THE 
 
 SILENT REVOLUTION: 
 
 OR 
 
 THE FUTUEE EFFECTS 
 
 STEAM AND ELECTRICITY 
 
 THE CONDITION OF MANKIND. 
 BY 
 
 MICHAEL ANGELO GARVEY, ESQ., L.L.B., 
 
 OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE. 
 
 " Pater ipse colendi , 
 
 " Haud facilem esse viam voluit primusq. per artem 
 " Slovit agros, curis acuens mortalia corda. 
 " Nee torpere gravi passus sua regna veterno." 
 
 GEOE. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 WILLIAM AND FEEDERICK G. CASH, 
 
 (SUCCESSORS TO CHARLES GILPIN,) 5, BISHOPSOATE STREET WITHOUT. 
 
 EDINBUKGH: ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. 
 
 DUBLIN: JAMES B. GILPIN. 
 
 1852.
 
 HENRY LDCAS, PRINTER, 3, BCKLEIGH STREET, STBAND.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Introduction. New epoch in the history of man.- 
 Intellectual activities and their objects. Practi- 
 cal tendencies of the age. Achievements of sci- 
 ence : the power it bestows upon mankind. Illus- 
 trations of the energy and adaptation of steam in 
 subserving human purposes : its applications and 
 benefits. Locomotion by steam : its effects in 
 developing enterprise. Power of the imponder- 
 able elements. Electricity : its probable destina- 
 tion as a channel of intelligence : general ideas of 
 its power as an agent of communication. The 
 electric telegraph : its wonderful properties ; 
 annihilates time; unaffected by position. The 
 land telegraph. The submarine telegraph. 
 Mind the prime mover of all physical forces : 
 its character : necessity of its study in order to 
 a right idea of human progress. The past our 
 surest guide in conjecturing the future .... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The free concourse of individual minds the main- 
 spring of human progress. Facilities of inter- 
 course, and for the transmission of thought, its 
 chief agents. These propositions may be proved 
 from history. Historical retrospection must be 
 limited. Essential differences in the historical 
 phases of society. Difficulty of assigning the 
 influence of remote ages upon our present con- 
 dition. Example of the feudal system ; its 
 
 A 2
 
 v CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 tyranny; its brutalizing tendencies; its disre- 
 spect for human life and intelligence. Prostra- 
 tion of the people in mind. Industry restricted. 
 Low value of moveable property. The trans- 
 mission of real property hampered by legal sub- 
 tleties. Natural order of events disturbed by 
 these causes. Poetic views of the age of chivalry 
 fallacious. Tendency of feudalism to divide the 
 community, and to destroy individuality. Power 
 of the chieftain ; its evil influence on the minds 
 of his followers. Isolation and opposition of 
 interests. The expansive energy of the nation 
 crippled. Guilds ; landlords ; priests. Rise of 
 the modern English period ; its grand character- 
 istic. Transition under Henry VII. Feudalism 
 compared with the modern social system. 
 Growth of the latter. Proposal to investigate 
 the conditions of its development. Restatement 
 of propositions. Compendious view of the effects 
 of transport and intercourse. Reasons for fixing 
 the beginning of the sixteenth century as a point 
 of departure in these inquiries. Decline of feu- 
 dalism. Revival of the human mind. Great 
 discoveries 14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Condition of England at the beginning of the six- 
 teenth century. Deficient in means of inter- 
 course. Character of the roads. Appearance of 
 the country. Forests. Highways in the middle 
 of the sixteenth century. Harrison's description. 
 The first highway Act. State of the roads in 
 Kent. Bridges. Parish reparation. Fearful 
 condition of the metropolitan thoroughfares. 
 Surveyors of highways. Statute labour. Gra- 
 dual awakening of public opinion to the import- 
 ance of good roads. Numerous enactments. 
 Establishment of tolls and turnpike trusts. 
 Travelling still difficult. Mr. Pepys. Prince
 
 CONTENTS. V 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 George of Denmark. Roads in 1740 described 
 by Penant. Their condition in 1770 described 
 by Arthur Young. Rise of road engineering. 
 M'Adam. Acceleration of improvements. In- 
 troduction of railways 27 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Primitive modes of conveyance in England. The 
 pack-horse : trains of pack-horses. Carriers. 
 Rate of travelling. Dangers. Banditti. Cara- 
 vans. The Rochester caravan robbed at Gad's 
 Hill. Means of personal transit. The saddle 
 and pillion. Queen Elizabeth on a pillion. 
 The horse litter. Enormous number of horses 
 required for locomotion in the sixteenth century. 
 Numbers required by Queen Elizabeth. Their 
 pressure upon the produce of the soil. Ancient 
 expenses of loyalty. Habits of the nobility. 
 Competition of the human and equine races. 
 Introduction of the coach. Description of first 
 coaches. Perplexities of primitive coaching. 
 Running footmen : their duties. Appearance of 
 a travelling carriage by night. Accidents, and 
 method of repairing. Relics of ancient coaching. 
 Improved methods of transport. The broad- 
 wheeled waggon. Stage-coaches : their character 
 and performances : opposition to them : their 
 general adoption ; improvement ; perfection. 
 They are superseded by steam. Conveyance by 
 water. Navigable rivers. Canals: Liverpool 
 and St. Helen's : Bridgewater : their general 
 adoption in the three kingdoms. History of the 
 means formerly employed for the transmission of 
 intelligence. Special couriers. Foreign post of 
 James I. Inland letter-office erected by Charles 
 I.^-Correspondence during the civil war. Ex- 
 ample of an ancient superscription. Rise and 
 progress of the present postal system .... 39
 
 yi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Consequences of the difficulty of communication 
 visible in the condition of the people. Isolation 
 of districts. Dialect, prejudices, and traditionary 
 reputation. Customs and superstitions. The 
 Celtic element. Fire-worship and heliolatry. 
 Druidism. Celtic and Teutonic fairies. Preju- 
 dices against the Welsh and Scotch. Annual 
 execution of a Welshman in effigy. Junius's 
 opinion of the Scotch. Dr. Johnson's antipathy 
 to Scotland. Effects of intercourse upon these 
 false notions. Willing justice to Scotland. In- 
 fluence of isolation on the origin and perpetuation 
 of popular errors. Reasons why men of great 
 learning and ability are sometimes found imbued 
 with vulgar errors. Illustrations from the past. 
 Witchcraft : the most striking 55 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Sir Reginald Scott's definition of witchcraft. 
 James I. ; his book against witches. Ranulf 
 Higden. Mean notions of the Devil and his sub- 
 ordinate spirits. The methods of capturing and 
 subjugating devils : labours enjoined them : their 
 usual reward. Terrible consequences of the 
 belief in witchcraft. Number of persons exe- 
 cuted for that crime. Witch-finders. Hopkins ; 
 his practical dilemma. Savage spirit of the law. 
 The Witch Act. National recognition of a 
 lie. Effects upon the popular mind. Brutality 
 of the people. Dreadful incident at Tring in 
 1751. Recent instances of sorcery a proof that 
 it is passing away. Domestic habits of the 
 people. Erasmus's account of an English interior. 
 Barbarous profusion of the upper classes. 
 Queen Elizabeth's breakfast. Lord Goring's 
 supper. Houses of the common people. Food. 
 Clothing. Sleeping. Sports. Effects of de- 
 fective intercommunication upon industry.
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 National resources undeveloped. Imports. 
 Steel-yard. Merchant adventurers. Exports. 
 Statement of Guicciardini. Cloth trade privi- 
 leged. Monopolies dissolved by increased com- 
 munication. Origin of Halifax. Want of 
 means of transport, interfered with sales. Annual 
 fairs. Bad effects of the wool-trade on agricul- 
 ture, towns, and population. Weakness of the 
 commercial spirit. Despotic prohibitions. Royal 
 monopolies. Discouragement of private enter- 
 prise 67 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Progress of commerce in England. Destruction of 
 Antwerp : its effects on English art. Voyages of 
 discovery. Effects of the revocation of the Edict 
 of Nantes on English trade. Remarks on the 
 blindness of bigotry. Progress of industry slow. 
 Remarks of De Witt and of Napoleon. Rise 
 of towns. Appearance of the country in the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. Evelyn at 
 Enfield. Mr. Macaulay's description of England 
 at the Revolution. Feebleness of the laws owing 
 to want of communication. Their amelioration 
 and firmness concurrent with improvement of 
 roads. Turpin in Epping Forest. Enormous 
 number of dangerous persons in the Tudor period. 
 Cruel seventy of the laws. Multitudes exe- 
 cuted. Slavery established by law. Mr. Carlyle 
 a plagiarist : his plan for suppressing pauperism. 
 Spirit of the legislature exterminating, not re- 
 forming, or preventing. Tremendous character 
 of the ancient Penal Code. Blackstone's obser- 
 vation. Vindictive spirit of the executive. 
 Montesquieu's observations on crimes and punish- 
 ments. Facilities of transit and transmission . 83
 
 VU1 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Uses of this retrospect. Recapitulation. Changes 
 effected by intercourse. Reasons for confining 
 our historical observations to England. The 
 topics that are now to occupy us. Expansion of 
 view required to embrace the agencies in opera- 
 tion. Universality of the adaptation, and un- 
 limited power of steam ; on land ; on the ocean. 
 Approximation of lands. Progress of steam as 
 an agent of transport. The new means of trans- 
 mitting intelligence require a corresponding 
 extension of our speculations. Character of the 
 electric telegraph as a medium of thought : its 
 progress in uniting different countries : anticipa- 
 tion of what it will enable man to perform : its 
 probable uses when universally adopted. The 
 grand secret of human liberty and progress. 
 The social tendencies : their origin and power. 
 Past history not that of mankind : the future will 
 be. Mankind not to be judged of from parties, 
 and combinations. Operation of the gregarious 
 principle more permanent than that of separating 
 causes : its objects and benefits .97 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Educational influence of intercourse. Nature of 
 mental training. Development of the mind. 
 Mediate and immediate knowledge. Their cha- 
 racter and influence. Interpretation of words. 
 Causes of their significancy. Influence of local 
 seclusion upon the comprehension of language. 
 Teaching by objects. Pestalozzi's system. Im- 
 portance of immediate knowledge. Words only 
 recall past impressions. Immediate acquisitions 
 prepare the mind to profit by literature and oral 
 discourse : supply it with tests of truth. Im- 
 portant effects of intercourse in furnishing the 
 mind with such acquisitions. Manner in which
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 these effects are produced. Credulity a necessary 
 result of seclusion. Impositions of authority in 
 matters of belief. Evil consequences of such 
 belief. It renders the trade of imposture and 
 knavery possible. Influence of extensive inter- 
 course upon popular delusions : its present agen- 
 cies unlimited : its future supplies. Operation of 
 railways at present amongst the people. Object 
 lessons on a grand scale. The schoolmaster in 
 reality abroad Ill 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Special educational effects. Improvement of public 
 opinion. Exclusiveness of classes and parties : 
 its influence. Character of a consistent party 
 man. Power of accommodation in the mind. 
 Force of habit. Evil consequences of sectional 
 exclusiveness : proved to be dilated selfishness. 
 Evil effects of party upon literature, and there- 
 fore on public opinion. Corrective tendency of 
 extensive intercourse. Steam the great master 
 of the ceremonies. Nobleman and tailor. De- 
 crease of repulsive forces. Partisan literature at 
 a discount. A healthier appetite to be fed.-'- 
 A true public spirit : its perceptions : its estimate 
 of the pot-house patriot. Honours true nobility : 
 despises fools. Reaction upon literature will 
 make it loftier and purer. Decline of the obscene 
 press. Impediments to the influence of sound 
 opinion. Mistaken notions concerning capitalists. 
 What capital has performed : what it is. M. 
 Proudhon's audacious fallacy : its correction. 
 Erroneous notions of the power of Government 
 over popular happiness : their evil effects. In- 
 crease of political knowledge. The spirit of 
 Government correlative to that of the people . 128
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The causes that separate nations are moral as -well 
 as material. Illiberal nationality an extension of 
 party spirit. False and true patriotism. Na- 
 tional prejudices a degenerate aftergrowth : 
 inflame hostilities : must vanish before increasing 
 knowledge. France and England ; baseness of 
 the sentiment that they are natural enemies of 
 each other. How it used to be inculcated, and 
 its murderous effects. Frightful character of the 
 literature of the last continental war. Real causes 
 of that and other wars. Venal talent. A puri- 
 fying process going on. Causes of the prostitu- 
 tion of talent. International communication : 
 its salutary effects : its amazing progress. The 
 Great Exhibition : its effects upon national pre- 
 judices : its greatest lesson. Correction of vulgar 
 errors. Injustice done to the French character, 
 individual and national. Injustice of the French 
 towards England. Daring ignorance of writers 
 on both sides. Ludicrous mistakes of MM. Cassi- 
 mir Delavigne, Alexandre Dumas, and the Baron 
 d'Haussez. Interchange of visits and hospitalities 
 between Paris and London : rendered possible by 
 steam. Historical character of the Great Exhi- 
 bition. Theological antipathies. True religion 
 must promote union. It is priestcraft that opposes 
 it. The power before which priestcraft must fall. 
 There is a moral stir amongst the most stereo- 
 typed races. The Chinese and the gold move- 
 ment. Effects of steam in this movement . . . 143 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Development of natural resources of all lands. 
 Additions to social happiness. Artificial wants 
 an index of civilisation. Specious fallacy of the 
 ascetic principle, that the fewest wants make the 
 happiest man. Effects that would follow the 
 general adoption of this maxim: its effects in
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Ireland. Irish misery assigned to various causes : 
 it must result from mental prostration : whilst 
 that continues, legislation and philanthropy will 
 be in vain. Irish prostration not attributable to 
 idiosyncrasy of race. The Irish in America: 
 their strong natural affection. Character of the 
 Celtic exodus. Proof of the value of means of 
 transit. Comparison of the skilled artisans of 
 England who are not ascetics : their general 
 character, value, and condition : their influence. 
 Luxury as an element of civilisation. Influence 
 of civilised wants upon the natural productiveness 
 and industry of the earth. More equal distribu- 
 tion of our race. Extension of man's dominion. 
 Elevation of the species. Comparison of the 
 ascetic and natural systems. Purpose of this 
 Essay. The law of progress ; happiness must be 
 laboured for. Latent sources and capacities of 
 happiness. Peaceful rivalry of nations . . . .160 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 War must cease by the blending of human inte- 
 rests. Character of war. " Ultima ratio regum." 
 The virtues educed by war inferior to those of 
 peace. The conquests of war and of peace: 
 their principles. Wars have been generally 
 prompted by the passions of tyrants. Exam- 
 ples. Small number who have acquired renown 
 in war. Monstrous deceptions of war. Even 
 selfishness will rise up against it. Fallacious 
 views of war as a distributor of intelligence : 
 its lawlessness ; uselessness : its objective stupi- 
 dity : its subjective folly. Monstrous armaments 
 of Europe. Despots, soldiers, diplomatists, 
 priests : their occupation declining : hopelessness 
 of their struggles : silent resolution of their 
 questions. The essence of all worship and faith. 178
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Rise of a universal language : authorities on its 
 practicalness : the great difficulty to get men 
 to adopt it. Recent proposal for a " Pasilo- 
 gical Missionary Society " empirical : cannot suc- 
 ceed : human necessities will do the missionary 
 work. A universal medium of thought will 
 become necessary. Examples in the great mari- 
 time cities. The union of mankind will be sig- 
 nalized by one form of speech, as it was at first 
 before their dispersion. What living language 
 .will form the basis of the common tongue? 
 Two principles to be considered. Illustrated in 
 the case of the Chinese : their character, and that 
 of their language. Illustrated in the case of the 
 Anglo- Saxon race : their character, power, and 
 achievements. The influence of these in recom- 
 mending their language. It will obtain its 
 place as a proximate element in the universal 
 language. All languages have their distinct ex- 
 cellencies. Defects of the English. Principle 
 on which a universal tongue will be formed. 
 Each nation will contribute according to its 
 power of supplying human necessities. Exem- 
 plification from antiquity : from the middle ages : 
 from modern times. Argument to prove that 
 there is no law necessitating the retrogression 
 or decline of nations. Civilisation and art can 
 never again be lost. Conclusion 191
 
 THE SILENT REVOLUTION, 
 
 " Pater ipse Colendi 
 
 Haud facilem esse viam voluit primusq. per artem 
 Movit agros, curis acuens mortalia corda 
 Nee torpere gravi passus sua regna veterno." 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introduction. New epoch in the history of man. 
 Intellectual activities and their objects. Practical 
 tendencies of the age. Achievements of science : the 
 power it bestows upon mankind. Illustrations of the 
 energy and adaptation of steam in subserving human 
 purposes : its applications and benefits. Locomotion 
 by steam : its effects in developing enterprise. 
 Power of the imponderable elements. Electricity : 
 its probable destination as a channel of intelligence : 
 general ideas of its power as an agent of communi- 
 cation. The electric telegraph : its wonderful pro- 
 perties ; annihilates time ; unaffected by position. 
 The land telegraph. The submarine telegraph. 
 Mind the prime mover of all physical forces : its 
 character : necessity of its study in order to a right 
 idea of human progress. The past our surest guide 
 in conjecturing the future. 
 
 No one can contemplate the unexampled pro- 
 gress of science within the present century, 
 
 B
 
 2 INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES. 
 
 without feeling that a new epoch has com- 
 menced in the history of our race. The divine 
 powers of the human mind are extending their 
 grasp and rising to a state of higher activity. 
 Fields of knowledge undreamt of in the earlier 
 ages of the world are successfully cultivated. 
 The farthest regions of space are explored, and 
 the secrets of their starry depths unfolded to 
 men. The hidden forces of nature; the laws 
 by which her phenomena are governed in their 
 endless variety and succession ; the economy 
 of being ; the structure and properties of mat- 
 ter ; the relations of things and of ideas ; the 
 very mind itself: all are undergoing a rigorous 
 process of scientific investigation, from which 
 result discoveries, that would be deemed mira- 
 culous, did not their number and frequency 
 almost exhaust our faculty of wonder. 
 
 The great characteristic of this general intel- 
 lectual movement is its practical tendency. The 
 public in our day expects from its thinkers and 
 experimentalists, not clever paradoxes, moving 
 sentimentalisms, nor ingenious puzzles, but 
 plain demonstrations of the best method of grap- 
 pling with obstinate realities ; discoveries of the 
 means by which the powers of nature may be 
 brought to subdue one another to the service 
 
 O 
 
 of man in Ms ceaseless struggle with her mate-
 
 SCIENCE APPLIED. 3 
 
 rial elements. Learning and skill are esteemed 
 in proportion as they conduce to the well-being 
 of society, and their value is measured by the 
 extent of their application to the practical affairs 
 of life. The genius of the age has responded to 
 this expectancy. Philosophers have ceased to 
 speculate in retirement upon unsubstantial and 
 useless theories. Science is no longer a lifeless 
 abstraction floating above the heads of the mul- 
 titude. It has descended to earth. It mingles 
 with men. It penetrates our mines. It enters 
 our workshops. It speeds along with the iron 
 courser of the rail. It tramples on the billows. 
 It defies the tempest. It gives to man the sun- 
 beam for a pencil, and the lightning for a mes- 
 senger. It lends to his feeble arm an irresist- 
 ible might before which mountains crumble 
 into dust ; the barriers of kingdoms are removed, 
 estuaries and straits are spanned with substantial 
 road-ways, and the unstable waters, no less than 
 the firm land, are subjected to his dominion. 
 The talismans of Arabian fable never endowed 
 their possessors with such power as that which 
 science has bestowed upon mankind. It has 
 placed at our command agencies, whose indefa- 
 tigable energy, and adaptation to all human 
 purposes, cast into shade even the genius of the 
 ring or the lamp. What is there in all the 
 
 B 2
 
 4 AGENCY OF STEAM: 
 
 recorded dreams of fancy more wonderful than 
 the force of steam in its various applications ? 
 How stupendous in its power, and yet how 
 manageable ! A child may direct it. It would 
 crush an army. A single touch puts in motion 
 the majestic ship laden with the wealth of a 
 nation. The rushing train, freighted with a 
 thousand lives, or the complicated machinery 
 that groans and whirls throughout the town- 
 like factory, and a touch equally slight arrests 
 the mighty power. In one place we see it 
 wielding without effort a Nasmyth hammer of 
 many tons weight, and forging the ponderous 
 anchors destined to hold the floating castles of 
 England against the fury of the hurricane. In 
 another, polishing with an accuracy, beyond 
 human skill, the delicate hairspring that is to 
 trace and record the noiseless progress of time. 
 Here it is employed upon massive blocks of iron, 
 which it rolls out, cuts up, and moulds as the 
 potter does the clay ; and here it is spinning 
 threads so fine that they almost elude the sight, 
 and weaving them into airy textures that look 
 like wreaths of morning mist. Unaffected by 
 place, time or climate, incapable of fatigue, 
 untouched by passions or infirmities, there stands 
 the universal servant of man, ready to relieve 
 him from all drudgery, and to supplement his
 
 ITS ACHIEVEMENTS. 5 
 
 limited ability in carrying out the intentions of 
 his will. It matters not how difficult or various 
 the services required, nor where they are to be 
 performed. In the depths of the earth, or on 
 the mountain top ; in the open field, or in the 
 crowded city; in the frozen north, or the 
 burning tropics ; whether they require the most 
 gigantic strength, or the nicest care, this won- 
 drous agent is suited to them all. It enables 
 man, who is slow and weak compared with 
 other terrestrial creatures, to pass from place to 
 place with the speed of the eagle, carrying bur- 
 dens in his flight that would crush the strong 
 elephant to dust. By its means the force and 
 dexterity of a million fingers are subjected to 
 the control of one mind, and imbued with its 
 intelligence. Under the transforming touch of 
 this marvel-working power, the rudest sub- 
 stances assume forms of beauty and utility. The 
 dark shapeless ore divides itself into multitudi- 
 nous forms subservient to human purposes; it 
 sparkles in the gorgeous service of the palace ; it 
 ministers to the humble comforts of the cottage ; 
 it gives instruments to the philosopher, and tools 
 to the artisan ; it furnishes man with means and 
 appliances for executing his largest designs, and 
 securing his conquest of the whole earth. The 
 frail vesture of the cotton seed, that once rotted
 
 b LOCOMOTION. 
 
 unnoticed where it fell, becomes clothing for 
 nations, and when it has answered all possible 
 purposes, and been reduced to the state of filthy 
 worn-out rags which the very beggar on the 
 high-way casts off with disgust, even these are 
 taken up, and, by a magical process, trans- 
 muted into fair pages which are impressed 
 with imperishable thoughts, multiplied with 
 a rapidity like that of thought itself, and 
 distributed throughout the world. Locomotion 
 by steam is the complement of all its other ap- 
 plications ; it has broken down the boundaries 
 which time and space had set to human enter- 
 prise ; it has emancipated the genius of our race 
 from local restrictions, made the wonders wrought 
 in any one place the common property of man- 
 kind, and combined the material interests of all 
 nations. These are the miracles of steam, of the 
 latent power in that impalpable vapour which 
 has played before mankind since the creation, but 
 which it was reserved for our age to control 
 and subjugate. Science has taught us the spell 
 by which the strong spirit of the mist is con- 
 jured from his dark abode in the mine, and 
 compelled to execute our behests before he 
 escape into the regions of air. The imponder- 
 able elements of nature are more powerful than 
 her most obdurate substances. Xerxes tried in
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH: 7 
 
 vain, with the strongest materials and the labour 
 of myriads, to bridge the narrow Bosphorus ; a 
 single winter destroyed the vast structure : with 
 us the most distant portions of the world are united 
 by the invisible force that forms the summer 
 cloud. But even the subtle influence of caloric, 
 which thus animates the inert waters into titanic 
 might, fails to excite our astonishment to so 
 high a degree as electricity. If the one unites 
 lands and transports material objects, the other 
 seems destined to become the link of minds, the 
 channel of intelligence and thought between all 
 habitable parts of the globe. As yet, we can 
 hardly venture to conjecture the form this mys- 
 terious power will assume, or the part it will 
 perform in the future history of the world. 
 Some general ideas are all we can fix upon as 
 the basis of our speculations ; but these are 
 amongst the most astounding facts within the 
 compass of human knowledge. They resemble 
 the operations of a spiritual, rather than of a mate- 
 rial agency, and the recondite manner in which 
 they are effected entirely eludes our investigations. 
 The electric telegraph is now a familiar object ; 
 we look upon it with a careless eye, we pass on- 
 ward, and forget if we ever considered its miracu- 
 lous properties. Yet, here we see realized more 
 than the beautiful fiction of Strada ; not between
 
 8 ITS PROPERTIES. 
 
 two minds alone does it establish a responsive 
 sympathy, it creates a communion of thought 
 between cities and kingdoms ; it enables a man 
 to utter his feelings, at the very instant they 
 arise in his mind, to ears that listen for them at 
 a distance of a thousand miles. What is this 
 surprising and intangible power? What will 
 it accomplish in its maturity, when it so far 
 transcends all calculation in its infancy ? One 
 might think for ever, with increasing wonder, 
 on the one supernatural fact, that without any 
 perturbation of its parts perceptible to the finest 
 organs, or appreciable by the most exquisite 
 instruments, communications are transmitted 
 along the wire, however great its length, with 
 such inconceivable rapidity, that the moment of 
 transit cannot be measured by the most nicely 
 adjusted chronometers. There is no sensible 
 lapse of time between the giving of the signal 
 at one terminus, and its reception at the other, 
 though the distance between them should be a 
 thousand, ten thousand, or twenty thousand 
 miles. Nay, if a wire were stretched round the 
 whole earth, and the ends made to terminate in 
 two dials placed immediately beneath the eye, 
 the very instant the index that supplied the 
 influence was moved, it would be replied to by 
 that which received it after traversing twenty-
 
 UNAFFECTED BY POSITION. 9 
 
 five thousand miles of space; the movements 
 would be to all intents and purposes simulta- 
 neous, and this result would be unaffected by 
 the nature of the elements through which the 
 conducting medium might pass. It would be 
 still the same thought rivalling speed, whether 
 the conductor were raised in the air or sunk in 
 the earth, whether it passed over the loftiest 
 mountain peaks, or lay at the bottom of the 
 ocean with the world of waters rolling above. 
 Whilst we look upon the electric wires as they 
 stretch along by the great lines of railway, they 
 appear perfectly quiescent. The weary little 
 bird rests upon them in his flight, and clasps 
 them in his tiny claws ; yet along that motionless 
 thread, and through that feeble grasp, there may 
 be passing tidings of life or death, of ruin or 
 prosperity intelligence of the fall of kings and 
 thrones, of battles lost and won, of events that 
 change the destinies of millions, and plunge 
 whole nations into mourning or intoxicate them 
 with joy. A thousand fathoms beneath the keel 
 of the war-ship, undisturbed by the tumult of 
 the elements in which she reels and struggles ; 
 in the dark and silent abysses of ocean, where 
 uncouth monsters make their retreat, and human 
 vision has never penetrated; amidst objects 
 strange to the eye of man, and scenes that have
 
 10 MIND: 
 
 been secret since the beginning of time, there 
 lies the wondrous ligature which connects the 
 minds of nations, conveying manifold contribu- 
 tions to the sum of human wisdom and experi- 
 ence, from which man shall yet learn to still his 
 mimic thunders, and to aspire after higher 
 glories than those won by mutual slaughter, on 
 the bloody waters, or the groaning field. Such 
 are the new agencies whose influence upon the 
 future condition of mankind we have to con- 
 sider. But there is another power that incalcu- 
 lably transcends them, an agency to which steam 
 and electricity and all other physical forces are 
 merely means and instruments. It is that of the 
 mind itself, the prime mover and director of 
 them all, which defines their purposes, and con- 
 trols their operations that restless, indefatigable, 
 and inscrutable principle to which even the 
 human frame is but an apparatus of exquisitely 
 adjusted organs that intellectual power, which, 
 as it feels, and thinks, and wills, impels man to 
 action, designs his objects, directs his movements, 
 and registers their results ; which pushes its 
 inquiries into every department of creation, and 
 with the same insatiable thirst for knowledge 
 scans the mightiest operations of nature, and 
 scrutinizes her minutest processes; which sur- 
 veys the past, anticipates the future, and ever
 
 ITS STUDY NECESSARY. 11 
 
 and anon turns in upon itself to observe its own 
 movements, and to conduct a marvellous analy- 
 sis of which it is itself at once the subject, the 
 instrument, and the performer the immortal 
 element in man's nature which tinges with the 
 glow of its own etherial essence his feeble and 
 delicate frame, investing him with sovereign 
 dignity, and giving him power over all terres- 
 trial things and beings. 
 
 To the study of this principle we must inevit- 
 ably recur, if we would either trace with accu- 
 racy the progress of our race through the past, 
 or indicate the probable course of its future des- 
 tinies. It is the fountain of all human activity, 
 and the final issues of all man's labour and dis- 
 covery depend upon its character and tendencies, 
 We propose to estimate these tendencies and to 
 ascertain the conditions under which their deve- 
 lopment is either retarded or promoted, in order 
 that we may be able to form some rational con- 
 jecture of the future of our species. This would 
 be a difficult and uncertain task, if attempted 
 from an abstract consideration only of the hu- 
 man faculties. There is, however, a sure and 
 easy method of accomplishing that object. The 
 path which man has already trodden from bar- 
 barism to civilisation, lies before us in authentic 
 history, strewed with the memorials of his pas-
 
 12 THE PAST A GUIDE 
 
 sions and his might. There we can calmly in- 
 vestigate his progress, note the difficulties and 
 obstructions it has had to overcome, and deduce 
 with certainty the principles that have given it 
 its forward impulse, as well as the conditions 
 under which that impulse has acted with greatest 
 power and constancy. From the study of what 
 man has accomplished, we shall rise with a fuller 
 conception of what he is likely to accomplish, 
 for the past is a dim mirror of the future, dis- 
 playing in shadowy twilight the vague outline 
 of that wondrous phantasmagoria in which he is 
 the chief figure, and which is gradually rising 
 into distinctness, as the great secular morning 
 brightens into day. The principles of human 
 action which have issued in the events of fore- 
 gone history, are in their nature immutable, 
 and will create the history of the times to come. 
 The ages that have fled resemble those that are 
 approaching, as the wilderness or partially re- 
 claimed field resembles the highly cultivated 
 garden. Their products are different, but the 
 powers of the soil are the same, and all that art 
 has done, has been to give those powers liberty 
 of development. The same vital principles of 
 life and growth that once clothed the desert with 
 briars and thorns, now sustain the fragrant rose 
 and the tree laden with golden fruit. In like
 
 TO THE FUTUKE. 13 
 
 manner the necessities, passions, and affections 
 of our nature are constant in their operation, 
 and from them spring all our actions ; they are 
 the very pabulum and support of human pur- 
 poses and efforts. What we call social laws, or 
 the principles upon which societies of men arise 
 and are held together, are but the resultants 
 of those innumerable minute impulses which are 
 hourly and momentarily springing up in the 
 breasts of individuals. To arrive at just con- 
 clusions, then, concerning the direction in which 
 our race is moving, it will be necessary to con- 
 sider this compound force by which it is im- 
 pelled ; this will imbue us with true notions of 
 the subjective energy which has enabled man- 
 kind to attain its present degree of elevation; 
 whilst, by tracing its previous course, the mind 
 will acquire a corresponding momentum which 
 will project it forward in the right line of con- 
 jecture as to the point at which that course will 
 culminate, though its incidents remain hidden 
 from us amongst the secrets of time.
 
 14 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The free concourse of individual minds the mainspring 
 of human progress. Facilities of intercourse, and for 
 the transmission of thought, its chief agents. These 
 propositions may be proved from history. Historical 
 retrospection must be limited. Essential differences 
 in the historical phases of society. Difficulty of assign- 
 ing the influence of remote ages upon our present 
 condition. Example of the feudal system ; its tyranny ; 
 its brutalizing tendencies ; its disrespect for human 
 life and intelligence. Prostration of the people in 
 mind. Industry restricted. Low value of moveable 
 property. The transmission of real property hampered 
 by legal subtleties. Natural order of events disturbed 
 by these causes. Poetic views of the age of chivalry 
 fallacious. Tendency of feudalism to divide the com- 
 munity, and to destroy individuality. Power of the 
 chieftain ; its evil influence on the minds of his fol- 
 lowers. Isolation and opposition of interests. The 
 expansive energy of the nation crippled. Guilds ; 
 landlords ; priests. Rise of the modern English 
 period ; its grand characteristic. Transition under 
 Henry VII. Feudalism compared with the modern 
 social system. Growth of the latter. Proposal to 
 investigate the conditions of its development. Re- 
 statement of propositions. Compendious view of the 
 effects of transport and intercourse. Reasons for
 
 PRINCIPLES OF CIVILISATION. 15 
 
 fixing the beginning of the sixteenth century as a 
 point of departure in these inquiries. Decline of 
 feudalism. Revival of the human mind. Great dis- 
 
 THE free concourse of individual minds is the 
 origin and mainspring of all social improvements, 
 and everything that promotes it contributes so 
 far to the increase of human happiness, and to 
 the advancement of civilisation. Amongst the 
 means by which approximation takes place be- 
 tween independent minds, facilities for intercourse 
 must always hold the first rank, and next to 
 them the power of transmitting thought and in- 
 telligence with certainty. These are propositions 
 which will be abundantly sustained by an exami- 
 nation of the circumstances which have attended 
 the progress of our own country from a condition 
 of comparative barbarism to its present state of 
 civilisation. In conducting this examination, 
 however, we must be careful not to carry our 
 retrospection too far back, lest we lose ourselves 
 in the darkness and confusion of obsolete times, 
 whilst endeavouring to illustrate those that are 
 yet to appear. The historical phases of human 
 society are, in some respects, almost as different 
 from one another as the aspects of the earth at 
 various geological epochs. It would be nearly 
 as easy to assign to the Saurian period its proper
 
 16 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 
 
 share in the production of the actual material 
 condition of the earth, as to estimate with accu- 
 racy the influence of remote ages upon the rise 
 and growth of modern society. In both cases a 
 large amount of insecure conjecture would have 
 to supply the deficiency of data. Even the social 
 system which immediately preceded that which 
 now prevails differed from it in many essential 
 respects. The feudal tyranny held down the 
 great mass of the people with an iron grasp, and 
 trampled them into submission to the will of a 
 benighted and ferocious proprietary. The in- 
 cessant wars of these barbarous chieftains, either 
 amongst themselves or against the monarch, 
 rendered civilisation impossible, by deracinating 
 it in the germ wherever it appeared, and de- 
 graded the minds of their followers to a state of 
 unmitigated brutality. Human life was respected 
 but little, and human intelligence not at all. 
 The physical qualities of the horse or the mastiff, 
 brute force, speed, and fierceness, were those 
 which were most highly valued, even in men. 
 In an age which bestowed all its honours upon 
 the warrior who had butchered the greatest 
 number of his fellow-men, the grandest revela- 
 tions of genius would have been laughed at and 
 scouted. We have heard of the doctrines of 
 physical force ; that was the period at which it
 
 FEUDALISM. 17 
 
 flourished in its full strength, when the few 
 had unlimited power over the many, and dealt 
 with them as if they were beings of a lower 
 grade, created without feelings or affections, 
 merely to subserve the purposes of their tyrants 
 when the people, who cultivated the soil, were 
 sold as part of the live stock, regardant or per- 
 taining to the estate when the savage landlord, 
 to avenge the slightest insult, led forth his miser- 
 able tenantry to slaughter and be slaughtered 
 by the equally wretched serfs of a landlord as 
 savage when the human mind generally was 
 sunk in the deepest torpor, and wrapped in 
 shadows of the most profound ignorance, its 
 lethean depths as yet unstirred by the vivifying 
 and illuminating influences of commerce. The 
 towns were for the most part but mere places of 
 protection, where the timid and defenceless were 
 allowed to take refuge from the lawless robbers 
 who ravaged the open country, and to exercise 
 the simplest and poorest trades under intolerable 
 oppression from the crown as well as from, the 
 rude nobles who claimed seignorial rights over 
 them. The only foreign trade of the country 
 was, in many instances, monopolised by the king, 
 to the destruction of private enterprise, whilst 
 the merchants of other lands were frequently 
 scared from the English ports by the most open 
 
 c
 
 18 FEUDALISM. 
 
 and barefaced plunder. Moveable property was 
 almost worthless, being destitute of that security 
 without which it can never accumulate and be- 
 come valuable. The land itself was so hampered 
 with legal contrivances, either to secure its 
 descent in certain families, or to prevent its falling 
 altogether into the hands of the priesthood, that 
 its conveyance with certainty of title was all but 
 impossible. The intervals of repose were in- 
 sufficient to give men breathing-time, much less 
 to afford them an opportunity of settling down 
 to any humanising pursuits, and the grinding 
 exactions they suffered in peace by the multitude 
 of subordinate tyrants who harboured in their 
 castles like beasts of prey, and lived upon the 
 people, rendered war itself a relief to their 
 misery*. The social aspect of those violent 
 times suggests the appearance of a volcanic dis- 
 trict, where hidden and uncertain forces are in 
 operation, disturbing from time to time the 
 arrangement of the natural scenery, now raising 
 the vallies into hills, and converting the fruitful 
 plains into stagnant lakes, and now causing the 
 mountains to alter their position, and the rivers 
 their courses. Nothing is permanent in its rela- 
 tions with other things. The description of to- 
 
 * Erant in Anglia quodammodo tot reges vel potius 
 tyranni quot domini castellorum. William of Newbury.
 
 FALSE IDEAS OF CHIVALRY. 19 
 
 day will not apply to the appearances of yesterday 
 or to-morrow, and occasionally a fiery torrent 
 bursts forth, sweeping away the former land- 
 marks, and destroying all vestiges of human art 
 and industry. This was the primitive severity 
 of feudalism ; it began, it is true, to soften some- 
 what under the first Plantagenet princes, and 
 was greatly relaxed during the wars of the Roses ; 
 but its spirit remained unchanged in the church, 
 in the state, in the laws ; and even in the civil 
 relations of the community its influence pre- 
 dominated till some time after the accession of 
 the Tudor dynasty. It would be impossible to 
 follow the natural order of social development 
 during an epoch when so many disturbing causes 
 conspired to confound the ordinary sequence of 
 events. These views of the age of chivalry may 
 be distasteful to those who have gathered their 
 knowledge of history from the pages of the poet 
 and the novelist, and who treasure up the magni- 
 ficent description of the passage of arms at 
 Ashby-de-la-Zouche as a sacred verity. They 
 should remember, however, that Sir Walter 
 Scott's chief object was to please, not to instruct, 
 his readers ; and that, although a certain vrai- 
 semblance was necessary to his design, historical 
 truth was altogether a secondary consideration. 
 His admirers should be reminded that, like a 
 
 C 2
 
 20 FEUDAL TENDENCIES. 
 
 consummate artist, he has placed his most bril- 
 liant and interesting figures in the foreground of 
 his picture, whilst those which could not be 
 omitted altogether without destroying the truth- 
 fulness of the representation, but which were 
 calculated to shock and distress, are judiciously 
 thrown into the distance and covered with shade. 
 The prominent characteristic of the feudal sys- 
 tem, regarded in a social point of view, was its 
 tendency to divide the community into sections 
 permanently isolated from one another, and to 
 suppress the individuality of persons by merging 
 it in the collective faction to which each belonged, 
 and at whose head stood a lord or chief, as a 
 significant figure stands before a number of 
 cyphers whose only use is to indicate its im- 
 portance. When once men were reduced to 
 such a condition, it was easy to deal with them in 
 detail. The distinct masses into which the popu- 
 lation was separated were almost impervious to 
 any influences from without. Their thoughts, 
 their feelings, even their pride, were dictated by 
 the chief. He alone possessed an all-pervading 
 influence over his clan. Tierce and repulsive to 
 all others, they were submissive to him. Science, 
 art, civility, might have sought in vain for 
 entrance into their minds, whilst the errors, pre- 
 judices, passions, and bloody animosities of their
 
 CONTRAST OF MODERN SOCIETY. 21 
 
 head circulated freely throughout all the mem- 
 bers. The whole community was compressed 
 into compact portions, each governed by its own 
 customs and traditions, and holding little corre- 
 spondence with the others ; that expansive energy 
 which would have caused the different interests 
 of the people to commingle was cramped and 
 hide-bound in every direction. Industry was 
 dwarfed and restricted by guilds and monopolies. 
 Political liberty lay buried beneath a pyramid of 
 graduated oppression, ascending step by step, 
 from the tenant paravail, to the mesne lord, 
 thence to the tenant in capite, and terminating 
 in the crown. Freedom of thought and of con- 
 science were jealously prevented by regiments 
 of the spiritual militia of Rome, Black, Grey, 
 and White Friars, who kept watch and ward over 
 the human intellect, lest at any time it should 
 manifest a desire to issue from the gloomy prison 
 to which it had been consigned. The growth of 
 modern English society was marked by the de- 
 cline of this fraudulent mastership of man over his 
 fellow-man, and by increasing freedom of inter- 
 course between independent minds, each bringing 
 its contribution to the general stock of those 
 opinions and principles which, being common to 
 mankind, and calculated to promote the interests 
 of the race universally, are destined to survive
 
 22 PROGRESS OF MODERN SOCIETY. 
 
 the dissolution of all faction, and to live and 
 flourish when the zeal, the prejudices, and the 
 power of sects and parties are forgotten. The 
 reign of Henry VII. is the transition period from 
 the old artificial, sophisticated policy of feuda- 
 lism, to the natural operation of those social 
 forces which have ever since, without serious 
 interruption, continued to build up and consoli- 
 date the nation. Feudalism, with its iniquitous 
 maxims, tyrannous restrictions, and iron customs, 
 was a grim fortress from which the few overawed 
 and enslaved the many ; but it fell by its own 
 weight, and amidst its ruins the new system 
 sprung up like a healthy plant, which has life in 
 itself, and grows best without artificial culture, 
 in the rain, the sun, and the winds, the free 
 elements of nature. At first it was a weak 
 sapling. The hard-ruled Tudors swayed it easily, 
 but it grew, and expanded, and struck its roots 
 deeply in the popular heart. A century later, 
 an infatuated prince, acting on the blind maxims 
 of days that had for ever passed away, attempted 
 to bend it to his own purposes ; but it proved too 
 strong for even the power of a king, and, when 
 he had exhausted himself in depressing it, it 
 sprung upwards and destroyed him in the recoiL 
 The ages that have since passed have increased 
 its strength and grandeur, and even in our own
 
 PKINCIPLES OF CIVILISATION. 23 
 
 day it is full of vital sap, and its development 
 proceeds with unexampled vigour. We propose 
 to investigate the means and agencies which have 
 most powerfully contributed to the formation of 
 society, as at present constituted in England, 
 taking for our fundamental maxim the principle 
 already enunciated, and which we think cannot 
 be reiterated too often. " The free concourse of 
 individual minds is the origin and mainspring of 
 all social improvements, and everything that 
 promotes it tends so far to the increase of human 
 happiness, and to the advancement of civilisa- 
 tion." The proof and illustration of this propo- 
 sition will form the subject of many of the 
 succeeding pages. Those which immediately 
 follow will be devoted to the historical elucida- 
 tion of the second position laid down at the 
 commencement of this chapter, namely, that, 
 amongst the means by which action and reaction 
 take place between independent minds, facilities 
 for intercourse must always hold the first rank, 
 and next to them the power of transmitting 
 thought and intelligence with certainty. We 
 shall show, that of ah 1 the physical agencies by 
 which civilisation has been promoted in our 
 country, locomotion, including personal transit 
 and the transport of material productions, has 
 been by far the most important ; that the im-
 
 24 THE MODERN PERIOD: 
 
 provement in the habits, manners, and customs 
 of the people the elevation arid morality of 
 public opinion the amelioration of law the in- 
 telligence of the country that all, in short, 
 which constitutes our national greatness has ad- 
 vanced pari passu with the extension of our 
 means of transport and intercourse. 
 
 Avoiding the embarrassment of a long histori- 
 cal disquisition, which, after all, could shed but a 
 dubious light upon our subject, we shall take it 
 up at the commencement of the modern English 
 period when society began to arrange itself under 
 influences still in operation. The origin of that 
 period coincides with that of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. The insatiable avarice of Henry VII. had 
 effectually broken the power that remained to 
 the great barons after a generation of mutual 
 ruin and slaughter. His marriage with the 
 daughter of Edward IV. terminated the long 
 conflict between the rival factions of York and 
 Lancaster. The continental dominions of the 
 English crown were irrecoverably lost, and with 
 them vanished all plausible pretexts for those 
 foreign wars which for ages had desolated and 
 barbarized both countries. For a century and 
 a half after the accession of the first Tudor, 
 England enjoyed continued tranquillity, scarcely 
 affected by some feeble attempts at insurrection ;
 
 ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 25 
 
 during this long interval the seeds of civilisation 
 had time to germinate and acquire strength. 
 The common rights won from the Plantagenet 
 monarchs became generally understood and 
 appreciated, A new class of citizens began to 
 appear, occupying the wide space that for ages 
 had existed between lords and serfs, a class com- 
 posed of men who were destitute of hereditary 
 privileges and pretensions, and who were inde- 
 pendent of aristocratic protection, choosing rather 
 to rely on their own merit for success, and upon 
 their numbers, intelligence, and power, for secu- 
 rity. Commerce sprung into vigorous life, and 
 extended itself throughout the land, with its 
 unfailing concomitants the knowledge and the 
 love of liberty. The genial agencies of peace 
 wrought silently in the hearts of men. The 
 people, once split into innumerable factions, each 
 seeking the accomplishment of its own narrow 
 purpose, by destroying or damaging its rivals, 
 began to forget their hostile traditions, and to 
 unite into a true nation, with common views and 
 interests. Those great discoveries which marked 
 the general awakening of the. human mind from 
 the torpor of the dark ages took place about this 
 period. A new world was discovered, which 
 opened an unlimited prospect to enterprise, and 
 gave almost as much expansion to thought and
 
 26 GREAT DISCOVERIES. 
 
 speculation as it did to geography. The true 
 system of the heavens was demonstrated to 
 common reason, and received by men in despite 
 of the stolid obstinacy and arrogant presumption 
 which had for centuries usurped the dominion 
 of the mind. The stores of ancient learning, 
 which for a thousand years had been hidden in 
 the dust, were brought forth and distributed, to 
 supply the newly-acquired appetite for real 
 knowledge. The solemn trifling of the school- 
 men, their reverence for systems and precedents, 
 the cobweb sophistries in which they strove to 
 entangle their opponents, and the multitudinous 
 formula? with which they hampered all mental 
 operations, began to give place to true intellectual 
 methods and inevitable demonstration. The 
 press added its power of multiplying and pre- 
 serving thought ; and, finally, Luther, the illus- 
 trious champion of intellectual liberty, broke 
 the continuity of that hateful, degrading, and 
 paralyzing power which spiritual despotism had 
 exercised over the human mind throughout 
 Europe for twelve centuries. These were all 
 contributory sources to the great tide of progress 
 which henceforth flows forward to our own times 
 with a steady setting, and a continually in- 
 creasing volume.
 
 ENGLAND AT THE TUDOR PEEIOD. 27 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Condition of England at the beginning of the sixteenth 
 century. Deficient in means of intercourse. Cha- 
 racter of the roads. Appearance of the country. 
 Forests. Highways in the middle of the sixteenth 
 century. Harrison's description. The first highway 
 Act. State of the roads in Kent. Bridges. Parish 
 reparation. Fearful condition of the metropolitan 
 thoroughfares. Surveyors of highways. Statute 
 labour. Gradual awakening of public opinion to the 
 importance of good roads. Numerous enactments. 
 Establishment of tolls and turnpike trusts. Travelling 
 Still difficult. Mr. Pepys. Prince George of Den- 
 mark. Roads in 1740 described by Penant. Their 
 condition in 1770 described by Arthur Young. Rise 
 of road engineering. M'Adam. Acceleration of 
 improvements. Introduction of railways. 
 
 THE state of England at the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century is a study of the deepest in- 
 terest to every one who desires to master the 
 philosophy of civilisation. We shall find the 
 country, in many respects, but just emerging 
 from a condition of semi-barbarism, and almost 
 destitute of the appliances of social advancement. 
 Let us look at the state of its prime instruments,
 
 28 APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 the means of intercourse and transport. There 
 were no roads, as we understand the word. The 
 best of the highways, if we except Watling 
 Street, the Fosse-way, and other ancient Roman 
 works, which had been long useless through 
 decay, were mere bridle-tracks, or footpaths, 
 and even these were often rendered impassable 
 by rains and floods. The surface of the country 
 resembled that of some half-peopled island in the 
 southern ocean : it was overrun with timber, and a 
 great part of it covered with swamps and heaths. 
 The forests of Waltham, Windlesore (Windsor), 
 Pickeing, Feckenam, Dellamore, Gillingham, 
 Hainault, Wemdale, Clun, Rath, Bredon, Weire, 
 Charlie, Leicester, Lee, Rockingham, Selwood, 
 Saurnake, Witchwood, Penrise, Deane, Peke, 
 Blackmore, Westbirie, Hatfield, and the New 
 Forest, have many of them given place to flourish- 
 ing towns and rich corn-fields ; others have been 
 converted into private demesnes, and but few of 
 them retain the names, much less the character 
 of forests. At the time of which we speak they 
 were in reality what that name imports, gloomy 
 wildernesses, savage and impenetrable, where 
 the wild cat and the fox harboured securely, and 
 the untamed bull roamed in unrestrained liberty ; 
 a journey even of a few miles could not be accom- 
 plished without the assistance of guides, whose
 
 ROADS. HARRISON'S DESCRIPTION. 29 
 
 local knowledge might enable the traveller to 
 avoid the dangers that beset his path over 
 treacherous morasses, and through intricate 
 woods. Even as late as the middle of the six- 
 teenth century, the public ways appear to have 
 been little better than tracks made at random 
 through the fields; in dry weather they might have 
 been practicable, but in the winter season their 
 condition must have been dreadful. The only 
 attention bestowed upon them by the legislature, 
 until the time of Mary I., amounted to an injunc- 
 tion to the neighbouring proprietors not to plough 
 them up and enclose them as part of their lands ; 
 but even the benefits of this would have been 
 secured by the common law, which establishes 
 the right of way by custom. Hear what 
 Harrison says of them in his description of Eng- 
 land, prefixed to Hollinshed's Chronicle : " Now 
 to speak generallie of our common high waies, 
 through the English part of the ile (for of the 
 rest I can saie nothing) you shall understand 
 that in the claie or cledgie soile they are often 
 verie deepe and troublesome in the winter halfe, 
 wherefore by authoritie of parlement an order is 
 taken for their yearlie amendment, whereby all 
 sorts of the common people do imploie their 
 travell for six dales in summer upon the same, 
 and albeit the intent of the Statute is verie pro-
 
 30 HARRISON'S DESCRIPTION 
 
 fitable for the reparation of the decaied places, 
 yet the rich do so cancel their portions, and the 
 poor so loiter in their labours, that of all the six 
 scarcelie two good daies works are well per- 
 formed and accomplished in a parish on these so 
 necessarie affaires. Besides this, such as have 
 land lieng upon the sides of the waies doo 
 utterly neglect to dich and scower their draines 
 and water courses for better avoidance of the 
 winter waters (except it may be set off or cut 
 from the meaning of the Statute.) Whereby the 
 streets do grow to be much more gullied than 
 before, and thereby verie noisome for such as 
 travell by the same. Sometimes also, and that 
 verie often, these daies works are not imploied 
 upon those waies that lead from market to 
 market, but eche surveior amendeth such bye 
 plots and lanes as seem best for his own commo- 
 dotie and more easie passage unto his fields and 
 pastures, and whereas in some places there is 
 such want of stones as thereby the inhabitants 
 are driven to seeke them farre off in other soiles. 
 The owners of the lands wherein these stones are 
 to be had, and which hitherto have given money 
 to have them borne awaie, doo now reape no 
 small commodotie by raising the same to exces- 
 sive prices, whereby their neighbours are driven 
 to grievous charges, which is another cause
 
 OF ENGLISH ROADS. 31 
 
 wherefore the meaning of that good law is verie 
 muche defrauded. Finallie this is another 
 tiling likewise to be considered of, that the trees 
 and bushes growing by the street's sides do, not 
 a little, keep off the force of the sunne in sum- 
 mer for drieng up of the lanes, wherefore, if 
 order were taken that their boughs should be 
 continuallie kept short and the bushes not suf- 
 ferred to spread so farre into the narrow paths, 
 that inconvenience would also be remedied, and 
 many a slough prove hard ground that yet (now) 
 is deepe and hollow. Of the dailie incroaching 
 of the covetous upon the high waies I speak not, 
 but this I know by experience, that whereas 
 some streets within these five and twenty years 
 have been in most places fiftie foot broad accord- 
 ing to law, whereby the traveller might either 
 escape the theefe or shift (avoid) the mier, or 
 passe by the loaden cart without danger of him- 
 selfe and his horsse, now they are brought unto 
 twelve or twentie or six and twentie at the 
 most, which is another cause also whereby the 
 waies be worse and manie an honest man encum- 
 bered in his journie. But what speake I of these 
 things whereoff. I doo not think to heere a just 
 redresse, because the error is so common and 
 the benefit thereby so sweet, and profitable to 
 many by such houses and cottages as are raised
 
 32 HIGHWAY ACTS. 
 
 upon the same." It appears, in fact, that the 
 last strand of the old Saxon trinoda necessitas, 
 the reparation of roads, had become exceedingly 
 weak before it received any statutory corrobora- 
 tion, and that it derived but little strength from 
 the first legislative enactments. The first high- 
 way act in the Statute Book was passed in 1523 : 
 its operation was local, referring to the weald 
 of Kent only ; but the preamble strongly confirms 
 Harrison's description of the state of the roads 
 throughout the kingdom ; it runs as follows : 
 " In consideration that many other common 
 ways in the said weald of Kent be so deep and 
 noyous by wearing and course of water and 
 other occasions, that people cannot have their car- 
 riages or passages by horses upon or by the same, 
 but to their great pains, peril, and jeopardy." 
 
 Seven years after this, the roads and bridges 
 throughout England were in such a deplorable 
 state, that an act was passed, making the county 
 responsible for the repair of the bridges, but 
 leaving the roads to the parishes ; as it was not 
 made incumbent, however, upon any particular 
 officer to call the parish together, and set them 
 to work, the roads were left to take care of 
 themselves pretty much as before. Nor was 
 this state of abandonment and neglect peculiar 
 to the roads in the remote parts of the island ;
 
 METROPOLITAN THOROUHFARES. 33 
 
 the great thoroughfares leading into the metro- 
 polis itself were little better in winter than 
 rivers of mud diversified with deep break-neck 
 gullies, whilst in summer they became hollow 
 and rugged ravines, choked with mountains of 
 dust. In 1533 an act was passed for paving 
 the highway between the Strand Cross (St. 
 Clement Danes) and Charing Cross, which is 
 described in the preamble as " very noyous and 
 foul, and in many places thereof very jeopardous 
 to passengers, as well on horseback as on foot, 
 both in winter and summer, by night and by 
 day." The following year another act was 
 passed for the repaving of Holborn, which is 
 described as the great thoroughfare from the 
 west and north-west parts of the kingdom. The 
 complaint of the inhabitants, recited in the pre- 
 amble, states, that " For lack of renewing of 
 the said paving by the landlords which dwell 
 not within the city, the way is so noyous and 
 so full of sloughs., and other incumbrances, that 
 oftentimes many of your subjects riding through 
 the said street and way be in jeopardy of hurt, 
 and have almost perished." Six years later, 
 that is in 1540, another act was passed directing 
 the paving and repair of the following metro- 
 politan thoroughfares. "The highway leading 
 from Aldgate to Whitechapel Church the
 
 34 SURVEYORS OP HIGHWAYS. 
 
 Causeway from the bridge at Holborn Bars 
 unto the end of Holboru westwards as far as 
 any habitation or dwelling is on both sides of 
 the same street Chancery Lane, from the bars 
 besides the Rolls, late made and set up by the 
 Lord Privy Seal, unto the said highway in 
 Holborn Gray's Inn Lane from Holborn Bars 
 northward, as far as any habitation is there 
 Shoe Lane, and Fewter Lane thoroughfares and 
 passages from Fleet Street into Holborn." The 
 condition of these great arterial ways, over which 
 passes in our day the gigantic traffic of king- 
 doms, is described as being " very foul and full 
 of pits and sloughs, very perilous and noyous, 
 as well for all the king's subjests through and 
 by them repairing and passing, as well on horse- 
 back as on foot, as also with carriage." The 
 surveyors of highways referred to by Harrison 
 were first appointed in 1556, by 2 and 3 Philip 
 and Mary, c. 8 ; but, as we have seen, they 
 abused their office for selfish purposes, and their 
 authority was so ill-defined, that the parishioners 
 frequently evaded it altogether. The country, 
 however, was gradually awakening to clearer 
 perceptions of the importance of safe and rapid 
 intercommunication. The formation and repair 
 of roads is repeatedly noticed in the proceed- 
 ings of subsequent Parliaments. Six acts were
 
 TRAVELLING STILL DIFFICULT. 35 
 
 passed in the reign of Mary, and nineteen in 
 that of Elizabeth ; as these acts, however, were 
 all founded on the principle of enforcing statute 
 labour for the reparation of the public ways, 
 their operation was but partially beneficial. At 
 last the system of tolls and turnpike trusts was 
 established in the reign of Charles II., and from 
 this event may be dated the gradual improve- 
 ment of all the main lines of communication 
 throughout the country. The bye-ways, and 
 roads leading to and from many towns which are 
 now places of great wealth and importance, con- 
 tinued, up to the beginning of the present cen- 
 tury, to answer to the description of them given 
 by old Harrison as he saw them in his day. 
 Poor Mr. Pepys relates with much pathos the 
 moving accidents by field and flood that befel 
 him and his wife when they lost their way in 
 travelling from Newbury to Reading, so little dif- 
 ference was there between the highways and the 
 ploughed fields, and so little care taken to define 
 the one from the others. Even as late as 1703 
 the roads in the south of England were in a 
 condition which we can hardly imagine. This 
 is proved by the account of a journey under- 
 taken by Prince George of Denmark, the Con- 
 sort of Queen Ann, from Portsmouth to Pet- 
 worth, on a visit to the Duke of Somerset. The 
 
 D 2
 
 36 PRINCE GEORGE OF DENMARK. 
 
 narrative is given by one of the Prince's attend- 
 ants, and preserved in the " Archseologia." It 
 certainly gives us a striking idea of the miseries 
 of travelling even to those in the highest ranks 
 of life. 
 
 " We set out at six o'clock in the morning to 
 go to Petworth, and did not get out of the 
 coaches, save only when we were overturned or 
 stuck fast in the mire, till we arrived at our 
 journey's end ; 'twas hard service for the Prince 
 to sit fourteen hours in the coach that day with- 
 out eating anything, and passing through the 
 worst ways that I ever saw in my life. We 
 were thrown but once indeed in going ; but our 
 coach, which was leading, and his Highness's 
 body-coach, would have suffered very often, if the 
 nimble boors of Sussex had not frequently poised 
 it, or supported it with their shoulders from 
 Godalming, almost to Petworth ; and the nearer 
 we approached the Duke's the more inaccessible 
 it seemed to be. The last nine miles of the way 
 cost six hours to conquer." This was in 1703. 
 That little improvement had taken place in 
 1740 is testified by Pennant, who states that it 
 took six days to travel from Chester to Lon- 
 don, and a team of six, and sometimes eight 
 horses to draw the stage-coach through the 
 sloughs into which the road was broken up.
 
 ARTHUR YOUNG. 37 
 
 Thirty years later, Arthur Young speaks of the 
 Lancashire roads in the following uncompli- 
 mentary terms : " I know not in the whole 
 range of language terms sufficiently expressive 
 to describe this infernal road. Let me seriously 
 caution all travellers who may accidentally 
 propose to travel this terrible country, to avoid 
 it as they would the devil ; for a thousand to 
 one they break their necks, or their limbs, by 
 overthrows or breakings-down. They will here 
 meet with ruts which I actually measured four 
 feet deep and floating with mud, only from a 
 wet summer ; what, therefore, must it be after 
 a winter? The only mending it receives, is 
 tumbling in some loose stones, which serves no 
 other purpose than jolting a carriage in the most 
 intolerable manner. These are not merely 
 opinions, but facts ; for I actually passed three 
 carts broken down in these eighteen miles of 
 execrable journey." Towards the close of the 
 last century, however, road engineering began 
 to attract considerable attention. Improve- 
 ments were made in the lines so as to avoid 
 the rugged and precipitous routes of the old 
 roads. The proper method of laying the foun- 
 dations was studied, and the best materials for 
 constructing the surface were the objects of 
 many experiments; until, at length, road-making
 
 38 ACCELERATION OF IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 seemed to have reached the utmost perfection, 
 under M'Adam, and the English highways be- 
 came noted throughout Europe for their excel- 
 lency. 
 
 We have traced the English roads from the 
 state of mere foot-tracks to their utmost per- 
 fection ; and we have seen that their improve- 
 ment proceeded with accelerated speed. From 
 the reign of Henry VIII. to that of James I. 
 the amelioration was almost insensible. From 
 thence to the close of the seventeenth century, 
 the progress of improvement was very obvious ; 
 still more so during the eighteenth century : but 
 the improvements made in the construction and 
 repair of roads during the first thirty years of 
 the present century, that is, till the introduction 
 of railways as public thoroughfares, exceeded 
 by many degrees all the improvements of the 
 three hundred preceding years. Such were the 
 ways throughout England: we shall see that 
 the means by which they were traversed cor- 
 responded with them in character.
 
 39 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Primitive modes of conveyance in England. The pack- 
 horse : trains of pack-horses. Carriers. Rate of 
 travelling. Dangers. Banditti. Caravans. The 
 Rochester caravan robbed at Gad's Hill. Means of 
 personal transit. The saddle and pillion. Queen 
 Elizabeth on a pillion. The horse litter. Enormous 
 number of horses required for locomotion in the six- 
 teenth century. Numbers required by Queen Eliza- 
 beth. Their pressure upon the produce of the soil. 
 Ancient expenses of loyalty. Habits of the nobility. 
 Competition of the human and equine races. Intro- 
 duction of the coach. Description of first coaches. 
 Perplexities of primitive coaching. Running foot- 
 men : their duties. Appearance of a travelling car- 
 riage by night. Accidents, and method of repairing. 
 Relics of ancient coaching. Improved methods of 
 transport. The broad-wheeled waggon. Stage- 
 coaches : their character and performances : opposi- 
 tion to them : their general adoption : improvement : 
 perfection. They are superseded by steam. Con- 
 veyance by water. Navigable rivers. Canals : 
 Liverpool and St. Helen's : Bridgewater : their general 
 adoption in the three kingdoms. History of the means 
 formerly employed for the transmission of intelligence. 
 Special couriers. Foreign post of James I. 
 Inland letter-office erected by Charles I. Corre-
 
 40 MODES OF CONVEYANCE. 
 
 spondence during the civil war. Example of an 
 ancient superscription. Rise and progress of the 
 present postal system. 
 
 FOR many ages the only method of transport, 
 either for persons or merchandise, depended upon 
 mere animal power. The horse was the great 
 agent of communication between the different 
 parts of the country. The rearing 'and training 
 of horses were objects of great attention to the 
 English from the earliest times, and various 
 breeds of them were preserved to subserve the 
 different purposes for which they were necessary. 
 The transmission of goods and produce was 
 effected by pack-horses, which were strong and 
 hardy animals, capable of enduring much fatigue 
 and privation. The pack-horse was furnished with 
 two large baskets called panniers, one of which 
 hung at each side, so as to balance each other, 
 from hooks fixed in a saddle that rested on the 
 animal's back ; a strong bent pole was sometimes 
 passed under the horse's belly, and its ends fixed 
 in the bottoms of the panniers, so as to keep 
 them at an equal distance from each other, and 
 relieve the horse from the lateral pressure. 
 Thus equipped, and adorned with a bow and 
 bells, the panniers of the pack-horse were laden 
 with the articles he was to carry, and with many 
 others similarly furnished he set out upon his
 
 TRAINS OF PACK-HORSES. 41 
 
 journey. They were united in strings, the 
 halter of each being tied to the crupper of the one 
 preceding, until the line terminated in the leader, 
 which was, if possible, a stout sagacious old 
 roadster that knew the route by experience, and 
 would not lead his followers astray into danger- 
 ous places. These strings consisted of a dozen, 
 twenty, fifty, and sometimes even a greater num- 
 ber of horses ; when very large, it was accompa- 
 nied by several carriers, who were well armed, and 
 rode beside the convoy on strong hacks. These 
 carriers were a class of men in many respects 
 closely resembling the Spanish muleteers in their 
 habits of life, and the duties they had to dis- 
 charge; and, like them, were frequently entrusted 
 with charges of great value. The cavalcade, 
 being arranged thus in Indian file, proceeded on 
 its course at about the rate of two miles and 
 a half an hour, winding its way to the music 
 of its innumerable bells, through pathless moors, 
 tangled woods, and dangerous morasses, or 
 climbing the rugged hill-sides at a still slower 
 pace. They seldom accomplished more than 
 from fifteen to twenty miles in one day, and 
 always rested at night at well-known hosteleries 
 which afforded accommodation to man and 
 beast. The dangers of foul ways and intri- 
 cate paths were not the only ones that beset
 
 42 GAD'S HILL BOBBERY. 
 
 them in their journies. They -were frequently 
 set upon by bands of armed banditti, who plun- 
 dered the convoy, and sometimes murdered the 
 carriers. The consequence of this was, that, when 
 a merchant in a remote part of the country had 
 goods of great value to transmit to a distance, 
 he was often obliged to wait for weeks, and even 
 months, until a caravan could be formed suf- 
 ficiently numerous and well armed to bid defiance 
 to the marauders, and do battle in case of an 
 attack. The comprehensive genius of Shakespear 
 did not omit this characteristic of his time. He 
 has left an interesting picture of the perils which 
 surrounded travellers for many ages before and 
 subsequent to his own, in the scene in which he 
 describes the robbery at Gad's Hill. The com- 
 pany assembled at Rochester consisted of eight 
 or ten persons, and we perceive that their only 
 connection was that of voluntary association for 
 then* common safety. There were two profes- 
 sional carriers, one of whom had " a gammon of 
 bacon and two razes of ginger to be delivered as 
 far as Charing Cross ;" the other had " turkies 
 in his panniers," which he is under apprehension 
 will be starved before they arrive at their desti- 
 nation. Then there were "gentlemen who 
 wished to go along in company, for they had 
 great charge ;" one of them was a Franklin from
 
 THE SADDLE AND PILLION. 43 
 
 the weald of Kent, and another a collector of 
 the royal revenue. It is remarkable, too, that, 
 though they had but thirty miles to travel, they 
 were up at two o'clock in the morning in order 
 to perform the journey before night. 
 
 This is a perfectly accurate description of 
 the manner in which mercantile exchanges were 
 effected between the different parts of the country 
 till late in the sixteenth century. The means of 
 personal transit were equally difficult. The 
 universal resourse was the horse. Ladies of the 
 very first distinction, if they wanted to make a 
 journey, were compelled to do so on horseback, 
 either managing the steed themselves single- 
 handed, or seated on a pillion behind their hus- 
 bands. Even Queen Elizabeth herself, on public 
 occasions, rode in this manner, behind the lord- 
 chancellor, through the streets of London. The 
 pillion was a softly-cushioned low-backed chair, 
 with a hanging shelf to support the feet, some- 
 thing like those ingenious contrivances in which 
 young children take their first lessons in equita- 
 tion on the donkey. The introduction of the 
 horse litter was the first step in improving this 
 primitive method of locomotion. It resembled a 
 sedan chair, except that it was borne by horses 
 instead of men. It was seldom used, however, 
 unless by timid persons and invalids, or on occa-
 
 44 ENORMOUS NUMBER OF HORSES. 
 
 sions of great state and ceremony, and was only 
 suitable for short journies and for level roads, 
 of which there was a plentiful lack in the king- 
 dom; it could not be used for traversing the 
 more difficult and rugged paths without imminent 
 risk to the necks of its occupants. 
 
 The number of horses required for the limited 
 locomotion of the sixteenth century must have 
 been enormous, and the quantity of land neces- 
 sary for their support so great as to trench 
 seriously upon the sources from which the popu- 
 lation were sustained. When Queen Elizabeth 
 removed her court it required twenty-four thou- 
 sand horses to accommodate her suit and house- 
 hold. Now, it has been demonstrated that one 
 horse consumes the produce of as much land as 
 eight men. Here, then, we have a cavalcade 
 equal in its demands upon the soil to one hundred 
 and ninety-two thousand men, and if we allow 
 two thousand guards, servants, and officers, be- 
 sides one man to every four horses, we shall have 
 connected with the travelling court of the virgin 
 queen a demand upon agricultural produce 
 equivalent to that of an army of infantry two 
 hundred thousand strong ; and this, it must be 
 remembered, was absolute consumption, alto- 
 gether unprofitable, not reproductive, such as 
 might have stimulated the national industry. In
 
 FIRST COACHES. 45 
 
 fact, the prerogatives of purveyance and pre- 
 emption, which this over-praised queen exercised 
 without scruple, converted this monstrously 
 useless absorption of the necessaries of life into a 
 gigantic system of robbery. The royal pro- 
 gresses were as much dreaded as the plague, and 
 the districts over which they passed as merci- 
 lessly ravaged as they could have been by an 
 invading army. Months of famine, and years of 
 scarcity, measured the prices which our ancestors 
 paid for the gratification of their loyalty. The 
 habits of the nobility very much resembled those 
 of their queen. They were not, like her, it is 
 true, entitled by the law to plunder their fol- 
 lowers ; but the fashion, as well as the necessities 
 of the times, compelled them to keep such vast 
 multitudes of horses for their own transit, and 
 the transport of their households and followers, 
 that it may be fairly said the human and the 
 equine races contended for the possession of the 
 land, and that the former had for a long time the 
 worst in the contest. It was not till 1564, ac- 
 cording to Stow, that Queen Elizabeth indulged 
 in the luxury of a coach. At that time, says the 
 old chronicler, "one Boonen, a Dutchman, be- 
 came the queen's coachman, and was the first 
 that brought the use of coaches into England." 
 These first coaches were vast, unwieldy struc-
 
 46 COACHING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 tures of timber and iron, which rested on the 
 axle without the intervention of springs, or any 
 other contrivance to break the force of the 
 tremendous bumps and shocks which every 
 moment threatened to dislocate the frames of the 
 passengers. It required six, eight, sometimes 
 ten horses to drag those ponderous vehicles at a 
 walking pace through the series of ruts, gullies 
 and quagmires which were then called roads, 
 and what with the groaning and creaking of the 
 machine itself, and the shouting and flogging of 
 the postilions, it may be a question whether the 
 grandeur of the new mode of conveyance com- 
 pensated for its miseries. 
 
 It is laughable to read of the perplexities that 
 beset coaching in those primitive times. If two 
 carriages met on the high-road, neither could 
 turn aside to let the other pass without infinite 
 labour. The mysteries of tooling were as yet 
 undiscovered, and where the road was very 
 narrow, or much curved, the only alternative 
 was for one to back to a wider portion of the 
 way where there was room enough for the other 
 to pursue its route without tumbling into the 
 deep ditches that generaUy flanked it. To meet 
 all these contingencies the owners of coaches 
 were obliged to retain in their service a number 
 of running footmen a species of domestic now
 
 RUNNING FOOTMEN. 47 
 
 extinct. Six, eight, sometimes a dozen of these 
 attended the coach in its progress. Their duty 
 was to run before and see that all was clear ; to 
 warn off all carts, horses, and donkies that 
 threatened to obstruct the approaching car of 
 Juggernaut, and especially to explore all narrow 
 gorges and suspected turnings, lest it should get 
 into a dead lock. Each footman carried a strong 
 pole, armed with an iron pike, which was of 
 great utility in many ways ; with the help of it 
 he leaped over heaps of stones and mud, and 
 cleared gullies, sloughs, and rivulets with great 
 agility. He made dexterous use of it as a lever 
 to raise the wheels out of the deep ruts and 
 hollows into which they were constantly sinking, 
 to prop up the carriage when it was in danger 
 of oversetting, and, when it was fairly capsized, 
 to right it again, and to aid his masters or mis- 
 tresses to recover themselves out of the mire. 
 If it were found necessary to travel by night the 
 footmen were furnished with torches ; and, as 
 they leaped and ran along in their gaudy liveries, 
 waving their lurid flames and shouting to one 
 another, with the cracking of the postilions' 
 whips, and the sounding of their horns for an 
 accompaniment, the whole scene, viewed by some 
 simple rustic from a neighbouring hill, must have 
 impressed him with the notion of some astound-
 
 48 RELICS OF ANCIENT COACHING. 
 
 ing spectral Saturnalia, as it danced and flickered 
 along and at length vanished in the darkness. 
 Numerous accidents were constantly occurring 
 on every journey to the harness, the wheels, and 
 the body of the vehicle, which it was necessary 
 to repair on the spot before the equipage could 
 proceed any farther. The coachman and foot- 
 men were therefore expected to be handy fellows, 
 who knew a hawk from a hand-saw, and could 
 make good such casual damage without calling 
 in professional assistance. They carried their 
 tools and materials with them for this purpose 
 in a chest upon which the coachman was seated. 
 This depository contained a miscellaneous gather- 
 ing, consisting of nails, screws, iron plates and 
 hoops, pieces of leather, ropes, chains, screw- 
 drivers, chisels, saws, and hammers, the whole 
 being covered with a cloth to conceal its contents, 
 which sometimes forced their way through 
 chinks and crannies. 
 
 These things have all passed away, yet some 
 memorials of them still remain even in our times. 
 The seat of the modern Jehu has ceased to be a 
 tool-chest, but it retains the name of a box, and 
 the beautifully embroidered and emblazoned 
 piece of drapery that covers it is still called a 
 hammer-cloth. The running footmen have for- 
 saken the mud, and effloresced into those finely
 
 IMPROVED METHODS OF TRANSPORT. 49 
 
 bedizened gentlemen whose round calves and 
 powdered locks awaken popular admiration as 
 they cluster behind aristocratic equipages, at 
 birth-days and drawing-rooms, whilst the strong, 
 useful iron-shod poles have dwindled into gold- 
 headed staves, which, however elegant, are mere 
 matters of ceremony. 
 
 With the improvement of the roads, which, 
 as we have seen, proceeded gradually, better 
 methods of transport were introduced ; the 
 pack-horse gave place to the broad-wheeled 
 waggon, and stage-coaches began to run to and 
 from the principal cities and towns for the 
 accommodation of the public. The advertise- 
 ments of these vehicles, which appear for the 
 first time about the close of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, are curiously illustrative of their character 
 and performances. Few of them, it appears, had 
 springs : the journey from London to York occu- 
 pied six days ; from London to Bristol four ; and 
 to other places in proportion. The coaches did 
 not travel by night, and the passengers were 
 obliged to put up at the inns where the coach- 
 man and his horses were accommodated, so that 
 the expense of a journey in those times must 
 have been such as only the wealthy could afford. 
 We look back with wonder at the supineness of 
 the nation, and its inattention to the incalculable 
 
 E
 
 50 OPPOSITION TO STAGE-COACHES. 
 
 importance of good roads and rapid communica- 
 tion ; but we forget how slowly light breaks in 
 upon the public mind, and how many obstinate 
 prejudices it has to dissipate before it can make 
 manifest the most splendid and beneficial disco- 
 veries ; even the small innovation which the first 
 rude stage-coaches effected in travelling had to 
 pass through the ordeal of opposition. There is 
 a pamphlet in the Harleian Miscellany, pub- 
 lished in 1673, called " The grand Concern of 
 England explained in several Proposals," &c., in 
 which the author attributes the dulness of trade, 
 and the embarrassments of the country, to the 
 stage-coaches. He complains that they perform 
 the journey from London to York, Chester, and 
 Exeter, in the unpatriotically short space of four 
 or five days, carrying eighteen passengers each. 
 He then calculates the vast amount of employ- 
 ment those eighteen persons would give to 
 grooms, farriers, innkeepers, hostlers, saddlers, 
 &c., if each were to ride his own horse instead 
 of adopting the revolutionary practice of club- 
 bing for a common conveyance ; and concludes, 
 of course, according to the croker's hereditary 
 formula, with an owlish lamentation over the 
 good old times. 
 
 The obvious advantages of the new method of 
 travelling, however, overcame all opposition, and 
 it was generally adopted throughout the country.
 
 CONVEYANCE BY WATER. 51 
 
 Coaching became almost a science: improve- 
 ments followed one another rapidly, until at last 
 it seemed to have reached its utmost perfection 
 in the elegant mail, with its high-bred team and 
 its fourteen miles an hour. No sooner, however, 
 had it arrived at its highest point of develop- 
 ment, than its empire was challenged by the 
 railway whistle, and its glories obscured by the 
 rising clouds of steam. 
 
 It is astonishing that water did not at an earlier 
 period become a medium of inland transport. 
 For centuries it was seen that towns seated upon 
 navigable rivers had enjoyed whatever there 
 was in the country of commercial prosperity, 
 and yet it was not till recently that the simple 
 and obvious means of diffusing that prosperity, 
 by opening new channels for the element on 
 which it floated, were adopted. The first canal 
 made in England does not date farther back than 
 1755. It is that which runs from Sankey Brook, 
 on the Mersey, to Gerrard's Bridge and Saint 
 Helen's, a distance of about eleven miles. The 
 immense superiority of this mode of conveyance 
 for heavy goods became speedily obvious, and 
 was soon after adopted on an extensive scale by 
 the Duke of Bridgewater. A rich bed of coal 
 was discovered on his estate at Worsley, near 
 Manchester, but the charge of land carriage to 
 
 E 2
 
 52 TRANSMISSION OP INTELLIGENCE. 
 
 the best markets was so great as to swallow np 
 nearly the whole produce of the sales ; the duke, 
 therefore, obtained, in 1757, an Act of Parlia- 
 ment for the formation of a canal. The outlay 
 was very great, but it soon cleared itself, and, 
 besides becoming itself a source of large profit, 
 it increased the value of the mines a hundred- 
 fold. This experiment was decisive, and canals 
 came into general use throughout the three king- 
 doms about the beginning of the present century. 
 We have thus given a brief review of the 
 growth of communication in England diiring the 
 long interval between the beginning of the 
 modern English period and the introduction of 
 locomotion by steam ; our retrospect would be 
 incomplete, however, without some notice of the 
 means employed for the transmission of intelli- 
 gence. The only way in which messages or 
 letters could be sent from place to place before 
 the times of James I. was by special couriers, 
 who accomplished their journeys by relays of 
 horses, at enormous expense to the sender. James 
 I. erected a post-office for the conveyance of 
 foreign letters, under the control of one Mathew 
 de Quester ; but this appears to have been little 
 more than an organisation of messengers who 
 did not travel at stated times. In 1632 it was 
 improved " for the better accommodation of the
 
 SPECIAL COURIERS. 53 
 
 English merchants." In 1635 Charles I. erected 
 " a letter-office " for England and Scotland, and 
 established a settled rate of postage ; but this 
 extended, according to Blackstone, only to a few 
 of the principal roads, and the times of carriage 
 were uncertain. The mails were carried by boys 
 on horseback, who travelled at the rate of five 
 miles an hour, and who frequently lost their way 
 and were robbed of their letter-bags ; so that cor- 
 respondence of great importance still continued 
 to be transmitted by special messengers. This 
 was the method generally employed during the 
 great civil war. The directions to the courier 
 were written on the outside of the letter, like 
 our superscriptions, but at much greater length, 
 and accompanied with earnest exhortations to 
 diligence. Here is a specimen from the Fairfax 
 Correspondence. The letter was written by Sir 
 Edward Osborne, father of the first Duke of 
 Leeds, to Sir Ferdinarido Fairfax, father of the 
 celebrated parliamentary general. It is dated 
 York, the 24th May, 1639, at 11 in the night, 
 and superscribed : 
 
 " To mine honourable friend and cousin, 
 
 Sir Ferdinando Fairfax, knight and colonel, 
 
 at Knaresborough. 
 
 With all possible speed that may be, these deliver. 
 Haste ! haste ! haste ! Post haste ! 
 haste ! for life !"
 
 54 ORIGIN OF THE POST-OFFICE. 
 
 In cases of great emergency the injunction 
 was more urgent ; such as 
 
 " Haste ! haste ! haste ! Post haste ! Whip and spur ! 
 Ride for life !" 
 
 In 1644 Edmund Prideaux was appointed 
 postmaster by an ordinance of the Long Parlia- 
 ment, and soon after established a weekly con- 
 veyance of letters into all parts of the nation. 
 The Common Council of London endeavoured 
 to set up a post-office of their own, in competition 
 with that sanctioned by the Government, but 
 were prevented by a resolution of the Commons. 
 At last, in 1657, a regular post-office was erected 
 by authority of the Protector and his parliament, 
 the regulations of which remained unaltered till 
 the tune of Queen Ann, and which forms the 
 basis of our present admirable postal system. 
 The expense of postage in the olden times was 
 so great as to constitute a serious tax upon even 
 the wealthy, and to place correspondence by 
 letter altogether beyond the reach of the great 
 body of the people. Poor persons living in dif- 
 ferent parts of the country were then more 
 completely separated from one another than the 
 settler in Australia is now from his friends in 
 England, though the whole mass of the terra- 
 queous globe intervenes between him and them.
 
 CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 55 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Consequences of the difficulty of communication visible 
 in the condition of the people. Isolation of districts. 
 Dialect, prejudices, and traditionary reputation. 
 Customs and superstitions. The Celtic element. 
 Fire-worship and heliolatry. Druidism. Celtic and 
 Teutonic fairies. Prejudices against the Welsh and 
 Scotch. Annual execution of a Welshman in effigy. 
 Junius's opinion of the Scotch. Dr, Johnson's anti- 
 pathy to Scotland. Effects of intercourse upon these 
 false notions. Willing justice to Scotland. Influence 
 of isolation on the origin and perpetuation of popular 
 errors. Reasons why men of great learning and 
 ability are sometimes found imbued with vulgar errors. 
 Illustrations from the past. Witchcraft : the 
 most striking. 
 
 THE consequences of the difficulty with which 
 communication was maintained between various 
 parts of the country may be traced in the 
 manners and customs of the people, in their 
 social and moral relations, and even in the laws 
 of the land. The population was broken up into 
 a multitude of distinct portions, each circum- 
 scribed by the natural boundaries of the soil, and 
 its parts held together by local interests, or by 
 mere mechanical proximity. Nationality was not
 
 56 ISOLATION OF DISTEICTS. 
 
 understood in its higher and better sense as im- 
 plying a homogeneity of interest and a thorough 
 sympathy between the various sections of the 
 kingdom. The several districts differed as widely 
 from one another in their habits of life, their 
 superstitions, and even in their dialects, as the 
 German states do from one another in the pre- 
 sent day. Each county had its peculiar preju- 
 dices and a traditionary reputation. The folks 
 looked upon the shires with contempt, the shires 
 hated the folks, and both united in disparaging 
 the sexes. The people of London and Middle- 
 sex were regarded, at least by themselves, as 
 mirrors of urbanity, and worthy of ranking with 
 the gentry of other counties ; whilst Wiltshire 
 and Hampshire were set down as particularly 
 deficient in politeness. It was generally believed 
 that Yorkshire-men were born with a strong 
 dash of the jockey in their nature, and a consti- 
 tutional attachment to horses, and that they were 
 unrivalled for cunning under the guise of sim- 
 plicity. Lincolnshire took rank as the Boeotia 
 of England, and its people were thought to be 
 universally thick-headed, obstinate, and flat as 
 their county. The inhabitants of Essex were 
 esteemed a soft and somewhat vituline race, and 
 stories were related concerning the town-council 
 of Coggeshal which, if true, would have entitled
 
 DISTINCT CUSTOMS. 57 
 
 them to be classed with the renowned sages of 
 Gotham, Northumberland, Cumberland, and 
 Durham retained, up to a very recent period, 
 many customs and superstitions of Danish origin, 
 some of which have not entirely disappeared 
 even in our own day, such as the custom of 
 placing a variety of articles in the cradle of an 
 unchristened child, to propitiate those aerial 
 beings known under the name of fairies a prac- 
 tice which prevails throughout Denmark, and 
 also the observance of Hoke day, so often men- 
 tioned in our old records and legal instruments. 
 The sword dance, so popular in the north- 
 riding of Yorkshire, and the adjacent districts, 
 about Christmas time, is manifestly, as Wallis 
 says in his history of Northumberland, the re- 
 mains of the saltatio armata of the Roman 
 soldiers on their festival armilustrum observed 
 towards the close of the year. The Celtic ele- 
 ment may be still distinctly traced in Cornwall, 
 and there is abundant evidence to prove that a 
 dialect of the original British or erse language 
 was spoken west of the Tamar as late as the 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth ; many relics of which 
 remain, even in our own day, such as the proper 
 names beginning with Pol, Tre, and Pen. The 
 terms glain naidr, names given to the green 
 snake rings sometimes found there, are also
 
 58 DEUIDISM. 
 
 decidedly Gaelic, and would be understood in 
 Connaught, or in the Highlands of Scotland. 
 The practice too of lighting fires on St. John's 
 eve is clearly Celtic ; it prevails throughout 
 Ireland, and there is little doubt that it is a relic 
 of the ancient fire-worship brought by the Celtic 
 immigration from the east, and preserved in a 
 modified form by the Druids. The custom of 
 building churches with the chancel to the east is 
 another manifest relic of heliolatry, and furnishes 
 a striking proof of the tenacity with which people 
 cling to an established observance, even for 
 thousands of years after its spirit and meaning 
 have passed away. The Isle of Man was the 
 central stronghold of Druidism for the three 
 kingdoms, and, as might be expected from its 
 insular position, has preserved many druidical 
 customs. This is satisfactorily proved by Mr. 
 Train, in his " Historical and Statistical Account 
 of the Isle of Man." We need cite but one 
 example : The Manx peasantry never let their 
 fires go out voluntarily, believing that such 
 an event would portend some dreadful calamity, 
 an idea in strict conformity with Druidical and 
 Persian notions. We have spoken of fames ; 
 now the Grimms have clearly shown that, whilst 
 all European nations have beh'eved with varying 
 degrees of faith in a race of beings occupying a
 
 CELTIC AND TEUTONIC FAIRIES. 59 
 
 position between angels and demons, the fancy 
 of the Celtic stock has invested them with a light 
 and picturesque character, and endowed them 
 with a capricious disposition equally inclined to 
 mischief and beneficence. The Teutonic tribes, 
 on the other hand, have given them a sterner 
 and more practical character. Amongst the 
 former those aerial creatures of the imagination 
 were called fairies ; amongst the latter elves, 
 mine-spirits, and kobalds. It is curious to 
 observe how these notions have followed the 
 fortunes of the people from whom they sprung. 
 The Lubber Fiend, alias Father Rush, alias 
 Robin Goodfellow, is evidently a member of the 
 Kobald family, who came over here with the 
 Teutonic Saxons. As they subdued the land, 
 and reduced its inhabitants to their dominion, 
 the fanciful allies of the conquered were dispos- 
 sessed of their ancient homes. The old British 
 fairies fled before the stern sprites of the north ; 
 some of them betook themselves to the lovely 
 valleys and shady woods of Devonshire, where 
 their descendants are still known as Pixies; 
 others sought refuge in the Welsh mountains, 
 and continued to patronise the ancient British 
 race, who speak of them affectionately as the 
 boys of the Rurrie. Only one tribe appears to 
 have preserved the proper patronymic, and to
 
 60 PKEJUDICES AGAINST THE WELSH 
 
 have come to terms with the invaders, so as to 
 retain a portion of their original territory at 
 Osebury in Worcestershire. It is worthy of 
 notice, that these local superstitions have retained 
 their hold of the people through all changes of 
 dvnasties and religions, through all the agitations 
 of war and revolution, and that they are disap- 
 pearing only in consequence of that increasing 
 intercourse which supplants imaginary notions 
 by broader and more practical views of men and 
 things. In like manner better knowledge has 
 erased the prejudices of different parts of the 
 country against one another. If ever such things 
 are now heard of it is as traditions fast fading 
 from the memories of men ; yet there was a time 
 when their influence was anything but powerless : 
 at the worst period, however, the inter-anglican 
 antipathies were innocuous compared with the 
 deadly hatred of the English generally against 
 the Welsh and Scotch. Till late in the seven- 
 teenth century, it was customary in London to 
 hang a Welshman in effigy, annually on the first 
 day of March, amidst the applauses of the popu- 
 lace a practice originating, probably, in com- 
 memoration of the hatred inspired by some 
 successful, though unrecorded, inroad of the 
 Cambrians, who were expert snatchers upon the 
 English territory. Pepys in his Diary mentions
 
 AND SCOTCH. 61 
 
 his having witnessed this mimic execution as late 
 as 1667. 
 
 The popular detestation of the Scotch was 
 still more intense and enduring. The long con- 
 tinued hostilities of the two nations, and their 
 subsequent rivalry for the royal favour, when 
 united under one crown, may in some measure 
 account for this bitterness of feeling. However 
 this may be, the enmity against the Scotch, and 
 the universal dislike of them which prevailed 
 even in the early part of George the Third's 
 reign, was tremendous. The name of a Scotch- 
 man was then as thorough a disqualification for 
 employment in England as it is possible to con- 
 ceive. Junius, whose sagacity in discovering 
 the most unpopular attributes of those whom 
 he addressed has never been equalled, could not, 
 in the very height and passion of his vituperation 
 against Lord Mansfield, think of anything more 
 likely to damage that nobleman in popular esti- 
 mation than reproaching him with his nativity. 
 " Permit me to begin," says Junius, " with pay- 
 ing a just tribute to Scotch sincerity where I 
 find it ; I own I am not apt to confide in the 
 professions of gentlemen from that country, and 
 when they smile I feel an involuntary emotion to 
 guard myself against mischief:" and then, after 
 charging him with every kind of treason and
 
 62 JUNIUS AND JOHNSON. 
 
 even blasphemy, he proceeds, "you took that 
 part in politics which might have been expected 
 from your birth, education, country and con- 
 nexions." Such were the sentiments uttered, 
 and universally applauded, in the year 1770. 
 The renowned Samuel Johnson has left similar 
 feelings on record. He, the unapproachable 
 and absolute dictator of the literary republic, 
 avowed openly and without hesitation that he 
 could not like anything from Scotland, simply 
 because it was Scotch, and that even if Venus 
 were introduced to him as Miss M' Jupiter he 
 could not think her beautiful. These monstrous 
 and unfounded prejudices, however, nearly died 
 out with the generation to which the obstinate 
 old doctor belonged, and whatever remnants of 
 them survived are now entirely forgotten. That 
 they ever existed was entirely owing to the igno- 
 rance of everything Scottish which prevailed 
 amongst the mass of the people, and prepared 
 them to receive as facts the malicious misrepre- 
 sentations of persons who, either for the gratifi- 
 cation of personal pique or for party purposes, 
 found their account in calumniating the whole 
 nation. But that ignorance itself was in a great 
 measure attributable to the paucity and difficulty 
 of means of intercourse, and therefore of direct 
 knowledge. Since intercommunication between
 
 CAUSES OF POPULAE ERRORS. 63 
 
 the two kingdoms has become so rapid, easy, 
 and certain, as to bring them face to face with 
 each other, how much more just have English 
 notions of Scotland become. How willingly do 
 we compensate for the injustice of our fore- 
 fathers, by recognising the intelligence, prudence, 
 and honesty of the bulk of our Scottish fellow- 
 countrymen, and by the admiring homage we 
 do to the brilliant band of philosophers, histo- 
 rians, and poets, who have rendered the name of 
 Scotland illustrious throughout the earth. It is 
 not in the perpetuation of such prejudices as 
 these only, that the absence or deficiency of 
 intercourse is the efficient cause ; we shall 
 find it at the foundation of almost all the erro- 
 neous notions and delusions by which men have 
 been abused in past times: a foolish thought 
 arises in the mind of one ignorant man, and it is 
 called a crotchet ; he communicates it to another 
 equally ignorant, who receives it without question, 
 and it becomes an incipient opinion. The origi- 
 nator is confirmed in his notion through the very 
 process by which he gains the assent of another 
 mind. It spreads from one to another with va- 
 rious additions and modifications, and before it 
 encounters one perspicuous and discriminating 
 intellect capable of exposing its fallacy, it has 
 probably taken possession of a multitude so great,
 
 64 GEEAT MEN IN ERROR. 
 
 that their united, though stolid, suffrages in its 
 favour overbear the single voice of truth and 
 reason. This is no doubt the natural history of 
 many wide-spread errors, which could never have 
 prevailed had society been even thinly sprinkled 
 with intelligence., or local notions been subjected 
 to the test of general opinion before they had 
 hardened into traditions. The presence of an 
 educated man here and there would have been a 
 mound to arrest, or retard, the course of many a 
 delusion which has easily overspread the dead 
 level of an ignorant populace. To this it may 
 be objected that many men of great abilities and 
 profound scholarship have been as thoroughly 
 imbued with the popular errors of their time, as 
 the most benighted of the people. This cannot 
 be denied, but it neither detracts from our theory 
 of the origin of such errors, nor is it difficult to 
 be accounted for. The assent of great numbers 
 to any proposition has a factitious force of con- 
 viction upon our minds, which it is very difficult 
 to distinguish from real evidence. We unconsci- 
 ously admit, as the independent conclusions of the 
 individuals, notions which they have with equal 
 unconsciousness adopted from others, and which 
 have never exercised their reason. The opinions 
 of a million persons of this kind are, it is obvious, 
 of no more value in evidence than the opinion of
 
 INFLUENCE OF POPULAR NOTIONS. 65 
 
 one, now, before we would consent to adopt the 
 opinion of any one person, we should require the 
 proofs of its truth. Yet such is the authority of 
 numbers, that we often forego all inquiry in 
 deference to it, and implicitly receive its conclu- 
 sions, as if they were demonstrations. It must 
 not be forgotten, neither, that popular applause is 
 the most enviable reward of learning and ability ; 
 men thus endowed have therefore a constantly 
 soliciting motive to conform to popular opinions 
 and prejudices, and, although they may not 
 themselves be aware of its operation, there can 
 be no doubt that it often influences their judg- 
 ment, and directs their invention. There are 
 but few capable of that heroism which dares to 
 stand forth and boldly denounce as false and 
 irrational, opinions that have been long cherished 
 by the majority of his fellow-men. The justice 
 to be hoped for from posterity, has but in rare 
 instances emboldened men to brave the execra- 
 tion by condemning the follies of their contem- 
 poraries. If to these reasons we add something 
 in consideration of peculiar nervous organisation, 
 which renders some men constitutionally more 
 susceptible to all that affects the imagination, we 
 shall not find it difficult to understand how per- 
 sons may be able and erudite, and yet the sub- 
 jects of absurd illusions. These remarks receive 
 
 F
 
 66 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE PAST. 
 
 sufficient illustration in our own times, but the 
 proofs of their truth crowd upon us from the 
 past; when the darkness that overspread the 
 human mind was scarcely broken by a glimmer 
 of intelligence except what shone upon a narrow 
 and secluded circle beyond which it could not 
 send its light; when notions aud superstitions 
 were inherited with the soil, and descended with- 
 out interruption from generation to generation, 
 unchanged by contact with strangers, and un- 
 tested by their investigations ; when men gene- 
 rally lived their whole span and performed all 
 their life's labours within the compass of a few 
 miles, and rarely knew anything of what took 
 place beyond the boundaries of their native 
 parish or county. We can hardly conceive the 
 power which opinions the most unfounded and 
 absurd exercised upon the mass of the people in 
 those times, nor the force with which popular 
 belief in such opinions reacted upon men of the 
 most exalted rank and the most shining talents. 
 Of all the delusions that have taken possession 
 of the human mind, however, the belief in witch- 
 craft, or supernatural agency under the control 
 of mankind, is the most extraordinary ; not only 
 for its absurdity, but for the tenacity of its hold, 
 its power over all ranks and conditions, and the 
 frightful mischiefs it caused.
 
 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Sir Reginald Scott's definition of witchcraft. James I. ; 
 his book against witches. Ranulf Iligden. Mean 
 notions of the Devil and his subordinate spirits. The 
 methods of capturing and subjugating devils : labours 
 enjoined them : their usual reward. Terrible conse- 
 quences of the belief in witchcraft. Number of per- 
 sons executed for that crime. Witch -finders. Hop- 
 kins ; his practical dilemma. Savage spirit of the 
 law. The Witch Act. National recognition of a lie. 
 Effects upon the popular mind. Brutality of the 
 people. Dreadful incident at Tring in 1751. 
 Recent instances of sorcery a proof that it is passing 
 away. Domestic habits of the people. Erasmus's 
 account of an English interior. Barbarous profusion 
 of the upper classes. Queen Elizabeth's breakfast. 
 Lord Goring's supper. Houses of the common peo- 
 ple. Food. Clothing. Sleeping. Sports. Effects 
 of defective intercommunication upon industry. 
 National resources undeveloped. Imports. Steel- 
 yard. Merchant adventurers. Exports. Statement 
 of Guicciardini. Cloth trade privileged. Monopolies 
 dissolved by increased communication. Origin of 
 Halifax. Want of means of transport, interfered 
 with sales. Annual fairs. Bad effects of the wool- 
 trade on agriculture, towns, and population. Weak- 
 
 F 2
 
 68 JAMES I. ON WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 ness of the commercial spirit. Despotic prohibitions. 
 Royal monopolies. Discouragement of private 
 enterprise. 
 
 SIR REGINALD SCOTT, in his dictionary, 
 defines witchcraft to be, " in the estimation of 
 the vulgar, a supernatural work between a cor- 
 poral old woman and a spiritual devil." It was 
 not always in the estimation of the vulgar only 
 that such compacts were set down as facts. The 
 most exalted person in the realm at one time did 
 not think it unworthy of his rank to enter the 
 lists with the corporal old women and their 
 demoniacal allies ; King James I., whom the 
 bishops declared to have spoken on one occasion, 
 not with the voice of a man, but with the voice 
 of the Holy Ghost, wrote a book against witches. 
 In this book he notices an assertion of old 
 Ranulf Higden, who gravely states, in his Poly- 
 chronicon, that the Manx w T itches sold winds to 
 distressed shipmen. The King, though declining 
 to indorse the Monk of Chester, admits with 
 equal gravity that the witches of Lapland were 
 extensively engaged in the same line of industry. 
 He also gives minute directions how to discover 
 witches by certain marks, which the Devil always 
 impressed upon them, and displays his learning 
 in an elaborate argument, to show that witches 
 ought not to be suffered to live. It must be
 
 WITCHES' FAMILIARS. 69 
 
 confessed that the popular notions of the Arch- 
 angel ruined, and his followers, were extremely 
 mean and undignified. The methods used to 
 bring them into subjection to human authority 
 were apparently very inadequate, consisting in 
 certain manipulations of the briony and man- 
 drake roots, burning; the hairs of a black cat's 
 
 * O 
 
 tail, repeating certain forms of words, and dif- 
 fusing appropriate perfumes. The services also 
 which they were enjoined to perform seem to 
 have been of the least elevated kind ; indeed, so 
 simple, that one would think they might have 
 been discharged by those mischievous develop- 
 ments of humanity called boys, or even left to 
 accident, without calling in aid from Pandemo- 
 nium. Devils are not required, in our time at 
 least, to trample upon growing crops, break down 
 fences, rob orchards, cause horses to fall lame, 
 or cows to lose their milk ; but in those days it 
 was different, and all such events were attributed 
 to satanic agency when not otherwise easily 
 accounted for. The malignity of the witches 
 took some curious methods for its gratification. 
 They caused the children of those whom they 
 hated to squint, and become ricketty ; themselves 
 to be racked with pains very similar to those 
 caused by rheumatism, to lose their appetite for
 
 70 EXECUTIONS FOB WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 natural food, and to swallow pins, cinders, earth, 
 brickbats, and other delicacies of that description 
 with extraordinary relish. And the reward of 
 the diabolical emissaries who did all this, was 
 merely the sucking of a little blood from the 
 withered old creatures who employed them, We 
 can afford to smile at such things now, but there 
 was a time when these vile and absurd delusions 
 stained the land throughout its length and 
 breadth with judicial murder, and filled men's 
 minds with terror. Between 1640 and 1660 
 more than three thousand persons were burned 
 alive for witchcraft. Barrington * estimates the 
 whole number put to death in England for that 
 crime at thirty thousand. It is but two hundred 
 years since Government inspectors went periodi- 
 cally throughout the country, to look for witches, 
 just as they go now to inquire into the state of 
 schools, and the treatment of factory children. 
 One of those old Government commissioners has 
 left some reports of his proceedings ; his name 
 was Hopkins, and he was noted for his skill in 
 the discovery of witches. He was sent into 
 Suffolk, and in one year destroyed not less than 
 sixty persons, chiefly poor old friendless and help- 
 
 * Observations on the Statute of Henry VI.
 
 LEGAL SAVAGERY. 71 
 
 less women. The method of procedure adopted 
 by Judge Hopkins, in order to elicit the guilt or 
 innocence of the accused, furnishes the most 
 complete illustration of the practical dilemma on 
 record. He caused the suspected witch to be 
 thrown into deep water ; if she floated, it was 
 considered a decisive proof of her guilt, and she 
 was burned ; if she sunk to the bottom, it was 
 deemed a demonstration of her innocence, but 
 then she was drowned. It is gratifying to our 
 indignation against this inhuman wretch to 
 know that he fell into the very pit he had 
 digged for so many others, and ended his life 
 of blood by being himself drowned by the popu- 
 lace for a wizzard. In order to understand 
 fully the monstrous character of those proceed- 
 ings, and the moral tone of the society that 
 could endure them, we must remember that they 
 were not the result of unauthorised popular 
 movements, but the formal operation of legal 
 savagery, animated by the ignorant and merci- 
 less spirit of the legislature. Whatever excuses 
 we may be disposed to find for the fearful seve- 
 rity of our ancient penal code, in the low state 
 of political science which characterised the times, 
 we cannot, even at this distance, contemplate 
 without a shudder the sanguinary facility with 
 which the ultimum supplicium was inflicted, and
 
 72 THE WITCH ACT. 
 
 that even by such a man as Sir Mathew Hale *, 
 for crimes of an imaginary character, to which 
 not even the simplest rules of evidence could 
 apply. The Witch Act of 1603 (1 James I., 
 c. 12,) ordains, " that all persons invoking any 
 evil spirit, or consulting, covenanting with, 
 entertaining, employing, feeding, or rewarding 
 any evil spirit, or taking up dead bodies from 
 their graves to be used in any witchcraft, sorcery, 
 charm, or enchantment, or killing, or otherwise 
 hurting any person by these infernal arts, should 
 be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy, and 
 suffer death." It is a startling consideration, 
 that this continued to be the law of England till 
 the year 1736, and shows that we are not quite 
 so far removed from the ages of barbarism and 
 darkness as we may sometimes imagine. The 
 last execution under the Witch Act was that of 
 Mrs. Hicks and her infant daughter, aged nine, 
 who were found guilty in 1716 of selling them- 
 selves to Satan, and raising a storm by pulling off 
 their stockings and making a lather of soap. The 
 mischief of this national recognition of a He did 
 not pass away with its repeal ; it was easy enough 
 to erase the record from the Statute Book, but 
 not so the belief it had fostered from men's minds, 
 
 * He sentenced Amy Dunny and Rose Callender to 
 be hanged for witchcraft in 1664.
 
 FEARFUL INCIDENT AT THING. 73 
 
 nor the ignorant brutality it had long sanctioned : 
 a fearful proof of this is given in the Gentleman's 
 Magazine, vol. xxi. It occurred at Tring in 
 Hertfordshire, in 1751, that is, fifteen years 
 after the repeal of the Witch Act. A publican 
 hi that town gave out that he was bewitched by 
 one Osborne and his wife, who were paupers and 
 over seventy years of age. He had it cried in 
 several market towns that they were to be tried 
 by ducking on a certain day, and invited the 
 inhabitants to assist. On the day appointed the 
 guardians had the old couple conveyed to the 
 church to preserve them from the fury of the 
 populace. Shortly afterwards the publican ar- 
 rived with an immense mob, demanded the 
 Osbornes, and, being refused, they stormed the 
 workhouse, ransacked every corner of it, and 
 even looked into the salt-box in search of their 
 victims. Not being able to find them, they then 
 threatened to fire the premises unless they were 
 given up : upon this, the guardians, like cowards 
 and villains, surrendered the Osbornes in order 
 to save the workhouse. The mob then stripped 
 the old man and woman naked, tied the thumbs 
 and great toes of each together, rolled them up 
 in sheets, and carried them off a distance of two 
 miles to a muddy stream, into which they were 
 plunged. The poor old woman slipped from the
 
 74 RECENT SORCERY. 
 
 sheet, was drawn out and thrown upon the bank 
 quite naked and choked with mud, where she 
 expired in a few minutes, the ruffian crowd con- 
 tinuing to kick and beat her for some time after 
 her death. They then took the man, who was 
 in a dying state from his injuries, tied him to the 
 " dead ivitch," and threw them into a bed, where 
 the man also died shortly afterwards. 
 
 One cannot refrain from weeping at this 
 shameful violation of humanity, nor from shud- 
 dering at the thought that it was possible, in 
 enlightened England, a bare century since. It is 
 much to be feared that an ignorance almost as 
 dense, and a brutality only not quite so savage, 
 may still be found amongst the most degraded 
 of the population. We occasionally see notices 
 of pretended feats of sorcery, in the public jour- 
 nals, sufficient to convince us that the belief in 
 such horrible delusions has not entirely disap- 
 peared, but at the same time proving, by the 
 general astonishment and indignation they excite, 
 that they are but the last streaks of darkness 
 which often linger in the lowest places, long 
 after they have been chased, not only from the 
 heights, but from the general level of the land. 
 
 The domestic habits of the people in those ages 
 of separation and general stagnation were such 
 as might be inferred from their low intelligence.
 
 DOMESTIC HABITS. 75 
 
 Erasmus, who visited England in the early part 
 of the sixteenth century, gives a curious descrip- 
 tion of an English interior of the better class. 
 The furniture was rough, the walls unplastered, 
 but sometimes wainscotted, or hung with tapestry, 
 and the floors covered with rushes which were 
 not changed for months. The dogs and cats had 
 free access to the eating-rooms, and fragments of 
 meat and bones were thrown to them, which 
 they devoured amongst the rushes, leaving what 
 they could not eat to rot there, with the drain- 
 ings of beer-vessels and all manner of unmen- 
 tionable abominations. There was nothing like 
 refinement or elegance in the luxury of the 
 higher ranks ; the indulgences which their wealth 
 permitted consisted in rough and wasteful pro- 
 fusion. Salt beef and strong ale constituted the 
 principal part of Queen Elizabeth's breakfast ; 
 and similar refreshments were served to her in 
 bed for supper, at a series of entertainments 
 given in York by the nobility in 1660, where 
 each exhausted his invention in order to outdo 
 the others. It was universally admitted that 
 Lord Goring won the palm for the magnificence 
 of his fancy. The description of this supper will 
 give us a good idea of what was then thought 
 magnificent ; it consisted of four huge brawny 
 pigs, piping hot, bitted and harnessed with ropes
 
 76 POPULAR SPORTS. 
 
 of sausages to a huge pudding in a bag, which 
 served for a chariot. The houses of the common 
 people were built with branches of willow covered 
 with mud, and thatched with turf and straw. 
 Their food consisted principally of rye bread and 
 buttermilk or small beer. Fresh meat they 
 scarcely ever ate, and salt meat was a rarity ; 
 dried fish generally supplied its place, because it 
 could bear carriage to distant places without 
 spoiling. They were clothed in coarse frieze, or 
 sheep's leather, and wore shoes made of wood, 
 whilst a good log of the same material served 
 them for a pillow at night. Their sports were of 
 the same character, but boisterous and sanguin- 
 ary, showing little human feeling towards the 
 lower animals. Bear-baiting and bull-baiting 
 with dogs were the most attractive amusements 
 of the times, varied with throwing at cocks on 
 Shrove-tide, and the popular enjoyment was in 
 proportion to the sufferings of these animals. In 
 short, the condition of the mass of the people 
 seems to have undergone but little alteration 
 from the time of Edward the Third to that of 
 James the First. The effects of deficient inter- 
 communication are still more distinct in the 
 industry of the country. The treasures of coal 
 and iron, which have since given England the 
 command of the world, were scarcely known in
 
 LOW STATE OF INDUSTRY. 77 
 
 the reign of Henry VII. There was no manu- 
 facture in the country except that of cloth ; 
 every article the production of which required a 
 high degree of skill or intelligence was either 
 brought from abroad or fabricated by foreign 
 artisans resident in England. The articles im- 
 ported were cloths of gold and silver, velvet, 
 damask, satin, sarcenet, camblet, carpets, cordage 
 and other naval stores, linen cloth, wax, steel, 
 serges, glass, salt-fish, soap, sail-cloth, gunpowder, 
 household furniture, arms of all kinds, and ammu- 
 nition of war ; in fact, everything that we should 
 consider necessary or even convenient for the 
 purposes of civilised life. The very importation 
 of these merchandise was in the hands of a foreign 
 body the merchants of the Steel-yard, a com- 
 pany belonging to the German Hanseatic league, 
 who had a virtual monopoly of the foreign trade 
 of the nation till the year 1597, when native 
 enterprise had grown strong enough to dispense 
 with foreign assistance, and the privileges of the 
 Steel-yard were abolished in favour of the British 
 Company of Merchant-adventurers. The absence 
 of skilled manufactures is clearly indicated by 
 the nature of the English exports ; they were, 
 with the exception of woollen cloth, exclusively 
 raw materials, or such as required but a simple 
 preparation for the market. Guicciardini the
 
 78 CLOTH MANUFACTURE. 
 
 younger gives a list of them, from which we 
 learn that they were wool, wool-fells, i. e. sheep- 
 skins with the fleece on, calf-skins, leather, tin, 
 live sheep, rabbit-skins in vast quantities, and 
 various other sorts of fine peltry, beer, cheese, 
 and other kinds of provisions. The difficulty of 
 intercourse confined the manufacture of cloth, 
 which was the only one that had any pretensions 
 to nationality, to some of the principal towns and 
 cities, where it became a privileged calling ; as 
 the facilities of communication increased, how- 
 ever, the towns gradually lost their monopoly, 
 and the cloth manufacture spread into the vil- 
 lages and hamlets. An act was passed in 1555, 
 repealing a former statute, by which intermediate 
 dealers in wool were prohibited, for the manifest 
 purpose of taking the trade away from poor 
 persons, who could purchase only a small quan- 
 tity of wool at a time, and throwing the whole 
 business into the hands of the few wealthy manu- 
 facturers. The preamble of the repealing statute 
 gives a singularly interesting side-view of the 
 origin of one of our greatest cloth emporiums, 
 and of the difficulties the people had to overcome 
 in their industrial pursuits. " The parish of 
 Halifax, and other places thereunto adjoining," 
 it says, " being planted in the great wastes and 
 moors, where the fertih'ty of the ground is not
 
 ORIGIN OF HALIFAX. 79 
 
 apt to bring forth any corn or good grass, but in 
 rare places and by exceeding and great industry 
 of the inhabitants ; and the same inhabitants alto- 
 gether do live by cloth making, and the great part 
 of them neither getteth corn, nor is able to keep a 
 horse to carry wools, nor yet to buy much wool 
 at once, but hath ever used only to repair to the 
 town of Halifax, and some other nigh thereunto, 
 and there to buy upon the wool-driver, some a 
 stone, some two, and some three or four, accord- 
 ing to their ability, and to carry the same to 
 their houses some three, four, five, and six miles 
 off upon their heads or backs, and so to make 
 and convert the same either into yarn or cloth, 
 and to sell the same, and so to buy more wool of 
 the wool-driver; by means of which industry 
 the barren grounds in those parts be now much 
 inhabited, and above five hundred households 
 there newly increased within this forty years 
 past, which now are like to be undone and driven 
 to beggary by reason of the late Statute made 
 that taketh away the wool-driver, so that they 
 cannot now have their wool by such small por- 
 tions as they were wont to have ; and that also 
 they are not able to keep any horses whereupon 
 to ride or set their wools further from them in 
 other places unless some remedy may be pro- 
 vided." The same deficiency in the means of
 
 80 ANNUAL FAIRS. 
 
 transport interfered with the profitable sale of 
 the cloth when manufactured. The poor peo- 
 ple were obliged to keep it by them often for 
 a long time, until the pedlars, hawkers, and 
 chapmen called, by whom it was purchased up 
 and disposed of at the annual fairs, where the 
 cloth-merchants laid in their stock for the year. 
 The system of giving orders beforehand was 
 unknown, and every piece of cloth manufac- 
 tured was commenced in uncertainty, and with 
 the risk of remaining unsold till its value had 
 deteriorated. The annual cloth fairs were held 
 at London, Salisbury, Bristol, Oxford, Cam- 
 bridge, Nottingham, Coventry, and some of the 
 other principal towns. Whilst the fairs con- 
 tinued there was a large concourse of persons 
 at these places, but at other times the commu- 
 nication between them and the rest of the king- 
 dom was rare and insignificant. The great 
 prosperity of the trade in wool and woollen- 
 cloth, though of immense advantage in some 
 respects, was accompanied with certain evils, 
 which tended to retard the progress of civilisa- 
 tion : the unrivalled excellency of English wool, 
 and the high prices it fetched in the foreign 
 markets, caused an extensive conversion of the 
 land from tillage into pasture ; flocks of ten and 
 twenty thousand sheep were common, and, as
 
 ROYAL MONOPOLIES. 81 
 
 such stock may be taken care of by a few per- 
 sons, another consequence of this return to the 
 pastoral life was the rapid depopulation of many 
 districts, and the decay of their towns. Com- 
 plaints on this subject, and vain proposals for the 
 remedy of the evil are frequent in the parlia- 
 mentary rolls of the period. Though the foreign 
 trade in woollens was considerable, the commer- 
 cial spirit of the country was yet to arise, and 
 public opinion, as to the benefits of commerce, 
 was exceedingly feeble. This is proved by the 
 facility with which the despotic rulers of the 
 tunes could put a total stop to the trade of the 
 nation with any other nation whose rulers had 
 given them personal offence. Thus Henry VII., 
 in order to revenge himself on the Duchess 
 Dowager of Burgundy, who had favoured Perkin 
 Warbeck, banished the Flemings from England, 
 and prohibited all intercourse with the Nether- 
 lands for several years. The Government mo- 
 nopolies, which embraced almost every article 
 that could be named, was another cause which 
 prevented the growth of trade, whilst displaying 
 a pitiful ignorance of its first principles. The 
 kings themselves took into their own possession 
 many profitable branches of the national industry, 
 and bestowed others on their favourites; and 
 as both kings and favourites took care to relieve 
 
 G
 
 82 DISCOURAGEMENT OF ENTERPRISE. 
 
 themselves of the imposts which the unprivi- 
 leged traders had to pay, and afterwards under- 
 sold them in the home market, the damage and 
 discouragement to private enterprise, the only 
 solid foundation of national prosperity, must have 
 been very extensive.
 
 83 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Progress of commerce in England. Destruction of 
 Antwerp : its effects on English art. Voyages of 
 discovery. Effects of the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes on English trade. Remarks on the blindness 
 of bigotry. Progress of industry slow. Remarks of 
 De Witt and of Napoleon. Rise of towns. Appear- 
 ance of the country in the middle of the seventeenth 
 century. Evelyn at Enfield. Mr. Macaulay's de- 
 scription of England at the Revolution. Feebleness of 
 the laws owing to want of communication. Their 
 amelioration and firmness concurrent with improve- 
 ment of roads. Turpin in Epping Forest. Enormous 
 number of dangerous persons in the Tudor period. 
 Cruel severity of the laws. Multitudes executed. 
 Slavery established by law. Mr. Carlyle a plagiarist : 
 his plan for suppressing pauperism. Spirit of the 
 legislature exterminating, not reforming, or prevent- 
 ing. Tremendous character of the ancient Penal 
 Code. Blackstone's observation. Vindictive spirit of 
 the executive. Montesquieu's observations on crimes 
 and punishments. Facilities of transit and transmis- 
 sion. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING all the obstacles enume- 
 rated, and very many others, which, though 
 minute individually, constituted collectively an 
 
 G 2
 
 84 DESTRUCTION OF ANTWERP. 
 
 almost insuperable barrier to freedom of ex- 
 change, the trade of the country was making 
 steady, though slow progress. Some events 
 occurred also about the close of the sixteenth 
 century, which gave it a vigorous impulse. The 
 destruction of Antwerp, the great emporium of 
 Europe, by the Duke of Parma, in 1585, put an 
 end to the manufacturing supremacy of the 
 Netherlands, and drove about a third of the 
 artisans and merchants of that city to England, 
 where they settled, and instructed the inhabitants 
 in the manufacture of many textile fabrics, of 
 which they had been till then ignorant. Several 
 voyages of discovery were undertaken, and 
 though unsuccessful as regarded the express 
 object they were intended to accomplish, they 
 served to keep alive the spirit of adventure, and 
 to lead the way to more important enterprises. 
 Frobisher, Davis, and others, sailed in search of 
 a solution to the great hydrographic problem of 
 a north-west passage, whilst Drake and others 
 finally determined all questions respecting the 
 rotundity of the globe by circumnavigating it, 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that precisely one hun- 
 dred years after the destruction of Antwerp, 
 from which the manufacturing industry of Eng- 
 land may be truly dated, it received another 
 powerful impulse from the multitude of French
 
 BLINDNESS OF BIGOTRY. 85 
 
 artisans who took refuge here on the revocation 
 of the Edict of Nantes. Both events were caused 
 by savage religious bigotry, and both defeated 
 themselves. The gloomy tyrant of the Escurial 
 did not cherish more inhuman thoughts than the 
 heartless voluptuary of Versailles ; both the one 
 and the other, from different motives, became 
 the willino- executioners of that dark and terrible 
 
 o 
 
 spirit of priestcraft, which in all ages has been 
 " Jtostis kumani generis" and looked with despite 
 upon the progress mankind may have made in 
 the attainment of true knowledge and happiness. 
 They, by dissimulation, treachery, deliberate 
 and profound perjury, the very attributes of 
 Hell, professed to do acceptable service to Hea- 
 ven ; and, to show their reverence for the God 
 of mercy and beneficence, they butchered his un- 
 offending creatures, bloodily and remorselessly, 
 untouched by the feebleness, defencelessness, or 
 innocency of their victims. But in the very 
 blindness and violence of this hatred lay its anti- 
 dote; it destroyed its own power to do evil, 
 as the water boiling over extinguishes the cause 
 of its ebullition. 
 
 The country which gave refuge to the perse- 
 cuted subjects of those cruel dupes and tyrants, 
 has become the home and stronghold of the 
 opinions they sought to quench in human blood,
 
 86 DE WITT AND NAPOLEON. 
 
 but which, instead, derive strength and influence 
 from the consequences of their atrocities ; atroci- 
 ties which have proved to the doers a curse that 
 still clings to their lands and memories. Accus- 
 tomed as we are, in our day, to measure the 
 progress of nations, not by centuries or ages, 
 but by years and months, we should be disap- 
 pointed if we applied the same standard to the 
 advancement of England two hundred years ago. 
 The return from pastoral occupations to tillage 
 and general husbandry was very slow. De 
 Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, states, in 
 his " Interests of Holland," published 1669, 
 that " the English were a nation of shepherds 
 and wool-sellers." The remark of another dis- 
 tinguished foreigner, a hundred and forty years 
 later, that " the English were a nation of shop- 
 keepers," gives an impressive idea of the unex- 
 ampled mercantile progress of the country in the 
 interval. De Witt's remark is no doubt an 
 exaggeration, as well as Napoleon's, but there is 
 sufficient truth in each to preserve it from obli- 
 vion. Many of our largest towns have sprung 
 into existence since the publication of the Pen- 
 sionary's book. Brighton, in the times of Charles 
 II., was a fishing village, nets were dried on the 
 Steyne and mended on the site of the Pavillion. 
 The places where Devonport, Poole, Ashton,
 
 APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 87 
 
 Bolton, Oldham, Salford, and Birkenhead now 
 stand, were green fields. Bromwich was a se- 
 cluded and insignificant hamlet, and many of 
 the most flourishing towns in Lancashire and 
 Yorkshire did not possess a twentieth part of 
 their present extent or population, nor a 
 thousandth part of their actual wealth and im- 
 portance. 
 
 The accounts that remain of the appearance 
 of the country tend strongly to confirm the gene- 
 ral truth of De Witt's observation. One-twen- 
 tieth of the whole land was abandoned to deer 
 and conies. Even as late as 1676, Evelyn tells 
 us that, whilst staying at Enfield Chase, lie was 
 struck with wonder "that, in a compass of 
 twenty-five miles, yet within fourteen miles of 
 London, there was not a house, barn, church, or 
 other building, except three lodges. To this 
 lodge," he adds, speaking of that in which he was 
 staying, " there are three great ponds, and some 
 few inclosures, the rest a solitary desert, yet stored 
 with not less than three thousand deer." Macau- 
 lay's description of the appearance of the country 
 at the period of the Revolution is familiar to 
 every one: "Whole districts were abandoned 
 to wild ducks, and haunted by herds of bustards 
 a heavy kind of bird that flew with difficulty, 
 and was pursued and taken with dogs." There
 
 88 THE NORTH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 were ten thousand square miles of waste land in 
 Great Britain which have since been reclaimed 
 and brought under cultivation. London was 
 not larger then than Southwark is at present. 
 Northumberland was in an almost savage state. 
 The limits of property were undefined on the 
 borders between England and Scotland, and the 
 inhabitants wandered about like the Tartar 
 tribes, without settled residences, or rather, as 
 Tactitus describes the ancient Germans, dwelling 
 for a season wherever the pasturage, water, or 
 shade proved most favourable for the flocks and 
 cattle that constituted their wealth. Regular 
 armies of plunderers laid the northern counties 
 under contribution, so that the peacably dis- 
 posed inhabitants were obliged to raise troops for 
 their defence, to fortify their residences, and to 
 keep bloodhounds at their common charge for 
 the purpose of tracing their stolen property. The 
 very geography of that part of the country was 
 but little known, even after the accession of 
 George III., and so complete a wilderness was it, 
 that, on the circuit, the judges, barristers, attor- 
 nies, clerks, tipstaffs, suitors, and witnesses, were 
 all obliged to travel together on horseback to the 
 assizes of Carlisle, carrying their own provisions, 
 and escorted by a strong body of the military, 
 with the sheriff at its head. London was then
 
 CRIME; TURPIN. 89 
 
 farther from Edinburgh than it is now from 
 Vienna, and farther from Reading than it is 
 from Edinburgh. It is easy to imagine that the 
 laws must have been very feeble in times when 
 communication was so difficult, and when so 
 large a portion of the soil was in the condition 
 of an unreclaimed wilderness, offering a safe 
 harbour to all who had declared war against 
 society. The thick forests were a place of refuge 
 for the professional robber and murderer, no less 
 than for the smuggler, the petty prowler, and 
 the midnight burglar and thief. In those wood- 
 land fastnesses every evil-doer, who dreaded the 
 justice of men, sought and found refuge from the 
 arm of the law, which was too weak to reach any, 
 except those immediately under its grasp ; and 
 this was the case, in some measure, down nearly 
 to our own times, until the opening of numerous 
 turnpike roads and of bye-ways, which perfected 
 the communication between all parts of the king- 
 dom, gave the executive power freedom of action, 
 and let in the light of civil order upon the dark 
 retreats of crime. As late as the year 1737, the 
 notorious Turpin, and his accomplice King, occu- 
 pied a cave in Epping Forest, the description of 
 which reads like that of the robbers' den in Gil 
 Bias. It was sufficiently large to contain them- 
 selves, their horses, their provisions, arms, and
 
 90 DANGEROUS MULTITUDES. 
 
 booty. They issued from it in the open day, 
 robbed and murdered the passengers, and stormed 
 the residences of the neighbouring gentry almost 
 with military preparation ; yet this was little 
 more than a century since : there are many living 
 who might have conversed with those who wit- 
 nessed the execution of this savage malefactor. 
 What then must have been the state of society 
 in earlier times ? The number of dangerous and 
 disorderly persons who overspread the country 
 in the Tudor period is astounding and almost 
 incredible. There were in each county from 
 four to five hundred idle ruffians, who lived by 
 robbery under the pretext of begging, as lawless 
 as the Bedouins of the desert, and more desperate. 
 They often united in troops, and, setting the 
 authorities at defiance, attacked and plundered 
 the towns. Nothing was more common than for 
 travellers to disappear on their journey, leaving 
 no trace of their fate. Myriads of the most 
 atrocious crimes were daily perpetrated, and we 
 may well believe that the majority of them never 
 came to light To meet this monstrous evil the 
 laws had recourse to the ordinary resort of 
 feebleness ; they endeavoured to compensate for 
 their weakness by their cruel severity. The 
 modes of execution in those days were so shock- 
 ing and inhuman, that we cannot read of them
 
 MR. CARLYLE. 91 
 
 without a shudder, and the numbers destroyed 
 surpass our wildest conceptions. Harrison says 
 that, during the reign of Henry VIII. alone, 
 22,000 persons were put to death ; but these 
 wholesale massacres failed to remove, or even to 
 diminish, the evil ; on the other hand they ap- 
 pear to have greatly brutalized the popular mind 
 by lessening its respect for human life. Ruffian- 
 ism had attained dimensions stih 1 more gigantic 
 than ever in the reign of Edward VI., and the 
 only expedient his councillors could devise for 
 its restraint was a new law of still greater seve- 
 rity. When vagrants were captured, it was 
 ordained that they should be whipped and 
 stocked, imprisoned, and the grizzle of the ear 
 cut through ; but the vagrants, notwithstanding, 
 became more numerous than ever. At last Pro- 
 tector Somerset and his council fell upon a 
 method which promised more satisfactory results. 
 It will surprise many to learn that this plan was 
 precisely the same as that proposed by Mr. 
 Carlyle, in his latter-day pamphlets, for the sup- 
 pression of pauperism in the three kingdoms, 
 namely, the legal establishment of slavery as part 
 of the British constitution. Let any one take up 
 the address of Mr. Carlyle's model prime-minis- 
 ter, beginning " vagrant lack-alls," and compare 
 it with the provisions of the Act of Edward's
 
 92 SLAVERY ESTABLISHED. 
 
 Parliament, and he will see at once that Mr. 
 Carlyle's scheme was not at all original, but that 
 slavery was actually established and recognised 
 by law in the year 1547, 1 Edward VI. Here 
 is the substance of the statute : " Any sturdy 
 beggar may be compelled to work for any one 
 who will give him meat and drink. If he run 
 away, he shall, when captured, be branded on the 
 breast with the letter V, and adjudged to be a 
 slave to his master for two years. The master 
 is to give him bread and water only, or small 
 drink, and such refuse meat as he shall think fit, 
 and to force him, by chaining, beating, starving, 
 or any other means, without restriction of law, 
 to do such work or labour as he may be put to, 
 however vile or degrading. If the slave run 
 away a second time, he shall, when retaken, be 
 branded on the forehead or the ball of the thumb 
 with the letter S, and be adjudged to his master 
 as a slave for ever. Finally, if he escape a third 
 time, he shall be held to be guilty of felony with- 
 out benefit of clergy, and shall suffer the pains 
 of death as such felons ought to do." 
 
 It is some satisfaction to know that this hideous 
 edict was repealed two years afterwards. Had 
 there been anything like a public opinion, such 
 as now prevails in the country, such a law could 
 never have been proposed ; but men lived in a
 
 MERCILESS LAWS. 93 
 
 scattered state, their intercourse with one another 
 in large bodies was rare, owing to the very cause 
 which perpetuated the evil against which those 
 frightful laws were directed; the inaccessible 
 state of the country, and, besides all this, the 
 science of government, consisted rather in the 
 exercise of force to terrify and exterminate the 
 evil-doers, than in the adoption of means to pre- 
 vent the evil. 
 
 The number of persons consigned to public 
 execution by the ordinary operation of law during 
 the reign of Elizabeth was about four hundred 
 annually; but, notwithstanding this sanguinary 
 rigour, the number of beggars and vagrants 
 continued to increase, until at last the plague 
 was met and stayed in a wiser and more humane 
 spirit by an Act passed in 1601, which is the 
 foundation of all our subsequent poor-law legis- 
 lation. The tremendous severity of our ancient 
 penal code is well expressed in one sentence by 
 Blackstone, who says, that " among the variety 
 of actions which men are daily liable to commit, 
 no less than a hundred and sixty were felonies 
 without benefit of clergy, or, in other words, 
 worthy of instant death." There is something 
 remarkable in the fact, that, notwithstanding this 
 merciless code, crime continued steadily on the 
 increase, and that the only expedient to repress
 
 94 WALTHAM BLACK ACT. 
 
 it that occurred to the legislature was the enact- 
 ment of laws still more draconic. The Govern- 
 ment of the times had succeeded in diminishing 
 vagrancy, by applying to it a remedy which 
 stopped, or at least hindered its growth; but 
 miscellaneous crimes were perpetrated more nu- 
 merously than ever, and, in their attempts to 
 suppress them, the supreme powers exhibited an 
 inconceivably vindictive spirit : miserable thefts 
 above the value of twelve pence, and the picking 
 of pockets, were at last punished with death. 
 Discharged soldiers and sailors wandering about 
 the country, without committing any other crime 
 whatever, were adjudged worthy of instant death 
 without benefit of clergy; and, to crown this 
 system of blood and terror, we have the Waltham 
 Black Act (9 Geo. I., c. 22), which makes it 
 a capital felony to appear in any of the royal 
 forests or chases with the face blackened ; so that 
 an honest coal-heaver, returning home through 
 
 * o o 
 
 one of these forbidden places after a hard day's 
 work, might be seized and, by a short process, 
 consigned to the gaUows. 
 
 " Quelque inconvenient se fait il sentir dans 
 un etat," says Montesquieu, " un Gouvernement 
 violent veut soudain le corriger; et, au lieu de 
 songer a faire executer les anciennes lois, on 
 e"tablit une peine cruelle qui arrete le mal sur le
 
 MONTESQUIEU'S EEMARKS. 95 
 
 champ. Mais on use le ressort du Gouverne- 
 ment ; 1'imagination se fait a cette grande peine, 
 comme elle s'etait faite a la moindre, et comme 
 on diminue la crainte pour celle-ci, 1'on et bien- 
 tot force d'etablir 1'autre dans tous les cas."* 
 A Government whose subjects can easily elude 
 its executive power will always be violent. It 
 has no resource but violence : it is disposed to 
 view criminals as ferce naturae, to treat them as 
 the husbandman does the birds that ravage his 
 corn-fields : they evade him so easily, that, when 
 he captures one, he punishes it vindictively for 
 the instinct of its race, and gibbets it in terrorem 
 of the others. " Un bon legislateur," Montes- 
 quieu remarks, " s'attachera moins d punir les 
 crimes qu'a les prevenir ; il s'appliquera plus a 
 donner des mceurs qu'a infliger des supplices."f 
 But it is impossible to establish a system of pre- 
 vention, or an effective police, without the most 
 complete facility of transit and communication 
 between the different parts of the kingdom. The 
 messengers of justice, if not swift, are useless. 
 Promptitude and certainty of punishment has a 
 more repressive energy upon crime than the most 
 frightful inflictions, if accompanied with a slight 
 
 * Esprit des Lois, liv. vi., ch. 12. 
 f Esprit des Lois, liv. vi., ch. 9.
 
 96 AMELIORATION. 
 
 chance of escape, or even with the postponement 
 of the penalty. The proofs of this lie before us 
 in the gradual amelioration of our own laws, 
 coincident with their sure and prompt adminis- 
 tration, which advanced in precisely the same 
 degree as the means of intercourse were extended 
 and the transmission of intelligence became 
 speedy and certain.
 
 97 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Uses of this retrospect. Recapitulation. Changes 
 effected by intercourse. Reasons for confining our 
 historical observations to England. The topics that 
 are now to occupy us. Expansion of view required 
 to embrace the agencies in operation. Universality 
 of the adaptation, and unlimited power of steam ; on 
 land ; on the ocean. Approximation of lands. Pro- 
 gress of steam as an agent of transport. The new 
 means of transmitting intelligence require a corre- 
 sponding extension of our speculations. Character 
 of the electric telegraph as a medium of thought : 
 its progress in uniting different countries : anticipa- 
 tion of what it will enable man to perform : its pro- 
 bable uses when universally adopted. The grand 
 secret of human liberty and progress. The social 
 tendencies : their origin and power. Past history not 
 that of mankind : the future will be. Mankind not 
 to be judged of from parties, and combinations. 
 Operation of the gregarious principle more perma- 
 nent than that of separating causes : its objects and 
 benefits. 
 
 THE glance we have thrown upon the pro- 
 gress of English civilisation has been necessarily 
 brief and rapid ; it has been sufficient, however, 
 
 H
 
 98 USES OF RETROSPECT. 
 
 to show that facilities of intercommunication 
 between the different parts of the kingdom are 
 entitled to hold the first rank amongst the mate- 
 rial agencies by which it has reached its present 
 state of advancement. We have seen the coun- 
 try emerging from a state of semi-barbarism, 
 a heterogeneous mass of distinct and almost un- 
 
 O 
 
 connected parts, holding scarcely any communi- 
 cation with one another, and moved by different 
 impulses an Egyptian darkness covering the 
 great body of the people, and whatever there 
 was of intelligence playing like meteoric light 
 about the pinnacles of the social fabric. We have 
 seen the population, unconscious of the rich 
 material resources of the country* livmo- in a 
 
 / * O 
 
 rude and low condition, the subjects of hateful 
 superstition and violent animosities, preyed upon 
 by myriads of their own outcasts, subject to 
 despotic rule, and governed by laws, the inhu- 
 man and irrational severity of which exhibits 
 more of the bloody instinct of the tiger, than of 
 the reflective wisdom of man. We have seen 
 that, with the establishment of means of transit 
 and intercourse, a mighty change commences. 
 The nation becomes an organic unity, the vital 
 energies circulate from the great centres of social 
 life to its remotest extremities, and all its move- 
 ments are consentaneous. The intellectual light 
 
 o
 
 SUMMARY. 99 
 
 which before shone at a distance, dazzling rather 
 than illuminating, is conducted down into the 
 mass, passes from mind to mind, and penetrates 
 every class of the population with some portion 
 of its heat and radiance. The resources of the 
 country, both moral and material, are developed. 
 The comforts and conveniences of life increased ; 
 prejudices are unlearned ; causes of separation 
 are forgotten, and superstitions vanish away. 
 The Government by decrees forsakes the san- 
 
 / O 
 
 guinary maxims of extermination and terror, 
 for the wiser and more humane methods of pre- 
 vention ; the laws become more respected, their 
 execution milder and more effective; crime 
 diminishes, and a strong and salutary public 
 opinion makes its influence felt throughout 
 society. 
 
 We have purposely confined our view to what 
 has taken place in our own country, and to the 
 limited and comparatively feeble means of inter- 
 course it possessed before the introduction of those 
 mighty agencies of transport and communication 
 which science has recently placed at the disposal 
 of mankind. We have done so on the principle 
 which leads the cautious mariner to try the 
 powers and capacity of his bark upon well-known 
 waters, and by familiar coasts, before he launches 
 into the great undiscovered deep, or as the me- 
 
 H 2
 
 100 ENLARGEMENT OF SUBJECT. 
 
 chanical inventor embodies his conceptions in a 
 model, before he constructs the engine which is 
 to bring them into full and effective operation. 
 
 We have now to ascend to a higher point of 
 observation, and to survey a wider prospect 
 Instead of our own country, the world lies before 
 us. Counties must give place to nations, local 
 prejudices to national enmities. Instead of the 
 effects of intercourse upon popular superstitions, 
 we have to consider its probable influence upon 
 forms of religion, and the irrational faith of races. 
 For the trade of an island, we must put the 
 commerce of mankind ; and for civil and muni- 
 cipal legislation, the law of nations. The influ- 
 ences that have softened into mercy our own 
 code of blood, we must trace in their operation 
 on the still more sanguinary and brutal code 
 of war. The different languages of the earth 
 will have to be considered, as subjected to the 
 same process which is fast erasing all traces of 
 provincial dialects, and, instead of the public 
 opinion of one country, we must anticipate the 
 verdict of mankind. This vast expansion of our 
 horizon is necessary for the just observation of 
 the effects in course of production by the agencies 
 at work ; for they exceed, in their potency and 
 capacity of extension, those whose effects we 
 have been contemplating by a greater disparity
 
 POWER OF AGENCIES. 101 
 
 than exists between the whole habitable globe 
 and the realm of England. 
 
 It is no longer the stage-coach that is to en- 
 gage our attention, with its eighteen passengers, 
 and its eight miles an hour, nor the crawling 
 waggon, nor the snail-paced barge; but the 
 mighty train, carrying the population of a city, 
 or the produce of a district, or the lading of a 
 ship, at the rate of fifty miles in the same space of 
 time. And we have to contemplate this power 
 of transport as absolutely unlimited in its appli- 
 cation, as penetrating every portion of every land 
 on which the sun shines, and as affecting every 
 race and tribe of the human family. Nor are 
 these effects to be viewed as taking place in an 
 isolated manner, in the midst of each country for 
 itself alone, surrounded and cut off from all 
 others by impenetrable barriers: for the ocean 
 has now become truly the highway of nations ; 
 the gigantic force that animates the factory, and 
 impels the train, has enabled man to dominate 
 the waters also, and to hold on his direct course, 
 without pause or deviation, in the face of adverse 
 winds and tides, steadily and swiftly gliding 
 towards his destined port, his gallant ship scarcely 
 disturbed by the fiercest elemental war. By 
 this amazing power the new world has been 
 rendered more accessible to the inhabitants of
 
 102 DOMINION OF THE WATERS. 
 
 the old, than London was to Edinburgh in 
 ancient times, and the broad Atlantic a surer 
 pathway than the road that lay between them. 
 Already we see the means of transport by steam 
 pushing themselves into every sea, accommo- 
 dating themselves to the exigencies of every ter- 
 ritory and the productions of every climate, and 
 establishing friendly communications between all 
 parts of the world ; nor has anything as yet 
 arisen to induce a doubt, that these friendly 
 communications will increase and multiply, until 
 the intercourse of mankind becomes as general 
 and thorough as that which prevails within our 
 own country. 
 
 In considering the transmission of intelligence, 
 we must also raise our view, and extend our 
 speculations. The old mail-coaches and post- 
 boys did good service to mankind in their day ; 
 but between them and our present means of cor- 
 respondence there is absolutely no common ground 
 of comparison. Electricity, to say nothing of the 
 railway and steam-ship, has enabled us to omit 
 time altogether in calculating the hindrances to 
 communication of thought, nor are the others by 
 any means invincible. It has been proved that 
 the ocean offers no insuperable difficulty to the 
 establishment of an instantaneous medium of intel- 
 ligence between distant lands. Ireland is already
 
 UNION OF LANDS. 103 
 
 united to England by the electric cable, and 
 England to France. Even whilst we write, pre- 
 parations are in progress for effecting a sentient 
 connexion between America and England, be- 
 tween England, Northern-Europe and Scandi- 
 navia, and between the Mediterranean shores of 
 Europe and Africa. The extension of the tele- 
 graphic system on land is easy and inexpensive; we 
 may therefore look forward almost with certainty 
 to the universal adoption of a method of commu- 
 nication so unrivalled for its efficiency. It is not 
 too much to anticipate a future period, when a 
 perfect net-work of electric filaments will over- 
 spread every civilised land in the world ; when 
 a man in London shall be able to transmit the 
 same message in the same instant of time to 
 friends in St. Petersburg!! and Adelaide, New- 
 York and Calcutta, and receive their answers 
 simultaneously in another instant from the very 
 opposite sides of the globe; when any extra- 
 ordinary event occurring in any part of the 
 world will become immediately known in every 
 other, whether it be a great discovery pro- 
 mising good, or a calamitous occurrence fraught 
 with evil. This marvellous agent seems destined 
 to consolidate and harmonize the social union of 
 mankind, by furnishing a sensitive apparatus 
 analogous to the nervous system of the living
 
 104 UNIVERSAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 frame, which will make men conscious of their 
 mutual dependency, and diffuse throughout every 
 division and portion of our race that primary 
 instinct which combines all the organs and facul- 
 ties of the living being for the preservation of 
 that union which is their life. The most obvious 
 and direct consequence of these illimitable agen- 
 cies of communication and transport, as they 
 extend their operations, must be, then, to draw 
 all nations into more intimate connexion, and to 
 convert the whole human race into one society. 
 Is this consummation to be looked forward to as 
 a good, or to be dreaded as an evil ? Will it be 
 favourable to the common happiness, or will it 
 be productive of new miseries and sufferings to 
 our species? We believe with strong faith that 
 the good will greatly predominate over the evil, 
 that the happiness of mankind will be augmented, 
 and that many of their direst scourges will be 
 removed ; and this faith is founded on the con- 
 viction, that if ever such an association as that 
 which we have predicted take place, it must be 
 by the free action and concourse of individual 
 minds, which we reiterate " is the origin and 
 mainspring of all social improvement," and there- 
 fore " everything that promotes it contributes so 
 far to the increase of human happiness and to 
 the advancement of civilisation." These are
 
 SOCIAL TENDENCIES. 105 
 
 words which we would have impressed, not upon 
 wind-shaken banners, but upon the very hearts 
 and memories of all who hate ignorance, charla- 
 tanry, despotism, and priestcraft. Those words 
 contain, we believe, the grand secret of human 
 liberty and progress ; and it is a glorious and 
 inspiring thought, that the principle they express 
 is now in full operation, and can no longer be 
 arrested by imposing delusions, despotic policy, 
 the vain and selfish juggling of statesmanship, 
 nor any other form of human subtlety and guile. 
 The tendency to association arises from the 
 depths of our common nature. Its springs are 
 beyond the profane reach of those arrogant inter- 
 meddlers whose most energetic and persevering 
 efforts have been in all ages directed against the 
 independent action of the human mind, and whose 
 most renowned achievements are recorded in its 
 prostration and defeat. They have succeeded 
 but too completely : the written histories of the 
 world contain the annals of their deeds, and the 
 condition from which it is rising the traces of 
 their influence. They have raised themselves 
 by depressing their fellow-men, and venal chroni- 
 clers have employed their power and opportuni- 
 ties in endeavouring to exalt the cheats and 
 tyrants still higher, whilst the majority of man- 
 kind have been ignored or forgotten. Where
 
 10(> HISTORY, PAST AND FUTURE. 
 
 can we find, in all that has been written under 
 the name of history in ancient times, a single 
 truthful picture of the daily life and domestic 
 habits of a people? of their struggles against 
 barbarism, or their progress towards light and 
 civilisation ? These, the most interesting, im- 
 portant, and natural aspects of society, are all 
 passed over with slight notice ; whilst the tearful 
 and disastrous triumphs of ambition or imposture 
 are polished and adorned with ah 1 the art of 
 language, and a fraudulent lustre thus thrown 
 round the names of those whose successes are 
 narrated. 
 
 The histories to be written will be those of 
 the many; and if, from amidst the multi- 
 tude, some names shall arise more prominently, 
 and surrounded with the nimbus of a distinct 
 glory, it will be the glory of merit, not accident ; 
 the distinction of a people's admiration for valiant 
 and beneficent wisdom, not the brute fawning of 
 a beaten and terrified hound upon the less amia- 
 ble brute that maltreats him. If we were to 
 judge of mankind by what we see daily done in 
 the various countries of the earth, by the cliques, 
 parties, corporations, and combinations of men 
 who govern them, and call themselves the nations, 
 it would be hard to find one which would justify 
 our hopeful previsions. But we would remind
 
 POLICY OF PARTIES. 107 
 
 the reader that they, whatever they may call 
 themselves, whether dynasties, governments, or 
 political parties, are not the nations whose names 
 they arrogate, much less mankind. They, 
 without exception, are all striving against some 
 determination of the universal will, and endea- 
 vouring to effect, by force and dictation, objects 
 in which their own peculiar interests are para- 
 mount to those of the vast multitude of their 
 fellow-men. The course of their policy has ever 
 been to divide and separate mankind, that they 
 might the more securely conquer and command 
 them in detail. It would be vain, indeed, to 
 hope for a universal congress of such parties, in 
 which the grand and benign principle of human 
 brotherhood should be recognised and promoted ; 
 but it does not depend upon them, and we leave 
 them out of view in our specidations. It would 
 be absurd and unphilosophical to estimate the 
 general propensions of our species from the exam- 
 ple of parties or combinations. The very essence 
 of party union is some specialty in the interests, 
 feelings, or maxims of the united, which so far 
 disintegrates them as a body from the bulk of 
 society, and removes them from the category of 
 men actuated by ordinary motives. Amidst all 
 the variety of party distinctions, however, there 
 is much that is common to the whole human
 
 108 SPECIFIC AFFINITIES: 
 
 family. There is a resemblance between men's 
 minds as there is between their bodies, a specific 
 identity, consisting in a similarity of faculties 
 and functions, of emotions and desires. From 
 this affinity of our moral and intellectual nature 
 arises the attraction which mind exercises upon 
 mind, and which is continually drawing men into 
 closer and more intimate communion. This is 
 what we call popularly the gregarious principle, 
 which, if not more powerful than the causes that 
 repel men from one another, is more constant in 
 its operation. It inheres in humanity, and is one 
 of its essential properties, whilst the causes of 
 separation are accidental, local, and more or less 
 evanescent. There is in the world a far greater 
 number of things to unite the suffrages of men 
 than to divide them. The vices and villanies of 
 our nature are all anti-social. Its heroisms and 
 great virtues are promotive of union and har- 
 mony, and flourish most where these prevail. 
 The mind also receives its most perfect form, its 
 highest poh'sh, and brightest lustre, from contact 
 with other minds, as the diamond receives its 
 shape and brilliancy from kindred substances. 
 Passing by the peculiarities of special combina- 
 tions amongst men, and contemplating the whole 
 race in co-operation, we come to the conclusion, 
 therefore, that the fundamental and ultimate
 
 THEIR RESULTS. 109 
 
 principles of our nature, which under all circum- 
 stances would combine their individual impulses, 
 are such as tend to good, and that the prospect 
 of a universal correspondence and approximation 
 of human interests is the result to be expected 
 from the social union of mankind. It is to the 
 instinctive efforts to approach one another, to 
 exchange thoughts and feelings, not less than to 
 the force of those necessities which compel them 
 to seek interchangeable supplies, that men are 
 indebted for most of their great achievements in 
 science and their conquests of nature. It is this 
 social passion which has inspired the noblest 
 works of genius. It is this that rejoices in the 
 peace and prosperity of nations ; and it is to this 
 we must look for the consummation of human 
 happiness. Implanted in our hearts and inter- 
 woven with all our affections, it is one of the 
 primary laws of our being, and must ultimately 
 supervene all separating causes, which are but 
 circumstantial and fortuitous, as the constant, 
 though inappreciable, force of gravitation gra- 
 dually reduces the loftiest ramparts to the dust 
 Already it has removed all physical and material 
 obstructions to its full operation by inciting to the 
 discovery of steam and electricity. The obstacles 
 that remain are of a moral and intellectual kind, 
 many of them irregular, or abnormal proclivities
 
 110 MORAL REPULSIONS. 
 
 of mind, and others the unnatural growth of 
 vicious training ; but they also are destined to 
 give way before the law of approximation, to be 
 erased and trodden down by the mighty agencies 
 it has called into being and activity. We propose 
 to investigate the probable manner in which this 
 will be accomplished ; but, in doing so, we must 
 avoid all minute particulars, and the discussion 
 of matters which do not involve general princi- 
 ples. In what we have to say, we propose to 
 speak simply, and in strict accordance with what 
 we conceive to be truth. We will not step out 
 of the direct course of our argument to assail any 
 opinions or practices ; but, if they come in our 
 way, we must, to borrow a figure from the rail- 
 road, run into them, and test their strength, as 
 well as our own, by the collision.
 
 Ill 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Educational influence of intercourse. Nature of mental 
 training. Development of the mind. Mediate and 
 immediate knowledge. Their character and influence. 
 Interpretation of words. Causes of their signifi- 
 cancy. Influence of local seclusion upon the com- 
 prehension of language. Teaching by objects. 
 Pestalozzi's system. Importance of immediate know- 
 ledge. Words only recall past impressions. Imme- 
 diate acquisitions prepare the mind to profit by 
 literature [and oral discourse : supply it with tests of 
 truth. Important effects of intercourse in furnishing 
 the mind with such acquisitions. Manner in which 
 these effects are produced. Credulity a necessary 
 result of seclusion. Impositions of authority in 
 matters of belief. Evil consequences of such belief. 
 It renders the trade of imposture and knavery possi- 
 ble. Influence of extensive intercourse upon popular 
 delusions : its present agencies unlimited : its future 
 supplies. Operation of railways at present amongst 
 the people. Object lessons on a grand scale. The 
 schoolmaster in reality abroad. 
 
 ONE of the most deeply interesting aspects 
 under which we can view the present wonderful 
 system of intercourse and communication is in
 
 112 EDUCATION. 
 
 regard to its educational influence, and to this 
 we invite the special notice of the reader. It 
 will require some close attention to follow the 
 discussion of this part of our subject, but the 
 importance of it is such as will repay whatever 
 thought it demands. The training of the mind 
 does not consist in the acquisition of knowledge 
 merely, but also, and chiefly, in the healthy and 
 harmonious development of the faculties, so that 
 they shall be fitted to weigh evidence, to discri- 
 minate between truth and falsehood, and acquire, 
 with a salutary appetite for the one, an equally 
 salutary horror and disgust for the other. This 
 is a proposition that will not be disputed ; we 
 may therefore proceed another step. Exercise 
 is as necessary to the full growth and vigour of 
 the mind as it is to the development of the body. 
 This is a law which pervades ah 1 animated nature ; 
 there is no exception to it. But mental exercise 
 consists in efforts to acquire knowledge, or to 
 arrange it when acquired ; therefore the proper 
 direction of such efforts is the most important 
 problem in the science of education, and one 
 quod est adhuc demonstrandum. There are two 
 methods of acquiring knowledge, with which its 
 character corresponds, and its influence upon the 
 mind. The one is by real, personal perception 
 of objects and their relations, the cognizance of
 
 NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE. 113 
 
 which in this direct manner may be called imme- 
 diate knowledge ; the other is from persons who, 
 either orally or in books, convey to us their 
 impressions information thus acquired may be 
 called mediate knowledge. The immediate 
 knowledge, which any one can acquire by the 
 unaided exercise of his own powers, must neces- 
 sarily be small, but it is generally real, and will 
 .stand the test of experience. It penetrates the 
 intellect more deeply than any other, and per- 
 vades it more completely, for it is the impression 
 which nature herself makes by direct contact 
 with the mind. Our mediate knowledge, on the 
 other hand, may be unlimited, but it comes to 
 us tinctured and adulterated by the peculiarities 
 of the various minds through which it has passed, 
 and by which it has been elaborated. The great 
 bulk of the world's scholarship consists of this 
 latter kind of knowledge. The former we do not 
 dignify with even the name of education ; we 
 call it mere illiteracy, or at best but intuitive 
 information, and yet it is the groundwork of 
 every attainment, the foundation of all possible 
 erudition. Direct and immediate perception 
 stores the mind with the originals and types of 
 all our knowledge, and the most profound 
 acquaintance with books, or the most learned 
 tuition, can do no more than aid us in compound- 
 
 i
 
 114 SIGNIFICANT OF WORDS. 
 
 ing, decompounding, and rearranging, in endless 
 permutation, the elements thus laid up. All the 
 words ever spoken or written cannot convey to 
 the mind a new sensation, except it be some slight 
 variation in sound or colour ; nay, more, without 
 immediate intuitive knowledge words would have 
 no significancy whatever : they are arbitrary 
 symbols, which have no natural or essential 
 connexion with the things they represent, and 
 their power of exciting in the mind the ideas or 
 conceptions of those things arises simply from 
 their intimate association with them. To a man 
 who had lived from his infancy secluded from 
 the open world, and deprived, as Caspar Hauser 
 was, of every opportunity of observing the com- 
 mon phenomena of nature, language could convey 
 no meaning ; it would be a series of idle sounds, 
 or mysterious marks, unless, perhaps, so far as 
 it related to the walls of his cell and to his own 
 person, which would, under such circumstances, 
 constitute his world, and furnish up the whole of 
 his immediate knowledge. There would be no 
 more connexion in his mind between the three 
 letters, R, E, D, or their pronunciation, and the 
 colour they represent, than there would be 
 between that colour and the sound of a trumpet, 
 or the scent of a rose. The first years of life are 
 employed in storing the mind with these elemen-
 
 IMPORTANCE OF DIRECT KNOWLEDGE. 115 
 
 tary notions of things and beings, and there can 
 be no mistake more egregious than that which 
 prevails so widely, of supposing that children are 
 being educated when their memories are crammed 
 with words, whilst the objects these words should 
 indicate are totally unknown. The admirable 
 and philosophical system of Pestalozzi, who im- 
 presses the direct knowledge of the object first, 
 and then associates it with its appropriate symbol, 
 is calculated to put an end, however, to the blind 
 and injurious methods hitherto pursued in infant 
 training. The importance of these original and 
 immediate acquisitions cannot be overstated ; 
 every idea thus laid up in the mind becomes the 
 type of the whole class of ideas designated by the 
 same words. The symbol of speech is indisso- 
 lubly linked in the memory with the primary 
 conception of the object to which that symbol 
 refers : they cannot be severed by any exercise of 
 rhetorical art. All that the most graphic verbal 
 description of a landscape can do, for example, is 
 to recall to us the scenery with which we are 
 acquainted from personal observation. " The 
 towering Alps," " the cloud-girdled Cordilleras," 
 or the " snowy Himalaya," are phrases which, 
 unless we have seen the mountains they designate, 
 convey no information to our minds. They 
 simply remind us of the loftiest hills we have 
 
 i 2
 
 116 INTELLECTUAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 looked upon, when we read of smiling valleys, 
 magnificent cascades, dark forests, frowning 
 precipices, rich corn-fields, fruitful vineyards, 
 broad rivers, and all the other materials with 
 which a landscape may be composed in words, 
 if we have ourselves seen objects to which the 
 same names and epithets apply, even though we 
 may have viewed them separately, at different 
 times and in different places. It is possible that 
 something resembling the scene observed by the 
 writer may be presented to our minds by the 
 written description ; but it will not be the same 
 scene, it will be made up of fragments from our 
 own remembrance, which have no connexion 
 with the impressions made upon his mind, except 
 the vague link of similar verbal denomination. 
 If we have never seen anything bearing the 
 names and corresponding with the epithets he 
 uses ; if his words, in short, have not been 
 already associated in our minds with objects and 
 notions, they will convey no idea and have no 
 meaning. His most splendid composition will be 
 merely a mass of verbiage, sounding well, perhaps, 
 but signifying nothing. We shall find it just as 
 impossible to form any conception of what he 
 speaks about as the king of Bantam did to com- 
 prehend the nature of ice and snow, or as the 
 south-sea islander, who had never seen a qua-
 
 VALUE OF IDEAL TYPES. 117 
 
 draped, did to understand the description of an 
 elephant. It is not, however, in descriptive dis- 
 course only that words are but spells to conjure 
 up past impressions ; it is the same in reasoning, 
 persuasion, appeal, and all the varied uses of 
 language, with this difference that as the shades 
 of thought which must be combined, and the 
 emotions which must be awakened, in order to 
 convince, to persuade, or to move, are more deli- 
 cate and variable, so is the power of words over 
 them feebler, since the chances are greater that 
 the precise combinations of thought and feeling, 
 associated in the mind of the speaker with the 
 language he uses, may never have existed in the 
 minds of his hearers ; and that, therefore, his 
 words will want a significant surface to impinge 
 upon, and be merely spoken out into the air, 
 causing no intelligent resonancy. It is manifest, 
 then, that the more extensive we can make our 
 stock of immediate and original knowledge ; that 
 the more numerous and varied are the ideal 
 types with which the mind is stored, the better 
 prepared shall we be to profit by that which is 
 offered to us mediately, either in oral communi- 
 cation or in literature. It is obvious, also, that 
 the more completely the mind is furnished with 
 knowledge thus acquired by direct perception, 
 the more accurate will be the judgment, and the
 
 118 EDUCATION BY INTERCOURSE. 
 
 more difficult will it be to impose upon it by 
 misdescription or misrepresentation. All those 
 impressions derived immediately from the very 
 objects themselves will be so many weights and 
 measures of knowledge stamped and authenti- 
 cated by unerring nature herself tests ready 
 to be applied to all ideas and .notions presented 
 to us from other sources, and to reveal to us their 
 conformity to, or their deviation from, the pure 
 standard of truth. In this respect the unlimited 
 facilities which all classes of the community 
 possess of passing from place to place, and ob- 
 serving manners, customs, occupations, and na- 
 tural phenomena, different from those by which 
 they are ordinarily surrounded, form an educa- 
 tional agency whose value can hardly be over 
 estimated, and the boundaries of whose influence 
 certainly cannot be assigned. 
 
 The healthful operation of intercourse be- 
 tween men, in the correction of opinion and the 
 removal of false notions, whether we call them 
 prejudices or superstitions, has been noticed in our 
 review of the progress of civilisation in our own 
 country. The manner in which these beneficial 
 effects are produced demands a fuller inquiry, on 
 account both of its own importance and of the 
 boundless expansiveness of the agencies now 
 operating in the production of similar effects
 
 BATIONALE OF FALSE NOTIONS. 119 
 
 throughout the world. False opinions, prejudices 
 and superstitions are all mistaken judgments, 
 and are founded upon unsound premises. They 
 are the result of a deficient stock of immediate 
 knowledge of the things to which they refer, 
 which leaves the mind without proper tests of the 
 truth or falsehood of what is offered to it as know- 
 ledge by the malignity or knavery of men. Such 
 notions, which are generally absurd exaggera- 
 tions, cannot resist the touch of actual experience ; 
 they may be preserved by isolation, but the mo- 
 ment their local boundaries are broken down they 
 disappear, as plants, forced in a hot-house to 
 monstrous shape and proportions, return to the 
 natural type of their species, when their artificial 
 shelter is removed, and they feel the unrestrained 
 influence of the climate. 
 
 The man who spends his life within the limits 
 of his own parish, or county, or even within the 
 confines of his native land, must necessarily have 
 restricted and erroneous views of all that lies 
 beyond. The local seclusion in which he has 
 lived, by circumscribing the field of personal 
 observation, and restricting his immediate know- 
 ledge to few and simple objects, inevitably nar- 
 rows the range of his general intelligence, and 
 all the vast world of being, action and science 
 that lies without the borders of this contracted
 
 120 INFLUENCE OF SECLUSION". 
 
 circle, is to him a region of vague mystery, if 
 not of falsehood and delusion. Of all that lan- 
 guage can teach him he is able to interpret, with 
 some approximation to truth, the small portion 
 only which happens to correspond with the ideal 
 types in his mind. To the meaning of the rest 
 he has no key, and no test for either its truth 
 or falsehood. It may be the wildest fiction that 
 ever crossed the brain of madness, he cannot 
 contradict it, he is conscious that there is much 
 with which he is not acquainted, he has no rea- 
 to refuse his assent, his induction of natural phe- 
 nomena and events has been too slender and 
 incomplete to give him a just conception of the 
 laws by which they are governed, and therefore 
 he cannot see that the monstrous fable to which 
 he listens implies the subversion of these laws, 
 and is an impossibility. Within the scope of his 
 immediate intelligence he may be clear-headed, 
 prudent, and perspicacious ; beyond it, he is a 
 child, simple, uninquiring and credulous, ready 
 to receive his principles of faith and morals from 
 his parents, as he does his inheritance, to think 
 of distant things and incidents as his neighbours 
 think, and to believe the lies that are told by 
 every plausible knave who wishes to practise 
 upon him. 
 Now these are different species of authority
 
 CREDULITY, 121 
 
 which dictate his belief, and create his actuating 
 motives. But belief founded upon mere autho- 
 rity, of whatever kind it may be, without reason- 
 able evidence of the reliableness of that autho- 
 rity, becomes, though the things believed may 
 be true in themselves, a nucleus of error and 
 ignorance in the mind of the believer, from the 
 mere fact of his having admitted them without 
 proof or inquiry. Such credence is the com- 
 mencement of an undigested deposit in the mind, 
 which yields no nutriment to the intellect, no 
 purity or elevation to the feelings, but, on the 
 contrary, obstructs the free action of the faculties, 
 and vitiates their functional health. It is, in 
 short, an abandonment of the right which every 
 man possesses, to examine and judge for himself, 
 a voluntary concession of the noblest preroga- 
 tives of his nature into the hands of others, an 
 exchange of independence for slavery. This is 
 that blind credulity which is deepened and con- 
 served by separation and local seclusion. To 
 this must be attributed the prevalence of those 
 absurd notions which once overspread many 
 parts of the country. It is this that has rendered 
 possible the trade of the charlatan, the impostor, 
 and the knavish demagogue, who promise to their 
 dupes, in exchange for money, exemption from 
 natural ills by the muttering of charms, health
 
 122 KNAVERY. 
 
 without the pain of surgery or the nausea of 
 medicine, salvation without righteousness, and 
 golden fortunes without forethought, industry, or 
 desert Had the minds of those who have been 
 the victims of these jugglers been exercised by 
 intercourse with other minds developed under 
 different circumstances ; had there been in those 
 days the opportunities for broader and more 
 direct views of men and nature, openings for the 
 immediate admission of knowledge amongst the 
 mass of the population, such as are made in ours 
 by the agency of steam into the most sequestered 
 corners of the island, the astounding cheats 
 we have noticed could never have obtained credit 
 amongst rational beings, nor human judgment 
 been so disgracefully perverted. The mountebank 
 displays his motley and breathes his flames with 
 the most glaring effect, in the delusive twilight 
 which renders the grave beauty and sober habili- 
 ments of wisdom invisible to the common gaze ; 
 in the broad day they are appreciated, whilst the 
 screaming scaramouch is contemned and laughed 
 at as a thing of shreds and patches. We have 
 seen in our own land the effects produced upon 
 the most cherished delusions, by the extensive 
 and constant intermingling of the people. We 
 have seen their prejudices disappear, their enmi- 
 ties vanish, and their superstitions grow less and
 
 THE LOCOMOTIVE AND THE HORSE. 123 
 
 less powerful in their influence. But if the 
 stage-coach, with its slow movement and feeble 
 capacity, could pierce the shades of popular igno- 
 rance with light sufficient to chase away those 
 cheating illusions, what may we not expect from 
 the universal operation of our present means of 
 intelligent intercourse, which are absolutely un- 
 limited ? We need not now look forward with 
 apprehension to a period when the animal power 
 necessary to the development of human society 
 would itself set bounds to that development, 
 whenever it had been increased to such a degree 
 that it could not be sustained without diminish- 
 ing the sustentation of mankind. The locomo- 
 tive is not like the horse, a competitor with man 
 for the produce of the soil ; it is fed from dif- 
 ferent sources, which, if not absolutely inex- 
 haustible, contain supplies for ages and centuries, 
 and long before they are expended, others will 
 have been discovered. The ocean itself is a 
 vast magazine stored with the very materials best 
 suited to produce and feed the energies of the 
 leviathan power that vanquishes its tides and 
 billows, and traverses its trackless wastes, as it 
 does the iron pathways of the land. The maxi- 
 mum development of this social force is, in fact, 
 beyond conjecture, and its operations are now, 
 even in its infancy, on a scale of such magnitude,
 
 124 EXCURSION TRAINS. 
 
 as our forefathers could not have dreamed to be 
 within the range of possibility. A myriad of 
 human beings are now transported with ease and 
 security from one extremity of the land to the 
 other, in a shorter period of time than it would 
 have cost the solitary horseman of former days 
 to journey through woods and marshes over the 
 space traversed by steam in a single hour. Ex- 
 cursion trains fly from place to place every day 
 laden with their thousands and tens of thousands, 
 not of those who are rich in wealth and leisure, 
 but of the children of toil, whose only wealth 
 is their time ; men whose hands are hardened 
 by the hammer and the file, or whose heads are 
 stih 1 dizzy with the whirl of machinery ; brown 
 men from the fields, dark men from the mines, 
 and pale ones from the garrets and cellars of 
 crowded cities ; small tradesmen from populous 
 places where human necessities have economised 
 space, to the exclusion of light and air ; artisans, 
 servants, labourers, thousands of children from 
 Sunday-schools and day-schools, all that consti- 
 tutes the muscle, sinew and bulk of society, the 
 creators of its power, and its hopes for the future. 
 Nor are these excursions undertaken altogether 
 for profit, as mammon understands the word. 
 The dark and smoky alleys, and mephitic courts, 
 where the art of gold-making chiefly flourishes,
 
 GREAT OBJECT LESSONS. 125 
 
 are deserted for the nonce, and the trains dis- 
 gorge their happy multitudes amidst the loveliest 
 scenery of dear old England, or in the neigh- 
 bourhood of objects most richly fraught with 
 instruction. The parks and castles of our nobi- 
 lity, nay, their gardens, museums, and picture- 
 galleries, are thrown open with splendid libera- 
 lity on these occasions. There, for a time, the 
 humble but intelligent man may breathe an 
 atmosphere redolent with the noblest achieve- 
 ments of his race. Or, if better suited to his 
 taste, there are the national monuments and col- 
 lections, the wide free sea, the emblem and defence 
 of liberty, groves, lakes, and mountains, upon 
 which the weaver may steady his eye, distracted 
 for months by the ceaseless reiteration of the 
 shuttle, and the potter recover his brain from the 
 revolutions of the wheel ; temples and palaces, 
 where the rustic will see the meaning of science 
 and art written in palpable characters. The 
 emporiums of commerce, the fleets that carry the 
 name and renown of Britain to every bay and 
 river, and harbour of the world ; the marvels of 
 mechanism, and the miracles of science, these 
 form the great object lessons which the people 
 are learning. From these the urban masses 
 return to their occupations with enlarged im- 
 pressions and an increased love of nature ; the
 
 126 THE SCHOOLMASTER ABROAD. 
 
 freshness of the fields, the odours of the flowers, 
 and the music of the woods, dwell in their 
 memories and cheer their labours when the 
 objects themselves are withdrawn ; whilst the 
 rural population carry back to their hills and 
 dales new views of life and manners, an acquaint- 
 ance with the triumphs of human art which were 
 before incomprehensible, and a truer estimate of 
 the dignity and capacity of our common nature. 
 The schoolmaster is now abroad in reality ; not 
 the weary student, who is condemned to see his 
 health and life waste away mournfully, neglected 
 and despised by that society whose very foun- 
 dations he builds up ; but a teacher independent 
 of the proud man's contumely, 
 
 " The insolence of office, and the spurns 
 " That patient merit of the unworthy takes;" 
 
 one that rides on the triumphal chariot of 
 human progress, one whose influence must in- 
 crease, and cannot be retarded, for it is knit up 
 and blended with men's expectations in all de- 
 partments of enterprise, and with every engage- 
 ment of life. The transactions of commerce, the 
 search after pleasure, the gratification of affection 
 and friendship, the discharge of duty, the nego- 
 tiations of public policy are all dependent upon 
 the very means which are slowly, it may be, but
 
 ELEVATION OF THE PEOPLE. 127 
 
 surely elevating and illuminating the people. 
 Every train that passes through the land for any 
 of these purposes is a fresh impulse to the intel- 
 ligence of the nation, a moving in the waters, 
 indicating the accession of some new increment 
 of vital and healing power.
 
 128 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Special educational effects. Improvement of public 
 opinion. Exclusiveness of classes and parties : its in- 
 fluence. Character of a consistent party man. Power 
 of accommodation in the mind. Force of habit. Evil 
 consequences of sectional exclusiveness : proved to 
 be dilated selfishness. Evil effects of party upon 
 literature, and therefore on public opinion. Corrective 
 tendency of extensive intercourse. Steam the great 
 master of the ceremonies. Nobleman and tailor. 
 Decrease of repulsive forces. Partisan literature at a 
 discount. A healthier appetite to be fed. A true 
 public spirit : its perceptions : its estimate of the pot- 
 house patriot. Honours true nobility : despises fools. 
 Reaction upon literature will make it loftier and 
 purer. Decline of the obscene press. Impediments 
 to the influence of sound opinion. Mistaken notions 
 concerning capitalists. What capital has performed : 
 what it is. M. Proudhon's audacious fallacy : its 
 correction. Erroneous notions of the power of 
 Government over popular happiness : their evil effects. 
 Increase of political knowledge. The spirit of 
 Government correlative to that of the people. 
 
 WE must not occupy the reader's attention at 
 too great length with general reasoning : it is
 
 EVILS OF PARTY. 129 
 
 sufficient to have pointed out, or rather suggested, 
 as we have done in the preceding chapter, the 
 manner in which our wonderful system of transit 
 and communication is likely to operate upon the 
 popular mind. We shall now endeavour to show, 
 more definitely, some of its special effects, pre- 
 mising that, although this is a deeply interesting 
 phase of our subject, its extent far surpasses the 
 scope of this essay, and therefore we shall not be 
 able to do more than touch some of its more 
 important and prominent points. Our first object 
 will be to show that the intermingling of the 
 people will purify and strengthen public opinion 
 everywhere : it will in time destroy the exclu- 
 siveness of classes, parties, and professions, and 
 thus remove one source of corruption and weak- 
 ness in public opinion. The effect of an entire 
 abandonment of the mind to one set of notions 
 and maxims, in whatever rank of life it takes 
 place, is most pernicious, both to the intellect and 
 morals. It is a voluntary determination to hear 
 nothing, see nothing, believe nothing, except 
 what lies within the small circle with which we 
 circumscribe our faith and judgment. It is an 
 arrogant and foolish presumption, that at the 
 moment we choose our party we have reached 
 the culminating point of human wisdom; that 
 we have nothing more to learn, no further expe- 
 
 K
 
 130 A CONSISTENT PARTISAN. 
 
 rience to acquire, no possible improvement to 
 look forward to. This amounts to a predetermi- 
 nate sacrifice to the present moment of all the 
 remaining years of a man's life, with the instruc- 
 tion they may bring a wilful shutting out of all 
 the future light which science and civilisation 
 may shed upon the world in their progress. It 
 is, in short, a mortgage on his soul without equity 
 of redemption; for the man who gives himself 
 up wholly to a party has no means of recovering 
 his independence without incurring the charge 
 of being a traitor and renegade. It matters not 
 how well he may demonstrate the necessity of 
 the change, how profound his convictions of its 
 righteousness, or how imperative the sense of 
 duty to God and man which compelled him to 
 make it ; there is henceforth, between him and his 
 former associates, no reconciliation ; he is to them 
 an apostate whom it would be wicked to forgive. 
 He has committed the unpardonable sin against 
 his party, and the only mercy they can show him 
 is annihilation. On the other hand, a blind 
 fidelity to the creed of his election, in opposition 
 to the facts of nature and the force of logic, is 
 what constitutes a consistent partisan, and entitles 
 him to all the credit and recompence that can 
 be bestowed upon him by " the party with which 
 he has the honour to act," though there are not
 
 POWER OF ACCOMMODATION. 131 
 
 unfrequently, to such rewards, the awkward 
 addenda of a whole nation's execration, with the 
 contempt and scorn of every enlightened and 
 free-minded man. The effects of this constric- 
 tion and confinement of the mind to a certain 
 range of topics, and to one view of them only, 
 is similar to that produced by local seclusion, 
 except that the latter is generally involuntary, 
 whilst the former is deliberate. The consistent 
 partisan excludes all subjects from his considera- 
 tion, except such as have relation to the object 
 of his party, and ignores ah 1 interests but theirs. 
 At first he may find this somewhat difficult, but 
 it is astonishing how rapidly the mind degene- 
 rates to the level of its constant sphere, and what 
 a factitious importance even small things acquire 
 by continual meditation upon them exclusively. 
 The mind is like the eye in this respect; by 
 fixing it upon one thing steadily, perception is 
 morbidly excited, and the object grows beneath 
 the gaze until it fills the whole field of vision. 
 
 Man is also a creature of habit. Now habit is 
 nothing more than the tendency to perform cer- 
 tain acts, which arises from their frequent repe- 
 tition, so that it is in a man's own power to 
 create what habits he pleases, by determining to 
 repeat the acts he wishes to become habitual, 
 whether mental or corporeal. Hence many who 
 
 K 2
 
 132 SECTIONAL EXCLUSIVENESS. 
 
 have commenced a monotonous pursuit reluc- 
 tantly, have ended with a strong attachment to it, 
 Hence the liar, by repeating continually the 
 fiction of his brain, may bring his own mind 
 at last to regard it as truth. Hence the thick- 
 and-thin partisan, though he may at first feel 
 some natural yearnings after the liberty he has 
 abandoned, soon reconciles his mind to the traces 
 and winkers, suppresses ah 1 longing after green 
 fields, and even begins to take pleasure in the 
 beaten track he is henceforth condemned to 
 travel These remarks apply especially to poli- 
 tical factions and theological sects ; but they are 
 not without force and point in reference to classes 
 of society, as well as to persons trained to the prac- 
 tice of distinct arts and professions. There is in 
 them all a sectional exclusiveness which leads to 
 an undue estimate of their own importance, and 
 an unjust depreciation of others. Like M. Jour- 
 clain's masters, each thinks his own pursuit worthy 
 of the chief place in public estimation, and will 
 listen to nothing which does not help to strengthen 
 that notion. False judgments are formed, and 
 facts often unconsciously misrepresented. Enmi- 
 ties are generated which are bitter in proportion 
 to the unsubstantial character of their causes ; 
 and, worst of all, where any rivalry exists, there 
 is in parties a truculency and animosity which
 
 DILATED SELFISHNESS. 133 
 
 rejects no means of inflicting mutual damage, 
 being unrestrained by individual conscience, and 
 sheltered by a divided responsibility. It must 
 be confessed, also, that party, sectarian and pro- 
 fessional bigotry, as well as that of social classes, 
 partakes largely of the character of dilated selfish- 
 ness. The ambition, the pride, the hopes, and 
 the interests of the man are, he conceives, de- 
 pendent upon the success of his party ; he regards 
 all that concerns it, therefore, with a personal 
 feeling, which the mere sense of duty could never 
 have awakened. This selfish element disposes 
 him to believe, with small inquiry, everything 
 that makes for the advantage of the section in 
 which he is bound up, and all that tends to the 
 disadvantage of rival sections. The malign in- 
 fluence of this disposition, engendered by party 
 associations in the mind, is manifest in the litera- 
 ture of our own day, as well as in that of former 
 times. Each clique and combination of men has 
 its literary organ, whose mission is to flatter their 
 prejudices, exaggerate their excellences, excul- 
 pate their failings, defend their weaknesses, and 
 cover their vices ; to cast odium on all who 
 differ from them; to assail their principles, 
 depreciate their talents, deny their virtues, mag- 
 nify their vices ; to impugn the veracity of all 
 they say, and the wisdom of all they perform ;
 
 134 THE MASTER OP THE CEREMONIES. 
 
 and to do this day after day, without scruple or 
 hesitation, by suppressing or misrepresenting the 
 truth, by open falsehood or guileful inuendo, by 
 all the devices of rhetoric and the cunning of 
 sophistry, decorated with the highest beauty of 
 style, and but too often radiant with unquestion- 
 able genius. There are splendid exceptions to 
 this description of journalism, but to the partisan 
 prints it applies in its full force, and the influence 
 of the press upon'general opinion is, we know, all- 
 powerful. But when so large a portion of it is 
 employed in furnishing tainted and adulterated 
 supplies for the nourishment of that opinion, it 
 must necessarily become corrupt and feeble by 
 the very process of its nutrition. The inter- 
 course of the people will cut up by the roots the 
 distinctions upon which this power of corrupting 
 public feeling and opinion depends. Steam, if 
 not the great leveller, is the great master of the 
 ceremonies, who is daily introducing the various 
 classes and ranks of society to one another, and 
 making them better acquainted in common. It 
 is breaking down the hedges and ditches, and 
 walls and ramparts of exclusivism, and letting 
 in fresh light and wider prospects upon men's 
 minds whether they will or no. 
 
 The nobleman rides in the same carriage with 
 his tailor, and is astonished to find that the sub-
 
 CLASS INTRODUCTIONS. 135 
 
 missiveness of his manner in the shop was, after 
 all, only a professional habit, and not a mark of 
 natural inferiority that he is a well-informed, 
 educated man, who has sufficient ability to make 
 a respectable figure in " another place," if not in 
 " the house " itself ; whilst the tailor perceives 
 that the choking pronunciation of his lordship in 
 the measuring-room, and his lofty inattention to 
 others, is only his professional manner ; and that, 
 though still somewhat stiff, he is in reality an 
 amiable man, and one who, if trained in a proper 
 manner, would have been able to build a coat or 
 design a waistcoat. The same process is going 
 on between all other classes and sections of the 
 community, and with similar results a decrease 
 of their repulsive forces, and a more accurate 
 knowledge of one another. The venal ministry 
 of the literary partisan will become daily less 
 marketable as his exaggerations and falsehoods 
 are detected : he will at length have to cater for 
 a healthier appetite, to prepare for a more impar- 
 tial and discerning circle of readers, and to furnish 
 them with truth, which is the only article that 
 no tests can disvalue. The action and reaction 
 between the general feeling of the community 
 and the press will tend to their mutual improve- 
 ment. The people will forget, in all their divi- 
 sions, the petty feelings and narrow interests of
 
 136 TRUE PUBLIC SPIRIT. 
 
 sects and parties, and true views of the general 
 interests will prevail throughout society. To 
 this the literature of the day will accommodate 
 itself, instead of exhausting its power in sustaining 
 a small combination of the population in a false 
 position, and in recommending their selfishness 
 and prejudice as liberality and wisdom. It will 
 begin to teach lessons of real patriotism, and to 
 cultivate a true public spirit : a spirit consisting 
 not in a bull-headed determination to force our 
 own untried plans upon society, and to scout 
 every other method proposed for its benefit, nor 
 in declarations of contempt or hostility against 
 all classes of the community, except that to which 
 we happen to belong ; but in the sagacious per- 
 ception, and thorough adoption of the principle, 
 that every human being has the power of com- 
 municating some portion of happiness to others, 
 and the capacity of receiving happiness from 
 them ; that we are all dependent upon one 
 another for our well-being, and that he who 
 honourably and truly performs the part, however 
 humble, that falls to him in life, does the most 
 he can to promote the welfare of his fellow-men, 
 as well as to secure his own : a spirit which will 
 estimate at their proper value the professions 
 of the contemptible scoundrel who rants in the 
 pot-house about patriotism and reform, whilst he
 
 POT-HOUSE PATRIOTISM. 137 
 
 is defrauding society of the work he might per- 
 form, and robbing his family of their necessary 
 food to procure the potations that inflame his 
 zeal. The rascal who says, " I want my rights ; 
 give me my rights : only let me have the fran- 
 chise ; that is the remedy for all evils," and, at 
 the same time, abuses the most precious right 
 that man can possess the right of reason and 
 self-control and abandons the natural franchise 
 which enrolled him amongst rational creatures, 
 by descending voluntarily to the condition of the 
 brute ; the ravings of such a fellow, with a loud 
 voice and confident, insolent manner, might, when 
 the knowledge of public interests was a rare pos- 
 session, have obtained some credit in remote 
 places ; but his day is gone by, and there are few 
 now who do not feel that, if he had his rights, 
 they would be the horse-pond or the cart's tail, 
 and that the greatest misfortune that could befall 
 a nation would be a government after such a 
 base heart. 
 
 A spirit that will honour true nobility, not be- 
 cause it is descended from Cedric the Saxon, or 
 Brisefer the Norman, but because its patent is 
 sealed by the hand of nature, and its principles, 
 learning and genius, are worthy of the dignity of 
 its rank, will estimate a fool according to his 
 folly, though the roots of his ancestral tree are
 
 138 IMPROVEMENT OF LITERATURE. 
 
 buried in the depths of antiquity. The vast 
 facilities for observation, and the interchange of 
 thought, which our power of communication 
 affords, will thus not only create the appetite for 
 a higher and purer periodical literature, but also 
 call forth the talent best suited to supply it, and 
 afterwards distribute it in a cleansing flood over 
 the land. The vicious and obscene publications 
 which at present disgrace the press, will prove a 
 losing speculation, and be deserted by their pro- 
 prietors for a more creditable calling ; this is no 
 mere hypothesis, but a fact which is already 
 making itself evident, and is felt by the base 
 men who pander to prurient and disgusting 
 tastes. The proprietors of three of the worst of 
 the cheap prints have become bankrupts, and 
 one of a questionable character, which circulates 
 largely, fell off ten thousand in one week after 
 the publication of an article which was more in- 
 decent than usual. It has been observed that 
 since then its tone is somewhat better than ordi- 
 nary. These are cheering symptoms, and they 
 will increase, until vice is banished from the 
 open haunts of men, and virtue, honour and inte- 
 grity assume a predominant influence over public 
 opinion, and become the gauge and standard of 
 character amongst the people at large. 
 
 The same agencies that are effecting these
 
 BENEFITS OP CAPITAL. 139 
 
 salutary changes in public opinion, will assist in 
 removing some of the most serious impediments 
 to its legitimate operation upon the mass of the 
 population ; we can only glance briefly at one 
 or two of the gravest. A notion has prevailed 
 widely amongst the working classes, that those 
 placed above them in society, and especially the 
 capitalists and owners of property, were their 
 enemies ; nothing can tend more effectually to 
 dispel such a delusion than a personal visit to the 
 different seats of our great manufactures, and 
 an inspection of the wonders which capital has 
 performed, and which never could have existed 
 without it. Let the intelligent artisan, on such a 
 tour, ask himself what has created Manches- 
 ter, Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield, Birmingham, 
 Liverpool, and all the other busy hives that cover 
 the face of the country, and what has found em- 
 ployment for the millions who inhabit them ? and 
 the answer must be, Capital. What has converted 
 forests into navies, rocky strata into mansions, 
 and the clay he treads upon into towns and 
 cities ? still it is. Capital. What has raised the 
 hidden wealth of the soil to the surface, and dug 
 canals, and excavated docks, and built bridges ? 
 what is the power to which he is indebted for his 
 swift transition from place to place ? what the 
 magic which summoned from all corners of the
 
 140 MISCHIEVOUS VISIONARIES. 
 
 land the thousands who pierced those hills with 
 tunnels, and spanned these valleys with arches, 
 and laid down the rails and constructed the pon- 
 derous engines and the costly vehicles in which 
 he rides? and the answer is still the same. 
 Wherever he goes he will discover that it is 
 capital which gives energy to enterprise and 
 excitement to ingenuity, which encourages in- 
 dustry and stimulates genius; that it is the 
 prime source of national prosperity and of indi- 
 vidual comfort ; the concentration of power in 
 the hands of the few, under conditions which com- 
 pel them to use it for the benefit of the many ; 
 clouds formed by the insensible transpiration of 
 minute particles which, by the very law of their 
 nature, must descend again in refreshing and 
 fertilizing showers. La propriete c'est le vol, says 
 audacious and mischievous Proudhon. Yes, if 
 it be robbery to snatch mankind from barbarism 
 and ignorance, from want and crime and inse- 
 curity, and to surround them with the means 
 and appliances of civilisation, property must 
 plead guilty to the charge. But we have little 
 fear that the case will be so viewed by the prac- 
 tical intelligence of England or any other coun- 
 try. MM. Proudhon, Owen, Thore, Fourier, 
 and Icarian Cabet, are somewhat too late in the 
 history of the world for the success of their
 
 POLITICAL ERRORS. 14 1 
 
 schemes. They might have had some chance in 
 the dark times of the illuminati, but the day is 
 now too far advanced, and the motley too plainly 
 visible. Another popular error which has ob- 
 structed the growth of sound public opinion, and 
 vitiated its operations, has been the idea that the 
 Government of the country possesses the power 
 of increasing the prosperity of the people. There 
 is scarcely anything that has engendered more 
 violent passions and heart-burnings of a political 
 kind than this. It has withdrawn men from their 
 ordinary occupations and real interests, arrayed 
 them in deadly hostility against one another, made 
 them stake all their hopes and prospects upon the 
 attainment of imaginary objects, and left them 
 disappointed and exasperated, yet adhering with 
 fatal obstinacy to the original delusion, refusing 
 to attribute its failure to its inherent impossibility, 
 and ready to yield themselves once more to the 
 guidance of the first clever and unprincipled 
 demagogue who flatters them with the fulfilment 
 of their expectations. The light that is every- 
 where breaking in upon the people is fast dissi- 
 pating this erroneous shadow also, and imbuing 
 them with just and capacious views of both the 
 nature of government and the power of law. 
 Many husbandmen and mechanics of the present 
 day understand the philosophy of civil polity
 
 142 POWER OF LAW. 
 
 better than the kings and statesmen of bygone 
 ages. They perceive clearly enough that govern- 
 ments are, in constitution and action, exactly 
 correlative with the spirit of the people whom 
 they rule ; that where the people are petitioning, 
 cringing, and disinclined to help themselves, their 
 rulers will inevitably be tyrannical and exacting ; 
 but that, when the spirit of the people is bold, free, 
 and self-reliant, the government will be wise and 
 moderate. The truth is also becoming known, 
 that the very best laws can do no more than 
 direct men not to damage one another, and pro- 
 tect each in the secure enjoyment of his posses- 
 . sions, and here their action ceases. They can- 
 not communicate the energy, skill and prudence, 
 by which those possessions are created ; these are 
 the natural endowments of the individual, and 
 where they are deficient, governments are power- 
 less. Such are a few of the educational effects 
 in process of accomplishment, by the free con- 
 course of minds which is taking place through 
 the agency of steam, not in our own country 
 alone, but in every other where it is in operation, 
 preparing them separately for a closer union 
 with one another.
 
 143 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 The causes that separate nations are moral as well as 
 material. Illiberal nationality an extension of party 
 spirit. False and true patriotism. National preju- 
 dices a degenerate aftergrowth : inflame hostilities : 
 must vanish before increasing knowledge. France 
 and England ; baseness of the sentiment that they are 
 natural enemies of each other. How it used to be 
 inculcated, and its murderous effects. Frightful cha- 
 racter of the literature of the last continental war. 
 Real causes of that and other wars. Venal talent. A 
 purifying process going on. Causes of the prostitu- 
 tion of talent. International communication : its 
 salutary effects : its amazing progress. The Great 
 Exhibition : its effects upon national prejudices : its 
 greatest lesson. Correction of vulgar errors. In- 
 justice done to the French character, individual and 
 national. Injustice of the French towards England. 
 Daring ignorance of writers on both sides. Ludi- 
 crous mistakes of MM. Cassimir Delavigne, Alexan- 
 der Dumas, and the Baron d'Haussez. Interchange 
 of visits and hospitalities between Paris and London : 
 rendered possible by steam. Historical character of 
 the Great Exhibition. Theological antipathies. 
 True religion must promote union. It is priestcraft 
 that opposes it. The power before which priestcraft 
 must fall. There is a moral stir amongst the most 
 stereotyped races. The Chinese and the gold move- 
 ment. Effects of steam in this movement. 
 
 " GERMANIA omnis a Sarmatis, Dacisque
 
 144 ILLIBERAL, NATIONALITY, 
 
 mutuo metu aut montibus separatur*:" thus 
 Tacitus commences his description of Germany. 
 It is a compendious statement of the barriers 
 which have divided nations from the beginning. 
 They are of two classes ; material, and moral. 
 The material obstructions to the intercourse of 
 even countries the most remote from one an- 
 other, are, as we have seen, in process of re- 
 movaL What are the moral causes of division ? 
 and are they likely to resist the law of approxi- 
 mation ? The prejudices of nations constitute a 
 very powerful repulsion which operates almost 
 universally between them, but it must give way 
 under the influence of the same force which is 
 enlightening and uniting the public mind in 
 each. All that has been said concerning local 
 seclusion and restriction of the mind to the pur- 
 poses of a party, with their power of generating 
 false views, erroneous judgments, enmities, and 
 hostilities, over estimation of self, and unjust 
 depreciation of others, applies with still greater 
 force to a confined and illiberal spirit of nation- 
 ality. Why should men hate and fear one an- 
 other because they dwell in differents parts of 
 the earth ? and why boast with arrogance and 
 insult of the natural advantages they possess, into 
 
 * All Germany is separated from Sarmatia, and Dacia, 
 by mountains or mutual dread.
 
 PATRIOTISM. 145 
 
 which they have fallen unconsciously? The 
 simple fact is, that much of this loud nationality 
 is merely self-gratulation, under thin disguises 
 and equivocal forms. It is sometimes called 
 patriotism, but falsely, if patriotism be anything 
 true, or just, or heroic. The love of a man's 
 country can never consist in nattering the vanity 
 of his fellow-countrymen, in magnifying their 
 virtues into heroism, and covering or excusing 
 their vices. It is not honest or noble, in the man 
 who professes to be the friend and advocate of 
 the people, whether he be called statesman, 
 editor, or stump-orator, to kindle in them an 
 overweening pride by confounding their reason. 
 It makes them conceited, boastful, contemptuous, 
 whilst it adds not one jot to their real merit. It 
 encourages them so highly to overvalue them- 
 selves, that no other people will accept them at 
 their own estimate. The true patriot is he, 
 who teaches his countrymen how they may be- 
 come worthy of genuine praise, to stir them up 
 to a brave emulation with the foremost in the 
 battle and the march of life. We do not say 
 that the glowing memories of infancy and youth 
 will not diffuse a charm over the scenes and 
 associations of a man's nativity, which none 
 other can ever wear : but it is not necessary to 
 the tenderness and beauty of that spell, that his
 
 146 NATIONAL PREJUDICES. 
 
 mind should be filled with dark passions, and 
 hateful prejudices. These are a rank after- 
 growth, when its first, fresh and spontaneous 
 affections have withered. Their seeds are scat- 
 tered by falsehood, and flourish in deceit. 
 
 To such aberrations of feeling may be attri- 
 buted, in many ways, the fierce hostilities which 
 have marshalled nations against nations, and 
 stained the annals of mankind with blood. As 
 the opportunities of acquiring authentic know- 
 ledge increase, as it becomes easier for men to 
 observe and judge for themselves, the less in- 
 clined will they be to adopt without question 
 the hasty or malignant opinions of others, or 
 to yield themselves to the influence of general 
 rumour, which is often as thickly laden with the 
 sporads of error, as the autumn breeze with 
 those of the unsightly and pernicious weeds that 
 deform the landscape. There was a time, it has 
 not yet passed from the memory of the living, 
 when it was sedulously inculcated upon the peo- 
 ple of both France and England, that they were 
 the natural enemies of each other ; when the 
 most brilliant orators and effective writers of 
 both nations lent their best powers to recom- 
 mend this murderous and devilish sentiment a 
 sentiment which, if justice were done, should 
 have been branded on the forehead of every one
 
 LITERATURE OP THE LAST WAR. 147 
 
 who taught it, as an ineffaceable stigma for his 
 treason against humanity. The literature, whether 
 we take the English or French, of the last conti- 
 nental war, is a reeking mass of the most odious 
 calumnies and improbable misrepresentations, an 
 astounding monument of the depravity and folly 
 of man. And yet the unhappy people, who had 
 no other sources of information, believed it all, 
 and allowed themselves to be excited to madness 
 by it, and to be tarred on like wild beasts in the 
 ancient arena, to throttle one another for the 
 gratification of slaves and tyrants ; making what, 
 in many cases, ought to have been a matter of 
 private arrangement between individuals, a 
 question of mortal arbitrament between millions. 
 If the real causes of that and other wars could 
 be stripped of their ostensible character, how 
 weak and miserable and pitiful would they ap- 
 pear, and with what shame would mankind 
 confess their fatal beguilement. The hireling 
 scribes, and purchasable orators, whose business 
 it is to invest the private designs of the ruler, the 
 wishes of the minister, the ambition of the general, 
 or the cupidity of the Government contractor in 
 a public dress, will, however, find the difficulty of 
 their occupation increase, as the means of passing 
 from land to land become more numerous and 
 available. There will be in each country a suffi- 
 
 L 2
 
 148 THE ENGLISH ABROAD. 
 
 cient number of persons possessing a personal 
 knowledge of other countries, to counteract and 
 discredit the false reports of partisan journalists, 
 who write for the gratification of such passions, 
 and expect their reward from that party alone 
 whose purposes they subserve. It is a melancholy 
 thing to see talent so prostituted, and we can 
 only attribute it to that slowness of belief which 
 sometimes characterises men of ability, and their 
 readiness, like Esau, under the pressure of neces- 
 sity, to sell their birthright to a share in the 
 general but future good, for the mess of private 
 and immediate pottage which they can devour 
 alone. 
 
 There is an increasing preference for men and 
 things before words in every civilised country 
 a rational curiosity to observe personally what is 
 going on in other parts of the world, and it 
 grows by what it feeds on. " The grand tour," 
 which, not long since, was looked upon as the 
 last polishing and finish to the education of a gen- 
 tleman, is now the holiday recreation of our 
 clerks and shopmen. The representatives of 
 England in the Champs Elysees and La Guillo- 
 tiere on the Cor so, and the Strada di Toledo on 
 the summit of Etna, and the Grotto del Cano in 
 the square of Saint Mark, and at the gate of the 
 Sun on the Seine, the Rhine, the Elbe, the Po,
 
 THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 149 
 
 and the Danube are not, as formerly, the lonely 
 lord and melancholy marquis, but the busy, prac- 
 tical, observant middle-class, in hundreds and 
 thousands. It is even now a rare thing to meet 
 a man of tolerable education, who has not some 
 acquaintance with continental cities and coun- 
 tries, whilst the strange costumes and bearded 
 faces that throng our own streets show that our 
 country and manners are in their turn the objects 
 of foreign curiosity. In fact, the nations of Eu- 
 rope have, in our day, more intimate personal 
 communication, and more constant intercourse 
 with one another, than existed between the 
 counties of England two hundred years ago. 
 The most signal proof of this was given in the 
 Great Exhibition of last year. How promptly 
 and cordially was the world-wide invitation to a 
 friendly contest in the arts, that enoble and rege- 
 nerate mankind, accepted. How grand and 
 beautiful was the gathering of nations beneath 
 that crystal roof. Who can predict the full 
 glory of the harvest that will yet ripen from the 
 seeds of union there scattered, or the number of 
 absurd prepossessions trodden down in that great 
 meeting of peoples. The tales that formerly 
 circulated freely concerning the inferiority of 
 other countries, will not be so easily credited in 
 future by any who witnessed that wonderful
 
 150 THE GREAT LESSON OF 1851. 
 
 manifestation of their skill and science. The 
 prejudices that were once universal, will not find 
 ready access to the minds of those who traversed 
 these shining aisles in courteous intercourse with 
 the people misrepresented. The great lesson of 
 the industrial congress of 1851, however, is the 
 impression it has left upon the public mind, that 
 there is nothing insuperable to prevent such a 
 system of peaceful intercourse from prevailing 
 universally. 
 
 That the character of different nations presents 
 no essential obstruction to an amicable co-opera- 
 tion in all that is calculated to advance the 
 highest interests of our race, a more just estimate 
 has been formed by each people of the manners 
 and capacity of the others, and their old tradi- 
 tionary errors dissipated. The English labourer, 
 who has visited the Crystal Palace, would look 
 somewhat sheepish if now told, what was once an 
 article of popular faith, that there was an amount 
 of humanity encased in his smock-frock, and 
 marching in his ponderous high-lows, equivalent 
 to three of the handsomely-dressed and clever- 
 looking Frenchmen he stared at, or that they 
 played fiddles and danced incessantly whilst 
 producing the splendid and elaborate articles 
 that excited his wonder. The writers who re- 
 present the French people as a frivolous, fantas-
 
 NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 151 
 
 tical, saltatory race, will be laughed at and 
 disbelieved by the humblest of their readers, 
 who witnessed that demonstration of French 
 capacity for the more important and graver 
 business of life. It may even begin to be under- 
 stood that their gay and cheerful disposition is 
 the natural result of a sunnier climate, and that 
 there is profound wisdom in the observation of 
 their great jurist. " Qu'on donne un esprit de 
 pedanterie a une nation naturellement gaie. L'etat 
 n'y gagnera rien ni pour le dedans, ni pour le 
 dehors. Laissez lui faire les choses frivoles 
 serieusement, et gaiment les choses serieuses." 
 But it has been too long the practice to apply 
 the standard of our own manners to people living 
 under totally different conditions, and to set 
 down all that differs from that rule as wrong 
 and ridiculous. Thus, what we have considered 
 the defects in the character of the French, such 
 as their fondness for amusement, have been 
 exaggerated, whilst the temperance and urbanity 
 that invariably characterise their most joyous 
 assemblies have been unmentioned. Our public 
 writers dwell too much on the blemishes of 
 France, and too little on her excellences. The 
 failings and crimes of her politicians and states- 
 men are published to the world in exaggerated 
 and indignant language, whilst the splendid con-
 
 152 INTERNATIONAL ERRORS. 
 
 tributions she has made to science, and the host 
 of illustrious names she has inscribed on the very 
 foremost banner of human progress, are disin- 
 genuously ignored and forgotten. 
 
 It must be confessed that our neighbours have 
 repaid us in our own coin with interest. If we 
 have attributed to them a universal passion for 
 fiddling and dancing, an addiction to lace, ruffles, 
 and batrachian preparations for the table, they 
 have given us a national propensity to suicide, 
 and a character for boorish selfishness and inso- 
 lence, both being equally violent perversions of 
 truth which could have obtained in a state of 
 mutual ignorance only. It is astonishing what 
 gross errors have been propagated on both sides 
 of the channel by men who, relying on that 
 ignorance as a shelter from detection, have pro- 
 fessed to describe things of which they knew 
 positively nothing. One of the most popular of 
 the French feuilletonists, not many years since, 
 in pretending to pourtray English manners and 
 customs, stated that it was a common and legal 
 transaction amongst us for a nobleman, if his 
 lady displeased him, to take her to Smithfield 
 with a halter round her neck, and sell her in 
 market overt, as he would any other part of his 
 moveable property. Another informs his coun- 
 trymen that it is usual with our popular preachers
 
 BAEON D'HAUSSEZ. 153 
 
 to advertise their sermons as follows : " The 
 
 discourse delivered by the Rev. Mr. at the 
 
 church of St. , on last Sunday, and which 
 
 was received by the faithful with unanimous 
 applause, will be repeated every Sunday evening 
 till further notice." M. Cassimir Delavigne, a 
 member of the Academic, represents the Earl of 
 Derby as a candidate for the office of lord-mayor 
 of London. M. Alexandre Dumas talks of a 
 loving couple who fly from human society to 
 " une petite maison bien simple et bien isolee, 
 une jolie petite fabrique a jalousies vertes avec 
 un jardin plein de fleurs," in Piccadilly, some- 
 where near the Burlington Arcade. Baron 
 d'Haussez, who was minister of marine to 
 Charles X., and accompanied him in his exile at 
 Holyrood Palace, strove to enlighten his coun- 
 trymen as to our manners, by publishing a book 
 which he calls Great Britain in 1833." In this 
 authentic document he represents the English 
 nobility as passionately addicted to cock-fighting, 
 and states that they season the enjoyment of that 
 refined pastime with stamping, swearing, and 
 quarrelling ; that sometimes an individual peer 
 will become so obstreperous and pugnacious as 
 to threaten the interruption of the sport, when 
 the rest throw themselves upon him, and force 
 him into a basket, which is immediately run up
 
 154 PAEIS AND LONDON. 
 
 to the ceiling of the cock-pit with cords and 
 pullies. 'The game then proceeds ; the hereditary 
 legislator, who had forgotten himself, looking 
 down grimly and helplessly, until his passion has 
 cooled down to par, and it becomes safe to release 
 him. The veracious baron states, in another 
 place, " that, at an English dinner-party, when a 
 dish is laid upon the table, all the guests attack 
 it at once, each man caring for himself, and no 
 one for his neighbour." This book was exten- 
 sively read in the legitimate salons of Paris nine- 
 teen years ago. The Baron d'Haussez is now 
 laughed at by every intelligent man in France ; 
 since then, and especially within the last few 
 years, the exchange of real knowledge between 
 the two nations has been constantly augmenting, 
 not only by the transit of individuals from the 
 one to the other, but by the visits of vast bodies 
 of the people, and the interchange of magnificent 
 hospitalities. Thousands of the national guard, 
 and other French citizens, have visited us, and 
 mingled with the population of our colossal city. 
 Our own lord-mayor, with his loving aldermen, 
 and the pride of London's municipality, with 
 their families and friends, have been feted by the 
 Parisian authorities, from which it is to be hoped 
 they have both left and brought away improved 
 impressions.
 
 RELIGIOUS DISTINCTIONS. 155 
 
 Since the publication of " Great Britain in 
 1833 " the railroad system has sprung into exist- 
 ence, and Paris has been brought within eleven 
 hours of London, whilst daily excursion trains 
 render the passage easier, cheaper, and less 
 hazardous than was that from London to Margate 
 at the mouth of the Thames before the age of 
 steam. In short, wherever we look, we see the 
 affinities of human nature drawing men together 
 in spite of national prejudices and preventions. 
 The concourse in Hyde Park was but the first 
 Panethnon of the world the formal and visible 
 beginning of a union which nothing can prevent 
 the solemn inauguration of the era of peace and 
 brotherhood the commencement of the manhood 
 of our species. It was a great thought, and it 
 will be regarded in the times to come as the first 
 distinct and unequivocal streak in the dawning 
 of that brighter day which is breaking upon the 
 destinies of our race. 
 
 We have said that nothing can prevent the 
 union of mankind into one family ; but it may 
 be thought that religious distinctions are an 
 exception; that they will resist the attractive 
 power which would otherwise bring men toge- 
 ther, and, in despite of all material agencies, and 
 the strong charm of association, with its manifold 
 benefits, continue to keep the world in a state of
 
 156 PRIESTCRAFT. 
 
 permanent division and alienation. We do not 
 think so. There is nothing in the essential 
 character of religion, itself being the judge, to 
 warrant such a supposition. The fundamental 
 doctrines of the Christian religion, which is that 
 of the dominant portion of mankind, expressly 
 tend to unity, and profess to cultivate the moral 
 qualities and affections, which are its cement. It 
 is impossible, therefore, that it can obstruct the 
 practical consummation of its own theory. There 
 is nothing, then, in the essence of true religion 
 to distract or separate ; but the lust of wealth 
 and dominion has, in many instances, taken ad- 
 vantage of the ignorance and darkness of the 
 human mind, and contrived to turn the religious 
 sentiment in man to its own purposes. Hence 
 we find that sentiment surrounded with a multi- 
 tude of accessory feelings and passions with winch 
 it has no natural connection, and the truth after 
 which it aspires invested with formula through 
 which it cannot penetrate. All these are mere 
 human devices, the subleties by which priestcraft 
 studies to confuse and darken the intellect, to 
 etiolate and enfeeble the mind, until mankind 
 lies prostrate at its feet. These will doubtless, 
 for a time, exercise an obstructive influence, in 
 opposition to the commingling of races and the 
 blending of interests ; but they must give way,
 
 POWER OF EMANCIPATION. 157 
 
 finally, before a nobler conception of the divine 
 attributes and a juster appreciation of human 
 nature, like earth-born fogs which obscure the 
 level sun, but are dissipated as it rises. The 
 agencies which will emancipate man from priestly 
 bondage, and assert his moral equality with his 
 fellow-men, which will enable him to stand free 
 in their midst, and erect before his Maker, are 
 the same that have already broken the spell of 
 old superstitions and banished its quaint phantoms 
 from the world. They consist in every conscious 
 movement of society, everything that developes 
 the intellect and excites it to freedom and inde- 
 pendency of action, every true thought exchanged 
 amongst men, and everything that assists them, 
 even in the feeblest measure, to advance in the 
 knowledge of themselves. It may take ages to 
 abolish the walls of partition which priestcraft 
 has erected between men; but the process is 
 going on before our eyes, and the sappers of 
 these strong foundations are stronger than they, 
 consisting in the very desires and necessities of 
 our nature. For the first time in the history of 
 the world, the demonstrable and practicable have 
 been brought into direct and general collision 
 with the visionary and impossible, the actual, 
 real good which man may obtain, and the suffer- 
 ings of which he is conscious, with the vague
 
 158 THE CHINESE AND THE DIGGINGS. 
 
 promises of priestcraft and its impotent threaten- 
 ings. The effect must be to strip the priest of 
 his presumptuous and false character, and to 
 destroy the belief in his pretended power, whilst 
 the wisdom and goodness of the Creator will be 
 more immediately felt and more intelligently 
 worshipped. Already there is a moral stir and 
 commotion amongst the most stereotyped and 
 inaccessible sections of the human family. Even 
 the Chinese have felt it. Myriads of them, 
 breaking through the strong traditions of their 
 nation, and the prohibitions of their faith, have 
 gone in search of gold to California and Austra- 
 lia the desire of wealth, or it may be the suffer- 
 ings of poverty, and the necessity of food, has 
 proved stronger than the authority of Fo or 
 Confucius. Many of them will return with truer 
 notions of distant countries, and swell the impulse 
 which will at last explode the shell that surrounds 
 the flowery land. 
 
 We have here a striking result of extensive 
 intercommunication. In earlier times, when 
 Busbequius, and Sir John Mandeville, and 
 Marco-Polo were the only expositors of foreign 
 wonders, the discovery of the precious metal in 
 regions so remote would have remained a secret 
 in the breast of the discoverer and died with him. 
 Now the intelligence spreads through all nations
 
 PROCESS OF SOLUTION. 159 
 
 with the certainty of steam and the swiftness of 
 lightning, and all are moved by it in various 
 ways simultaneously. The gold movement ex- 
 emplifies the process by which the most rigid 
 national exclusiveness will be dissolved, and an 
 entrance effected through the thickest and oldest 
 barriers of priestly and despotic power for new 
 ideas and principles. This is all we propose to 
 say upon the causes, whether moral or material, 
 which divide mankind and resist their tendencies 
 to union. It is enough to prove that, although 
 that union may be retarded, it cannot be finally 
 prevented ; and now we address ourselves to 
 some of the effects and incidents which will 
 accompany its progress, and arise from the causes 
 by which it is promoted.
 
 160 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Development of natural resources of all lands. Addi- 
 tions to social happiness. Artificial wants an index 
 of civilisation. Specious fallacy of the ascetic prin- 
 ciple, that the fewest wants make the happiest man. 
 Effects that would follow the general adoption of this 
 maxim : its effects in Ireland. Irish misery assigned 
 to various causes : it must result from mental prostra- 
 tion : whilst that continues, legislation and philan- 
 thropy will be in vain. Irish prostration not attri- 
 butable to idiosyncracy of race. The Irish in America : 
 their strong natural affection. Character of the 
 Celtic exodus. Proof of the value of means of transit. 
 Comparison of the skilled artisans of England who 
 are not ascetics : their general character ; value, and 
 condition : their influence. Luxury as an element of 
 civilisation. Influence of civilised wants upon the 
 natural productiveness and industry of the earth. 
 More equal distribution of our race. Extension of 
 man's dominion. Elevation of the species. Compa- 
 rison of the ascetic and natural systems. Purpose of 
 this Essay. The law of progress ; happiness must be 
 laboured for. Latent sources and capacities of happi- 
 ness. Peaceful rivalry of nations. 
 
 THE natural resources of all lands will be 
 developed by a universal system of communica-
 
 THE INDEX OF CIVILISATION. 161 
 
 tion, and important additions made to social 
 happiness. The progress of civilisation is inva- 
 riably marked by an increase of physical as well 
 as of intellectual enjoyments. The number of 
 artificial wants amongst a people, and the esti- 
 mate they form of what constitutes comfort, are 
 the infallible measure of their advance from 
 barbarism. There are many, we know, who 
 hold contrary opinions, and maintain that the 
 highest condition of human wisdom and happiness 
 is where a man has succeeded in contracting his 
 desires within the narrowest space, and in re- 
 ducing his wants to the lowest number. This 
 looks very philosophical, and will sustain con- 
 siderable declamation about independency of 
 changing fortune and security from disappoint- 
 ment ; but we shah 1 see that it is a monstrous 
 error, which will not bear the momentary touch 
 of reason or experience ; that, if universally 
 adopted in practice, it would extinguish science, 
 destroy all the arts by starvation, put an end to 
 commerce, and erase every vestige of civilisation 
 from the face of the earth. It would cut down 
 the human race more rapidly and fatally than 
 wars and pestilence ; it would turn the populous 
 cities of earth into deserted ruins, and its fruitful 
 fields into howling wildernesses, where a few 
 wandering savages would contend with birds and 
 
 M
 
 162 THE IKISH DIFFICULTY. 
 
 beasts for the precarious supplies of the stream 
 and the scanty fruits of the forest. The wild 
 man of Australia, whose wants extend no farther 
 than a piece of raw kangaroo and a palm leaf, 
 must be the beau ideal of such felicity ; and yet 
 he is not happy ; on the contrary, he is miserable 
 and degraded : he is sunk in sloth, and spends 
 his life in alternations of gluttony and starvation, 
 whilst the immortal mind within him has shrunk 
 and withered to a mere brutal instinct. 
 
 This philosophy of fewest wants is the grand 
 difficulty which meets the legislator and philan- 
 thropist in Ireland upon the very threshold and 
 beginning of their labours. All efforts to impress 
 upon the Irish peasant the advantages of a neat, 
 comfortable dwelling, and the pleasures of clean- 
 liness, all endeavours to show him how he might 
 obtain a better supply from the soil, both for his 
 table and his back, all the anxiety of Govern- 
 ment to give him good laws, must be in vain, 
 so long as he remains in that state of philosophical 
 contentment which requires the least for the 
 supply of its wants. He is content to live in a 
 mud hovel, which he builds himself, and to share 
 its accommodation with his pig. He is content 
 to live in a state of typhus-breeding squalor, to 
 wrap himself in rags, to sleep upon straw, and to 
 eat nothing but the squashy potato he grows
 
 INDEPENDENCE OF POVERTY. 163 
 
 himself. He has arrived at that state of miserable 
 isolation which almost destroys the bonds of 
 human society. He looks for nothing from . 
 others, and they expect nothing from him. He 
 has lost the power of either receiving or con- 
 ferring happiness. This may be independence ; 
 but, if it be, it is only that which springs from 
 the doleful prostration of all that constitutes the 
 glory of man an independence amounting simply 
 to separation, such independence as death bestows 
 upon the parts of the animated frame, by dis- 
 solving their vital union, and permitting each to 
 rest alone in the earth silent and motionless. A 
 condition like his excites none of the higher 
 yearnings of our nature, stimulates to activity 
 none of the nobler inventive faculties ; it requires 
 little more for its fulfilment than mere animal 
 instinct, and therefore allows the reasoning intel- 
 lect to dwindle and decay by inanition, whilst 
 the passions of humanity only add malicious 
 cunning to brutal rage. 
 
 It is a law of nature that she never puts forth 
 more power than the occasions on which it is 
 exercised require. Hence the mind of the Celtic 
 peasant conforms to his physical circumstances. 
 The little mental effort required by his few 
 wretched occupations scarcely stirs the intellect, 
 and consequently it has sunk into a state of help- 
 in 2
 
 164 CAUSES ASSIGNED FOE THE 
 
 less and hopeless lethargy. This mournful pros- 
 tration of our Irish fellow-countrymen has been 
 ascribed to a variety of causes. A long course 
 of misgovernment, which for ages proscribed the 
 Irish people, repressed their industry, and set a 
 stigma upon their name ; a proprietary alien in 
 feelings, interests, connexions, and faith, who 
 have for many generations vexed the cultivators 
 of the soil with the most grinding and heartless 
 tyranny ; or a priesthood animated with a double 
 portion of the priestly spirit, into whose arms 
 the population have rushed from the horrible 
 secular oppression to which they were exposed, 
 and who use the power thus acquired in despe- 
 rate antagonism against everything calculated to 
 enlighten and elevate the people, conscious that, 
 as they are raised, the priestly authority must 
 decline. These are the causes assigned, accord- 
 ing to the different views taken of the subject; 
 whether any or ah 1 of them are true, it is not for 
 us to decide ; we have to deal with the melan- 
 choly fact only, that the peasantry of Ireland 
 have been reduced, by some cause or causes, to 
 a state of the lowest degradation ; that some 
 unusually fatal influences have concurred to 
 bring them low and to keep them down. 
 
 We say unusually fatal ; the common disas- 
 ters to which a conquered people are subject
 
 PROSTRATION OF IRELAND. 165 
 
 could never have produced the helpless coma 
 that afflicts the sister-island; there is an elas- 
 ticity in the human mind that resists all mere 
 external pressure, and often rises up more 
 vigorous from the weight laid upon it. To sub- 
 due it to the condition in which we see it in 
 Ireland, a corroding power must operate within 
 the mind itself, weakening the springs of its 
 activity and blunting its moral feelings. This 
 power, whether priestly or secular, is the real 
 cause of Irish misery, and, so long as it cleaves 
 to the soil, it will nullify every effort for the 
 improvement of the country. The people will 
 never recover from their abasement ; they will 
 remain without energy or enterprise, benumbed 
 by a dead apathy, in the very blaze and warmth 
 of civilisation, without any rightly founded hopes 
 or rational ambition ; the ready dupes of every 
 knave and impostor who flatters their absurd 
 expectations, and, though a thousand times de- 
 ceived, ever willing to be deceived again, grasping 
 fiercely at shadows and neglecting the substance, 
 struggling for the possession of a dream and 
 casting away the reality the natural cement 
 of society, the power of administering to human 
 wants, and the very wants to be administered to. 
 The common dependency of man upon man will 
 not even begin to exist The legislator arid
 
 166 THE IRISH IN AMERICA. 
 
 philanthropist may lay down their plans for the 
 regeneration of Ireland with consummate skill 
 and large benevolence, but they will have no 
 practicable foundation to build upon, no materials 
 to embody their designs. Their efforts must 
 end on paper, like those of an architect who, 
 having designed a beautiful edifice, finds that 
 the only material offered, to him for its erection 
 is a mass of sand, which has neither stability nor 
 cohesion, and whose particles are isolated from 
 one another, though in mechanical contiguity. 
 
 That the defects in the Irish character are 
 attributable to local and, let us hope, transitory 
 influences, not to an idiosyncracy of race, as 
 some would compendiously account for it, is 
 very manifest. Look at the change that takes 
 place in them when they leave their own coun- 
 try and emerge into freedom from the deadly 
 influences that cling round their nativity. A 
 great proportion of the most influential and pros- 
 perous citizens of the United States are of Irish 
 birth or extraction. The immigrants from Ire- 
 land, who arrive there in thousands every year, 
 soon feel the genial influence of that liberty of 
 thought, action and belief which pervades Ame- 
 rican society ; they throw off, as if by magic, 
 their squalid habits and cringing dependency. 
 They become a hard-working and prudent peo-
 
 THEIR STRONG AFFECTION. 167 
 
 pie, characterised by great economy and fore- 
 thought. Above all, they are endowed with the 
 strongest natural affection ; for the gratification 
 of filial, fraternal, or parental love, they exhibit 
 the most extraordinary and self-sacrificing devo- 
 tion. During the present year the poor crea- 
 tures who have fled from famine and degradation 
 to the new world, have transmitted to their rela- 
 tives in Ireland, for the purpose of enabling them 
 to emigrate, the almost incredible amount of one 
 million sterling, in sums varying from five to 
 twenty pounds. A people capable of such des- 
 perate fidelity to the purest and brightest instincts 
 of our nature, must have in them something very 
 noble and heroic ; and the natural causes which 
 have given rise to the present vast emigration 
 from the Irish shores must be regarded as a mer- 
 ciful interposition of Providence, for the salvation 
 of a race which was tending to extinction in 
 spite of all the wisdom of men. Here, also, we 
 see the infinite value of abundant means of transit 
 and communication, in improving the condition 
 of mankind ; they have enabled the Celtic peasant 
 to exchange the most abject misery for comfort 
 and plenty, a state of suffering and degradation, 
 and paralytic indolence, for one of comparative 
 happiness, respectability, and active industry, 
 healthful alike to body and soul.
 
 168 ENGLISH ARTISANS. 
 
 Let us turn, however, from the sad illustration 
 of the ascetic philosophy which the Irish people 
 have furnished, and consider the condition of the 
 great mass of the English, amongst whom the 
 happiness arising from the fewest wants is neither 
 believed in nor desired. Take the skilled arti- 
 sans of England : as a body they are manly, self- 
 reliant and independent, conscious that their in- 
 tellectual power and manual skill are respectable, 
 they respect themselves, and understand the force 
 of duty, as well as the attractions of pleasure. 
 With the exceptions that occur to every rule, 
 they are sober and religious, they avoid the 
 maddening and brutal indulgences of the tavern, 
 and seek their enjoyments in the library, the 
 lecture-room, or at their own fire-sides in the 
 bosom of their families. A man of this descrip- 
 tion is an ornament to his country, a portion of 
 her most precious wealth, and a benefactor to 
 his species : nor is he unrecompensed. He com- 
 mands his portion of the world's good more 
 eaisily and certainly than the mail-clad baron or 
 warlike monarch of old; he helps to stimulate 
 the industry and to elevate the character of man- 
 kind, and in return every region of the earth 
 contributes to his enjoyment. He is surrounded 
 with comforts, and there is not one of them for 
 which he has not paid, out of his bravely won
 
 THE ARISTOCRACY. 169 
 
 stipend, to the wages of workmen like himself, 
 and to the interest of the capitalist, who sets 
 them in motion. 
 
 Ascend higher in the social scale, and see if even 
 what we call luxury is not a positive element 
 of beneficence and progress. Take one of the 
 mansions of the aristocracy. It is a compendium 
 of the products of the world and of the genius 
 and enterprise of man ; myriads of our own 
 countrymen have been employed in constructing 
 and furnishing it ; a hundred thousand persons 
 probably have each done something in the various 
 processes by which the result has been effected, 
 and each derived some profit from the employ- 
 ment. The raw materials have been fetched 
 from all parts of our own land, and from the 
 forests and mines of regions the most distant. 
 The daily supplies required for the household, 
 and the dress and ornaments of their persons, 
 contribute to the activity and profit of multitudes 
 at home, and exercise a beneficial influence upon 
 the remotest corners of the world : and let us 
 remember that the habitual enjoyment of these 
 things grows by degrees into an absolute neces- 
 sity, creating for them a continued demand and 
 permanent market. Further, it is a fixed prin- 
 ple of political economy that the demand creates 
 the supply ; therefore, when the requisitions of
 
 170 MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 a high state of civilisation have, as at present, 
 the power of making themselves felt universally, 
 they must tend inevitably to awaken the ener- 
 gies, and to stimulate the invention, skill, and 
 industry of all countries which have the natural 
 ability to administer to them. The animal, 
 vegetable and mineral resources peculiar to dif- 
 ferent parts of the world will no longer remain 
 profitless in the hands of their inhabitants. The 
 tidings will reach them in various ways, that 
 those creatures and things, which they had for 
 ages passed by with contempt as useless to 
 themselves, or regarded as absolutely injurious, 
 may be exchanged for the most precious commo- 
 dities of other lands, and the unlimited power of 
 transport will offer itself for their conveyance 
 to the destined market; new mines of wealth 
 will be discovered, strange animals will be ren- 
 dered serviceable to man, rare and beautiful 
 plants will be cultivated both for food and orna- 
 ment. The capacity of all soils will be tested, 
 and nature herself assisted in bringing her 
 richest productions to a maturity hitherto unat- 
 tained. This process will not be stayed by the 
 limits of man's present dominion over the earth. 
 It will enlarge his domain, our race will be more 
 equally distributed throughout the world. When 
 the agencies of transport are universal, men will
 
 EXTENSION OF MAN'S DOMINION. 171 
 
 no longer consent to be crowded together in 
 towns and cities, whilst the pure air and joyous 
 landscape are easily accessible, nor to jostle one 
 another in millions within the confines of narrow 
 islands and territories, snatching the bread from 
 one another's mouths, whilst in other lands, and 
 beneath skies as serene, the rich bounty of na- 
 ture ripens and decays untouched by man. The 
 fruitful continent of Australia, sufficient in itself 
 to sustain the whole population of Europe, will 
 in time be traversed with rail-roads. The vast 
 though hitherto impenetrable regions of Africa 
 will be opened by the same mighty agency. 
 The broad Savannahs, and measureless Steppes 
 of America, will be brought within the scope of 
 human industry, and the wild-horse and buf- 
 falo which now roam over them in undisturbed 
 possession, be yolked to the plough. The half- 
 peopled regions of the north and east, the beau- 
 tiful but desolate islands of the Indian Sea, will 
 be made accessible to the enterprise of mankind ; 
 an amount of territory fifty times greater than 
 what man now inhabits and cultivates, still lies 
 unwrought and unpossessed upon the surface of 
 the globe ; it will one day furnish its full tribute 
 to the necessities of our species. 
 
 Nor will the course of development cease with 
 the physical and material. It will affect the
 
 172 INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 minds also of the people whom it embraces in its 
 operations. An increasingly steady intercourse 
 will be established between the most advanced 
 sections of mankind, and the most barbarous 
 tribes : if the latter find a market for the raw 
 productions of their fields and woods, it must be 
 by accepting in return the results of high skill ; 
 and every article of this kind that makes its way 
 into a barbarous community, will carry with it a 
 savour, however slight, of the civilisation from 
 which it sprung ; it will shine with a faint light 
 even in the most savage gloom, and prove an 
 incitement, however weak, to the deepest intel- 
 lectual apathy. We cannot read of the clamor- 
 ous and childish curiosity with which the untu- 
 tored savages of distant lands crowd round the 
 sailor who exhibits to them some of the meanest 
 articles in use amongst a polished people, with- 
 out feeling that that very curiosity, which indi- 
 cates their wildness and ignorance, is itself a 
 proof of the strong interest which man every- 
 where and under ah 1 conditions takes in man ; of 
 the power of mind to impress its marvellous 
 influence upon inert matter, and thus convey that 
 influence to other minds. It is not the mere 
 novelty of the object that excites the curiosity of 
 the savage, so much as the manifest indications 
 it presents of having occupied the attention and
 
 AMONGST BARBAROUS TRIBES. 173 
 
 labours of his fellow-man. He sees the marks 
 of design upon it, the unmistakable tokens of 
 thought., and, however rude and confused his 
 notions of what the intent or uses of the object 
 may be, he does involuntary homage to the intel- 
 ligence that produced it, and feels unconsciously 
 the dignity of the race to which he belongs. 
 The single impulse is slight : we have purposely 
 chosen the lowest example ; but, when repeated 
 indefinitely, and followed by millions of others 
 more powerful, and repeated in like manner, 
 when these are accompanied and succeeded by 
 the force of example, the warmth and tight 
 elicited by collision with cultivated minds, by the 
 power of reason, by direct tuition and persuasion, 
 and, finally, when glimpses of the treasures of 
 literature are from time to time afforded, and 
 their value begins to be appreciated when this 
 process goes forward, not for any given period, 
 but extends over generations, and, if needs be, 
 centuries, we cannot doubt that its ultimate 
 effect will be to raise every portion of mankind 
 to the highest degree of civilised advancement 
 they can attain. 
 
 The hope of such a consummation as this must 
 be founded on a faith very different from that of 
 the ascetic philosophers. Theirs is a system of 
 selfishness, pride, idleness, separation, and degra-
 
 174 OBJECT OF THIS WORK, 
 
 dation. We commit ourselves to a system which 
 finds its highest satisfaction in the common happi- 
 ness, which regards all men as equal in dignity, 
 and exalts labour, whether of mind or body, to 
 the highest place of honour, which seeks its hap- 
 piness in union, and is calculated to develope 
 human nature to its utmost perfection ; and in 
 doing so we merely follow the course which nature 
 herself is manifestly taking. We propound no 
 theory, offer no plan to our fellow-men, the adop- 
 tion of which would require the previous abandon- 
 ment of their established customs and practices ; 
 we are content to follow the current of events, and 
 to indicate the direction in which that current is 
 flowing. But to what purpose ? Cui bono ? a 
 great purpose, a sublime and beneficent purpose, 
 could we but accomplish it even in the smallest 
 part, that men may learn to employ their energies 
 aright, and not, with infinite damage to them- 
 selves and to their fellow-creatures, endeavour to 
 swim against the stream, and for the effectuation 
 of systems and plans which have originated in 
 their own imperfect view of things attempt, 
 with whatever power they have, and whatever 
 fear they can excite, to force all mankind into 
 their adoption. 
 
 The adjustment of social forces, not their 
 creation, is the business of the legist and philan-
 
 LAW OF HUMAN HAPPINESS. 175 
 
 tliropist. The man who comes with a scheme 
 concocted in his own brain for the regulation of 
 his species, and founded upon his individual 
 estimate of the world, and ah 1 things, moral and 
 physical, that are therein, is merely a conceited 
 empiric who imagines that he knows more than 
 all other men, and that they ought not to be 
 trusted with the liberty of moving or acting 
 unless as he permits. The efforts of such persons 
 may retard, but they cannot prevent, the march 
 of events. The law by which the Creator governs 
 all human activities is written with his own finger 
 upon the very foundations of our nature, so 
 plainly that we can read it even without the 
 light of revelation, and its force is, as we have 
 seen, in direct antagonism with artificial systems. 
 The Roman poet expressed that law in the motto 
 prefixed to these pages. The reign of universal 
 peace and happiness cannot be brought about 
 without effort. There is no royal road to it 
 paved with edicts and constitutions ; it must be 
 the work of man in his individual capacity, and 
 in his strivings for it there are strength and 
 reward. The intellect is sharpened with cares 
 and difficulties, but the sharpness and efficiency 
 of the powers constitute in themselves an un- 
 limited source of enjoyment which amply recom- 
 penses the labour by which they are obtained.
 
 176 LATENT SUSCEPTIBILITIES. 
 
 A thousand capacities for wise and rational hap- 
 piness lie latent in our nature, and can only be 
 stimulated into vital action by the objects created 
 for their gratification. The powers of vision 
 would have lain dormant for ever without light, 
 and those of hearing without sound, and so it is 
 with all the organs of sense and the susceptibili- 
 ties of the soul ; but he who implanted them has 
 also stored the universe with objects appropriate 
 for them, not merely the old and familiar, but 
 with multitudinous combinations and new forms, 
 which are daily rising into existence, and adding 
 the charm of novelty to their inherent and simple 
 power of pleasing. 
 
 It is obvious that the ever-extending inter- 
 course of nation with nation, and man with man, 
 must have the effect of ascertaining more and 
 more the nature of the riches with which the 
 earth is stored, and of giving human necessity 
 a commanding power over them, of combining 
 the interests of all nations, and so implicating 
 and interweaving them that no part can be dis- 
 turbed or damaged without deranging the whole, 
 as in a well-ordered family. The different mem- 
 bers may have their individual peculiarities and 
 endowments ; but yet each in his place, and to 
 the degree of his ability, contributes to the well- 
 being of the whole household, and, in doing so,
 
 PEACEFUL RIVALRY. 177 
 
 feels conscious that lie can do nothing better for 
 himself. Thus combined in their social in- 
 terests, the rivalry of nations for the highest 
 place in one another's confidence must result in 
 the moral and intellectual elevation of our race, 
 and the lofty development of all the inventive, 
 executive, and administrative faculties of man.
 
 178 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 War must cease by the blending of human interests. 
 Character of war. " Ultima ratio regum." The vir- 
 tues educed by war inferior to those of peace. The 
 conquests of war and of peace : their principles. 
 Wars have been generally prompted by the passions 
 of tyrants. Examples. Small number who have 
 acquired renown in war. Monstrous deceptions of 
 war. Even selfishness will rise up against it. Falla- 
 cious views of war as a distributor of intelligence : 
 its lawlessness ; uselessness : its objective stupidity : 
 its subjective folly. Monstrous armaments of Europe. 
 Despots, soldiers, diplomatists, priests : their occu- 
 pation declining : hopelessness of their struggles : 
 silent resolution of their questions. The essence of 
 all worship and faith. 
 
 A CONDITION like that which we have been 
 describing implies peace, that men have forsaken 
 the doctrines of mere brute violence, and have 
 betaken themselves to the not less powerful, 
 though infinitely nobler, methods of preserving 
 and benefitting themselves by humanity and 
 reason. The blending of the interests of man- 
 kind, and the multiplied relation and dependencies
 
 CHARACTER OF WAR. 179 
 
 to which it will give rise, will put a final end to 
 war. War is a rude, brutal, and inglorious 
 system, and those who say it is the natural con- 
 dition of man are a disgrace to the immortal 
 nature they pretend to expound. It has been 
 called the " ultima ratio regum " the final argu- 
 ment of kings. Yes, too long it has been not 
 only their final, but their sole argument, in the 
 season of darkness, when goblin superstition 
 joined with hood-winked despotism to carry out 
 their night-mare dreams in the face of nature's 
 living truths and realities : but the day has 
 dawned; the sleeper is arousing himself; the 
 spectres and apparitions that frightened his slum- 
 bers have vanished, or are vanishing away. The 
 hour is coming, hastening with the momentum of 
 ages, when the "ultima ratio regum" the argu- 
 ment of murder, rapine, famine and pestilence, 
 shall be banished from amongst men consigned 
 to the chamber of horrors, in which history 
 preserves the memorials of crime, and mentioned 
 in low whispers with tears and mourning and 
 shame, as the most fearful and damnable example 
 of human depravity the most ignoble and un- 
 godlike of all man's aberrations from truth and 
 
 O 
 
 justice. The railway signal is the knell of war, 
 the anticipative requiem of that military thing so 
 monstrously miscalled glory. 
 
 N 2
 
 180 HEROISMS OF PEACE. 
 
 That great devotion and magnanimity have 
 been educed by war is unquestionable, but that 
 fact ought only to increase our horror of a system 
 which has perverted the noblest attributes of 
 our nature to purposes so vile and pernicious. 
 There are opportunities in ordinary and peaceful 
 life for the exercise of a higher and more sus- 
 tained heroism than ever yet displayed itself on 
 the field of slaughter. The life-long struggle 
 with poverty and pain, without one cheering 
 word to encourage, much less to applaud, the 
 straggler who yet nobly maintains his integrity 
 unaided and alone the daily fight with tempta- 
 tion the strong disinterestedness of affection 
 which devotes itself with more than Roman forti- 
 tude for the welfare of others the voluntary 
 relinquishment of the opportunity of inflicting 
 merited vengeance on a prostrate enemy the 
 stern subjugation of our own passions to the laws 
 of reason and equity all these are heroisms of 
 purer and loftier origin than that of the most 
 successful warrior; but no trumpet announces 
 them. The attention of mankind is not attracted 
 to them by flaunting banners or glittering deco- 
 rations ; they do not utter themselves in the loud 
 and imperative accents of physical power, nor 
 require multitudes for their proofs and witnesses. 
 Quietly and silently, like the great forces of
 
 ORIGIN OF WARS. 181 
 
 nature, they pursue their beneficent career, 
 unseen in their working, but not unfelt in their 
 effects ; they supply and renovate the healthy 
 character of public opinion, as the tender herbage 
 and sweet flowers, in their genial, but unnoticed 
 chemistry, renew the vital element in the physi- 
 cal atmosphere ; whilst war, like the sulphurous 
 volcano, or the headlong flood, which only spreads 
 ruin and death, impresses the imagination more 
 deeply and excites louder admiration. Nor does 
 the character of these ennobling conquests differ 
 more from the debasing victories of the sword 
 than the principles from which they spring. The 
 former arise from a secret and conscious appre- 
 ciation of the beauty and value of beneficence, 
 a feeling of good for all who are capable of 
 receiving it; the latter are the fruits of our 
 darkest and guiltiest vices compressed into heart- 
 hardening and exclusive selfishness. 
 
 The most frightful, sanguinary, and ruinous 
 wars that have afflicted mankind, were prompted 
 by the personal passions of the most odious and 
 perverse tyrants. Their lust of dominion, their 
 desire for vengeance or renown, nay, the grati- 
 fication of the mere habits of warfare and blood- 
 shed, have, separately or combined, been the 
 actuating motives which in all ages have armed 
 men against each other's lives, and spread deso-
 
 182 MOTIVES OF CONQUERORS. 
 
 lation over the nations of the earth. Excited 
 by such passions, Xerxes invaded Greece, and 
 sacrificed a million of the people subject to his 
 sway. For such objects Alexander led his pha- 
 lanxes into the East, and marked his way from 
 the Granicus to the Ganges with the ruins of 
 cities and the unburied corpses of men. For 
 motives like these Julius Cassar destroyed two 
 millions of the human race; Charles XII. per- 
 formed his capricious tragedies ; Napoleon, for a 
 whole generation, filled Europe with destruction 
 and alarm, carried the flower of the French nation 
 to Moscow, and left the bones of five hundred 
 thousand gallant men to bleach on the desolate 
 wilds of Russia, or to pave the bed of the wintry 
 Beresina ; and from all the constancy and bravery 
 which these multitudes must have displayed, a 
 few names only have acquired renown, not suffi- 
 cient to form a Roman cohort, or an English 
 regiment of fighting-men. The rest are passed 
 over and forgotten, as war passes over and des- 
 pises the common rights of mankind. 
 
 A new light is dawning upon the world which 
 will render such monstrous deceptions impossi- 
 ble ; men, by a more intimate association with 
 one another, and by the more perfect blending of 
 their real interest which must ensue, will see, in 
 all the broadness and perspicuity of truth, that
 
 INTERNATIONAL UNION. 183 
 
 the clumsiest and least rational way of disposing 
 of enemies is to kill them. There are no nations 
 so utterly blind as not to discern that a living 
 assistant in the business of life is better than a 
 dead foe, and that there is no tribe of men, born 
 to stand erect and look upon the stars, however 
 degraded and prostrate, who may not be made 
 something better of than carrion. The univer- 
 sal community of interests will supervene all 
 national animosities. The countries separated 
 from one another by material barriers will be but 
 distinct members of the great commonwealth, 
 each contributing to the general welfare, and 
 receiving contributions from all the rest. The 
 object of greatest horror to mankind will be in 
 time the occurrence of anything likely to inter- 
 rupt the friendliness of their common relations. 
 The most warlike people, instead of burning 
 down the cities of their neighbours, and shoot- 
 ing them like wild beasts, will learn to rejoice in 
 their prosperity, if for no other reason, because 
 they will feel its reflex themselves, and to mourn 
 over their calamities as members of a vast family, 
 whose hopes and fears are identical, and whose 
 happiest condition is their individual portions of 
 the happiness that irradiates and vivifies the 
 whole. 
 
 The only argument ever adduced in support
 
 184 BENEFITS OF WAR? 
 
 of war, is that it favoured the diffusion of intel- 
 ligence, and broke up the continuity of barbarism. 
 But this view of the subject was never taken 
 except by the members of debating societies, 
 and they must now relinquish it. Whatever 
 apparent force there might have been in such a 
 notion, there can be none since the introduction 
 of steam, which has manifestly a distributive 
 power incalculably greater than that of war, and 
 unaccompanied with any neutralizing influences. 
 The benefits of war are only incidental. Its 
 prime object and immediate effect have ever been, 
 and ever must be, desolation, famine, pestilence, 
 and death. Whatever good has arisen from 
 war has been in spite of it has escaped it, not 
 been caused by it. To say that war has assisted 
 in the spread of civilisation, is the same thing as 
 if one should say that an incendiary and robber 
 increases the wealth of a city which he fires, and, 
 to prove the assertion, exhibit some fragments 
 and costly articles which did not happen to have 
 been consumed. To war we are indebted for 
 the destruction of the Alexandrian library, and 
 all the precious monuments of ancient literature 
 and art. To war we owe it that Athens does 
 not shine like the eye of the world, as it once was 
 of Greece : to war must be attributed the pre- 
 sent pitiful condition of all the great cities of
 
 LAWLESSNESS OF WAR. 185 
 
 antiquity, which still rise above the incroaching 
 verdure, and the nations which have still a 
 name in the world; the rest war has buried 
 under their own ruins. 
 
 The advances of mankind in a just compre- 
 hension of their own nature, have ameliorated 
 the sanguinary character of penal laws in every 
 country. Their further progress must have a 
 similar effect upon war. Much has been written 
 by Vattel, Puffendorf, and Grotius, upon inter- 
 national law, and by the last-named upon the 
 laws of war ; but the summation of the whole is 
 simply this, that a state of war is one of the 
 most complete lawlessness between the belli- 
 gerents, like the Faustreclit of the ancient Ger- 
 mans, or the club-law of the times of James L, 
 or the Jacquerie of France a bloody, cruel, 
 remorseless system of brute violence prevailing 
 between nations, as in the old inhuman times it 
 prevailed between individuals and districts; a 
 system that arms millions of men with sharp 
 mutual destruction, and sets them grinning at 
 one another like exasperated devils, watching 
 their opportunities for inflicting the deadly blow 
 and the pang of agony, equally hateful and 
 hated, animated with similar malice, and tor- 
 mented with like dread. 
 
 The most enthusiastic militarist cannot point
 
 186 FOLLY OF WAE. 
 
 out, in the whole range of history, a single good 
 object effected by war, which might not have 
 been infinitely better accomplished without it. 
 It has always left the world worse than it found 
 it, and, in passing away, has strewed the seminal 
 principles of distraction, hatred, and confusion. 
 Like the fabled bird, it dies in flame, and revives 
 again from its own ashes. The passions of man 
 are specific, and propagate themselves in their 
 own likeness ; hatred, pride, and violence beget 
 hatred, pride and violence; love gives birth to 
 love, and justice to righteousness. These are 
 truths corroborated by every day's experience; 
 it is not to be supposed that mankind will for 
 ever remain ignorant of them. We have seen 
 how they have displaced the old doctrine of mu- 
 nicipal law, which taught that tyranny, injustice 
 and cruelty were calculated to make men vir- 
 tuous and obedient. The objective stupidity of 
 this principle has been demonstrated in detail, 
 and is now acknowledged even by warriors 
 themselves. Its subjective folly is becoming 
 plainer every day. The nations of the world 
 will not be always content to see their very pith 
 and marrow exhausted by profitless preparations 
 to exhaust one another. For it is not the old 
 and feeble and useless that are withdrawn from 
 the business of life and trained to the trade of
 
 MONSTROUS ARMAMENTS. 187 
 
 human butchery ; but the young and vigorous 
 and useful, the men whose strong arms and 
 undecayed energies might win from bountiful 
 nature her richest treasures, and who, under 
 happier auspices, might become the wise and 
 venerated progenitors of a virtuous and happy 
 posterity, instead of being a bearded, ferocious 
 and dreaded race, abandoned to the unrestrained 
 movements of the worst passions of man. 
 
 There is too much knowledge and light in 
 Europe, at least, with its crowded multitudes 
 and ceaseless struggle for life, to suffer the 
 prime energies of its nations to be made an incu- 
 bus and a curse as they are in its standing 
 armies. Three hundred thousand men, all in 
 the bloom of strong manhood, are taken from the 
 profitable occupations of society, armed with 
 weapons of death, and set apart for the service, 
 as it is called, of Austria, meaning the will of the 
 youth who rules the people comprised under that 
 name ; and these, in peace, do nothing but waste 
 the substance of the patient and industrious popu- 
 lation, whilst in war their only use is to destroy 
 and desolate. Five hundred thousand serve the 
 Czar in the same way ; two hundred and fifty 
 thousand the French President; two hundred 
 thousand the King of Prussia ; twenty thousand 
 the Pope ; Naples, one hundred thousand ; whilst
 
 188 THE REMEDY FOE TYRANNY. 
 
 the armaments of the petty sovereigns of Ger- 
 many and Italy amount to a quarter of a million 
 more. The Scandinavian kingdoms, according 
 to the Almanack of Gotha, arm one hundred and 
 twenty thousand men, and England has her 
 quarter of a million like France. 
 
 If there were nothing to put an end to this 
 monstrous system but the prospect of liberty and 
 affluence, which the agencies of transport have 
 opened in the most fruitful regions of the earth, 
 even that would be sufficient to cause its fall, to 
 teach men groaning under despotic villany that 
 the safest remedy against tyranny is, as Bentham 
 says, to leave it to itself, and it will fall like an 
 unpropped rotten tree. Despots and tyrants may 
 sit together in gloomy conclave, devising fresh 
 schemes for enthralling mankind ; soldiers may 
 whet their swords, and invent new engines of de- 
 struction, looking upon men merely as targets for 
 Minie rifles and ziindnadelgewehr ; diplomatists 
 may puzzle their brains and their governments in 
 settling official disputes about which their nations 
 know and care nothing; priests may continue 
 to plot, as before, for the quiet extension of their 
 power, whenever the confusion and disorders of 
 war, to which they ever look forward as their 
 most favourable season, may call off attention 
 from their stealthy and feline movements ; poli-
 
 SPONTANEOUS EESOLUTION. 189 
 
 tical parties may try to consolidate their power, 
 and to conspire against the well-being of the 
 nation, for their own private and special advan- 
 tage. It has been so, and it yet will be so, for 
 some time to come. But who does not see that 
 all these schemes and practices, those systems 
 and contrivances, are deviations from the great 
 natural law of approximation in interests, feel- 
 ings, and action which we have been endeavour- 
 ing to elucidate? artificial hindrances, set up 
 in opposition to the attractive power of mind 
 upon mind, arising from our specific identity, and 
 not likely to be arrested by anything short of an 
 alteration in our nature itself mounds of sand 
 against the rising tide screens and bulwarks 
 against the influence of the approaching spring. 
 They who trust in the one may be drowned, 
 they who surround themselves with the other 
 may be starved ; but not even for a moment will 
 the flood be arrested, nor the genial power that 
 covers the earth with beauty and fruitfulness. 
 The great questions that occupy kings and states- 
 men, priests and politicians, are silently resolving 
 themselves. The ages of chicanery and decep- 
 tion have grown hoary. Those of clear-seeing 
 truth are already upon us, when the world shall 
 become one dominion, of which sovereigns shall 
 be local magistrates, and enlightened reason the
 
 190 ESSENCE OF ALL WORSHIP. 
 
 monarch, from whom they will derive their 
 power, and to whom they will be amenable for 
 its exercise ; when the essence of all worship and 
 faith, that a man's duty to himself coincides 
 exactly with his duty to his neighbour, and that 
 both run into and are exalted by his duty to his 
 Maker, shall become the common creed and 
 practice of mankind. These are not mere random 
 conjectures, or presumptuous vaticinations, ex- 
 pressive only of the views and opinions of the 
 writer ; they are deductions legitimately drawn 
 from the past history of man. The thing that 
 has been is the thing that shah 1 be the tendency 
 of mankind taken in the mass. The equivalent 
 force resulting from the most numerous and 
 constant of human impulses has sufficiently 
 manifested itself to justify the prediction of its 
 future direction, and the agencies by which that 
 force is operating, and wih 1 operate, upon society, 
 are so vast and illimitable that the most extended 
 speculations cannot overrun their influence and 
 results.
 
 191 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Rise of a universal language : authorities on its practi- 
 cableness : the great difficulty to get men to adopt 
 it. Recent proposal for a " Pasilogical Missionary 
 Society " empirical : cannot succeed : human neces- 
 sities will do the missionary work. A universal 
 medium of thought will become necessary. Examples 
 in the great maritime cities. The union of mankind 
 will be signalized by one form of speech, as it was at 
 first before their dispersion. What living language 
 will form the basis of the common tongue? Two 
 principles to be considered. Illustrated in the case 
 of the Chinese : their character, and that of their lan- 
 guage. Illustrated in the case of the Anglo-Saxon 
 race : their character, power, and achievements. 
 The influence of these in recommending their lan- 
 guage. It will obtain its place as a proximate ele- 
 ment in the universal language. All languages have 
 their distinct excellencies. Defects of the English. 
 Principle on which a universal tongue will be formed. 
 Each nation will contribute according to its power 
 of supplying human necessities. Exemplifications 
 from antiquity : from the middle ages : from modern 
 times. Argument to prove that there is no law 
 necessitating the retrogression or decline of nations. 
 Civilisation and art can never again be lost. Con- 
 clusion. 
 
 THERE is one more consequence to be looked 
 for from the universal blending of national in-
 
 192 UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, PEACTICABLE. 
 
 terests, and the general intercourse between all 
 parts of the world, which we must not pass over, 
 and with a few remarks on which we shall termi- 
 nate this subject : the rise of a universal lan- 
 guage. This is a topic which has occupied the 
 attention of most of the great speculatists, from 
 Bacon and Des Cartes, down to our own times. 
 Lord Bacon says *, " it is a well-known fact, 
 that in China and the provinces of the furthest 
 east, a kind of characters is in daily use, which 
 are real, not nominal, expressing not letters or 
 words, but things or notions ; so that many 
 nations, differing altogether in language, but 
 agreeing in the use of these characters, commu- 
 nicate with one another by writing, insomuch 
 that each can read in his own language any 
 book written in such characters." Bishop Wil- 
 kins, Leibnitz, and Lord Monboddo also deemed 
 a universal language practicable, as far as the 
 adoption of a common written character; and 
 these views are corroborated, more or less, by 
 Sir Thomas Smith, Sir John Herschell, and Mr. 
 Latham ; whilst Mr. Pitman has practically 
 demonstrated the possibility of representing 
 sounds, apart from their arbitrary signification, 
 by means of written smybols. Now, since the 
 human voice has only a certain limited compass 
 
 * De Aug. Scien., lib. vi. c. 1.
 
 TONTENELLE UPON LEIBNITZ. 193 
 
 or scale of sounds, and therefore that all spoken 
 language must consist in the various combina- 
 tions i nd permutations of the same sounds, it is 
 obvious that the phonographic system possesses 
 the elements of universal adaptation. 
 
 The idea of a universal medium of thought is, 
 then, by no means either new or chimerical. 
 Having fortified ourselves, however, with these 
 distinguished opinions, we must confess that they 
 all leave the great difficulty of the subject almost 
 untouched, namely, the means by which a system 
 of universal speech is to be diffused and estab- 
 lished. The contrivance of a convenient charac- 
 ter and grammar would be an easy task to any 
 of our accomplished philologists, but how to get 
 it into use " hoc opus hoc labor est." Fontenelle, 
 in his Eloge upon Leibnitz, after commending 
 his invention and efforts towards forming a uni- 
 versal language, remarks, " But, after this lan- 
 guage had been invented, however useful or 
 convenient it might be, it would be still farther 
 necessary to persuade different nations to adopt 
 it, and this would be by no means the smallest 
 difficulty." Mr. Grove, the author of a recent 
 work on the subject, proposes to erect a volun- 
 tary association for extending a universal lan- 
 guage by means of "Pasilogical Missionaries." 
 All efforts of this kind are empirical, and never 
 
 o
 
 194 POWER OF NECESSITY. 
 
 could succeed: they resemble the bloomer at- 
 tempt to force ladies into trowsers by logical 
 demonstrations, in spite of their own habits and 
 wishes, and the long-established customs of 
 society. In fact, it is not in the nature of man 
 to undergo labour or suffer pain, or even to 
 depart from the ordinary routine of custom, for 
 merely prospective advantages, how great soever 
 they may be, unless the hopes they excite are 
 sustained and justified by experience. An untried 
 scheme, however grand and important, will be 
 always regarded in this matter-of-fact world as a 
 speculation, and the majority of men will turn 
 aside from its most splendid promises of future 
 advantage for the paltriest amount of immediate 
 profit. The most powerful motives that actuate 
 mankind are those which arise from their neces- 
 sities ; their action is immediate and constant ; 
 they allow no pause nor hesitation ; onward, 
 onward, towards their objects, with an indefatiga- 
 ble and unbroken force, do they impel us, leaving 
 but passing opportunities to glance at what lies 
 out of their course, and few even of these. These 
 necessities themselves will, however, accomplish 
 all the work of Mr. Grove's " Pasilogical Mis- 
 sionaries." 
 
 The discovery of the degree in which one land 
 possesses the means of supplying the wants of
 
 EFFECTS OF INTELLECTUAL COMMUNION. 195 
 
 other lands, and the practicability of its receiving 
 from them in return what has been denied to its 
 own soil, will in time produce a universal system 
 of exchange throughout the world. People of 
 all nations and tribes will mingle in social inter- 
 course, and interpenetrate one another with their 
 several customs and habits, both national and 
 personal. Reason, guided by practical expe- 
 rience, will have to make its election between 
 the various laws and manners thus offered to its 
 choice. Those that are best adapted to the pur- 
 poses of life will acquire force and permanency, 
 not by any sudden and formal resolution of man- 
 kind, but by the gradual perception of their 
 congruity and fitness, which will secure their 
 adoption unconsciously; whilst those that are 
 unsuited to human ends must, in the same insen- 
 sible manner, fall into desuetude and be forgotten. 
 Rapid and certaipt appreciation will universally 
 follow the announcement of anything likely to 
 benefit the species, and the knowledge of this will 
 stimulate the inventive faculties of mankind 
 everywhere, and induce every one who has found 
 out anything calculated to supply a human want, 
 or to furnish a new pleasure, to make it known 
 without delay, whether the discovery be that of 
 a strange natural production, a mechanical inven- 
 tion, a great scientific truth, a wise aphorism, or 
 
 o 2
 
 196 NECESSITY FOE A UNIVEESAL LANGUAGE. 
 
 a glowing thought. He to whom the secret is first 
 revealed will find his highest and most grateful 
 reward in publishing it to his race, and the more 
 rapidly it can be made known, the more imme- 
 diate will be the fulfilment of his desires. This 
 will require a common vehicle of thought, and 
 its formation will be absolutely necessitated by 
 the coalescence of all special and separate in- 
 terests into one which will be universal and 
 homogeneous. The necessity which discoverers 
 would feel of a medium by which they could 
 diffuse the intelligence of their successes, might 
 not be sufficient to induce men to adopt a common 
 system of communication, since discoverers are 
 a very small minority of mankind ; but when the 
 bulk of our species blend together in the promo- 
 tion of their reciprocal views and common in- 
 terests, the necessity for such a common medium 
 of intercourse must inevitably arise a form of 
 speech in which the natives of all parts of the 
 world may transact, not the great and astounding 
 affairs of history, but the little businesses of 
 traffic, the concerns of every day. We see this 
 already on a small scale in some of the great 
 maritime cities, especially those on the Pacific 
 coast of North and South America, the cities of 
 the Mediterranean, and some in the Indian Archi- 
 pelago.
 
 EXAMPLES AND INFERENCES. 197 
 
 Where the natives of many countries meet for 
 mercantile purposes, and contrive to carry on 
 their intercourse in a strange gibberish, made up 
 of the odds and ends of many languages, it is of 
 necessity a poor and bald dialect; but it sub- 
 serves well enough the purpose for which it was 
 formed, and furnishes a positive proof that there 
 is a tendency to the formation of a common 
 medium of thought amongst multitudes whose 
 necessities bring them into constant and close 
 association, however various may be their native 
 tongues. We may safely infer, therefore, that 
 when the precedent condition of mankind resem- 
 bles that which obtains in those cities, it will give 
 birth to a similar phenomenon, and a universal 
 language will begin to arise. It may require 
 centuries to give it shape and general accepta- 
 tion : with the question of time we have nothing 
 to do ; we would simply point out the fact with- 
 out calculating the period of its accomplishment. 
 That the necessity for some vehicle of communi- 
 cation which shall be common to mankind, will 
 result from the universal extension of the means 
 of intercourse, is obvious enough. But it is the 
 order of nature that a felt necessity always tends 
 to supply itself, or, as popular wisdom expresses 
 the same principle, " necessity is the mother of 
 invention," We may therefore, without risking
 
 198 ANALOGICAL ILLUSTRATION". 
 
 our sternest respect for probability, look forward 
 to the universal adoption of one form of speech 
 or language : we have already adduced expe- 
 rience in support of this opinion ; it is not less 
 forcibly sustained by analogy. The Scriptures 
 inform us that, in the infancy of the world, when 
 mankind dwelt together in unity, " the whole 
 earth was of one language and of one speech." 
 But when they had displeased the Almighty by 
 their impious attempts on the plains of Shinar, He 
 determined to disperse them into different lands 
 by varying their speech. The divine resolution 
 and its accomplishment are recorded in human 
 language: "And the Lord said, behold, the 
 people is one, and they have all one language : let 
 us go down and there confound their language, 
 that they may not understand one another's 
 speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad 
 from thence upon the face of all the earth." 
 
 As the dispersion of the human race thus com- 
 menced with the rise of a multitude of various 
 languages and dialects, may we not reasonably 
 infer that their reunion will be signalized by the 
 rise of one form of speech which will be univer- 
 sal ? It would be interesting to ascertain what 
 language, if any of those in use, is destined to 
 form the basis of the common medium of com- 
 munication ; but, in this respect, our previsions
 
 PRINCIPLES OF FORMATION. 199 
 
 must of necessity be exceedingly limited. We 
 can, in fact, only point out certain general prin- 
 ciples which are likely to influence the result. 
 There are two such principles worthy of atten- 
 tion. The first is very obvious, namely, that 
 the extent to which a given language already 
 prevails, gives it a corresponding position as a 
 proximate constituent of that which may be uni- 
 versally adopted ; and this arises from its power 
 of resisting the introduction of any other, as well 
 as from its tendency to propagate itself. The 
 mere territorial extent of a language is, there- 
 fore, to be considered in reference to the proba- 
 bility of its general extension, as consisting of 
 this active or expansive, and this inert or resist- 
 ing force. Now both of these will be found to be 
 essentially affected by the genius and character 
 of the people by whom the given language is 
 spoken. If they be free, bold and enterprising 
 if the arts and sciences are cultivated, and inven- 
 tion encouraged amongst them, their language 
 will accord with their character ; it will be ex- 
 pansive and aggressive. If, on the other hand, 
 they be a people of fixed habits, with whom art 
 and science are stationary, and who are deficient 
 in the spirit of adventure and enterprise, it is 
 manifest that their language will not only not 
 have any tendency to extend itself, but that it
 
 200 CHINESE AND ANGLO-SAXONS: 
 
 will be likely to be supervened by others which 
 contain the records of man's highest intellectual 
 achievements, and which constitute the chief 
 means by which his welfare may be more com- 
 pletely secured. As the types of these two extreme 
 cases, without encumbering our argument with 
 intermediate degrees of national character, let us 
 take the Chinese and Anglo-Saxon races. The 
 Chinese language is monosyllabic, and, though 
 uniform in writing, its spoken dialects differ widely 
 in China and its cognate nations. Considered as 
 one tongue it is already in possession of not less 
 than one-third of the whole human race. Now, 
 if this vast proportion of mankind consisted of 
 adventurous and enterprising nations, we might 
 fairly infer that their language was destined to 
 absorb all others and become the groundwork 
 of a universal medium of thought, But when, 
 on the contrary, we find them a hide-bound, 
 exclusive, and stereotyped race, which two 
 thousand years ago arrived at its maximum point 
 of civilisation, and has there stood immoveable 
 ever since a people who segregate themselves 
 as much as possible from all others, who do not 
 believe in the possibility of improvement, and 
 discourage everything like enterprise in relation 
 to foreign adventure or intercourse we can- 
 not for a moment suppose that they are likely to
 
 THEIR CHARACTER AND LANGUAGES. 201 
 
 become the great philological missionaries of the 
 earth ; and this conclusion is corroborated when 
 we consider the character of their language, 
 which is, in every case, the unerring index of 
 that of the people amongst whom it is spoken. 
 That of the Chinese corresponds exactly with 
 their social condition : it is a clumsy mixture of 
 pictorial representations and arbitrary symbols 
 a kind of hybrid between the Egyptian hierogly- 
 phics and written words an instrument so rude 
 and unwieldy, that by no adaptation or modifica- 
 tion can it be ever fitted to the rapid transaction 
 of the momentary negociations of commerce, or 
 the affairs of social intercourse. The smallest 
 conjunction or particle requires not less than 
 from six to a dozen lines drawn in distinct forms 
 and with special relations to one another ; and as 
 there is no word which has more than one sylla- 
 ble, it requires as many distinct characters to 
 express a complex idea as there are simple sounds 
 appropriated to the elementary notions of which 
 that idea is composed. The language has no 
 plasticity ; for every new thought a new charac- 
 ter must be invented. There are already in use 
 amongst the Chinese more than eighty thousand 
 distinct characters, and they are constantly in- 
 creasing, so that it may be truly said that their 
 most learned men do not yet know their alphabet.
 
 202 ANGLO-SAXON PROGRESS. 
 
 It would be absurd to think that a people like 
 this, who have scarcely anything to communicate 
 worth learning, and whose medium of communi- 
 cation would require for its thorough study the 
 labours of a whole life, are destined in any con- 
 siderable degree to impress mankind with either 
 their character or dialect. The Anglo-Saxon 
 stock presents a very different picture. Their 
 original home an island in the Northern Sea, 
 their whole numbers not more than fifty millions, 
 or about a sixth part of the population of China ; 
 yet, by their resistless energy, their indomitable 
 persistency and lofty genius, they have become 
 the masters of the mighty empire of Hindoostan, 
 the colossal continent of North America, and 
 of the great southern land, with its thousand 
 islands and territories. They possess already 
 a much greater extent of the world's space than 
 all the sinimic races put together ; and, as time 
 advances, their spirit of adventure and intru- 
 sion manifests itself more and more powerfully. 
 Besides this, there is their amazing power of 
 administering to human necessities, their inge- 
 nuity and enterprise, offering itself to turn into 
 value the most worthless products of the lands 
 they visit, and to teach their inhabitants the 
 secrets of wealth and power. We cannot doubt 
 that the Anglo-Saxon tongue, thus propagated
 
 DEFECTS AND EXCELLENCIES OF LANGUAGE. 203 
 
 and recommended, will exercise a far wider 
 influence upon the character of that which may 
 be finally adopted by mankind, than the Chinese, 
 which exceeds it so much now in the mere 
 numbers who use it. We are not vain enough, 
 however, to suppose that our language will be 
 universally adopted as it exists at present : this 
 would be mere national vanity, if not arrogance ; 
 it would be a wilful partiality, which would par- 
 take largely of selfish pride and injustice. We 
 must not overlook the merits of other languages, 
 nor hide the defects of our own. The melody 
 of the Italian, the sonorous energy of the Spanish, 
 the conversational adaptation of the French, and 
 the wonderful plasticity and flexibility of the 
 German, or, to borrow one of its own words, 
 which expresses and at the same time illustrates 
 both these qualities, its geschmeidigkeit, are dis- 
 tinct excellencies which cannot fail to be appre- 
 ciated. Our own language, too, has its philological 
 advantages, but, though they will no doubt obtain 
 a suitable place in the great combination, we can- 
 not expect that its defects and difficulties will be 
 perpetuated, Its irregular orthography, its arbi- 
 trary and unregulated pronunciation, its capri- 
 cious extension of the significations of words and 
 sentences, and its incessant sibilation, must con- 
 tinue to present the most formidable difficulties
 
 204 AUTHORITY OF TECHNOLOGY. 
 
 to its extensive displacement of other languages. 
 In short, according to the principle already laid 
 down, it seems reasonable to anticipate that the 
 universal language will be constituted from the 
 elements of all others ; that those forms and con- 
 structions of speech which are best suited to 
 men's necessities, will force themselves into per- 
 manent and general use, whilst those peculia- 
 rities of dialect which rest upon no philosophical 
 or natural principle will be dropped and for- 
 gotten. 
 
 There is yet another principle which we think 
 will come into operation in the formation of a 
 universal language, at least so far as furnishing 
 its vocabulary : it is that each nation which 
 arrives first at distinguished excellency in parti- 
 cular arts, sciences, or even peculiar natural 
 productions, seems to be tacitly invested by all 
 the rest with authority to dictate the techni- 
 calities, or terminology of the departments in 
 which it excels. Thus the Greeks, who carried 
 the science of architecture to a degree of perfec- 
 tion never since surpassed, gave it that termino- 
 logy which it still retains in its principal parts, 
 although the language itself has been dead for 
 fifteen centuries, and the building art has passed 
 through the diiferent changes of all those ages, 
 In like manner the other sciences and arts in
 
 EXAMPLES FROM ANTIQUITY. 205 
 
 which that wonderful people excelled have come 
 down to us with the names they bestowed upon 
 them. The art of measuring the earth we call 
 by the Greek word geometry; the elementary 
 symbols of speech we call alphabet, from the 
 Greek names of the first two characters. The 
 science of numbers we denominate exactly as 
 Pythagoras did, who was its first great improver. 
 And Aristotle, who first reduced the doctrines 
 of abstract relations, metaphysics (/i 6 ra ra </wo-tKa), 
 that which lies beyond physical being, to a sys- 
 tematic science, has also given it a name which 
 it is likely to retain for ever. 
 
 But further examples from antiquity are hardly 
 necessary ; they will occur abundantly to every 
 one who has studied the history and technology 
 of divinity, medicine, politics, or law. It will 
 be found that, at the time of any discovery or 
 announcement, there prevails a general deference 
 to the will of him who makes it, as to the terms 
 that shall be applied to it, and that afterwards, 
 according to the ordinary influence of time upon 
 the human mind, this deference to superior 
 knowledge becomes a species of reverence, such 
 as we should pay to a superior being, and to 
 break through which would be generally deemed 
 the most impudent presumption, if not actual 
 impiety. This curious tendency of the human
 
 206 MEDIEVAL EXAMPLES. 
 
 mind is not limited to any particular age or 
 country : the proofs of it which we have adduced 
 from remote times are not stronger than those 
 which modern ages furnish. The science of 
 music arrived at a high degree of perfection in 
 Italy, whilst as yet it was but a rude art amongst 
 the tramontane nations of Europe ; and we see 
 that the Italian language furnishes the principal 
 portion of its terminology. Composers do not 
 write their directions for the movement and ex- 
 pression of harmony in the language of their 
 several countries ; they defer to its first masters, 
 and universally adopt their technology. 
 
 One more example from the middle ages. 
 The Arabians were either the first inventors or 
 the promulgators of a method of representing 
 numbers and quantities by symbols. This sys- 
 tem they called Alghebra e Almukabala, signi- 
 fying resolution and composition. We have 
 adopted their method, and with that strong ten- 
 dency to abbreviation by which we are charac- 
 terised, we have omitted the latter clause of the 
 original title and called it simply Algebra. The 
 age in which we live is equally fertile in examples 
 of this general rule. Our French neighbours 
 have long been celebrated for their taste in dress 
 and their skill in cookery, and we have only to 
 take up some fashionable morning paper in which
 
 MODERN EXAMPLES. 207 
 
 the particulars of some grand entertainment or 
 magnificent assembly are recorded, to see the 
 most unquestionable proofs that we regard the 
 French as our masters and teachers in the gas- 
 tronomic and sartorial arts. In a similar way 
 we cheerfully accord to the people from whom 
 we derive- any natural production, the right to 
 give it a name. All Europe has accepted the 
 word tea from the Chinese, and tobacco from the 
 Carrib Indians ; whilst the term gutta percha 
 comes to us from the Malayan, the language 
 spoken in Borneo, where that substance is pro- 
 duced. A multitude of other instances will 
 occur to every one. The influence we ourselves 
 have exercised in this way is very extensive ; our 
 unrivalled progress in the mechanical arts, and 
 especially in the application of steam as a moving 
 power, has given our language a connection 
 almost indissoluble with the regulation and 
 management of machinery. An Englishman 
 entering any of the great factories at Sarang or 
 Liege, or, indeed, those of any other continental 
 city, must be surprised at the number of English 
 words he hears spoken by the workmen in trans- 
 acting their business. It is the same in foreign 
 steamers ; to whatever nation they belong, the 
 'directions of the captain to the engineer are ge- 
 nerally in English. Whether you navigate the
 
 208 OBJECTION AND EEPLT. 
 
 gulf of Finland or the bay of Genoa, the waters 
 of the Golden Horn or those of the Skager-Rack, 
 you will generally hear exactly the same curt 
 official sentences as you do on a Thames steamer. 
 " Go a-head " " Slow " Stop her " Half 
 a turn a-starn" " Back her " in all varieties of 
 intonation, Greek, Turkish, Italian, Spanish, 
 French, Dansk, Swedish and Russian. 
 
 Without entering into any abstruse disquisi- 
 tion as to the reasons of this general law, we 
 shall take these examples as a proof of its exist- 
 ence, and as establishing the fact that, in propor- 
 tion as a nation contributes to the well-being of 
 others, so will it furnish its contingent of those 
 elements which will at some future day consti- 
 tute the universal language of mankind. 
 
 We have thus endeavoured to look into the 
 future by the light of the past, and ventured to 
 predict the increasing happiness of mankind as a 
 necessary consequence of their intercourse and 
 social approximation, We are aware that such 
 views may be objected to as deficient in that 
 support which experience alone can give to 
 human speculation ; but we would beg to say, in 
 reply, that what we have done has not been to 
 erect a new theory, but merely to apply, on a 
 grand scale, principles which have been long in 
 operation, and whose results are before us in
 
 A MORE SPECIOUS OBJECTION. 209 
 
 detail : we have only endeavoured to trace the 
 general character of the tree from the appearance 
 of the germ, having special regard to the condi- 
 tions which are known to be most favourable 
 to its development. A more specious objection 
 arises from the historical fact, that hitherto all 
 the great nations of the earth have had their 
 periods of growth, maturity, and decline ; from 
 which it may be argued with apparent force, that 
 such is the law of national existence, no less than 
 of individual being. This reasoning will, how- 
 ever, be found, upon closer examination, to be 
 unsubstantial in its premises. The analogy 
 between national and individual existence is 
 manifestly fallacious : nations consist of numbers 
 of individual and independent beings ; there is 
 no tendency in them to degenerate spontaneously ; 
 on the contrary, each successive generation comes 
 into the world with faculties and functional 
 powers as vigorous as those of their primitive 
 ancestry. Unlike the individual, then, whose 
 powers must after a certain time decline and 
 perish, in accordance with an inevitable law, 
 the essential energies of a nation, which consist 
 in the intelligence and virtue of its citizens, must 
 continue in a constant process of renovation, 
 unless some accidental and abnormal cause inter- 
 vene to disturb the natural order of things and 
 
 p
 
 210 DECLINE OF ANCIENT NATIONS. 
 
 to change the character and relations of the 
 citizens. But we affirm that such disturbing 
 causes and such alterations are not the neces- 
 sary result of any natural law like that which 
 produces decay and death in individual beings. 
 They are, as we have stated, abnormal and ex- 
 ceptional deviations from the ordinary course of 
 nature. The force of analogy in argument is 
 generally deceptive, and here it is distinctly so. 
 The abstract collective idea of a nation presents 
 itself to the mind as if it were in reality a living 
 being, and then we unconsciously apply to it the 
 laws which we see in operation upon every form 
 of life around us. If we examine the cases of 
 any of the great nations of antiquity we shall find 
 these views fully borne out. Egypt, Assyria, 
 Greece, and Jlome, arrived, no doubt, at a high 
 degree of civilisation ; but in each case their mate- 
 rial prosperity was owing, not so much to their 
 own innate productiveness, as to the power with 
 which they oppressed surrounding nations and 
 appropriated the results of their industry and 
 activity. This prosperity, therefore, though for 
 the time it favoured the cultivation of the arts 
 and sciences, could not possibly endure ; it was 
 based upon a foundation which aU the instincts 
 of our nature tended to undermine. Take Rome 
 as an example ; the prosperity and grandeur of
 
 GENERAL RETROGRESSION IMPOSSIBLE. 211 
 
 that one city, whilst it remained the seat of uni- 
 versal empire, required the oppression and rob- 
 bery of kingdoms for their support. It was like 
 a huge billow rising in the midst of the ocean, 
 which depresses all around it, and looks massive 
 and portentous for a time, but sinks at length by 
 the general law of gravitation to the common 
 level. The advances of the Romans in science 
 and civilisation were confined to themselves and 
 a few of their tributary provinces ; the bulk of 
 mankind did not participate in them, and when 
 the Roman power fell and its civilisation perished, 
 it was the result to be expected from the isolated 
 position it held in the midst of barbarous nations. 
 This can never occur when the supremacy of 
 countries in the different departments of social 
 excellency shall come to be regarded as so many 
 proofs of the general progress of mankind. The 
 prosperity of any nation cannot decline so long as 
 it is founded upon principles which promote the 
 prosperity of others ; arts and sciences can never 
 again be lost whilst their records are daily multi- 
 plied, distributed throughout the world, and laid 
 up in the archives of all nations. The forms of 
 governments may change, particular families 
 may cease to be called dynasties, even nationality 
 itself may be merged and lost in the confedera- 
 tion of mankind ; but this will not be the retro-
 
 312 CONCLUSION. 
 
 gression of humanity; it will not deprive our 
 race of a single forward impulse, nor stay its 
 progress for a second of time. 
 
 Here we pause the boldest speculations must 
 have a limit : we have merely indicated the ele- 
 ments of a great problem. It may take centuries 
 to work it out, but each successive day brings 
 some approximation to its solution. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 HENRY LUCAS, PRINTER, 3, BURLEIGH STREET, STRAND.
 
 WILLIAM & EEEDEEICK G, CASH, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO 
 
 CHARLES GILPIN, 
 
 5, BISHOPSGATE STEEET WITHOUT, 
 
 AND MAY BE ORDERED OF ANY BOOKSELLER. 
 
 8vo. cloth. 
 
 THE HISTOET OF EELIGIOUS INTOLE- 
 BANCE IN SPAIN ; or, an Examination of some 
 of the Causes which led to that Nation's Decline. 
 Translated from the original Spanish of Senor Don 
 Adolfo de Castro. By THOMAS PAEKEE, Translator 
 of " The Witch ; or, a Picture of the Court of 
 Borne," and " The History of the Spanish Protes- 
 tants, and their Persecution by Philip II.," With a 
 Portrait of the Author, engraven on Steel, from a 
 Daguerreotype taken in Spain. 
 
 Cara Fatria, Carior Libertas. 
 5, Bislwpsr/ate Street Without.
 
 WILLIAM AND FREDERICK G. CASH, 
 
 Crown 8vo., cloth, price 4s. 
 
 THE HALF-CENTUEY : its History, Political and 
 Social, (1800 to 1850.) By "WASHINGTON WILKS. 
 With a chronological table of contents, and a tabular 
 arrangement of the principal officers of state from 
 1800 to 1850. Second Edition revised, and con- 
 taining a Supplementary Chapter. 
 
 " Containing an intelligent digest of contemporaneous his- 
 tory from the pen of a decided reformer and earnest thinker." 
 Western Times. 
 
 " A concise and well-brought together history, clearly 
 written and full of useful information." Economist. 
 
 " In a style at once unpretending and agreeable full of 
 well- digested information. Church of England Quarterly 
 Review. 
 
 Post 8vo., cloth, price 5s. 
 
 THE WOEKINCr MAN'S WAT IN THE WOELD ; 
 
 or the Autobiography of a Journeyman Printer. 
 
 " None can read it without feeling himself a better, a more 
 cheerful, a more contented, and a wiser man. We cordially 
 wish it all the literary success it so eminently deserves." 
 Weekly News. 
 
 " We are disposed to set a high value on the " Working 
 Man's Way in the World." Tail's Magazine. 
 
 " The stamp of reality marks out this autobiography." 
 Leader. 
 
 Foolscap, 8vo., cloth, price 
 
 MOENING DEW DEOPS; or, the Juvenile 
 Abstainer. By Mrs. CLARA. LUCAS BALFOTJR. 
 
 5, Bisliopsgate Street Without.
 
 SUCCESSORS TO CHAELES GILPIN. 
 
 8vo. cloth, price Is. <5d. 
 
 " 1793 and 1853," 
 
 By RICHAED COBDEN, Esq., M.P. A handsome 
 Library Edition, with a Preface by theAuthor. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, price 3s. 6d. 
 
 ESSAYS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY. By the 
 late M. FEEDEEIC BASTIAT. Capital and Interest. 
 That which is seen ; and that which is not seen 
 Government. What is Money ? The Law. 
 
 "They are written with beautiful clearness, and from abun- 
 dant knowledge. * * It is a small volume, but worth a 
 large sum." The Leader. 
 
 Post 8vo., cloth, price 6s. 
 
 JUVENILE DELINQUENTS ; their Condition and 
 Treatment. By MAEY CARPENTEE, Author of the 
 " Reformatory Schools." 
 
 " We heartily commend Miss Carpenter's performance, 
 which will doubtless receive the earnest attention of all 
 philanthropic and reflective persons who take an interest in 
 the subject of which she is an apostle." Bristol Mercury. 
 
 " To those of our readers who may desire to possess a com- 
 pendious manual on Juvenile Delinquency, with an account of 
 such remedies as have commended themselves to earnest and 
 informed minds, we can well recommend Miss Carpenter's 
 book." Athenaeum, 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., price 
 
 WORKING- "WOMEN OF THE LAST HALF- 
 CENTURY : the Lesson of their Lives. By CLAEA 
 LUCAS BALEOUB. 
 
 5, BisJiopsgate Street Without.
 
 WILLIAM AND FEEDEBICK G. CASH, 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., price 3s. 6d. 
 
 THE SILENT EE VOLUTION; or the future effects 
 of Steam and Electricity upon the Condition of 
 Mankind. By M. A. G-AEVEY, LL.D. of the 
 Middle Temple. 
 
 " This is a plain, sensibly written, and eloquent Book con- 
 cerning our social progress, from a condition of half-brutified 
 people, to our present advanced state." Weekly Despatch. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, price 4s. 6d. 
 
 THE SPANISH PROTESTANTS, and their Perse- 
 cution by Philip II. A Historical Work. By 
 SENOE DON ADOLFO DE CASTRO. Translated from 
 the original Spanish by THOMAS PAEKEE. 
 
 " A dreadful indictment of the papal system a fearful 
 commentary on the Romish priesthood, and a terrible warning 
 to mankind." British Banner. 
 
 * * * " That it may circulate throughout the length 
 and breadth of the kingdom, and, by the favour of Him who 
 ' delighteth in mercy ' and ' in them that hope in his mercy,' 
 prove the harbinger of morning a ray of light to guide 
 their feet into the way of peace is our earnest wish." 
 Watchman. 
 
 8vo. cloth, Library Edition, with a portrait, price 9s. 6d. 
 
 DYMOND'S ESSATS ON THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 MORALITY, and on the Private and Political 
 Rights and Obligations of Mankind. 
 
 " The present work is indeed a book of such ability, and 
 so excellently intended, as well executed, that even those 
 who differ most widely as we must do, from some of its conclu- 
 sions, must regard the writer with the greatest respect, and 
 look upon his early death as a public loss. Quarterly Review. 
 
 Another Edition, royal 8vo., paper cover, price 2s, 6d. 
 Embossed cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 
 5, Bisliopsgate Street Without.
 
 SUCCESSOBS TO CHAELES GILPIN. 
 
 16mo., Illustrated, 4s. 6d., 18mo. cloth, Is., sewed, 6d. 
 
 A KISS FOE A BLOW. A Collection of Stories 
 for Children, showing them how to prevent Quar- 
 relling. By H. C. WEIGHT. New Edition. 
 
 " Of this little book it is impossible to speak too highly ; it 
 is the reflex of the spirit of childhood, full of tenderness, pity 
 and love quick to resent, and equally quick to forgive. We 
 wish that all children could imbibe its spirit, then indeed would 
 the world be happier and better." Mary Hewitt. 
 
 " This volume, of which it were to be wished that every 
 family in the country had a copy, has been reprinted in 
 London ; it is an invaluable little book." Chambers' Tracts. 
 
 Post Svo., cloth price 7s 6d. 
 
 THE LETTEES OF EICHAED EEYNOLDS, 
 
 with a Memoir of his Life. By his Gran daughter, 
 HANNAH MAET EATHBONE. Enriched with a fine 
 Portrait engraved by Bellin. 
 
 " In a spirit of reverence alike earnest and tender, Mrs. 
 Rathbone has traced the few incidents which marked the life 
 of this good man, and filled up the character by his correspon- 
 dence. . . . The tone in which she has executed her task 
 is unexceptionable." Atlienceuin. 
 
 16mo., price IB. 
 
 VOICES FEOM THE CEOWD. Fourth Edition. 
 Eevised, with additional Poems. By CHAELES 
 MACKAT, Esq. 
 
 " Bold and energetic full of high thoughts and manly as- 
 pirations. " Chambers' Journal. 
 
 " These are the utterances of a man who has caught, and 
 who expounds the spirit of his age. They are noble, and in- 
 deed glorious productions, teeming with the spirit of truth and 
 humanity." Nottingham Review. 
 
 5, Bisliopsgate Street Without.
 
 WILLIAM AND FEEDEE1CK G. CASH. 
 
 Post 8vo., cloth, price 8s. 6d. 
 
 A MEMOIR OF WILLIAM ALLEN, F.E.S. By 
 the Eev. JAMES SHEEMAN, of Surrey Chapel. 
 
 " A character at once so devout and humble, so just and 
 generous, in a word so truly great, seldom, indeed, does it fall 
 to the lot of the biographer to delineate. * * * The book is 
 one of those productions which it seems impossible to read 
 without becoming wiser and better." J3ath and Cheltenham 
 Gazette. 
 
 " We can warmly recommend the book to all, both to those 
 who love to trace the workings of genius, and to those who 
 desire to be guided by the example of virtue." Literary 
 Gazette. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, price 5s., 
 
 THE PASTOE'S WIFE. A Memoir of Mrs. Sherman, 
 of Surrey Chapel. By her HUSBAND. "With a 
 Portrait. Tenth Thousand. 
 
 " This constitutes one of the most tender, beautiful, in- 
 structive, and edifying narratives that for a long time has 
 come under our notice. * * * We anticipate for it a very 
 extended popularity and usefulness among the mothers and 
 daughters of England." Christian Witness. 
 
 w This volume deserves a large circulation, and we feel it a 
 pleasure to commend its perusal to the various classes of our 
 readers, especially to those whose sex may enable them to 
 tread in Mrs. Sherman's steps." Nonconformist. 
 
 Royal 18mo. price 3s. 6d., 
 
 AUNT JANE'S VEESES FOE CHILDEEN. By 
 MES. T. D. CBEWDSON. Illustrated with Twelve 
 highly-finished Engravings, from Designs by H. 
 ANELAY. 
 
 " This is a charming little volume, of excellent moral and 
 religious tendency, and eminently fitted to call forth the 
 mental energy of young people, and to direct it to a wise and 
 profitable result. The pictorial illustrations are exquisitely 
 beautiful." Evangelical Magazine. 
 
 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.
 
 SUCCESSORS TO CHAELES GILPIN. 
 
 Post 8vo., cloth, price 5s. 
 
 CRIME IN ENGLAND, its Eelation, Character, 
 and Extent, as developed from 1801 to 1848. By 
 THOMAS FLINT. 
 
 " "We thank Mr. Flint for his volume. It is written in a 
 philosophical spirit, and the inquiry to which he has devoted 
 so much time has evidently been conducted with great patience 
 and candour." Freeholder. 
 
 " Mr. Flint shows the discrimination, accuracy and candour 
 of a true statist." Leeds Mercury. 
 
 " A work which we esteem the most able, dispassionate and 
 conclusive, yet written on those momentous questions.'' 
 Nonconformist. 
 
 32mo., sewed, in packets, price 6d., cloth, price Is. 
 
 SIXTY STORIES FOR SIXPENCE. Eor Nursery, 
 School, or Fireside ; or, Leaflets of the Law of 
 Kindness, for Children. Edited by ELIHU BUEEITT. 
 
 " These little stories are little gems : they are beaming with 
 light, and their light is the light of Love. We have the 
 most sincere pleasure in recommending this little packet to 
 our readers." Friend. 
 
 18mo., cloth, price Is. 
 
 MEMORIAL OF THE LATE REV. ROWLAND 
 HILL. Chiefly consisting of anecdotes illustrative 
 of his character and labours. By the Rev. JAMES 
 
 SlIEKMAN. 
 
 " Mr. Sherman has done worthily by his great and never- 
 to-be-forgotten predecessor, Mr. Hill, in presenting this in- 
 teresting little compend of the man of God, and the striking 
 things that issued from his lips." Christian Witness. 
 
 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.
 
 WILLIAM AND FEEDEEICK G. CASH, 
 
 Post Svo., cloth, price 5s. 
 
 EEFOEMATOEY SCHOOLS for the Children of the 
 Perishing and Dangerous Classes, and for Juvenile 
 Offenders. By MAEY CABPENTEB. 
 
 " We trust that this volume will receive the attention 
 which is due alike to its own high merits and to the unspeak- 
 able important problem which it undertakes to solve." Morn- 
 ing Chronicle. 
 
 " In seven brief but terrible chapters she discusses some of 
 the darkest problems that perplex jurists and statesmen in our 
 day and generation the actual state of the juvenile popula- 
 tion." Athenaeum. 
 
 12mo, cloth, price Is. 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE SLAVE COASTS 
 of "West and East Africa. By the Eev. PASCOE 
 GrBEKFELL HILL, E.N., Author of " Fifty Days on 
 Board a Slave Vessel." 
 
 " This brief but interesting narrative proceeds from one who 
 has witnessed the horrors of the Slave-trade, as carried on in 
 various parts of the globe. * * * The unpretending 
 style in which the narrative is written, and the stamp of truth 
 which it carries with it, induce us to recommend it to an ex- 
 tensive perusal." Standard of Freedom, 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, 2s., sewed la. 6d. 
 
 EOGEB MILLEE; or, Heroism in Humble Life: a 
 Narrative. By G-EOEGE OEME. A New Edition. 
 
 " A more worthy, diligent, kind, and useful person cannot 
 be found in the whole circle of those who are engaged in the 
 service of the poorer classes. Lord Ashley. 
 
 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.
 
 SUCCESSORS TO CHAELES GILPIK. 
 
 12mo., cloth with a Portrait, price 3s. 6d. 
 
 THE WOEKS OF ELIHTJ BUEEITT; containing 
 " Sparks from the Anvil," " Voice from the Forge," 
 and " Peace Papers for the People." 
 
 " In every line coined from the reflecting mind of the 
 Blacksmith of Massachusetts there is a high philosophy and 
 philanthropy genuine and pure. His sympathies are uni- 
 versal, his aspirations are for the happiness of all, and his 
 writings are nervous, terse, and vigorous." London 
 Telegraph. 
 
 " The influence of the small work before us must be for 
 good, and we wish it every success. The various essays it 
 contains are written with natural eloquence, and contain many 
 just and original sentiments." Scottish Press. 
 
 8vo., cloth, price 10s. 6d. 
 
 THE HISTOET OF CHUECH LAWS IN 
 ENGLAND, from A.D. 602 to A.D. 1850 ; with a 
 Sketch of Christianity, from its first introduction 
 into Britain till the arrival of Augustine in A.D. 597. 
 By the Eev. EDWAED MUSCUTI. 
 
 State of the Early Churches Various kinds of 
 Church Laws Church Laws in relation to Things 
 Civil Church Laws in relation to Things Spiritual 
 Toleration and Eeligious Opinions. 
 
 " Any and every Protestant who can either buy or borrow 
 this book which has been the labour of years may learn in 
 a week the whole history and mystery of the DRACO CODE of 
 craft and cruelty, and thus may judge for himself what the 
 Vatican means by restoring Canon Law in England." 
 Evangelical Magazine. 
 
 5, Bishopsffate Street Without.
 
 10 WILLIAM AND FREDERICK G. CASH, 
 
 Demy 8vo., cloth, price 12s. 
 
 THE WHISTLEE AT THE PLOUGH ; containing 
 Travels, Statistics, and Descriptions of Scenery and 
 Agricultural Customs in most parts of England ; 
 also, Eree-Trade and the League, a Biographical 
 History. By ALEXANDER SOMEBVILLE. 
 
 " This volume comprises a Series of Letters and Essays 
 written by me, and addressed to the demerits of protection, 
 from 1842 to 1847 inclusive." Preface. 
 
 " There are few writings in our language, which for power 
 of description surpass the letters of the ' Whistler at the 
 Plough.' " Leeds Times. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., price 5s. 
 
 EOYALTY AND EEPUBLICANISM IN ITALY. 
 
 Illustrating the late important and deeply interesting 
 events in Italy, and containing Mazzini's Oration on 
 the Death of the Brothers Bandiera ; Letter to M. 
 de Tocqueville and M. D. Falloux, &c., &c. By 
 JOSEPH MAZZINT. 
 
 " We fearlessly assert that there is no living writer of Eng- 
 lish to be compared with Mazzini in the rarest and most pre- 
 cious characteristics of original genius." Daily News. 
 
 " Always dignified in tone, often singularly eloquent." 
 Examiner, Oct. 19. 
 
 2 vols., post 8vo., cloth, price 21s , (reduced to 10s. 6d.) 
 
 MEMOIES OE THE WAE OF INDEPENDENCE 
 IN HUNGAEY. By General KLAPKA, late Secre- 
 tary at War to the Hungarian Commonwealth, and 
 Commandant of the Eortress of Komorn. 
 
 " This is one of the most extraordinary narratives of great 
 and extraordinary military events that has ever appeared. 
 Liverpool Mercury. 
 
 5, BisTiopsgate Street Without.
 
 SUCCESSORS TO CHARLES GILPIN. 11 
 
 Vol. I., post 8vo., cloth, price 7s. 
 
 HISTOEY or THE ANTI-COEN-LAW LEAGUE. 
 BY ARCHIBALD PRENTICE, ONE OF ITS EXECUTIVE 
 COUNCIL. Author of Historical Sketches of Man- 
 chester. The Second and concluding Volume will 
 be published in July. 
 
 " Independent of the interest which will attach to the 
 history of one of the greatest struggles of modern times, 
 narrated by one of the actors in the movement, will be the 
 utility of such a record, as an easily accessible reference, 
 whenever any attempt may be made to revive, under what- 
 ever disguise, the system of protection." Manchester 
 Examiner and Times. 
 
 Post 8vo., price 6s. 
 
 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES and Personal Eecollec- 
 tions of Manchester ; intended to illustrate the 
 Progress of Public Opinion from 1792 to 1832. 
 By ARCHIBALD PRENTICE. 
 
 " I have been reading, within the last few days, a book 
 just published in this town, written by our excellent friend 
 Mr. Prentice. It is a book which every man in Manchester 
 ought to read and it would be well if every man in the 
 country would read it ; and I am sure I feel under obligation 
 to him, and I believe other generations will, for the light he 
 has thrown upon the progress of opinion in this great com- 
 munity.'' J. Bright, Esq., M.P., January 23. 
 
 Post 8vo., cloth, price 7s. 
 
 THE AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF A WOEKING 
 MAN. By " ONE WHO HAS WHISTLED AT THE 
 PLOUGH." 
 
 " Here is a genuine, fresh, and thoroughly true book ; 
 something really worth reading and remembering." Man- 
 chester Examiner. 
 
 " The well-known author of this work, who has attracted 
 much public attention, and has acquired a well-merited repu- 
 tation, has done the public a great service by publishing his 
 autobiography." Economist. 
 
 5, Bisliopsgate Street Without.
 
 12 WILLIAM AND FEEDEEICK G. CASH, 
 
 Demy 8vo., cloth, price 12s. 6d. 
 
 THE FEEE-SCHOOLS OF WOECESTEESHIEE, 
 and their fulfilment. By GEOBGE GBIITITII. 
 
 " Hundreds of volumes have been written as to the wars, 
 power, and grandeur, of the various eminent empires of the 
 Earth, while few and far between have been the records com- 
 memorating the education of their sons, or their progress in 
 learning and useful knowledge ; thus the empire of reason 
 has been overwhelmed by that of Conquest." Preface. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., price 2s. 6d. 
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION not necessarily Govern- 
 mental, Sectarian, or Irreligious : shown in a Set of 
 Papers read at the Meeting of the Lancashire Public 
 School Association. 
 
 " The papers in this volume have considerable value. The 
 volume well deserves the perusal of all engaged in the educa- 
 tion cause." Nonconformist. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo , price 2s. 6d. 
 
 THE CAMPANEE THAL; or Discourses on the 
 Immortality of the Soul. By JEAN PAUL FB. 
 EICHTEE. Translated from the German by JULIETTE 
 BAUEB. 
 
 " * * * Report, we regret to say, is all we know of the 
 ' Campaner Thai,' one of Richter's beloved topics, or rather 
 the life of his whole philosophy, glimpses of which look forth 
 on us from almost every one of his writings. He died while 
 engaged, under recent and almost total blindness, in enlarging 
 and remodelling this ' Campaner Thai.' The unfinished 
 manuscript was borne upon his coffin to the burial vault ; and 
 Klopstock's hymn, ' Auferstchen wirst du !' ' Thou shalt arise, 
 my soul,' can seldom have been sung with more appropriate 
 application, than over the grave of Jean Paul." Carlisle's 
 Miscellanies. 
 
 5, Bisliopsgate Street Without.
 
 STTCCESSOBS TO CHARLES QILPIN. 13 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., sewed, price Is., cloth, Is. 6d. 
 THE LIFE OF JOSIAH HENSON, formerly a 
 Slave, as narrated by himself, with a Preface, by 
 THOMAS BINNEY. 
 
 " We have seen and heard Mr. Henson, and listened to the 
 narrative of his eventful life. His life, which this volume 
 contains, is more thrilling than any romance we ever read. 
 We have shed tears and smiled alternately as we perused its 
 striking details." Evangelical Magazine. 
 
 12mo., sewed, price Is. 
 
 SPAEKS FBOM THE ANVIL. By ELIHTJ BTJBBITT. 
 The Thirteenth Thousand. 
 
 " These are sparks indeed of singular brilliancy." British 
 Friend. 
 
 " Reader, if you have not read the ' Sparks from the Anvil,' 
 do so at once." The Echo. 
 
 12mo., sewed, price Is. 
 
 A VOICE FBOM THE FOEGE. By ELIHTT BTTBEITT. 
 Being a Sequel to " Sparks from the Anvil." New 
 Edition. 
 
 " They deserve to be stereotyped, and to form part of the 
 standard literature of the age." Kentish Independent. 
 
 " We say to all, read it, imbibe its spirit, and learn, like the 
 writer, to work for and with God, towards the regeneration of 
 the world." Nottingham Review. 
 
 12mo., sewed in packets, price Is. each. 
 
 PEACE PAPEES FOB THE PEOPLE. By ELIHU 
 
 BUBBITT. 
 
 " We would rather have been the author of these six and 
 thirty papers than of all the poetry which has dazzled Europe 
 during the present century." Christian Witness. 
 
 " If we wanted to put into the hands of young people a book 
 likely to draw forth all that is generous in their hearts and 
 solemn in their convictions, in favour of the cause of Peace, 
 this would be the book. Nonconformist. 
 
 5, Bislwpsgate Street TFitJiout.
 
 14 WILLIAM AND rEEDEEICK G. CASH, 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., price 2s. 6d. 
 
 THE PRIZE ESSAY, on the Use and Abuse of 
 Alcoholic Liquors in Health and Disease. By W. 
 B. CAEPENTER, M.D., F.R.S. Dedicated by per- 
 mission to H. R. H. Prince Albert. 
 
 " We have now to congratulate the donor and the public 
 on having obtained an Essay from one of the most eminent 
 physiologists." Nonconformist. 
 
 8vo., Sewed price Is. 
 
 THREE LECTURES on the Moral Elevation of the 
 People. By THOMAS BEGGS. 
 
 " The working classes ought to read them, that they may 
 learn how much power resides in themselves ; the middle 
 classes should read them, and learn that wealth confers in- 
 creased responsibility on its possessor ; and even our nobles 
 should read them, that they may learn that the downfall of 
 false, and the reign of true nobility are alike at hand." 
 Nottingham Review. 
 
 18mo., cloth, price Is. 
 
 TRUE STORIES; or Interesting Anecdotes of 
 Children. Designed, through the medium of ex- 
 ample, to inculcate principles of virtue and piety. 
 Fifth Edition. 
 
 *' No narrative nor anecdote is inserted in this little work, 
 of whose strict authenticity there did not seem to be very 
 satisfactory evidence. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, price 3s. 6d. 
 
 THREE TEARS IN EUROPE; or, Places I have 
 seen, and People I have met. By WILLIAM WELLS 
 BEOWN. A Fugitive Slave. 
 
 " That a man who was a slave for the first twenty years 
 of his life, and who has never had a day's schooling, should 
 produce such a book as this, cannot but astonish those who 
 speak disparagingly of the African race." The Weekly News 
 and Chronicle. 
 
 5, Bislwpsgate Street Without.
 
 SUCCESSOES TO CHAELES GILPIN. 15 
 
 Foolscap 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 THE LAW OF KINDNESS. Six Chapters. I. The 
 Law of Kindness Introductory. II. The Law of 
 Kindness in the Family. III. The Law of Kind- 
 ness in the School. IV. The Law of Kindness in 
 the Church. V. The Law of Kindness in the Com- 
 monwealth. VI. The Law of Kindness to other 
 Nations and the Heathen. By the Rev. THOMAS 
 PYNE. 
 
 " We shall rejoice to hear that it is extensively circulated." 
 Standard of Freedom. 
 
 Post 8vo., cloth, price 10s. 6d. 
 
 PORTRAITS IN MINIATURE, or Sketches of 
 Character in Verse. By HENKIETTA J. FEY, Author 
 of the " Hymns of the Reformation," &c. Illustrated 
 with Eight Engravings. 
 
 This little volume holds many a name dear to the best 
 interests of society, like those of Elizabeth Fry, J. J. Gurney, 
 W. Wilberforce, Hannah More, Bishop Heber, &c. 
 
 18mo., cloth extra, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 ANGEL VOICES ; or, Words of Counsel for the 
 overcoming the World. Revised and partly altered 
 from the American Edition. With an introduction 
 by the Rev. JAMES MOEEIS, D. D. 
 
 " The Wisdom and Piety of these Voices need no high 
 Titles to recommend them. Their entire tendency is to exalt 
 the human mind above the petty cares and anxieties of this 
 world ; to teach us to follow the example of Him who " went 
 about doing good," and to comfort those bereaved hearts which 
 " alone know their own bitterness." Preface. 
 
 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.
 
 16 WILLIAM AND PEEDEEICK G. CASH, 
 
 2 Vols. 8vo., cloth, price 24s. 
 
 THE ROMISH CHURCH. The Doctrines of the 
 Romish Church, as exhibited in the Notes of the 
 Douay Bible. Arranged under separate heads. By 
 SAMUEL CAPPER. 
 
 " Mr. Capper's book may be regarded as a monument of 
 diligence, of fairness, and of Christian benevolence ; and it 
 will find its way, we doubt not, into the library of every man 
 who wishes to be informed on what must, after all, be one of 
 the greatest controversies, if not the greatest controversy, of 
 the times upon which the Church of Christ is entering." The 
 Patriot. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., sewed, price Is. 
 
 THE FUGITIVE BLACKSMITH; or, Events in 
 the History of Dr. PENNINGTON, Pastor of a Presby- 
 terian Church, New York. The Eleventh Thousand. 
 
 " This entrancing narrative * * * * We 
 trust that thousands of our readers will procure the volume, 
 which is published at a mere trifle much too cheap to 
 accomplish the purpose for which, in part or mainly, it has 
 been published the raising a fund to remove the pecuniary 
 burdens which press on the author's flock. Nothing short of 
 the sale of Fifty Thousand or Sixty Thousand Copies could 
 be at all availing for this object * * We very cordially 
 recommend him and his narrative to the kind consideration of 
 our readers." Christian Witness. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, price Is. 6d. 
 
 HYMNS AND MEDITATIONS, with Additions. By 
 A. L. WAEING. New Edition. 
 
 " These Hymns and Meditations appear to us to be the 
 effusions of a mind deeply imbued with the spirit of Christi- 
 anity, and highly appreciating its blessings. The writer is 
 evidently one who deeply communes with her own heart, and 
 who cannot be satisfied unless she realizes the joys of com- 
 muniou with her Saviour. There is, too, a beautiful simplicity 
 in the composition of the Hymns, which renders the perusal 
 of them as pleasing as it is profitable." British Mother's 
 Magazine. 
 
 5, JBisJiopsgate Street Without.
 
 SUCCESSOES TO CHABLES GILPIN. 17 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., Cloth, price Is. 
 
 LIFE OF A YAGEANT ; or, the Testimony of an 
 Outcast to the Value of the Gospel. To which is 
 added, a brief and original account of ANDEIES 
 STOFFI/ES, the African Witness. New Edition. 
 
 " When we tell our readers that we believe there are few 
 among them who, if circumstances permit, will not be com- 
 pelled to finish it at a single sitting, they will require no 
 further proof of the interest we felt in it." Christian Witness. 
 
 8vo., cloth, price 6s. 6d, 
 
 A POPTJLAE LIFE OF GEOEGE POX, the 
 First of the Quakers. BY Jo si AH MAESH. 
 
 Compiled from his Journal and other authentic sources, and 
 interspersed with remarks on the imperfect reformation of the 
 Anglican Church, and the consequent spread of dissent. 
 
 The work abounds with remarkable incidents, which pour- 
 tray a vivid picture of the excited feelings that predominated 
 during those eventful periods of our history the Common- 
 wealth and the Eestoration. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, price Is. 
 
 A POPULAE MEMOIE OF WILLIAM PENN, 
 
 Proprietor and Governor of Pennsylvania, under 
 whose wise Administration the principles of Peace 
 were maintained in practice. By JACOB POST. 
 
 " Such a work, indeed, was much wanted at the present 
 time. The dastardly attack by Macaulay on the well-esta- 
 blished fame of this great man, has induced the desire in 
 many minds to know something of the real character of the 
 Pennsylvanian legislator." British Friend. 
 
 5, BisTwpsgate Street Without.
 
 18 WILLIAM AND FBEDEEICK G. CASH, 
 
 In a Case, price 5s. 
 CAEDS OF CHAEACTEE: A Biographical Game. 
 
 " This Game, which is prepared by a young lady, contains 
 much amusement and instruction. It consists of brief sketches 
 of the lives and characters of about seventy of the principal 
 persons of the past age, and questions corresponding in number 
 with the Cards. The Game is well arranged, and very 
 simple." 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, price 5s. 
 
 THE TEADITIONAL HISTOEY, Legends, "Wars, 
 and Progress of Enlightened Education of the Ojib- 
 way Nation of North American Indians. By the 
 Indian Chief, KAH-GE-GA-GAH-BOWH, or George 
 Copway. 
 
 " We still must commend it as being what it aims to be, 
 and as giving much interesting information relative to a tribe 
 fast vanishing from the earth.'' Standard of Freedom. 
 
 Post 8vo., price 3s. 6d. 
 
 ON NEEVOTJS AFFECTION connected with Dys- 
 pepsia. By W. BATES, ESQ., M.D. Second Edition. 
 
 " We may therefore heartily commend this book as a very 
 valuable contribution to medical literature." Morning Post. 
 
 " No dyspeptic patient should fail to make himself familiar 
 with the contents of this excellent little book. Morning 
 Advertiser. 
 
 32mo., in packets, price Is. 
 
 THE WATEELOO SEEIES OF CHILDREN'S 
 BOOKS, containing Short Stories, illustrative of 
 Peace and Brotherhood. Edited by ELIHTJ BUEBITT. 
 
 ** Containing Narrative, History and Biography.. 
 
 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.
 
 STJCCESSOES TO CHABLES GILPIN. 19 
 
 Post 8vo., cloth, price 5s. 
 
 JUVENILE DEPEAVITY. The Prize Essay on 
 Juvenile Depravity. By the Eev. H. WOBSLEY, A.M., 
 Easton Eectory, Suffolk. To this Essay on Juvenile 
 Depravity, as connected with the causes and practices 
 of Intemperance, and the effectual barrier opposed 
 by them to Education. 
 
 " The author admirably uses his statistics, and shows an 
 intimate knowledge of human nature in its multifarious cir- 
 cumstances." Christian Examiner, April, 3849. 
 
 18mo. cloth, vols 1 to 6, price 21s. 
 
 SELECT MISCELLANIES, illustrative of the 
 History, Christian Principles, and Sufferings of the 
 Society of Friends. BY WILSON AEMISTEAD. 
 18mo., cloth 2s. 6d. ; silk 3s. 6d. 
 
 HYMNS 01? THE EEFOEMATION. By LUTHEB 
 and others. From the German. To which is added 
 his Life, from the original Latin of Melancthon, by 
 the Author of " The Pastor's Legacy." 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., price 5s. 
 
 EOG-EESON'S POEMS. The Poetical Works of 
 JOHN BOLTON EOGEBSON, author of " Ehyme, 
 Eouiance, and Eeverie," &c. 
 
 " His sterling talents are alike a credit to himself and the 
 land of his birth, and we doubt not will shortly win for him 
 a foremost rank among English Poets. Counly Herald. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., sewed, price Is. 
 
 THE NATIONS. A Poem. In two parts. By T. 
 H. STIRLING, Esq. 
 
 " This is the title of a short poem, in two parts, written by 
 THOMAS HENRY STIRLING, Esq. The object of the poem is 
 to decry tyranny in whatever country it is practised. It con- 
 tains some spirit-stirring allusions to occurrences in Switzerland 
 and other countries in later years, which have been marked 
 by the most barbarous invasion, of rights." BeWs Life in 
 London. 
 
 5, Bisliopsgate Street Without.
 
 20 WILLIAM AND FBEDEBICK G. CASH, 
 
 Crown 8vo., cloth, with a Portrait, price 3s. 
 
 MEMOIES OF JAMES LOGAN. A distinguished 
 Scholar and Christian Legislator. Including several 
 of his letters, and those of his Correspondents. By 
 WILSON AEMISTEAD. 
 
 32mo., cloth, price Is. 
 
 A GUIDE TO TETJE PEACE; or, a Method of 
 attaining to Inward and Spiritual Prayer. Com- 
 piled chiefly from the writings of FENELON, LADY 
 and MICHAEL MOLINOS. 
 
 12mo., sewed, price 6d. 
 
 MEMOIE OF QUAMINO BTJCCAU, a Pious 
 Methodist. By WILLIAM J. ALLINSON. 
 
 18mo., sewed, price 4d. 
 
 AN INTEEESTING MEMOIE or THEEE 
 BEOTHEES, (GK, L. and S. Pierson,) who died of 
 Consumption. 
 
 16mo., cleth, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 THE AET or MEMOEY. The New Mnemonic Chart 
 and Guide to the Art of Memory. By AV. DAT. 
 Neatly illustrated with upwards of 200 Woodcuts,&c. 
 
 8vo., sewed, price Is. 
 
 ELECTOEAL DISTEICTS ; or, the Apportionment 
 of the Eepresentation of the Country on the Basis 
 of its Population ; being an Inquiry into the working 
 of the Eeform Bill, and into the merits of the Eepre- 
 sentative Scheme by which it is proposed to super- 
 sede it. By ALEXANDEB MACKAT. 
 
 5, Bishopsgate Street Without,
 
 STJCCESSOBS TO CHARLES GILPIN. 21 
 
 16mo., cloth extra, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 GEMS FROM THE SPIEIT MINE, illustrative of 
 Peace, Brotherhood, and Progress. With two en- 
 gravings after designs by H. Anelay. A New 
 Edition. 
 
 Crown 8vo, ( sewed, price Is. 
 SKYEACK ; A Fairy Tale. With Six Illustrations. 
 
 " It is simply the story of an old oak ; but it carries you 
 away to the forest and refreshes you with its dewy, sunny, 
 solitary life. The spirit of the book is as pure as the breezes 
 of the forest themselves. All the imagery and the whole 
 tone of the story are of that kind which you wish to pervade 
 the mind of your children. In a word, we have rarely en- 
 joyed a more delicious hour, or have been more thoroughly 
 wrapt in sweet, silent, dewy, and balmy forest entrancement 
 than during the perusal of Skyrack." Standard of Freedom. 
 
 12mo., cloth, price 2s. 
 
 THE PEACE EEADING BOOK ; being a Series 
 of Selections from the Sacred Scriptures, the Early 
 Christian Fathers, and Historians, Philosophers and 
 Poets the wise and thoughtful of all ages con- 
 demnatory of the principles and practice of war, and 
 inculcating those of true Christianity. Edited by 
 H. G. ADAMS. 
 
 12mo., cloth, price 2s. 
 
 DEFENSIVE WAE PROVED TO BE A DENIAL OF 
 CHEISTIANITY, AND OF THE GOVEENMENT 
 OF GOD. With illustrative Facts and Anecdotes. 
 By HENRY C. WRIGHT. 
 
 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.
 
 22 "WILLIAM AND FBEDEBICK G. CASH, 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 OMAR : An Allegory, describing Slavery, both mental 
 and physical, as alike the work of Antichrist. By 
 J. J. HEMMINGS. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, price 6d. 
 
 STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS ESSENTIAL TO THE 
 CHRISTIAN. By MAEY ANN KELTY. 
 
 8vo., sewed, price 6d. 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. The History and 
 Power of the Ecclesiastical Courts. By EDWABD 
 MUSCUTT. Pp. 48. 
 
 18mo., sewed, price 6d. 
 
 THE YOYAGE COMPANION; a Parting Gift to 
 Female Emigrants. By the author of " A "Word 
 on behalf of a Slave," &c., &c. 
 
 18mo., sewed, price 4d. 
 
 THE YOUNG SERVANT'S BOOK. Intended as 
 a Present for Girls on first going to Service. 
 
 18rao., sewed, price 6d. 
 
 THE BOY'S OWN BOOK. Intended as a Present 
 for Children on leaving School. 
 
 5, Bisliopsgate Street Without.
 
 SUCCESSORS TO CHARLES GILPrff. 23 
 
 18mo., cloth, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 A SELECTION OF SCEIPTUEAL POETEY. 
 By LOYELL SQUIRE. Third Edition, containing 
 many Original Hymns not hitherto published. 
 
 8vo., 24 pp., price 2d, or 12s. per 100. 
 
 PEOPLE DIPLOMACY; or the Mission of Friendly 
 International Addresses between England and 
 Prance. Edited by ELIHU BURRITT. 
 
 Cloth 8vo., price 7s. 
 
 THE DEMEEAEA MAETTE. Memoirs of the Eev. 
 John Smith, Missionary to Demerara. By EDWIN 
 ANGEI, WALLBRIDGE. "With a Preface by the Eev. 
 "W. Gr. BARRETT. 
 
 " There will one day be a resurrection of names and repu- 
 tations, as certainly as of bodies." John Milton. 
 
 " The book is a worthy monument to the distinguished 
 Martyr whose history forms its leading subject. * * * A 
 valuable contribution to the cause of freedom, humanity, and 
 justice in Demerara." Patriot. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo., cloth, 2s. 
 
 THE NOEWEGIAN SAILOE. A Sketch of the 
 Life of GEORGE NOSCOE. "Written by Himself. 
 With, an Introductory Note by Dr. EAFELES. Fifth 
 Edition, with an account of his death. 
 
 " He (Gr. Noscoe) was really a remarkable man. I would 
 earnestly recommend the book to every sailor." Dr Raffles. 
 
 Crown 8vo., sewed, price Is., 
 
 THE WELLS OF SCEIPTUEE. By HENRIETTA 
 J. FRY. 
 
 " This little work is unpretending in its character ; but 
 dwelling as it does on themes of hallowed interest, we can, 
 with satisfaction, recommend it to our readers." 
 
 5, SisJiopsgate Street Without.
 
 24 WILLIAM AND FKEDEBICK G. CASH, &C. 
 
 PORTRAITS. 
 
 ELIZABETH FEY. A full-length Portrait of 
 
 Elizabeth Fry. Engraved by SAMUEL COUSINS, A.R.A., from 
 a Picture by George Richmond. 
 
 Artist's Proofs . . . 10 10s. 
 
 Proofs, with Autographs . .77 
 
 Proofs, with Letters . . 44 
 
 Prints. . . . .22 
 
 ELIZABETH FEY. Engraved on Copper. By 
 BLOOD. From a painting by Leslie. 
 
 Proofs .... 15s. 9d. 
 
 THOMAS n CLAEKSON. A Splendid Portrait of 
 
 this distinguished Philanthropist. 
 
 India Proofs, First Class . 1 00 
 Second Class . . . 10 6 
 
 Prints . . . .050 
 WILLIAM ALLEN. Drawn on Stone. By DAT 
 
 and HAGUE, from a Painting by Dieksee. 
 
 India Proofs, First Class . 1 10 
 Second Class . . .110 
 
 Prints ... . . 10 6 
 SAMUEL GUENEY. Drawn on Stone by 
 
 DlCKSEE. 
 
 First Class . . .110 
 
 Second Proofs . . . 10 6 
 
 Prints .... 050 
 
 JOSEPH JOHN GUENEY. Engraved in Mezzo- 
 tinto. By C. E. WAGSTAFF. 
 
 Proofs . . ... 110 
 
 Prints . . . . 10 6 
 
 JOSEPH STUEGE. Drawn on Stone by MILLI- 
 
 OHAMP. 
 
 Proofs' .... 10s. Od. 
 
 Prints .... 50 
 
 HENEY VINCENT. Drawn on Stone by B. 
 SMITH. 
 
 Proofs .... 21s. Od. 
 
 Second Proofs . . .106 
 
 Prints .... 50 
 
 5, Biakopggate Street Without.
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which it was borrowed.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY 'FACILITY 
 
 A 000 1 1 1 862 9