wife, far
advanced in pregnancy, who died shortly after of hor-
ror." " M. de Belzunce, who endeavoured to restrain
the excesses of his regiment, was put to death with the
most aggravated circumstances of cruelty; his remains
were literally devoured by his murderers."f These
* M. Foulon, aged 70. t Alison on the French Revolution.
ESSAY XVI.] RECENT HORRORS. 351
things preceded, and were independent of the wholesale
murders of the reign of terror.
Were these horrors peculiar to the French, and to
the French revolution? or on the contrary, are they
attendant upon the general revolutionizing spirit of the
present day; and connected and consistent with the
theoretical philosophy, and stoical experimentalism,
which would sacrifice millions to the proof of a problem
in political economy, and look with scientific, calm pla-
cidity, upon the agonies of a dying animal, through
whose struggles they are experimenting, with knife and
red-hot irons, upon the phenomena of life or death, or
health or disease, or animal mechanism or galvanism ?
We shall best see by some brief enumeration and com-
parison.
We are not yet arrived at the last actual blessings of
revolutionary struggle, and operative practical freedom.
But in Spain the chain is continued, which is to bring
down to us at last the paradisiacal condition and delights,
for which we daily worship our god, and sacrifice to him
with offerings and praises, and incense of self-love, and
self-applause, and self-gratification. The Durango de-
cree doomed to death in cold-blood all the prisoners
taken in war by Don Carlos; and this was in revenge
for similar atrocities committed by the government of
his rival the Queen of Spain. The capture of Ripoll by
the Carlist troops presents the following circumstance.
" On the 28th" (May 1839), " Ripoll was entirely
burned, and more than 900 persons perished. The
most horrible cruelties were committed. Twenty five
women, who had taken refuge in a house, were bayo-
352 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
netted by four Carlist soldiers. A mother, surrounded
by five children, the eldest nine years old, saw them
torn from her arms, and massacred with the butt end
of a musket. One of them was flung from a window
of the second story ; and the woman herself is dead of
the wounds received in defending her children."
The following account was everywhere current at
the time, and remains uncontradicted : " We quote the
correspondent of a journal that advocates the Queen's
cause, and who, speaking of the assassinations of un-
convicted prisoners, says the highest classes, even the
ladies, prize, as a patriotic act, the eating of O'Donnel's
body. I myself saw several persons eating O'Donnel's
flesh, after having cut off his feet and head."*
We have not yet arrived at these ultimatums of phi-
losophical philanthropy. But have we not ? Do not the
planned and organized and open assassinations in Ire-
land, for any private pique or political jealousy : the
associations for murder, and that with cruelty, and
everywhere : does not the procuring of the execution of
an innocent man, by a priest, by instigating a dying
murdered man to perjury, bring it near enough home
to us ? But the English, doubtless, are incapable of
such atrocities, even under political excitement : much
less for private malice or self-interest. Are they so
incapable ? Let us test their capabilities by example.
In modern England the system had its growth, of
murdering men as a trade, and selling their bodies, to
satisfy the requisitions of science in the dissecting-
Morning Herald, Feb. 8, 1836. O'Donnel was a Carlist officer.
ESSAY XVI.] RECENT HORRORS. 353
room : for the good of human society and philanthropy.
The surgeons even confessed to their suspicion of the
practice; and what could their science have been worth
if they could not distinguish between a murdered man
and a diseased one ! But philosophy justified it. These
commercial murders, committed upon the perfect self-
adjusting principle of supply and demand, gave the
new name of " Burking" to our vocabulary, from one
of the principal perpetrators.
Robert Sandys was convicted at the Chester summer
assizes, 1841, of poisoning his own children, in order to
get the burial money allowed by his club.
The Ashton sawyers formed themselves into a union,
for the purpose of murdering those of their craft who
accepted lower wages than they prescribed ; and in
effect they murdered several, before their conspiracy
was detected.
The crimes and vices of the present age are as deep
and dreadful as at any former period of history. Would
we might say that they were less frequent and general ;
or that we were most exempt from them in England.
The moral, no less than the physical, condition of our
manufacturing towns, exceeds every thing that has ever
been described or believed in degradation. Within a
limited district of one of the towns in Cheshire, one
inhabitant more respectable than the rest told the
clergyman of the place, in the presence of his own
wife, that, " barring unnatural crime and murder, every
crime and wickedness was not only committed but rife
there." His wife rejoined, " You need not except mur-
354 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
der." "No," he answered, "not secret murder; I
mean open murder."
Incest is common in that district. And this is only
an example among manufacturing towns. The crime
of Gibeah is equalled at this day. The incest of Lot
has been exceeded ; and that in the sphere of fortune
and better education.
Let us turn our eyes to the political and outward
condition of society. It is described, even by the minis-
ters of the crown, and by other public men, as vicious,
desperate, and disorganized. The cool and cautious
Lord John Russell spoke in 1839, after the riots and
burning at Birmingham, of " assemblies consisting of
three, four, and sometimes five thousand persons,
marching in the way I have described, and terrifying
persons from resorting to their usual thoroughfares."*
And again, of the national petition in the same year,
" Those persons, I say, who have presented this peti-
tion, have been found going through the country from
town to town, and from place to place, exhorting the
people in the most violent revolutionary language, .
language not exceeded in violence and atrocity in the
worst times of the French Revolution, to subvert the
laws by armed force." f
The organization of the new police force, hitherto not
required, is itself sufficient evidence of the increased
disorder and distraction of society.
Mr. Slaney gives an epitome of the successive insur-
Speech, July 23, 1839. t Speech, July 12, 1839.
ESSAY XVI.] CRIMES AND DISORDERS. 355
rections, each increasing upon the last in violence,
since 1812, in his speech of Feb. 4, 1840; viz. of the
Luddites, in 1812; the seamen and colliers on the
Tyne and Wear, in 1815; at Manchester, in 1816; of
Brandreth and his associates, in 1821 ; the strikes in
Gloucestershire, and at Kidderminster, in 1828 and
1829 ; in Yorkshire, in 1826 ; in 1827 and 1828, the
delegates of the trades; the burnings, in 1830; the
working-men's association and the Charter, in 1836 and
1838 ; the Convention of Delegates, in 1839, &c. &c.
And he adds, " We have thus seen that discontents in
various forms have shown themselves in different popu-
lous towns and districts for many years past, increasing
in frequency in later times. What is the practical les-
son we should draw from these symptoms, showing
themselves from year to year ? It is, that there is
something wrong in the social state of many of these
persons."
The Bishop of London used the following language,
in the House of Lords, on March the 5th, 1841, on
occasion of the public masquerades in DruryLane thea-
tre, celebrated in Lent.* " He was told that the former
exhibition had been attended by circumstances of the
most gross and indecent kind ; so gross indeed, that
* The public theatres were first opened for dramatic performances
on Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent, in consequence of a vote of the
House of Commons in 1839. In this and similar instances, and also
in the vote of 30,000/. for a particular system of education, contrary
to a vote and address of the House of Lords, the Commons have
shown a resolution to usurp the whole powers of the legislature. It is
plain, from these and other examples, how they will use it when ulti-
mately they have got it.
356 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
the more respectable part of the audience manifested
their feelings by groans and hisses. It did not how-
ever appear that the disapprobation thus very properly
expressed had produced the desired effect, since the
exhibition was to be repeated. The indecencies to
which he alluded occurred in certain dances, executed
by French dancers and prostitutes. Such performances,
he believed, would not be tolerated, on Wednesdays and
Fridays in Lent, even in Roman Catholic countries; and
he hoped that the morals of Protestants were not so
much relaxed as to view them in a more favourable
light. The Protestant religion had fallen very far short
of the strictness of the Roman Catholic religion in that
respect, and he trusted that it would not be suffered to
fall still lower." " He believed, the entertainment was
to be repeated that evening, at the same theatre."*
Let us observe the corresponding operation which is
going on in France ; of whose political friendship we are
so fond, whose revolutionary career we are following
so closely, and with whose manners we are so amalga-
mating. The licentiousness of the French novels has
been exposed in a late number of the Quarterly Re-
view. Their general manners and condition are thus
epitomized by a correspondent of one of the leading-
newspapers : " It is impossible not to admit the dege-
neracy of the present times." " No day passes over
our heads, without seeing in the newspapers brief or
detailed accounts of the perpetration of atrocities which
I would not sully your paper with designating. All the
* The 5th of March, 18 H, fell on a Friday in Lent.
ESSAY XVI.] CRIMES AND DISORDERS. 357
crimes which a total absence of belief in a Supreme
Being, avarice, licentiousness, and depravity are calcu-
lated to produce, are of daily occurrence, if you believe
the press. The title of an offence referred to in the
Droit, or Gazette des Tribunaux, of the day before
yesterday was, l Assassination, adultery, parricide, in-
fanticide, and poisoning ! " : " The writers of the public
journals do not even once and away chastise or repre-
hend this vice and immorality." " There is more stab-
bing in Paris than in Spain, Portugal, and Italy."
" Some people ascribe the change to increasing infide-
lity; and that would fully account for it. Others accuse
the press of positively and negatively producing this
demoralization, first, by representing vice and immo-
rality in amiable or laughable points of view; and
secondly, by totally annulling anything like reasoning,
remonstrance, or reprimand." " That irreligion and
indecency have become associated, and have ceased
to shock anybody, (it would appear,) is perhaps best
proved by the goings on in the theatres. The blas-
phemous and shocking titles selected for dramatic pro-
ductions, within a few years, have already been referred
to in your correspondence; but I have not seen it
remarked, that the new favourite dance, at the fancy
and masked balls at the Theatre de la Renaissance,
transcends all that preceded it. The title of this dance
is Galop infernal du dernier Jugement ! The costumes
of the dancers and their postures are copied from Mi-
chael Angelo's picture of 'The last Judgment.'"*
* Times, Feb. 8, 1841.
358 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
What with Socialists, Chartists, Neologians, Pan-
theists, Unitarians, Atheists, and other societies and
individuals setting at nought all laws of God and man,
and all bonds of human customs and affections, is the
language of one of our divines at all exaggerated, when
saying, that " The demons of infidelity, blasphemy,
confusion and sedition, are busy in their dark deeds,
and would gladly overturn all that makes life happy in
Church and State."*
The unity of the whole family of Christendom seems
to have resolved itself in a system of disunion and dis-
organization, of mutual hatred, jealousy, opposition,
and infinite subdivision, by which all seem to turn their
hands simultaneously to the only object in which they
agree, which is, mutual and self-destruction. There
were said to be 60 sects of Puritans in time of the
Commonwealth. Croly says, there are 70 sects now in
England ; which must be below the truth. There are
said to have been 30,000 sects and denominations of
Christians altogether; which is exactly the number
which the Pantheon of the Roman world is said to
have attained to in its perfection. *f- The advances too
are greater and greater towards infidelity. We cannot
here enter into the forms in which it shows itself, in all
minute topics and circumstances. But the disciples of
Calvin have generally turned Socinians, all over the
* Marriott's Sermon on " Thy Kingdom come," i. 258. This quo-
tation has been used before. Some other repetitions will be found in
this Essay, of matters which have been used to illustrate particular
points. I have thought it better, to enforce the subject in hand, than
to follow a rule of composition.
f Varro. ap. Gray's Connect, i. 135, ed. 1819.
ESSAY XVI.] SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION. 359
world ; beginning with his own church at Geneva.
Baxter's followers are said mostly to have turned Uni-
tarians. Ostler speaks of the 200 dissenting congrega-
tions which have lapsed into Socinianism.* This must
be far below the actual number. Calvinists and Quakers
and Presbyterians turn Unitarians in great numbers ;
and the use of their chapels is changed accordingly. A
Presbyterian chapel is now almost everywhere in Eng-
land synonymous with a Unitarian chapel.
Though foreign wars are somewhat less frequent than
in former time, the whole world is nearly one scene of civil
war and internal revolution. The forebodings of Mr.
Canning are being fulfilled, " I fear the next war which
shall be kindled in Europe will be a war not so much
of armies as of opinions. The consequence of letting
loose the passions, at present chained and confined,
would be to produce a scene of desolation, which no
man can contemplate without horror. I dread the re-
currence of hostilities in any part of Europe ; and would
bear much, and forbear long, rather than let loose the
furies of war : not knowing whom they may reach, or
how far their ravages may extend."^
In Europe, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece,
have not only been once within a few years, but they
must almost be said to be the continual subject of
rebellion and revolution. Of Switzerland, Prussia,
Hanover, Ireland, England, scarcely less can be said.
The two Americas have been agitated from the north
to the south ; unless the habitual fever and agitation of
* Church and State, pp. 20, 21.
t Speech, H. C. December 1826.
360 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
the United States, must be looked upon as health and
repose to a republican. But Canada, Texas, and
Mexico, nearly fill up the rest of the outline of North
America. Of the South American States, with one ex-
ception, nearly the same general description may be
given. The example of one may nearly serve for the
rest. " A few years since, the old Republic of Columbia
broke into three pieces, which are the republics of Vene-
zuela, New Grenada, and Ecuador. New Grenada has
been subdivided, but into how many fractions is not yet
known." " The different provinces of Pamplona,
Tunja, Socarro, &c. simultaneously declared themselves
independent states." " The process, as in the former
case, was revolution. This, in the South American
republics, is the remedy for all diseases."*
The standing catalogue of revolutions is coextensive
with the catalogue of provinces in South America. There
has been one exception : in Paraguay, under the Dic-
tator Francia. " For nearly thirty years, neither war
nor massacre has disturbed the provinces under his
rule ; while Buenos Ayres, within its sight, has been
the scene of perpetual revolution, and the vast and
noble provinces of the north" (of South America) " de-
populated by massacre and faction."f
And yet there are numbers of reasoning men, the
majority of philosophic politicians, who look to these
destructions and distresses as the remedies of evils ; and
do not acknowledge that it is the hand of God inflicting
Times, December 16, 1840, quoting the Journal of Commerce,
November 27.
f See Standard, October 9, 1841, " Death of Dr. Francia."
ESSAY XVI.] CIVIL WARS. 361
punishment for their wickedness. The answer which
they make to every warning, and which they give out
in their agony, is, " Oh, we have much to go through
yet, before we can consummate the happy conclusion."
So France, in the reign of terror ; so France, in her
present distresses; so Spain; so Portugal; so Belgium;
so Switzerland ; so Greece ; so Canada ; so Buenos
Ayres; so Columbia ; so Bolivia ; so Texas; so Mexico.
And what are they now ? " And they gnawed their
tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven
because of their pains and their sores, and repented not
of their deeds."*
Hitherto we have been considering the consequences
arising out of liberty and free-thinking, the rebellion
against man and God, the liberty of thought and of
action. These are the leaven of Heathen philosophy,
and self-sufficiency : the revival of Greece and Rome
in Christendom ; and these sores are felt in other coun-
tries than England, because they have given themselves
up even more than we have as yet, to the worship of
this beast. The next sores are those which are inflicted
upon the subjects and slaves of Mammon ; and which
come upon us self-chosen and self-inflicted, like the
rest, but directed by God against those who have the
mark of the beast, and who worship his golden image.
These diseases will be found therefore the most gnawing
and loathsome in England and America.
It is obvious in what manner luxuries and comforts
are weighing us down, and heaping upon us burdens and
embarrassments against the season of storms, which
* Rev. xvi. 10, 11.
R
362 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
are coming upon us, and must end in sinking us.
Already the rich are as much embarrassed to live as the
poor; hospitality is beyond their means ; charity is
beyond their means ; a decent provision for the clergy
is beyond their means; the taxes are beyond their means;
their necessary style of living is beyond their means :
two-thirds of the land in the kingdom is mortgaged, the
moneyed-men are under advances and in debt, and are
trading by credit. The freight, however rich, is insuffi-
cient ; and is on that account so precious, so beloved,
so necessary in our eyes, that we cannot part with it to
save our lives, nor throw it overboard in the beginning
of the storm, and in time to save the vessel : but all
must inevitably go down together.
The periodical miseries which come upon our manu-
facturing population, and are ever increasing in intense-
ness, are felt and lamented ; but men see not the
cause, or the hand, and repent not of their deeds. They
look for remedy by an increase of the causes of the evils.
I prefer using the language of other observers of the
consequences of our manufacturing and mercantile opera-
tions; and I find the following description of our habitual
mercantile distress, in an able and instructive pamphlet
upon our system of trade and credit, before quoted.
" The frequent recurrence of painful excitement and
distress in the commercial world, of late years, has not
failed to attract the attention of all classes of traders.
Few have been disinterested spectators : the majority,
if not all have suffered, and are still suffering, severely
from their effects. In former times, we heard the ex-
clamations ' a dull trade ;' ' trade flat ;' ' business not
ESSAY XVI.] COMMERCIAL DISTRESS. 363
brisk;' &c. &c. Since the year 1824, the trading world
has altered its tone, from an ordinary cry of loud com-
plaint, to one which indicates little less than the agony
of mind at approaching ruin. It matters not from what
cause, whether from a deficiency in the harvest, excite-
ment in domestic politics, dangers of wars threatening
us from abroad, the speech of an American president
against the banking system of the United States, or the
revulsion of monetary difficulties from those states,
each has been productive of a serious effect throughout
Great Britain, varying alone in intensity, according to
the degree of morbid mercantile activity by which one
of these occurrences may have been preceded."*
The late ministers of the crown and their coadjutors
have thus described the sufferings of the manufacturing
poor during the still existing crisis.
Lord Morpeth presented several petitions to the
House from the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire.^
He said, " All these petitions stated that there never
was a time when business of every kind, in the district
from which he came, was known to be so bad : when
trade and manufactures were so depressed: many
branches of trade standing stationary, and making no
progress ; a great number of factories being shut up ;
some being on short work, and a host of persons being
thrown entirely out of employment. And they further
stated that, bad as the present was, their prospect for
the future, unless some change took place, was infinitely
* Remarks on Trade and Credit, p. 1 .
t May 28, 1841.
R2
364 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
more disheartening, because they were wholly without
hope of recovery."
Mr. Ward said,* " There was not a member from the
manufacturing districts who did not come before the
House with a long detail of manufacturing distresses.
He had himself presented a petition from Sheffield,
complaining of the distress which prevailed there.
In that town one-third of the workmen were out of
employment."
Lord John Russell presented these remarks and facts,
on making his motion upon the Sugar Duties : f
" In the Bolton Union, in the cotton-mills alone,
about 95,000 less have been paid in wages during
the last twelve months. Many mills have been entirely
stopped for all or part of the time, and with only two
exceptions all have worked short time for a considerable
portion of the past year. I assert most confidently that
altogether there must have been at least 130,000 less
paid in wages in the Bolton Union. There are now in
Bolton 1125 houses untenanted. The shopkeepers are
almost ruined by diminished returns and bad debts. Fe-
ver is also prevalent. A short time ago 590 persons were
relieved by the poor-law guardians in one day. In one
case, seventeen persons were found crowded together in
a dwelling about five yards square. In another, eight
persons, two pair of looms, and two beds, in a cellar
six feet underground, and measuring four yards by five.
There are scores of families with little or no bedding,
having literally eaten it i. e. pawned it for food. South
of Bolton, four miles, a large spinning establishment,
May 13, 1841. f May 7, 1841.
ESSAY XVI.] DISTRESS OF WORKPEOPLE. 365
giving employment to 800, and subsistence to 1300
persons, has been entirely stopped for nine months.
The proprietor has upwards of 100 cottages empty, or
paying no rent, and although possessed of immense
capital, finds himself unable to continue working his
mills to advantage.* North of Bolton, one mile, a
spinning manufactory and bleaching establishment, on
which 1200 persons were dependent for subsistence,
has been entirely standing for four months. There are
other similar accounts from Manchester and other ma-
nufacturing towns ; from which it appears that generally
work is falling off, and the people with difficulty obtain
wages sufficient to support life; and that bad as the
present state of things is, there are still apprehensions
that they may be yet worse. We are in fact, as I con-
sider, in a very great crisis in respect to our manu-
factures. Whether it be owing to the increase of ma-
nufacturing enterprize in Germany, Switzerland, and
France, whether it be owing to a disposition on the
part of the United States of America to impose still
further restrictions upon the admission of our manufac-
tures, whether it be that the manufactures of this
country have already been carried to such an extent
that unless new markets be opened for its produce it
* This manifest condemnation of, and judgment upon our manufac-
turing system, is in like manner remarked upon by Mr. Alison, as " that
singular anomaly in our political condition, which has been so often
observed, and which is perhaps unexampled in the history of the world,
viz. that the State contains immense masses of capital which cannot
find employment, and of labourers who cannot obtain work! and yet
that these two superfluities are unable to aid each other." Alison on
Population, i. 526. Inopes nos copia fecit.
366 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
cannot be sustained upon the footing it has acquired,
whether it be from one of these circumstances, or from
all combined, the fact is still, I fear, undeniable, that
there is very great danger that a considerable portion
of the working population of this country, so far from
being able to enjoy, not the luxuries, but the ordinary
necessaries and comforts of life, will be obliged to resort
to the relief given to the poor as paupers, before the
close of the present year." *
Mr. Mark Phillips, the member for Manchester, on
moving the address,t stated to the House of Com-
mons, " That whole families were existing upon Id. per
week each, or Id. per day. He could submit to the
House the case of 102 individuals, who were living, or
rather starving, upon 8|rf. per week, or l^d. per day
each.";}; He repelled the idea that the present position
* The light of truth is so intense, that a glimmering of it seems to
force itself in upon the unwilling eyes of the noble speaker ; but they
are quickly shut again and closed tightly. The remedy for these dis-
tresses, so far as the proposed Sugar Bill would have brought it them,
was less than half a farthing on the pound. So intense is philosophic
and party blindness.
t August 24, 1841.
J A private correspondent wrote from Macdesfield, Nov. 15, 1841,
" I have not till last Saturday, when my hands got about 3s. 6d. or 4s.
paid them above Is. 3d. to Is. 9d. the week ; and they could not get
work anywhere else, or they would not have stayed here ; other places
being as bad or worse. Families principally depend upon women and
children. Children are sent by their parents to work without food
enough the latter part of the week to enable them to stand to it
as they should. Fever is often the consequence."
The good order of nature is reversed by the machine system. In
the country there is no work for women. In these towns women and
children are the chief workers. In silk mills, if they throw, about
ESSAY XVI.] COMMERCIAL EXCESS. 367
of the country was owing to over trading. But he
admitted "that in the year 1826 there had been much
overtrading; and in the years 1834, 1835 and 1836
credit had been given to an extent which he. for one.
O ' *
must deprecate, and which he looked upon at the time
with great regret. Undoubtedly an extension of credit,
he admitted, had been most improperly given ; but at
the same time he must ask whether, during those three
years in which credits were so much extended, there did
not exist a population ready to be employed ? Would
the manufacturers of this country be so unwise as to bor-
row money for the erection of mills and the construction
of machinery, if they had not been aware that there was
an ample population in existence, to work that ma-
chinery ? Would they, in short, have raised the market
for labour by an act so insane as that with which they
were charged ?"
The argument against over-production from the sup-
ply of workmen for the machinery, it is not easy to un-
derstand. Undoubtedly working hands may be drawn
towards the towns when work is there offered to them ;
and if profit was hoped for from manufactures, the
masters would not be deterred by slightly raising the
price of labour at the mills, which bears so small a
proportion to the whole cost of production by machines.
8 men are employed to 100 women, girls and boys ; of the three last
the numbers are nearly equal. If they do not throw, there are about
3 men to 100 women and children. In cotton-spinning mills, where
coarser work is done, as bobbin and winding cotton, 10 men to 100
women and children. Where they have mules, more men than women
and children are employed ; but the whole number is less in proportion
to the goods produced.
368 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
But " this act so insane" is the very one with which I
directly charge the manufacturers; and say, that avarice,
and self-love, in spite of the selfish system of political
economy, must continually blind their eyes, and render
them so insane, as, contrary to their own true wishes
and interests, in advancing themselves, but in successful
fulfilment of their desire to crush one another, to induce
them, with borrowed capital, borrowed upon a credit
as empty and fallacious as their own expectation of
substantial advantages, upon occasion of some sudden
sunshine of demand, of which they did not expect the
beginning, as they do not look forward to the end, to
increase both their powers and population and produc-
tion so enormously as to ruin the trade in general, and
themselves in the end.* Since 1839, the iron furnaces
in England and Scotland have increased from 429 to
527; since which increase the iron trade has been in
continual difficulty. 177 of these are now put out of
blast ;-f* the disuse of which cannot have thrown into
distress fewer than 100,000 workmen and shopkeepers,
including their families : a population which these
works had previously created or drawn together. In
Lancashire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumberland,
and Westmoreland, there have been started 91 mills,
employing 16,750 workpeople. In the same time there
have been stopped 138; which gave employment to
* In 1835 to 1837, the District Bank of Manchester advanced to
two different cotton-spinning concerns the enormous sums of 495,472
and 292,686; and closed these two accounts in 1839 with a clear loss
of 375,000.
f Median. Mag. No. 971, p. 231.
ESSAY XVI.] COMMERCIAL EXCESS. 369
29,363 persons.* It is no uncommon thing to hear of
a work or factory being discontinued, and 2000 or 3000
or 4000 people being thrown off, and suddenly sent
wanderers. Nay, the manufacturers themselves will
send orders to shut up their factories, and to dismiss
workmen to this number, while in profitable work, for
the prospect of making a better bargain with them in
the course of a few weeks, or for a political object.
One principal manufacturer, at Macclesfield, has just
been erecting a large silk factory, one building of which
contains, it is said, nearly an acre of power looms ; and
at the same time numerous smaller mills in the same
neighbourhood are suffering distress, or discontinued.
This is only one example of the deliberate system which
is carrying on to crush all the smaller manufacturers.
So, while the demand for goods is becoming less and
less, the means of production are being continually in-
creased; and these means are being engrossed into
fewer and fewer hands, giving increased power of op-
pression over the working classes.f
* Median. Mag., No. 980, p. 401.
f Mr. Homer, one of the inspectors of factories, gives the following
instance : " An owner removed from a mill where he had 7 pairs of
mules, with 5548 spindles, worked by 7 spinners and 25 piecers ; to
another, newly erected, having 3 pairs of mules, with 7104 spindles,
worked by 3 spinners and 18 piecers. A young man who had been
a spinner in the old mill at 20s. was working in the new mill as a
piecer at 10s." Times, Oct. 7th, 1842, from "The Churchman's
Monthly Review."
The same inspector reports, " That at a mill in Manchester, where
they spin the finest yarns, 1 man now works, by means of 8 double-
necked mules, the amazing number of 2592 spindles." Mechan. Mag.
No. 971, p. 240.
RO
370 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
The evils and miseries which the manufacturing po-
pulation are incurring, are not limited to periods of tem-
porary depression. The distress and degradation of the
lowest classes, crowded together in the chief manufac-
turing towns, is always intense ; and may be believed
to exceed everything of the kind which has existed
anywhere, at any period of the previous history of the
world. It is like the miseries of a besieged town ren-
dered perpetual. Mr. Alison, after a patient and per-
sonal investigation in this and in foreign countries,
declares, that the wretchedness and depravity of our
English towns exceed everything that exists in the
most depraved towns on the continent. Another writer
says, " We are inclined to doubt whether in intensity
of guilt London may not claim a bad pre-eminence
over Paris."*
Mr. Alison is fain to place the inhabitants of some
of our manufacturing towns even in a lower scale than
the American savages. " Compare," he says, "a Man-
chester weaver, a Glasgow operative, or an iron-worker
of Birmingham, with an American savage, and the
dreadful influence of civilization upon the character of
the bulk of the lower orders will be too often apparent.
Without going so far as a benevolent and intelligent
divine of the Church of England, who affirmed that
there were, in 1822, 760,000 unconverted pagans in
the city of London,f it may safely be affirmed, that the
degradation of character, the grossness of habit, the
licentiousness of life, which prevail in a majority of the
* Quart. Rev. No. 139, p. 32, Art. " Paris its Dangerous Classes."
f Yates, on the Poor of London, p. 272.
ESSAY XVI.] GENERAL DEMORALIZATION. 371
inhabitants of all the great European cities, are not ex-
ceeded in any part of the habitable globe.*
The excessive cruelty and slavishness of the toil to
which women and children are doomed, in rendering
service day and night to machines in our manufacturing
establishments, has been partially investigated and ex-
posed of late years ; and this relieves me from the task
of entering into its horrid details.^ But Mr. Alison
thus expresses himself respecting it: "It may be
affirmed, without hesitation, that the system of em-
ploying children of that description," (from ten to
eighteen years of age), " in these great establishments,
is the most ruinous to the moral character, and habits
of increase in a nation, that human ingenuity has ever
yet devised ; and that if either experience does not
discover some remedy for these evils, or nature, in some
way, inscrutable to us, does not work out its own
cure, the empire will in the end be overturned by their
effect." J
But the extremest state of moral degradation seems
* Alison on Population, ii. 105.
f Some details may be found in the 358th and following pages of
the life of Mr. Sadler, who devoted himself to the exposure of this and
other wounds in our system indefatigably, but with ill success as to the
result. His witness against the errors of his age and country may still
be read, but is not likely to be received till it is too late. The heavy
strap, which he exhibited in the House of Commons, with which the
children are roused to their work, is still in use ; but it is not men-
tioned in recent reports, because the pocket of the overlooker conceals
it from the inspectors. A report on the labour in factories was made
to the House of Commons in 1838; and another on the employment
of children in mines, in 1 842.
I Alison on Population, i. 530.
372 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
to be proved, and the ultimatum of the system of
" expediency" seems to be attained, by a practice which
is prevalent among a part of our manufacturing popu-
lation. The Methodists set up the prettiest girls to
preach religion to the young men " because," say
they, " they will not listen to anybody else."
We turn from the manufacturing to the mercantile
and monied departments. We see all the nations par-
taking of the European policy overloaded with national
debts. Even the youngest nations and colonies borrow
this vice of our system. Incurring in their infancy and
weakness the diseases of age, and using this resource
more as an instrument of war than for the improve-
ments of peace, they become crippled and infirm as it
were from their cradle, by aping the vicious habits of
full-grown profligacy. One nation, at the time the
leading nation in Europe, has already been bankrupt.
Many more are so in effect ; with little prospect of ever
emerging from their difficulties. Even a bankruptcy
would not clear them ; for, like private traders making
themselves periodically bankrupt, they would only start
upon the same course again, being set free by their
dishonesty: and even their disgrace and discredit would
not prevent them; for many would be found willing
and eager to lend, and to pander to their unprincipled
proceedings and speculations.*
* The Bank of Pensylvania, the State which has hitherto maintained
the highest character, according to the principles of its original founder,
has at length followed the example set by nearly all the rest of the
United States, and refused to pay the interest of its national debt. The
English capitalists who have taught the world this pernicious system,
well deserve the loss and punishment which has come upon them in
consequence of it.
ESSAY XVI.] COMMERCIAL FRAUD. 373
For the whole system and course of money-dealing,
both among traders and nations, is running rapidly to
corruption and dissolution ; and all the monied world
and its votaries seem to be consenting to a common
blindness and demoralization, distraction and madness.
Caution and experience seem to be as much banished
from our transactions as honesty, under any little present
hope or excitement. Credit, by which confessedly the
whole mercantile world moves and exists, is made a
mock of, and confounded in use and meaning. Credit
and discredit are made consistent, and are one and the
same thing; and the measure of what a man can get
of it, is not his character or resources, but what he has
the assurance to ask. We will not dwell again upon
the growing disposition of monied-men to contradict
the first principles of trade, by becoming partners in
companies ; from which they expect a mercantile profit,
without giving their time and attention or even their
presence to their affairs, or knowing one word about
the business. Nor upon the passionate desire of the
trading world to obtain the sanction of the legislature
for a limited liability in carrying on concerns, the trans-
actions of which might be wholly unlimited.* These,
and the eagerness to embark in foreign mines, and
* The perseverance of the commercial speculators, in the zenith of
their influence, succeeded in obtaining from the late government the
passing of the Act 7 Will. & 1 Viet. c. 73, empowering the Crown to
grant a patent to joint stock companies, limiting the liability of their
members to some definite amount. Though this evil influence was at
that time sufficient to obtain the passing of the act, it is believed that
the Crown has never yet been so ill advised as to act under this power,
in any one instance.
374 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
foreign loans, and foreign colonies and companies, which
they have never seen and known, the more unknown
the greater the eagerness, and the expectation which is
formed from them, and some of which have never
existed, these are only some examples of the intoxica-
tion which riches and avarice occasion, and of the
blindness which proceeds from them. We hardly take
up a paper without seeing an account of the failure and
winding up of one or two banking companies; and this,
in many instances, caused by the mismanagement and
fraud of some of those principally concerned in con-
ducting them. But let us pass to one of the latest
instances of fraud and corruption upon a great scale ;
upon a scale which may be called national ; and which
must stamp the whole mercantile community, in the
midst of which such transactions could exist, as blind,
demoralized, degraded, debased, and fundamentally
disorganized. It is a fact, that these disclosures have
not disgraced the nation in their own eyes, and hardly
even the perpetrators of them ; and that, however much
alarm and panic and personal fear of loss 'they may
have created, they have excited very little indignation
or disgust even in the minds of the English merchants
who are not directly affected by them. If any one
fancies that this mercantile corruption can be arrested
and healed, and that because a legislative remedy may
be applied to this particular sore, that therefore the
system will be rendered sound and the health reinstated,
he expects a draught of water to quench a fever or a
spontaneous combustion of the body, and galvanism to
restore life to a corpse by a shock and a convulsion.
ESSAY XVI.] AMERICAN BANKS. 375
The same disease is sure to return in the body politic,
in a more extensive form, and with greater aggravation.
The same disease exists and lurks in the commercial
body throughout the world, and in every vein of it.
The disclosures to which I allude are of the trans-
actions of the States Banks of America.
The commissioners employed to investigate the affairs
of these banks, reported the following facts, among
multitudes of others of the same character.
" Michigan. In the Farmers' Bank of Genessee
county, it appears, from the evidence of the cashier, &c.,
that no set of books had ever been kept. That the
whole amount of specie which appeared at any time to
have been the bonajide property of the bank was about
1,560 dollars; that fraudulent attempts had been made
to exhibit the bank in a sound condition, in anticipation
of the commissioners' visit, such as borrowing: certifi-
* O
cates from other banks ; 10,000 dollars in silver were
actually paid into the bank by a party, together with
two certificates, all of which remained in the bank a
few days, and were then taken away by the same parties.
In short the condition of this bank was utterly rotten."
" The report on the other banks, exhibited a whole-
sale system of fraud and rascality of the most disgusting
nature. Six banks were found in such a condition that
injunctions had been applied for and issued. In the
Jackson county bank, among other instances, eleven
boxes were discovered, containing a superficies of coin,
altogether amounting to 5,099 dollars, (reckoning the
coin found elsewhere,) whilst the substratum contained
lead, tenpenny nails, and window glass broken into
376 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
small pieces. Notwithstanding this, the statement of
the bank, dated three days before, claimed possession
of 20,000 dollars in specie. On an examination of its
affairs, there appeared a real deficiency of assets of
44,701 dollars."
"Of the Exchange Bank of Shiawassee, the commis-
sioners report, that no part of the capital stock appears
ever to have been paid in. That seven 'coppers' were
found in the safe, but that no other coin appeared at
any time to have been the property of the bank ; that
there was one counterfeit note of 500 dollars on one of
the New York banks; that the cash in the bank, stated
at 14,174 dollars, was made up, as far as could be as-
certained, by certain certificates of deposit, obtained
from other banks."
Matters in Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, were found to
be equally bad.
" Mississippi. Grenada bank. A. C. Baine affirmed,
that he was elected director; but knew nothing of
the organization. There were no visible funds in the
bank."
" The bank of Vicksburg was organized by the pay-
ment of 100,000 dollars, in the notes of the canal and
banking company of New Orleans ; also 110 dollars
in silver, and 10 dollars in gold. The notes were
obtained from New Orleans by a few individuals, and
used by them in payment of the first instalment of
stock subscribed for by them, a large portion of which
was in the names of other persons. As soon as the first
board of directors was organized, the notes of the real
stock-holders, who are mostly directors, were substi-
ESSAY XVI.] AMERICAN BANKS. 377
tuted for the notes of the company above referred to.
These bank notes were deposited in the Commercial
and Railroad Bank of Vicksburg, and were included
among its resources, and in fact reported as specie to
the commissioners. Thus a new bank was created,
and an old one enabled to make a show of ten times
as much specie as she really possessed."
" Tombigbee Railroad Company. The report states
that, in January 1838, the circulation of this bank was
nearly as great as the capital paid in would permit, and
the directors being pressed for money, resorted to the
following method to increase the capital of the bank.
Five of the directors had their notes discounted for
15,096 dollars each, at thirty days, netting 75,000
dollars. The four other directors, a day or two after-
wards, had their notes discounted for similar amounts ;
thus increasing the capital of the bank 135,000 dollars,
and forming a basis for more issues, which were made.
The president of the bank also took 90,000 dollars of
its notes, and put them in circulation, without their
being entered at all upon the books of the bank, and
even without the knowledge of the cashier. These
notes were used by the president to lessen his own
liabilities, and loaned to the directors for the same
purpose."
" It appears, says the report, that 203 directors of
21 banks owe the banks they direct nearly as much as
one-half of the entire circulation of the 25 banks."
The reports of other banks were the same in cha-
racter, though not in degree, with these instances.*
" I find in a newspaper of this day, an account of a periodical
378 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
These disclosures of tfie spring of 1841 are already
almost forgotten; and were never greatly heeded except
by those who were immediately concerned and interested
in them. But we are all interested. The whole world
is concerned in, and is condemned by the occurrence of
such enormities in the midst of its frame and system ;
and still more by its inability to purge out such humours
and evils ; still most, by its not perceiving or noticing
the existence of them, except as passing topics of pre-
sent interest and ephemeral excitement. But nothing
will ever open the eyes of avarice, luxury, infidelity,
reason, and conceit, to perceive that our whole com-
mercial world is diseased and corrupted: that from
the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no
soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrirying
sores.
The mysteries of iniquity, in Commerce, Liberty, and
also in Knowledge, are destined perhaps to have their
completest development and heaviest punishment in
the American commonwealth. Already they take such
rapid and gigantic strides towards ruin and corruption,
that they are soon likely to overtake the old country.
One of their own journals says of them, " The history
of whole streets in our mercantile cities is but a record
of the rise and the downfal of their occupants. It is a
melancholy reflection, that such are the uncertainties
published in America, a sort of manual on the subject of forgery,
called 'The Counterfeit Detector, and Bank Note List,' intended to
detect forged money. This publication shows that there are no less
than 600 kinds of forged money in that country." Speech of Lord
John Russell, H. C. July 12, 1839.
ESSAY XVI.] AMERICA. 379
attendant on commerce, and 1 on mercantile affairs ge-
nerally, that every six or seven years witness a complete
revolution in the mercantile class of the community."*
Mr. Alison remarks, of their speculative system of
trade, " The great extent to which the system of paper
credit has been carried in the United States, has rendered
the industry of the country liable to a variety of shocks
more severe than have ever been experienced by any
other community in the globe. These commercial dif-
ficulties are of such magnitude, that at one blow they
prostrate the fortunes of the richest part of the country.
During the great crisis of 1837, nearly the whole cotton
growers of the southern states at once became insol-
vent ; and in the still more disastrous convulsion of
1839, the whole banks of Philadelphia and the southern
states, including the United States' Bank, stopped
payment; and those of New York avoided such an
extremity only by contracting their issues in such a
way as spread almost universal bankruptcy among the
mercantile classes."^ The same author, immediately
before, attributes the rapid progress of the Americans in
industry, wealth, and population, to this very system of
"paper credit," by which they were thus preparing
themselves for such convulsion, misery, and ruin. The
picture which he gives is true in both its proportions.
Another remarkable testimony to the political and
commercial condition of America, is furnished by the
revolutionist Mackenzie, once their so ardent admirer.
* Flushing Silk Journal. Quoted Morning Herald, Feb. 6, 1840.
f Alison on Population, i. 556.
380 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
After three years' residence there, he thus writes, among
many other things of the same kind, in his own news-
paper :
" The conviction grows daily stronger in my mind
that your brethren in this Union are rapidly hastening
towards a state of society in which President, Senate,
and House of Representatives, will fulfil the duties of
King, Lords, and Commons, and the power of the com-
munity pass from the democracy of numbers into the
hands of an aristocracy not of noble ancestry and an-
cient lineage, but of monied monopolists, land-jobbers,
and heartless politicians." Again : " Gambling lotteries,
betting at elections, and that dreadful vice intemperance,
as also the enactment of a multitude of bad laws, which
nobody can ever hope to understand or remember, are
making fearful inroads upon the morals of the people.
Bribery is so common, as to be practised unblushingly
by both parties. The Grand Inquest of Columbia
county a few days since made a presentment of ' the
buying and selling of votes at our popular elections as
a great and alarming evil in this community, an evil
that is growing with fearful velocity every year, prac-
tised and concealed by both political parties, an evil
that no existing law can reach or remedy, an evil that
is prostituting all that is sacred in the right of suffrage,
IB corrupting and debasing in all its influences, is sap-
ping the foundation of all our liberties ; and unless
some provision be made to stay its progress, must even-
tually constitute wealth the only power in our land, and
fraud and robbery become an honest way of obtaining
ESSAY XVI.] INCREASE OF CRIME. 381
it.' The Sun, a daily paper, and the most popular in
New York, remarked, ' We suspect the jury might have
presented the whole State, and indeed the whole Union,
for that matter.'"*
The increase of crime is another sore which evidences
the internal disorder of the system. " The numbers of
criminals committed in England and Wales, in 1805,
were 4,600; in 1815-7,800; in 182116,500; in 1831
19,600 ; in 183822,000. That is, the increase of
criminals was nearly five-fold, whilst the population
increased one-third. "-f- Col. Sykes says, the committals
for trial increased between 1821 and 1832, from 13,115
to 20,829 per annum ; that is, 58.8 per cent. ; while
the population of Great Britain increased from 1821 to
1831 14percent.
Between 1834 and 1841, the committals in England
and Wales increased from 22,451 to 27,760 ; and the
convictions from 15,995 to 20,2804
The amount of crime is in proportion to the riches
and luxury of the particular town or part of the country.
In 1835, the commitments in Bristol were 1 in 274 of
the population : in Middlesex, they were 1 in 395 :
in Merionethshire, they were 1 in 8,289. In the other
Welsh, and in the northern agricultural counties, the
number was also proportionably low. The proportion
for the whole population of England and Wales was in
the same year 1 in 631.
* Times, April 10, 1841. Quoting from the Brighton Gazette.
f Mr. Slaney's speech, 1840.
| Parliam. Return: Secretary of State's Office, 19 May, 1842.
Col. Sykes's Paper in the Transactions of the Statist. Soc. 1839.
382 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
The following quotations are from Mr. Alison's work
on Population :
" Serious crime has increased forty-fold over all Scot-
land in the last thirty years." *
" In Lanarkshire, population doubles in about thirty
years, crime in about five and a-half years ; so that
crime is increasing six times as fast as the numbers of
the people." f
In his second volume, at p. 121, is a tabular state-
ment, showing that in the same county, in a period of
fifteen years, from 1822 to 1838, serious crime has ad-
vanced at the rate of 600 per cent., and the chances of
life have diminished nearly one-half. The proportion
of crime to the population has been tripled, whereas
during the same period the number of inhabitants has
advanced 75 per cent.
" The celebrated statistical writer Moreau thus sums
up the progress of crime in the United Kingdom for the
last thirty years : ' The number of individuals brought
before the criminal courts in England, has increased
five-fold in the last thirty years ; in Ireland, five and
a-half; and in Scotland, twenty-nine-fold. It would
appear that Scotland, by becoming a manufacturing
country, and acquiring riches, has seen crime advance
with the most frightful rapidity among its inhabi-
tants.' "
" From the criminal returns quoted below, it appears
Alison on Population, i. 537.
f Ibid. ii. 97. Glasgow is included in Lanarkshire.
J Moreau 'a Statist, de la Grande Bretagne, ii. 297 ; ap. Alison on
Population, ii. 317.
ESSAY XVI.] PAUPERISM. 383
that, since 1820, commitments for felonies and other
serious crimes have increased about 185 per cent, in
England ; and that during the same period they have
advanced 200 per cent, in Ireland ; but in Scotland
they have increased 250 per cent. In none of these
countries, during the same period, has the population
advanced above 50 per cent. So that over the whole
empire serious crime is augmenting four times, in Scot-
land jive times, as fast as the number of the people."*
The most grievous sore of all is Pauperism. This
exceeds in England that of any other country,^- and
every intensity of suffering, hardly excepting temporary
famines, of which we have account in former ages.
This evil had its rise at the same time with our com-
mercial and manufacturing system. The reign of Eliza-
beth witnessed the first great advances which were made
in both. And pauperism, or the multiplication and
distress of the dependant poor, has constantly gone on
increasing, with the increase of our manufacturing and
commercial prosperity. In a hundred and fifty years,
the rates expended upon the poor have increased ten-
fold ; while the population has increased only two and-
a-half-fold, and the value of money, as compared with
food and wages, has not decreased one-half.
But this affords no true measure of the depth and
intensity of the evil. The funds now expended and
administered are wholly inadequate. The distress pe-
netrates deeper than what the best and most beneficent
system of relief could heal or reach ; much less such a
* Alison on Population, ii. 325.
t Fourth Poor Law Report, p. 230, 8vo.
384 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
system as has of late years been devised, and forced
into operation.
The mortality from distress and disease in our manu-
facturing towns is becoming frightful. The average
deaths by the year, throughout the kingdom, are 1 in
36. Those in Leeds are 1 in 28 1. In Glasgow the
mortality has increased, between 1822 and 1837, from 1
in 44 to 1 in 24^. " The number of persons affected by
fever in Glasgow in 1835, was 6,180; in 183610,092;
in 1837 21,800." "The mind," says Dr. Cowan,
" cannot contemplate without horror, the amount of
human misery which the above statement so forcibly
expresses." Other large towns, Manchester, Maccles-
field, Nottingham, Bristol, Newcastle, London, approach
to the same state.* At the same time the rate of life
among the rich is increased.
Mr. Sadler well pourtrayed this feature in our social
state, when he said, that it " exhibits, at one and the
same time, part of its members reduced to the condition
of slaves by over-exertion, and another part to that of
paupers by involuntary idleness."^
Mr. Alison says, " It is forgetfulness of the poor to
which we owe almost all our present dangers ; it is in
attention to them that the remedy is to be found. " J
The same author gives the following descriptions of
pauperism in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
* Mr. Slaney's speech, House of Commons, Feb. 4, 1840, quoting
Dr. Cowan's Vital Statistics, Reports to the House of Commons, and
other Reports.
f Life of M. T. Sadler, p. 341.
J Alison on Population, i. 540.
ESSAY XVI.] PAUPERISM. 385
Of England he says, " Anterior to the late change
in the Poor Law, one-tenth of the whole population
received parochial relief."*
" The English poor-rates arise necessarily from the
opulence and complicated state of society which has
long subsisted in this country ; and are in fact a part
only of the most alarming feature in the political con-
dition of the British empire." f
Of Ireland, "The Poor Law Commissioners have
ascertained that there are above two million of persons
in the country who are in such a state of poverty as
generally to stand in need of parochial assistance." J
" The Mendicity Society have been compelled to
resort to the expedient of marching an array of three
or four thousand beggars through the streets of Dublin
in order to awaken, by their hideous exhibition, the
sympathy of the benevolent."
" It has been repeatedly observed by travellers who
have visited other countries after traversing Ireland,
that in none of them, not even the most despotic, is
misery so general and poignant as in that scene of woe;
and an intelligent traveller has recently observed, with
evident justice, that not only could the Irish peasant see
much to envy in the condition of the serfs of Russia,
but even he would be immensely benefited by an
exchange with the convicts who toil in the wilds of
* Alison on Population, ii. 44, quoting Parliamentary Rep. 1827.
f Ibid. ii. 47.
I Ibid. i. 495, quoting Report of Commissioners on the Irish Poor,
42, 117.
Ibid. i. 496.
S
386 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
Siberia. * Unquestionably the condition of the negroes
in the West Indies, prior to their late emancipation,
generally speaking was infinitely preferable." t
" Pauperism, recklessness, want of forethought, were
thus perpetuated in the land ; and in the midst of the
British empire a perennial stream of destitution and
redundant numbers was opened, which flowing inces-
santly for two centuries and a half, has overspread all
the three kingdoms, and brought upon their inhabitants
that just retribution which so long-continued a neglect
of human suffering could not fail, under the admi-
nistration of a righteous Providence, in the end to
produce." J
This is his description of Scotland :
" Extensive inquiries have now ascertained the la-
mentable fact, that there are at least 350,000 human
beings in Scotland, nearly a tenth of the existing
population, who are in a state of almost total destitu-
tion. The paupers in Scotland are just as numerous,
or more so in proportion, as those in England. "
" If we contemplate the mass of indigence which in
Scotland overspreads the Highland districts, and festers
like a gangrene in all the great towns to the north of
the Tweed ; if we consider the enormous quantity of
spirits which are consumed in its mercantile communi-
ties, and the unparalleled increase of crime with which
for fifteen years it has been accompanied ; if we recol-
* Cochrane.
f Alison on Population, i. 506.
J Ibid. i. 509.
Ibid. i. 535.
ESSAY XVI.] PAUPERISM. 387
lect the general loosening of moral obligation which
has taken place in the manufacturing districts of all
parts of the island, and the vast conspiracy against life
and property which has been growing up for many
years past, without any compunction or hesitation,
among so many hundred thousands of the working
classes, especially in the manufacturing districts of
England ; if we reflect on the prodigious increase of
crime in that country, the vast extent of its female pro-
fligacy, and the debasing habit of intoxication which
has so generally followed the reduction of the duties on
beer ; we can hardly avoid the conclusion, that causes
of evil of peculiar power and malignity have been in
operation in all parts of the island, to which, if not re-
strained in their operation, the empire itself will in the
course of time fall a victim."*
" Glasgow exhibits a frightful state of mortality, un-
equalled perhaps in any city in Britain. The prevalence
of fever presents obstacles to the promotion of social
improvement among the lower classes, and is produc-
tive of an amount of human misery credible only to
those who have witnessed it." f
" The wynds of Glasgow comprise a fluctuating po-
pulation of from 15 to 30,000 persons. This quarter
consists of a labyrinth of lanes, out of which number-
less entrances lead into small square courts, each with
a dunghill reeking in the centre. Revolting as was
the outward appearance of these places, I was little
* Alison on Population, i. 515.
f Ibid, ii, 88, note, quoting Cowan's Vital Statistics of Glasgow,
p. 14.
s2
388 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
prepared for the filth and destitution within. In some
of these lodging-rooms (visited at night) we found a
whole lair of human beings littered along the floor,
sometimes fifteen and twenty, some clothed and some
naked ; men, women, and children huddled promiscu-
ously together. Their bed consisted of a layer of musty
straw intermixed with rags. There was generally little
or no furniture in these places ; the sole article of com-
fort was a fire. Thieving and prostitution constitute
the main sources of the revenue of this population. No
pains seem to be taken to purge this Augean pande-
monium, this nucleus of crime, filth, and pestilence,
existing in the centre of the second city of the empire.
These wynds constitute the St. Giles's of Glasgow ; but
I owe an apology to the metropolitan pandemonium
for the comparison. A very extensive inspection of the
lowest districts of other places, both here and on the
continent, never presented anything one half so bad,
either in intensity of pestilence, physical and moral, or
in extent, proportioned to the population."*
On this account Mr. Alison observes, that he is " com-
pelled to say, that these observations of Mr. Symonds
perfectly coincide with what has long fallen under his
own notice, and in fact, the general state of destitution,
intoxication, and misery, which prevail among the ab-
ject poor in these wynds of Glasgow, is such as would
exceed belief, to those who do not see it judicially
* Arts and Artisans at Home and Abroad, by J. C. Symonds, Esq.
p. 116, etseq., Government Commissioner for examining into the
condition of the hand-loom weavers; quoted Alis. on Pop. ii. 89, note.
ESSAY XVI.] THE NEW POOR LAW. 389
established every week in the year, by the concurring
testimony of great numbers of witnesses."*
The veiy system of relief which mercenary wisdom
has devised and worked out, aggravates these sores and
the virulence of the distemper. The English system of
poor relief, as it is at present carried into operation, is
the conception of a purely mercantile age and spirit,
the ultimatum of mechanical and arithmetical science,
and selfish obtuseness ; and is no more fitted to the
habits and mechanism of human life, than a foot-rule
to morals and philosophy. It binds up the wounds of
human life with iron bands; and aggravates its tor-
ments. While liberty is extolled and worshipped in all
mouths, and slaves are bought up and emancipated,
this system revives and forges with ingenious cruelty all
and more than all the fetters and degradations of pu-
nishment and slavery, and inflicts them by law and
legislative enactment.^ Nature rebels against the phi-
losophic torture, and unnatural experiment ; and throws
off the gangrene and the application together, with
raging inflammation. At the same time the morti-
fication spreads, and extends itself over the whole
system.
* Alison on Population, ii. 89, note.
f "The more I converse with prisoners, the more I perceive of the
fatal evils that must arise from a too close approximation between the
state of the workhouse and the prison, as it regards physical comforts."
" Workhouses being so nearly connected with the prison : on this
ground I confess that my supply of useful and interesting reading to
the prisoners is often checked by the apprehension of giving to the
prison an advantage which the workhouse has not." Report of the
Chaplain to the Lewes House of Correction, 1842, p. 4, 6.
390 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
The mechanical obtuseness of the instrument by
which we probe this aggravated wound, shows us to be
as devoid of understanding as the mechanism which we
delight in, and our hearts to be as hard as the material of
which it is constructed. Our exclusive study and esti-
mation of machinery has blunted our minds and under-
standings, and unfitted them for the study of human
nature ; and made all our works partake of the inferi-
ority and uniformity which characterize the products
of unintelligent machines. At the same time, love of
money stifles the sympathies, which alone might some-
what correct this bluntness and ignorance with regard
to the feelings and dispositions of the poor.
Machines may work up wool and cotton and flax ;
but even in these a distinction is made in respect of
coarse and fine goods ; and of all the texture is torn
and fretted and deteriorated by the machinery. The
texture of the mind and feelings is more delicate and
intricate than that of the soft wool ; the heartstrings are
finer than the finest flax or cotton even in the pauper.
Know ye this, ye town-made commissioners ? Know
ye not this, ye steam-engine legislators ? Know ye
this, that there is no uniformity between the vicious
and the virtuous; there is no possible uniformity of
system for the wicked and the good ; for the hardened
and the sensitive. That which is wholesome and health-
ful to the one, is death to the other. There is no degree
of severity and disgrace which commissioners will dare
to inflict as a test, to which vice and idleness will not
become inured and submit, rather than to honest in-
dustry. But grant that the limit may be attained of
ESSAY XVI.] EFFECT OF WORKHOUSE TEST. 391
swinish inertia and endurance. That which is a suffi-
cient test of want to the hardened and the brutalized,
must be a torture worse than death to the undegraded
and the sensitive.
Look at the fruits of the present system. It is a
light thing that natural deaths should be increased by
suffering ; that children should be crippled for life, and
drained of their strength, by infantine services to sense-
less machines ; and that mortality should continually
increase among the poor while it decreases among the
rich ; life has grown more cruel even than death itself,
and his natural stroke must be anticipated.
October 9th, 1840. A man attempted suicide, not
bearing to see his children starve.
July 2nd, 1841. A poor man hanged himself in
Orange Street, rather than go to the union workhouse.
August, 1840. A man named Garrat poisoned four
of his children, not enduring to see them die from want.
Oh, horrible ! Miss Martineau records it as a real
fact, that two women having been brought to bed they
quarrelled for the dead child. The order of nature is so
reversed, the feelings of human nature are grown so
unnatural, in this highly civilized country !
Money is such a god, and bread at the same time
is so hard to procure, that a man put to death three
of his own children by poisoning, for the sake of getting
the money allowed by his club for burial money.
Is there not a noisome and grievous sore fallen upon
them that have the mark of the beast ? Is not Babylon
fallen, and become the habitation of devils, and the
392 THE NOISOME SORE. [ESSAY XVI.
hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean
and hateful bird ?
One example was sufficient in Samaria, to fulfil the
prophesied curse, that women should eat their own chil-
dren. Surely the examples and proofs of the enormity
of our distresses are multiplied tenfold. We want no
outward enemy to do this. We are worse to our own
souls than any foreign enemy. We lay siege to our-
selves. And, for the very disease of appetite, in the
midst of plenty, we devour our own flesh.
( 393 )
ESSAY XVII.
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.
" THY WISDOM AND 1HY KNOWLEDGE IT HATH PERVERTED THEE." ISA. XLVII. 10.
'" AND THE LORD SAID UNTO ME, TAKE UNTO THEE YET THE INSTRUMENTS OF A FOOLISH
SHEPHEKD. FOB, LO, I WILL RAISE UP A SHEPHERD IN THE LAND, WHICH SHALL NOT
VISIT THOSE THAT BE CUT OFF, NEITHER SHALL SEEK THE YOUNG ONE, NOR HEAI. THAT
THAT IS BROKEN, NOR FEED THAT THAT STANDETH STILL ; BUT HE SHALL EAT THE FLESH
OF THE FAT, AND TEAR THEIR CLAWS IN PIECES. WOE TO THE IDLE SHEPHERD, THAT
LEAVETH THE FLOCK ! THE SWORD SHALL BE UPON HIS ARM, AND UPON HIS RIGHT EYE ;
HIS ARM SHALL BE CLEAN DRIED UP, AND HIS RIGHT EYE SHALL BE UTTERLY DARKENED."
ZECH. XI. 15 17.
" AND THE FIFTH ANGEL POURED C UT HIS VIAL UPON THE SEAT Of THE BEAST ; AND
HIS KINGDOM WAS FULL OF DARKNESS." REV. XVI. 10.
ANOTHER DARK AGE POSSIBLE THE PRESS NO GUARANTEE AGAINST
IT EPHEMERAL LITERATURE MAY DESTROY THE HIGHER TASTES
KNOWLEDGE OUR SUMMUM BON UM SCIENCE MAKES US BLIND
MORAL PHILOSOPHY IS EXTINCT AMONG US PHILOSOPHY IS SHALLOW
AND PUERILE TENDS TO INDIFFERENTISM AND CONFUSION OUR
IDEA OF EDUCATION CONFOUNDS RELIGION AND LEARNING WHICH
ARE OPPOSITE PRINCIPLES THE EDUCATION HERESY EDUCATION
INCREASES CRIME APOSTASY OF LEARNING.
IF it were to be said, that we might possibly fall again
into another dark age, it would be generally professed
that there could be no proposition so monstrous as this.
The notion that this enlightened era of the world, so
instructed, so inventive, so great and successful in all
its operations, so fruitful in discoveries, should ever
again relapse towards a dark age, is just the most im-
possible of all events, and that from which we are the
safest. " The press is of itself the sufficient guarantee
against any failure or relapse from our present state of
eminence in wisdom and intellect."
s5
394 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
I do not find it to be so certain, that the press affords
any such guarantee against a falling away from sub-
stantial knowledge : I do not find it certain, that this is
in fact a wise age; or that it has not already relapsed
considerably backward from the highest stage of wisdom
already attained by the human powers and intellect.*
In the first place let it be confessed, that each age
and country would equally say of itself, that it was the
most enlightened ; and in the next place I may venture
to assert, that there is no era of the world which has
not produced as great and vigorous minds, and as
shining lights in its darkness, as any that are now pro-
duced : in spite of the habitual contempt which is now
cast upon all that is by-gone, and till of late was re-
spected and time-honoured. But the security for know-
ledge is its diffusion and generalness ; and it is the press
which is relied upon as the means and the instrument.
The universal diffusion of knowledge is the very thing
which is most capable of degrading it ; and the press is
the very probable means of effecting this debasement.
The nourishment which is intended for all tastes, and is
supplied universally, must be tasteless: as air and water;
and whenever anything is adopted into general and
permanent use, it must in like manner be made plain
and simple and tasteless. Even the language of civi-
lized life, which is intended to please all tastes, of neces-
sity must be unmeaning and powerless.
* " A darkness which may perhaps be the thickest and least pene-
trable, when the lamp of philosophy and science burns the brightest,
and men flatter themselves that their illumination is complete."
Bishop of London. Sermon before the King of Prussia, 1842.
ESSAY XVII.] THE PRESS. 395
That which becomes fashionable must follow the
general taste; and if the public taste declines, every
thing that depends upon it must decline with it. There
is nothing better calculated or more likely to promote
this operation than the art of printing, and the increased
facilities which it provides.* The multitude and cheap-
* Mr. Alison ventures a proposition which might seem more startling
than this, namely, that the press might be made the instrument of de-
stroying liberty. " It may be relied on, that if the bulk of the people
become corrupted, either from the selfishness of repose, the enjoyments
of pleasure, the passions of power, or the luxuries of opulence, the press
will become the most fatal instrument that ever was devised for de-
stroying the liberties of mankind ; for it will throw its enervating spell
over their minds, and deprive them even of the wish to regain their
freedom." Alison on Population, ii. 72.
The press, so far from being a security for virtue in a people, is
capable of becoming, nay, is likely to become, the promoter of vice ;
and when public principle is declining, is sure to be the grand instru-
ment for corrupting and disorganizing the people. In the first place,
the motive to rectitude which it holds out, is a low and corrupt motive.
As public opinion, in newspapers, must be expressed at the first
moment, as every thing must be known and judged of on the very
day in which it occurred, it must be formed from present appear-
ances, and from the outside of things. But wisdom and goodness look
to the future effect, at the sacrifice of present consequences. There-
fore, public opinion must discourage real goodness and good sense, and
encourage appearance and pretence and outward show, and the fallacies
and foolish glare which give present eclat and popularity. Private
judgment is more patient than public opinion. It is also a greater in-
centive to virtue. When a personal acquaintance was kept up between
tradesmen and their customers, this was a stronger inducement to
maintain their integrity, than the publicity which is now given to
every man's affairs. The fear of the loss of character among their
private connexions, was greater than the present fear of public expo-
sure and disgrace. In fact, the public opinion is not so ruinous to a
bad man, as the loss of character used to be among a circle of private
customers. We see tradesmen, who have been publicly exposed, set
396 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
ness of books makes every body read them : makes
every body read them hastily. The most recent being
up in trade again, and carry it on with the most perfect success. Pri-
vate judgment is more permanent than public opinion. The daily
publication of all manner of occurrences from all parts of the world,
forces the forgetting of past topics of interest, however great and im-
portant ; and a man's character is only lost to him for a short time, by
the greatest delinquencies. The public soon become lenient, and in-
different to his offence. The multiplication of such villanies, and their
daily repetition, makes the world regard them lightly and tolerantly.
Adulterers and adulteresses, and those guilty of disgraceful acts, were
never received back again so easily as now into society. There is no
doubt but that personal acquaintances, in private life, look with greater
severity upon a crime, than the public. But, as things are, the public
voice is the most important, and supersedes the private. The public
canvassing of all topics, and accusing and defending of every act, on
both sides, and with gross exaggerations, and the frequent slander even
of the worthiest and the best men, excites and exhausts the mind and
moral sense, and renders it unconcerned, and indifferent to real trans-
actions. The calumnies against the good are a screen to bad men.
The constant repetition of horrors and crimes render us callous and
reckless. And the details of murder, and suicide, and regicide, are
known to lead and to instigate frequently to the commission of these
offences. When the press promotes vice, it makes all men equally
vicious. It drags virtue, which is independent, and desires solitude
and retirement, before the common judgment-seat. There is no sanc-
tuary for virtue. There are very few crimes from which men are
deterred by the fear of publicity. But private opinion and character
is one of the first and strongest motives in all subjects of wrong and
disgrace. Even public men used to be more constrained by the opi-
nion of those about them within the bounds of what was at the time
conventionally considered among them as their duty, than they now
are by the public opinion. But does the public opinion constrain
public men to good ? For this is the great pretension of the public
censorship of the press. In the first place, if public officers are re-
strained by the press from misconduct, some of the best men are re-
strained from seeking public life, by the abuses of that instrument But
are public men deterred from doing wrong ? They are full as fre-
ESSAY XVII.] THE PRESS. 397
always the greatest in number and repute, there is little
or no time for older works. Everything must be written
in the plainest and most popular style, otherwise it
would be impossible to read fast enough. There must
be no such thing as a language and style peculiar to
each author, the best suited to his subject and taste
as in the best Greek and Italian authors. But every-
thing must be written in the most fluent and easy style,
and according to the present popular pattern. Nature
and primitive society are original, energetic, various,
and at the same time permanent : as in language, and
habits of life, and dress; on the contrary, art and civili-
zation are uniform, imitative, and tame, and at the same
time fickle and changeable, both in their objects and
modes, so that nothing under their influence becomes
well-rooted, and perfected. Thus we are incapacitated
by our habits from the energy of thought and mind, and
freedom of taste, which are requisite to enable us to
study the older authors ; and thus we seem likely to be
excluded from this rich mine of solid metal, and to be-
come accustomed to scratch the surface soil only for
grains and dust, such as it takes a million of to make
an ingot. Those writers of puerile ambition, who seek
quently deterred from doing right, and acting boldly, and promptly,
and wisely, and vigorously, and conscientiously, and usefully, by the
apprehension of public notice and objection ; and the wisest and best
are obliged to take their line, and to shape their course and conduct,
according to the popular sentiment and voice, and in pursuit of pre-
sent approbation.
If the public voice supersedes private opinion as a rule and guide,
and to such ill purpose, what must be its effect as superseding, and in
comparison with, conscience and religion, as a rule and motive?
398 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
to improve the spelling of the English language, to the
standard of their own blunted perceptions and sickly
tastes, do not reflect, that if a new method of spelling
were ever to be adopted, it would at once exclude all
the books of the older writers from use, and render
them a dead language. One set of critics want to re-
duce the pronunciation of all words to their spelling,
and another, if not the same, to reduce the spelling to
the pronunciation. The two propositions are contra-
dictory. But besides this, those who want to simplify
our spelling, show themselves incapable of appreciating
the delicate varieties of pronunciation, which are often
indicated by the very letters which they would dispense
with ; and those who would alter the pronunciation ob-
serve neither the idiom nor the euphony of our language,
nor the variety of meaning which is frequently exhibited
by this freedom, and which must be as much greater
than the number of words as the sounds must be than
the letters of our language : unless like the Russians we
adopted 52 letters at least into our alphabet.
As the publications most in use still become more and
more ephemeral, so in proportion the style and depth
and solidity of thought must decline and grow ener-
vated. Men will not write with the same care and
thought that which is intended to be read only for the
day, and is after that directly to be thrown aside, and
habitually forgotten. And though ephemeral writings
are for the present improved, because the best writers
find it profitable to devote their time and talents to
them ; yet when ephemeral works shall have become
the sole literature, and all learning shall have become
ESSAY XVII.] EPHEMERAL LITERATURE. 399
as it were the daily gossip of a newspaper, cheap and
light, popular and easy, the invention and topic of the
day and hour then, with the change of fashion and of
taste, the style and standard of learning and literature
must decline : not at all impeded by the existence of
multitudes of works of the highest standard and calibre,
even in print, and in our libraries. We scarcely re-
flect how easy it is for books to be in print, and be
known, and be talked of, and yet to be never read : as
the Jews were till of late unacquainted with their own
Bible, and Leo X. is said never to have read the New
Testament till after he was pope.
Niebuhr observes, in treating of the first dark age of
Rome, that " An age unable to produce any good works
is also incapable of reading books."*
The literature and education of a country is a fashion
and a taste. If a nation may decline in civilization, it
may still more decline in knowledge. Where is the edu-
cation and literature of Spain ? Where that of Italy ?
It is not printed books which would dispose the modern
Greeks to study Aristotle and ^Eschylus. How young
men hate and despise the Proverbs of Solomon ! There
is no royal road to learning, it is confessed. And King
Mob, though he may level mountains and thrones, and
crumble them down to the level of his own dust, yet he
cannot add one cubit to his own dunghill without toil,
or alter human nature one iota. Learning and wisdom
must be toiled and laboured after ; and both time and
honour must be ready to be given to them, or men will
not labour after them. A desolating civil war, or a
* Transl. by Hare and Thirlwall, vol. ii. p. 638. See the passage.
400 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
foreign invasion, may put learning out of countenance ;
and so might the ease and sloth of continual peace and
enervating luxury. It is not blaze of light alone which
will produce vision. " The light shined in darkness and
the darkness comprehended it not."
I have already said that we seem to be relapsing into
second childhood, through resting upon our own wisdom
and knowledge : self-satisfied with our present experi-
ence ; and using the more ancient ways and opinions, if
at all, as old saws and fables, without ability to under-
stand and apply them to modern times and present cir-
cumstances. As the world grows old and effete, our
objects and efforts grow more trifling and transient ; as
our mines become richer, and the materials of know-
ledge more abundant and complete, our investigations
are shallower and more superficial, and our endeavours
feebler and more inconstant. The art of knowledge is
as much to forget what is past, as to be well versed in
that which is the present topic of interest. An instruc-
tive and valuable work is forgotten in less time than it
took to write it ; the peculiar circumstances of a great
national event and crisis are not remembered after two
or three years ; and few can tell whether the recent wars
in Affghanistan and China have gone on for two years
or four ; or have taken the pains to inquire into the real
causes of either. A new system of medicine, or mes-
merism, or ten yards square of artificial ice, or an elec-
trical telegraph, occupies more attention.
In this, as in other things, the Americans seem dis-
posed to carry on our own principles farther and faster
than ourselves. A recent writer, possessed of the
ESSAY XVII.] KNOWLEDGE OUR SUMMUM BONUM. 401
happiest powers of description, describes their appetite
for knowledge in the following terms. " With regard
to the other means of excitement, the lecture, it has at
least the merit of being always new. One lecture treads
so quickly on the heels of another, that none are re-
membered ; and the course of this month may be safely
repeated the next, with its charm of novelty unbroken,
and its interest unabated."*
We could never persuade ourselves that this is not the
very wisest age; or that such knowledge as we are pur-
suing is not the summum bonum : because knowledge
is the fashion of the day ; and knowledge is our pride,
and passion ; and we have heard that Bacon has said
" Knowledge is power," without telling us however
whether its power is greatest for good or for evil. But
knowledge is the thing admired and in vogue, and, next
to money, is the thing envied. Therefore also it is the
great object and the great end ; and it is to sap the
foundations of truth that is, of present opinion to say
that it is not the great and sufficient instrument and
warrant of happiness.
The miser cannot be convinced that money is not the
summum bonum, while he passes fearful and fretful
days and feverish nights watching the price of stocks
and the panic in the markets. The gambler declares
and thinks his pursuit delicious, while he is tearing
up the flesh of his bosom with his nails through the
agony of excitement. The debauchee derides all sober
courses of life, and self-control ; while he is feeling an
inward vacancy and unsatisfied desire, which increases
* Dickens's American Notes, i. 133.
402 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [E8SAY XVII.
continually with every fresh indulgence of it, and is pre-
paring pains and palsy and petulance for the conclusion
of the scene, without hope or happy reflection for a
solace or diversion. Napoleon conceives himself the
greatest and most gifted of men, and the most favoured
by heaven, when he is marshalling his greatest battle,
and is pacing up and down, and biting his hands with
rage, and is emptying boxes of snuff, and snatching his
general's aigrettes to excite his exhausted spirits, and
has already Russia, thank God ! and the world within
his grasp, and the throw of this die, and the next
hour he is a defeated gambler. So we will not believe
that riches are not our highest end, because we abound
in them : though this land in which they abound is the
land of pauperism, and the very crisis of riches is about
to bring us to bankruptcy. Or that knowledge is not
our gods which have brought us out of Egypt : though
we are the blindest and most superficial of all genera-
tions.
" Thy wisdom and thy knowledge it hath perverted
thee." Our learning has made us blind. There has
been no age in which people have more closely shut
their eyes to plain facts and truths, than the present
one. We reason ourselves out of our good-sense.
This was the method and the example set us by our
masters the Greeks. Historically they were acquainted
with many important truths, but they reasoned them-
selves out of the belief of them. The Egyptians and
Pythagoras knew that the sun was the centre of our
system: but the later Greeks denied the fact. They
knew likewise by tradition that there was a beginning
ESSAY XVII.] SCIENCE BLINDS US. 403
of the world, and that man was created; but Aristotle
and his followers disproved both these truths. Both
Plato and Aristotle acknowledge that there was a tra-
dition that One God alone governed the universe.
The immortality of the soul, and the special govern-
ment of Providence, were both known to them by
precept ; but the later Greeks denied any such things.
The philosophers and sophists turned morals into a
science ; and we know the theories and practices which
grew out of this stem. Plato's community of women,
which was of this root, was wholesome and sound to
many of them. Hear what Seneca says of them on
this topic. " The wisdom of the ancients, as to the
government of life, was no more than certain precepts,
what to do, and what not ; and men were much better
in that simplicity ; for as they came to be more learned,
they grew less careful of being good. That plain and
open virtue is now turned into a dark and intricate
science ; and we are taught to dispute rather than to
live."
" Thy wisdom and thy knowledge it hath perverted
thee." We attribute an effect and importance to science
which does not belong to it, not knowing its limits and
its fallibleness. We suffer the medical and legal profes-
sions to determine the question of moral responsibility,
in insanity; confounding distinct and separate subjects.
We find ourselves in consequence involved in inextri-
cable difficulty, by means of our pretension to greater
wisdom than our ancestors in these matters : being in
fact become fools by our scientific advancement.
Surgical science dims the mind's eye to the apprehen-
404 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
sion of a divine cause ; and to a discrimination in moral
subjects. Science is essentially shallow, and only deals
well with shallow subjects : as mathematics. It mainly
studies order and clearness and simplicity. But if a
moral treatise is clear, and it is easy to see to the bot-
tom of it, it must needs be that it is shallow ; if it is
reduced to exact order, it is no other than putting
animate, elastic, energetic limbs into a coffin, or a
strait waistcoat. No two things are apt to be more
diametrically opposed, than science and true wisdom.
A great writer is more than likely to be a bad
practitioner. This is much the case in medicine; but
more in human life. Yet we give the palm to reason
and science in everything ; and we thereby out-reason
and out-wit ourselves. We reason upon temptations,
till we palliate and excuse every offence; we reason
upon the causes of crime, till we lose our abhorrence
of it, and neglect to punish it; we reason upon the
nature of prayer, till we cease to pray with faith ; we
reason upon God's commands till we refuse to obey
them ; we reason upon Christianity, till we forget to
practise it. Learned men always look down upon
those who act rightly and wisely without giving rules
and reasons. The legal profession universally despise
the judgments of juries; and yet they are themselves
the most incompetent judges of the common affairs of
life, and the most beset with prejudices. Our ancestors
never showed their wisdom greater, than when they
withdrew the cognizance of facts from the legal pro-
fession, and placed them in the hands of the unsophis-
ticated.
ESSAY XVII.] SCIENCE BLINDS US. 405
The fruit of the tree of knowledge is ever to us
what its first fruit was to our first parents. The first
suggestion of their knowledge was to hide themselves
from the all-seeing God ; and the next was, an answer
which betrayed and proved the whole matter which
they intended to conceal. We too are like the ostriches
and the woodcocks, which thrust their heads behind a
stick, and into the sand, and like children who shut
their eyes, and think then that they are not seen. We
shut our eyes to the laws and presence of God ; and
say that " None seeth me."* We shut our eyes to the
facts and experiences around us, and staring at us, and
think that they will not find us out, and that we may
pursue our prejudices and choice blindly, and to a suc-
cessful end, and with impunity. A professor of the most
popular science now in vogue wrote a volume to prove
that a landlord's absence from his estates was no evil ;
and his reasoning was accredited against all experience
and ascertained consequences, because the reasoning
was palatable. With like money-wisdom, it was re-
ported and recommended that an archdeacon would do
as well, and serve the same purposes as a bishop, in
the Isle of Man, " because he had a sufficient stipend."
This is an axiom in modern wisdom, that goodness may
be secured and purchased for money ; and that if good
prices are offered for good men, we take the best and
sufficient means to instil virtue into our population.
Virtue may be fed and fattened by the most corrupting
food, and the gratification of a vicious appetite ! There-
fore, paid magistrates and officers of justice, of improve-
* Isai. xlvii. 10.
406 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
ment, of charity, of religion, at home and in missions,
are better than gratuitous ones. Money is a better
security and motive to action than respect or a good
conscience ! self-interest than benevolence ! the earn-
ing of a salary than the sacrifice of time and pleasure !
mercenaries than volunteers ! privates than officers ! a
low, dependent person who aspires to gain, than a high
independent gentleman who condescends to usefulness !
Certainly this must be the ultimate attainment and he-
resy of mercantile philosophy !
Our towns are filled with wretchedness and vice, and
millions are still flowing towards them to misery ; yet
the remedy must be in the further encouragement of
the system. Pauperism increases with our riches, and
even the difficulty which the rich have to live : the
remedy is the still further increase of them. Our
tradesmen and workmen are failing and starving, while
the rich are growing more luxurious: yet luxury is
extolled as a virtue and duty, and must be still further
promoted. Our national debt embarrasses all our
movements, gives colour to demoralizing sources of
revenue, requires taxes which fetter every branch of
our trade, and is the key to every act of legislation ;
but we have reasoned ourselves into the belief that it is
a good thing, because it affords us some securities and
indulgences. Popular excitement and struggle for
power is shaking the world like an earthquake, and
threatening destruction of all social organization : the
remedy is in giving the monster his head, and letting
him taste the blood of his prey. " We have much to
go through yet ; let us therefore rush into the ruin all
at once, and go through it quickly."
ESSAY XVII.] MORAL PHILOSOPHY EXTINCT. 407
We are the most backward of all people in the study
of human nature. And though all other nations of
Europe have a greater insight into character and
knowledge of life than ourselves, and are more dexterous
dealers and diplomatists, yet there is not one good
moral philosopher on this side of the Archipelago. The
Asiatics have always been the greatest observers of life
and character, and the first moral philosophers. To
extol the wisdom of Solomon the most highly it was
said, that his wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the
children of the East. The proverbs of Solomon are the
highest examples of this wisdom ; but they are paltry
and unpalatable to us. The Jews inherited and still
inherit this field of knowledge from their forefathers ; of
which there are some examples in the books of Wisdom
and Ecclesiasticus, and some also in the writings of
Maimonides and Mendelsohn. The Hindoos are pre-
eminent in their knowledge of life and character ; and
moral philosophy has always been the prevailing litera-
ture among the Chinese.
The literature and philosophy of this country is
rational and mechanical; and dry and formal like a
syllogism. The moral qualities and powers of things
are unobserved, and disregarded. The moral strength
of the country is no subject for our politicians ; it is a
thing not understood, and consequently undervalued:
as physicians deny the influence of the moon upon
lunatics, because it is beyond the province of their art.
The police force of moral influence is uncultivated, and
almost unnoticed. We have so little knowledge of the
human mind, that we have established an external test
408 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
of poverty, to supersede inquiry; this being one and
the same criterion for the bad and good, for hardened
and degraded profligacy, and virtuous sensibility. The
French omnibuses have a turnstile, to check the num-
bers who go in and out ; in lieu of honesty in the con-
ductor. We have the same at our bridges and rail-
roads. It is worthy of a manufacturing age, to have a
mechanical substitute for honesty and character. The
study of mind is mechanical, by the line and rule of
craniology; the study of medicine too, for it is becom-
ing more and more based upon anatomy. The play-
thing, geology, is suffered to usurp the place of history,
and if need be of revelation;* and is called sublime, &c. !
We are children in our philosophy ; and we deal with
the most important concerns and mysteries of human life
as our toys and playthings. A commission high in autho-
rity and power makes reports to the government, con-
founding seduction with prostitution; recommending
that the preventive punishment of these crimes should be
applied exclusively to the weaker sex ; and limiting the
highest amount of damages for seduction to twenty
pounds. The privy council committee of education make
reports, elaborately entering into the mysteries of spelling
and reading ; and pointing out the mode of teaching the
arts of reading and spelling by analysis, and of writing
by synthesis. Surely, we are children in philosophy and
understanding ! When Joyce's stoves were invented,
* I have heard a reverend lecturer in geology declare, that for the
waters of the flood to cover the whole earth, coming as they did from
a smaller sphere to occupy a larger one, was physically impossible;
and that as for creation being completed in six days, the very idea was
ridiculous.
ESSAY XVII.] PHILOSOPHY PUERILE. 409
upon an approved philosophical principle, hundreds of
them were ordered before a single one had been tried ;
and a book was kept for the purpose, so overwhelming
was the number of applicants. As soon as tried, it
proved to be false in principle and useless, and fatal to
life in several instances. When a new flying machine is
invented, a bill is brought into parliament to establish
a company for the use of it, before it has been tried.
Is not this the most foolish generation ?
Philosophy degenerates into the most puerile of all
pursuits, if it is pursued lightly and popularly. It is
often so with those who seem to have attained to the
greatest proficiency in it. Philosophy, in its endeavour
to generalize, blunts the perceptions of weak men to
differences, and breaks down distinctions ; in which
true wisdom, and good sense in action, consist. This
disposition leads to indifference, indiscrimination, and
scepticism. Philosophy supersedes history and facts,
to suit its systems. Aristotle, as before observed, de-
nied the creation of the world ; Pythagoras the use of
sacrifices ; Epicurus the providence of God. It is phi-
losophers who have said that the world was made by
chance. Philosophy, in all times, refuses belief to those
matters which do not come within present experience,
and says, " All things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation."*
* The apostle of infidelity said that the life of man was just like that
of animals and vegetables that man was the happiest because he
lived the longest : the long lives of deer, crows, &c. being fabulous.
Thus he set aside facts, like other philosophers, to suit his shallow theory.
Niebuhr did not look upon the Bible as an authority and a history ;
T
410 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
To assist us in generalizing, philosophy removes out
of the way all phenomena which are not of the most
simple kind, and which might impede our generaliza-
tions. Thus the passions and affections are excluded
by modern philosophers, as unfit to take their part in
the affairs of life, and the processes of reasoning ; as
Epicurus excluded the hand of Providence from human
events; as philosophy in general excludes faith as a
motive and place of standing ; and as the sceptic and
rationalist omits the influence of the Holy Spirit, as a
guide and instructor and assistant to judgment, and
thought, and action.* It is plain that if an item be left
out in calculation, or a premiss in reasoning, the con-
clusions and conduct must be erroneous ; and that in
proportion to the multiplication of the reasoning, and the
extent to which it is carried out, and the self-confidence
of judgment and action. *f-
But this is the ordinary course. Philosophy has en-
deavoured to separate and exclude conscience and reli-
gion from politics, and moral from political character.
No one now looks for a good and religious man for a
statesman, or thinks him the better for so being. No
and he constantly speaks of the many original races of men. Malthus
never refers to the Bible as opposing his theories, either to explain or
answer it.
* The world by wisdom knows not man; the world by wisdom
knows not God.
f- Our Lord, it seems, prescribed the limits to philosophy, and proved
its insufficiency in a few words, when he said, " The wind bloweth (the
spirit inspireth) where it listcth, and thou hearest the sound (or voice)
thereof, but thou canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goetli,
(namely, reason out the operations of it.")
ESSAY XVII.] PHILOSOPHY SHALLOW. 411
one now says in Christendom, as was formerly said in
an idolatrous country, " Can we find such a one as
this is : a man in whom the spirit of God is ?" And it
is most singular and awful, that the age and political
school which have most endeavoured to separate religion
and moral character from statesmen and the depart-
ments of government, should be the same which have
arrogated to the government the duty of educating the
people.
Philosophy ever tends to blunt men's minds to deli-
cate and essential distinctions ; which are the very
points which exercise and perfect their wisdom, and
make their actions higher and better than those of a
machine, and their thoughts than those of a brute.
Philosophy has always tended to profane the sanctity of
female character, and to quench that superstitious reve-
rence which is needful to guard it.* Crime is palliated
at the present day by free discussion and reasoning
upon it ; so that the causes and motives becoming part
of every investigation, it is like to result in general
impunity. Demoralizing laws and regulations are pal-
liated, by reasoning upon the necessity of raising the
public revenue ; cruelty towards the poor and the
labouring population is palliated and approved, by
reasoning upon the processes of manufacture and trade,
and the theory of markets. If a clergyman talks of
cruelty to labourers and oppression of the poor, what,
it is asked, have the clergy to do with political economy ?
Modern theorists reason from the spade to the steam
* Lycurgus, Plato, Mr. Owen, and the Poor Law Commissioners,
are examples of this.
T2
412 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
engine ; from the needle to the machinery that makes
the needle, without distinction or discrimination.* We
confound religious teaching with moral and philoso-
phical ; moral with industrial ; industry with arts ; and
art with sciences ; and reason from one to the other as
if they were the same thing. We do not see any dis-
tinction between flogging a boy for lying or swearing
or stealing, and for not learning his grammar perfectly.f
Political philosophy says of the differences of creeds
and sects, " What is truth ?" A senator is reported to
have said in his place, " Surely it was as important to
preserve men's lives as their souls." M. Guizot declares,
"It is essential that Catholicism, Protestantism, and
philosophy, should live harmoniously in the bosom of
French nationality."^ Among the steps which philo-
sophy paved for the French Revolution and national
infidelity, the Academy of General Education was esta-
blished in Germany, uniting the three communions :
namely, in a rational deism.
Smyth's Lectures afford another example of the indif-
* Let me here notice one distinction among others. The needle,
the spade, the knife, the hand-loom, and the spinning wheel, enable us
to do things more perfectly, and that which we could not otherwise do
at all ; the button-shank machine, the lace-making machine, the
power-loom, the spinning-jenny, only do the same things which may
be done without them, and for the most part they do them more im-
perfectly.
t " The moral education of the people is the first duty of a govern-
ment; and therefore the government ought to establish a fixed system
of secular education." (Mr. Hume, House of Commons, March 24th,
1843.) Though nowhere so shortly expressed, this is the substance of
the majority of the speeches delivered in that debate.
J Quoted, Bickersteth's Dangers of the Church of Christ, p. 8.
Kett on Prophecy, ii. 172.
ESSAY XVII. ] THE EDUCATION MANIA. 413
ferentisra of the most studious philosophers. After
pourtraying the prominent features of the most eventful
passages in the world's history, he concludes with some
such remarks as this, " After all, this is only human
nature, which is the same in all ages:" instead of point-
ing out, that peculiar passions and principles prevail
and have their development and their judgment, at
particular places, and periods of the world's history.
Mr. Wilberforce makes the like charge against Robert-
son, the historian, for the indifference to essential truth,
shown by him in his phlegmatic account of the Refor-
mation, and in his letters to Gibbon. And he instances
him as only one of a class of eminent literary cha-
racters.*
It is the universal consent of the powers in Christen-
dom, that all the people must be educated. This prin-
ciple has in it all the essentials of the spirit of philosophy
which has been described ; and is the, same in character,
though now set upon a broader and surer basis, as that
reasoning spirit which laid the foundation of the French
Revolution, and led to all its atrocities. The idea of
knowledge which is entertained by those who are the
leaders of this division of the armies of the evil one, and
are enforcing the necessity of education upon us, and
organizing this attack, is an abstract idea of knowledge.
They reverence it as a thing good per se, and powerful
to save in itself, irrespective of application to particular
ends, for the promotion of particular callings and arts
of life. The notion of its being used only for the pro-
motion of trades and professions, is contemned and
* Practical Christianity, ch. vi.
414 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
scouted. Learning and science is in itself the direct
means of enlarging and elevating, and giving moral dis-
cipline and improvement to the mind.
These philosophers, as usual, are not careful to dis-
tinguish one kind of learning from another. No : with
them, as with the rest, the subject they delight in is an
idea, and an abstraction. These are not willing or able
of themselves, and their captive panic-struck opponents
have not yet the courage to see and say, that their
proposition contains two distinct elements; and that
they confound essentially opposite principles. They
have not yet courage to discern between, and separate
from one another, and set in opposition, science and
moral discipline : learning and conduct : knowledge
and action : both which have been confounded, blindly
but insidiously, by the agents of this evil, under the terms
training and education. These are antagonist forces.
The one is of God, and of wisdom, and truth : the
other is of the devil. The one is as much of the world,
and of the flesh, as power, and strength, and authority,
and pleasure, and riches : which are temptations in
themselves, and tend to evil ; and must be opposed and
counteracted and brought into obedience by the other,
as an antagonist, healing principle.
Hitherto we have only thought to say timidly, and
sought to have it believed, that religious and moral
training are a part of education, and must not be left
out ; and so we have endeavoured, and with some suc-
cess, to creep in the essential, as a subsidiary, and
handmaid, and help-meet of the emissary of the evil
one, which has usurped the prerogative and dominion.
ESSAY XVII.] RELIGION AND KNOWLEDGE OPPOSED. 415
The Tree of Knowledge is set over against the Tree of
Life : as antagonist to it. Religion is not the basis of
secular education, as it is said to be : it is the antidote
to it. What has reasoning to do with faith ? What have
the instruments of worldly ambition to do with hope ?
What has grammar to do with love and concord between
man and man? What has the doctrine of markets to
do with controlling covetousness ? What has skill in
handicrafts and apprenticeship in a trade, to do with
keeping holy the Sabbath ? What has geography, with
the way to the heavenly city ? What geometry, with the
rightly dividing the word of truth ? What astronomy,
with the knowledge of heavenly things, and the attain-
ment of wisdom in " the heavenly places ?"
It is true that learning is one of those domains which
must in the end be subjected to the dominion of Christ,
and is the arena of one of His conquests ; and Know-
ledge, like the merchandise of Tyre, " shall be holiness
to the Lord." And the church is even now, as ever,
checking its ambitious career ; and foiling its insidious
attacks ; and turning its two-edged weapons against
itself; and entangling it in its own ambushments; and
leading it on to its own inevitable overthrow and self-
destruction. The histories and researches of sceptics
have, in fulfilment of this divine purpose, constantly
furnished the most piercing weapons against themselves,
and the materials for new outworks to the city of our
Zion. But the preparing of a wall of offence against
the city of truth, is no less an impiety to be punished,
because in the end it provides the timber and stones
416 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
for two walls in its defence ;* and the invasion of sin
is no less sinful, or its assaults to be deprecated, be-
cause it is in making its attacks that it meets with its
most signal defeats, and most disastrous punishment.
Its overthrow is not effected without the loss of mul-
titudes, who are found weakly guarded in the ranks of
truth ; as we now find many even of the clergy, and of
zealously devoted men in the desire of the right way,
who espouse the cause of education in the abstract :
as the same classes of men were of late urgent in their
condemnation of the poor ; and, with the watch-word
of benevolence in their mouths, wrote earnestly and
eagerly, to slander their character, to dissuade from all
kindly affection and liberality towards them, to recom-
mend mistrust of them, and severity, as a virtue and a
duty.f
Let not these men remain in like manner deceived
2 Chron. xvi. 6.
f We find such expressions as these in the mouths of the best
disposed. " Ignorance is the great cause of crime." " Education is
the main thing necessary." "A larger cultivation of the minds of the
people." " The educated man is the best and safest in every country."
(Lord Ashley.) " I go heartily along with the noble lord (Ashley)
in considering that the ignorance of the people is the great evil of our
time." (Mr. C. Buller.) One of the most morally disposed journals
has these expressions, within a very few lines. " There are few of us
who have such demands upon our time, that we cannot pluck some
few leaves of ' the tree of knowledge.' " " A great society, from which
ignorance should be altogether excluded, would possess a general
freedom from vice, such as no human society has ever yet enjoyed."
" Banish ignorance, and vice will almost die of inanition." (Standard,
March, 27, 1843.) And again, " the idle rich, who, after all, are the
great teachers of refinement, and through refinement the pioneers of
sound morality." Ibid. April 7, 1843.
ESSAY XVII.] THE EDUCATION HERESY. 417
with respect to education. The education proposed and
intended by its modern advocates is worldly, devilish.
It is the spirit as well as the language of the heathen
philosopher revived, when he exclaimed " Educate your
children."* The Duke of Wellington, who is at least
* I am sure to be misunderstood on this head ; therefore I will add
one other explanation. I have been asked, "Do you say then, that
every learned man is a worse man for being learned ?" I answer, by
asking, " Can a rich mau be saved?" With God it is possible. But
it is more difficult. It is a worldly object and endowment ; and as
such it is fraught with temptation, and danger, and difficulty. But
the conquering this increased difficulty may be a greater crown. Such
an one may have added ten talents.
Without admitting that knowledge is not a greater evil than riches,
I will, for the sake of present illustration, put them in the same place.
It is to be recollected, that the present proposition is, that knowledge
will make men better, and better citizens (I must not say subjects),
and happier. If riches make men better, and better subjects, and
happier, then knowledge perhaps may do so. If it is the duty of the
State to make men rich, and to force increase of riches, not to go-
vern and direct the use of them, then it may be the duty of the State
to impart knowledge. If it is the business of the clergy to encourage
men to become rich, then may it be their business to promote secular
learning ; and not only to direct the use, and counteract the abuse,
and to bring it into subjection to the kingdom of Christ.
Of course in the same proportion as the clergy should be the in-
structors in the arts of making rich, these arts are likely to be divested
of some of their evil tendency and to be unsecularized. In like man-
ner, the teaching of secular learning is likely to be less prejudicial in
their hands. To a great extent they have already arrogated to them-
selves this office with success. But the chief promoters of secular
learning, for its own true ends, are jealous of this pretension ; and
here is one chief subject of debate and struggle at this time. The
offices and interference of the Church have in a great measure coun-
teracted and consecrated the natural tendencies of learning and know-
ledge. But it is above all things essential, that the clergy should know
what their proper part is ; and what the real properties of the subject
which they have to deal with.
T5
418 THE TREE OP KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
the greatest master mind which this generation has
seen in worldly affairs, has said, " If you give the
people education without religion, you will make them
a nation of devils." He saw practically the tendency of
the scheme which that school of political philosophers
are drawing out. They pretend not to be staggered by
such a remark. For they pretend willingly to concede
this point, of using religion as a part of their system,
so long as it is not discovered to be an antagonist prin-
ciple, and used as an antidote and corrective of their
system. For this purpose they willingly confuse the
essences and distinctions of the two things, and gladly
keep and use, and contemplate their idol education, as
an idea and an abstraction.
The king of Prussia said with plainer truth, " The
present system of education makes people feel that
they helped God to make the world." This is a true
picture of it. The language which is constant in the
mouths of those men, who, as a school, are its chief
admirers and promoters, is, that they are fellow-workers
with God : that they are fellow-labourers with Christ :
that the religion which was published by Our Lord
Jesus Christ was but a step; and that they are making
good another and a better step, and are perfecting
Christianity. The " illuminism," which, as a school and
doctrine, prepared the way for the revolutionary theism,
was called " the perfection of Christianity."*
The whole system is the same ; and is leading us on
to another establishment of the reign of reason, and
* Kelt on Proph. ii. 174.
ESSAY XVII.] THE EDUCATION HERESY. 419
revolutionary madness and infidelity. " Science had
never attained a more commanding station, than in
France at the close of the eighteenth century." It was
the educated and the learned who condemned religion,
and denied and put down Christianity in that country.
It was reason triumphing.* Speaking of Collins,
Bolingbroke, Bayle, Fontenelle, Voltaire, Montesquieu,
Kett says of them, they adopted " the words of reason,
toleration, humanity, as their signal and call to arms."t
Philosophy is now, and ever, what it is described by
M. Guizot, " that which admits not under any name or
form, a faith obligatory to human thought; and in
religious as well as other matters leaves it free to be-
lieve or not to believe, and to direct itself by its own
labour."J It is the same which has exhibited the
Unitarians and " the doctors of Zurich, with scissors
* The seemingly abandoned doctrine of " sufficient reason" is still
the same which governs us. We see no reason why riches should
demoralize us ; why luxury should injure the poor ; why knowledge
should make the mind irreligious. We do not see how national virtue
should make us strong; how sabbath-keeping should make us rich;
how religious rulers should make us prosperous.
f Kett on Proph. ii. 155. " The Bishop of Meaux, and the learned
Grotius, supposed the second beast in Revelations to denote philosophy
'falsely so called.' Dr. Hartley, in the conclusion of his Observations
on Man, considers infidelity as the beast. Sir I. Newton and Dr.
Clarke interpreted 'the reign of the beast' to be the open avowal of in-
fidelity. They further conjectured that the state of religion in France,
and the manners of the age, combined with the divine oracles to
announce the approaching reign of the beast. And they considered
it as probable, that the ecclesiastical constitution of France would soon
be subverted, and that the standard of infidelity would first be set up
there." Ibid. i. 389, 390.
J Quoted, Bickersteth's Dangers of the Church of Christ, p. 8.
420 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
in hand, cutting out the spurious passages from the
Apostle's writings;"* and which warranted the Ra-
tionalist Puritans of the Commonwealth in objecting
to the Lord's Prayer, that Our Lord Jesus Christ
" made it in his minority, before he was arrived at
his full perfection."*!- Philosophy is ever proud, con-
ceited, selfish, cruel, tyrannical, independent, blind,
devoid of wisdom : regarding neither God nor man :
sacrificing the happiness and blood of men to an
opinion and an abstraction, and thousands to a thesis.
This reasoning, conceited, self-satisfied, independent
spirit has been growing upon us for years, and is still
growing, under the passion for education which is
hurrying us away and possessing us ; and unless coun-
teracted, or at least mastered, and regulated by a higher
principle, must prematurely hurry us into foolishness
and decrepitude.^
* Theopneustia, by M. Gaussen.
f Fuller's Triple Reconciler, p. 130. edit. 1654.
J That education does not tend to make people better subjects, and to
deter them from crime, but the reverse, has been shown by Mr. Alison ;
who has collected several examples and authorities to that effect, at
least as strong as any which have been brought to prove the opposite
proposition. The following are some extracts from his work on
Population.
" If it is expected that the enjoyments of knowledge are to coun-
teract, in the majority of the lower orders, the desire for gratifications
of a baser kind, or to check the growth of vicious desires, in the active
as well as the speculative portion of mankind, effects are anticipated
from its diffusion contrary alike to reason and to experience. If any
one were to propose, by a system of education, to counteract the
passions, or give a new direction to the desires of the higher orders
ESSAY XVII.] THE EDUCATION HERESY. 4'21
I look upon the raging thirst after knowledge and
science as being the crowning heresy and apostasy of
generally, he would be immediately regarded as a visionary enthusiast."
vol. ii. p. 91.
" Scotland (so frequently referred to), demonstrates the inefficiency
of education to arrest the progress of evil in a complicated state of
society.
" In the contest with whisky in their crowded population, education
has been utterly overthrown." ii. 96.
" In England, it has been completely established, by the evidence
laid before several parliamentary committees, that the education of the
lower orders has had no effect whatever in checking the progress of
crime. Report on Crime, 1828; Evidence before Combination Com-
mittee, 1838, p. 97, 169."
" The number of individuals charged with serious offences is in
England jive times greater than it was thirty years ago ; in Ireland
six times; but in Scotland twenty-nine times. Moreau, p. 98, 317."
" M. Guerry has pointed out, that the great majority of the licentious
females of Paris come from the northeni and most highly educated
provinces of France.
" Over education is the common source of the passions to which
they owe their ruin ; it is the desire for immediate enjoyment, a
thirst for the pleasures and luxuries of the affluent, the love of dress,
ornament, and gaiety, which are the prevailing motives that lead
almost all young women astray. How much must the sway of such
impulses be increased, by the superficial and exciting reading which
the usual trash to be found in circulating libraries affords in so over-
whelming a proportion." (ii. 314.) And he adds the details of ten
circulating libraries in London; from which it appears, that there are
only 27 volumes on morality and religion in them, and above 1500
fashionable, indifferent and libertine novels.
" If any person would wish to know to what, in a highly civilized
and opulent community, the general extension of simply intellectual
cultivation will lead, he has only to look at the books found at Pompeii ;
ninety-nine-hundredths of which relate exclusively to subjects of gas-
tronomy or obscenity ; or to the present novels and dramatic literature
in France, in which all the efforts of genius, and all the powers of fancy,
422 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVIII.
the present generation. Among other signs, it is its
boast to " bring down fire from heaven on the earth in
are employed only to heighten the desires, prolong the excitement, and
throw a romantic cover over the gratification of the senses." ii. 302.
"Parliamentary return of crimes tried in Scotland, 1837, and 1838.
Uneducated . . 1836 ... 693 1837 . . . 551.
Educated . . . 1836 . . . 2360 1837 . . . 2793.
" Therefore, the uneducated were not one-fifth of the educated ; and
the former are decreasing, and the latter increasing." ii. 318.
" By the criminal returns in France, in the whole eighty-six depart-
ments, it has been found, that with hardly one exception, the amount
of crime is just in proportion to the degree of instruction which pre-
vails."
" We do not think that you can attribute the diminution of crime
in the north to instruction, because, in Connecticut, where there is far
more instruction than in New York, crime increases with a terrible
rapidity; and if you cannot accuse knowledge as the cause of this, one
is obliged to acknowledge, that it is not a preventive. Beaumont and
Tocqueville on the Penitentary System of the U. S. 147." ii. 320.
" In Sweden, in 1837, 1 in 460 were punished for criminal offences.
Of those living in towns, 1 in 78. These numbers are considerably
higher than the worst parts of Great Britain.
" In Norway, in 1835, 1 in 457 were committed for criminal offences.
" Yet both Norway and Sweden are in a very high degree educated
countries ; instruction is universal." ii. 327.
" Without taking into consideration the prodigious influence of this
new element (the extension of knowledge), which has now for the first
time been let loose in human affairs, it is impossible to account for the
extraordinary demoralization of the lower orders, during the last twenty
years; and the extent to which the licentiousness and profligacy in that
class now press, not only against the barriers of government, but the
restraints of religion, the precepts of virtue, and even the ordinary
decorum of society." ii. 341.
The whole chapter on education occupies from p. 292 to 346 of his
second volume.
The Chaplain of the Lewes House of Correction reports (1842),
ESSAY XVII.] APOSTASY OF LEARNING. 423
the sight of men."* " Eripuit ccelo fulmen" is placed,
for inscription, over Dr. Franklin's monumental bust.
We are children in wisdom and good sense, with the
pride and obstinacy of old men. The prevailing inde-
pendence of mind and reason is well illustrated, and its
value and consequences shown, by the state of discipline
and conduct of our troops during the Peninsular war.
They were bold and irresistible in fight ; but they could
bear neither victory nor defeat; both equally disor-
ganized them : so that after a victory the success could
not be followed up, and on a retreat they strayed in
disobedience of orders, and were cut off by hundreds.
" No officer or man," says the Duke of Wellington in
his despatches, " ever reads an order or regulation for
the purpose of obeying it : at most it is a subject of
curiosity and a habit, "f Each man thought that the
war depended upon himself; and that with his few men
he could drive the French out of Spain, and finish the
war; and by his rashness and disobedience to command
deranged the general operations, of which he understood
nothing. The man of true and consummate wisdom
thus writes respecting one of them : " I am sorry to be
obliged to express my disapprobation of the conduct of
an officer of whom I have always entertained a good
that the worst crimes have been committed by the most educated
prisoners.
Every faithful inquiry will bring us nearer and nearer to this truth,
that knowledge tends more to the increase of crime than the diminu-
tion of it.
Rev. xiii. 13.
f Despatches of Duke of Wellington, Lesaca, 18th July, 1813.
424 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
opinion ; but I must say, that it is unworthy of one
of his reputation to get his brigade into scrapes, for the
sake of the little gloriole of driving in a few piquets,
knowing, as he must do, that it is not intended that he
should engage in a serious affair ; and that, whenever
he becomes engaged with a body of any strength, the
retreat with honour is difficult, and without loss is im-
possible. I hope that * * * will reflect upon what
has passed, and observe in future that what he can do
that is best, is to obey the orders, and execute strictly
the designs, of his commander." *
This is the mutinous and proud spirit of modern
knowledge and freedom. That which thus showed itself
in this war, equally shows itself in all other departments,
of morals and science, of church and state, of religion
and politics. Every one is planning and carrying on
his little independent war, of universal religion, and
politics, and morals, and philanthropy ; and aiming at
universal conquest, his own private yloriole, from his
own little narrow mistaken view, and puerile exertions.
Each one must be doing some great thing, in a great
and distant sphere, while the same occasions at home,
and before his eyes, are despised and neglected : in
charity, in education, in commerce and trade, and uni-
versal benevolence. Public institutions must be planned,
while the private poor are neither clothed nor fed ; fo-
reign stocks and mines and markets must be traded
in, the more distant and unknown the more desirable ;
Duke of Wellington's Despatches; Vera, 10th Oct. 1813.
ESSAY XVII.] APOSTASY OF LEARNING. 425
foreign missions must be sent out at vast cost, while we
have at home our heathenism ; West Indian slaves must
be emancipated, while we have at home our factories
and factory children. " Wisdom is before [the eyes of]
him that hath understanding ; but the eyes of the fool
are in the ends of the earth." We know as it were
nothing of the great designs and the operations of
God ; yet we shape the course of the universe, as well
as our own course, by our own wisdom. We are utterly
ignorant of them all. If we simply obeyed the com-
mands of God, without improving or questioning
them, all our whole course would be successful and
prosperous, and the divine will and operations would
be performed and perfected. But no man reads a law
or command of God except for curiosity, and with the
thought of improving upon it. Our own inventions
are acted upon : the scheme and order of God's system
is unperformed : we ourselves are made rebellious, and
wicked, and miserable : our wisdom is proved folly ;
our sight, blindness ; our virtue, sin ; our happiness,
torment ; our system is disorder ; our conquest, defeat ;
and there is no repentance, or return, or recovery, or
retreat from the rack which we have made for ourselves,
and the ruin of our own hands, to order and rest :
" God made man upright, but he has sought out many
inventions."
The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is ever the same,
in the mouth it is sweet as honey, in the belly it
is bitter as wormwood. Knowledge is pleasant to the
eyes, and tempting to the appetite ; but it is never sa-
426 THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. [ESSAY XVII.
tisfying, never complete ; and incomplete it is an arch
without a key-stone, and must fall to ruin. Our pur-
suit of Knowledge will make us fools and blind. Our
pursuit of Liberty will make us slaves. Our pursuit of
Money and Wealth will make us beggars. Like scor-
pions, when surrounded by the fires of trouble, we shall
be our own enemy, we shall turn our own power and
venom back against ourselves, and sting ourselves to
death.
( 427 )
ESSAY XVIII.
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST.
" HIS NUMBER IS SIX HUNDRED THREESCORE AND SIX." REV. lUi. 18.
I HAVE now arrived at the completion of my present
undertaking. I have descended into the lower parts
of the earth ; and have reviewed the hideous forms and
fiery engines that are arrayed, and ready to invade the
fairest parts of the habitable earth ; to devour like a
flame, and to turn the garden of Eden before them
into a desolate wilderness. It has been a loathsome
and a hateful task. God knoweth ! Having ventured
down the dark descent, in this manner, may I hence-
forth reascend, and revisit the regions of light, and
happiness, and goodness.
But who is captain of this host; and what is the
standard and ensign, round which all these forces rally
and dispose themselves ? Behold her image ! which
is Gold : which has power given to it. Behold her sit-
ting upon a scarlet-coloured beast ; and in her hand a
golden cup full of filthiness of fornication : her coffer
of gold, wherewith she fornicates with all the kingdoms
of the earth, wherewith she buys and trades in the
merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones,
and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and
428 THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY XVIII.
scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of
ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood,
and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and
odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and
oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and
horses, and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
Alas, alas, for in one hour so great riches are come
to nought !
Surely these great riches are without end ; and with-
out measure; and their top to heaven: surely they
are unnumbered, and without limit, and inexhaustible !
No ! they are numbered, and weighed, and found
wanting, and divided, and scattered.
The number of his name is the number of gold : for
his name is Gold, and Mammon. His name is thrice
the number of imperfection : even Six, Six, Six.* The
number of the beast " is the number of a man," even
Solomon ; and his number is Six Hundred Threescore
and Six.
Solomon is generally considered to be a type of the
Gentile Church triumphant; as David was a type of
the Church persecuted and militant. Saul was the
Jewish Church : adorned chiefly with outward graces ;
and rejected for the spiritually-minded David, when he
himself had first rejected the word of the Lord, and de-
nied him before the Gentiles.*!* But David was a man
* As the imperfect " manner of the Purification of the Jews," under
the ceremonial law, was signified by " Six waterpots of stone;" while
the Purification of the Holy Spirit is always typified by the perfect
number Seven.
f 1 Sam. xv. 23, 24.
ESSAY XVIII.] THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST. 429
of war during his whole life ; and might not therefore
be the builder of the Lord's house.
Solomon is the Gentile Christian Church, in the days
of her glory : and after she has had rest. Let us com-
pare Solomon's glory with the glory of commercial
Christendom, since the period of the Reformation.
Solomon was pre-eminent in wisdom and riches. He
chose wisdom as his chief good ; and he received riches
also, and honour, in addition, beyond all other kings
and kingdoms upon the earth. Our chief desire has
been after wisdom and knowledge ; and we have not
failed to attain to a correspondent pre-eminence in ho-
nour and riches. The first act of Solomon's reign was
to change the high-priest ; and restore, as it is observed,
the ancient order of the priesthood. His temple also
was more famous for riches, and outward beauty, than
for spiritual gifts. We have deposed and changed our
chief-priest, for his usurpation, and set up another ; and
we have reduced our worship and faith to architectural
symmetry and motionless stability. There were ten
candlesticks in Solomon's temple, and ten tables, and
ten lavers: the number of multitude : typifying the
division of the Church of Christ as it now consists, of
multitudes of churches, and sects, and forms of worship.
Solomon traded with all the kingdoms of the world for
all their wares and products ; and his country was the
emporium and place of transit for every sort and kind
of luxury and merchandise. He derived a great part
of his revenue from Ophir, which is, the East Indies.
Solomon extended his empire from sea to sea : from the
Euphrates to the Mediterranean : " from the flood unto
430 THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST. [ESSAY XVIII.
the world's end." Solomon was admired and congra-
tulated and visited by foreign princes, on his accession,
for the sake of his riches and wisdom and glory.
" King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for
riches and for wisdom ; and all the earth sought to
Solomon, to hear his wisdom." England in like man-
ner was visited by different crowned heads, when she
likewise came to her glory and power at the end of the
late war, when commerce triumphed over martial
force, and took the kingdom. Solomon entered into
treaty with many kings. And all the kingdoms of the
world agree to give their power and strength unto the
beast, and to receive his law, and to follow his standard ;
till, in the end, in like manner, they shall hate the
whore, and make her desolate and naked, and eat her
flesh, and burn her with fire.
Solomon's heart was lifted up, and became elated by
his riches and power ; and he broke his trust, and left
his first love, and became the great fornicator. It was
riches that caused Solomon to be drunk with indulgence
and lust;* and the filthiness of his fornications corrupted
his heart, and destroyed his power, and undermined his
wisdom ; his haughtiness and pride turned his former
friends into enemies, and set the ten tribes and all the
other nations against his kingdom. It was his Gold
* " D. Greg. Nyssen. ait, ap. Eccles. ii. 8, ' Auri et argenti copiae
addidit turpitudinem, quae morbum, qui prius evaserat, solet deinde
consequi : Fecit, inquit, cantores et cantatrices, quae convivarum sunt
deliciae; sufficit mentio nominum ad describendum vitium, ad quod
etiam in unit morbus, qui oritur ex copia pecuniae.' Copia enim auri
ad delicias trabit." Sylveira in Apocalypsin, p. 255, 43, Fol. Venet.
1728.
ESSAY XVIII.] THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST. 431
which became Solomon's god, and corrupted his mind,
and took away from him his power and wisdom.
What then was the number of Solomon's gold ?
" Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one
year was SIX HUNDRED THREESCORE and SIX
talents of Gold."*
* 1 Kings, x. 14 ; 2 Chron. ix. 13. I am fortified in this interpre-
tation of the number, Six Hundred and Sixty Six, by an analogous
interpretation of the " One Hundred and Fifty Three'' fishes which
our Lord's disciples took in the lake of Genneseret, after his resur-
rection. Sir George Rose, in his Scriptural Researches, interprets
this of the final conversion of the Gentile nations ; and he supports
this opinion by the circumstance, that the number of strangers in Israel
in the reign of Solomon which is typical of the pacific reign of
Christ was One Hundred and Fifty Three thousand, and some
hundreds.
THE END.
13|? tfie same author.
A NEW SYSTEM OF LOGIC, and Development of the
Principles of Truth and Reasoning : applicable to Moral Subjects and
the Conduct of Human Life. Upon Christian Principles.
II.
THE RIGHTS of the POOR and CHRISTIAN ALMS-
GIVING Vindicated; or, The State and Character of the Poor, and
the Conduct and Duties of the Kiel), Exhibited and Illustrated.
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