,transcriber's ,notes3 ,the first part of this volume 7,september #ahgi7 was produced as ,project ,gutenberg ,ebook #cjjdh4 ,the relevant part of the table of contents has been extracted from that document1 and a brief title page added4 ,italic words have been enclosed in underscores4 99,gesperrt99 7spaced7 letters have been enclosed in asterisks4 ,greek letters have been transliterated and enclosed in equals signs1 e4g4 schole4 ,symbols such as hieroglyphics or script letters have been represented using braces1 e4g4 symbol4 ,as the oe ligature cannot be included in this format1 it has been replaced with the separate letters1 e4g4 ,phoenician4 ,a few minor typographical errors have been silently corrected4 ,some inconsistent hyphenation and accents have been retained4 ,,the ,,contemporary ,,review ,,volume ,,xxxvi4 ,,november1 #ahgi ,,contents4 ,,november1 #ahgi4 ,,page ,on ,freedom4 ,by ,professor ,max ,muller #cfi ,mr4 ,gladstone3 ,two ,studies suggested by his ,gleanings of ,past ,years4 ,i4 ,by a ,liberal4--,,ii4 ,by a ,conservative #cih ,the ,ancien ,regime and the ,revolution in ,france4 ,by ,professor von ,sybel #dcb ,what is the ,actual ,condition of ,ireland8 ,by ,edward ,stanley ,robertson #dea ,the ,deluge3 ,its ,traditions in ,ancient ,nations4 ,by ,francois ,lenormant #dfe ,suspended ,animation4 ,by ,richard ,a4 ,proctor #eja ,john ,stuart ,mill's ,philosophy ,tested4 ,,iv4--,utilitarianism4 ,by ,professor ,w4 ,stanley ,jevons #eba ,,on ,,freedom4#a ,not more than twenty years have passed since ,john ,stuart ,mill sent forth his plea for ,liberty4#b ,if there is one among the leaders of thought in ,england who1 by the elevation of his character and the calm composure of his mind1 deserved the so often misplaced title of ,serene ,highness1 it was1 ,i think1 ,john ,stuart ,mill4 ,but in his ,essay ,on ,liberty1 ,mill for once becomes passionate4 ,in presenting his ,bill of ,rights1 in stepping forward as the champion of individual liberty1 a new spirit seems to have taken possession of him4 ,he speaks like a martyr1 or the defender of martyrs4 ,the individual human soul1 with its unfathomable endowments1 and its capacity of growing to something undreamt of in our philosophy1 becomes in his eyes a sacred thing1 and every encroachment on its world-wide domain is treated as sacrilege4 ,society1 the arch-enemy of the rights of individuality1 is represented like an evil spirit1 whom it behoves every true man to resist with might and main1 and whose demands1 as they cannot be altogether ignored1 must be reduced at all hazards to the lowest level4 ,i doubt whether any of the principles for which ,mill pleaded so warmly and strenuously in his ,essay ,on ,liberty would at the present day be challenged or resisted1 even by the most illiberal of philosophers1 or the most conservative of politicians4 ,mill's demands sound very humble to our ears4 ,they amount to no more than this1 that the individual is not accountable to society for his actions so far as they concern the interests of no person but himself1 and that he may be subjected to social or legal punishments for such actions only as are prejudicial to the interests of others4 ,is there any one here present who doubts the justice of that principle1 or who would wish to reduce the freedom of the individual to a smaller measure8 ,whatever social tyranny may have existed twenty years ago1 when it wrung that fiery protest from the lips of ,john ,stuart ,mill1 can we imagine a state of society1 not totally ,utopian1 in which the individual man need be less ashamed of his social fetters1 in which he could more freely utter all his honest convictions1 more boldly propound all his theories1 more fearlessly agitate for their speedy realization2 in which1 in fact1 each man can be so entirely himself as the society of ,england1 such as it now is1 such as generations of hard-thinking and hard-working ,englishmen have made it1 and left it as the most sacred inheritance to their sons and daughters8 ,look through the whole of history1 not excepting the brightest days of republican freedom at ,athens and ,rome1 and ,i know you will not find one single period in which the measure of ,liberty accorded to each individual was larger than it is at present1 at least in ,england4 ,and if you wish to realize the full blessings of the time in which we live1 compare ,mill's plea for ,liberty with another written not much more than two hundred years ago1 and by a thinker not inferior either in power or boldness to ,mill himself4 ,according to ,hobbes1 the only freedom which an individual in his ideal state has a right to claim is what he calls freedom of thought1 and that freedom of thought consists in our being able to think what we like--so long as we keep it to ourselves4 ,surely1 such freedom of thought existed even in the days of the ,inquisition1 and we should never call thought free1 if it had to be kept a prisoner in solitary and silent confinement4 ,by freedom of thought we mean freedom of speech1 freedom of the press1 freedom of action1 whether individual or associated1 and of that freedom the present generation1 as compared with all former generations1 the ,english nation1 as compared with all other nations1 enjoys1 there can be no doubt1 a good measure1 pressed down1 and shaken together1 and sometimes running over4 ,it may be said that some dogmas still remain in politics1 in religion1 and in morality2 but those who defend them claim no longer any infallibility1 and those who attack them1 however small their minority1 need fear no violence1 nay1 may reckon on an impartial and even sympathetic hearing1 as soon as people discover in their pleadings the true ring of honest conviction and the warmth inspired by an unselfish love of truth4 ,it has seemed strange therefore to many readers of ,mill1 particularly on the ,continent1 that this cry for ,liberty1 this demand for freedom for every individual to be what he is1 and to develop all the germs of his nature1 should have come from what is known as the freest of all countries1 ,england4 ,we might well understand such a cry of indignation if it had reached us from ,russia2 but why should ,english philosophers1 of all others1 have to protest against the tyranny of society8 ,it is true1 nevertheless1 that in countries governed despotically1 the individual1 unless he is obnoxious to the ,government1 enjoys far greater freedom1 or rather licence1 than in a country like ,england1 which governs itself4 ,russian society1 for instance1 is extremely indulgent4 ,it tolerates in its rulers and statesmen a haughty defiance of the simplest rules of social propriety1 and it seems amused rather than astonished or indignant at the vagaries1 the frenzies1 and outrages1 of those who in brilliant drawing-rooms or lecture-rooms preach the doctrines of what is called ,nihilism or ,individualism1#c--viz41 that society must be regenerated by a struggle for existence and the survival of the strongest1 processes which ,nature has sanctioned1 and which have proved successful among wild animals4 ,if there is danger in these doctrines the ,government is expected to see to it4 ,it may place watchmen at the doors of every house and at the corner of every street1 but it must not count on the better classes coming forward to enrol themselves as special constables1 or even on the co-operation of public opinion which in ,england would annihilate that kind of ,nihilism with one glance of scorn and pity4 ,in a self-governed country like ,england1 the resistance which society1 if it likes1 can oppose to the individual in the assertion of his rights1 is far more compact and powerful than in ,russia1 or even in ,germany4 ,even where it does not employ the arm of the law1 society knows how to use that softer1 but more crushing pressure1 that calm1 but ,gorgon-like look which only the bravest and stoutest hearts know how to resist4 ,it is rather against that indirect repression which a well-organized society exercises1 both through its male and female representatives1 that ,mill's demand for ,liberty seems directed4 ,he does not stand up for unlimited licence2 on the contrary1 he would have been the most strenuous defender of that balance of power between the weak and the strong on which all social life depends4 ,but he resents those smaller penalties which society will always inflict on those who disturb its dignified peace and comfort3--avoidance1 exclusion1 a cold look1 a stinging remark4 ,had ,mill any right to complain of these social penalties8 ,would it not rather amount to an interference with individual liberty to wish to deprive any individual or any number of individuals of those weapons of self-defence8 ,those who themselves think and speak freely1 have hardly a right to complain1 if others claim the same privilege4 ,mill himself called the ,conservative party the stupid party par excellence1 and he took great pains to explain that it was so1 not by accident1 but by necessity4 ,need he wonder if those whom he whipped and scourged used their own whips and scourges against so merciless a critic8 ,freethinkers1 and ,i use that name as a title of honour for all who1 like ,mill1 claim for every individual the fullest freedom in thought1 word1 or deed1 compatible with the freedom of others1 are apt to make one mistake4 ,conscious of their own honest intentions1 they cannot bear to be mistrusted or slighted4 ,they expect society to submit to their often very painful operations as a patient submits to the knife of the surgeon4 ,that is not in human nature4 ,the enemy of abuses is always abused by his enemies4 ,society will never yield one inch without resistance1 and few reformers live long enough to receive the thanks of those whom they have reformed4 ,mill's unsolicited election to ,parliament was a triumph not often shared by social reformers2 it was as exceptional as ,bright's admission to a seat in the ,cabinet1 or ,stanley's appointment as ,dean of ,westminster4 ,such anomalies will happen in a country fortunately so full of anomalies as ,england2 but1 as a rule1 a political reformer must not be angry if he passes through life without the title of ,right ,honourable2 nor should a man1 if he will always speak the truth1 the whole truth1 and nothing but the truth1 be disappointed if he dies a martyr rather than a ,bishop4 ,but granting even that in ,mill's time there existed some traces of social tyranny1 where are they now8 ,look at the newspapers and the journals4 ,is there any theory too wild1 any reform too violent1 to be openly defended8 ,look at the drawing-rooms or the meetings of learned societies4 ,are not the most eccentric talkers the spoiled children of the fashionable world8 ,when young lords begin to discuss the propriety of limiting the rights of inheritance1 and young tutors are not afraid to propose curtailing the long vacation1 surely we need not complain of the intolerance of ,english society4 ,whenever ,i state these facts to my ,german and ,french and ,italian friends1 who from reading ,mill's ,essay ,on ,liberty have derived the impression that1 however large an amount of political liberty ,england may enjoy1 it enjoys but little of intellectual freedom1 they are generally willing to be converted so far as ,london1 or other great cities1 are concerned4 ,but look at your ,universities1 they say1 the nurseries of ,english thought6 ,can you compare their mediaeval spirit1 their monastic institutions1 their scholastic philosophy1 with the freshness and freedom of the ,continental ,universities8 ,strong as these prejudices about ,oxford and ,cambridge have always been1 they have become still more intense since ,professor ,helmholtz1 in an inaugural address which he delivered at his installation as ,rector of the ,university of ,berlin1 lent the authority of his great name to these misconceptions4 ,the tutors1 he says1#d in the ,english ,universities cannot deviate by a hair's-breadth from the dogmatic system of the ,english ,church1 without exposing themselves to the censure of their ,archbishops and losing their pupils4 ,in ,german ,universities1 on the contrary1 we are told that the extreme conclusions of materialistic metaphysics1 the boldest speculations within the sphere of ,darwin's theory of evolution1 may be propounded without let or hindrance1 quite as much as the highest apotheosis of ,papal infallibility4 ,here the facts on which ,professor ,helmholtz relies are entirely wrong1 and the writings of some of our most eminent tutors supply a more than sufficient refutation of his statements4 ,archbishops have no official position whatsoever in ,english ,universities1 and their censure of an ,oxford tutor would be resented as impertinent by the whole ,university4 ,nor does the ,university1 as such1 exercise any very strict control over the tutors1 even when they lecture not to their own ,college only4 ,each ,master of ,arts at ,oxford claims now the right to lecture 7venia docendi71 and ,i doubt whether they would ever submit to those restrictions which1 in ,germany1 the ,faculty imposes on every ,privat-docent4 ,privat-docents in ,german ,universities have been rejected by the ,faculty for incompetence1 and silenced for insubordination4 ,i know of no such cases at ,oxford during my residence of more than thirty years1 nor can ,i think it likely that they should ever occur4 ,as to the extreme conclusions of materialistic metaphysics1 there are ,oxford tutors who have grappled with the systems of such giants as ,hobbes1 ,locke1 or ,hume1 and who are not likely to be frightened by ,buchner and ,vogt4 ,i know comparisons are odious1 and ,i am the last man who would wish to draw comparisons between ,english and ,german ,universities unfavourable to the latter4 ,but with regard to freedom of thought1 of speech1 and action1 ,professor ,helmholtz1 if he would spend but a few weeks at ,oxford1 would find that we enjoy a fuller measure of freedom here than the ,professors and ,privat-docents in any ,continental ,university4 ,the publications of some of our professors and tutors ought at least to have convinced him that if there is less of brave words and turbulent talk in their writings1 they display throughout a determination to speak the truth1 which may be matched1 but could not easily be excelled1 by the leaders of thought in ,france1 ,germany1 or ,italy4 ,the real difference between ,english and ,continental ,universities is that the former govern themselves1 the latter are governed4 ,self-government entails responsibilities1 sometimes restraints and reticences4 ,i may here be allowed to quote the words of another eminent ,professor of the ,university of ,berlin1 ,du ,bois ,reymond1 who1 in addressing his colleagues1 ventured to tell them1#e ,we have still to learn from the ,english how the greatest independence of the individual is compatible with willing submission to salutary1 though irksome1 statutes4 ,that is particularly true when the statutes are self-imposed4 ,in ,germany1 as ,professor ,helmholtz tells us himself1 the last decision in almost all the more important affairs of the ,universities rests with the ,government1 and he does not deny that in times of political and ecclesiastical tension1 a most inconsiderate use has been made of that power4 ,there are1 besides1 the less important matters1 such as raising of salaries1 leave of absence1 scientific missions1 even titles and decorations1 all of which enable a clever ,minister of ,instruction to assert his personal influence among the less independent members of the ,university4 ,in ,oxford the ,university does not know the ,ministry1 nor the ,ministry the ,university4 ,the acts of the ,government1 be it ,liberal or ,conservative1 are freely discussed1 and often powerfully resisted by the academic constituencies1 and the personal dislike of a ,minister or ,ministerial ,councillor could as little injure a professor or tutor as his favour could add one penny to his salary4 ,but these are minor matters4 ,what gives their own peculiar character to the ,english ,universities is a sense of power and responsibility3 power1 because they are the most respected among the numerous corporations in the country2 responsibility1 because the higher education of the whole country has been committed to their charge4 ,their only master is public opinion as represented in ,parliament1 their only incentive their own sense of duty4 ,there is no country in ,europe where ,universities hold so exalted a position1 and where those who have the honour to belong to them may say with greater truth1 ,noblesse oblige4 ,i know the dangers of self-government1 particularly where higher and more ideal interests are concerned1 and there are probably few who wish for a real reform in schools and ,universities who have not occasionally yielded to the desire for a ,dictator1 of a ,bismarck or a ,falk4 ,but such a desire springs only from a momentary weakness and despondency2 and no one who knows the difference between being governed and governing oneself1 would ever wish to descend from that higher though dangerous position to a lower one1 however safe and comfortable it might seem4 ,no one who has tasted freedom would ever wish to exchange it for anything else4 ,public opinion is sometimes a hard task-master1 and majorities can be great tyrants to those who want to be honest to their own convictions4 ,but in the struggle of all against all1 each individual feels that he has his rightful place1 and that he may exercise his rightful influence4 ,if he is beaten1 he is beaten in fair fight2 if he conquers1 he has no one else to thank4 ,no doubt despotic ,governments have often exercised the most beneficial patronage in encouraging and rewarding poets1 artists1 and men of science4 ,but men of genius who have conquered the love and admiration of a whole nation are greater than those who have gained the favour of the most brilliant ,courts2 and we know how some of the fairest reputations have been wrecked on the patronage which they had to accept at the hands of powerful ,ministers or ambitious ,sovereigns4 ,but to return to ,mill and his plea for ,liberty4 ,though ,i can hardly believe that1 were he still among us1 he would claim a larger measure of freedom for the individual than is now accorded to every one of us in the society in which we move1 yet the chief cause on which he founded his plea for ,liberty1 the chief evil which he thought could be remedied only if society would allow more elbow-room to individual genius1 exists in the same degree as in his time--aye1 even in a higher degree4 ,the principle of ,individuality has suffered more at present than perhaps at any former period of history4 ,the world is becoming more and more gregarious1 and what the ,french call our nature moutonniere1 our mutton-like nature1 our tendency to leap where any bell-wether has leapt before1 becomes more and more prevalent in politics1 in religion1 in art1 and even in science4 ,m4 de ,tocqueville expressed his surprise how much more ,frenchmen of the present day resemble one another than did those of the last generation4 ,the same remark1 adds ,john ,stuart ,mill1 might be made of ,england in a greater degree4 ,the modern regime of public opinion1 he writes1 is in an unorganized form what the ,chinese educational and political systems are in an organized2 and unless individuality shall be able successfully to assert itself against this yoke1 ,europe1 notwithstanding its noble antecedents and its professed ,christianity1 will tend to become another ,china4 ,i fully agree with ,mill in recognizing the dangers of uniformity1 but ,i doubt whether what he calls the regime of public opinion is alone1 or even chiefly1 answerable for it4 ,no doubt there are some people in whose eyes uniformity seems an advantage rather than a disadvantage4 ,if all were equally strong1 equally educated1 equally honest1 equally rich1 equally tall1 or equally small1 society would seem to them to have reached the highest ideal4 ,the same people admire an old ,french garden1 with its clipped yew-trees1 forming artificial walls and towers and pyramids1 far more than the giant yews which1 like large serpents1 clasp the soil with their coiling roots1 and overshadow with their dark green branches the white chalk cliffs of the ,thames4 ,but those ,french gardens1 unless they are constantly clipped and prevented from growing1 soon fall into decay4 ,as in nature1 so in society1 uniformity means but too often stagnation1 while variety is the surest sign of health and vigour4 ,the deepest secret of nature is its love of continued novelty4 ,its tendency1 if unrestrained1 is towards constantly creating new varieties1 which1 if they fulfil their purpose1 become fixed for a time1 or1 it may be1 for ever2 while others1 after they have fulfilled their purpose1 vanish to make room for new and stronger types4 ,the same is the secret of human society4 ,it consists and lives in individuals1 each being meant to be different from all the others1 and to contribute his own peculiar share to the common wealth4 ,as no tree is like any other tree1 and no leaf on the same tree like any other leaf1 no human being is exactly like any other human being1 nor is it meant to be4 ,it is in this endless1 and to us inconceivable1 variety of human souls that the deepest purpose of human life is to be realized2 and the more society fulfils that purpose1 the more it allows free scope for the development of every individual germ1 the richer will be the harvest in no distant future4 ,such is the mystery of individuality that ,i do not wonder if even those philosophers who1 like ,mill1 reduce the meaning of the word sacred to the very smallest compass1 see in each individual soul something sacred1 something to be revered1 even where we cannot understand it1 something to be protected against all vulgar violence4 ,where ,i differ from ,mill and his school is on the question as to the quarter from whence the epidemic of uniformity springs which threatens the free development of modern society4 ,mill points to the society in which we move2 to those who are in front of us1 to our contemporaries4 ,i feel convinced that our real enemies are at our back1 and that the heaviest chains which are fastened on us are those made1 not by the present1 but by past generations--by our ancestors1 not by our contemporaries4 ,it is on this point1 on the trammels of individual freedom with which we may almost be said to be born into the world1 and on the means by which we may shake off these old chains1 or at all events carry them more lightly and gracefully1 that ,i wish to speak to you this evening4 ,you need not be afraid that ,i am going to enter upon the much discussed subject of heredity1 whether in its physiological or psychological aspects4 ,it is a favourite subject just now1 and the most curious facts have been brought together of late to illustrate the working of what is called heredity4 ,but the more we know of these facts1 the less we seem able to comprehend the underlying principle4 ,inheritance is one of those numerous words which by their very simplicity and clearness are so apt to darken our counsel4 ,if a father has blue eyes and the son has blue eyes1 what can be clearer than that he inherited them8 ,if the father stammers and the son stammers1 who can doubt but that it came by inheritance8 ,if the father is a musician and the son a musician1 we say very glibly that the talent was inherited4 ,but what does inherited mean8 ,in no case does it mean what inherited usually means--something external1 like money1 collected by a father1 and1 after his death1 secured by law to his son4 ,whatever else inherited may mean1 it does not mean that4 ,but unfortunately the word is there1 it seems almost pedantic to challenge its meaning1 and people are always grateful if an easy word saves them the trouble of hard thought4 ,another apparent advantage of the theory of heredity is that it never fails4 ,if the son has blue1 and the father black1 eyes1 all is right again1 for either the mother1 or the grandmother1 or some historic or prehistoric ancestor1 may have had blue eyes1 and atavism1 we know1 will assert itself after hundreds and thousands of years4 ,do not suppose that ,i deny the broad facts of what is called by the name of heredity4 ,what ,i deny is that the name of heredity offers any scientific solution of a most difficult problem4 ,it is a name1 a metaphor1 quite as bad as the old metaphor of innate ideas2 for there is hardly a single point of similarity between the process by which a son may share the black eyes1 the stammering1 or the musical talent of his father1 and that by which1 after his father's death1 the law secures to the son the possession of the pounds1 shillings1 and pence which his father held in the ,funds4 ,but whatever the true meaning of heredity may be1 certain it is that every individual comes into the world heavy-laden4 ,nowhere has the consciousness of the burden which rests on each generation as it enters on its journey through life found stronger expression than among the ,buddhists4 ,what other people call by various names1 fate or providence1 tradition or inheritance1 circumstances or environment1 they call ,karman1 deed--what has been done1 whether by ourselves or by others1 the accumulated work of all who have come before us1 the consequences of which we have to bear1 both for good and for evil4 ,originally this ,karman seems to have been conceived as personal1 as the work which we ourselves have done in former existences4 ,but1 as personally we are not conscious of having done such work in former ages1 that kind of ,karman1 too1 might be said to be impersonal4 ,to the question how ,karman began1 the accumulation of what forms the condition of all that exists at present1 ,buddhism has no answer to give1 any more than any other system of religion or philosophy4 ,the ,buddhists say it began with avidya1 and avidya means ignorance4#f ,they are much more deeply interested in the question how ,karman may be annihilated1 how each man may free himself from the influence of ,karman1 and ,nirvana1 the highest object of all their dreams1 is often defined by ,buddhist philosophers as freedom from ,karman4#g ,what the ,buddhists call by the general name of ,karman1 comprehends all influences which the past exercises on the present1 both physically and mentally4#h ,it is not my object to examine or even to name all these influences1 though ,i confess nothing is more interesting than to look upon the surface of our modern life as we look on a geological map1 and to see the most ancient formations cropping out everywhere under our feet4 ,difficult as it is to colour a geological map of ,england1 it would be still more difficult to find a sufficient variety of colours to mark the different ingredients of the intellectual surface of this island4 ,that all of us1 whether we speak ,english or ,german1 or ,french or ,russian1 are really speaking an ancient ,oriental tongue1 incredible as it would have sounded a hundred years ago1 is now admitted by everybody4 ,though the various dialects now spoken in ,europe have been separated many thousands of years from the ,sanskrit1 the ancient classical language of ,india1 yet so unbroken is the bond that holds the ,west and ,east together that in many cases an intelligent ,englishman might still guess the meaning of a ,sanskrit word4 ,how little difference is there between ,sanskrit sunu and ,english son1 between ,sanskrit duhitar and ,english daughter1 between ,sanskrit vid1 to know1 and ,english to wit1 between ,sanskrit vaksh1 to grow1 and ,english to wax6 ,think how we value a ,saxon urn1 or a ,roman coin1 or a ,celtic weapon6 how we dig for them1 clean them1 label them1 and carefully deposit them in our museums6 ,yet what is their antiquity compared with the antiquity of such words as son or daughter1 father and mother8 ,there are no monuments older than those collected in the handy volumes which we call ,dictionaries1 and those who know how to interpret those ,english antiquities--as you may see them interpreted1 for instance1 in ,grimm's ,dictionary of the ,german1 in ,littre's ,dictionary of the ,french1 or in ,professor ,skeats' ,etymological ,dictionary of the ,english ,language--will learn more of the real growth of the human mind than by studying many volumes on logic and psychology4 ,and as by our language we belong to the ,aryan stratum1 we belong through our letters to the ,hamitic4 ,we still write ,english in hieroglyphics2 and in spite of all the vicissitudes through which the ancient hieroglyphics have passed in their journey from ,egypt to ,phoenicia1 from ,phoenicia to ,greece1 from ,greece to ,italy1 and from ,italy to ,england1 when we write a capital ,f script ,f1 when we draw the top line and the smaller line through the middle of the letter1 we really draw the two horns of the cerastes1 the horned serpent which the ancient ,egyptians used for representing the sound of f4 ,they write the name of the king whom the ,greeks called ,cheops1 and they themselves ,chu-fu1 like this3#i ,illustration3 --------- sieve chu serpent fu bird u --------- ,here the first sign1 the sieve1 is to be pronounced chu2 the second1 the horned serpent1 fu1 and the little bird1 again1 u4 ,in the more cursive or ,hieratic writing the horned serpent appears as symbol2 in the later ,demotic as symbol and symbol4 ,the ,phoenicians1 who borrowed their letters from the ,hieratic ,egyptian1 wrote symbol and symbol4 ,the ,greeks1 who took their letters from the ,phoenicians1 wrote symbol4 ,when the ,greeks1 instead of writing like the ,phoenicians from right to left1 began to write from left to right1 they turned each letter1 and as symbol became ,k1 our k1 so symbol1 vau1 became ,f1 the ,greek so-called ,digamma1 the ,latin ,f4 ,the first letter in ,chu-fu1 too1 still exists in our alphabet1 and in the transverse line of our ,h we must recognize the last remnant of the lines which divide the sieve4 ,the sieve appears in ,hieratic as symbol1 in ,phoenician as symbol1 in ancient ,greek as symbol1 which occurs on an inscription found at ,mycenae and elsewhere as the sign of the spiritus asper1 while in ,latin it is known to us as the letter ,h4#aj ,in the same manner the undulating line of our capital script ,l still recalls very strikingly the bent back of the crouching lion1 which in the later hieroglyphic inscriptions represents the sound of ,l4 ,if thus in our language we are ,aryan1 in our letters ,egyptian1 we have only to look at our watches to see that we are ,babylonian4 ,why is our hour divided into sixty minutes1 our minutes into sixty seconds8 ,would not a division of the hour into ten1 or fifty1 or a hundred minutes have been more natural8 ,we have sixty divisions on the dials of our watches simply because the ,greek astronomer ,hipparchus1 who lived in the second century ,b4,c41 accepted the ,babylonian system of reckoning time1 that system being sexagesimal4 ,the ,babylonians knew the decimal system1 but for practical purposes they counted by sossi and sari1 the sossos representing #fj1 the saros #fj #fj1 or #cfjj4 ,from ,hipparchus that system found its way into the works of ,ptolemy1 about #aej ,a4,d41 and thence it was carried down the stream of civilization1 finding its last resting-place on the dial-plates of our clocks4 ,and why are there twenty shillings to our sovereign8 ,again the real reason lies in ,babylon4 ,the ,greeks learnt from the ,babylonians the art of dividing gold and silver for the purpose of trade4 ,it has been proved that the current gold piece of ,western ,asia was exactly the sixtieth part of a ,babylonian mna1 or mina4 ,it was nearly equal to our sovereign4 ,the difficult problem of the relative value of gold and silver in a bi-monetary currency had been solved to a certain extent in the ancient ,mesopotamian kingdom1 the proportion between gold and silver being fixed at #a to #ac-a_/c4 ,the silver shekel current in ,babylon was heavier than the gold shekel in the proportion of #ac-a_/c to #aj1 and had therefore the value of one-tenth of a gold shekel2 and the half silver shekel1 called by the ,greeks a drachma1 was worth one-twentieth of a gold shekel4 ,the drachma1 or half silver shekel1 may therefore be looked upon as the most ancient type of our own silver shilling in its relation of one-twentieth of our gold sovereign4#aa ,i shall mention only one more of the most essential tools of our mental life--namely1 our figures1 which we call ,arabic1 because we received them from the ,arabs1 but which the ,arabs called ,indian1 because they received them from the ,indians--in order to show you how this nineteenth century of ours is under the sway of centuries long past and forgotten2 how we are what we are1 not by ourselves1 but by those who came before us1 and how the intellectual ground on which we stand is made up of the detritus of thoughts which were first thought1 not on these isles nor in ,europe1 but on the shores of the ,oxus1 the ,nile1 the ,euphrates1 and the ,indus4 ,now you may well ask ,quorsum haec omnia8--,what has all this to do with freedom and with the free development of individuality8 ,because a man is born the heir of all the ages1 can it be said that he is not free to grow and to expand1 and to develop all the faculties of his mind8 ,are those who came before him1 and who left him this goodly inheritance1 to be called his enemies8 ,is that chain of tradition which connects him with the past really a galling fetter1 and not rather the leading-strings without which he would never learn to walk straight8 ,let us look at the matter more closely4 ,no one would venture to say that every individual should begin life as a young savage1 and be left to form his own language1 and invent his own letters1 numerals1 and coins4 ,on the contrary1 if we comprehend all this and a great deal more1 such as religion1 morality1 and secular knowledge1 under the general name of education1 even the most advanced defenders of individualism would hold that no child should enter society without submitting1 or rather without being submitted1 to education4 ,most of us would even go further1 and make it criminal for parents or even for communities to allow children to grow up uneducated4 ,the excuse of worthless parents that they are at liberty to do with their children as they like1 has at last been blown to the winds4 ,i still remember the time when pseudo-,liberals were not ashamed to say that1 whatever other nations1 such as the ,germans1 might do1 ,england would never submit to compulsory education4 ,that wicked sophistry1 too1 has at last been silenced1 and among the principal advocates of compulsory education1 and of the necessity of curtailing the freedom of savage parents of savage children1 have been ,mill and his friends1 the apostles of liberty and individualism4#ab ,a new era may be said to date in the history of every nation from the day on which compulsory education becomes part of their statute-book2 and ,i may congratulate the most ,liberal town in ,england on having proved itself the most inexorable tyrant in carrying out the principle of compulsory education4 ,but do not let us imagine that compulsory education is without its dangers4 ,like a powerful engine1 it must be carefully watched1 if it is not to produce1 what all compulsion will produce1 a slavish receptivity1 and1 what all machines do produce1 monotonous uniformity4 ,we know that all education must in the beginning be purely dogmatic4 ,children are taught language1 religion1 morality1 patriotism1 and afterwards at school1 history1 literature1 mathematics1 and all the rest1 long before they are able to question1 to judge1 or choose for themselves1 and there is hardly anything that a child will not believe if it comes from those in whom the child believes4 ,reading1 writing1 and arithmetic1 no doubt1 must be taught dogmatically1 and they take up an enormous amount of time1 particularly in ,english schools4 ,english spelling is a national misfortune1 and in the keen international race between all the countries of ,europe1 it handicaps the ,english child to a degree that seems incredible till we look at statistics4 ,i know the difficulties of a ,spelling ,reform1 ,i know what people mean when they call it impossible2 but ,i also know that personal and national virtue consists in doing so-called impossible things1 and that no nation has done1 and has still to do1 so many impossible things as the ,english4 ,but1 granted that reading1 writing1 and arithmetic occupy nearly the whole school-time and absorb the best powers of the pupils1 cannot something be done in play-hours8 ,is there not some work that can be turned into play1 and some play that can be turned into work8 ,cannot the powers of observation be called out in a child while collecting flowers1 or stones1 or butterflies8 ,cannot his judgment be strengthened either in gymnastic exercises1 or in measuring the area of a field or the height of a tower8 ,might not all this be done without a view to examinations or payment by results1 simply for the sake of filling the little dull minds with one sunbeam of joy1 such sunbeams being more likely hereafter to call hidden precious germs into life than the deadening weight of such lessons as1 for instance1 that th-ough is though1 thr-ough is through1 en-ough is enough4 ,a child who believes that will hereafter believe anything4 ,those who wish to see ,natural ,science introduced into elementary schools frighten schoolmasters by the very name of ,natural ,science4 ,but surely every schoolmaster who is worth his salt should be able to teach children a love of ,nature1 a wondering at ,nature1 a curiosity to pry into the secrets of ,nature1 an acquisitiveness for some of the treasures of ,nature1 and all this acquired in the fresh air of the field and the forest1 where1 better than in frouzy lecture-rooms1 the edge of the senses can be sharpened1 the chest be widened1 and that freedom of thought fostered which made ,england what it was even before the days of compulsory education4 ,but in addressing you here to-night it was my intention to speak of the higher rather than of elementary education4 ,all education1 as it now exists in most countries of ,europe1 may be divided into three stages--elementary1 scholastic1 and academical2 or call it primary1 secondary1 and tertiary4 ,elementary education has at last been made compulsory in most civilized countries4 ,unfortunately1 however1 it seems impossible to include under compulsory education anything beyond the very elements of knowledge--at least for the present2 though1 with proper management1 ,i know from experience that a well-conducted elementary school can afford to provide instruction in extra subjects--such as natural science1 modern languages1 and political economy--and yet1 with the present system of ,government grants1 be self-supporting4#ac ,the next stage above the elementary is scholastic education1 as it is supplied in grammar schools1 whether public or private4 ,according as the pupils are intended either to go on to a university1 or to enter at once on leaving school on the practical work of life1 these schools are divided into two classes4 ,in the one class1 which in ,germany are called ,real-schulen1 less ,latin is taught1 and no ,greek1 but more of mathematics1 modern languages1 and physical science2 in the other1 called ,gymnasia on the ,continent1 classics form the chief staple of instruction4 ,it is during this stage that education1 whether at private or public schools1 exercises its strongest levelling influence4 ,little attention can be paid at large schools to individual tastes or talents4 ,in ,germany1 even more perhaps than in ,england1 it is the chief object of a good and conscientious master to have his class as uniform as possible at the end of the year2 and he receives far more credit from the official examiner if his whole class marches well and keeps pace together1 than if he can parade a few brilliant and forward boys1 followed by a number of straggling laggards4 ,and as to the character of the teaching at school1 how can it be otherwise than authoritative or dogmatic8 ,the ,socratic method is very good if we can find the viri ,socratici and leisure for discussion4 ,but at school1 which now may seem to be called almost in mockery schole1 or leisure1 the true method is1 after all1 that patronized by the great educators of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries4 ,boys at school must turn their mind into a row of pigeon-holes1 filling as many as they can with useful notes1 and never forgetting how many are empty4 ,there is an immense amount of positive knowledge to be acquired between the ages of ten and eighteen--rules of grammar1 strings of vocables1 dates1 names of towns1 rivers1 and mountains1 mathematical formulas1 c4 ,all depends here on the receptive and retentive powers of the mind4 ,the memory has to be strengthened1 without being overtaxed1 till it acts almost mechanically4 ,learning by heart1 ,i believe1 cannot be too strongly recommended during the years spent at school4 ,there may have been too much of it when1 as the ,rev4 ,h4 ,c4 ,adams informs us in his ,wykehamica 7p4 #ceg71 boys used to say by heart #ac1jjj and #ad1jjj lines1 when one repeated the whole of ,virgil1 nay1 when another was able to say the whole of the ,english ,bible by rote3--,put him on where you would1 he would go fluently on1 as long as any one would listen4 ,no intellectual investment1 ,i feel certain1 bears such ample and such regular interest as gems of ,english1 ,latin1 or ,greek literature deposited in our memory during our childhood and youth1 and taken up from time to time in the happy hours of our solitude4 ,one fault ,i have to find with most schools1 both in ,england and on the ,continent4 ,boys do not read enough of the ,greek and ,roman classics4 ,the majority of our masters are scholars by profession1 and they are apt to lay undue stress on what they call accurate and minute scholarship1 and to neglect wide and cursory reading4 ,i know the arguments for minute accuracy1 but ,i also know the mischief that is done by an exclusive devotion to critical scholarship before we have acquired a real familiarity with the principal works of classical literature4 ,the time spent in our schools in learning the rules of grammar and syntax1 writing exercises1 and composing verses1 is too large4 ,look only at our ,greek and ,latin grammars1 with all their rules and exceptions1 and exceptions on exceptions6 ,it is too heavy a weight for any boy to carry2 and no wonder that when one of the thousand small rules which they have learnt by heart is really wanted1 it is seldom forthcoming4 ,the end of classical teaching at school should be to make our boys acquainted not only with the language1 but with the literature and history1 the ancient thought of the ancient world4 ,rules of grammar1 syntax1 or metre1 are but means towards that end2 they must never be mistaken for the end itself4 ,a young man of eighteen1 who has probably spent on an average ten years in learning ,greek and ,latin1 ought to be able to read any of the ordinary ,greek or ,latin classics without much difficulty2 nay1 with a certain amount of pleasure4 ,he might have to consult his dictionary now and then1 or guess the meaning of certain words2 he might also feel doubtful sometimes whether certain forms came from hiemi1 ,i send1 or eimi1 ,i go1 or eimi1 ,i am1 particularly if preceded by prepositions4 ,in these matters the best scholars are least inclined to be pharisaical2 and whenever ,i meet in the controversies of classical scholars the favourite phrase1 ,every schoolboy knows1 or ought to know1 this1 ,i generally say to myself1 ,no1 he ought not4 ,anyhow1 those who wish to see the study of ,greek and ,latin retained in our public schools ought to feel convinced that it will certainly not be retained much longer1 if it can be said with any truth that young men who leave school at eighteen are in many cases unable to read or to enjoy a classical text1 unless they have seen it before4 ,classical teaching1 and all purely scholastic teaching1 ought to be finished at school4 ,when a young man goes to ,university1 unless he means to make scholarship his profession1 he ought to be free to enter upon a new career4 ,if he has not learnt by that time so much of ,greek and ,latin as is absolutely necessary in after-life for a lawyer1 or a student of physical science1 or even a clergyman1 either he or his school is to blame4 ,i do not mean to say that it would not be most desirable for every one during his ,university career to attend some lectures on classical literature1 on ancient history1 philosophy1 or art4 ,what is to be deprecated is1 that the ,university should have to do the work which belongs properly to the school4 ,the best colleges at ,oxford and ,cambridge have shown by their matriculation examinations what the standard of classical knowledge ought to be at eighteen or nineteen4 ,that standard can be reached by boys while still at school1 as has been proved both by the so-called local examinations1 and by the examinations of schools held under the ,delegates appointed by the ,universities4 ,if1 therefore1 the ,university would reassert her old right1 and make the first examination1 called at ,oxford ,responsions1 a general matriculation examination for admission to the ,university1 not only would the public schools be stimulated to greater efforts1 but the teaching of the ,university might assume1 from the very beginning1 that academic character which ought to distinguish it from mere schoolboy work4 ,academic teaching ought to be not merely a continuation1 but in one sense a correction of scholastic teaching4 ,while at school instruction must be chiefly dogmatic1 at ,university it is to be ,socratic1 for ,i find no better name for that method which is to set a man free from the burden of purely traditional knowledge2 to make him feel that the words which he uses are often empty1 that the concepts he employs are1 for the most part1 mere bundles picked up at random2 that even where he knows facts1 he does not know their evidence2 and where he expresses opinions1 they are mostly mere dogmas1 adopted by him without examination4 ,but for the ,universities1 ,i should indeed fear that ,mill's prophecies might come true1 and that the intellect of ,europe might drift into dreary monotony4 ,the ,universities always have been1 and1 unless they are diverted from their original purpose1 always will be1 the guardians of the freedom of thought1 the protectors of individual spontaneity2 and it was owing1 ,i believe1 to ,mill's ignorance of true academic teaching that he took so desponding a view of the generation growing up under his eyes4 ,when we leave school1 our heads are naturally brimful of dogma1 that is1 of knowledge and opinions at second-hand4 ,such dead knowledge is extremely dangerous1 unless it is sooner or later revived by the spirit of free inquiry4 ,it does not matter whether our scholastic dogmas be true or false4 ,the danger is the same4 ,and why8 ,because to place either truth or error above the reach of argument is certain to weaken truth and to strengthen error4 ,secondly1 because to hold as true on the authority of others anything which concerns us deeply1 and which we could prove ourselves1 produces feebleness1 if not dishonesty4 ,and1 thirdly1 because to feel unwilling or unable to meet objections by argument is generally the first step towards violence and persecution4 ,i do not think of religious dogmas only4 ,they are generally the first to rouse inquiry1 even during our schoolboy days1 and they are by no means the most difficult to deal with4 ,dogma often rages where we least expect it4 ,among scientific men the theory of evolution is at present becoming1 or has become1 a dogma4 ,what is the result8 ,no objections are listened to1 no difficulties recognized1 and a man like ,virchow1 himself the strongest supporter of evolution1 who has the moral courage to say that the descent of man from any ape whatsoever is1 as yet1 before the tribunal of scientific zoology1 not proven1 is howled down in ,germany in a manner worthy of ,ephesians and ,galatians4 ,but at present ,i am thinking not so much of any special dogmas1 but rather of that dogmatic state of mind which is the almost inevitable result of the teaching at school4 ,i think of the whole intellect1 what has been called the intellectus sibi permissus1 and ,i maintain that it is the object of academic teaching to rouse that intellect out of its slumber by questions not less startling than when ,galileo asked the world whether the sun was really moving and the earth stood still2 or when ,kant asked whether time and space were objects1 or necessary forms of our sensuous intuition4 ,till our opinions have thus been tested and stood the test1 we can hardly call them our own4 ,how true this is with regard to religion has been boldly expressed by ,bishop ,beveridge4 ,being conscious to myself1 he writes in his ,private ,thoughts on ,religion1 how great an ascendant ,christianity holds over me beyond the rest1 as being that religion whereinto ,i was born and baptized2 that which the supreme authority has enjoined and my parents educated me in2 that which every one ,i meet withal highly approves of1 and which ,i myself have1 by a long-continued profession1 made almost natural to me3 ,i am resolved to be more jealous and suspicious of this religion than of the rest1 and be sure not to entertain it any longer without being convinced1 by solid and substantial arguments1 of the truth and certainty of it4 ,this is bold and manly language from a ,bishop nearly two hundred years ago1 and ,i certainly think that the time has come when some of the divinity lecturers at ,oxford and ,cambridge might well be employed in placing a knowledge of the sacred books of other religions within the reach of undergraduates4 ,many of the difficulties--most of them of our own making--with regard to the origin1 the handing down1 the later corruptions and misinterpretations of sacred texts1 would find their natural solution1 if it was shown how exactly the same difficulties arose and had to be dealt with by theologians of other creeds4 ,if some--ay1 if many--of the doctrines of ,christianity were met with in other religions also1 surely that would not affect their value1 or diminish their truth2 while nothing1 ,i feel certain1 would more effectually secure to the pure and simple teaching of ,christ its true place in the historical development of the human mind than to place it side by side with the other religions of the world4 ,in the series of translations of the ,sacred ,books of the ,east1 of which the first three volumes have just appeared1#ad ,i wished myself to include a new translation of the ,old and ,new ,testaments2 and when that series is finished it will1 ,i believe1 be admitted that nowhere would these two books have had a grander setting1 or have shone with a brighter light1 than surrounded by the ,veda1 the ,zendavesta1 the ,buddhist ,tripitaka1 and the ,qur'an4 ,but as ,i said before1 ,i was not thinking of religious dogmas only1 or even chiefly1 when ,i maintained that the character of academic teaching must be ,socratic1 not dogmatic4 ,the evil of dogmatic teaching lies much deeper1 and spreads much further4 ,think only of language1 the work of other people1 not of ourselves1 which we pick up at random in our race through life4 ,does not every word we use require careful examination and revision8 ,it is not enough to say that language assists our thoughts or colours them1 or possibly obscures them4 ,no1 we know now that language and thought are indivisible4 ,it was not from poverty of expression that the ,greek called reason and language by the same word1 logos4 ,it was because they knew that1 though we may distinguish between thought and speech1 as we distinguish between body and soul1 it is as impossible to tear the one by violence away from the other as it is to separate the concave side of a lens from its convex side4 ,this is something to learn and to understand1 for1 if properly understood1 it will supply the key to most of our intellectual puzzles1 and serve as the safest thread through the whole labyrinth of philosophy4 ,it is evident1 as ,hobbes remarks1#ae that truth and falsity have no place but amongst such living creatures as use speech4 ,for though some brute creatures1 looking upon the image of a man in a glass1 may be affected with it1 as if it were the man himself1 and for this reason fear it or fawn upon it in vain2 yet they do not apprehend it as true or false1 but only as like2 and in this they are not deceived4 ,wherefore1 as men owe all their true ratiocination to the right understanding of speech1 so also they owe their errors to the misunderstanding of the same2 and as all the ornaments of philosophy proceed only from man1 so from man also is derived the ugly absurdity of false opinion4 ,for speech has something in it like to a spider's web 7as it was said of old of ,solon's laws71 for by contexture of words tender and delicate wits are ensnared or stopped1 but strong wits break easily through them4 ,let me illustrate my meaning by at least one instance4 ,among the words which have proved spider's webs1 ensnaring even the greatest intellects of the world from ,aristotle down to ,leibniz1 the terms genus1 species1 and individual occupy a very prominent place4 ,the opposition of ,aristotle to ,plato1 of the ,nominalists to the ,realists1 of ,leibniz to ,locke1 of ,herbart to ,hegel1 turns on the true meaning of these words4 ,at school1 of course1 all we can do is to teach the received meaning of genus and species2 and if a boy can trace these terms back to ,aristotle's genos and eidos1 and show in what sense that philosopher used them1 every examiner would be satisfied4 ,but the time comes when we have to act as our own examiners1 and when we have to give an account to ourselves of such words as genus and species4 ,some people write1 indeed1 as if they had seen a species and a genus walking about in broad daylight2 but a little consideration will show us that these words express subjective concepts1 and that1 if the whole world were silent1 there would never have been a thought of a genus or a species4 ,there are languages in which we look in vain for corresponding words2 and if we had been born in such a language1 these terms and thoughts would not exist for us4 ,they came to us1 directly or indirectly1 from ,aristotle4 ,but ,aristotle did not invent them1 he only defined them in his own way1 so that1 for instance1 according to him1 all living beings would constitute a genus1 men a species1 and ,socrates an individual4 ,no one would say that ,aristotle had not a perfect right to define these terms1 if those who use them in his sense would only always remember that they are thinking the thoughts of ,aristotle1 and not their own4 ,the true way to shake off the fetters of old words1 and to learn to think our own thoughts1 is to follow them up from century to century1 to watch their development1 and in the end to bring ourselves face to face with those who first found and framed both words and thoughts4 ,if we do this with genus and species1 we shall find that the words which ,aristotle defined--viz41 genos and eidos--had originally a very different and far more useful application than that which he gave to them4 ,genos1 genus1 meant generation1 and comprehended such living beings only as were known to have a common origin1 however they might differ in outward appearance1 as1 for instance1 the spaniel and the bloodhound1 or1 according to ,darwin1 the ape and the man4 ,eidos or species1 on the contrary1 meant appearance1 and comprehended all such things as had the same form or appearance1 whether they had a common origin or not1 as if we were to speak of a species of four-footed1 two-footed1 horned1 winged1 or blue animals4 ,that two such concepts1 as we have here explained1 had a natural justification we may best learn from the fact that exactly the same thoughts found expression in ,sanskrit4 ,there1 too1 we find 99gati991 generation1 used in the sense of genus1 and opposed to 99akriti991 appearance1 used in the sense of species4 ,so long as these two words or thoughts were used independently 7much as we now speak of a genealogical as independent of a morphological classification7 no harm could accrue4 ,a family1 for instance1 might be called a genos1 the gens or clan was a genos1 the nation 7gnatio7 was a genos1 the whole human kith and kin was a genos2 in fact1 all that was descended from common ancestors was a true genos4 ,there is no obscurity of thought in this4 ,on the other side1 taking eidos or species in its original sense1 one man might be said to be like another in his eidos or appearance4 ,an ape1 too1 might quite truly be said to have the same eidos or species or appearance as a man1 without any prejudice as to their common origin4 ,people might also speak of different eide or forms or classes of things1 such as different kinds of metals1 or tools1 or armour1 without committing themselves in the least to any opinion as to their common descent4 ,often it would happen that things belonging to the same genos1 such as the white man and the negro1 differed in their eidos or appearance2 often also that things belonging to the same eidos1 such as eatables1 differed in their genos1 as1 for instance1 meat and vegetables4 ,all this is clear and simple4 ,the confusion began when these two terms1 instead of being co-ordinate1 were subordinated to each other by the philosophers of ,greece1 so that what from one point of view was called a genus1 might from another be called a species1 and vice versa4 ,human beings1 for instance1 were now called a species1 all living beings a genus1 which may be true in logic1 but is utterly false in what is older than logic--viz41 language1 thought1 or fact4 ,according to language1 according to reason1 and according to ,nature1 all human beings constitute a genos1 or generation1 so long as they are supposed to have common ancestors2 but with regard to all living beings we can only say that they form an eidos--that is1 agree in certain appearances1 until it has been proved that even ,mr4 ,darwin was too modest in admitting at least four or five different ancestors for the whole animal world4#af ,in tracing the history of these two words1 genos and eidos1 you may see passing before your eyes almost the whole panorama of philosophy1 from ,plato's ideas down to ,hegel's ,idee4 ,the question of genera1 their origin and subdivision1 occupied chiefly the attention of natural philosophers1 who1 after long controversies about the origin and classification of genera and species1 seem at last1 thanks to the clear sight of ,darwin1 to have arrived at the old truth which was prefigured in language--namely1 that ,nature knows nothing but genera1 or generations1 to be traced back to a limited number of ancestors1 and that the so-called species are only genera1 whose genealogical descent is as yet more or less obscure4 ,but the question as to the nature of the eidos became a vital question in every system of philosophy4 ,granting1 for instance1 that women in every clime and country formed one species1 it was soon asked what constituted a species8 ,if all women shared a common form1 what was that form8 ,where was it8 ,so long as it was supposed that all women descended from ,eve1 the difficulty might be slurred over by the name of heredity4 ,but the more thoughtful would ask even then how it was that1 while all individual women came and went and vanished1 the form in which they were cast remained the same8 ,here you see how philosophical mythology springs up4 ,the very question what eidos or species or form was1 and where these things were kept1 changed those words from predicates into subjects4 ,eidos was conceived as something independent and substantial1 something within or above the individuals participating in it1 something unchangeable and eternal4 ,soon there arose as many eide or forms or types as there were general concepts4 ,they were considered the only true realities of which the phenomenal world is only as a shadow that soon passeth away4 ,here we have1 in fact1 the origin of ,plato's ideas1 and of the various systems of idealism which followed his lead1 while the opposite opinions that ideas have no independent existence1 and that the one is nowhere found except in the many 7to hen para ta polla71 was strenuously defended by ,aristotle and his followers4#ag ,the same red thread runs through the whole philosophy of the ,middle ,ages4 ,men were cited before councils and condemned as heretics because they declared that animal1 man1 or woman were mere names1 and that they could not bring themselves to believe in an ideal animal1 an ideal man1 an ideal woman as the invisible1 supernatural1 or metaphysical types of the ordinary animal1 the individual man1 the single woman4 ,those philosophers1 called ,nominalists1 in opposition to the ,realists1 declared that all general terms were names only1 and that nothing could claim reality but the individual4 ,we cannot follow this controversy further1 as it turns up again between ,locke and ,leibniz1 between ,herbart and ,hegel4 ,suffice it to say that the knot1 as it was tied by language1 can be untied by the science of language alone1 which teaches us that there is and can be no such thing as a name only4 ,that phrase ought to be banished from all works on philosophy4 ,a name is and always has been the subjective side of our knowledge1 but that subjective side is as impossible without an objective side as a key is without a lock4 ,it is useless to ask which of the two is the more real1 for they are real only by being1 not two1 but one4 ,realism is as one-sided as ,nominalism4 ,but there is a higher ,nominalism1 which might better be called the ,science of ,language1 and which teaches us that1 apart from sensuous perception1 all human knowledge is by names and by names only1 and that the object of names is always the general4 ,this is but one out of hundreds and thousands of cases to show how names and concepts which come to us by tradition must be submitted to very careful snuffing before they will yield a pure light4 ,what ,i mean by academic teaching and academic study is exactly this process of snuffing1 this changing of traditional words into living words1 this tracing of modern thought back to ancient primitive thought1 this living1 as it were1 once more1 so far as it concerns us1 the whole history of human thought ourselves1 till we are as little afraid to differ from ,plato or ,aristotle as from ,comte or ,darwin4 ,plato and ,aristotle are1 no doubt1 great names2 every schoolboy is awed by them1 even though he may have read very little of their writings4 ,this1 too1 is a kind of dogmatism that requires correction4 ,now1 at ,university1 a young student might hear the following1 by no means respectful1 remarks about ,aristotle1 which ,i copy from one of the greatest ,english scholars and philosophers3--,there is nothing so absurd that the old philosophers1 as ,cicero saith1 who was one of them1 have not some of them maintained2 and ,i believe that scarce anything can be more absurdly said in natural philosophy than that which now is called ,aristotle's ,metaphysics2 or more repugnant to government than much of that he hath said in his ,politics2 nor more ignorantly than a great part of his ,ethics4 ,i am far from approving this judgment1 but ,i think that the shock which a young scholar receives on seeing his idols so mercilessly broken is salutary4 ,it throws him back on his own resources2 it makes him honest to himself4 ,if he thinks the criticism thus passed on ,aristotle unfair1 he will begin to read his works with new eyes4 ,he will not only construe his words1 but try to reconstruct in his own mind the thoughts so carefully elaborated by that ancient philosopher4 ,he will judge of their truth without being swayed by the authority of a great name1 and probably in the end value what is valuable in ,aristotle1 or ,plato1 or any other great philosopher far more highly and honestly than if he had never seen them trodden under foot4 ,but do not suppose that ,i look upon the ,universities as purely iconoclastic1 as chiefly intended to teach us how to break the idols of the schools4 ,far from it6 ,but ,i do look upon them as meant to freshen the atmosphere which we breathe at school1 and to shake our mind to its very roots1 as a storm shakes the young oaks1 not to throw them down1 but to make them grasp all the more firmly the hard soil of fact and truth6 ,stand upright on thy feet ought to be written over the gate of every college1 if the epidemic of uniformity and sequacity which ,mill saw approaching from ,china1 and which since his time has made such rapid progress ,westward1 is ever to be stayed4 ,academic freedom is not without its dangers2 but there are dangers which it is safer to face than to avoid4 ,in ,germany--so far as my own experience goes--students are often left too much to themselves1 and it is only the cleverest among them1 or those who are personally recommended1 who receive from the professors that personal guidance and encouragement which should and could be easily extended to all4 ,there is too much time given in the ,german ,universities to mere lecturing1 and often in simply retailing to a class what each student might read in books often in a far more perfect form4 ,lectures are useful if they teach us how to teach ourselves2 if they stimulate2 if they excite sympathy and curiosity2 if they give advice that springs from personal experience2 if they warn against wrong roads2 if1 in fact1 they have less the character of a show-window than of a workshop4 ,half an hour's conversation with a tutor or a professor often does more than a whole course of lectures in giving the right direction and the right spirit to a young man's studies4 ,here ,i may quote the words of ,professor ,helmholtz1 in full agreement with him4 ,when ,i recall the memory of my own ,university life1 he writes1 and the impression which a man like ,johannes ,muller1 the professor of physiology1 made on us1 ,i must set the highest value on the personal intercourse with teachers from whom one learns how thought works on independent heads4 ,whoever has come in contact but once with one or several first-class men will find his intellectual standard changed for life4 ,in ,english ,universities1 on the contrary1 there is too little of academic freedom4 ,there is not only guidance1 but far too much of constant personal control4 ,it is often thought that ,english undergraduates could not be trusted with that amount of academic freedom which is granted to ,german students1 and that most of them1 if left to choose their own work1 their own time1 their own books1 and their own teachers1 would simply do nothing4 ,this seems to me unfair and untrue4 ,most horses1 if you take them to the water1 will drink2 and the best way to make them drink is to leave them alone4 ,i have lived long enough in ,english and in ,german ,universities to know that the intellectual fibre is as strong and sound in the ,english as in the ,german youth4 ,but if you supply a man1 who wishes to learn swimming1 with bladders--nay1 if you insist on his using them--he will use them1 but he will probably never learn to swim4 ,take them away1 on the contrary1 and depend on it1 after a few aimless strokes and a few painful gulps1 he will use his arms and his legs1 and he will swim4 ,if young men do not learn to use their arms1 their legs1 their muscles1 their senses1 their brain1 and their heart too1 during the bright years of their ,university life1 when are they to learn it8 ,true1 there are thousands who never learn it1 and who float happily on through life buoyed up on mere bladders4 ,the worst that can happen to them is that some day the bladders may burst1 and they may be left stranded or drowned4 ,but these are not the men whom ,england wants to fight her battles4 ,it has often been pointed out of late that many of those who1 during this century1 have borne the brunt of the battle in the intellectual warfare in ,england1 have not been trained at our ,universities1 while others who have been at ,oxford and ,cambridge1 and have distinguished themselves in after-life1 have openly declared that they attended hardly any lectures in college1 or that they derived no benefit from them4 ,what can be the ground of that8 ,not that there is less work done at ,oxford than at ,leipzig1 but that the work is done in a different spirit4 ,it is free in ,germany2 it has now become almost compulsory in ,england4 ,though an old professor myself1 ,i like to attend1 when ,i can1 some of the professorial lectures in ,germany2 for it is a real pleasure to see hundreds of young faces listening to a teacher on the history of art1 on modern history1 on the science of language1 or on philosophy1 without any view to examinations1 simply from love of the subject or of the teacher4 ,no one who knows what the real joy of learning is1 how it lightens all drudgery and draws away the mind from mean pursuits1 can see without indignation that what ought to be the freest and happiest years in a man's life should often be spent between cramming and examinations4 ,and here ,i have at last mentioned the word1 which to many friends of academic freedom1 to many who dread the baneful increase of uniformity1 may seem the cause of all mischief1 the most powerful engine for intellectual levelling--,examination4 ,there is a strong feeling springing up everywhere against the tyranny of examinations1 against the cramping and withering influence which they are supposed to exercise on the youth of ,england4 ,i cannot join in that outcry4 ,i well remember that the first letters which ,i ventured to address to the ,times1 in very imperfect ,english1 were in favour of examinations4 ,they were signed ,la ,carriere ouverte1 and were written long before the days of the ,civil ,service ,commission6 ,i well remember1 too1 that the first time ,i ventured to speak1 or rather to stammer1 in public1 was in favour of examinations4 ,that was in #aheg1 at ,exeter1 when the first experiment was made1 under the auspices of ,sir ,t4 ,acland1 in establishing the ,oxford and ,cambridge ,local ,examinations4 ,i have been an examiner myself for many years1 ,i have watched the growth of that system in ,england from year to year1 and in spite of all that has been said and written of late against examinations1 ,i confess ,i do not see how it would be possible to abolish them1 and return to the old system of appointment by patronage4 ,but though ,i have not lost my faith in examinations1 ,i cannot conceal the fact that ,i am frightened by the manner in which they are conducted1 and by the results which they produce4 ,as you are interested yourselves at this ,midland ,institute1 in the successful working of examinations1 you will perhaps allow me in conclusion to add a few remarks on the safeguards necessary for the efficient working of examinations4 ,all examinations are a means to ascertain how pupils have been taught2 they ought never to be allowed to become the end for which pupils are taught4 ,teaching with a view to examinations lowers the teacher in the eyes of his pupils2 learning with a view to examinations is apt to produce shallowness and dishonesty4 ,whatever attractions learning possesses in itself1 and whatever efforts were formerly made by boys at school from a sense of duty1 all this is lost if they once imagine that the highest object of all learning is gaining marks in examinations4 ,in order to maintain the proper relation between teacher and pupil1 all pupils should be made to look to their teachers as their natural examiners and fairest judges1 and therefore in every examination the report of the teacher ought to carry the greatest weight4 ,this is the principle followed abroad in all examinations of candidates at public schools2 and even in their examination on leaving school1 which gives them the right to enter the ,university1 they know that their success depends far more on the work which they have done during the years at school1 than on the work done on the few days of their examination4 ,there are outside examiners appointed by ,government to check the work done at schools and during the examinations2 but the cases in which they have to modify or reverse the award of the master are extremely rare1 and they are felt to reflect seriously on the competency or impartiality of the school authorities4 ,to leave examinations entirely to strangers reduces them to the level of lotteries1 and fosters a cleverness in teachers and taught often akin to dishonesty4 ,an examiner may find out what a candidate knows not1 he can hardly ever find out all he knows2 and even if he succeeds in finding out how much a candidate knows1 he can never find out how he knows it4 ,on these points the opinion of the masters who have watched their pupils for years is indispensable for the sake of the examiner1 for the sake of the pupils1 and for the sake of their teachers4 ,i know ,i shall be told that it would be impossible to trust the masters1 and to be guided by their opinion1 because they are interested parties4 ,now1 first of all1 there are far more honest men in the world than dishonest1 and it does not answer to legislate as if all schoolmasters were rogues4 ,it is enough that they should know that their reports would be scrutinized1 to keep even the most reprobate of teachers from bearing false witness in favour of their pupils4 ,secondly1 ,i believe that unnecessary temptation is now being placed before all parties concerned in examinations4 ,the proper reward for a good examination should be honour1 not pounds1 shillings1 and pence4 ,the mischief done by pecuniary rewards offered in the shape of scholarships and exhibitions at school and ,university1 begins to be recognized very widely4 ,to train a boy of twelve for a race against all ,england is generally to overstrain his faculties1 and often to impair his usefulness in later life2 but to make him feel that by his failure he will entail on his father the loss of a hundred a year1 and on his teacher the loss of pupils1 is simply cruel at that early age4 ,it is always said that these scholarships and exhibitions enable the sons of poor parents to enjoy the privilege of the best education in ,england1 from which they would otherwise be debarred by the excessive costliness of our public schools4 ,but even this argument1 strong as it seems1 can hardly stand1 for ,i believe it could be shown that the majority of those who are successful in obtaining scholarships and exhibitions at school or at ,university are boys whose parents have been able to pay the highest price for their children's previous education4 ,if all these prizes were abolished1 and the funds thus set free used to lessen the price of education at school and in college1 ,i believe that the sons of poor parents would be far more benefited than by the present system4 ,it might also be desirable to lower the school-fees in the case of the sons of poor parents1 who were doing well at school from year to year2 and1 in order to guard against favouritism1 an examination1 particularly viva voce1 before all the masters of a school1 possibly even with some outside examiner1 might be useful4 ,but the present system bids fair to degenerate into mere horse-racing1 and ,i shall not wonder if1 sooner or later1 the two-year olds entered for the race have to be watched by their trainer that they may not be overfed or drugged against the day of the race4 ,it has come to this1 that schools are bidding for clever boys in order to run them in the races1 and in ,france1 ,i read1 that parents actually extort money from schools by threatening to take away the young racers that are likely to win the ,derby4#ah ,if we turn from the schools to the ,universities we find here1 too1 the same complaints against over-examination4 ,now it seems to me that every ,university1 in order to maintain its position1 has a perfect right to demand two examinations1 but no more3 one for admission1 the other for a degree4 ,various attempts have been made in ,germany1 in ,russia1 in ,france1 and in ,england to change and improve the old academic tradition1 but in the end the original1 and1 as it would seem1 the natural system1 has generally proved its wisdom and reasserted its right4 ,if a ,university surrenders the right of examining those who wish to be admitted1 the tutors will often have to do the work of schoolmasters1 and the professors can never know how high or how low they should aim in their public lectures4 ,besides this1 it is almost inevitable1 if the ,universities surrender the right of a matriculation-examination1 that they should lower1 not only their own standard1 but likewise the standard of public schools4 ,some ,universities1 on the contrary1 like over-anxious mothers1 have multiplied examinations so as to make quite sure1 at the end of each term or each year that the pupils confided to them have done at least some work4 ,this kind of forced labour may do some good to the incorrigibly idle1 but it does the greatest harm to all the rest4 ,if there is an examination at the end of each year1 there can be no freedom left for any independent work4 ,both teachers and taught will be guided by the same pole-star--examinations2 no deviation from the beaten track will be considered safe1 and all the pleasure derived from work done for its own sake1 and all the just pride and joy1 which those only know who have ever ventured out by themselves on the open sea of knowledge1 must be lost4 ,we must not allow ourselves to be deceived by the brilliant show of examination papers4 ,it is certainly marvellous what an amount of knowledge candidates will produce before their examiners2 but those who have been both examined and examiners know best how fleeting that knowledge is1 and how different from that other knowledge which has been acquired slowly and quietly1 for its own sake1 for our own sake1 without a thought as to whether it would ever pay at examinations or not4 ,a candidate1 after giving most glibly the dates and the titles of the principal works of ,cobbett1 ,gibbon1 ,burke1 ,adam ,smith1 and ,david ,hume1 was asked whether he had ever seen any of their writings1 and he had to answer1 ,no4 ,another1 who was asked which of the works of ,pheidias he had seen1 replied that he had only read the first two books4 ,that is the kind of dishonest knowledge which is fostered by too frequent examinations4 ,there are two kinds of knowledge1 the one that enters into our very blood1 the other which we carry about in our pockets4 ,those who read for examinations have generally their pockets cram full2 those who work on quietly and have their whole heart in their work are often discouraged at the small amount of their knowledge1 at the little life-blood they have made4 ,but what they have learnt has really become their own1 has invigorated their whole frame1 and in the end they have often proved the strongest and happiest men in the battle of life4 ,omniscience is at present the bane of all our knowledge4 ,from the day he leaves school and enters the ,university a man ought to make up his mind that in many things he must remain either altogether ignorant1 or be satisfied with knowledge at second-hand4 ,thus only can he clear the deck for action4 ,and the sooner he finds out what his own work is to be1 the more useful and delightful will be his life at ,university and later4 ,there are few men who have a passion for all knowledge1 there is hardly one who has not a hobby of his own4 ,those so-called hobbies ought to be utilized1 and not1 as they are now1 discouraged1 if we wish our ,universities to produce more men like ,faraday1 ,carlyle1 ,grote1 or ,darwin4 ,i do not say that in an examination for a ,university degree a minimum of what is now called general culture should not be insisted on2 but in addition to that1 far more freedom ought to be given to the examiner to let each candidate produce his own individual work4 ,this is done to a far greater extent in ,continental than in ,english ,universities1 and the examinations are therefore mostly confided to the members of the ,senatus ,academicus1 consisting of the most experienced teachers1 and the most eminent representatives of the different branches of knowledge in the ,university4 ,their object is not to find out how many marks each candidate may gain by answering a larger or smaller number of questions1 and then to place them in order before the world like so many organ pipes4 ,they want to find out whether a man1 by the work he has done during his three or four years at ,university1 has acquired that vigour of thought1 that maturity of judgment1 and that special knowledge1 which fairly entitle him to an academic status1 to a degree1 with or without special honours4 ,such a degree confers no material advantages2#ai it does not entitle its holder to any employment in ,church or ,state2 it does not vouch even for his being a fit person to be made an ,archbishop or ,prime ,minister4 ,all this is left to the later struggle for life2 and in that struggle it seems as if those who1 after having surveyed the vast field of human knowledge1 have settled on a few acres of their own and cultivated them as they were never cultivated before1 who have worked hard and have tasted the true joy and happiness of hard work1 who have gladly listened to others1 but always depended on themselves1 were1 after all1 the men whom great nations delighted to follow as their royal leaders in their onward march towards greater enlightenment1 greater happiness1 and greater freedom4 ,to sum up4 ,no one can read ,mill's ,essay ,on ,liberty at the present moment without feeling that even during the short period of the last twenty years the cause which he advocated so strongly and passionately1 the cause of individual freedom1 has made rapid progress1 aye1 has carried the day4 ,in no country may a man be so entirely himself1 so true to himself and yet loyal to society1 as in ,england4 ,but1 although the enemy whose encroachments ,mill feared most and resented most has been driven back and forced to keep within his own bounds1--though such names as ,dissent and ,nonconformity1 which were formerly used in society as fatal darts1 seem to have lost all the poison which they once contained1--,mill's principal fears have nevertheless not been belied1 and the blight of uniformity which he saw approaching with its attendant evils of feebleness1 indifference1 and sequacity1 has been spreading more widely than ever in his days4 ,it has even been maintained that the very freedom which every individual now enjoys has been detrimental to the growth of individuality2 that you must have an ,inquisition if you want to see martyrs2 that you must have despotism and tyranny to call forth heroes4 ,the very measures which ,mill and his friends advocated so warmly1 compulsory education and competitive examinations1 are pointed out as having chiefly contributed to produce that large array of pass-men1 that dead level of uninteresting excellence1 which is the beau ideal of a ,chinese ,mandarin1 while it frightened and disheartened such men as ,humboldt1 ,tocqueville1 and ,john ,stuart ,mill4 ,there may be some truth in all this1 but it is certainly not the whole truth4 ,education1 as it has to be carried on1 whether in elementary or in public schools1 is no doubt a heavy weight which might well press down the most independent spirit2 it is1 in fact1 neither more nor less than placing1 in a systematized form1 on the shoulders of every generation the ever-increasing mass of knowledge1 experience1 custom1 and tradition that has been accumulated by former generations4 ,we need not wonder1 therefore1 if in some schools all spring1 all vigour1 all joyousness of work is crushed out under that load of names and dates1 of anomalous verbs and syntactic rules1 of mathematical formulas and geometrical axioms1 which boys are expected to bring up for competitive examinations4 ,but a remedy has been provided1 and we are ourselves to blame if we do not avail ourselves of it to the fullest extent4 ,europe erected its ,universities1 and called them the homes of the ,liberal ,arts1 and determined that between the slavery of the school and the routine of practical life every man should have at least three years of freedom4 ,what ,socrates and his great pupil ,plato had done for the youth of ,greece1#bj these new academies were to do for the youth of ,italy1 ,france1 ,england1 ,spain1 and ,germany2 and1 though with varying success1 they have done it4 ,the mediaeval and modern ,universities have been from century to century the homes of free thought4 ,here the most eminent men have spent their lives1 not merely in retailing traditional knowledge1 as at school1 but in extending the frontiers of science in all directions4 ,here1 in close intercourse with their teachers1 or under their immediate guidance1 generation after generation of boys1 fresh from school1 have grown up into men during the three years of their academic life4 ,here1 for the first time1 each man has been encouraged to dare to be himself1 to follow his own tastes1 to depend on his own judgment1 to try the wings of his mind1 and1 lo1 like young eagles thrown out of their nest1 they could fly4 ,here the old knowledge accumulated at school was tested1 and new knowledge acquired straight from the fountain-head4 ,here knowledge ceased to be a mere burden1 and became a power invigorating the whole mind1 like snow which during winter lies cold and heavy on the meadows1 but when it is touched by the sun of spring melts away1 and fructifies the ground for a rich harvest4 ,that was the original purpose of the ,universities2 and the more they continue to fulfil that purpose the more will they secure to us that real freedom from tradition1 from custom1 from mere opinion and superstition1 which can be gained by independent study only2 the more will they foster that human development in its richest diversity which ,mill1 like ,humboldt1 considered as the highest object of all society4 ,such academic teaching need not be confined to the old ,universities4 ,there is many a great ,university that sprang from smaller beginnings than your ,midland ,institute4 ,nor is it necessary1 in order to secure the real benefits of academic teaching1 to have all the paraphernalia of a ,university1 its colleges and fellowships1 its caps and gowns4 ,what is really wanted are men who have done good work in their life1 and who are willing to teach others how to work for themselves1 how to think for themselves1 how to judge for themselves4 ,that is the true academic stage in every man's life1 when he learns to work1 not to please others1 be they schoolmasters or examiners1 but to please himself1 when he works from sheer love of work1 and for the highest of all purposes1 the conquest of truth4 ,those only who have passed through that stage know the real blessings of work4 ,to the world at large they may seem mere drudges--but the world does not know the triumphant joy with which the true mountaineer1 high above clouds and mountain walls that once seemed unsurpassable1 drinks in the fresh air of the ,high ,alps1 and away from the fumes1 the dust1 and the noises of the city1 revels alone1 in freedom of thought1 in freedom of feeling1 and in the freedom of the highest faith4 ,f4 ,,max ,,muller4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,an ,address delivered on the #bjth ,october1 before the ,birmingham and ,midland ,institute4 #b ,mill tells us that his ,essay ,on ,liberty was planned and written down in #ahed4 ,it was in mounting the steps of the ,capitol in ,january1 #ahee1 that the thought first arose of converting it into a volume1 and it was not published till #ahei4 ,the author1 who in his ,autobiography speaks with exquisite modesty of all his literary performances1 allows himself one single exception when speaking of his ,essay ,on ,liberty4 ,none of my writings1 he says1 have been either so carefully composed or so sedulously corrected as this4 ,its final revision was to have been the work of the winter of #aheh to #ahei which he and his wife had arranged to pass in the ,south of ,europe1 a hope which was frustrated by his wife's death4 ,the ',liberty1' he writes1 is likely to survive longer than anything else that ,i have written 7with the possible exception of the ',logic'71 because the conjunction of her mind with mine has rendered it a kind of philosophic textbook of a single truth1 which the changes progressively taking place in modern society tend to bring out into stronger relief3 the importance1 to man and society1 of a large variety of character1 and of giving full freedom to human nature to expand itself in innumerable and conflicting directions4 #c ,herzen defined ,nihilism as the most perfect freedom from all settled concepts1 from all inherited restraints and impediments which hamper the progress of the ,occidental intellect with the historical drag tied to its foot4 #d ,ueber die ,akademische ,freiheit der ,deutschen ,universitaten1 ,rede beim ,antritt des ,rectorats an der ,friedrich-,wilhelms-,universitat in ,berlin1 am #ae ,october #ahgg1 gehalten von ,dr4 ,h4 ,helmholtz4 #e ,ueber eine ,akademie der ,deutschen ,sprache1 p4 #cd4 ,another keen observer of ,english life1 ,dr4 ,k4 ,hillebrand1 in an article in the ,october number of the ,nineteenth ,century1 remarks3 ,nowhere is there greater individual liberty than in ,england1 and nowhere do people renounce it more readily of their own accord4 #f ,spencer ,hardy1 ,manual of ,buddhism1 p4 #cia4 #g ,ibid41 p4 #ci4 #h ,as one generation dies and gives way to another1 the heir of the consequences of all its virtues and all its vices1 the exact result of pre-existent causes1 so each individual1 in the long chain of life1 inherits all1 of good or evil1 which all its predecessors have done or been2 and takes up the struggle towards enlightenment precisely there where they left it4--,rhys ,davids1 ,buddhism1 p4 #ajd4 #i ,bunsen1 ,egypt1 ii41 pp4 #gg1 #aej4 #aj ,memoire sur l',origine ,egyptienne de l',alphabet ,phenicien1 par ,e4 de ,rouge1 ,paris1 #ahgd4 #aa ,see ,brandis1 ,das ,munzwesen4 #ab ,is it not almost a self-evident axiom1 that the ,state should require and compel the education1 up to a certain standard1 of every human being who is born its citizen8 ,yet who is there that is not afraid to recognize and assert this truth8--,on ,liberty1 p4 #ahh4 #ac ,times1 ,january #be1 #ahgi4 #ad ,sacred ,books of the ,east1 edited by ,m4 ,m41 vols4 i41 ii41 iii42 ,clarendon ,press1 ,oxford1 #ahgi4 #ae ,computation or ,logic1 t4 iii41 viii41 p4 #cf4 #af ,lectures on ,mr4 ,darwin's ,philosophy of ,language1 ,fraser's ,magazine1 ,june1 #ahgc1 p4 #bf4 #ag ,prantl1 ,geschichte der ,logik1 vol4 i4 p4 #aba4 #ah ,l4 ,noire1 ,padagogisches ,skizzenbuch1 p4 #aeg2 ,todtes ,wissen4 #ai ,mill1 ,on ,liberty1 p4 #aic4 #bj ,zeller1 ,ueber den wissenschaftlichen ,unterricht bei den ,griechen1 #ahgh1 p4 #i4 ,,mr4 ,,gladstone4 ,,two ,,studies ,,suggested ,,by ,,his ,,gleanings ,,of ,,past ,,years4 ,gleanings of ,past ,years3 #ahdc-ahgh4 ,by the ,right ,hon4 ,w4 ,e4 ,,gladstone1 ,m4,p4 ,seven vols4 ,london3 ,john ,murray4 ,i4 ,lord ,beaconsfield and his party are still holding on4 ,all the over-praised ,disraelian craft has dwindled somehow to this merely muscular operation4 ,an attempt is1 indeed1 made to disguise the attitude by keeping strict silence1 and arranging the facial expression of the ,cabinet1 if not of the ,party1 in a way not agreeing with the strain2 but the country is fast finding out that the real posture of the ,conservatives at this moment is that of clutching at office1 and nothing more4 ,however1 no amount of not talking about the elections will put them off finally4 ,in his most efficient days ,lord ,beaconsfield was hardly clever enough to operate upon the almanack1 and a certain terrible date is approaching upon him with increasing swiftness4 ,it will be rather humiliating at last for a ,premier to be brought up by the day of the month1 and to be reminded by the great officials of ,parliament what year of ,our ,lord it is4 ,but these latter personages are partly paid for watching the efflux of time1 and no doubt they will do their duty4 ,it may be unpleasant for them to have to tell ,lord ,beaconsfield that dates make it impossible for him to go on any longer1 but they must get what consolation they can from the remembrance that it is the first time they ever had to say this to a ,minister4 ,several ,parliaments in our history have been nicknamed rather uglily1 but it is likely that the ,beaconsfield ,house of ,commons will be known under a description more humiliating than any1 because so inescapeably accurate4 ,it will literally be the run-to-the-last-dregs ,parliament1 and when1 on there not being another moment left1 the dissolution has necessarily to be ordered1 the not-any-longer-to-be-put-off elections will take place4 ,when that unpostponeable day comes1 it is very well known beforehand whose will be the most towering figure on the hustings1 whose the form towards which all eyes must turn4 ,it will be that of him whose name is written at the head of this paper--,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,most ,englishmen will at first feel a crick in the neck in having to look behind them so far north as ,midlothian4 ,but ,liberals and ,conservatives alike understand that wherever ,mr4 ,gladstone chooses to take up his position that becomes the centre of the fight4 ,if he stood for the ,orkneys1 he would still be too near for his opponents2 and1 as for his friends1 they remember that with ,ulysses' bow it did not greatly signify whether the hero was a few yards further off or nearer4 ,the bolts will reach4 ,it is1 indeed1 not unlikely that ,mr4 ,gladstone may force on the conflict1 and1 after the speech at ,chester1 the other side cannot say that they were left without warning4 ,the ,conservative leaders have1 in fact1 a nearer date to calculate than the final one of the ,parliamentary calendar--that1 namely1 of ,mr4 ,gladstone's appearance in ,midlothian4 ,it may be supposed that they are already anxiously counting the days of the dwindling interval4 ,whenever he gives instructions for his hustings to be put up1 the ,conservatives will have to send for their own carpenters1 and order planks4 ,the present moment1 while he is temporarily absent1 and just before he again necessarily reappears in the very front of the public stage1 may not be an ill time for taking a hasty review of him and his career4 ,it is1 in fact1 a favourable chance4 ,mr4 ,gladstone1 by stress of glorious hard work and sheer public efficiency1 has so unceasingly filled the passing hour1 always being fully occupied himself in dealing with a special matter1 and enforcing the attention of the nation to it1 that he has left people very little at leisure to take in a retrospect of him4 ,the result is1 that there is great inadequacy in the public appreciation of the dimensions of his career2 it stretches back further1 expands wider1 rises higher than most of us commonly keep in our minds4 ,lately1 it is true1 ,mr4 ,gladstone has taken great pains to remind the country of his years2 he has rather ostentatiously postured as an old man4 ,but without meaning to impugn his veracity1 or to dispute the register1 we may say that he has scarcely got anybody to believe it4 ,he has gone on felling trees1 writing letters and articles1 and publishing volumes1 with utterances of more and better speeches between than anybody else can make1 in a way which has led not a few to congratulate themselves that he was not any younger4 ,in particular1 his opponents1 so soon as they found out that his announcement of retirement into ease meant that he was going to take the truest rest of all1 to work a little harder in another kind of way1 positively made an outcry as if he had pledged himself to gratify them by doing nothing4 ,they seem rather to complain that he has retired into greater publicity2 but there is something to be said about that matter4 ,the implied bargain on ,mr4 ,gladstone's side at the time obviously was that the ,conservatives were themselves not to do anything in particular4 ,it was to be a time of stagnation1 and they have not kept to that understanding2 no sooner had he turned his back than they began to swagger up and down the world as ,imperialists4 ,they have risked the highest interests of the empire and have made ,england figure on the wrong side1 arrayed against the oppressed and blustering for war4 ,mr4 ,gladstone could only keep quiet by foregoing all patriotism4 ,it was too much to ask from an old-fashioned ,english statesman1 who had always himself stood on the side of freedom and peace1 and had grown accustomed to seeing his country ranged there too4 ,however1 we will speak again a little later on this point of his announced retirement4 ,it is nearly superfluous to remind any one that there is no statesman now before the public with an official record which can in any way be set beside ,mr4 ,gladstone's even in the mere matters of length of time and diversity of parts4 ,there are a number of men in the ,house of ,commons older than ,mr4 ,gladstone2 there are some1 though not many1 who have had a seat in it longer than he has2 but there is no one whose ,ministerial life goes back nearly so far4 ,he held office forty-five years ago4 ,nearly a score of years had to pass after his first appointment to a post before ,mr4 ,disraeli joined a ,ministry1 and then he stepped into the place which had been refused by ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,the latter's range of official experience excels others in breadth even more than in length4 ,before he became ,prime ,minister he had been ,under-,secretary for the ,colonies1 ,vice-,president of the ,board of ,trade and ,master of the ,mint1 ,president of the ,board of ,trade1 full ,secretary for the ,colonies1 and ,chancellor of the ,exchequer more than once4 ,there is no other journeyman politician with a stroke of work left in him who has anything like this list of credentials of apprenticeship to show4 ,mr4 ,gladstone learnt his craft under ,peel1 ,aberdeen1 ,palmerston1 ,russell2 and then himself became the selecter and instructor of a group of younger men for whom renewed office is only biding a not very distant date4 ,it is an honour alike to name the men he served under and those whom he commanded2 including in the association with him some whom he attracted1 and to whom the latter phrase might scarcely fully apply2 for ,mr4 ,cobden worked with him without an office1 and ,mr4 ,bright in one4 ,these latter were achievements of personal influence which may fairly rank a trifle higher than merely taking precedence of a ,duke in a ,cabinet4 ,if we go on to consider what has happened in his time in the way of legislation and social reform1 and his connection with it1 it may be said1 speaking generally1 that he has witnessed the political and economical remoulding of this kingdom2 and1 taking all things together1 has helped it forward in more ways than anybody else who still survives4 ,if while ,mr4 ,bright lives his name must always have the honour of first mention when the ,repeal of the ,corn ,laws is spoken of1 it was ,mr4 ,gladstone who wrought out all the details of ,peel's fiscal reforms4 ,he too it was who1 much later1 gave effect to ,cobden's negotiation of the ,french ,commercial ,treaty2 and also1 again1 made the best bargain that could be made when that first international arrangement lapsed4 ,every amelioration bearing on taxation and trade in our time has been naturally fated in some way to touch the hands of ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,so1 too1 it was his conversion1 or rather his progress1 on the question of the ,franchise--proved by his bringing in of the ,russell measure--which made the immediate granting of the vote certain1 and challenged the ,tory trick of the last ,reform ,bill4 ,the ,ballot ,act1 without which the vote was but a sinister gift1 came from his ,ministry4 ,but let us turn from ,england to the sister country4 ,if ,ireland is ever pacified1 it will be then seen that it was ,mr4 ,gladstone who1 by the ,disestablishment of the ,irish ,church and by his ,land ,act1 laid the foundations of the peace4 ,if the ,roman ,catholics get a ,university now1 they will only get what he offered them years ago4 ,the prosperity of ,ireland is1 indeed1 sure some day to give to ,mr4 ,gladstone's memory a splendid revenge for the ingratitude she showed to the man who brought legislating for ,ireland into vogue4 ,if we shift our regard to diplomacy1 the future is still clearly with him in several of the chiefest international arrangements this generation has witnessed4 ,when the ,berlin ,treaty is cobwebbed1 and forgotten by everybody but historians and bookworms1 the ,treaty of ,washington will be a living1 ruling precedent between the mighty ,english-speaking nations on both sides of the ,atlantic2 and on the day that the ,turks are thrust out of ,europe1 and the peoples of those regions are settling the ,eastern ,question finally for themselves1 the then ,british ,government1 in begging somebody to take ,cyprus off our hands1 will hear a larger ,greece gratefully couple ,mr4 ,gladstone's name with the cession of the ,ionian ,islands4 ,in every one of these matters ,mr4 ,gladstone gets his good fortune with posterity1 as we believe1 from having acted on ,liberal principles4 ,it is the merit of those principles that1 to borrow a phrase of his own1 they put ,time on a man's side4 ,he has trusted himself to the popular impulses1 which are the breezes blowing towards the future1 giving auspicious omens by the very working out of the world's events4 ,but if1 apart from ,liberalism1 he would have had not much more significance for the coming generations than ,lord ,beaconsfield will have when his foreign policy has once been undone and set aside1 ,mr4 ,gladstone must not be defrauded of a tittle of his due credit4 ,he who has done all this was once a ,conservative1 and1 to make it still more wonderful1 a ,peelite4 ,of that pale group of a ,parliamentary section1 which never could be a party1 he is the only one who escaped from the vain middle region of ineffectiveness4 ,for a man who was once a ,peelite and has never ceased to be a ,high ,churchman to have gained supreme power in this country is a political miracle4 ,it was worked by sheer mental force4 ,mr4 ,gladstone's greatest feat1 making all the rest possible1 was the slowly but ever-ripeningly turning himself into a good1 sound1 robust ,liberal2 but he not only had the wit to appreciate the inevitableness of popular progress1 he made himself a shaper and a helper of it in ways which showed a willing adoption of its cause4 ,for we may scrutinize his career more closely than in the above rapid sketch1 may look down lower than these great pictorial incidents we have been recapitulating2 and1 if we do so1 we shall see a set of administrative reforms1 less showy1 but very hard to carry1 and which exhibit genuine ,liberalism in the grain of every one of them4 ,it was under his auspices that the ,civil ,service was thrown open to unlimited competition2 he1 in spite of the ,lords1 with ,earl ,derby at their head1 took the duty off paper1 giving us cheap newspapers2 he consolidated the ,law ,courts1 doing away a whole web of legal artificialities2 it was as his colleague that ,mr4 ,forster gave to the country its first national educational scheme2 but for him ,mr4 ,cardwell would never have succeeded in altering the principle of our military organization from long-period enlistments to the short-term service2 while ,mr4 ,gladstone's opponents are willing to thrust upon him the whole honour of abolishing purchase in the army1 because they think the issue of the ,royal ,warrant which1 thanks to their resistance of the reform1 was the only means of effecting it1 lends itself to a taunt4 ,add to this list1 the fact that although he1 at first1 for easily seen reasons of mere habit of mind1 going back to the earlier days when he was ,conservative1 did not favour ,university ,reform1 yet he finally lent himself fully to it1 and it is not difficult to understand the successive outcries raised against him in the higher social quarters4 ,he gave all the interests splendidly sufficient reasons for their dislike1 since wherever there was an abuse ,mr4 ,gladstone was as certain in the end to confront it as he is to appear1 axe on his shoulder1 before any tree in ,hawarden woods which has lived past its time4 ,but there is another way1 more compendious still1 of summing up his political chronicle4 ,his opponents at times exult over the fact of his having often changed his constituencies4 ,it is true1 but it was always for his growing ,liberalism4 ,certainly1 there are those who once ensconced in a shire--say1 in ,buckinghamshire--remain there as long as they need a seat4 ,they never offend any one by progress of view4 ,mr4 ,gladstone has not acted by that rule2 he has got himself turned out of constituency after constituency2 but1 we repeat1 it was always for the same reason--he became too big for them4 ,among his highest distinctions are these1--he is the resigner of ,newark1 the rejected of ,oxford1 the loser of ,south ,lancashire4 ,the thing has occurred too often to admit of a casual explanation4 ,it was not for ,liberalism1 as it is now understood1 that he1 when still in his youth1 offended the mighty ,duke of ,newcastle and had to give up ,newark1 but it was for reasoned-out consistency which gave hope of ,liberalism4 ,he would not stultify his intellect by voting for ,peel's proposed increase of the ,maynooth ,grant in contradiction of his own book on ,church and ,state4 ,but all the world knows that it was for ,liberalism somewhat developed that he quitted ,oxford2 and the cause of his defeat in ,lancashire was that he had for years been too busy in pushing forward reforms on all hands4 ,it was a noble vanquishment for him1 whatever it was for his party1 for ,lancashire1 or for the country4 ,test his career how we will1 the result still comes out to his honour4 ,he1 for conscience' sake1 offended the great patron on whom his whole prospects then depended1 remaining out of ,parliament for a time2 later1 he went over with ,peel1 knowing that it meant an ineffective hanging between two parties for an indefinite time1 sharing the hopes and chances of neither2 when ,lord ,derby came into power1 he refused office on its being offered4 ,in a word1 he has evidenced his sincerity and proved his patriotism in every way for which it is allowed to other men to claim honour4 ,when a man has risked personal prospects1 refused place1 held office in all its kinds1 left one lagging constituency after another behind him1 and finally1 by sheer insisting on rapid progress1 temporarily wearied the weak and lazy of his countrymen throughout the whole nation1 as the last general election showed that he had1 what more is there left for him to do for his country8 ,only one thing remained3 the sacrificing his retirement after the formal announcement of the close of his career1 and1 afresh taking up his old post in the front of the battle as if he were still young and had place and public life to secure1 striving his hardest a last time for the sake of his principles and his party4 ,it is this final possibility of sacrificing ease and renewing labour which ,mr4 ,gladstone undertakes in the ,midlothian campaign now so very soon to be opened by him4 ,the above is the merest bird's-eye glance at his career1 but it seemed to us a retrospect which all ,liberals should have in their minds more completely than is common when he again draws to him the national gaze1 as he of necessity will do4 ,but on reading back1 how inadequate does the above record seem for ,mr4 ,gladstone6 ,it is simply the background of the picture2 a field of industry and achievements1 on which the portraiture of the man himself needs yet making to stand out4 ,we have been speaking of the ex-,premier1 for instance1 just as we might talk of any politician1 and ,mr4 ,gladstone1 though our chiefest politician1 has throughout been so much more than that4 ,it is perfectly true that there is no public man among us who has projected less of a special atmosphere of personality than he has through which his doings are to be beheld4 ,he has been too busy with his work to think of any attitudinizing or trick in doing it4 ,mr4 ,gladstone's only mannerism has been that of superior excellence of thinking1 speaking1 and doing4 ,anybody else might have done and said what he has uttered and effected1 if only they had had the same ability and industry4 ,his one comprehensive distinction1 summing up all the others1 lies in his having developed more of these two simple1 old-fashioned things than his best contemporaries4 ,he has invented no mysteries1 traded in no artificialities1 given us no pyrotechnics2 only a plain common air lies along his track1 in which1 if we perhaps except two or three points where a little mist hangs1 everything can be clearly seen in white light1 without exaggeration or distortion4 ,his whole style has been the old traditionary ,english one1 accentuated only by ,scotch earnestness and seriousness of religious feeling4 ,if ,mr4 ,gladstone1 however1 has not made any eccentric or theatrical impression on the public mind1 he has done something larger and better4 ,he has kept all the three kingdoms continuously aware of him as an element in our general thinking1 as well as being a power in our practical affairs4 ,if we put aside ,mr4 ,carlyle1 ,mr4 ,mill1 and ,mr4 ,ruskin1 scarcely any one has had so much to do with the general mental activity of the last two generations as ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,the result is what we have just pointed out1--that if we sketch him as a statesman only1 everybody sees that the canvas is not big enough4 ,it is a sufficiently full description of most men who have been politicians to ascribe to them statesmanship2 but in ,mr4 ,gladstone's case we want a yet larger phrase2 his business has not been politics merely1 it has been patriotism2 and he has made time1 nobody quite knows how1 to do nearly as much work outside ,parliament as within it4 ,we may cut a scholar able to adorn a university out of ,mr4 ,gladstone1 and then carve from him a fine student and reverencer of ,art2 next mark off a reviewer and general litterateur whom professed authors will respectfully make room for in their ranks2 and not only is there still left1 solid and firm1 the great ,parliamentary ,minister1 but of the scattered fragments a couple of ,bishops might easily be made1 with1 if nothing at all is to be wasted1 several preachers for the denominations4 ,the latter would be derived from a morsel or two of material which ,mr4 ,gladstone himself is not fully aware of as being in his composition4 ,it is not very easy to give a complete impression offhand of such a multiform personage as this4 ,we must take him a little simpler4 ,the general effect of it all has been1 as we said above1 that the mental activity of the community in all matters relating to politics and practical affairs has had to take its rate and much of its scale largely from him1 and he has been thinking with the speed1 not of the old jog-trot political life1 but with the rapidity of ethical and religious cogitation1 and has insisted on giving thought to everything4 ,in fact1 the ultimate impression which ,mr4 ,gladstone has made upon the community has been that of an intellect weaponed with a perfectly fluent tongue1 and a hand holding the quickest of pens1 occupying the very highest national posts1 ceaselessly going on reasoning1 insisting upon doing it1 whether the reasoning might occasionally go wrong or not1 just as if thinking1 speaking1 and writing were man's right employment4 ,his chief opponents would1 perhaps1 hesitate in flatly saying that they were not2 but1 at any rate1 they have continually been wanting him to stop4 ,nearly all the complaint that was ever made of ,mr4 ,gladstone resolves itself into a charge that he has thought and spoken and written too much4 ,the accusation is one which it would task a great many men to lay themselves open to2 it is never thought of in the case of the bulk of us4 ,above all1 he has kept on thinking2 he would use his mind4 ,possibly the other side might have forgiven it1 if only he had not done it so well2 if only this promptest1 quickest ratiocination on the part of a practical politician in our times had not1 as it progressed1 brought him ever nearer to the conclusions of ,liberalism4 ,he has1 we are1 however1 rather ashamed to admit1 had to suffer from his own party for this unusualness of mental activity4 ,our practical politics for generations past had been carried on upon such shallow reasoning1 on such a hand-to-mouth principle of mere party expediency1 that even some ,liberals were surprised when he brought a little subtlety of intellect into public life4 ,it was enough to make a smaller man despair of his countrymen's sanity when he found that for years many of them could not distinguish between an ,anglican ,high ,churchman and an admirer of ,rome4 ,to speak plainly1 there was never such a humiliating spectacle of public stolidity as that which for so long a time was witnessed in the popular mystification as to ,mr4 ,gladstone's religious position4 ,it went for nothing that his first critical ,parliamentary step was to give up his seat rather than vote more money to ,maynooth2 nobody seemed to bear in mind that as far back as #aheb he both predicted and publicly hoped for the downfall of the temporal power of the ,papacy1 and that ten years later ,sir ,george ,bowyer openly attacked him on that very point in ,parliament2 it did not avail that he it was who paved the way for the unification of ,italy by dragging into the light before all ,europe the prison secrets of ,neapolitan tyranny4 ,because he had the good sense to oppose the ,ecclesiastical ,titles ,bill1 and the loyalty to remain on terms of friendship with the companions of his youth after they became ,puseyites1 and avowed that he held the same views as to ,church doctrine which some of the greatest ,church of ,england divines taught1 he was called on to explain1 every month or so1 that he was not a ,jesuit4 ,not until he published his pamphlet on the ,vatican ,decrees1 and by so doing threw all the ,roman ,catholics in ,england and elsewhere into a white heat of rage1 was the silliness quite exploded4 ,it is true that the dull public might plead that a real profession of religiousness on the part of a leading politician was such a novelty that it might be excused being a little puzzled1 and believing the worst in its perplexity4 ,worst or best1 ,mr4 ,gladstone has gone on speaking and writing about his religion just as if a man's ethics and faith ought to have some connection with his politics1 and1 as time has passed1 people appear to think it less strange4 ,this non-reticence on the score of religion has made more serious the impression ,mr4 ,gladstone has produced upon the public mind2 but in reality it is no specialty in his mode of public thinking1 but only a necessary part of it4 ,he tracks his commonest politics to their fundamental principles1 and makes of them a system4 ,he has always in his reasoning to go back to history1 and this has delayed his advance in comparison with men who dispense with that2 but there never yet was a public man who explained so fully as ,mr4 ,gladstone the reasons of his changes4 ,all the progress of his mind is to be traced in speeches1 articles1 pamphlets1 volumes4 ,he has given too much explanation1 not too little1 for his mind has an insatiability for reasons4 ,most people are content when they get hold of a good one2 but he wants three or four--in fact1 all that can be got by searching for2 and if it be true1 as it certainly is1 that he likes the last to have a little subtlety about it1 long-sustained thinking cannot take people too deep in politics1 whatever it may do now and then in religion4 ,for instance1 on the question of ,reform ,mr4 ,gladstone has certainly exhausted the process1 having at last got at the final ideal argument4 ,it turns out1 as he stated it to ,mr4 ,lowe1 to be this1--that1 apart from1 or rather in addition to1 all the hard reasons of justice and safety that ,mr4 ,bright can urge for extending the franchise1 the vote ought to be given because it has an educative power1 and will make our humbler fellow-countrymen better citizens4 ,it is open to any one1 who is stupid enough1 to call that argument subtle1 but no one can deny that it is truly ,liberal4 ,there is not a man among us to-day who keeps the main ,liberal issues so broad and clear as ,mr4 ,gladstone does1 and this simply because he will get to a principle4 ,he adds a tremendous multiplicity of ideas in the way of side issues1 but1 as we above put it1 they are all reasons in addition4 ,there is a very simple test of it1--he has never recanted a single article of his ,liberal progress1 never gone back a single step4 ,this hardly can be said of either ,mr4 ,lowe or a few others who might be named4 ,it could not even be said of so thorough a ,liberal as ,earl ,russell4 ,mr4 ,gladstone's alleged over-refining has ended in placing and keeping him in the practical lead of his party1 at a time of life when many born in the faith grow faint-hearted4 ,even the one bit of mysticism which his political feeling has developed--namely1 the belief that the popular judgment is truest of all in very large matters--is only the full flowering of the popular trust which every ,liberal professes to have4 ,the bulk of the nation will forgive him that excess of political belief1 if it be an excess1 for it is the last compliment a statesman can pay them1 and they have but to merit it1 and it then turns to ,mr4 ,gladstone's praise as well as theirs4 ,but1 at any rate1 it will not do for ,liberals to set out to argue the point with ,mr4 ,gladstone1 or they will quickly find themselves tripped up by a principle2 for it is no sentimentality in him which underlies the view1 but completed logic and wide recollection of historical instances4 ,indeed1 although it was necessary in trying to reproduce the general impression ,mr4 ,gladstone has made upon his contemporaries to speak of this alleged over-refining1 what is meant by it has been after all a kind of superfluity of mental operation4 ,his intricacy of thinking has never hindered his activity2 least of all living men has ,mr4 ,gladstone been a dreamer4 ,he stands in history as a reviser of fiscal policies2 an introducer of new administrative modes2 a widener of the boundaries of political rights2 a ceaseless overthrower of public abuses4 ,from first to last he has been1 as the hatred of his opponents has too well witnessed1 a man of practice4 ,you may add to this that he reasons too minutely1 if you like2 but it was not by a transcendental casuistry of politics that he wearied the country3 it was by his enormous energy in ceaselessly proposing wide sweeping measures4 ,the casuistry was all in addition4 ,the over-refining of ,mr4 ,gladstone has1 in fact1 been of a wholly different kind from what is common among men2 it has consisted in finding justifications afterwards for very prompt vigorous doing4 ,examine1 if any one thinks it worth while at this time of day1 the ,ewelme ,rectory case1 or the issue of the ,royal ,warrant on ,purchase1 or the ,collier appointment1 and it will appear that it was for bold decision in taking a practical step that he was arraigned as much as for subsequently finding too many reasons for it4 ,for ourselves1 as we have not set out to apologize for ,mr4 ,gladstone 7men of his dimensions must be taken as they are71 but simply to put down hints recalling more fully than is usual the great features of his career1 there is no need for our not saying that we wish he had in some cases dispensed with these arguments in excess of the conclusion4 ,in some instances it is as wise after all1 though not so clever1 to be satisfied with urging one good reason1 and not to confuse ordinary people by adding five or six more not so good1 the risk being that there will be a bad one among them4 ,but the fact remains that ,mr4 ,gladstone has not busied himself in tying mental knots for the purpose of entanglement2 he has indulged in no such waste of time4 ,the mental puzzle has always referred to some practical doing4 ,owing to this1 his opponents have had to admit his mental sincerity1 while accusing him of over-subtlety4 ,it nearly all turned1 in fact1 into the psychological question of whether ,mr4 ,gladstone's mind had not at one part of its machinery a twist1 and in the meantime while this point was being discussed he went on carrying his measures4 ,if there were ,liberals who did not quite follow him in his defence of the issue of the ,royal ,warrant1 when he drew distinctions between prerogative and statutory power1 they had not the least doubt that in abolishing purchase he had effected a capital ,liberal reform1 and they might hope that his reasoning as well as his practice was right4 ,is ,mr4 ,gladstone to be the only one to whose idiosyncrasy nothing is to be allowed8 ,the hullabaloo which was raised when somebody could say that he had broken through a technicality seemed very like1 after all1 as though from this one politician perfection was expected1 which was not an ill compliment at bottom2 and any admirers who may admit that perfection was not always got1 do not1 in granting that1 depreciate him much as this world goes1 and may still think him the most upright of our public men4 ,his mental machinery is complicated1 whilst there is no apparatus like it for rapidity1 and once set going he himself cannot always stop it2 his mind1 as we have said1 riots in ratiocination1 and will multiply arguments to the last shred of the material which any case in hand affords4 ,but1 to return to the main point1--it never leaves go of the real business4 ,even what has seemed to some persons his off-work1 his voluminous writing1 has1 with the one exception of his classical studies1 been no mere leisurely literature1 but persistent advocacy of special objects4 ,these productions have been meant to frame public opinion1 and to give him openings for legislation1 if that became possible4 ,he has used the press because it had become the hugest instrument of the time he lived in2 but it was not for the purpose of multiplying books that ,mr4 ,gladstone wrote1 but with a view to practically influencing men4 ,this relentless subordination of everything to practical ends--this iron determination to keep doing1 even while ready frankly to depend upon his power of speaking and writing to produce conviction and popular persuasion as the means for effecting his objects1 gives as the final imprint of ,mr4 ,gladstone on one's mind that he was always meant for a ,liberal4 ,a man of this kind might be born a ,conservative2 it might take him time to break fully with old ties2 but for him to stay finally in the ranks where thought was allowed to remain muddled1 where abuses were looked on with toleration1 and ease was enjoyed at the cost of others1 was an impossibility4 ,mr4 ,gladstone1 if only from the fact that he was a born financier and an inveterate thinker1 and a man with a passion for publicly talking1 belonged to the ,liberals from the first4 ,his whole life1 too1 has consistently lent itself to that style4 ,if it has had in it a touch of austerity1 that excellently befitted the social condition of the masses of our people4 ,his gaze has been fixed too much upon them to be attracted by the glitter of the narrow upper circle1 which so foolishly persists1 amidst its gaudy splendour1 in believing itself the nation4 ,that silliness was not for ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,he has been subjected to some tests4 ,if his family was not highly placed1 his father was a baronet1 and he himself was educated at ,eton and ,oxford4 ,nobles have been among his friends at all periods of his life1 as well as his official subordinates more than once in it4 ,but he has passed the whole of his long career without a sparkle of the glitter of adventitious display3 that proudest title of all1 which it is not in the power of the ,crown to bestow but only to take away--the ,great ,commoner--has descended upon him1 and is still his4 ,then he has fenced himself off with no stiffness of manner2 the only dignity he has assumed has been the natural seriousness of ardent sincerity1 warning off triflers only4 ,to everybody else he has been accessible2 any person could impose on him the trouble of a written reply4 ,his post-cards were known to be public property4 ,but putting aside that joke1 which is now worn bare1 scarcely has any one so fully and ungrudgingly accepted the responsibilities of his position4 ,he has been the public's faithful1 ready servant in every particular4 ,nor has it been mere complaisance1 or a drudging of mechanical industry2 he has exhibited a real faculty of interesting himself in all that anybody has been doing actively and well4 ,to say that he is the only statesman who1 while clinging to the ,church of ,england1 has commanded the sympathies of the ,dissenters1 might provoke an enemy1 embittered by the fact1 to reply that he had tactical reasons for trying to do that2 but it could have been nothing else than real width of mind and a robust versatility which enabled this ,high ,churchman largely to divide impartial admiration between the ,evangelical party and the ,romanists1 pointing out fully and exactly what is to be praised in each4 ,any one who wishes it can find the estimates set out in detail in the third and seventh volumes of ,the ,gleanings4 ,this wide range of intellectual appreciation is really as much a characteristic of ,mr4 ,gladstone as has been his unyielding tenacity and doctrinal hold within the limits of his personal confession of belief4 ,he1 a firm acceptor of the tenets of sacramental efficacy1 apostolical succession1 and the authority of the ,church in her own sphere1 could take up the semi-rationalistic book ,ecce ,homo1 and turn it round-and-round admiringly as a most curious and valuable mental production4 ,nothing in which thought was really shown has escaped his notice1 or failed to arouse his interest4 ,he has bent his look on ,secularism1 as a scientific inquirer might scrutinize a new species1 and he has stooped to quote ,mr4 ,bradlaugh4 ,in one place you will find him1 very likely on the page after giving a passage from ,isaiah or the ,psalms1 citing the old poet ,dunbar1 or speaking of ,rowe or ,swift1 or alluding to ,rousseau2 while long before it became a fashion he had words of sympathizing praise for ,shelley1 selecting1 of all other places1 ,the ,quarterly ,review to print them in4 ,but1 perhaps1 the clearest proof of all1 alike of his power to bear testimony in spite of personal disliking1 and his standing hard and fast upon a principle when he has reached it1 is that he1 whom ,macaulay nearly half a century ago described as a young man of unblemished character1 and whom his ,lordship1 if he were now alive1 would speak of as the old man with personal fame unspotted1 could step aside in one of his articles to recognize the public debt due to ,jack ,wilkes as a helper forward of our freedom4 ,wherever a national service has been done1 ,mr4 ,gladstone's eulogy always has been ready4 ,down to this point we have not spared so much as a hint to his magnificent oratory1 his unsurpassed debating skill1 his not infrequent successes in literary style4 ,these were not the things that anybody needed reminding of1 and that necessity was the prescribed limit of our self-imposed task4 ,who has forgotten when the expounding of the ,budget was the greatest intellectual treat of the ,session1 when sugar and railway duties and tea became natural themes for eloquence1 and the unfolding of the surplus was breathlessly waited for like the denouement of a novelist's plot8 ,those scenes are long past1 it is true1 but the echoes of them can still be heard1 for each year since has brought a disappointing reminder to awaken them4 ,but the matchless vigour and splendour of his debating fence has never slackened1 never weakened2 the only privilege of the older generation in respect of it1 is that they can boast to have witnessed more of it1 not to have seen better displays4 ,as to his writings1 there least of all is any reminder wanted1 for he presents the public with an improving specimen each month4 ,if any one laid themselves out to find fault with ,mr4 ,gladstone's literature1 the very worst thing they could discover to say of it1 would be that it still was oratory1 only written down4 ,this is the man who1 after a few weeks of leisure1 reappears next month in ,midlothian2 first in the field1 as if that appearance was his by right of custom4 ,how well he compares with the rest of our older party leaders6 ,mr4 ,bright1 grown a little pursy1 though also stricken by domestic misfortune1 rests rather inertly on his laurels1 which certainly are plentiful enough to invite repose2 ,mr4 ,forster has never succeeded in quite finding his way out of the clauses of his own ,education ,act1 where he sees himself confronted with the ,church of ,england at the end of so many vistas1 that he is lost in admiration of its architecture2 ,mr4 ,goschen1 by some strange weakness 7which1 let us hope1 is only temporary7 has got a scare from meeting the ,county ,franchise wearing ,joseph ,arch's coat and hat2 while ,mr4 ,lowe is riding hobbies1 bicycle-wise1 in and out before the very select constituency of the ,london ,university1 with readers of ,the ,fortnightly ,review for outside spectators1 just by way of showing off his little feats of mental gymnastic4 ,in the meanwhile1 ,mr4 ,gladstone1 the veteran of them all1 is putting on his harness for a fresh contest1 a riper1 better ,liberal to-day than on any previous day of fight4 ,it is for the younger men to rally round him4 ,but1 before taking our leave of ,mr4 ,gladstone1 we have finally to enlarge our view of him4 ,early in these remarks it seemed well to give a very hasty summary of his whole career2 but there remains to be attempted an exact sketch of his actual position in respect of opinions and practical relations at the moment when he ceased to be ,minister4 ,let us1 first of all1 at this moment when a ,brummagem ,imperialism is only yet half-faded1 recall what was ,mr4 ,gladstone's opinion of the historic position and natural function of ,england among the nations2 for it has been craftily made to appear that he was willing1 and indeed anxious1 for this country to efface itself4 ,in #ahgj1 when he was still at the height of power1 he published in ,the ,edinburgh ,review his article on ,germany1 ,france1 and ,england1 and the following was the view he then put forward of the international obligations and duties of his country1 in spite of the sea dividing us from other lands3-- ,yet we are not isolated4444 ,with vast multitudes of persons in each of the ,continental countries we have constant relations1 both of personal and commercial intercourse1 which grow from year to year2 and as1 happily1 we have no conflict of interests1 real or supposed1 nor scope for evil passions afforded by our peaceful rivalry1 there is nothing to hinder the self-acting growth of concord4444 ,so far from this implying either a condition or a policy of isolation1 it marks out ,england as the appropriate object of the general confidence4444 ,all that is wanted is that she should discharge the functions1 which are likely more and more to accrue to her1 modestly1 kindly1 impartially4444 ,but in order that she may act fully up to a part of such high distinction1 the kingdom of ,queen ,victoria must be in all things worthy of it4 ,the world-wide cares and responsibilities with which the ,british people have charged themselves are really beyond the ordinary measure of human strength2 and until a recent period it seemed the opinion of our rulers that we could not do better than extend them yet further1 wherever an opening could easily1 or even decently1 be found4 ,with this avidity for material extension was joined a preternatural and morbid sensibility4 ,russia at the ,amoor1 ,america at the ,fee-jee or the ,sandwich ,islands1 ,france in ,new ,caledonia or ,cochin ,china--all these1 and the like1 were held to be good reasons for a feverish excitement lest other nations should do for themselves but the fiftieth part of what we have done for ourselves4444 ,the secret of strength lies in keeping some proportion between the burden and the back4 ,is it necessary to ask whether this is a policy combining dignified patriotism and prudently-restrained common sense8 ,compare it for a moment with the gewgaw skimble-skamble diplomatic sensationalism with which we have been presented since4 ,but let us go a little more into detail as to ,mr4 ,gladstone's standing with reference to international relations4 ,this present ,government has perhaps forgotten that there is such a nation in the world as the ,united ,states of ,america2 but ,mr4 ,gladstone kept it well in mind1 and we suppose every one will admit that he1 of all statesmen1 stands well with that people of our own blood1 who very shortly will be the most powerful community upon the earth1 and the one with whom we shall1 for all time1 have most to do4 ,however1 we will keep within the bounds of ,europe4 ,it is the fashion now to give precedence to ,germany4 ,well1 ,mr4 ,gladstone was among the first to predict the success of ,prussia1 and she is not likely to forget who it was who preserved neutrality at a moment most critical to her4 ,is it ,france that he is not on good relations with8 ,why this ,minister1 who invited her wine trade1 and strove unceasingly to increase commerce to and fro across the ,channel1 and who is for giving further and further political rights to his countrymen1 is the only ,english statesman whom the bulk of ,frenchmen can understand4 ,to them our ,tories must be as antiquated as their own ,royalists4 ,italy is a growing ,power in the ,european comity1 and who is there among our statesmen who can in her fair cities arouse half the enthusiasm he can8 ,he is1 literally1 the only ,english politician they familiarly know4 ,with ,austria1 it is true1 he during the recent war lost patience for a moment1 but her conduct since has told that her rulers must at the time have known that he had good reasons for it2 and no one has more fully appreciated the difficulties of ,austria's position than he has done1 or was more early in giving her1 years ago1 the very counsel which she has since proved was the wisest for her4 ,there remains one other great ,power to be named--,russia2 the ,state with whom we shall have directly of necessity to stand face to face in the far ,east1 and with whom terms will in the end have somehow to be made4 ,it is urged against ,mr4 ,gladstone that he has not rendered himself obnoxious enough to this remaining ,power--that is1 that he did not incapacitate himself for negotiating with her1 and1 having postponed defiance of her1 might make some peaceful arrangement4 ,can any friend of peace think this a very grievous accusation8 ,mr4 ,gladstone has gained this position of goodwill all round at what cost8--that of having fallen into disfavour with the ,turks4 ,that is his one terrible disqualification for affairs2 or1 if you wish to be precisely exhaustive1 and at the same time to elicit the absurdity fully1 you may add to it that he has irritated the ,bourbons4 ,it is quite true1 and we1 indeed1 wish to put it clearly forward1 that he was for abating a little of our national swagger1 and was prepared to see1 and to welcome1 advancement in other nations4 ,but every well-grounded ,liberal knows that it is only on those two conditions that ,england can permanently pursue her own paths of industrial development1 and the world make progress4 ,mr4 ,gladstone's single sin in reference to our external relations was his readiness to favour those two results4 ,but how does he show when a last view is taken of him from within our politics8 ,here1 again1 first look to the circumference4 ,in dealing with the colonies1 he was for all being put in possession of a free autonomy1 and then urging them to self-reliance--in those ways welding them into the integrity of the empire2 and as to ,india1 he insisted that we should strive more and more to realize what he termed the generous conception of a moral trusteeship1 to be administered for the benefit of those over whom we rule4 ,here1 once more1 we get the true ring of a sound ,liberalism1 for those are the only principles1 we venture to affirm1 on which such an empire as this of ours can ever be made permanent4 ,treating the colonies as babies and biting the thumb at ,russia1 even from the most scientific frontier ,india can furnish1 though you shout ,empress from it as loudly as you will1 has nothing truly ,english about it4 ,empire is not kept in such a mawkish1 artificial manner4 ,but now narrow the gaze within our own home limits4 ,the chief domestic questions for the ,british public are these1--extension of the ,county ,franchise1 the ,redistribution of ,seats1 the ,disestablishment of the ,church1 and ,retrenchment of ,expenditure4 ,the ,land ,question will yet have to grow1 and may not ripen in his time4 ,but on three of the above pending matters ,mr4 ,gladstone stands at the very front4 ,he is for making our field cultivators citizens no less than our artizans2 he is for re-allotting members in a manner which will give us a ,parliament truly representative2 and it is hardly necessary to speak of economical benefits in connection with the ,minister who used the nation to reduction of taxation and surpluses arriving together1 and whose last promise under that head was the total abolition of the ,income ,tax4 ,on the other of these great domestic matters1 that which stands third in the above list1 the ,disestablishment of the ,church1 it has seemed to advanced ,liberals that ,mr4 ,gladstone has lagged4 ,but the lively fear of his opponents on this very matter is full of hope4 ,since he last dissented from ,mr4 ,miall's motion1 he has written a very significant phrase in an article in this ,review4 ,in treating of ,the ,courses of ,religious ,thought1 when reviewing the churches of the ,united ,states and of the ,british ,colonies he spoke of their vigorous growth1 far from the possibly chilling shadow of ,national ,establishments of ,religion4 ,in that phrase1 for a man so practical as is ,mr4 ,gladstone1 ,disestablishment seems to cast its shadow before1 and not a few persons on the other side of the question shivered from the chilliness it made4 ,but these topics of the first class do not depend upon any one statesman2 the biggest of men have these capital problems thrust upon them2 all that you can do is to take note how a leader stands in reference to them4 ,and the above is ,mr4 ,gladstone's standing4 ,but there was another class of legislative reforms which he was the man to have gone in search of4 ,in one of his most recent articles he has given us a hint of a dream of this kind which was in his mind4 ,he stated it thus3--,our currency1 our local government1 our liquor laws1 portions even of our taxation1 remain in a state either positively disgraceful1 or at the least inviting and demanding improvement4 ,that programme of the further benefits which we should have owed to ,mr4 ,gladstone was put aside by the giddiness of twenty-five or thirty constituencies at the last elections1 but it will fittingly serve to give the finishing touch to our presentation of him in this paper4 ,liberals have1 in fact1 to thank him for offering more of reform and of benefit than the country would let him give it4 ,splendid as his achievements have been1 he really had others in reserve4 ,is it too late8 is the question that naturally arises4 ,certainly there is no hope of having the five years of administration by him which we have lost since #ahgd4 ,that is irretrievable2 and if ,mr4 ,gladstone felt then his growing years1 and had a wish to finish other tasks apart from politics1 he is no younger now2 while the aims of his purposed leisure must have been greatly interfered with by his partial recall to affairs owing to the dangers to which freedom in ,bulgaria and our own national credit were exposed4 ,it is wholly a matter for ,mr4 ,gladstone to decide4 ,if the next elections go in favour of the ,liberals1 all the world knows that office is there for him to take or to leave4 ,earl ,granville1 the ,duke of ,argyll1 ,lord ,hartington would1 we need not say1 be among the first even to urge it as far as it was right to do so1 and the whole party would welcome him back to power with a shout of joy4 ,who knows8 ,mr4 ,gladstone's patriotism is great1 and our financial muddle will1 also1 be very great about that time4 ,between the two he might be tempted2 he may yet do us the final service of putting the national finances right again4 ,it is1 we repeat1 wholly for him to say4 ,earlier in this paper a further word was promised on the subject of his retirement2 but1 upon second thoughts1 it scarcely seems necessary4 ,mr4 ,gladstone was too experienced in ,parliamentary doings not to know that the ,conservatives would take care to keep enough of their majority until time itself forced them back to the unwished-for hustings4 ,he did his party not an atom of practical injury by retiring2 rather1 it was a good opportunity for giving a younger leader practice4 ,it would be quite idle1 on the other hand1 to argue with his opponents for complaining that he did not retire enough4 ,he has made speeches1 they say2 he has written articles in every organ there is2 he has even republished previous writings4 ,as we before said1 they have themselves to blame for it in great measure3 if they wanted ,mr4 ,gladstone to stay in retirement1 they should have carefully kept quiet4 ,instead of that they made a noise before his door1 disturbing him in his studies4 ,what more natural than that he should come out8 ,he did so1 and found that1 disguised like harlequins in the flimsy bedizenment which they call ,imperialism1 they were playing high jinks with ,britain's reputation and the chances of freedom for the oppressed in the ,east4 ,it was too much for him2 but if they complain of the number of the weapons he attacked them with1 we know that it would have been impossible for him to please them there4 ,they never have been satisfied on that score4 ,what they really find fault with are the blows they got4 ,and there are more to come4 ,directly we shall have them complaining that he has chosen a constituency so far away as ,scotland2 the real fact being that they wish he had gone much farther still4 ,they never are sincere with ,mr4 ,gladstone2 he cannot please them4 ,we leave them anxiously listening for his approach again unto these shores1 knowing very well that to their thinking they will hear his voice all too soon4 ,a ,,liberal4 ,,ii4 ,description is said to be only possible by comparing1 and when one is asked to sketch ,mr4 ,gladstone1 how is it to be set about8 ,his admirers will have it that he has been a very great ,minister1 so that if we adopt the comparative method1 we ought to look high for standards4 ,shall we match him alongside ,bismarck or ,cavour8 ,the latter1 to give him precedence1 stands renowned for building up his country in evil days1 when every omen was against her4 ,but ,mr4 ,gladstone1 succeeding to power when ,england was in the full tide of prosperity and at the height of fame1 gave up her prospects1 and would have acquiesced in her decadence4 ,there is no likeness whatever between him and ,cavour4 ,then take ,bismarck4 ,the great ,german ,chancellor shares with the ,italian ,minister the glory of having widened the bounds and raised the position of his land1 and he stands now head and shoulders above all in the midst of the diplomatic world a very ,colossus4 ,but ,mr4 ,gladstone is and has always been outside that world altogether4 ,prince ,bismarck has his hand on all the springs of action1 and will let pass no chance of exalting his country4 ,mr4 ,gladstone1 we repeat1 never made the slightest impression in the regions of diplomacy2 ,courts did not know him1 foreign statesmen left him out of their reckoning of the men that had to be dealt with4 ,the great international achievements for which he has alone been talked of have been the surrender of ,british territory and the paying down of ,english money lavishly to another ,state for preposterous claims4 ,but it will be said that it is not fair to ,mr4 ,gladstone to compare him to ,prince ,bismarck and ,count ,cavour1 for they were men who found their country in unusual circumstances4 ,look1 then1 to names in our own history4 ,pitt must not be spoken of for the reasons just allowed in the other cases2 but there are ,canning and ,palmerston4 ,how does ,mr4 ,gladstone look alongside them8 ,he has himself more than once alluded to ,canning1 as if not unwilling to be thought to have received his mantle4 ,it was1 however1 always only in connection with ,greece that he spoke of ,canning2 but that ,minister looked much farther than the ,mediterranean4 ,one would have thought that so fine a rhetorician as ,mr4 ,gladstone would not have forgotten the famous phrase in which ,canning claimed to have called the ,new ,world into existence to redress the balance of the ,old4 ,lord ,palmerston was without any such fine phrases1 but in foreign affairs he acted boldly1 though he had to fall back on a musty ,latin quotation to describe it4 ,every ,englishman1 however1 understood ,latin when their ,minister said1 ,civis ,romanus sum4 ,yet neither of these ,ministers at any part of their career lived in times more stirring than ,mr4 ,gladstone has done1 nor when the interests of ,england were more endangered4 ,he has still later had magnificent opportunities1 but he did worse than lose them4 ,from all this1 it would seem that1 whether we look abroad or at home1 there is no possibility of describing ,mr4 ,gladstone by hints of comparison with these historical personages4 ,what is said in that way appears1 in fact1 to turn into contrast2 which is1 also1 itself a mode of delineation1 though not usually of the kind the chief object of it wishes4 ,we can find no ,minister to couple along with him as having deliberately despaired of his country4 ,however1 ,mr4 ,gladstone is certainly great in some way1 for although other nations while we were under his sway were gradually losing sight of ,england herself as well as of him1 he was making plenty of noise all the time at home4 ,if it should turn out1 as we go on1 that he was not a great ,minister but a great orator1 that would seem to account for both the things4 ,if ,bismarck and ,cavour have made affairs1 ,mr4 ,gladstone has made speeches1 beating them as much in that as they did him in the other respect4 ,but it is not exactly the same thing to the countries the men represent4 ,it is1 therefore1 under a humbler1 more domestic aspect than that of this high supreme style of ,minister which we have first tried that we must begin ,mr4 ,gladstone's portraiture4 ,the task may be divided into two portions4 ,there is the opinion which we ,conservatives hold of the general influence and effect he has had upon our national interests1 in which we may be credited with at least trying to estimate his acts and measures on their merits2 and1 besides that1 there is a judgment of him from a narrower party view1 arising out of his historic relation to ourselves4 ,we will take the latter first4 ,to hear ,liberals talk1 one might suppose that ,conservatives had always cherished a special hatred against ,mr4 ,gladstone simply for ceasing to be a ,tory and becoming a ,radical4 ,that the ,conservatives rather late in his career came to show much irritation against ,mr4 ,gladstone is perfectly correct2 but it was1 as ,i hope to show as ,i go on1 for very different reasons than simply because he had made one ,conservative less and one ,liberal more4 ,a great political party has no such immortal animosities as that supposes3 party feeling is not based on merely sentimental grounds4 ,both sides are used to losing men4 ,it is the common fate of ,parliamentary warfare4 ,now and then1 some rather idle person who has time to waste in going back a long way in his recollections bethinks himself that ,lord ,beaconsfield was not always a ,conservative2 but we never yet heard of any one among the party challenging sympathy for him on the score that he had been hunted by the ,liberals through half a century or so for having deserted them4 ,yet it will be admitted that ,lord ,beaconsfield has injured the ,liberals more than ever ,mr4 ,gladstone has done the ,conservatives4 ,what is the reason1 then1 of this difference of alleged treatment in the two cases8 ,the answer may be given in half a sentence1--,lord ,beaconsfield1 alike when he was ,mr4 ,disraeli and since1 has always fought fair4 ,that is enough in politics to make your opponents acquiesce in your being such2 but ,mr4 ,gladstone as his career developed surprised and puzzled everybody1 his own friends included2 and those who blame the ,conservatives for1 in the end1 losing temper and showing exasperation1 should bear in mind that he finally produced the very same effect upon the country at large4 ,it is worth while following this point a little further1 for it would not be of much use attempting to sketch ,mr4 ,gladstone if we are supposed to dislike him from some mere party instinct4 ,will anybody be good enough to tell us when this inscrutable emotion of hatred of ,mr4 ,gladstone arose8 ,liberals are not supposed to be strong in history1 but they have very short memories indeed if they have forgotten both their own career and his4 ,why1 in #aheb--that is1 in the twentieth year of ,mr4 ,gladstone's ,parliamentary life--the ,conservatives were offering him office1 which was not refused by him with over-much promptness4 ,for nearly fourteen years after that he was retained as the representative of the ,university of ,oxford4 ,it is1 in fact1 not yet very much more than a dozen years since this victim of political persecution1 and present champion of the ,radicals1 was quietly ensconced in a seat for what is sometimes spoken of as the head-quarters of ,toryism4 ,he has roved a good deal among the constituencies since1 but he was then willing to have gone on remaining at ,oxford1 if his constituents had also been willing to have been made laughing-stocks by letting him remain4 ,surely a man who represented ,tory electors until he was getting fast on for sixty could scarcely up to that point have been much hunted and worried for ,liberal principles4 ,to speak plainly1 there never was so late a conversion made of so much histrionic use as this of ,mr4 ,gladstone's4 ,but though it has suited both his and his present party's ends1 it rather puzzles plain people who have kept their recollections a little trim to think that if he lives on into senatorial decrepitude1 he will never have sat for ,radical constituencies anything like so long a time as he did for ,conservative ones4 ,for between thirty and forty years this ,liberal ex-,premier was a ,tory member4 ,in fact1 a glance at the right honourable gentleman's wonderfully prosperous career will show that in the list of our public men he has of all others made the fewest1 the briefest1 the least sacrifices either for principle or party4 ,there are very simple ways of testing it2 ,mr4 ,gladstone has not been out of office long enough for a man who was innocent of business prudence in his career4 ,he has1 in fact1 reaped the official spoils of two parties1 if not of three4 ,the dates and appointments are on record for anybody to trace out4 ,on the very face of it1 a man who has served under ,peel1 ,aberdeen1 ,palmerston1 and ,russell1 and then come out as a full-blown ,liberal ,prime ,minister himself1 must of necessity be said to offer rather a miscellaneous career4 ,his warmest admirer must admit that he has been either the most fortunate or else the most prudent of men2 and1 as we do not wish to be stingy in our recognition of his skill1 we prefer to compliment him by attributing his great prosperity throughout so many years and under so many different chiefs to his prudence4 ,if this very hasty review of ,mr4 ,gladstone's chronicle does not agree with the impression of him which is the prevailing one on the ,liberal side1 it is the one which the bare facts of his career would produce on every side if they could be seen without the misleading effect of his very fine words and exceedingly solemn attitudes4 ,very fortunately for him it is only the ,conservatives who have a full and accurate recollection of ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,they have necessarily observed him continuously from their own unshifting party position1 and so have been able to perceive in a way that hardly was practicable to the ,liberals1 who were always shifting and struggling among themselves1 how invariably and consistently his announcements of change of view have hit with the opportunities for improvement of his ,parliamentary position4 ,on every occasion1 to the very moment1 so soon as a ,liberal question had fully ripened1 ,mr4 ,gladstone presented himself to pluck it4 ,it was so with ,reform1 it was so with ,church ,rates1 it was so with ,university ,reform1 it was so with the ,ballot1 it was so with the spoliation of the ,irish ,church and the unsettling of the ,irish landowners1 and it is so with the ,county ,franchise1 and it will be so once more1 if the ,liberals ever get into power again1 with the ,english ,church and the ,english ,land ,laws4 ,mr4 ,bright1 ,mr4 ,miall1 and all the ,radicals have drudged for many a year for ,mr4 ,gladstone1 who1 when all the outdoor work has been done1 has always allowed himself to be persuaded to bring in the ,measure just in the nick of time1 and1 by expounding it in a very fine speech1 has robbed its actual originators of two-thirds of the credit of making it possible4 ,luckily for the ,conservatives1 though he never had the courage to attack a question of the very first class himself in the way of initiative1 he had an insatiable ambition for meddling with smaller ones1 and by making vents in these ways for his restlessness and his ambition1 he finally ruined all that his skilful prudence in the larger affairs had gained him1 disgusting the country till it determined to get him off its hands at any price4 ,still1 that is not just now the point in question4 ,mr4 ,gladstone's so slowly passing through all the stages from ,conservatism to ,radicalism has had this effect1--that while all other public men of his standing have grown more or less antiquated in steady loyal service to their party1 and by presenting a fixed if monotonous aspect to the public1 this one ,parliamentary personage kept a perennial freshness1 simply by skilfully dividing his prolonged career into distinct periods and going on changing4 ,some political section has been always welcoming ,mr4 ,gladstone newly into its ranks and to its spoils1 for1 as we have said1 the two things unfailingly went together2 and the shouts with which he was received were always strengthened by fainter murmurs of applause from other sections more advanced along the line1 who hoped to receive him themselves later on4 ,they did so4 ,really to each one of them he was a recruit from the last party4 ,to the ,palmerstonians he ought at the most to have been only a ,peelite2 to the ,liberals at worst only a ,palmerstonian4 ,but by a surprising adroitness1 it was always made to appear that in all his migrations from party to party1 he joined each successive group as a new retreater from the ,tories4 ,it certainly was true in one sense2 he was always going further away from them4 ,but for all party purposes and reckoning1 he had as much left them when he joined ,palmerston as when he shook hands with ,mr4 ,bright and took his place in front of the ,radicals4 ,these are only a first handful of specimens of a certain unfairness in ,mr4 ,gladstone's position and career from first to last1 from which he has largely profited1 and which very naturally irked his opponents1 who have had to suffer its inconveniences4 ,he has posed as a sort of political orphan left lonely in the ,parliamentary world at the death of ,peel1 who has been persecuted by wicked ,tories from one ,chancellorship of the ,exchequer to another1 until they finally drove him into the ,premiership1 but all this time he was successfully seceding from them1 though they continued in pursuit4 ,it must have been ,mr4 ,gladstone's portentous earnestness of demeanour which has covered up from the general public a joke so huge and prolonged as this1 preventing everybody from seeing that such a tale did not agree with his unprecedented prosperity4 ,but if in these ways he has kept himself interesting to the country1 and fresh and surprising for every group he has in rotation joined1 both he and his changes have long been stale to the ,conservatives4 ,they are able to look along his whole track1 and seeing him from behind1 know him as a ,peelite1 a follower of ,aberdeen1 a ,palmerstonian1 a ,russellite1 and a ,radical4 ,they are debarred from applying his own name to the last stage1 and calling him a ,gladstonian4 ,strangely enough1 and indeed very significantly1 that term has never taken root in our politics4 ,there really have never been any ,gladstonians3 no one ever was or ever will be called by that title4 ,mr4 ,gladstone will end his days and depart without founding any school2 he will stand recorded only as the acceptor of office from those who did so1 and the passer of other people's measures4 ,but in political life a man who attains the first rank of conspicuousness without founding a line may fairly be suspected4 ,it will be found that he has been too busy in a narrower way1--looking after not questions but himself4 ,to that very small party1 numerically reckoned1 consisting of only one member1 ,mr4 ,gladstone has been consistently and untiringly faithful4 ,he has challenged for it sympathy in all the ways to which his very fine oratory has lent itself1 and he has not neglected the humbler art of perpetual advertisement1 keeping it by means of the press and the platform ever before the public eye4 ,but when he finally leaves us it is certain to vanish entirely4 ,very likely some ardent ,radical1 whose mind is so full of having got ,mr4 ,gladstone at last that he forgets1 or perhaps never knew1 how many grades and shades of politicians have in succession enjoyed him before1 will say that in all this we are only railing at ,mr4 ,gladstone's success4 ,his success6 ,in order to describe ,mr4 ,gladstone1 we had first to write retrospectively1 take in his earlier phases1 and to look generally at his whole history4 ,in that retrospect1 down to a late point in it1 he was exceedingly prosperous2 but we never meant to say that he had been very successful since the beginning of #ahgd4 ,there is not the slightest need for any ,conservative to feel bitter against ,mr4 ,gladstone now on any grounds of personal envy4 ,he has done them the greatest service of any public man for three generations2 and at any time he might have individually prospered as much as he liked for them1 if it had been possible for him to do it without injuring his country4 ,it is to this more serious examination of his career that we now go4 ,not that we propose to entangle ourselves in the minute details of it1 for that is in no way necessary4 ,we have already in part explained why we may1 in such a sketch as this1 drop out many years of his political life4 ,for a great length of time ,mr4 ,gladstone was only a ,budget-maker4 ,it is true he made them for ,governments that were not ,conservative1 but he still was considered nearly a ,conservative outside his financial handicraft4 ,and here1 again1 part of the explanation we earlier gave applies4 ,there is not the slightest reason why any ,conservative should pause long to consider ,mr4 ,gladstone as the passer of the ,ballot1 or even as the disestablisher of the ,irish ,church and the interferer with the rights of landed property in ,ireland4 ,the only thing special to be said about him in connection with these things as distinguishing him from the ruck of ,liberals would be1 that he was a very late ex-,tory1 and at the time a professed ,high ,churchman4 ,he somehow got the ,liberals to let him write his name across every one of those measures so soon as it was seen that they would pass1 and he has made the legislation in that way seem to be his2 but the ,conservatives know with whom they had really to deal in the inception and the pushing forward of those movements1 and it was not ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,the real men were ,mr4 ,bright1 ,mr4 ,dillwyn1 ,mr4 ,miall1 and those who for many a year worked with them while ,mr4 ,gladstone was never heard of1 never thought of1 in connection with the matters they had always matured before he had anything to do with them4 ,nor was it on account of these affairs that ,mr4 ,gladstone's fall occurred when it came1 which is another reason why it would be waste of time to discuss them in connection with him4 ,who is proposing to alter these things now that they have been fought out between the great parties of the ,state and decided8 ,as a supplement to his ,irish ,land ,bill1 we now have the ,irish peasants refusing to pay any rent at all3 but in these days when a thing is done in our ,parliament it is done4 ,the ,conservatives1 in spite of the majority at their back1 have never put forward a finger to touch those settlements1 nor do they mean to do so2 and yet not only our own country1 but all ,europe1 and indeed realms farther away still1 have been keenly aware that the ,beaconsfield ,ministry has been very busy for years undoing something that ,mr4 ,gladstone had done4 ,what was this gigantic task1 which was not the repealing of legislation1 or the passing of statutes of any kind1 but which required courage and effort more arduous than those things8 ,there must have been some cause for the bursts of applause which have again and again echoed on our shores from all parts of the civilized globe at something that was going on4 ,it was1 we hasten to answer1 the rehabilitation of ,england in the eyes of the world1--the restoration of her ancient power as a factor in the enforcement and administration of public right among the nations4 ,somehow1 coincidently with ,mr4 ,gladstone's prosperity as a ,minister1 ,england1 his country1 had sunk1 and in exactly answering ratio1 and was sinking lower and lower still daily4 ,he was very famous1 or at least very notorious1 at home1 but the renown of ,britain abroad was clouding2 and our people never will bear that1 as history had shown before4 ,this man1 who at heart was but a financier1 and who ought in the fitness of things never to have risen higher in office than a ,chancellor of the ,exchequer1 whose function it should have been to find funds for some one else as a ,prime ,minister capable of a policy in the higher international politics befitting an ,empire1 was conducting our foreign affairs in the spirit of a commercial traveller2 willing to effect a little saving by giving up a group of islands in one part or a bit of territory in another1 and to effect an economy at another time by backing out of a treaty4 ,though1 at the same time1 if anybody insisted1 and there loomed1 however distantly1 a possibility of war1 he would pay the money down in a hurry by millions1 as he did in the ,alabama case4 ,we should have had all the world insisting very soon1 making peace more costly than war itself1 besides the shame of unjustifiable surrender4 ,but we were spared all this2 though the undoing of the humiliation1 as far as it had gone1 has fully occupied ,mr4 ,gladstone's successors ever since4 ,this is the great accusation which the ,conservatives have to bring against ,mr4 ,gladstone--that of having degraded the position of his country2 and an arraignment more fatal than this cannot be made in the case of a chief ,minister4 ,it is not alone the ,conservatives who make it4 ,did not ,earl ,russell1 ,liberal though he was1 find enough ,english blood in his aged veins when writing his last book1 to say that ,mr4 ,gladstone had dragged the name of ,england through the mire8 ,but it would not be quite accurate to put this forward as the full explanation of ,mr4 ,gladstone's sudden tumble from office2 for it was not until after that occurred that the bulk of people quite knew the whole extent of the injury he had worked in this respect4 ,the ,conservative leaders guessed it1 but they knew more about foreign affairs than the rank and file of the nation4 ,everybody1 of course1 high and low1 was aware that he had unasked given up the ,ionian ,islands because of some literary reasons which he had come upon in writing books about ,homer1 that he had surrendered territory in the ,san ,juan ,boundary ,question1 and that he had quietly gone to ,geneva and paid ,america1 not indeed all she asked1--for even with ,britain's wealth the whole of the first modest request would only have been found with difficulty1--but he had counted down a sum that made ,brother ,jonathan's shrewd eyes twinkle with joy4 ,the country1 from these events following one another1 had come to have a very uneasy feeling that somehow under his auspices everything was going against us abroad4 ,still it was only later that it was made fully apparent how completely ,england was effaced2 not until the three ,emperors had begun to settle the rearrangement of ,eastern ,europe1 without so much as saying to ,great ,britain1 ,by your leave4 ,there is difficulty when looking back now to prevent oneself from suffering some illusion in this respect2 but it is a fact1 and we may be glad of it1 that ,englishmen did not until it was roughly forced upon them suppose beforehand that their position had dwindled to quite so low an ebb4 ,at the elections of #ahgd1 there was no distinct foreign policy before the public1 for though there were many on the ,conservative side who sympathized with ,france in her adversity1 and saw clearly that ,germany's mutilation of her territory meant trouble in time to come1 not a voice was raised in deprecation of our neutrality4 ,but1 for the matter of that1 it may be just as correctly said that there was no matured domestic question before the country1 for it will not be supposed that there was a single ,tory any more than a ,liberal who wished the ,income ,tax to be retained on his shoulders4 ,it was hardly for proposing to do away with that impost that everybody voted so unanimously against ,mr4 ,gladstone2 they only did so at the polling-booths in spite of his proposing it1 which somehow seems rather mysterious4 ,if his opponents were not proposing to recall any of the recent legislation1 and if there was no special question of foreign affairs pending1 and if nobody had any desire not to be lightened of taxation1 how was it1 pray1 that ,mr4 ,gladstone was so ignominiously hurled from power8 ,in reality1 there is not the slightest difficulty about it--,mr4 ,gladstone was decisively rejected by his countrymen1 not on any question of policy1 either home or foreign1 but because of the personal impression he had slowly but surely imprinted on their minds4 ,the real issue before the country was whether it would have any more of ,mr4 ,gladstone1 and it said ,no4 ,it is a common artifice on the part of his apologisers to insinuate that he had wearied the nation by offering it too many things for its good4 ,but neither individuals nor communities are much in the habit of refusing gifts2 it is the one thing1 and nearly the only thing1 in this world for which there is an excellent reason whenever so strange a proceeding happens4 ,there is another way of representing the matter1 one much less complimentary but far more true--the country was sick of ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,even the sight of ,mr4 ,lowe standing at his side with four millions of surplus in his hands was not enough to tempt them4 ,the promise to abolish the ,income ,tax was the most tremendous bribe ever offered to the constituencies1 but1 to their credit1 it did not corrupt them4 ,they would not accept ,mr4 ,gladstone any longer at any price whatever4 ,the believers in democracy1 and ,mr4 ,gladstone in particular1 according to some of his very latest reasonings1 ought to have accepted this universal disgust as being a popular inspiration4 ,however1 they have done nothing of the kind1 but avow that it was a public delusion1 which they at first hinted would be temporary2 but if the public is liable to delusions1 and to fits of them which continue for seven or eight years at a stretch1 for that is now the duration of this one1 what becomes of these very radical gentlemen's democracy8 ,for it is not really open to them to plead1 though they will go on doing it1 that the people's eyes were dazzled by a glitter of diplomatic success1 and their blood infuriated by a skilfully aroused anti-,russian feeling4 ,it is not open to them for a simple reason1 but a very conclusive one3 the elections came before anything of this could have happened2 and the elections themselves arrived with the suddenness they did owing to something which had preceded them--namely1 a steady run of ,ministerial defeats in the by-contests1 wherever a vacancy occurred in a constituency4 ,mr4 ,gladstone avowed all this in the address with which he startled the ,greenwich electors and the whole country1 though he and his friends have never mentioned the fact since4 ,it was for the purpose of putting all things right that the elections which put them all more wrong still were so unexpectedly ordered4 ,it was not because of being intoxicated by the diplomatic triumph of ,lord ,beaconsfield and ,lord ,salisbury at ,berlin--which did not occur till years after--that the constituencies rejected ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,we have no wish to be unnecessarily impolite1 but the true reason for it was that which we have named already--they had come not to like ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,if we trace that fact backwards in a natural way1 we shall find that one cause of it was that they felt the honour and the interest of ,england were not safe in his hands2 but this was only one among other causes4 ,it swelled afterwards into the biggest reason of all1 and now practically includes all the others2 but1 at the moment1 it was not actually known that the safety of ,england was about to be imperilled4 ,the voters were affected by other reasons4 ,what were those other reasons8 ,the public must have known them pretty clearly at the time1 since it acted so promptly and decidedly upon them1 and it1 therefore1 ought not to need very much recalling of them now1 for the time1 after all1 is not so very long ago4 ,but it may be as well to go into them a little1 since it was through the incidents furnishing them that the general public was led to form the very same estimate of ,mr4 ,gladstone which the ,conservatives had held for about a score of years before4 ,at last the popular judgment coincided with that of his ,parliamentary opponents1 and he fell from power4 ,but any one who will give a moment's consideration to the cases of the ,collier appointment1 the ,ewelme ,rectory affair1 and the issue of the ,royal ,warrant on purchase in the army1 will see that we are right in affirming that ,mr4 ,gladstone's ignominious expulsion from office was owing to moral rather than political causes4 ,it stands recorded that this ,minister1 who had put religious professions in the front of his politics in a way novel to public life1 had to defend his conduct over and over again in the ,house of ,commons by quoting the mere letter of the law4 ,parliament became not unlike the ,old ,bailey when a legal wrangle is going on over the technicalities of an indictment2 and the unwonted spectacle of ,lord ,chief ,justices accusing a theological ,premier of having somehow evaded a statute was not made any less unedifying by ,mr4 ,gladstone showing great skill in being his own attorney4 ,everybody must admit that he certainly did that4 ,it is possible to recall each of the cases in very few words4 ,an ,act of ,parliament had been passed with a view to strengthening the ,judicial ,committee of the ,privy ,council1 and1 as this ,court was one of ,appeal1 it stood to reason that those appointed to it to revise other ,judges' decisions should have had judicial experience themselves4 ,it was expressly provided in the ,act that those to be raised to this ,court should be already ,judges4 ,to the surprise of the whole country1 ,sir ,robert ,collier1 well known as ,mr4 ,gladstone's ,attorney-,general1 and1 therefore1 conspicuously only a waiter for a judgeship1 not a judge already1 was announced as the filler of one of these vacancies1 before half the readers of the newspapers knew that he had ceased to be ,attorney-,general4 ,it turned out1 however1 that he was in reality a judge at the moment1 and that he had been one for some few moments previously1 having1 in fact1 sat on the bench of the ,common ,pleas for just two days4 ,there is not space to follow ,mr4 ,gladstone's wonderful reasoning1 but it chiefly turned on a point so fine as this1 that what the ,act meant to stipulate was not experience1 but status4 ,in other words1 that a man should be made a judge of one kind for five minutes1 in order to be turned into one of another kind1 just for the say of the thing4 ,amazed members of the ,legislature which had passed the enactment protested that they were not so foolishly subtle as this1 and that they had never1 before ,mr4 ,gladstone mentioned it1 thought of any such distinction as that between status and experience4 ,but this was not the only instance in which he has told people what they had intended better than they knew1 and all differently4 ,in the ,ewelme ,rectory business he would have it that when a statute said ,oxford it meant ,cambridge1 or at least that its specifying ,oxford did not signify1 or that it included ,cambridge1 or1 in fact1 might be construed to prescribe anything else which it did not say and which was contrary to what everybody had thought of it before4 ,however1 here1 again1 as the lawyers would otherwise have been troublesome1 the technicality was found to have been formally complied with4 ,the words of the enactment did really require that the man who was to be made rector of ,ewelme parish should be a member of ,oxford ,convocation1 and ,mr4 ,harvey1 ,mr4 ,gladstone's friend1 who had been educated at ,cambridge1 and who1 until that living became vacant1 had never dreamed of connection with ,oxford1 was made a member of the ,convocation1 in order to receive the living4 ,of course1 ,mr4 ,gladstone argued that ,mr4 ,harvey's being a ,master of ,arts was enough1 though the statute said nothing of that1 and everybody else had thought it expressly stated a certain ,university where the ,master of ,arts was to come from4 ,but let us go on to the third case1 that of the issue of the ,royal ,warrant abolishing purchase4 ,not a few of the ,liberals who exulted at the success of the party measure had a misgiving at the way in which it was secured4 ,it was felt to be a victory which could not be repeated1 and one of a style which1 if they who snatched it had been ,conservatives1 would have thrown the country into a convulsion4 ,the most violent act in the name of the ,crown which the oldest man living in ,england has witnessed1 was counselled by ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,because the ,lords1 in the exercise of the power which the ,constitution gives them1 were not willing instantly to pass his ,bill for giving an entirely new social aspect to the army1 he caused the ,queen to do nothing short of superseding them entirely1 and practically reduced the ,constitution at a stroke to the ,commons and the ,crown4 ,it is just now part of the tactics of the ,liberals to protest against some imagined wish to bring in personal rule4 ,if any such preposterous design existed1 it would be ,mr4 ,gladstone's own act which would be fallen back upon for the precedent4 ,the feeling which has best enabled the most thoughtful among ,englishmen to understand the kind of shock which foreigners experience on the occurrence of one of the political earthquakes which they call on the ,continent by the name coup d'etat1 was that which ran through the country when ,mr4 ,gladstone announced that there was nothing for the ,lords to discuss1 that he had advised the ,queen to issue a ,royal ,warrant4 ,we had lost all recollection of the particular sensation1 but he brought back just a twinge of it4 ,mr4 ,gladstone1 however1 can do ,radical acts and then explain them historically4 ,once more we found ourselves all inextricably entangled in his casuistry4 ,he now argued that the ,royal ,warrant had not been issued by exercise of prerogative1 but in strict pursuance of statutory power1 there being some ,act of the ,georges to that effect1 which ordinary people had forgotten4 ,it is not necessary to follow the thing further4 ,in the end1 ,mr4 ,gladstone became too clever for the country4 ,even the dullest began to perceive that ,mr4 ,gladstone could conscientiously do whatever he liked4 ,the more subtly he argued1 the more plain ,john ,bull got puzzled4 ,it may1 at first sight1 seem tasking the public memory too much to ask people if they remember the tension there was in the political atmosphere towards the end of ,mr4 ,gladstone's career4 ,but a very great many will not have forgotten it4 ,the political weather is so far like the other sort that it is only borne in mind for its badness2 that1 however1 was a terrible season4 ,at the last1 ,mr4 ,gladstone seemed to have got into the air1 and he did not improve the climate4 ,he may urge1 certainly1 that ,mr4 ,lowe had made himself very obnoxious1 that ,mr4 ,ayrton had been found to be intolerable1 and that the great trade of the publicans1 with all its supporters1 was in arms against ,mr4 ,bruce4 ,that is all true2 the country disliked each one of these his chief colleagues4 ,but neither ,mr4 ,lowe's hard cynicism1 nor ,mr4 ,ayrton's dogmatic inaestheticism1 nor ,mr4 ,bruce's stolid mechanical interference1 stirred the large keen dissatisfaction which ,mr4 ,gladstone's own incomprehensibility in the end did4 ,he gave men's consciences a shock1 and none of the others affected to feel so deeply as that3 it was only he who had stood forward as a political moralist1 and then set everybody by the ears discussing his conduct4 ,it was the same outside ,parliament and within it4 ,everybody was arguing ,mr4 ,gladstone2 nobody could make him out1 nobody felt safe1 or could imagine what was coming next4 ,if the atmosphere had but been charged a little more with him1 ,england would not have been worth living in4 ,luckily the elections came1 and the air was cleared4 ,but if in the more exaggerated instances we have above spoken of1 the general public became aware of a certain obliquity1 an unreliability1 a dissatisfied restlessness1 an imperiousness in ,mr4 ,gladstone1 the ,conservatives had been more or less continuously aware of those qualities for many years4 ,they1 as we said earlier1 have had to observe the right hon4 gentleman closer1 more continuously1 and it would be easy for any one of them who is of middle age to give from his own memory a string of instances1 just the same in kind as those above1 though not so broadly striking1 beginning much earlier in his career1 and coming down much later4 ,very recently1 ,lord ,salisbury at ,manchester recalled ,mr4 ,gladstone's dealings with his ,oxford constituents in reference to the disestablishment of the ,irish ,church4 ,but his lordship courteously spared his opponent the details4 ,has the world forgotten the famous letter to ,dr4 ,hannah1 bearing the date of ,june1 #ahfe1 written1 as ,mr4 ,gladstone himself with unlooked-for naivete admits in his ,chapter of ,autobiography1 for the appeasing of doubts8 ,he in it asserted1 first of all1 that the question was remote and apparently out of all bearing on the practical politics of the day2 second1 he avowed that he was probably going to be silent on the topic2 third1 he said that he scarcely expected ever to be called on to share in such a measure2 and1 as his finishing words1 spoke of it as a question lying at a distance he could not measure4 ,these were far too many causes for not doing a thing1 and the ,conservatives accordingly began to look out4 ,in #ahfi1 ,mr4 ,gladstone disestablished the ,irish ,church4 ,the remoteness and the distance which was not measurable somehow came to be packed within these two dates1--#ahfe-i4 ,what had so hurried matters8 ,well1 one can only recall what had happened in the interim1 and among the events there had been these two occurrences--he had been expelled from ,oxford and rejected by ,south ,lancashire4 ,the like suddenness attended his conversion on the subject of the ,ballot4 ,after half a lifetime of opposition1 he one fine morning announced that it must pass1 hardly a hint of warning having been given beforehand4 ,but his whole career has shown this suddenness of advance1 at distinct periods1 which1 as we have said1 always coincided with the brightening of the prospects of the respective agitations4 ,it is true1 as is earlier pointed out1 that he took something like a quarter of a century to travel the ground between the ,conservative starting-point and the ,radical position1 but the length of time was not owing to his creeping between the bounds2 he has traversed it at successive leaps1 standing still between1 and1 at the places where he remained stationary1 there was always the warm shelter of office4 ,this style of progress has characterized him down to the present moment4 ,as late as #ahgd he told a deputation that he did not consider the question of the ,county ,franchise ripe4 ,there has been a good deal of very indifferent weather since then2 but whether or not the field crops have matured1 it seems now that the agricultural labourer has been growing fast4 ,mr4 ,joseph ,arch has been the sun that has shone upon him1 and ,mr4 ,gladstone1 as usual1 is quite ready to reap the harvest4 ,examples might be multiplied manifold4 ,take the boasted case of the ,liberal surplus1 of which we have never ceased to hear--just as if ,mr4 ,lowe and ,mr4 ,gladstone had between them coined the money4 ,its history1 stated in three words1 was this3 ,mr4 ,lowe had mulcted the public in an unnecessary twopence of ,income ,tax1 and1 instead of shamefully confessing the incompetency it showed in a ,chancellor of the ,exchequer1 presented himself before the constituencies1 on the eve of the elections1 with his hands full of gold1 and with the air of presenting it to them4 ,mr4 ,gladstone1 great financier as he is1 was not above profiting by his subordinate's miscalculation4 ,instead of administering a rebuke1 as a good journeyman might have been expected to do to a bad apprentice1 he patted ,mr4 ,lowe on the back4 ,indeed1 in the ,greenwich address1 when he so magniloquently spoke of the money being given back in the shape of abolishing the ,income ,tax1 he seemed to take some credit to himself4 ,it will be beginning1 perforce1 to dawn upon the reader that this was a ,minister very difficult to be dealt with by an ,opposition4 ,if we had space in this paper1 a part of the task of sketching ,mr4 ,gladstone would be to point out how injuriously he has confused the demarcation of parties2 how unscrupulous he has been in seeking allies which on no principle of fair classification belonged to him4 ,it may be nothing that he can half apologize for ,irish ,obstructionists--the ,liberals have always exploited ,irish members4 ,but this very high ,churchman1 who clings to a tenet so ridiculous in the eyes of ,dissenters as apostolical succession1 can figure in ,dr4 ,joseph ,parker's chapel1 and betray a close and not uncomplimentary knowledge of the trust-deed of the ,rev4 ,newman ,hall's congregation4 ,this austere gentleman1 who1 when inquiring into the ,theses of ,erastus 7see his article71 finds out that moral offences are at the root and source of all heresy1 has a kindly word for such free-thinkers as happen to be also political leaders of the working men--,mr4 ,bradlaugh1 for example4 ,this objector to divorce1 on such stupendously elevated grounds as that we are all members of a mystical body1 and who cannot bring himself to allow more than a civil marriage to a deceased wife's sister1 mingles in the ruck of ,radicals4 ,but if he has what they must think ecclesiastical crotchets1 he always manages them with most skilful prudence4 ,if he has to satisfy his most private feelings by bringing in no fewer than six resolutions in more or less opposition to the ,public ,worship ,bill1 he can withdraw them again4 ,but was this the gentleman to champion ,radicals and ,dissenters8 ,an ,opposition which had to keep its own consistent lines1 and which was closely restricted as to its allies1 was at a perpetual disadvantage with one whose own opinions1 subtle and complicated as they might be1 cut him off from nobody who could be of aid4 ,fortunately the country itself1 at a certain rather tardy point1 rallied its patriotism in that spontaneous way which always practically reinforces the ,conservative party4 ,the ,alabama claims gave those who did not meddle much in politics their first shock1 while for more thoughtful persons it brought back a reminiscence of the surrender of the ,ionian ,islands2 and when1 later1 the public saw him stand tamely by while ,russia tore up the ,black ,sea clauses of the ,treaty of ,paris1 every student of our history knew that ,mr4 ,gladstone's fate was sealed4 ,the nation1 stirred by arousings of the deeper instincts of the ,english character1 at last reckoned with him on general grounds--dislike of his personal demeanour1 and dread of what he was bringing on the country4 ,it refused to be won either by the finest oratory or the prospect of reduced taxation4 ,the ,conservatives came into power on the highest tide of popular feeling which living ,englishmen have witnessed4 ,but the change was too late to prevent mischief2 ,russia1 encouraged by ,england's effacement during ,mr4 ,gladstone's sway1 had matured her further plans1 and had already put her secret intrigues into motion4 ,the ,treaty of ,san ,stefano showed plainly what her plan was1 and just as clearly does everybody not blinded by party feeling now know that to ,russia's amazement1 and amidst the surprised and grateful admiration of the whole civilized globe1 the present ,ministry have thwarted that plan and made ,england again safe and famous4 ,it would be a waste of time to retrace the details3 a summary of them is to be found in ,lord ,salisbury's ,manchester speech4 ,what alone further concerns us here is the manner in which ,mr4 ,gladstone has borne himself in ,opposition4 ,we have already seen how he did so as a ,minister4 ,it was understood1 indeed1 that he had retired1 with something which was meant to pass for dignity1 though to the eyes of the nation there was never anything which was not sulk which had so much the look of it4 ,however1 on the plea that something had happened in the world1 he was quickly back again in front1 elbowing ,lord ,hartington aside4 ,speeches1 in ,parliament and out1 articles in every magazine1 republication in pamphlet and volume1 letters to everybody1 which1 practically1 meant to all the newspapers3 there never was such an active resuscitation of one who had so publicly become politically defunct4 ,it is1 however1 not for coming to life again that we find fault with ,mr4 ,gladstone1 for1 in truth1 we always expected it4 ,our complaint is simply this1 that if such a style of opposition as he has resorted to became habitual1 the government of the country would be made impossible4 ,no means were left untried to make ,russia hope1 and other nations fear1 that ,lord ,beaconsfield had not the nation at his back1 and1 when owing to this encouragement1 ,russia showed obstinacy1 and it was necessary to risk something by exhibiting boldness1 that very necessity was sought to be turned into a reproach4 ,mr4 ,gladstone's own tactics made it imperative that in the matter of ,cyprus1 and some other negotiations1 secrecy should be observed1 and the ,government was charged with acting unconstitutionally1 as if constitutional usage imposed no limits on the ,opposition1 or as if those limits had not been transgressed4 ,just so1 again1 in the ,afghan war4 ,if ,lord ,northbrook had acted with spirit years before1 that war would never have been necessary2 but that trifling fact ,mr4 ,gladstone overlooked1 he and the ,duke of ,argyll making it appear that ,lord ,lytton had been at great pains to get himself and his ,government into a difficulty4 ,why ,mr4 ,gladstone has had so little to say about the ,cape war is a mystery1 which may be explained some day2 all that can now be said of it is that it shows a striking inconsistency4 ,luckily his efforts1 though his industry was gigantic1 have failed1 and even he must be now aware that his renewal of them1 though we suppose it must go on1 having been arranged so long and announced so pompously1 is a trifle late1 with the ,cape war ended1 our troops in ,cabul1 those of ,austria at ,novi ,bazar1 and checkmated1 scolding ,russia gnashing her teeth at ,germany4 ,however1 no doubt we shall have some very fine speeches1 proving that nothing of this ought to have happened1 or that it won't last long1 or that the ,beaconsfield ,administration did not bring it about1 or any thing else1 just as reasonable1 for fine words can be arranged in many different ways by a practised orator4 ,what1 then1 we may finally ask1 was the secret of ,mr4 ,gladstone's success so long as he was prosperous1 and what was the explanation of his fall when it so suddenly arrived8 ,the thrifty skill of calculation in estimating the growth of questions which his whole career so irresistibly points to was spoken of early in this sketch2 but a man1 no matter how judicious in the management of his own approaches to a party1 cannot impose himself upon it4 ,the ,liberals1 on the successive occasions1 welcomed ,mr4 ,gladstone1 and did so gladly1 never making his very late conversions a reproach4 ,its leaders were more vociferous in hailing him at each renewed arrival one stage farther on than were the rank and file1 though some of them1 as the thing was repeated1 must have been struck with the unfailing punctuality of his approach4 ,not that we are professing to sympathize with these gentlemen4 ,if it satisfied them that whenever they had upset a ,government1 be it that of ,aberdeen or of ,palmerston1 the inevitable ,mr4 ,gladstone always emerged out of the wreck1 just a little more ,liberal than the day before1 ready to take the first pick of places in the new ,cabinet1 all well and good4 ,but the fact was that his arrival always was a convenience1 for1 no matter how the sections differed among themselves1 the rallying round ,mr4 ,gladstone as a further seceder from ,toryism was a proceeding in which they could all join1 and it gave them1 again and again1 an appearance of unanimity and cohesion4 ,this was1 in fact1 his great function1 and in it he has been very valuable to the party4 ,besides1 though so late and seemingly slow in politics1 he had from the first been great1 and at the outset even precocious1 in finance2 and1 further1 he was a wonderful orator1 even quicker in debating than ,mr4 ,bright4 ,such a personage1 so largely prudent and so highly gifted1 was sure to succeed1 and to do so for a long time2 but he was also certain to fail in the end1 and that completely4 ,his temperament made that nearly certain4 ,he was always too busy making speeches1 or writing for the press1 or answering letters1 to be any power in social life4 ,a strange kind of semi-recluse1 but combining with bookworm habits a passion for speechifying and for using the penny post1 was not likely to conciliate ,london1 and he never did4 ,by-and-by he was railing at the ,clubs1 because they did not agree with him2 and then he had next to appeal from the metropolitan journals to the superior politicians and brighter wits who preside over the provincial newspapers4 ,all this prognosticated failure4 ,even his special gifts and the kind of successes which fell to him turned into the means of helping it4 ,his turn for figures not unnaturally made immediate economy his great object1 forgetful of the larger connection in such a land as ours between an imperial position in the world and the preservation of our commerce1 and overlooking also the costliness of reasserting our position when a crisis came2 while his ready eloquence1 having no longer open to it the old patriotic themes1 had to expend itself in the adornment of ,british abnegation1 and the excited applause given to his rhetoric was mistaken by him for assent to his views1 till he was amazed to find himself suddenly quite out of accord with the nation1 and falling1 he knew not why1 headlong from power4 ,even to this hour he seems never to have had the least misgiving that the man who could speak with such complacency of the trading supremacy of the world passing to ,america 7see his article on ,kin ,beyond the ,sea71 and who could urge as a reason for our not caring to interfere in ,egypt that it would be the egg of a ,north ,african empire 7see his article on ,aggression on ,egypt and ,freedom in the ,east71 was not the man to be ,england's ,minister4 ,but the country had found it out even before he wrote those articles2 his threatening his countrymen with the calamity of finding another empire on their hands1 in the only part of the world yet remaining to be explored and civilized1 has only proved that they were right1 and will not terrify ,englishmen4 ,but a fluent orator has always left to him a kind of gambler's hope of retrieving everything by talking4 ,mr4 ,gladstone is going to alter everything by making a dozen or two of speeches in ,scotland4 ,are these ,midlothian harangues to be longer than that made at ,greenwich1 or more numerous than those uttered in ,lancashire8 ,they may be as fine as they will for anything it signifies to ,conservatives1 if the result is only again the same as on the other occasions1 and it is hardly likely that he will persuade ,englishmen now amidst their returning renown to despair of the future of ,england4 ,a ,,conservative4 ,,the ,,ancien ,,regime ,,and ,,the ,,revolution ,,in ,,france4 ,histoire de l',ancien ,regime1 par ,,henri ,,taine4 ,paris4 ,histoire de la ,revolution francaise1 par ,,henri ,,taine4 ,paris4 ,when ,de ,tocqueville1in his celebrated work upon the ,ancien ,regime and the ,revolution1 had described the downfall of the ,bourbon monarchy1 he ended with these words3--,i have now reached the threshold of the great ,revolution2 on this occasion ,i shall not cross it1 but perhaps ,i may soon be in a position to do so1 and then ,i shall no longer consider its causes1 but its nature1 and shall finally venture to pass judgment on the society that has proceeded from it4 ,death prevented this admirable inquirer from accomplishing his purpose1 a loss to the historical literature of ,europe for ever to be regretted1 and certainly not least by the author who has now undertaken to fill up the blank1 and complete ,de ,tocqueville's projected task--the description1 namely1 of modern ,france as the outcome of the immense transformation which the ,revolution brought upon the ,old ,french ,state4 ,the fundamental principles which appear so clearly and sharply in ,tocqueville's development are prominent in ,taine's2 the activity of the earlier author prepared the ground for the later to build on4 ,but we must admit that ,taine's work is pre-eminently independent1 and his descriptions more striking1 broad1 and richly coloured than those of his precursor1 while the material contents of his work are often different4 ,but what1 in spite of this1 constitutes the resemblance between the two men is1 their having for basis a common conception both of the ,state and what it presupposes1 and of the historian and his task4 ,it is the very opposite of the manner of thinking entertained in the eighteenth century which1 without any heed to the peculiar character of the necessities of a given people1 was bent on constructing1 according to simple rules of reason and natural law1 the best ,state for all time4 ,taine1 in a very striking manner1 declares himself free from such an error4 ,in #ahdi1 he observes1 ,i was an elector1 and had to take part in the naming of a large number of ,deputies4 ,therefore it was necessary not only to decide as to persons1 but as to theories as well2 ,i was required to be ,royalist or ,republican1 ,democrat or ,conservative1 ,socialist or ,bonapartist1 and ,i was nothing of the kind--nay1 ,i was nothing at all1 and envied those who had the luck to be something4 ,these worthy men built a constitution as they would a house1 on the most ornamental1 most new1 or most simple plan2 a row of models stood ready for choice1 a baronial castle1 a burgher's house1 a workshop1 a barrack1 a phalanstery1 a cottage1 and each said of his favourite model3 ',that is the only proper dwelling1 the only one a rational man would inhabit4' ,to me this seemed an utter mistake4 ,a people1 as ,i thought1 may indeed be able to say what house they admire1 but some experience is needed to teach them what house they need1 whether it be commodious and lasting1 stands the weather well1 and harmonizes with the customs1 occupations1 and fancy of its occupant4 ,we here in ,france have never been content with our political erections2 in the course of eighty years we have pulled them down and rebuilt them thirteen times4 ,other nations have acted differently1 and found their advantage in so doing4 ,they have preserved an old1 substantial building1 enlarged1 built around1 and beautified it according to their needs1 but never attempted to build an ideal house at one stroke1 according to the rules of pure reason4 ,it would therefore appear that the sudden invention of an entirely new1 and at the same time suitable and durable constitution is an undertaking that transcends human capacity4 ,the political and social form which a people permanently assumes is no matter of choice1 but fixed by its character and its past4 ,it must be suited to its idiosyncrasy1 even in the minutest points1 or it will crack and fall4 ,therefore we must know ourselves before we can discover what the proper constitution for us is4 ,we must invert the accustomed method1 and first form to ourselves a picture of the nation before we sketch a constitution4 ,at the same time this is a far harder and wider task than the one hitherto in favour4 ,what inquiries into past and present1 what labour in all domains of thought and action1 are needed to understand with precision and completeness the nature and growth of a great people through centuries6 ,but it is the only way to avoid putting out first empty discussions and then incoherent constructions2 and1 as regards myself1 ,i shall not think of a political opinion until ,i have learnt to know ,france4 ,from this rejection of the rationalistic ,state theory1 it follows1 of course1 that the author declines the style of historical writing that corresponds with it4 ,we all know how parties who contended in the course of the ,revolution have gone on attempting to justify their historical representation of it--,emigrants and ,feuillans1 ,girondists and ,montagnards1 ,bonapartists and ,communists4 ,they all knew exactly at the beginning of their historical labours what the conclusions arrived at would be4 ,their own party had the ideal of the only healthy ,state cut and dry1 and hence the sentence upon companions1 allies1 and enemies was pronounced beforehand4 ,the desirable aspects of the ,revolution were owing to the activity of that party1 the undesirable to the worthlessness of its adversaries4 ,the study of isolated facts only awoke real interest in so far as it sharpened the perception of the main point--our party is right1 all others are wrong4 ,to this disposition of mind more than to any other hindrances we may attribute the small advance made1 up to the middle of our century1 in the knowledge of facts1 in the history of the ,revolution2 this is what explains the else inexplicable phenomenon that1 spite of the large interest felt in the period1 no history of ,louis ,,xvi4 drawn from authentic documents has as yet been written4 ,for that even the books of ,de ,tocqueville and ,taine1 spite of the strength of their authors' intellect and the wealth of their material1 have not afforded us this1 we shall soon convincingly see4 ,both these works1 however1 are invaluable preparations for the writing of such a history4 ,with firm and decided political principles of their own1 both authors have determined to serve no party1 but knowledge only4 ,both desire to know men and circumstances before they judge of the political experiments made4 ,both are full of the spirit of the old saying3 ,human affairs are neither to be wept over nor laughed at1 but to be understood4 ,it is only when we know the soil and the seed from which the ,revolution sprang that we can understand its nature and working1 and only from the understanding of the whole can we pronounce upon the details with which factions have hitherto concerned themselves in endless and unprofitable debate4 ,we will illustrate our meaning by a contrary procedure4 ,i have not unfrequently heard the question3 ,how can ,taine1 whose first volume reveals more fully than any previous work the utter corruption of the ,ancien ,regime1 place the ,revolution in his second in an equally unfavourable light8 ,if the old state were so completely good for nothing1 the ,french were perfectly right in utterly destroying it4 ,accordingly1 there has been no want of critics who1 after the appearance of the first volume1 declared the author to be a thorough ,liberal1 and1 after the second1 in deep disappointment1 proclaimed him a thoroughly reactionary politician4 ,there are1 indeed1 certain passages that might lead to such a conclusion1 certain inconsistencies do appear1 but on the whole it is self-evident1 from an historical standpoint1 that out of so evil a condition as the first volume paints the dark pictures of the second must needs grow4 ,rather should we have had cause to wonder if from a diseased root there had sprung a healthy tree4 ,the men of the ,revolution had grown up on no other soil and in no other atmosphere than that of the ,ancien ,regime2 it was under it that their notions had arisen1 their passions been fostered1 and their ideal formed2 it was there that their nature had received its stamp and their strivings their direction2 and if all relations were dislocated1 political feeling perverted1 all portions of the people filled with bitter hatred against the ,state and each other1 how should pupils in such a school amidst the final shock of catastrophes show themselves men of ripe experience1 practical wisdom1 and determined energy8 ,he who has once taken in this simple truth will be much inclined to a mild judgment of individual men and parties2 at all events1 he will not be able abruptly to take sides either for or against the ,ancien ,regime or the ,revolution4 ,for one thing will have grown clear to him1 that the ,revolution was not the destroyer alone1 but the undeniable offspring1 of the old condition of things4 ,that a work of ,henri ,taine's displays literary ability of the first order there is no need to say4 ,his representation of events is grounded on most industrious study2 unpublished documents of all kinds are cited1 as well as printed works1 and among the latter we have not only ,french1 but foreign authorities--,english more especially--while ,german are hardly so much as noticed4 ,at all events1 the mass of thoroughly explored material is enormous1 and our historical knowledge is frequently extended1 rectified1 and cleared thereby4 ,we shall attempt to follow the general line of thought running through the book1 and now and then to controvert it on certain points4 ,it will be remembered to what pregnant results ,tocqueville's inquiries led4 ,the centralized government of ,france is by no means a creation of our century1 but a production of the ,ancien ,regime4 ,since the days of ,richelieu1 ministers of finance and their intendants and delegates had taken the exclusive charge of police of every kind1 public works and plans1 the economic and spiritual welfare of the people4 ,the elementary principles of political liberty and parliamentary constitution1 of independent local administration and commercial freedom1 were destroyed thereby4 ,spiritual and temporal magnates had been almost sovereigns in the districts in which they fulfilled the duties of government1 preserved internal and external peace1 protected local interests1 and consequently imposed taxes and corvees upon their dependents1 while often successfully resisting royal aggression--all these magnates were now as unconditionally as the mass of the people subjected to the royal bureaucracy and forced out of all political activity--thenceforth1 as hated parasites1 they had to live at the cost of the working people4 ,the ,king1 therefore1 assembled them at his ,court1 where1 in compensation for their loss of liberty and honour1 pensions and presents--always at the cost of the people--were heaped upon them4 ,thus the popular hatred went on intensifying with every generation1 and was at length the source and essential element of the great ,revolution4 ,it is on this thesis that ,taine bases his representation of the subject4 ,privileges were once the reward of political service done by the heads and leaders of the people in their own territories4 ,then1 the landlord lived in the midst of his dependents--his own interest was identical with their welfare1 he was linked with them by natural and traditional ties1 and appeared as their powerful advocate whenever the ,state attempted any arbitrary and oppressive measure4 ,now bureaucratic government divided the landowners from the people1 and by the unjustified continuance of their privileges set the two henceforth in opposition4 ,for because the nobleman paid no taxes1 the burgher and farmer had to make up the deficit4 ,because he retained the right of chase1 his game had to be fed on the crops of his tenants4 ,if a not inconsiderable number of the higher middle classes gained the special privileges of nobility1 the burthens of the rest of the people were only increased thereby4 ,the author has rendered us praiseworthy service by exposing the extent of privileges and feudal rights on one hand1 and of the increase of taxes and duties on the other1 more fully and precisely than any other writer has done4 ,thorough investigation has brought out a still more appalling condition than had been imagined4 ,after the ,state1 the ,church1 and the landlord had received their rates1 the share of the farmer in the proceeds of his land never amounted to more than a half1 and often his taxes rose to eighty per cent4 of his income4 ,on the other hand1 the privileged classes paid at least a fifth less than the just proportion1 and knew how to obtain on a yearly average at least a hundred millions in the shape of presents1 pensions1 c4 ,with increasingly few exceptions1 there was no more thought of any care to be taken of the lower classes by the higher4 ,prelates and magnates streamed towards ,versailles2 all that the peasants knew of them was from their unmerciful agents coming for rent and taxes4 ,thus ,france fell asunder into two worlds without1 unfortunately1 any reciprocal knowledge or common interest1 divided by contempt and hatred--worlds that lived on side by side1 the smaller in wealth1 enjoyment1 elegance1 and luxury1 and1 above all1 brilliant idleness2 the larger in poverty1 wretchedness1 ignorance1 savagery1 and1 above all1 in ever-growing and devouring bitterness of heart--a condition such as no other nation of ,christian ,europe had ever before come to4 ,now all this is perfectly correct1 and ,taine proves it by a mass of authentic testimony3 nevertheless it may be observed that it is only a part of the truth1 and by this one-sidedness the author has been led into error4 ,i am now alluding to the first part of this exposition1 that which treats of the centralization of the government in the hands of royal officials as the deepest root of all this mischief4 ,the worst side of this centralization had been incontrovertibly exposed by ,de ,tocqueville1 but none the less his representation was unfair and unjust1 because it made no mention of the brighter side4 ,no one can contest that the political inactivity of men of all positions in a system that referred the general interests of ,france to a bureaucracy1 demoralized the higher classes and left the lower ignorant and inexperienced4 ,still the historian should not forget the actual achievements of this great bureaucracy4 ,under ,colbert's guidance it created the civic order and economical beginnings of modern ,france4 ,it1 for the first time in ,france1 rendered throughout a century a burghers' war an impossible thing1 and it stimulated internal traffic by roads and canals1 which gave rise to countless industrial and commercial undertakings4 ,later1 under ,turgot and ,necker1 it waged1 on behalf of the people1 war against the pressure of privileges1 thought primarily of reform and progress1 and saw with bitter regret the defeat of its popular efforts by the opposition of the nobles4 ,tocqueville himself tells how the ,liberal parties before the ,revolution thought more of reforms than liberties--that is to say1 they expected the improvement of their condition from a further strengthening of the ,monarchy4 ,it came to a ,revolution first1 however4 ,the ,monarchy1 wielded by the feeble hand of ,louis ,,xvi41 was unequal to the task2 then privileges fell for ever1 but after ten years monarchical centralization arose anew in order a second time to satisfy the needs and inclinations of the ,french people throughout three generations4 ,it seems therefore a mistake to paint this institution so out and out black4 ,we may lament that it has not merely done nothing to educate the ,french in political liberty1 but has as much as possible stifled liberty and the very sense of it among them4 ,but how without it1 under the circumstances that succeeded to the religious wars and the ,fronde1 anything like a positive constitution ever could have arisen in ,france1 ,de ,tocqueville does not say4 ,we are indeed amazed when ,taine1 in his enumeration of the privileged classes as those luxurious idlers1 those once political servants who had now renounced all political influence1 numbers1 as third with the clergy and nobility1 the ,king--the head of that ,government1 which was only too zealous in working1 and thereby drew all the power of the ,state to itself and excluded all others from care for the common weal4 ,here there is an evident contradiction1 nor is it any way cleared up by the circumstance that personally ,louis ,,xv4 vied in indolence and debauchery with the worst of his courtiers1 or that his unfortunate successor spent much of his time and energy in ,court etiquette and the chase4 ,for the reign of ,louis ,,xvi4 was from first to last spent in efforts1 by the setting aside of feudal privileges1 alike to strengthen the ,crown and promote the good of the people1 and in no case can it be more incorrect to look upon the ,crown as a devouring parasitical growth upon the body of the ,state4 ,this brings me back to my former remark3 had ,taine instead of or by the side of his picture of society under the ,ancien ,regime written the history of its last monarch1 most assuredly he would have avoided this misconception4 ,but he admirably describes how the brilliant and empty position of the higher class led step by step to ruin4 ,these distinguished personages had no earnest and strenuous activity2 to be civil officials appeared to the majority of them below their dignity4 ,they adopted the army as a mere sphere of chivalrous adventure1 for even there1 there was no question for them of rigid discipline2 they left the drilling and care of their troops to subalterns and sergeants4 ,bishops and abbots drew immense revenues1 and gallantly offered their devotion to fair dames1 but as to divine services and cure of souls1 they were the affair of needy priests and hungry vicars4 ,the only field for their ambition and interest was the ,court1 the salon1 good society4 ,to shine there was the object of their distinguished lives4 ,and as the ,french people have ever been largely endowed with grace and esprit1 these efforts resulted in a perfection of personal appearance1 a virtuoso-ship of social intercourse1 a fixed and yet highly elastic code of bon ton1 such as the world never saw before or since4 ,until then the first class of a great nation had never been known to make the formation of an exquisite society its highest1 nay1 its only life-purpose1 to subordinate and sacrifice mental activity1 moral strength1 and individuality of character to the promotion and claims of this cultus4 ,here the final end of existence was enjoyment in all imaginable degrees1 and thought and action were rigidly directed to it4 ,that the greatest part of life should be spent in society was the most pressing requirement of politeness1 the reciprocal recognition without which all society becomes unendurable4 ,the conventional forms in which this recognition clothed itself became the law of this great world1 and the consequences were felt on all sides4 ,any appearance of individual peculiarity or opinion came to be held unfitting2 to be other or better than the rest was an offence against manners4 ,equally forbidden was the manifestation of any strong passion1 a thing by its very nature opposed to the sway of conventionality4 ,vice therefore was excused if it presented itself gracefully1 and almost honoured if it brought a startling and exciting variety into the monotony of daily life4 ,mental enjoyments were as welcome as sensual1 provided they could be had without trouble or labour1 for the aim was not to be informed1 but amused1 and so any kind of knowledge was good1 with the exception of the tedious4 ,hence it followed that all mental acquirement was estimated not by the worth of its content but the excellence of its form3 abstract intelligence in the service of enjoyment1 such was the motto of this society4 ,genial originality1 unconscious creative power1 native vigour1 were thoroughly antipathetic there1 or only tolerated in so far as they made themselves subservient to the ruling mood4 ,a further consideration of how essentially these characteristics of good society tended to strengthen and sharpen the revolutionary theories of its deadly foes1 here becomes instructive4 ,the development of this process may indeed be looked upon as the salient point in ,taine's work1 for often as the ,french literature and philosophy of the eighteenth century have been treated of1 ,i know of no earlier author who with such extensive material and penetrating insight has clearly brought out the continuous reciprocal action of circumstances and theories1 and thus gained an unalterable scale for the measurement of both by history4 ,taine begins1 as is just1 with the mighty impetus given to natural science since the middle of the seventeenth century throughout ,europe1 by which a way was opened for an utterly new view of the world and of men1 in opposition to the speculative and theological conceptions of the ,middle ,ages4 ,next comes under consideration the prevalence of the inductive method1 the rejection of all dogmatic assumption1 the repugnance to all intuitive ideas1 the proclamation of observation and experiment as the only sources of verifiable knowledge4 ,these principles having been at once unconditionally acknowledged in the sphere of natural science1 the next step was to apply the tone of thought they had engendered to the phenomena of spiritual and social life1 and here also to demand thorough investigation by the one true authority--criticism4 ,whatever the consequence of this investigation might in particular cases be1 the very fact that it had been demanded1 that the right of the existing1 as such1 was denied1 that the authority of tradition was subjected to that of critical reason--this betokened a new epoch in the world's history1 and opened out possibilities of hitherto undreamed-of progress in politics and religion1 ,state and ,church1 material and spiritual culture4 ,it is now plain that if the inductive method can lead to such positive results1 its application should be thorough and universal4 ,no naturalist delivers a general law as to the life of an organism before he has considered its origin1 existence1 and decay in all their stages1 compared it with its like1 separated it from its unlike2 for it is just through the discovery and recognition of the eminently special that analysis leads him to the comprehension of universal truth4 ,and according to this same rule1 in order to arrive at a just and practicable idea of reform for any ,state1 a great mass of special observations by technically practised and prepared eyes would have been required2 legal1 economical1 and historical inquiries made2 the peculiarities of individuals and peoples1 of the epoch and stage of culture1 must have been known2 the not merely personal but collective functions of human nature in their bases and action investigated3 for only when all this had been accomplished could it be asserted that the organism of the ,state and its laws had been dealt with after the manner of a genuine naturalist1 and that we were now in a condition to judge of single actualities according to these laws4 ,how came it that in the ,france of the eighteenth century the very opposite occurred--that politicians1 stimulated by young natural science1 should from the very first turn their backs upon the inductive method1 and evolve the future ,state rationalistically1 according to a few abstract principles8 ,taine convincingly shows the reason of this3 it was chiefly the influence of fashionable society upon literature which led to this fatal tendency4 ,the highest circles in ,paris and ,versailles1 in their brilliant but idle existence1 were1 as we have seen1 as intent upon mental as sensual excitement1 and therefore prepared to open their doors to every litterateur who could satisfy this demand4 ,now1 owing to the actual structure of society in ,france1 the writer who did not choose merely to devote himself to a few professional subjects had no other public than this distinguished class4 ,they and they alone were in a position to secure him praise1 honours1 and a certain income1 therefore it was most natural that the writer should conform to requirements upon the satisfaction of which his literary career was so absolutely dependent4 ,we have now to inquire what were the characteristics of the prevalent tone of thought among the highest class4 ,first a horror of all thoroughness1 all enduring and laborious perseverance1 all deep earnestness and spiritual recollection4 ,for all this was the very opposite of enjoyment and diversion1 it was a falling into the deadly sin of tediousness4 ,it was desirable1 indeed1 to have much and varied knowledge1 but rapidly and lightly1 by vivid and pungent discussion1 to reach the quintessence of the most interesting points and conclusions4 ,consequently the author's productions became restless1 many-sided1 and superficial4 ,the mass of information in every department of knowledge which ,voltaire1 for instance1 had at his disposal was immense2 but the working out and application of it were strongly hasty1 aphoristic1 and frivolous4 ,to this was added the dislike the public of the time had to any individual peculiarity1 its tendency to force all personalities into one conventional form--an effort equally fatal to poetic creation and to the historical sense4 ,for such men as these the world was comprehended in what they called the great world2 they had lost the power of imagining that there was or ever had been an existence outside of it and absolutely unlike it2 or if in any particular case the astounding fact could not be entirely concealed1 it was understood that among cultivated persons it could never be given any importance4 ,even on the stage it was no longer considered becoming that peasants or labourers1 a ,peruvian or ,iroquois1 should speak in their own natural manner2 they were all alike rendered polite1 sententious1 and fluent as their distinguished audience4 ,each local and individual tone was rubbed away1 every person of the drama was but a mouthpiece for the eighteenth-century eloquence of the author4 ,as with the drama1 so with other literature4 ,taine correctly observes that if we read an ,english romance of the period1 we have before our eyes a section of the ,english people2 but a ,french one1 though widely varying in garb1 contains invariably a picture of a ,french salon1 and that only4 ,in presence of so universal a mood as this1 how could any one come to the study of the ,state by means of difficult and distant researches on historical ground8 ,montesquieu did it1 but he remained solitary among his contemporaries1 won much celebrity1 but exercised very little influence4 ,the other reformers used quickly to turn over the pages of histories in order to find piquant quotations for some ready-made theory2 as1 for instance1 the ambition of priests1 the falsehood of diplomatists1 the insatiability of princely greed4 ,as to the complicated task of judging any individual ,state and its constitution according to its climatic and geographic conditions and its historical antecedents1 with the exception of ,montesquieu1 no man dreamt of that4 ,the public1 with whom the decision lay1 did not require anything of the kind1 nay1 would have repaid the severe toil with disapproval4 ,it placed1 as we have before said1 far more stress on a pleasant form than an instructive purpose1 cared but little for any subject in itself1 but only as affording material for the most intelligent1 yet at the same time most comprehensible and exciting conversation4 ,in debate no trace of previous knowledge won by personal effort was pre-supposed2 all that was needed was never to be commonplace1 and in every case to bring forward new and amazing truths4 ,accordingly speech and style strove neither for fulness nor depth1 but so much the more for clearness and conclusiveness4 ,in exposition1 the progress was regular from syllogism to syllogism1 great care being taken never to skip over a middle term4 ,in order to be impressive the speaker became rhetorical1 in order to convince he endeavoured to reduce every subject to one universal and easily inculcated proposition4 ,good society was delighted to be thus agreeably put in possession of the most advanced views of the world2 but literature thus allowed itself to deviate from real knowledge into the way of empty abstraction4 ,that the literature thus fostered and guided should from the beginning of the eighteenth century have been in opposition1 that since the middle of it it should have undermined with savage impetuosity all the foundations of existing conditions1 this gave not the least shock to distinguished society4 ,disgust at their own impotence and the omnipotence of royal officials1 dislike to an intolerant orthodoxy1 vexation at some personal neglect at ,court1--altogether there was cause enough for malicious satisfaction when philosophers1 by biting criticisms1 made clear the standpoint of burdensome potentates4 ,and when an ever-growing and strengthening ,materialism taught the doctrine of physical enjoyment and judicious selfishness as the guiding principle of human conduct1 it only spoke out what had half-unconsciously been the sum of all the motives and activities of high society4 ,but above all1 theories were but theories1 merely conversation1 excitement1 pastime4 ,the nobles declaimed against obsolete abuses1 but naturally each meant to keep his own rightful possessions1 and among these were privileges and feudal rights4 ,they felt conscious of a fresh superiority to the ignorant masses1 because they professed humanitarianism and liberalism1 and spoke against superstition and subordination4 ,that these much-admired theories might by-and-by become common to the whole community1 and then bring about horrible explosions--of this they had not the remotest suspicion4 ,any one who had in #aghj prophesied such a thing to the ladies of ,versailles1 would have been looked upon as we should look upon a prophet nowadays1 who told us that in the next century cats and dogs1 instead of men1 were to be lords of creation4 ,this1 then1 was the public in whose atmosphere and with whose co-operation the philosophy of revolutionary enlightenment sprung up4 ,it was here that it learned its rapid and superficial mode of study1 its rejection of an historical spirit in favour of multitudinous present actualities1 its taste for rhetorically adorned formulae and commonplaces4 ,when the construction of the best ,state was to be set about1 common characteristics were collected from the natural history of mankind1 such as the dislike to pain1 the impulse towards pleasure1 the capacity of forming1 from sensations1 representations and conclusions4 ,these characteristics were merely put together as the concept man1 and from this abstract man were deduced1 as in a mathematical formula1 the laws of politics1 morals1 and rights4 ,since all men had the same natural impulse towards happiness1 the ,state must render it possible for them all to reach that aim4 ,since all had a natural capacity to form concepts and conclusions1 they would be sure to employ the right means to that end so soon as their hands were left free1 or in case of a momentary mistake these right means logically pointed out to them4 ,that passion is1 in point of fact1 in the great majority of men1 stronger than reason1 and desire more impetuous than thought1 was disregarded by these admirers of abstract reason2 the fact that each man had the faculty of drawing a logical conclusion appeared to them to insure his conforming his conduct to the requirements of that conclusion4 ,if a logically formulated proof of the excellence of one of the ,constitutions they had sketched could be arrived at1 they fancied that the security and durability of its construction was perfectly guaranteed4 ,on the other hand1 that the preservation of constitutional order required other forces besides logical discussions1 this was altogether outside their range of thought4 ,but logic knows no limits beyond the evolution of its own conceptions4 ,the existing condition of things lent itself to being ground to powder4 ,before the critical assault of the new teaching no defence of the hoary unrighteousness of the ,old ,regime could make a stand2 the pity was that1 according to its own principles1 the former found it impossible to attain to a firm and enduring constitution of any sort or colour4 ,but1 if possible1 the theories afloat set in against the existing ecclesiastical system even more strongly than against the political constitution4 ,the natural science of the day afforded far more material for battle on that ground than the other4 ,astronomy1 physiology1 and anthropology joined with the efforts of philosophy to demonstrate that miracle was a delusion1 revelation unthinkable1 and an extra-mundane ,god unverifiable4 ,soon numerous voices exalted negation into the positive statement that every idea of ,god should be rejected1 and that the so-called soul in man was only the highest function of organized matter4 ,true1 ,voltaire remained through life a ,deist1 and ,rousseau declared his faith in ,god and in the immortality of the soul2 but the one all the more resolutely contended against the divine institution of the ,church1 and the other against the fundamental ,christian doctrines of ,sin and ,justification4 ,however different each may have been from the other1 they waged in common a war for life and death against the ,church1 the war of utterly opposed principles4 ,tocqueville was wrong in saying that the ,revolution was only inimical to the ,church as a feudal and aristocratic institution2 that after it had lost its wealth and privileges1 democratic society recognized how strong a democratic momentum the ,church itself contained1 and accordingly gave itself up with increased warmth to religious feelings4 ,here there is no doubt ,taine's record is the more correct one4 ,the ,revolution knew well that it desired not the wealth only1 but the fall of the ,church2 and not the partisans of the ,revolution1 but its adversaries1 whose numbers were largely swelled by the cruelties of the ,terror1 have brought about the elevation of the ,church in our own century4 ,if we now contemplate somewhat more narrowly the ,constitutional theory of the illumination1 we shall discern two characteristic and prominent features1 which1 on the one hand1 show its descent from the innermost core of the ,ancien ,regime1 and1 on the other1 very energetically determined the whole course of the ,revolution4 ,the ideal state deduced from the universal characteristics of mankind was as cosmopolitan as levelling4 ,just as on the stage of the period1 ,frenchman and savage1 ancient ,greek and modern ,parisian1 spoke the same language1--that of the salons of ,versailles1--so political theories recognized neither ,frenchman nor ,englishman1 ,catholic nor ,protestant1 educated nor uneducated1 only ,man in general4 ,they never considered what institutions would be adequate1 in ,france1 to the needs and capacities of the educated ranks and uneducated masses1 or how far the habits and opinions of their nation would render the adoption of a foreign institution practicable or injurious2 rather they formulated the rights of men1 of abstract instead of actually existing men1 and were convinced that a constitution based thereupon was for all men1 and consequently for all peoples1 the only good1 and therefore the only lawful one4 ,and just as clear as the equality of nations under the new political law1 appeared the equality of all men in the new ,state1 by which was meant not merely a claim to equal protection by law1 or equal facility in obtaining one's rights1 but a demand for the realization of an inborn and material equality of rights4 ,this1 as is well known1 was the point on which ,rousseau took his stand1 and gave the last and decisive direction to the impending democratic revolution4 ,taine justly observes how frequently1 in spite of their common principles1 ,rousseau's character and way of life led him to take different views from those of ,voltaire and the ,encyclopaedists4 ,the deepest and most unqualified indignation of these last was inspired by what they called superstition1 stupidity1 and priestcraft1 the transformation of the old ,state being with them more an affair of the intellect than the feelings1 a conclusion drawn from their universal theory and an ideal requirement of philanthropy4 ,it was generosity that led them to appear as the advocates of the poor and their woes1 while they themselves were high in the approval and favour of the best society4 ,rousseau1 on the other hand1 had himself led the life of the proletaire2 in the nervous excitability and measureless vanity which made him almost prouder of his weaknesses and vices than of the greatness and strength of his talents he--poor1 often hungry1 not seldom degraded and reviled--had filled himself with burning wrath against the favoured of earthly fortune1 the noble and the rich1 the revellers in idleness and luxury4 ,this growing hatred he transferred to the ,state and the laws which had produced so unrighteous a contrast between man and man4 ,men1 he maintained1 were in their original condition good1 because equal4 ,it was the ,state1 culture1 society1 that first introduced inequality1 and vice and crime thereby4 ,the existing order was not merely incompetent1 as the ,encyclopaedists asserted1 but hurtful1 poisonous1 deadly4 ,and1 in contrast to it1 he sketches a picture of the true human ,state4 ,equal and good men assemble in their natural condition to think on the basis of their future ,state4 ,each endows the new community with all liberty and property1 in order to receive back an equal share of the management and the possessions of the whole4 ,but this whole is omnipotent4 ,no laws bind its will1 for its will is the source of all law4 ,no king1 no official1 no superior rules over it2 each individual is only empowered to act1 so far and so long as he upholds the plenipotence of the sovereign mass4 ,it is not the upper classes who command the people1 but the people which require obedience from its officers and throws them away when they no longer please it4 ,for individual liberty there is here no place2 but owing to the equality of all1 the free will of the masses joyously and harmoniously prevails4 ,for a season these doctrines only served to afford a welcome mental stimulant to the minds1 if not of the nobility1 of the cultivated and property-possessing classes4 ,the higher1 and soon the lower1 bourgeoisie inflated themselves with these views4 ,at this period they shared certain of the privileges of the nobles1 filled numerous and prominent offices in the ,state1 gave to the nation its largest number of famous thinkers and poets1 promoted industry and commerce1 and daily increased in wealth1 while the nobles1 by their extravagance1 ruined themselves financially4 ,the former were1 therefore1 full of the consciousness of their own dignity1 and found the continued precedence claimed by the nobles to be unendurable4 ,they believed with inward satisfaction in this doctrine of the equality of all men and the sovereignty of the whole4 ,for1 instead of the privileged1 it seemed to them self-evident that owing to their culture they1 the hitherto unprivileged1 ought to stand out prominently among the people as leaders of that governing whole4 ,thus the state of freedom and equality would be the state of pure reason as well1 and1 therefore1 the leading position could not fail to fall to them1 the masters of reasonable discussion4 ,meanwhile the mass of the poor1 wholly cut off from the sources of culture and the mental movements of their country1 for long years knew nothing of this absolute governing power which1 according to the new discoveries1 inalienably belonged to it1 and was so surprisingly soon to fall into its lap4 ,the only change in their condition1 and thus the only preparation for their future sovereignty1 was an increase of outward distress and of inward confusion and embitterment2 and then came the time when the small circle to which education and enjoyment were limited1 and the ,state power they wielded1 fell into internal demoralization1 strife of factions1 and financial embarrassments1 till the very ,crown itself was obliged to summon popular forces to war against the privileged4 ,all the springs of ,state machinery refused to work1 coffers were empty1 authorities and classes at bitter internecine strife1 the army unreliable and undisciplined4 ,it was under circumstances like these that the mass of the people in towns and villages heard from their candidates1 advocates1 and demagogues1 what in truth their rights were4 ,in their ignorance and want1 their rudeness and embitterment1 they suddenly learnt that for them--as sovereign--limits1 obligations1 authority no longer existed1 that the old corruption and slavish condition was to be thoroughly got rid of1 and that then everything would belong to them4 ,they listened with greedy ears1 and rushed forward to trample under foot whatever sought to contest these rights of theirs4 ,the highest and noblest aims lured the century on1 and animated the hearts of countless worthy men3 liberty1 well-being1 and culture for all1 no difference between man and man but that of talent and virtue1 fraternity among all citizens in the ,state and all nations on the earth2 these were the ideals that #aghj proclaimed to the world and the future1 and therefore the ,french still love to speak of the deathless principles and fair days of this first epoch of the ,revolution4 ,all this1 ,thiers tells us1 would have been admirably realized had not evil-hearted emigrants and foreign ,powers by their malignant attacks1 driven the most humane of all ,revolutions into desperation1 a fight for existence1 and bloodshed4 ,all would have gone well1 says ,louis ,blanc1 had not the wicked ,thermidorians1 on the occasion of ,robespierre's fall1 brought in a policy of vice and self-seeking instead of one of virtue and brotherly love4 ,probably1 on the other side the ,vosges1 eighty men out of every hundred adopt one or other of these views1 and so it is easily intelligible that the merciless facts by which ,taine shatters these fair pictures should be received with repugnance and surprise by his countrymen4 ,the contrast between such a reality and such an ideal is indeed enormous2 fair days1 or so much even as one fair day in the course of the ,revolution1 can no longer be spoken of2 in the very hour when absolute monarchy collapsed1 a wild1 rude1 and cruel anarchy covered the land1 filling ,france with violence and crime of every kind for a decade1 and lastly causing an unparalleled despotism to appear to the ,french people salvation and deliverance4 ,the conclusion is unavoidable1 either the ideal was good for nothing1 and the ,coblentz emigrants had right on their side against the nation1 or the ,french people had set about their high task in a quite impracticable way1 and their historical fame has this time to be limited to the motto1 ,in magnis voluisse sat est4 ,neither of these alternatives will have a pleasing sound in the ears of a ,liberal ,frenchman4 ,but1 pleasing or not1 the facts are indisputable1 and up to the present time each new investigation of authentic documents has only served to give them a wider range and a more assured basis4 ,we have seen the end of the ,ancien ,regime4 ,the nobles of the former ,state were unnerved by idleness1 debilitated by enjoyment1 degraded by immorality2 never had the aristocracy of a great nation fallen and been brushed away from the soil of their country1 making so feeble a resistance4 ,the leaders of the movement followed a political teaching based on a most one-sided and therefore radically false conception of human nature1 and had no idea of the real nature of their fellow-citizens1 or of the principles and needs of genuine political life4 ,finally the masses were unmoved by any political thought whatever1 but were darkly conscious of their own wretched state up to the present time1 and their hatred of those who had1 or were supposed to have1 occasioned it1 were credulous and impressionable1 and penetrated with the rightfulness of their wildest passions and desires4 ,with such materials as these it is possible indeed to blow up an old and half-useless house1 but not to construct on its ruins a well-planned and lasting new one4 ,thus ,taine shows by details from documents contemporaneous with the events1 how1 even before the opening of the ,national ,assembly1 the condition of things was out of joint at a hundred points4 ,tumults and plunder1 disobedience to authorities1 and maltreatment of obnoxious persons1 were the order of the day2 public officials were spiritless1 and dared not command the already murmuring troops to restore order4 ,the first weeks of the ,assembly brought hot discussions as to the union of the three orders1 attempts at reactionary ,state measures1 and the taking of the ,bastille4 ,excitement grew from day to day2 the suspense throughout the country was tremendous4 ,with the ,parisian catastrophes the whole ,ancien ,regime rocked and gave way from side to side2 and not merely privileges and feudal rights1 but all ,state authorities vanished at one blow1 or at the first threat from an armed mob resigned their functions4 ,the ,french nation had positively no government1 no laws1 no police1 no taxation4 ,in place of these they had journals1 clubs1 societies1 popular songs1 and ,lynch law2 security for person and property no longer existed2 every one did according to his heart's desire till a stronger than he preferred the opposite and knocked him down4 ,this state of anarchy actually went on thus till the culmination of the ,reign of ,terror2 every now and then it quieted down here or there1 to burst out the following day at some other point with redoubled fury4 ,in the midst of the omnipresent turmoil and confusion1 the ,king1 a powerless prisoner1 sat in the ,tuileries4 ,the only quarter which afforded a possibility of the restoration of the ,state was the ,national ,assembly1 which was sufficiently respected and popular both with the people and the ,national ,guard1 to have enforced obedience had it set about it the right way4 ,but there were two reasons which forbade the adoption of that way4 ,one was that the ,assembly was deprived of free action by the ruling theory of the ,rights of ,man1 ,liberty and ,equality4 ,this included the rights of resistance against oppression1 and accordingly every citizen might at any moment consider himself oppressed and authorized in resisting4 ,it had been borne in upon these sovereign citizens that the will of the sovereign people stood higher than that of its representatives1 and that the people was at any time capable of re-entering upon the direct exercise of its sovereignty4 ,it is plain that under the influence of theories such as these any control over street-riots and local deeds of violence was a difficult1 if not hopeless task4 ,and1 on the same ground1 it was impracticable to attempt any control or regulation of press or clubs1 which looked upon their boundless activity as the highest expression and most precious jewel of revolutionary liberty4 ,as1 according to theory1 ,state officials were to be1 not the lords1 but the servants of the sovereign people1 it became expedient that they should not be named by the ,central ,government1 but chosen1 and that only for a short time1 by the citizens4 ,in the same spirit the affairs of ,government were entrusted not to individual officials1 but to deliberating colleagues2 while1 as to the passing of laws1 the principle of equality rendered impossible the formation of an ,upper ,house1 or any finally decisive action on the part of the ,king4 ,thus the ,government remained powerless1 legislation was hasty and uncertain1 the lower classes unmanageable1 and on very many occasions it was plain that club orators and journalists who knew how to flatter the demands of the masses bent both ,government and ,national ,assembly beneath their sway4 ,more than once there arose indignation in the ,assembly at so unworthy and dangerous a condition2 but at each attempt to grapple with and remove it1 the fear of a monarchical or aristocratic reaction fell upon it and paralyzed its action4 ,in order to control the anarchical wilfulness of demagogues and proletaires there was but one thing to be done1 to strengthen the authority of the executive4 ,this meant restoration of discipline in the army1 and energetic organization of ,government1 extensive powers conferred on the police officials1 sharp punishments1 and swift justice4 ,but how then8 ,if power were thus conferred upon the ,government to restrain proletaires and rioters1 who could guarantee liberty and the ,national ,assembly against the head of the reinforced ,government1 against the ,king1 who had hitherto been by these chronic riots kept in defenceless subjection8 ,this dilemma led to the revolutionary spirit invariably triumphing at the ,national ,assembly4 ,the present fear of the violence of the crowd attendant at the sittings combined with the apprehension of a future monarchical reaction4 ,when1 some years later1 at the organization of the ,republican ,government1 the weakness of authority was again felt1 more than one orator freely declared the existing arrangements to be undoubtedly bad throughout1 and to be amended as soon as possible2 owned that this had1 indeed1 been perfectly known at the time of their creation in #agij1 but that they were intentionally framed thus1 in the interests of liberty1 to prevent the ,king from exercising any power4 ,enough--the ,constitutional ,assembly did nothing to surround personal safety and political order with any inviolable defence2 on the contrary1 they did much to open the door wide to the passionate and arbitrary action of the masses4 ,we may say that they thoughtlessly sowed the seeds of all the horrors of the ,terror1 and had the sad beginnings of that development before their eyes1 without even an attempt to avert them4 ,this is true1 most especially in the economical department3 the colossal transformation of the laws of property in ,france1 which brought half the soil into new hands1 and irresistibly threw the population at large into communistic paths1 was out and out the work of the ,constituent ,assembly4 ,for more than twenty years ,i have1 in my ,history of the ,revolution ,period1 established these circumstances from authentic documents1 and thus given repeated offence to the ,french public4 ,i may therefore be permitted to feel all the greater satisfaction at such a distinguished investigator as ,taine1 after drawing forth numberless documents from ,parisian archives1 coming to absolutely the same conclusion4 ,all ,i have heard in the way of objection to his statements is utterly unimportant4 ,as it is not possible to drive the facts he has proved from original documents out of existence1 the observation is made that though his information may be true1 it is one-sided2 that while he never wearies of describing revolts and misdeeds1 he does not sufficiently point out in how many places the ,civil ,guard bravely and loyally upheld civil order4 ,taine would be the last to dispute this fact2 had it not been so there would have been no longer any ,france left in the nineteenth century4 ,but he would venture to inquire whether praise be deserved by an ,assembly which1 as ruler of a great ,state1 surrendered without resistance now the third of it1 now the half1 during three years1 to a bloody anarchy2 whether we can speak of fair days or humane ,revolution1 when in this short period six horrible ,jacqueries laid the land waste1 when countless political murders remained unpunished1 and military emeutes and ecclesiastical brawls thrust the weapons of civil war into the hands of the masses4 ,we are told of a pure and ideal inspiration then filling millions of liberty-loving and patriotic spirits2 and well may we call that a fair time in which noble aims and infinite hopes set all pulses beating higher1 and stimulate a whole people to youthful efforts1 and fill it with fresh and energetic life4 ,yes1 there were moments of golden dreams and illusions like these4 ,only they should have lasted longer4 ,it is not through their feelings1 speeches1 wishes1 but their deeds1 that nations assume their historical position and receive their historical sentence4 ,taine writes the last1 indeed1 with an incisive pen1 and often with glaring colours1 but essentially he gives nothing but what follows by indissoluble sequence from the facts of the ,revolution4 ,on certain points1 indeed1 one may notice a few omissions in his work1 or raise a few objections1 though they do not affect it as a whole4 ,space does not permit me to dwell on all particular instances2 ,i must be satisfied with pointing out a few4 ,while during the first months of the ,revolution the agitation of the lower classes was identical in town and country1 and the lawless violence of artisans and peasants pursued the same ends by the same means1 one of the most prominent features of the later phase1 the ,terror1 was the gradual introduction of a war of interest between the people of the capital and the villages4 ,the more the power of the ,mountain and the ,parisian ,commune increased1 the more absolutely the booty of the ,revolution fell to the share of the town proletaires1 at the cost not only of the great landed proprietors1 but the small farmers as well4 ,our first impression at the aspect of this rivalry is the selfishness and greed of the ,parisian demagogues2 but we may easily convince ourselves that these could never have attained to so extended an activity if existing circumstances had not offered the possibility of a class war4 ,but for any disquisition on this subject1 or allusion to the causes that1 in the first years of the ,revolution1 prepared its way1 we look through ,taine's pages in vain4 ,again1 in the representation of the ,ancien ,regime1 his attention is pre-eminently turned to social relations connected with the land4 ,had he with an equally comprehensive and minute care studied the different strata1 the interests and wants of the town population1 the problem alluded to would have solved itself4 ,it is with admirable insight and incontrovertible reasoning that ,taine shows the logical untenableness and practical mischief of the theory of equality1 both in the writings of ,rousseau and the action of the ,constituent ,assembly4 ,he proves the contradiction between this equality and the very nature of man1 and how1 consequently1 pure democracy rendered the development of political liberty unattainable4 ,in perfect agreement with ,tocqueville1 he points to the absolute necessity1 under the circumstances of the time1 of aristocratic institutions1 for the creation and preservation of a free ,state1 and explains how deeply seated these are in the needs and claims of human nature4 ,this portion of his work is indeed masterly2 and the more widely extended the equalitarian superstition among the ,liberal parties of our day1 the more one could desire ,taine's views to exercise a strong and wide-spread influence4 ,but1 on the other hand1 it appears to me that by this very conception of political institutions1 our author has been led to show himself something more than just in the sentence he passes on the representatives of this period1 the nobles and prelates of #aghi4 ,this is one of the few incongruities already alluded to between the first and second volume4 ,after reading of the luxury1 artificiality1 and idleness of aristocratic society in the former1 and coming with the author to the conviction that terrible consequences must attend such a condition1 one is surprised to find in the latter that these privileged ones were the best1 the most discerning and patriotic portion of the nation1 whose annihilation or exile brought about the same injurious results that the expulsion of the ,huguenots had done4 ,this contradiction is not cleared up by the fact that in the years immediately preceding the ,revolution1 and chiefly through the influence of ,rousseau1 a sentimental humanity had prevailed in high circles1 that here1 too1 it was the fashion to speak of a return to an idyllic life of nature1 of universal brotherly love1 and of the relief of every form of distress4 ,for these transformations remained1 in point of fact1 only fanciful phrases of the salons4 ,when ,louis ,,xvi41 ,turgot1 and ,calonne1 really desired to set about such philanthropic reforms in good earnest1 it was1 as we have already seen1 these sentimental nobles themselves who hindered their effort1 and by nullifying reform brought about the ,revolution4 ,when the catastrophe came1 many of them had sufficient insight into the new position of affairs to make haste and repudiate those privileges which throughout the land had been already trampled under foot by an unchained people4 ,the horrible persecution to which they were subjected1 in utter disregard of all existing rights and all human feeling1 with bloodthirsty cruelty and shameless greed1 must ever insure for the victims the compassion and sympathy of every right-minded observer2 and in order fully to justify revolutionary laws against emigrants1 one would be driven to advance sophisms only1 not arguments4 ,but all this does not affect the question1 whether1 as ,taine assumes1 these persecuted ones did hold a distinguished place in the nation for political virtue1 intellectual culture1 and capacity for action4 ,neighbouring nations1 so far as ,i know1 without exception took at the time an entirely different view4 ,doubtless1 there were among the emigrants many who won respect and regard in the regions whither their flight had led them4 ,but the great majority1 by their thoughtless arrogance1 mutual bickerings1 and shameless frivolity1 left behind them a bad reputation2 whereas a hundred years before the exiled ,huguenots1 by their unity1 earnestness1 and industry1 won1 wherever they went1 the respect and gratitude of their new countrymen4 ,,heinrich ,,von ,,sybel4 ,,what ,,is ,,the ,,actual ,,condition ,,of ,,ireland8 ,returning to settle in ,ireland after an absence that began more than twenty years ago1 ,i found two things strongly claiming my attention4 ,one1 was the very great advance in material well-being which my country appeared to have made4 ,the other1 was the fact that both ,englishmen and ,irishmen appeared resolutely to ignore this progress4 ,nearly all who write and speak about ,ireland1 either dwell upon her grievances or assume poverty as her normal condition4 ,i know not of any who have attempted to record her returning prosperity4 ,yet there are few facts in modern history better worthy of notice than the advance in material wealth which has taken place in ,ireland during the thirty years between #ahdf and #ahgf4 ,the year #ahgi marks the close of just one-third of a century from the great famine4 ,the first thirty years of this period1 #ahdf-gf1 were years of continual advance in well-being4 ,from #ahgg and down to the present year a reaction has been going on1 which is largely connected with a general depression of trade all over the world4 ,for reasons which will appear hereafter1 ,i do not hold that this reaction is likely to be permanent4 ,it is true that at the beginning of that period the country was in the very lowest depths of poverty and depression4 ,the starting-point therefore was a very backward one3 and the wonder is that so much advance should have been made1 considering not only the backwardness of the starting-point but the difficulties of the road4 ,i shall not attempt to depict the state of things which prevailed at the close of the great potato famine4 ,the condition of the country is well known2 the facts are in the recollection of many persons now living2 and the evidence is within the reach of all inquirers4 ,i may safely assume that ,ireland then was among the very poorest of all the countries in ,europe4 ,what is her position now8 ,in discussing the social condition of any country1 the population question naturally comes to the front4 ,is the population pressing unduly on the means of subsistence8 then there is something wrong1 and until this is set right progress is impossible4 ,on the other hand1 if the population is so sparse as to leave the resources of the country undeveloped1 there is also something wrong1 though in this case the evil is far less4 ,the population1 such as it is1 may be prosperous and advancing1 though it is not producing all it might4 ,the former was notoriously the state of things in ,ireland before #ahdg4ba ,in #ahde 7the year immediately preceding the famine7 the population was at the highest point it attained during the present century1 and probably the highest it ever reached4 ,it was estimated at #h1bie1jfa4 ,in #ahdg1 the year when the famine was at its height1 the numbers are given as #h1jbe1bgd4 ,in #ahge1 just thirty years after the maximum1 the numbers had fallen to #e1cji1did4 ,in #ahgg they were estimated at #e1cch1ijf1 showing an increase over #ahge of #bi1dab4 ,it is a familiar fact that the population of #ahde and #ahdg was excessive4 ,whether the present population may not be defective in regard of productive power is a question not without importance1 but not immediately relevant4 ,what we are now dealing with is the material welfare of the existing population2 and it is clear that five millions can live where eight cannot4 ,but are the five millions better off in some proportion to the price the country has paid for the decrease in population8 ,and is there a real advance in the condition of the people1 not a mere rise out of beggary and starvation8 ,in attempting an answer to a question of this nature1 one looks naturally to the rate of wages first4 ,but this test is an imperfect one3 partly because local variations are still considerable2 partly because money payments in many places and among large classes are more or less supplemented by subsistence drawn directly from the land4 ,besides1 a mere increase in money wages may mean little or nothing1 unless the increased wages possess increased purchasing power1 and there be at the same time an upward tendency in the standard of living4 ,putting aside the wages question accordingly 7to be discussed hereafter71 let us try to find other indications of the extent and nature of the changes in the people's condition since the famine4 ,a test of some value1 though not absolutely conclusive by itself1 will be afforded by changes in the area of farms4 ,it is notorious that one of the causes which most contributed to bring about the famine and its miseries was the small size of holdings4 ,now the census returns show that from #ahea1 very shortly after the famine1 there has been a steady decrease in the number of farms under fifteen acres1 and a steady increase in the number of farms between fifteen and thirty acres1 as well as in farms exceeding thirty acres in area4 ,up to #ahfa the number of holdings not exceeding fifteen acres had declined fifty-five per cent41 while those above fifteen acres had increased #acc per cent4 ,the number of farms between fifteen and thirty acres was in #ahfa double what it had been in #ahda1 and the farms above thirty acres amounted in #ahfa to #aeg1hcc1 against #dh1fbe1 which had been their number twenty years before4 ,between #ahfa and #ahga farms under fifteen acres decreased by #ab1edh1 and farms above thirty acres increased by #adgj4 ,according to the latest returns 7#ahge7 the farms not exceeding one acre in area were #ea1dei2 those of one to five acres were #fi1jih2 those of five to fifteen acres1 #aff1iei2 fifteen to thirty acres1 #acg1ffi2 the total above thirty acres being #afj1bih holdings4 ,this distribution of the land seems to indicate a considerable improvement compared with the state of things prevailing before the famine4 ,unfortunately the increase in the size of holdings has not been attended by a corresponding decrease in the number held on an insecure tenure4 ,tenancy at will continues to be the rule1 and permanency the exception1 in our land tenure4 ,i have made an attempt to estimate roughly the classes of landholders4 ,the ,domesday list of proprietors of land gives the number of owners of one acre and under ten as #fhib1 holding #bh1ifh acres1 or an average of a little over four acres each3 between ten acres and fifty there are #ggdf owners1 holding #aie1ebe acres1 or an average a little over twenty-six acres3 between fifty acres and a hundred there are #cdgi owners1 holding #bej1adg acres1 or an average of just under seventy-two acres4 ,these make up a body of small proprietors1 owning from one to a hundred acres1 numbering #ah1aag4 ,eason's ,almanac for #ahgi1 which has been published while ,i write1 estimates the number of proprietors in fee of agricultural holdings at #bj1bag4 ,the same authority gives the number of leaseholders in perpetuity as #aj1bih2 for terms of years exceeding thirty-one as #ac1gab2 for thirty-one years and under1 #dg1fbc 7many of which may be short leases72 and of leases for lives1 or lives and years alternative1 as #fc1gei4 ,the number of tenancies at will is #ebf1fbh1 or #gg4b per cent1 of the whole number of holdings4 ,these statistics were collected in #ahgj1 and they have doubtless been in some degree modified by the working of the ,church ,act and the ,land ,act4 ,i have omitted from my extracts from the ,domesday list the proprietors of under one acre4 ,these are given in ,thom's ,directory as #cf1add1 holding #ijfe acres2 but their holdings do not affect the present question1 as they are mostly non-agricultural4 ,the estimate in ,eason's ,almanac purports to relate wholly to agricultural holdings4 ,domesday includes all classes4 ,another index of the condition of a people may be found in the way they are housed4 ,mean and comfortless dwellings imply not only a low standard of comfort1 but often a low morality4 ,let us see how this matter has stood in ,ireland4 ,the ,census ,commissioners of #ahda divided the dwellings of the people into four classes4 ,the fourth1 or lowest1 comprised all mud cabins having only one room4 ,of this class there were in all ,ireland1 according to the #ahda census1 #dia1bgh4 ,in the last census1 #ahga1 the number had fallen to #aee1fge4 ,the third-class dwellings were also built of mud1 but contained three or four rooms1 with windows2 the latter convenience being by no means universally present in the one-roomed cabin of the fourth class4 ,of the third class the census of #ahda enumerated #ecc1big2 by #ahga this number had fallen to #ceg1abf4 ,the second class are described as good farmhouses1 and in towns1 houses having from five to nine rooms4 ,of this class in #ahda there were #bfd1ahd2 and in #ahga the number had increased to #chg1ffj4 ,the first class of houses increased during the same period from #dj1jhj to #fj1iai4 ,let us see now in what way the population has been distributed in the different classes of houses4 ,in #ahda the number of families occupying first-class houses was #ca1ccc4 ,in #ahga the number had risen to #di1fic4 ,during the same period the number of families in second-class houses rose from #bda1ffd to #ceg1geb4 ,on the other hand1 the families in third-class houses decreased from #egd1chf to #dcb1ggd2 and those in the fourth-class1 or one-roomed cabins1 from #fbe1cef to #bbg1cgi4 ,by a curious coincidence1 the proportion of families to houses was the same in #ahda and in #ahga--one hundred and eleven families to one hundred houses4 ,in this way the very great shifting in the classes is all the more clearly proved to indicate a real rise in the condition of the people4 ,in connection with this part of my subject1 ,i may now proceed to discuss the wages question and the condition of the labouring population4 ,of the actual number of this class ,i can find no accurate return4 ,but we have already seen that the number of families inhabiting the lowest class of houses 7and these may be assumed all to belong to the lowest class of labourers7 was about #bbg1djj4 ,as the census of #ahga gave the average number of a family as #e4jg1 or #ejg persons to #ajj families1 we may estimate the number of this class at #bbgd multiplied by #ejg1 or #a1aeb1iah4 ,those who inhabit a better class of house may be safely assumed on the whole to be better off in other respects4 ,now the money wages of the ordinary agricultural labourer are #as4 #f;d4 a day in the most remote and backward places4 ,this is the minimum1 and in harvest time the labourers earn #bs4 #f;d4 a day4 ,a great many labourers have small holdings2 but as these are not rent-free they do not count directly as an element in wages4 ,the way in which they do count is that the people are not so overworked but that the labourer and his family can attend to the holding1 grow their own potatoes1 feed the pig1 c4--thereby eking out the actual money payment4 ,the diet of these labourers 7,i am still referring to the most backward and remote parts of ,ireland7 is tea and bread for breakfast1 potatoes and a little bacon for dinner1 and oatmeal porridge for supper4 ,the people have quite risen out of the potatoes and point stage of feeding4 ,of course1 on ,fridays and other fast-days1 ,roman ,catholics abstain from flesh meat2 but there are few places so remote from the sea that fresh herrings are not to be had1 and at any rate salt ones are always available4 ,on the other hand1 on ,sundays and holidays many of the labouring families contrive to have butcher's meat2 and ,i am told that in certain districts there is one day in the year when every family among the peasantry makes an invariable rule to eat a dinner of fresh meat1 some animal 7often a fowl7 being killed on purpose to furnish this meal4 ,this is probably some relic of a sacrificial observance4 ,the condition of the people being such as ,i have described1 one would naturally expect not to find pauperism very prevalent4 ,as a matter of fact it is not4 ,the average daily number of paupers in the workhouses throughout #ahgf was #dc1bce1 and of recipients of out-door relief #ca1fjj3 bringing up the total to #gd1hce4 ,the average of persons in receipt of relief was #adj4f in #aj1jjj of population4 ,this daily average represents the current subsisting mass of pauperism1 and is in a considerable measure made up of the old1 infirm1 and sick4 ,of able-bodied paupers1 the males were only #afig in the daily average of workhouse inmates1 and the females were #dacj4 ,there were #aj1acd healthy children under fifteen in the workhouses1 and the other inmates were either sick in hospital or permanently unable to work4 ,these figures seem to be the very reverse of alarming4 ,permanent pauperism is not a very virulent social disorder when only two able-bodied persons to every five hundred of the population are in receipt of in-door relief1 and when the whole permanent pauper population barely exceeds fourteen in a thousand4 ,but though permanent pauperism may be well in hand1 casual pauperism may be at a high pitch4 ,let us see how this matter has stood4 ,i shall first take the statistics of #ahgf1 and then try to modify my conclusions by such later figures as may be available4 ,in #ahgf the population of ,england and ,wales stood at #bd1bdd1jjj1 and the total of paupers in receipt of relief1 in-door and out-door1 on the #ast of ,january of that year1 was #geb1hhg2 ,scotland1 with a population of #c1ebg1jjj1 had a total pauper population on the #ast of ,january1 #ahgf1 of #ff1gcc4 ,in ,ireland1 on the same date1 the total population being #e1cba1fjj1 the paupers amounted to #gg1iac4 ,in other words1 at a rough estimate1 on the #ast of ,january1 #ahgf1 about one person in every thirty-three in ,england and ,wales was in receipt of relief as a pauper2 in ,scotland1 about one in every fifty-three2 while in ,ireland the proportion was only one in sixty-eight4 ,a similar proportion appears in the incidence of the poor-rate4 ,in #ahgf ,england and ,wales paid at the rate of #fs4 #j-c_/d;d4 per head of population2 ,scotland #es4 #j-a_/b;d42 ,ireland only #cs4 #d;d4 ,of course these figures must undergo modification in view of the altered circumstances of the present time4 ,the statistics of #ahgf are not an accurate guide to the facts of #ahgi4 ,during the last three years there has been considerable depression of trade2 and it may very well be that the returns of this year will indicate an ebb in the tide of prosperity4 ,but1 unless ,i am very much mistaken1 after making all allowances1 it will probably be found that ,ireland is the part of the ,united ,kingdom least affected by the present prolonged commercial crisis4#bb ,the figures and facts recorded above will probably astonish the considerable class of persons to whom the word ,irish has an air of wanting something1 unless it is followed by pauper4 ,a smaller but perhaps not less intelligent class--that of ,english travellers in ,ireland--will promptly jump to the conclusion that the figures are cooked2 they will argue1 ,we have travelled in ,ireland1 and have been beset with beggars2 how1 then1 can the country be so free from pauperism8 ,surely the true state of the case is that the people keep out of the workhouses merely in order to live on public charity in another form8 ,it cannot1 ,i regret to say1 be denied that mendicancy is very common in ,ireland2 so common as to be little less than a national scandal4 ,there is1 however1 something to be said in mitigation of judgment1 though perhaps not in defence4 ,it is a matter in which figures are of little use2 for no one could1 by any possibility1 estimate how many persons live wholly by begging4 ,that there are in every community some persons who do may be taken as certain4 ,that their number is larger in proportion to the bulk of the population in a ,roman ,catholic than in a ,protestant community1 is antecedently probable4 ,the theory of the ,roman ,catholic religion positively encourages mendicancy4 ,it is held to be no sin to live on alms1 and to be a positive merit to give alms4 ,never turn away thy face from any poor man1 is a text acted on by devout ,romanists in its most literal acceptation4 ,the result is not difficult to foresee4 ,it must1 however1 be recorded to the credit of the ,irish ,catholic clergy1 that they are beginning to see the folly of indiscriminate almsgiving2 and though they are hampered in no small degree by the traditions of their ,church1 they have made many successful efforts in the direction of the organization of charity4 ,another influence1 which largely contributes to the existence of the mendicancy that scandalizes the traveller1 is the tradition of recent poverty4 ,the habits of centuries are not effaced in a generation4 ,not much more than twenty years ago1 begging was a recognized necessity in the life of the ,irish poor4 ,but now1 when times are moderately prosperous1 begging is limited almost wholly to old people who hang about the doors of ,catholic chapels1 and about places frequented by tourists4 ,on the roads leading to such show places1 also1 the tourist will be often beset by little knots of children clamouring for half-pence2 but these are no more professional beggars than a gentleman who amuses himself with pheasant shooting is a professional dealer in game4 ,it is a form of excitement with them2 not a very high one to be sure1 but not meaner or more vicious than baccarat or rouge-et-noir4 ,still1 when all is said1 there is more mendicancy in ,ireland than would exist if things were in a healthier state2 and where mendicancy is common1 pauperism must fluctuate largely4 ,in more prosperous times1 a larger number of mendicants can find support from a more copious supply of alms4 ,when evil times curtail the fund whence alms are supplied1 the mendicant must fall back on legal relief4 ,from this point of view the small increase of six in ten thousand1 already referred to1#bc seems to show that the commercial depression of #ahgg has not largely touched the revenues of the ,irish mendicant6 ,an account of the condition of the ,irish people would be incomplete without some reference to the statistics of drunkenness and crime4 ,here we shall find some results of a rather surprising kind4 ,thus1 in ,england and ,wales in #ahgf1 the population being #bd1bdd1jjj1 the number of drunkards brought before magistrates was #bje1efg2 being1 at an approximate estimate1 one in every #aah of the population4 ,in ,scotland1 the population being #c1ebg1hjj1 the drunkards arrested numbered #bf1bji1 or about one in #acd4 ,in ,ireland1 the population being #e1cba1fjj1 the drunkards brought before magistrates were #aab1bec2 showing the enormous proportion of one in every #dg of the people4 ,of course these figures in all three kingdoms include very many cases of repeated conviction1 so that it would not be fair to say that one man in every #aah in ,england1 still less in every #dg in ,ireland1 is actually a drunkard4 ,all the same1 this comparison is sufficiently alarming as well as perplexing4 ,it is rather paradoxical to find ,scotland showing a smaller proportion of apparent drunkards than either of the other kingdoms2 and some people might be ill-natured enough to hint that this result depended mainly on greater skill in keeping out of the hands of the police4 ,on the other hand1 a patriotic ,irishman might1 without any very flagrant paradox1 argue that the fact of so many ,irish being arrested for being drunk proves that they are actually a more sober people4 ,it takes less to make an ,irishman drunk1 partly because he is more excitable in temperament1 and partly because he drinks but seldom4 ,the habitually temperate man1 when he does casually exceed1 shows his condition very promptly2 the habitual toper can dissemble it far longer4 ,another reason that may be given for the state of things here indicated1 is that the police force is more numerous in ,ireland in proportion to the population than in ,england or ,scotland2#bd and as1 for reasons which will be hereafter seen1 the police have actually less to do1 they are able to expend a quantity of surplus energy in arresting drunkards whom the busier constables of ,england and ,scotland would allow to stagger quietly home4 ,that some or all these causes are in operation to bring about the startling excess of apparent drunkenness in ,ireland1 is manifest when we come to discuss the statistics of crime4 ,the connection of crime with drink is a commonplace of moralists2 but1 like most other commonplaces1 it requires to be seriously tested by the light of facts4 ,the crimes with which drink is most closely connected are naturally those which come under the class of offences against the person4 ,drink may1 indeed1 prompt offences against property2 but chiefly in an indirect fashion4 ,a drunkard is very likely to be in want of things which he may seek to obtain by theft2 but drink is not the sole cause of poverty1 and professional thieves are not habitual drunkards4 ,referring then to the class of offences against the person1 we find that in #ahgf only four persons were sentenced to death in all ,ireland4 ,the number sentenced in ,england was #cb4 ,here is already a considerable discrepancy2 for the population of ,england is to that of ,ireland in the proportion of only about four and two-fifths to one1 and the death sentences in ,england were eight times as numerous as in ,ireland4#be ,but this is not all4 ,nearly all the murders in ,ireland are agrarian1 and with these drink is only casually if at all connected4 ,on the other hand1 nearly every murder in ,england is committed more or less under the influence of intoxication4 ,turning to the secondary punishments1 we find twelve sentences of penal servitude for life in ,england1 while there were none in ,ireland4 ,ten of these twelve ought perhaps to be discounted1 as representing ten commutations of capital punishment1 for of the thirty-two persons sentenced to death in ,england only twenty-two were executed4 ,but the most remarkable discrepancy is seen when we come to sentences of penal servitude for terms of years4 ,of these there were only fifty in ,ireland against #bhj in ,england4 ,in the absence of returns of crime actually committed 7including undetected offences71 it is not easy to pronounce an opinion of much value2 but from the statistics of conviction it would appear that violent crimes against the person are much less prevalent in proportion to the population in ,ireland than in ,england4 ,these results are by no means contrary to reasonable expectation1 when we consider the vast congestion of population in ,london and other cities in ,england1 to which there is no parallel anywhere in ,ireland4 ,but1 such as they are1 they seem to show that the apparent addiction of ,irishmen to strong drink is not attended by a proportionate addiction to the more serious forms of crime4 ,on the other hand 7and this must be recorded for whatever it may be worth71 we have #ajgh sentences of imprisonment and other minor penalties inflicted in ,ireland1 against only #aecc similar sentences in ,england4 ,turning now to the class of offences against property with violence1 we find two sentences of penal servitude for life in ,england1 against none in ,ireland2 #bga sentences for terms of years in ,england1 against #bf in ,ireland2 #hih sentences of minor terms of imprisonment against only #fi in ,ireland4 ,in cases of this nature one might naturally expect drink to be a considerable predisposing cause4 ,on the other hand1 there is no assignable connection between drink and crime unaccompanied by violence1 except in so far as poverty is an effect of drink and a cause for crime4 ,even here1 however1 the proportion fails2 for the convictions for minor offences against property in ,ireland were only #gih1 against #aj1fgd in ,england3 and of these only #ajd suffered penal servitude for terms of years1 against #ajfc in ,england4 ,all this1 it may be said1 simply shows that there must be a great deal of undetected crime in ,ireland4 ,to a certain extent1 no doubt1 this is true2 but the remark applies chiefly to some of the more serious crimes1 especially agrarian murder4 ,there is not the same motive for concealing minor forms of crime1 nor perhaps would even the ,ribbon organization make such concealment practicable4 ,to be sure it may be urged that1 though minor crime is not purposely concealed1 the police are too busy keeping the peace and looking after ,fenians and ,ribbonmen to have time for detecting ordinary thefts4 ,this fact may1 indeed1 have something to do with the apparent scarcity of petty crime in ,ireland2 but this is certainly not the aspect of the case usually dwelt upon1 by ,judges of ,assizes1 for instance1 when a ,grand ,jury sends up a pair of white gloves instead of a sheaf of criminal indictments4 ,however this may be1 ,i merely record the facts as ,i find them2 leaving readers1 for the most part1 to draw what inferences the facts seem to suggest4 ,one inference they suggest to me is1 that ,irishmen are not such very drunken animals after all2 or else that they are somehow or other an exception to the rule which connects drink and crime4 ,the undeniable blot on the ,irish character--agrarian outrage--is not to be accounted for by drink4 ,the true explanation is familiar to all who really know the country4 ,the ,irish peasant is very largely dependent on the soil for his support1 and believes himself to be wholly so4 ,he also believes himself to have a moral and a historical right to the possession of the soil2 a belief which contains a considerable admixture of truth1 provided it be stated with the proper limitations4 ,unluckily1 the ,irish peasant holds it without any limitation at all2 and herein lies the secret of his hostility to the law4 ,the peasant ejected1 or in fear of ejectment1 looks on himself as a ruined man 7which he need not be71 and as a wronged man 7which he is only very partially74 ,men ruined and wronged have always been raw material for brigands2 and the ,ribbonman is simply a brigand in a frieze coat4 ,i have no desire to compose an ,essay on the ,land ,question2 but it is absolutely impracticable to discuss ,irish social economy without finding the ,land ,question in one's way4 ,it is the question which most closely concerns the industrial classes2 for the land is the mainstay of ,irish industry4 ,it is the pivot upon which all ,irish politics turn2 for although priestly influence counts for a great deal1 that influence itself depends in great measure on the land hunger of the peasantry4 ,i feel that ,i should be leaving ,hamlet out of the play if ,i did not say a few words on the matter4 ,as ,i have already hinted1 the ,irish peasant has three reasons for his desire to be rooted in the soil4 ,one is a traditional reason4 ,he thinks that his forefathers were unjustly ousted by foreign conquerors4 ,his belief rests on an utterly distorted view of history4 ,it is true that eight hundred years ago a few of the ancestors of a few of the existing peasantry might in a sort of sense have been called landowners4 ,but so far as the ,gaelic race survives1 it would be equally true to say that the ancestors of the existing peasantry had been the serfs or the slaves of barbarous chieftains4 ,the old ,gaelic tribal ownership1 if left to itself1 might or might not have ripened into a peasant proprietary2 but the only real grievance which the existing ,gaelic peasantry can allege1 is that the ,english conquest forcibly interrupted the natural process of evolution4 ,moreover1 a large number of the existing peasants are no true ,gael at all1 but the descendants of ,danes1 ,normans1 and the various waves of ,saxon settlers from ,elizabeth to ,william of ,orange4 ,in parts of ,ireland there are even to be found the descendants of ,french ,huguenots1 of ,scotch fugitives involved in the ,stuart insurrections1 and of refugees of #agic4 ,that such a colluvies gentium should claim to be the heirs of ,septs which occupied the land ,ere the emerald gem of the ,western world ,had been set in the crown of a stranger1 is simply a proof of profound ignorance of history4 ,such1 however1 is the vague traditional belief2 and it is complicated with a moral sentiment1 that he who tills the land has a right to live by the land4 ,the sentiment is open to no objection1 provided it be understood that the land is an instrument of production in which the whole community is interested4 ,the cultivator has the same right to live by the land as the artisan to live by his handicraft1 and no more--that is1 both peasant and artisan have a right to expect that the social system shall be so adjusted that neither shall be unjustly deprived of the fruit of his labour4 ,but neither peasant nor artisan can claim that any instrument of production shall be used for the sole sake of the producer4 ,hence1 even if peasant proprietorship were undeniably the best thing for the peasant1 it does not follow that he has a moral right to it1 unless it be good for the whole community as well4 ,this consideration is too often neglected by the thorough-going advocates of peasant proprietorship4 ,they assume that the interests of the peasants are the only interests to be considered4 ,in ,ireland1 indeed1 they are not far wrong2 for the peasantry are very nearly the whole community4 ,this1 however1 only raises the previous question1 whether peasant proprietorship would be a success in ,ireland--of which hereafter4 ,the last and most practical of the agrarian arguments is that a tenant evicted is a man ruined4 ,even this is only partially true1 and at most is only an argument against capricious eviction4 ,it is conclusive as against the system of tenancy at will1 or any of those short tenures which are1 in fact1 a standing notice to quit4 ,it holds good in favour of peasant proprietorship to this extent--that the ruin of a peasant proprietor can only occur through his own fault or misfortune1 and not through the caprice of a landlord4 ,in short1 the discontent of the ,irish peasantry proves that the ,anglo-,irish system of tenure is about the worst of all possible systems2 but it proves little or nothing in favour of peasant ownership4 ,my own opinion 7valeat quantum7 is that the soil and climate of ,ireland render the country utterly unfit to maintain a considerable body of peasant proprietors2 but that1 nevertheless1 it would be wise and politic to establish peasant properties as widely as may be practicable4 ,the climate is notoriously damp1 and variable in the extreme4 ,grain crops are inferior and precarious--root crops are not much better--even meadows are untrustworthy1 because of the difficulty of haymaking--but ,irish pasture is perhaps the best in the world4 ,natural conditions mark out ,ireland as a pastoral and cattle-breeding country2 and such a country is the destined home of latifundia4 ,it is not merely that cattle require large spaces of pasture2 but the trade in cattle requires capital1 and requires the power of staying through seasons of adversity4 ,an attempt to breed or deal in cattle by a class of peasant proprietors1 acting singly1 could only end in ruin2 a ruin even more complete than bad seasons would bring upon unsuccessful cultivators of grain4 ,another product for which ,ireland is eminently fitted is timber4#bf ,this also obviously requires spaces of land1 and intervals of idle capital1 utterly incompatible with any system of small holdings4 ,nature would seem to have marked out ,ireland as a country to be thinly populated2 historical accident once made her one of the most populous of countries1 and we all know what came of it4 ,the people were dependent on a single kind of food2 it failed1 and misery ensued such as modern ,europe had never beheld4 ,the scenes of #ahdg we may devoutly hope will never be witnessed again2 but such a season as #ahgh-gi would be a trial that few peasant proprietors could stand4 ,why then do ,i say that a peasant proprietary ought to be created8 ,because ,i believe that in the experiment is to be found the sole method of convincing the ,irish peasants that their true interest lies in quite another direction4 ,the peasant now believes that all he wants in order to be prosperous is to be rooted in the soil4 ,it is of no use to appeal to abstract reasoning4 ,he knows that he has to pay rent1 and that he is liable to eviction for non-payment4 ,carefully as recent legislation has guarded him against capricious eviction1 he knows that if his landlord chooses to pay for turning him out1 out he must go4 ,the few of his neighbours who do acquire freeholds1 he perceives to be comparatively prosperous4 ,he does not take into account that the prosperity of the freeholder is maintained by precisely the same exceptional energy and thrift which in the first instance enabled him to secure the freehold4 ,besides1 it is undeniable that caeteris paribus a man who holds rent-free is likely to be better off than one who pays rent2 and so long as rent is the rule and freehold the exception1 the few freeholders will seem at least to possess an advantage over the many rentpayers4 ,in short1 the peasant farmer will never cease to believe ownership a panacea for all his ills1 until he shall have tried it1 and failed4 ,of course it does not absolutely follow that the experiment of creating a peasant proprietary must needs fail4 ,it may succeed2 and then the ,irish land problem is solved4 ,for the reasons given above1 however1 ,i think it would fail4 ,if all the holdings of fifteen acres and under 7there are #bhe1jjjbg of them1 or nearly half the whole number of farms in ,ireland7 were turned into peasant properties tomorrow1 ,i believe they would in thirty1 or at most in fifty1 years be recast into large cattle farms1 owned probably for the most part by joint-stock companies4 ,the process of consolidation would be partly the buying out of ruined peasants after some such seasons as we are now undergoing2 partly a voluntary union of the residue1 who would find association desirable in order to secure a sufficiency of land and capital4 ,but those who might be compelled to part with their lands could no longer ascribe their ruin to the tenure by which they held4 ,it would be made clear to them and to all concerned that it is the laws of ,nature and not the laws of ,england which hinder ,ireland from maintaining a dense agricultural population4 ,it may be urged against what ,i have here said1 that it is hardly worth while engaging in a social revolution merely in order that the last state of things may turn out on the whole very similar to the first4 ,i cannot deny the force of this remark2 though ,i may suggest1 in my turn1 that perhaps it is worth while to make some sacrifice for the sake of attaining stable equilibrium in the social system4 ,i am persuaded that the one great difficulty in ,irish affairs is to convince the peasant that the law is a power not hostile but friendly to him4 ,this is no easy task4 ,it is not so very long since the law actually was the hard master it is still supposed to be4 ,nor is the peasant's own attitude of mind a very easy one to deal with4 ,he clamours loudly to be rooted in the soil1 or1 in other words1 to be made absolute owner of his farm2 but he clamours not less loudly against the absenteeship of his landlord4 ,he utterly fails to perceive the inconsistency of his position4 ,he cannot eat his cake and have his cake4 ,he cannot be at one and the same time tenant to a resident lord of the manor1 and owner in fee-simple of his own holding4 ,absolute peasant ownership is prima facie incompatible with the very existence of a landed aristocracy2 and it may be some perception of this that induces certain of the land agitators to propose fixity of tenure at a quit-rent rather than absolute peasant proprietorship4 ,but it is clear that this is a mere evasion of the difficulty4 ,a landlord1 who is merely a rent-charger1 has no more motive to reside on his estate than if he sold it and lived on the interest of the purchase-money4 ,there is no doubt a sense in which the two things are not absolutely incompatible4 ,peasant properties might be intermixed with large estates owned by resident landlords4 ,and this would certainly constitute a state of things by no means undesirable2 in fact1 it is what might possibly emerge from the experiment ,i have mentioned above4 ,i think it more than probable that a great deal of the land1 after such an experiment1 would fall into the hands of joint-stock companies2 but a considerable portion might also be bought up by individuals1 who might choose to become resident landlords4 ,it must1 however1 be remembered that there are many things besides agrarian agitation which tempt ,irish landlords to become absentees4 ,residence in ,ireland is attended with many drawbacks and discomforts1 even when a landlord is on the best of terms with his tenantry4 ,absenteeism is no new complaint2 ,adam ,smith discussed proposals for an absentee-tax4 ,its prevalence is not uncommonly ascribed to the ,union1 but it might as well be ascribed to the ,deluge4 ,the most potent causes of absenteeism in the latter half of the nineteenth century are the ,city of ,dublin ,steam ,navigation ,company1 and the ,london and ,north-,western ,railway4 ,these1 and kindred institutions1 are also the channels which conduct a vast deal of wealth into ,ireland2 and if absenteeism constitutes a perennial drain on her resources1 the facilities of locomotion cause the drain to return ten-fold4#bh ,if these facilities did not exist1 it does not follow that the landlords who remained at home would necessarily be of much use to the community4 ,the squires and squireens in ,lever's and ,maxwell's novels are very amusing to read about2 but they are a race that nobody at the present day would seriously wish to revive4 ,however this may be1 there is little inducement for the existing landlords to remain resident in a country where they are continually threatened1 and occasionally shot4 ,i cannot help thinking that in the tendency to absenteeism1 courageous statesmanship might find the means of solving the ,land problem4 ,there should be little difficulty1 one would imagine1 in persuading a number of existing ,irish landlords to part with their estates for a reasonable compensation4#bi ,the ,church ,surplus is at hand to provide the purchase-money4 ,after deducting the sums to be paid to the ,intermediate ,education ,board1 and to the ,national ,school ,teachers' ,pension ,fund1 there will remain nearly four millions in the hands of the ,temporalities ,commission4 ,this money judiciously advanced to tenant farmers would enable a considerable number of them to acquire the freehold of their farms1 and thus the foundations of a peasant proprietary might be laid without any confiscation or disturbance of vested rights4 ,the ,royal ,commission on ,agriculture would perhaps be a good medium for acquiring information on this subject4 ,they might include in the scope of their inquiry the best method of carrying out some such scheme as has been here indicated4 ,having set out with no intention beyond that of offering a general view of a few leading facts and figures relating to ,irish affairs1 ,i find myself insensibly gliding into a political discussion4 ,so far as ,i have any excuse for this1 it must be found in the irrepressible character of the ,land problem2 which1 as ,i before remarked1 can by no possibility be evaded by any one who writes on ,irish social economy4 ,yet this problem itself is in one aspect simply a phase of the struggle going on all over the world between1 labour and capital4 ,side by side with this there is yet another struggle going on1 which is also a phase of a world-wide conflict4 ,it is the old story of ,priesthood against ,free ,thought2 but in ,ireland1 like nearly all things ,irish1 it bears a peculiar aspect of its own4 ,many a man here would be amazed to be told that he is fighting on the side of the priests2 yet the ,irish ,orange ,tory1 and to some extent even the ,irish ,evangelical clergyman1 is really and truly 7though of course unconsciously7 helping the policy of the ,roman ,church4 ,but it would extend my essay beyond all reasonable limits to discuss this matter2 and besides1 ,i set out to write on statistics1 and not on politics4#cj ,,edward ,,stanley ,,robertson4 ,,footnotes3 #ba ,the statistics in this ,essay are chiefly taken from ,thom's ,almanac and ,official ,directory for #ahgh4 ,the tables given in that ,almanac are for the most part brought down no later than #ahgf4 ,it so happens1 however1 that #ahgf is a very convenient date for the purpose of this paper4 ,it marks the conclusion of a period of just thirty years from the worst crisis of the ,potato ,famine2 and it marks also the conclusion of a cycle of commercial inflation1 some of whose results were strongly felt in ,ireland4 ,i have1 of course1 consulted other authorities besides ,thom's ,directory1 but ,i shall specify these as occasion arises4 ,when no special reference is given1 my authority is ,thom4 #bb ,while ,i write ,eason's ,almanac for #ahgi has been published4 ,this authority gives the total average of paupers daily in receipt of relief through #ahgg as #gh1bbc1 or #adf4e in #aj1jjj of the population4 ,an increase of less than six in ten thousand is not very alarming1 and the fact seems in some measure to justify the opinion ,i have ventured to express in the text1 that ,ireland will be found to suffer less from the present crisis than other parts of the ,united ,kingdom4 ,it must1 however1 be taken into consideration that the present year 7#ahgi7 threatens a very poor harvest3 and this circumstance is absolutely certain to enhance whatever distress already exists4 #bc ,see note on previous page4 #bd ,the #bd-a_/d millions in ,england and ,wales are kept in order by a police force of #bi1fhi4 ,in ,scotland #c-a_/b millions of population have only #ccef policemen4 ,in ,ireland1 with a population well under #e-a_/b millions1 there are #ab1jha policemen4 ,and yet1 as will appear presently1 there is far less crime in ,ireland relatively than in either of the other kingdoms4 #be ,it is only just to admit that the death sentences are not a fair test4 ,too many murders remain undetected1 owing to the existence of agrarian conspiracy4 ,the number of murders known to have been committed is unluckily not to be found in the returns to which ,i have access4 ,but the very fact of their remaining undetected is a proof that they are not directly connected with intoxication1 for it shows that they are for the most part agrarian4 #bf ,it has been calculated1 apparently on trustworthy data1 that an acre of land planted with larch or fir1 at an expense of about #bj1 would be worth #bjjj at the end of forty years1 besides the intermediate yield from clearings of young timber1 game cover1 and so forth4 ,this is a very high return for a small outlay2 but it is completely beyond the means of any peasant proprietor4 #bg ,eason's ,almanac1 #ahgi4 ,the actual number is #bhe1dfd4 ,the total of agricultural holdings is #eha1ifc4 #bh ,i have unfortunately been unable to obtain any statistics of the cross-channel trade4 ,i find it stated in ,thom's ,directory that the trade of ,belfast alone was valued in the year #ahff at #bd1ccb1jjj--viz41 #ab1dag1jjj imports and #aa1iae1jjj exports4 ,the year #ahff was a bad year3 so it may be assumed that these figures represent a low average4 ,i find no means of estimating the import and export trade of ,cork and ,dublin4 ,i may mention here that one cause of interruption in the composition of this paper was an unsuccessful search for complete trade statistics4 #bi ,a few of the ,home ,rule ,m4,p4's who are now stumping the country on the ,land grievance are themselves landlords4 ,it has been suggested that they should introduce fixity of tenure on their estates1 in one or other of its various forms4 ,mr4 ,errington 7who is not one of the stump orators of the party7 has1 ,i am told1 notified his intention to give long leases to his tenantry4 ,in a case like this the argumentum ad hominem1 though a perfectly fair one1 is a perfectly useless one4 #cj ,i have referred above 7note1 p4 #dfc7 to my failure to obtain trade statistics4 ,this circumstance has caused me to fail also in fully carrying out the original plan of this paper4 ,i had intended not only to give a general view of the recent condition of the ,irish people1 but to enter somewhat fully into its causes1 and discuss the probabilities of the future4 ,the great revival in prosperity1 which ,i have imperfectly sketched1 was closely connected with the cross-channel trade4 ,at present1 affairs look sufficiently gloomy both here and in ,england2 and the forecast of the future depends mainly upon the prospect of revival in ,english trade4 ,,the ,,deluge3 ,,its ,,traditions ,,in ,,ancient ,,nations4 ,of all traditions relating to the history of primitive humanity1 by far the most universal is that of the ,deluge4 ,our present purpose is to pass under review the principal versions of it extant among the leading races of men4 ,the concordance of these with the ,biblical narrative will bring out their primary unity1 and we shall thus be able to recognize the fact of this tradition being one of those which date before the dispersion of peoples1 go back to the very dawn of the civilized world1 and can only refer to a real and definite event4 ,but we have previously to get rid of certain legendary recollections erroneously associated with the ,biblical ,deluge1 their essential features forbidding sound criticism to assimilate them therewith4 ,we allude to such as refer to local phenomena1 and are of historic and comparatively recent date4 ,doubtless the tradition of the great primitive cataclysm may have been confused with these1 and thus have led to an exaggeration of their importance2 but the characteristic points of the narrative admitted into the ,book of ,genesis are wanting1 and even under the legendary form it has assumed these events retain a decidedly special and restricted character4 ,to group recollections of this nature with those that really relate to the ,deluge would be to invalidate1 rather than confirm1 the consequences we are entitled to draw from the latter4 ,take1 for instance1 the great inundation placed by the historic books of ,china in the reign of ,yao4 ,this has no real relation1 or even resemblance1 to the ,biblical ,deluge2 it is a purely local event1 the date of which1 spite of the uncertainty of ,chinese chronology previous to the eighth century ,b4,c41 we may yet determine as long subsequent to the fully historic periods of ,egypt and ,babylon4#ca ,chinese authors describe ,yu1 minister and engineer of the day1 as restoring the course of rivers1 raising dykes1 digging canals1 and regulating the taxation of every province throughout ,china4 ,a learned ,sinologist1 ,edouard ,biot1 has proved1 in a treatise on the changes of the lower course of the ,hoang-ho1 that it was to one of its frequent inundations the above catastrophe was due1 and that the early ,chinese settlements on its banks had had much to suffer from this cause4 ,these works of ,yu were but the beginning of embankments necessary to contain its waters1 carried on further in following ages4 ,a celebrated inscription graven on the rocky face of one of the mountain peaks of ,ho-nan passes for contemporaneous with these works1 and is consequently the most ancient specimen of ,chinese epigraphy extant4 ,this inscription appears to present an intrinsically authentic character1 sufficient to dispel the doubts suggested by ,mr4 ,legge1 although there is this rather suspicious fact connected with it1 that we are only acquainted with it through ancient copies1 and that for many centuries past the minutest research has failed to re-discover the original4 ,nor is the character of a mere local event less conspicuous in the legend of ,botchica1 such as we have it reported by the ,muyscas1 the ancient inhabitants of the province of ,cundinamarca1 in ,south ,america1 although here mythological fable is mingled much more largely with the fundamental historic element4 ,huythaca1 the wife of a divine man1 or rather a god1 called ,botchica1 having practised abominable witchcraft in order to make the river ,funzha leave its bed1 the whole plain of ,bogota is devastated by its waters2 men and beasts perish in the inundation1 and only a few escape by flight to the loftiest mountains4 ,the tradition adds that ,botchica broke asunder the rocks inclosing the valley of ,canoas and ,tequendama1 in order to facilitate the escape of the waters1 next reassembled the dispersed remnant of the ,muyscas1 taught them ,sun-worship1 and went up to heaven1 after having lived #ejj years in ,cundinamarca4 ,i4 ,chaldean and ,biblical ,narratives4--,of the traditions relating to the great cataclysm the most curious1 no doubt1 is that of the ,chaldeans4 ,its influence has stamped itself in an unmistakable manner on the tradition of ,india2 and1 of all the accounts of the ,deluge1 it comes nearest to that in ,genesis4 ,to whoever compares the two it becomes evident that they must have been one and the same up to the time when ,terah and his family left ,ur of the ,chaldees to go into ,palestine4 ,we have two versions of the ,chaldean story--unequally developed indeed1 but exhibiting a remarkable agreement4 ,the one most anciently known1 and also the shorter1 is that which ,berosus took from the sacred books of ,babylon and introduced into the history that he wrote for the use of the ,greeks4#cb ,after speaking of the last nine antediluvian kings1 the ,chaldean priest continues thus3-- ,obartes ,elbaratutu being dead1 his son ,xisuthros 7,khasisatra7 reigned eighteen sares 7#fd1hjj years74 ,it was under him that the ,great ,deluge took place1 the history of which is told in the sacred documents as follows3--,cronos 7,ea7 appeared to him in his sleep1 and announced that on the fifteenth of the month of ,daisios 7the ,assyrian month ,sivan--a little before the summer solstice71 all men should perish by a flood4 ,he therefore commanded him to take the beginning1 the middle1 and the end of whatever was consigned to writing1#cc and to bury it in the ,city of the ,sun1 at ,sippara2 then to build a vessel1 and to enter into it with his family and dearest friends2 to place in this vessel provisions to eat and drink1 and to cause animals1 birds1 and quadrupeds to enter it2 lastly1 to prepare everything for navigation4 ,and when ,xisuthros inquired in what direction he should steer his bark1 he was answered1 'towards the gods1' and enjoined to pray that good might come of it for men4 ,xisuthros obeyed1 and constructed a vessel five stadia long and five broad2 he collected all that had been prescribed to him1 and embarked his wife1 his children1 and his intimate friends4 ,the ,deluge having come1 and soon going down1 ,xisuthros loosed some of the birds4 ,these finding no food nor place to alight on returned to the ship4 ,a few days later ,xisuthros again let them free1 but they returned again to the vessel1 their feet full of mud4 ,finally1 loosed the third time the birds came no more back4 ,then ,xisuthros understood that the earth was bare4 ,he made an opening in the roof of the ship1 and saw that it had grounded on the top of a mountain4 ,he then descended with his wife1 his daughter1 and his pilot1 worshipped the earth1 raised an altar1 and there sacrificed to the gods2 at the same moment he vanished with those who accompanied him4 ,meanwhile those who had remained in the vessel not seeing ,xisuthros return1 descended too and began to seek him1 calling him by his name4 ,they saw ,xisuthros no more2 but a voice from heaven was heard commanding them piety towards the gods2 that he1 indeed1 was receiving the reward of his piety in being carried away to dwell thenceforth in the midst of the gods1 and that his wife1 his daughter1 and the pilot of the ship shared the same honour4 ,the voice further said that they were to return to ,babylon1 and conformably to the decrees of fate1 disinter the writings buried at ,sippara in order to transmit them to men4 ,it added that the country in which they found themselves was ,armenia4 ,these1 then1 having heard the voice1 sacrificed to the gods and returned on foot to ,babylon4 ,of the vessel of ,xisuthros1 which had finally landed in ,armenia1 a portion is still to be found in the ,gordyan ,mountains in ,armenia1 and pilgrims bring thence asphalte that they have scraped from its fragments4 ,it is used to keep off the influence of witchcraft4 ,as to the companions of ,xisuthros1 they came to ,babylon1 disinterred the writings left at ,sippara1 founded numerous cities1 built temples1 and restored ,babylon4 ,by the side of this version1 which1 interesting though it be1 is1 after all1 second hand1 we are now able to place an original ,chaldeo-,babylonian edition1 which the lamented ,george ,smith was the first to decipher on the cuneiform tablets exhumed at ,nineveh and now in the ,british ,museum4 ,here the narrative of the ,deluge appears as an episode in the eleventh tablet1 or eleventh chaunt of the great epic of the town of ,uruk4 ,the hero of this poem1 a kind of ,hercules1 whose name has not as yet been made out with certainty1#cd being attacked by disease 7a kind of leprosy71 goes1 with a view to its cure1 to consult the patriarch saved from the ,deluge1 ,khasisatra1 in the distant land to which the gods have transported him1 there to enjoy eternal felicity4 ,he asks ,khasisatra to reveal the secret of the events which led to his obtaining the privilege of immortality1 and thus the patriarch is induced to relate the cataclysm4 ,by a comparison of the three copies of the poem that the library of the palace of ,nineveh contained1 it has been possible to restore the narrative with hardly any breaks4#ce ,these three copies were1 by order of the ,king of ,assyria1 ,asshurbanabal1 made in the eighth century ,b4,c41 from a very ancient specimen in the sacerdotal library of the town of ,uruk1 founded by the monarchs of the first ,chaldean empire4 ,it is difficult precisely to fix the date of the original1 copied by ,assyrian scribes1 but it certainly goes back to the ancient empire1 seventeen centuries1 at least1 before our era1 and even probably beyond2 it was therefore much anterior to ,moses1 and nearly contemporaneous with ,abraham4 ,the variations presented by the three existing copies prove that the original was in the primitive mode of writing called the hieratic1 a character which must have already become difficult to decipher in the eighth century ,b4,c41 as the copyists have differed as to the interpretation to be given to certain signs1 and in other cases have simply reproduced exactly the forms of such as they did not understand4 ,finally1 it results from a comparison of these variations1 that the original1 transcribed by order of ,asshurbanabal1 must itself have been a copy of some still more ancient manuscript1 in which the original text had already received interlinear comments4 ,some of the copyists have introduced these into their text1 others have omitted them4 ,with these preliminary observations ,i proceed to give integrally the narrative ascribed in the poem to ,khasisatra3-- ,i will reveal to thee1 ,o ,izdhubar1 the history of my preservation--and tell to thee the decision of the gods4 ,the town of ,shurippak1 a town which thou knowest1 is situated on the ,euphrates--it was ancient and in it men did not honour the gods4 ,i alone1 ,i was their servant1 to the great gods--,the gods took counsel on the appeal of ,anu--a deluge was proposed by ,bel--and approved by ,nabon1 ,nergal and ,adar4 ,and the god ,ea the immutable lord1--repeated this command in a dream4--,i listened to the decree of fate that he announced1 and he said to me3--',man of ,shiruppak1 son of ,ubaratutu--thou1 build a vessel and finish it quickly4--,by a deluge ,i will destroy substance and life4--,cause thou to go up into the vessel the substance of all that has life4--,the vessel thou shall build--#fjj cubits shall be the measure of its length--and #fj cubits the amount of its breadth and of its height4--,launch it thus on the ocean and cover it with a roof4'--,i understood1 and ,i said to ,ea1 my lord3--',the vessel that thou commandest me to build thus--when ,i shall do it1--young and old shall laugh at me4'--,ea opened his mouth and spoke4--,he said to me1 his servant3--',if they laugh at thee thou shalt say to them3 shall be punished he who has insulted me1 for the protection of the gods is over me4-- 444 like to caverns 444 ---- 444 ,i will exercise my judgment on that which is on high and that which is below 444 ---- 444 ,close the vessel 444 ---- 444 ,at a given moment that ,i shall cause thee to know1--enter into it and draw the door of the ship towards thee4--,within it1 thy grains1 thy furniture1 thy provisions1--thy riches1 thy men-servants1 and thy maid-servants1 and thy young people--the cattle of the field and the wild beasts of the plain that ,i will assemble--and that ,i will send thee1 shall be kept behind thy door4'--,khasisatra opened his mouth and spoke2--he said to ,ea1 his lord3--',no one has made such a ship4--,on the prow ,i will fix4444--,i shall see 444 and the vessel 444--the vessel thou commandest me to build thus--which in4444#cf ,on the fifth day the two sides of the bark were raised4--,in its covering fourteen in all were its rafters--fourteen in all did it count above4--,i placed its roof and ,i covered it4--,i embarked in it on the sixth day2 ,i divided its floors on the seventh2--,i divided the interior compartments on the eighth4 ,i stopped up the chinks through which the water entered in2--,i visited the chinks and added what was wanting4--,i poured on the exterior three times #c1fjj measures of asphalte1--and three times #c1fjj measures of asphalte within4--,three times #c1fjj men1 porters1 brought on their heads the chests of provisions4--,i kept #c1fjj chests for the nourishment of my family1--and the mariners divided among themselves twice #c1fjj chests4--,for provisioning ,i had oxen slain2--,i instituted rations for each day4--,in anticipation of the need of drinks1 of barrels and of wine--,i collected in quantity like to the waters of a river1 of provisions in quantity like to the dust of the earth4--,to arrange them in the chests ,i set my hand to4-- 444 of the sun 444 the vessel was completed4-- 444 strong and--,i had carried above and below the furniture of the ship4--,this lading filled the two-thirds4 ,all that ,i possessed ,i gathered together2 all ,i possessed of silver ,i gathered together2 all that ,i possessed of gold ,i gathered--all that ,i possessed of the substance of life of every kind ,i gathered together4--,i made all ascend into the vessel2 my servants male and female1--the cattle of the fields1 the wild beasts of the plains1 and the sons of the people1 ,i made them all ascend4 ,shamash 7the sun7 made the moment determined and----he announced it in these terms3 ',in the evening ,i will cause it to rain abundantly from heaven2 enter into the vessel and close the door4'----,the fixed moment had arrived1 which he announced in these terms3 ',in the evening ,i will cause it to rain abundantly from heaven4'----,when the evening of that day arrived1 ,i was afraid1----,i entered into the vessel and shut my door4----,in shutting the vessel1 to ,buzur-shadi-rabi1 the pilot----,i confided this dwelling1 with all that it contained4 ,mu-sheri-ina-namari#cg--rose from the foundations of heaven in a black cloud2--,ramman#ch thundered in the midst of the cloud--and ,nabon and ,sharru marched before2--they marched1 devastating the mountain and the plain2--,nergal#ci the powerful1 dragged chastisements after him2--,adar#dj advanced1 overthrowing before him2--the ,archangels of the abyss brought destruction--in their terrors they agitated the earth4--,the inundation of ,ramman swelled up to the sky--and the earth became without lustre1 was changed into a desert4 ,they broke 444 of the surface of the earth like 4442--they destroyed the living beings of the surface of the earth4--,the terrible ,deluge on men swelled up to heaven4--,the brother no longer saw his brother2 men no longer knew each other4 ,in heaven--the gods became afraid of the water-spout1 and--sought a refuge2 they mounted up to the heaven of ,anu4#da--,the gods were stretched out motionless1 pressing one against another like dogs4--,ishtar wailed like a child1--the great goddess pronounced her discourse3--',here is humanity returned into mud1 and--this is the misfortune that ,i have announced in the presence of the gods4--,so ,i announced the misfortune in the presence of the gods1--for the evil ,i announced the terrible chastisement of men who are mine4--,i am the mother who gave birth to men1 and--like to the race of fishes1 there they are filling the sea2--and the gods by reason of that--which the archangels of the abyss are doing1 weep with me4'--,the gods on their seats were seated in tears--and they held their lips closed1 revolving future things4 ,six days and as many nights passed2 the wind1 the water-spout1 and the diluvian rain were in all their strength4 ,at the approach of the seventh day the diluvian rain grew weaker1 the terrible water-spout--which had assailed after the fashion of an earthquake--grew calm1 the sea inclined to dry up1 and the wind and the water-spout came to an end4 ,i looked at the sea1 attentively observing--and the whole of humanity had returned to mud2 like unto seaweeds the corpses floated4 ,i opened the window1 and the light smote on my face4 ,i was seized with sadness2 ,i sat down and ,i wept2--and my tears came over my face4 ,i looked at the regions bounding the sea2 towards the twelve points of the horizon2 not any continent4--,the vessel was borne above the land of ,nizir--the mountain of ,nizir arrested the vessel1 and did not permit it to pass over4--,a day and a second day the mountain of ,nizir arrested the vessel1 and did not permit it to pass over2--the third and fourth day the mountain of ,nizir arrested the vessel1 and did not permit it to pass over2--the fifth and sixth day the mountain of ,nizir arrested the vessel1 and did not permit it to pass over4--,at the approach of the seventh day1 ,i sent out and loosed a dove4 ,the dove went1 turned1 and--found no place to light on1 and it came back4 ,i sent out and loosed a swallow2 the swallow went1 turned1 and--found no place to light on1 and it came back4 ,i sent out and loosed a raven2 the raven went and saw the corpses on the waters2 it ate1 rested1 turned and came not back4 ,i then sent out 7what was in the vessel7 towards the four winds1 and ,i offered a sacrifice4 ,i raised the pile of my burnt offering on the peak of the mountain2 seven by seven ,i disposed the measured vases1#db--;and beneath ,i spread rushes1 cedar1 and juniper wood4 ,the gods were seized with the desire of it--the gods were seized with a benevolent desire of it2--and the gods assembled like flies above the master of the sacrifice4 ,from afar1 in approaching1 the great goddess raised the great zones that ,anu has made for their glory 7the gods74#dc ,these gods1 luminous crystal before me1 ,i will never leave them2 in that day ,i prayed that ,i might never leave them4 ',let the gods come to my sacrificial pile6--but never may ,bel come to my sacrificial pile6 for he did not master himself1 and he has made the water-spout for the ,deluge1 and he has numbered my men for the pit4' ,from far1 in drawing near1 ,bel--saw the vessel1 and ,bel stopped2--he was filled with anger against the gods and the celestial archangels3-- ',no one shall come out alive6 ,no man shall be preserved from the abyss6'--,adar opened his mouth and said2 he said to the warrior ,bel3--',what other than ,ea should have formed this resolution8--for ,ea possesses knowledge and he foresees all4'--,ea opened his mouth and spake2 he said to the warrior ,bel3--',o thou1 herald of the gods1 warrior1--as thou didst not master thyself1 thou hast made the water-spout of the deluge4--,let the sinner carry the weight of his sins1 the blasphemer the weight of his blasphemy4--,please thyself with this good pleasure and it shall never be infringed2 faith in it never shall be violated4--,instead of thy making a new deluge1 let lions appear and reduce the number of men2 instead of thy making a new deluge1 let hyenas appear and reduce the number of men2--instead of thy making a new deluge1 let there be famine and let the earth be devastated2--instead of thy making a new deluge1 let ,dibbara#dd appear1 and let men be mown down4 ,i have not revealed the decision of the great gods2--it is ,khasisatra who interpreted a dream and comprehended what the gods had decided4' ,then1 when his resolve was arrested1 ,bel entered into the vessel4--,he took my hand and made me rise4--,he made my wife rise and made her place herself at my side4--,he turned around us and stopped short2 he approached our group4--',until now ,khasisatra has made part of perishable humanity2--but lo1 now1 ,khasisatra and his wife are going to be carried away to live like the gods1--and ,khasisatra will reside afar at the mouth of the rivers4'--,they carried me away and established me in a remote place at the mouth of the streams4 ,this narrative follows with great exactness the same course as that1 or rather as those of ,genesis1 and the analogies are on both sides striking4 ,it is well known1 and has long been critically demonstrated1 that chapters vi41 vii41 viii4 and ix4 of ,genesis contain two different narratives of the ,deluge1 the one taken from the ,elohist document1 the other from the ,jehovist1 both being skilfully combined by the final editor4 ,reverencing their text1 which he evidently considered sacred1 he omitted no fact given by either1 so that we have the whole story twice narrated in different terms2 and1 in spite of the way the verses are mixed up1 it is easy so to disentangle the two versions as that each should form a continuous and unbroken narrative4 ,some critics have recently pretended that1 with regard to the stories of the ,creation and ,deluge1 both cuneiform documents disproved the distinction between the two sources of ,genesis1 and proved the primitive unity of its composition2 that the same repetitions1 in effect1 were to be found there4 ,this was a premature conclusion1 drawn from translations very imperfect as yet1 and requiring thorough revision2 and1 indeed1 confining ourselves to the story of the ,deluge1 such revision1 carried on according to strict philological principles1 does away with the arguments that had been based on the version of ,george ,smith4 ,none of the repetitions of the final text of ,genesis are observable in the ,chaldean poem2 which1 on the contrary1 decisively confirms the distinction made between the two narratives1 the ,elohist and ,jehovist1 interwoven by the last compiler of the ,pentateuch4 ,it is with each of these separately--when disentangled and compared--that the ,chaldean narrative coincides in its order--it is not with the result of their combination4 ,and nothing could be easier than to demonstrate this by a synoptic table1 in which the three narratives were collated4 ,such a table would at once show their agreement and their difference1 what the three records have in common1 and what each has added of its own to the primitive outline4 ,they are certainly three versions of the same traditional history1 and with the ,chaldeo-,babylonians on the one hand1 and the ,hebrews on the other1 we have two parallel streams proceeding from one source4 ,nevertheless1 we must note on both sides divergences of certain importance which prove the bifurcation of the two traditions to have taken place at a very remote era1 and the one of which the ,bible affords us the expression to be not merely an edition of that preserved by the ,chaldean priesthood1 expurgated from a severely monotheistic point of view4 ,the ,biblical narrative bears the impress of an inland people1 ignorant of navigation4 ,in ,genesis1 the name of the ark1 tebah1 signifies coffer1 and not vessel4 ,nothing is said about the launching of the ark2 there is no mention made of the sea1 or of navigation2 there is no pilot4 ,in the ,epic of ,uruk1 on the contrary1 everything shows it to have been composed amidst a maritime population2 every circumstance bears a reflex of the manners and customs of people living on the shore of the ,persian ,gulf4 ,khasisatra enters a vessel1 properly so called2 it is launched1 undergoes a trial trip1 all its seams are caulked with bitumen1 it is entrusted to a pilot4 ,the ,chaldeo-,babylonian narrative represents ,khasisatra as a king1 who goes up into the ship surrounded by a whole population of servants and companions2 in the ,bible1 we have only ,noah and his family who are saved2 the new human race has no other source than the patriarch's three sons4 ,nor is there any trace in the ,chaldean poem of the distinction 7in the ,bible peculiar indeed only to the ,jehovist7 between clean and unclean beasts1 and of each kind of the former being numbered by sevens1 although in ,babylonia the number seven had a specially sacramental character4 ,as to the dimensions of the ark1 we find a disagreement not only between the ,bible and the tablet copied by order of ,asshurbanabal1 but between the latter and ,berosus4 ,both ,genesis and the cuneiform documents measure the ark's dimensions by cubits1 ,berosus by stadia4 ,genesis states its length and breadth to have been in the proportion of #f to #a1 ,berosus of #e to #b1 the tablet in the ,british ,museum of #aj to #a4 ,on the other hand1 the fragments of ,berosus do not treat of the relative dimensions of height and breadth1 and the tablet gives them as equal1 while the ,bible speaks of thirty cubits of height and fifty of breadth4 ,but these differences as to figures have but a secondary importance2 nothing so liable to alterations and variations in different editions of the same narrative4 ,we may observe1 however1 that in ,genesis it is only the ,elohist--always much addicted to figures--who gives the dimensions of the ark4 ,and1 on the other hand1 it is the ,jehovist alone who tells of the sending forth of the birds1 which occupies a considerable place in the ,chaldean tradition4 ,as to the variations here between the ,biblical story and that in the poem of ,uruk1 the latter adding the swallow to the dove and the raven1 and not attributing to the dove the part of a messenger of good tidings1 ,i do not think they go for much4 ,the agreement as to the main point is1 in my eyes1 of far more importance4 ,but what is1 on the contrary1 of very decided importance1 is the absolute disagreement as to the duration of the ,deluge between the ,elohist and ,jehovist1 as well as between the two and the ,chaldeo-,babylonian narrator4 ,here we have a manifest trace of different systems applying to the ancient tradition calendrical conceptions1 dissimilar in each record1 and yet all seeming to have proceeded from ,chaldea4 ,by the ,elohist the periods of the ,deluge are indicated by the ordinal numbers of the months1 but these ordinal numbers relate to a lunar year1 beginning on the #ast of ,tishri 7,september-,october71 at the autumnal equinox4 ,this is admitted by ,josephus1 and by the ,author of the ,targum of the pseudo-,jonathan1 as well as by ,rashi and ,kimchi1 among the ,jewish commentators of the ,middle ,ages2 and proved1 as ,i conceive1 by ,michaelis among the moderns4 ,the rain begins to fall1 and ,noah enters into the ark the #agth day of the second month--i4e41 ,marcheshvan4 ,the great force of the waters lasts #aej days1 and the #agth of the seventh month--i4e41 ,nisan 7,march-,april7--the ark grounds on ,mount ,ararat4 ,the #ast day of the tenth month1 or ,tammuz 7,june-,july71 about the summer solstice1 the mountains are laid bare4 ,the #ast day of the first month of the following year--that is1 of ,tishri1 at the autumnal equinox--the waters have completely retired1 and ,noah leaves the ark on the #bgth of the second month4 ,thus the ,deluge lasted a whole lunar year1 plus eleven days--that is to say1 as ,ewald well remarks1 a solar year of #cfe days4 ,now1 under the climatic conditions of ,babylonia and ,assyria1 the rains of late autumn begin towards the end of ,november1 and at once the level of the ,euphrates and ,tigris rises4 ,the periodic overflow of the two rivers occurs in the middle of ,march1 and culminates at the end of ,may1 from which time the waters go down4 ,at the end of ,june they have left the plains1 and from ,august to ,november are at their lowest level4 ,now the dates of the ,deluge1 given by the ,elohist1 and re-stated as we have been doing according to ,michaelis and ,knobel1 accord perfectly with these phases of the rising and falling of the two ,mesopotamian rivers4 ,they accord even better in the primitive system which served for starting-point to that of the ,elohist1 and which has been so ingeniously restored by ,m4 ,schraeder1#de a system attributing to the ,deluge #cjj days in all1 or a ten months' duration3 #aej days for its greatest height and #aej for its decrease4 ,according to this system1 the leaving of the ark must have taken place on the first day of the #fjast year of ,noah's life--that is to say1 on the #ast of ,tishri1 at the autumnal equinox4 ,thus the deliverance of the father of the new humanity1 as well as the ,covenant made by ,god with him and his race1 were fixed on the very day to which an ancient opinion which has maintained itself among the ,jews assigned the creation of the world4 ,as to the beginning of the ,deluge1 it occurred1 according to the same system1 on the #ast day of the third month--that is to say1 at the commencement of the lunation whose end coincided with the ,sun's entry into ,capricorn1 when the conjunction of planets brought about periodic deluges according to an astrological conception of ,chaldean origin1 which does not indeed appear a very ancient one2 but must have been based on data adopted by some of the sacerdotal schools of ,babylonia as to the epoch of the cataclysm4 ,it is also with the winter rains1 and not with the swelling of the ,euphrates and ,tigris in spring1 that the calendrical construction1 according to which the antediluvian kings or patriarchs have been placed in relation with solar mansions 7a construction followed in ,uruk's ,epic poem71 causes the commencement of the ,deluge to coincide4 ,it connects1 in point of fact1 the tradition of the cataclysm with the month of ,shabut 7,january-,february71 and with the sign of ,aquarius4 ,accordingly1 ,i find great difficulty in admitting the exactness of the date1 #aeth of ,daisios1 given in the extract of ,alexander ,polybister1 as that assigned by ,berosus to the ,deluge1 for this would make the event occur in the middle of the ,assyrian month ,sivan1 at the beginning of ,july1 in a season of complete drought1 when the rivers have reached their lowest level4 ,i hold this to be an evident error1 due not to the author of the ,chaldean ,history himself1 but to his transcriber4 ,berosus must have written menos ogdou2 pempte kai dekate the #aeth of the eighth month1 translating into ,greek the ,assyrian name of the ,arakh-,shanina4 ,and by a readily explicable error ,cornelius ,alexander must have turned it into ,daisios1 which was the eighth month of the ,syro-,macedonian ,calendar1 forgetting the difference between the initial point of its year and that of the ,chaldeo-,assyrian4 ,in reality1 then1 the date given by ,berosus only differed by two days from that adopted by the ,elohist compiler of ,genesis4 ,besides1 as ,knobel rightly insists1 in placing the commencement of the ,deluge at the #aeth or #agth of a month1 we place it always at the full moon1 for it is also with this phase of the light that lights the night that popular belief in ,egypt and ,mesopotamia links the periodic rise of ,nile or ,tigris4 ,the system of the ,jehovist is quite a different one4 ,according to him1 ,jahveh announces the ,deluge to ,noah only seven days beforehand4 ,the waters are at their height for forty days1 and decrease during forty more4 ,after these eighty days ,noah sends out the three birds at intervals of seven days1 and thus it is on the #bast day after he has opened the window of the ark for the first time that he1 too1 goes out of the ark and offers his sacrifice to the ,lord4 ,here the phases of the cataclysm are evidently calculated on those of the annual spring outflow of the ,euphrates and ,tigris1 so that we need not hesitate to assign the origin of the very form of the tradition received by the ,jehovist writer1 to the cradle of the race of the ,terahites in ,chaldea4 ,the overflow of the two rivers of ,mesopotamia lasts1 in fact1 for an average of seventy-five days from the middle of ,march to the end of ,may2 and twenty-six days later--that is1 at the end of the #aja in all 7#hj #ba #ge #bf #aja71 when the ,jehovist makes ,noah leave the ark--the lands which have been inundated become once more practicable4 ,what1 moreover1 in the ,jehovist narrative bears a very marked impress of ,chaldean origin is the part played in it by septennial periods2 seven days intervening between the announcement and the beginning of the ,deluge1 seven between each sending forth of the birds4 ,that religious and mystic importance attached to the heptade which gave rise to the conception of the seven days of creation1 and to the invention of the week1 is an essentially ,chaldean idea4 ,it is among the ,chaldeo-,babylonians that we discover its origin and find its most numerous applications4 ,the story of ,khasisatra1 in the poem of ,uruk1 invariably proceeds hebdomadally4 ,the violence of the ,deluge lasts seven days1 and so does the stay of the vessel on ,mount ,nizir when the waters begin to go down4 ,it is true1 indeed1 that the building of the vessel occupies eight instead of seven days2 but we must add the time necessary for the embarkation of provisions1 animals1 passengers1 and this will enable us to calculate the whole duration of ,khasisatra's preparations between the vision sent him by ,ea and the moment when he closes the vessel at the approach of the rain1 as consisting of fourteen days or two hebdomades4 ,this being granted1 if the poem does not state precisely the intervals at which the three birds were sent forth1 we are justified in applying here the figures used by the ,jehovist in ,genesis1 and counting seven days between the first and second sending forth1 seven between the second and third1 and seven1 lastly1 between the departure of the bird which does not return1 and the leaving the vessel4 ,the whole interval1 then1 between the warning of ,ea and the sacrifice of ,khasisatra1 amounts to seven hebdomades--plainly a number intentionally assigned4 ,and the whole duration of the ,deluge is doubled by the sacred writer1 who was the author of the ,jehovist document1 #g #b #g1 instead of #g #g2 that is1 fourteen weeks with just three days over1 owing to the writer having employed the round numbers #dj #dj #hj days1 instead of the precise number seventy-seven days or eleven hebdomades 7#g #d #g71 to indicate the interval between the beginning of the diluvian rain and the sending forth of the first bird4 ,and now1 if we keep count of the time between the announcing of the cataclysm by ,jahveh and its commencement1 the figures of the ,jehovist are in all #g #b #g #g days1 and those of the system of the ,chaldean poem #g #g4 ,but they are on both sides combinations of seven4 ,where the ,chaldeo-,babylonian narrative and that of the ,bible absolutely diverge1 is in their statement of what1 after the ,deluge1 befell the righteous man saved from it4 ,according to the figures of the ,elohist1 ,noah lives on among his descendants for #cej years1 and dies at the age of #iej4 ,khasisatra receives the privilege of immortality2 is carried away to live like the gods1 and transported into a distant place1 where the hero of ,uruk goes to visit him in order to learn the secrets of life and death4 ,but in the ,bible we have something of the same kind told us of ,noah's great-grandfather ,enoch1 who walked with ,god1 and was not1 because ,god took him4 ,we see1 then1 that the ,babylonian tradition united in the person of ,khasisatra facts which the ,bible distributes between ,enoch and ,noah1 the two whom ,holy ,scripture equally characterizes as having walked with ,god4 ,the author of the treatise ,on the ,syrian ,goddess1 erroneously attributed to ,lucian1 acquaints us with the diluvian tradition of the ,arameans1 directly derived from that of ,chaldea1 as it was narrated in the celebrated ,sanctuary of ,hierapolis or ,bambyce4 ,the generality of people1 he says1 tell us that the founder of the temple was ,deucalion ,sisythes1 that ,deucalion in whose time the great inundation occurred4 ,i have also heard the account given by the ,greeks themselves of ,deucalion2 the myth runs thus3--,the actual race of men is not the first1 for there was a previous one1 all the members of which perished4 ,we belong to a second race1 descended from ,deucalion1 and multiplied in the course of time4 ,as to the former men1 they are said to have been full of insolence and pride1 committing many crimes1 disregarding their oath1 neglecting the rights of hospitality1 unsparing to suppliants1 accordingly they were punished by an immense disaster4 ,all on a sudden enormous volumes of water issued from the earth1 and rains of extraordinary abundance began to fall2 the rivers left their beds1 and the sea overflowed its shores2 the whole earth was covered with water1 and all men perished4 ,deucalion alone1 because of his virtue and piety1 was preserved alive to give birth to a new race4 ,this is how he was saved3--,he placed himself1 his children1 and his wives in a great coffer that he had1 in which pigs1 horses1 lions1 serpents1 and all other terrestrial animals came to seek refuge with him4 ,he received them all1 and while they were in the coffer ,zeus inspired them with reciprocal amity which prevented their devouring one another4 ,in this manner1 shut up within one single coffer1 they floated as long as the waters remained in force4 ,such is the account given by the ,greeks of ,deucalion4 ,but to this which they equally tell1 the people of ,hierapolis add a marvellous narrative3--,that in their country a great chasm opened1 into which all the waters of the deluge poured4 ,then ,deucalion raised an altar and dedicated a temple to ,hera 7,atargatis7 close to this very chasm4 ,i have seen it2 it is very narrow1 and situated under the temple4 ,whether it was once large and has now shrunk1 ,i do not know2 but ,i have seen it1 and it is quite small4 ,in memory of the event the following is the rite accomplished3--,twice a year sea water is brought to the temple4 ,this is not only done by the priests1 but numerous pilgrims come from the whole of ,syria and ,arabia1 and even from beyond the ,euphrates1 bringing water4 ,it is poured out in the temple and goes into the cleft which1 narrow as it is1 swallows up a considerable quantity4 ,this is said to be in virtue of a religious law instituted by ,deucalion to preserve the memory of the catastrophe and of the benefits that he received from the gods4 ,such is the ancient tradition of the temple4 ,it appears to me difficult not to recognize an echo of fables popular in all ,semitic countries about this chasm of ,hierapolis1 and the part it played in the ,deluge1--in the enigmatic expressions of the ,koran respecting the oven tannur which began to bubble and disgorge water all around at the commencement of the ,deluge4 ,we know that this tannur has been the occasion of most grotesque imaginings of ,mussulman commentators1 who had lost the tradition of the story to which ,mahomet made allusion4 ,and1 moreover1 the ,koran formally states that the waters of the ,deluge were absorbed in the bosom of the earth4 ,,ii4 ,indian ,traditions4--,india1 in its turn1 affords us an account of the ,deluge1 which by its poverty strikingly contrasts with that of the ,bible and the ,chaldeans4 ,its most simple and ancient form is found in the ,catapatha ,brahmana of the ,rig-,veda4 ,it has been translated for the first time by ,m4 ,max ,muller4 ,one morning water for washing was brought to ,manu1 and when he had washed himself a fish remained in his hands4 ,and it addressed these words to him3--',protect me and ,i will save thee4' ',from what wilt thou save me8' ',a deluge will sweep all creatures away2 it is from that ,i will save thee4' ',how shall ,i protect thee8' ,the fish replied3 ',while we are small we run great dangers1 for fish swallow fish4 ,keep me at first in a vase2 when ,i become too large for it dig a basin to put me into4 ,when ,i shall have grown still more1 throw me into the ocean2 then ,i shall be preserved from destruction4' ,soon it grew a large fish4 ,it said to ,manu1 ',the very year ,i shall have reached my full growth the ,deluge will happen4 ,then build a vessel and worship me4 ,when the waters rise1 enter the vessel and ,i will save thee4' ,after keeping him thus1 ,manu carried the fish to the sea4 ,in the year indicated ,manu built a vessel and worshipped the fish4 ,and when the ,deluge came he entered the vessel4 ,then the fish came swimming up to him1 and ,manu fastened the cable of the ship to the horn of the fish1 by which means the latter made it pass over the mountain of the ,north4 ,the fish said1 ',i have saved thee2 fasten the vessel to a tree that the water may not sweep it away while thou art on the mountain2 and in proportion as the waters decrease thou shalt descend4' ,manu descended with the waters1 and this is what is called the descent of ,manu on the mountain of the ,north4 ,the deluge had carried away all creatures1 and ,manu remained alone4 ,next in order of date and complication1 which always goes on loading the narrative more and more with fantastic and parasitical details1 comes the version in the enormous epic of ,mahabharata4 ,that of the poem called ,bhagavata-,purana is still more recent and fabulous4 ,finally1 the same tradition forms the subject of an entire poem of very low date1 the ,matsya-,purana1 of which an analysis has been given by the great ,indian scholar1 ,wilson4 ,in the preface to the third volume of his edition of ,bhagavata-,purana1 ,eugene ,burnouf has carefully compared the three narratives known at the time he wrote 7that of the ,catapatha ,brahmana has been since discovered71 with a view to clearing up the origin of the ,indian tradition of the ,deluge4 ,he points out in a discussion that deserves to remain a model of erudition and subtle criticism1 that it is absolutely wanting in the ,vedic hymns1 where we only find distant allusions to it that seem to belong to a different kind of legend altogether1 and also that this tradition was primitively foreign to the essentially ,indian system of ,manvantaras1 or periodic destructions of the world4 ,he thence concludes that it must have been imported into ,india subsequently to the adoption of this system1 which is1 however1 very ancient1 being common to ,brahmanism and ,buddhism1 and therefore inclines to look upon it as a ,semitic importation that took place in historic times1 not1 indeed1 of ,genesis1 but more probably of the ,babylonian tradition4 ,the discovery of an original edition of the latter confirms the theory of the ,french savant4 ,the leading feature which distinguishes the ,indian narrative is the part assigned to a god who puts on the form of a fish1 in order to warn ,manu1 to guide his vessel and save him from the flood4 ,the nature of the metamorphosis is the only fundamental and primitive point1 for different versions vary as to the personality of the god who assumes this form--the ,brahmana leaves it uncertain1 the ,mahabharata fixes on ,brahma1 and the compilers of the ,puranas on ,vishnu4 ,this is the more remarkable that this metamorphosis into a fish ,matsyavatara remains isolated in ,indian mythology1 is foreign to its habitual symbolism1 and gives rise to no ulterior developments3 no trace being found in ,india of that fish-worship which was so important and widespread among other ancient people4 ,burnouf rightly saw in this a sign of importation from without1 and especially of its ,babylonian origin1 for classic testimony1 recently confirmed by native monuments1 shows us that in the religion of ,babylon the conception of ichthyomorphic gods held a more prominent place than elsewhere4 ,the part played by the divine fish with regard to ,manu in the ,indian legend1 is attributed both by the ,epic of ,uruk and by ,berosus to the god ,ea1 who is also designated ,schalman1 the ,saviour4 ,now this god1 whose type of representation we now know certainly from ,assyrian and ,babylonian monuments1 is essentially the ichthyomorphic god1 and his image almost invariably combines the forms of fish and man4 ,in astronomical tables frequent mention is made of the catasterism of the fish of ,ea1 which is indubitably our sign ,pisces1 since it presides over the month ,adar4 ,it is to a connection of ideas based on the diluvian record1 that we must attribute the placing of ,pisces--primarily of the fish of ,ea--next to ,aquarius1 whose relation to the history of the ,deluge we have already pointed out4 ,here we have an evident allusion to the part of ,saviour attributed by the people who invented the ,zodiac1 to the god ,ea in the flood1 and to the idea of an ichthyomorphic nature especially belonging to this aspect of his personality4 ,ea is1 moreover1 the ,oannes1 lawgiver of the fragments of ,berosus1 half-man1 half-fish1 whose form1 answering to the description given by the ,chaldean history1 has been discovered in the sculptures of ,assyrian palaces and on cylinders1 the ,euahanes of ,hygin1 and the ,oes of ,helladios4#df ,whenever we find among two different peoples one same legend1 with as special a circumstance which does not spring naturally and necessarily from the fundamental facts of the narrative1 and when1 moreover1 this circumstance is closely connected with the whole religious conceptions of one of these peoples1 and remains isolated and alien from the customary symbolism of the other1 criticism lays it down as an absolute rule that we must conclude the legend to have been transmitted from the one to the other in an already fixed form1 to be a foreign importation1 superimposed1 not fused with the national1 and as it were genial1 traditions of the people1 who have received1 without having created it4 ,we must also remark that in the ,puranas it is no longer ,manu ,vaivasata that the divine fish saves from the ,deluge1 but a different personage1 the ,king of the ,dasas--i4e41 fishers1 ,satyravata1 the man who loves justice and truth1 strikingly corresponding to the ,chaldean ,khasisatra4 ,nor is the ,puranic version of the ,legend of the ,deluge to be despised1 though it be of recent date and full of fantastic and often puerile details4 ,in certain aspects it is less ,aryanized than that of ,brahmana or than the ,mahabharata1 and above all it gives some circumstances omitted in these earlier versions1 which must yet have belonged to the original foundation1 since they appear in the ,babylonian legend2 a circumstance preserved no doubt by the oral tradition--popular and not ,brahmanic--with which the ,puranas are so deeply imbued4 ,this has been already observed by ,pictet1 who lays due stress on the following passage of the ,bhagavata-,purana3 ,in seven days1 said ,vishnu to ,satyravata1 the three worlds shall be submerged4 ,there is nothing like this in the ,brahmana nor the ,mahabharata1 but in ,genesis the ,lord says to ,noah1 ,yet seven days and ,i will cause it to rain upon the earth2 and a little further we read1 ,after seven days the waters of the flood were upon the earth4 ,and we have just pointed out the parts played by hebdomades as successive periods in that system of the duration of the flood1 adopted by the author of the ,jehovist documents inserted in ,genesis1 as well as by the compiler of the ,chaldean ,epic of ,uruk4 ,nor must we pay less attention to what the ,bhagavata-,purana says of the directions given by the fish-god to ,satyravata for the placing of the sacred ,scriptures in a safe place in order to preserve them from ,hayagriva1 a marine horse dwelling in the abyss1 and of the conflict of the god with this ,hayagriva1 who had stolen the ,vedas and thus produced the cataclysm by disturbing the order of the world4 ,this circumstance too is wanting in the more ancient compositions1 even in the ,mahabharata1 but it is a most important one1 and cannot be looked on as a spontaneous product of ,indian soil1 for we recognize in it under an ,indian garb the very tradition of the interment of the sacred writings at ,sippara by ,khasisatra1 such as we have it in the fragments of ,berosus4 ,it is the ,chaldean form1 then1 of the tradition that the ,indians have adopted owing to communications which the commercial relations between the countries render historically natural1 and they afterwards amplified it with the exuberance peculiar to their imagination4 ,but they must have adopted it all the more readily because it agreed with a tradition1 which under a somewhat different form had been brought by their ancestors from the primitive cradle of the ,aryan race4 ,that the recollection of the flood did indeed form part of the original groundwork of the legends as to the origin of the world held by this great race1 is beyond all doubt4 ,for if ,indians have accepted the ,chaldean form of the story1 so nearly allied to that of ,genesis1 all other nations of ,aryan descent show themselves possessed of entirely original versions of the cataclysm which cannot be held to have been borrowed either from ,babylonian or ,hebrew sources4 ,,iii4 ,traditions of other ,aryan ,peoples4--,among the ,iranians1 in the sacred books containing the fundamental ,zoroastrian doctrines1 and dating very far back1 we meet with a tradition which must assuredly be looked upon as a variety of that of the ,deluge1 though possessing a special character1 and diverging in some essential particulars from those we have been examining4 ,it relates how ,yima1 who in the original and primitive conception was the father of the human race1 was warned by ,ahuramazda1 the good deity1 of the earth being about to be devastated by a flood4 ,the god ordered ,yima to construct a refuge1 a square garden1 vara1 protected by an enclosure1 and to cause the germs of men1 beasts1 and plants to enter it1 in order to escape annihilation4 ,accordingly1 when the inundation occurred1 the garden of ,yima with all that it contained was alone spared1 and the message of safety was brought thither by the bird ,karshipta1 the envoy of ,ahuramazda4#dg ,a comparison has also been made1 but erroneously as ,i think1 between the ,biblical and ,chaldean ,deluge and a story only found complete in the ,bundahesh-pahlavi2#dh though1 as a few of the older books contain allusions to some of its circumstances2#di it must date further back than this edition of it1 which is recent4 ,ahuramazda determines to destroy the ,khafctras--i4e41 the maleficent spirits created by ,angromainyus1 the spirit of evil3 ,tistrya1 the genius of the star ,sirius1 descends at his command to earth1 and1 assuming the form of a man1 causes it to rain for ten days4 ,the waters cover the earth1 and all maleficent beings are drowned4 ,a violent wind dries the earth1 but some germs of the evil spirit's creation remain1 and may reappear1 therefore ,tistrya descends again under the form of a white horse1 and produces a second ,deluge by another rainfall of ten days4 ,to prevent him accomplishing his task1 the demon ,apusha assumes the appearance of a black horse1 and engages in combat2 but he is struck with lightning by ,ahuramazda1 as well as the demon ,cpendjaghra1 who had come to his aid4 ,finally1 to bring about the complete destruction of evil1 ,tistrya descends the third time under the form of a bull1 and produces a third ,deluge by a third rainfall of ten days1 after which the waters divide to form the four great and the twenty-four small seas4 ,now all this relates to a cosmogonic fact1 anterior to the creation of man4 ,the ,khafctras1 from which ,tistrya undertakes to purge the earth1 are the hurtful and venomous beasts created by ,angromainyus which fervent ,mazedans make it a duty to destroy in our actual world--such as scorpions1 lizards1 toads1 serpents1 rats1 c4 ,there is no allusion here to humanity1 or the punishment of its sins4 ,if we were bent on finding in our ,bible any parallel to this first rain falling on the surface of the earth--which both destroys the hurtful creatures by which it was infested and renders it productive of a fertile vegetation--we should turn1 not to the account of the ,deluge1 but to what is said in ,gen4 ii4 #e1 #f4 ,the ,greeks had two principal legends as to the cataclysm by which primitive humanity was destroyed4 ,the first was connected with the name of ,ogyges1 the most ancient of the kings of ,boeotia or ,attica2 a quite mythical personage1 lost in the night of ages1 his very name seemingly derived from one signifying deluge in ,aryan idioms1 in ,sanscrit ,angha4 ,it is said that in his time the whole land was covered by a flood1 whose waters reached the sky1 and from which he1 together with some companions1 escaped in a vessel4 ,the second tradition is the ,thessalian legend of ,deucalion4 ,zeus having worked to destroy the men of the age of bronze1 with whose crimes he was wroth1 ,deucalion1 by the advice of ,prometheus1 his father1 constructed a coffer1 in which he took refuge with his wife1 ,pyrrha4 ,the ,deluge came1 the chest or coffer floated at the mercy of the waves for nine days and nine nights1 and was finally stranded on ,mount ,parnassus4 ,deucalion and ,pyrrha leave it1 offer sacrifice1 and according to the command of ,zeus re-people the world by throwing behind them the bones of the earth--namely1 stones1 which change into men4 ,this ,deluge of ,deucalion is in ,grecian tradition what most resembles a universal ,deluge4 ,many authors affirm that it extended to the whole earth1 and that the whole human race perished4 ,at ,athens1 in memory of the event1 and to appease the manes of its victims1 a ceremony called ,hydrophoria was observed1 having so close a resemblance to that in use at ,hierapolis in ,syria1 that we can hardly fail to look upon it as a ,syro-,phoenician importation1 and the result of an assimilation established in remote antiquity between the ,deluge of ,deucalion and that of ,khasisatra1 as described by the author of the treatise ,on the ,syrian ,goddess4#ej ,close to the temple of the ,olympian ,zeus a fissure in the soil was shown1 in length but one cubit1 through which it was said the waters of the ,deluge had been swallowed up4 ,thus1 every year1 on the third day of the festival of the ,anthesteria1 a day of mourning consecrated to the dead1--that is1 on the thirteenth of the month of ,anthesterion1 towards the beginning of ,march--it was customary1 as at ,bambyce1 to pour water into the fissure1 together with flour mixed with honey1 poured also into the trench dug to the west of the tomb1 in the funereal sacrifices of the ,athenians4 ,others1 on the contrary1 limit ,deucalion's flood to ,greece1 even declare that it only destroyed the larger portion of the community1 a great many men saving themselves on the highest mountains4 ,thus the ,delphian legend told how the inhabitants of that town1 following the wolves in their flight1 had taken refuge in a cave on the summit of ,parnassus1 where they built the town of ,lycorea1 whose foundation is1 on the other hand1 attributed by the ,chronicle of ,paros to ,deucalion1 after the reproduction by him of a new human race4 ,later mythographers necessarily adopted this idea of several points of simultaneous escape from a desire to reconcile the local legends of several places in ,greece1 which named some other than ,deucalion as the hero saved from the flood4 ,for instance1 at ,megara it was the eponym of the city ,megaros1 son of ,zeus and of one of the nymphs ,sithnides1 who1 warned by the cry of cranes of the imminence of the danger1 took refuge on ,mount ,geranien4 ,again1 there was the ,thessalian ,cerambos1 who was said to have escaped the flood by rising into the air on wings given him by the nymphs1 and it was ,perirrhoos1 son of ,eolus1 that ,zeus ,naios had preserved at ,dodona4 ,for the inhabitants of the ,isle of ,cos the hero of the ,deluge was ,merops1 son of ,hyas1 who there assembled under his rule the remnant of humanity preserved with him4 ,the traditions of ,rhodes only supposed the ,telchines1 those of ,crete ,jasion1 to have escaped the cataclysm4 ,in ,samothracia the same character was attributed to ,saon1 said to be the son of ,zeus or of ,hermes2 he seems only to have been a heroic form of the ,hermes ,saos or ,socos1 the object of special worship in the island1 a divinity in whom ,m4 ,philippe ,berges recognizes with good reason a ,phoenician importation1 the ,sakan of ,canaan identified elsewhere with ,hermes ,dardanos1 supposed to have arrived in ,samothracia immediately after these events1 being driven by the ,deluge from ,arcadia4 ,in all these flood stories of ,greece we cannot doubt that the tradition of a cataclysm fatal to the whole of humanity--a tradition common to all ,aryan peoples--was mixed up1 as ,knobel rightly observes1 more or less precisely with local catastrophes produced by extraordinary overflows of lakes or rivers1 or the rupture of their natural embankments1 the sinking of some portions of the sea-coast1 or tidal waves consequent upon earthquakes or sudden upheavals of the ocean bed4 ,such events were frequent in ,greece1 in the district between ,egypt and ,palestine1 near ,pelusium and ,mount ,casius1 as well as in the ,cimbric ,chersonese4 ,the ,greeks used to relate how often their country had in primitive ages been the theatre of such catastrophes4 ,istros numbered four of these1 one of which had opened the ,straits of the ,bosphorus and ,hellespont1 when the waters of the ,euxine1 rushing into the ,aegean1 submerged the islands and neighbouring coasts4 ,this is evidently the ,deluge of ,samothracia2 where the inhabitants who succeeded in saving themselves did so only by gaining the highest peak of the mountain that rises there2 then1 in gratitude for their preservation1 consecrated the whole island by surrounding its shores with a belt of altars dedicated to the gods4 ,in like manner the tradition of the ,deluge of ,ogyges seems connected with the recollection of an extraordinary rise of the ,lake ,capais1 inundating the whole of the great ,boeotian ,valley1 a recollection amplified later--as is ever the case with legends--by applying to the local disaster all the details popularly told of the primitive ,deluge which had taken place before the separation of the ancestors of the two races1 ,semitic and ,aryan4 ,it is also probable that some event that had occurred in ,thessaly1 or rather in the region of ,parnassus1 determined the localization of the legend of ,deucalion4 ,nevertheless1 it always retained1 as we have seen1 a more general character than the others1 whether the ,deluge be extended to the whole earth or limited to the whole of ,greece4 ,be that as it may1 the different narratives were reconciled by admitting three successive ,deluges1 those of ,ogyges1 ,deucalion1 and ,dardanos4 ,the general opinion pronounced the former the most ancient1 placing it #fjj or #bej years before that of ,deucalion4 ,but this chronology is far from being universally accepted2 and the inhabitants of ,samothracia maintain their ,deluge to have been the earliest4 ,christian chronographers of the third and fourth century1 as1 for instance1 ,julius ,africanus and ,eusebius1 adopted the ,hellenic dates of the ,deluges of ,ogyges and ,deucalion1 and inscribed them in their records as different events from the ,mosaic ,deluge1 which1 for their part1 they fixed at #ajjj years before that of ,ogyges4 ,in ,phrygia the diluvian tradition was as natural as in ,greece4 ,the town of ,apamea derived thence its surname ,kibotos1 or ark1 and claimed to be the place where the ,ark had stopped4 ,iconium had the like pretensions4 ,in the same way the people of ,milyas1 in ,armenia1 showed the fragments of the ,ark on the top of the mountain called ,baris2 and these were also exhibited in early ,christian times to pilgrims on ,ararat1 as ,berosus tells us that in his day the remnants of the vessel of ,khasisatra were visited on the ,gordyan range4 ,in the second and third centuries of our era1 by means of the syncretic infiltration of ,jewish and ,christian traditions even into minds still attached to ,paganism1 the sacerdotal authorities of ,apamea and ,phrygia had coins struck bearing an open ark1 in which the patriarch and his wife were seen receiving back the dove with the olive branch1 and side by side were the two same personages1 having left the ,ark to retake possession of the earth4 ,on the ,ark is inscribed the name ,,noe1 the very form the name assumes in the ,septuagint4 ,thus1 at this time the ,pagan priesthood of the ,phrygian city had1 we see1 adopted the ,biblical narrative1 even down to its names1 and had grafted it on the old native tradition4 ,they related that a short while before the ,deluge there reigned a holy man called ,annacos1 who had predicted it1 and occupied the throne more than #cjj years1 an evident reproduction of the ,enoch of the ,bible1 who walked with ,god for #cfe years4 ,as to the branch of the ,celts--in the bardic poems of ,wales1 we have a tradition of the ,deluge1 which1 although recent under the concise form of the ,triads1 is still deserving of attention4 ,as usual1 the legend is localized in the country1 and the ,deluge counts among three terrible catastrophes of the island of ,prydain1 or ,britain1 the other two consisting of devastation by fire and by drought4 ,the first of these events1 it is said1 was the irruption of ,llyn-llion1 or 'the lake of waves1' and the inundation 7bawdd7 of the whole country1 by which all mankind was drowned with the exception of ,dwyfan and ,dwyfach1 who saved themselves in a vessel without rigging1 and it was by them that the island of ,prydain was re-peopled4#ea ,pictet here observes-- ,although the triads in their actual form hardly date further than the thirteenth or fourteenth century1 some of them are undoubtedly connected with very ancient traditions1 and nothing here points to a borrowing from ,genesis4 ,but it is not so1 perhaps1 with another triad#eb speaking of the vessel ,nefydd-naf-,neifion1 which at the time of the overflow of ,llyn-llion1 bore a pair of all living creatures1 and rather too much resembles the ark of ,noah4 ,the very name of the patriarch may have suggested this triple epithet1 obscure as to its meaning1 but evidently formed on the principle of ,cymric alliteration4 ,in the same triad we have the enigmatic story of the horned oxen 7ychain bannog7 of ,hu the mighty1 who drew out of ,llyn-llion the avanc 7beaver or crocodile87 in order that the lake should not overflow4 ,the meaning of these enigmas could only be hoped from deciphering the chaos of bardic monuments of the ,welsh middle age2 but meanwhile we cannot doubt that the ,cymri possessed an indigenous tradition of the ,deluge4 ,we also find a vestige of the same tradition in the ,scandinavian ,ealda4#ec ,but here the story is combined with a cosmogonic myth4 ,the three sons of ,borr1 ,othin1 ,wili1 and ,we1 grandsons of ,buri1 the first man1 slay ,ymir1 the father of the ,hrimthursar or ,ice giants1 and his body serves them for the construction of the world4 ,blood flows from his wounds in such abundance that all the race of giants is drowned in it1 except ,bergelmir1 who saves himself1 with his wife1 in a boat1 and reproduces the race4 ,thus1 ,pictet again observes1 the myth only belongs to the general tradition through these last features1 by which1 however1 we trace it up to a common source4 ,of all ,european peoples the ,lithuanians were the last to embrace ,christianity1 and their language remains nearest to the original ,aryan4 ,they have a legend of the ,deluge1 the groundwork of which appears very ancient1 although it has assumed the simple character of a popular tale1 and some of its details may have been borrowed from ,genesis at the time of the first ,christian missions4 ,according to it#ed the god ,pramzimras1 seeing the whole earth to be full of iniquity1 sends two giants1 ,wandu and ,wejas 7fire and wind71 to lay it waste4 ,these overthrew everything in their fury1 and only a few men saved themselves on a mountain4 ,pramzimras1 who was engaged in eating celestial walnuts1 dropped a shell near the mountain1 and in it the men took refuge1 the giants respecting it4 ,having escaped from the calamity1 they afterwards disperse1 and only one very aged couple remain in the country1 greatly bewailing their childless condition4 ,pramzimras1 to console them1 sends his rainbow and bids them jump on the bones of the earth1 which curiously recalls the oracle to ,deucalion4 ,the two old people jump nine times1 and nine pairs are the result1 who became the ancestors of the nine ,lithuanian tribes4 ,,iv4 ,egyptian ,traditions4--,while the tradition of the ,deluge holds so considerable a place in the legendary memories of all branches of the ,aryan race1 the monuments and original texts of ,egypt1 with their many cosmogonic speculations1 have not afforded one1 even distant1 allusion to this cataclysm4 ,when the ,greeks told the ,egyptian priests of the ,deluge of ,deucalion1 their reply was that they had been preserved from it as well as from the conflagration produced by ,phaeton2 they even added that the ,hellenes were childish in attaching so much importance to that event1 as there had been several other local catastrophes resembling it4 ,according to a passage in ,manetho1 much suspected1 however1 of being an interpolation1 ,thoth or ,hermes ,trismegistus had himself1 before the cataclysm1 inscribed on stelae in hieroglyphical and sacred language the principles of all knowledge4 ,after it the second ,thoth translated into the vulgar tongue the contents of these stelae4 ,this would be the only ,egyptian mention of the ,deluge1 the same ,manetho not speaking of it in what remains to us of his ,dynasties1 his only complete authentic work4 ,the silence of all other myths of the ,pharaonic religion on this head render it very likely that the above is merely a foreign tradition1 recently introduced1 and no doubt of ,asiatic and ,chaldean origin4 ,thus1 says ,m4 ,maury1 the ,seriadic land1 where the passage in question places these hieroglyphic columns1 might very well be no other than ,chaldea4 ,this tradition1 though not in the ,bible1 existed as a popular legend among the ,jews at the beginning of our era1 which confirms our supposition2 as the ,hebrews might have learnt it during the ,babylonian captivity4 ,josephus tells us that the patriarch ,seth1 in order that wisdom and astronomical knowledge should not perish1 erected1 in prevision of the double destruction by fire and water predicted by ,adam1 two columns1 the one in brick1 the other in stone1 on which this knowledge was engraved1 and which subsisted in the ,seriadic country4 ,this history is evidently only a variety of the ,chaldean legend of the terra-cotta tables bearing the divine revelations1 and the principles of all sciences which ,ea ordered ,khasisatra to bury before the ,deluge1 in the city of the ,sun at ,sippara1 as we have had it above in the extracts from ,berosus4 ,nevertheless1 the ,egyptians did admit a destruction by the gods of primal men on account of their rebellion and their sins4 ,this event was related in a chapter of the sacred books of ,thoth1 those famous ,hermetic books of the ,egyptian priesthood which are graven on the sides of one of the inmost chambers of the funereal hypogeum of ,seti the ,first at ,thebes4 ,the text has been published and translated by ,m4 ,edouard ,naville4#ee ,the scene is laid at the close of the reign of the god ,ra1 the earliest terrestrial reign1 according to the system of the priests of ,thebes1 the second1 according to that of the priests of ,memphis1 which is the one followed by ,manetho1 who placed at the very origin of things the reign of ,phtah1 previous to that of ,ra4 ,irritated by the impiety and crimes of the men he has made1 the god assembles the other gods to hold counsel with them in profound secrecy1 so that men should not see it1 nor their heart be afraid4 ,said by ,ra to ,nun3#ef ',thou1 the eldest of the gods1 of whom ,i am born1 and ye ancient gods1 here are the men who are born from myself2 they speak words against me1 tell me what you would do in the matter2 lo1 ,i have waited1 and have not slain them before hearing your words4' ,said by the ,majesty of ,nun3 ',my son ,ra1 a greater god than he who has made him and created him1 ,i stand in great fear of thee2 do thou deliberate alone4' ,said by the ,majesty of ,ra3 ',lo1 they take to flight through the country1 and their hearts are afraid4444' ,said by the ,gods3 ',let thy face permit1 and let those men be smitten who plot evil things1 thine enemies1 and let none of them remain4' ,a goddess1 whose name has unfortunately disappeared1 but who seems to have been ,tefnut1 identified with ,hathor and ,sekhet1 is then sent to accomplish the sentence of destruction4 ,this goddess left1 and slew the men upon the earth4 ,said by the ,majesty of this ,god3 ',come in peace1 ,hathor2 thou hast done what was ordained thee4' ,said by this ,goddess3 ',thou art living2 for ,i have been stronger than men1 and my heart is satisfied4' ,said by the ,majesty of ,ra3 ',i am living1 for ,i will rule over them and ,i will complete their ruin4' ,and lo1 ,sekhet1 during several nights1 trod their blood under-foot as far as the town of ,ha-klinen-su 7,heracleopolis47 ,but the massacre ended1 the anger of ,ra was appeased2 he began to repent of what he had done4 ,a great expiatory sacrifice succeeded in finally calming him4 ,fruits were gathered throughout ,egypt1 bruised1 and their juice mingled with human blood1 #gjjj pitchers being filled with it and presented to the god4 ,and lo1 the ,majesty of ,ra1 the god of ,upper and ,lower ,egypt1 comes with the gods in three days of sailing to see these vases of drink1 after he had ordered the goddess to slay men4 ,said by the ,majesty of ,ra3 ',this is well2 ,i will protect men because of it4' ,said by ,ra3 ',i raise my hand concerning this1 to say that ,i will no more destroy men4' ,the ,majesty of ,ra1 the god of ,upper and ,lower ,egypt1 commanded in the middle of the night to overthrow the liquid in the vases1 and the fields were completely filled with water by the will of this god4 ,the goddess arrived in the morning1 and found the fields full of water4 ,her face grew joyous1 and she drank abundantly and went away satisfied4 ,she no more perceived any men4 ,said by the ,majesty of ,ra to the goddess3 ',come in peace1 gracious goddess4' ,and he caused the young priestesses of ,amu to be born4 ,said by the ,majesty of ,ra to this goddess3 ',libations shall be made to her at each of the festivals of the new year1 under the superintendence of my priestesses4' ,hence it comes that libations are made under the superintendence of the priestesses of ,hathor by all men since the ancient days4 ,nevertheless1 some men have escaped the destruction commanded by ,ra1 and renewed the population of the earth4 ,as for the solar god who reigns over the world1 he feels himself old1 sick and weary2 he has had enough of living among men1 whom he regrets not to have completely annihilated1 but has sworn henceforth to spare4 ,said by the ,majesty of ,ra3 ',there is a smarting pain that torments me2 what is it then that hurts me8' ,said by the ,majesty of ,ra3 ',i am living1 but my heart is weary of being with them men1 and ,i have in no way destroyed them4 ,that destruction is not one that ,i have made myself4' ,said by the gods who accompany him3 ',away with lassitude1 thou hast obtained all thou didst desire4' ,the god ,ra decides1 however1 to accept the help of the men of the new human race who offer themselves to him to combat his enemies1 and a great battle takes place1 out of which they come victorious4 ,but in spite of this success the god1 disgusted with earthly life1 resolves to quit it for ever1 and has himself carried into heaven by the goddess ,nut1 who takes the form of a cow4 ,then he creates a region of delight1 the fields of ,aalu1 the ,elysium of ,egyptian mythology1 which he peoples with stars4 ,entering into rest1 he assigns to different gods the government of different parts of the world4 ,shu1 who is to succeed him as king1 is to administer celestial matters with ,nut2 ,seb and ,nun receive the charge of the things of earth and water4 ,finally1 ,ra1 a sovereign who has voluntarily abdicated1 goes to dwell with ,thoth1 his favourite son1 on whom he has bestowed the superintendence of the under-world4 ,such is this strange narrative1 in which1 as ,m4 ,naville has well said1 in the midst of fantastic and often puerile inventions1 we do nevertheless find the two terms of existence as understood by the ancient ,egyptians4 ,ra begins with earth1 and passing through heaven stops in the region of profundity1 ,ament1 in which he apparently wishes to sojourn4 ,this then is a symbolic and religious representation of life1 which for every ,egyptian--and especially for a royal conqueror--had to begin and end like the sun4 ,this explains the chapter being inscribed in a tomb4 ,hence it was the last portion of the narrative--which we can analyse but very briefly--the abdication of ,ra and his retreat1 first1 in heaven1 next in the ,ament1 a symbol of death which is to be followed by resurrection as the setting of the sun by its rising--it is this which constituted its interest in the conception of the doctrine of a future life1 illustrated in the decoration of the interior of the tomb of ,seti ,i4 ,for our present purpose1 on the contrary1 it is the beginning of the story which constitutes its importance1 it is that destruction of primal humanity by the gods of which no mention has been hitherto found elsewhere4 ,although the means of destruction employed by ,ra are quite dissimilar1 although he does not proceed by submersion but by a massacre in which the lion-headed goddess ,tefnut or ,sekhet1 the dreadful form of ,hathor1 is the agent1 the other sides of the story bear a sufficiently striking analogy to that of the ,mosaic or ,chaldean ,deluge to show that it is the special and very individual form assumed in ,egypt by that tradition4 ,in both we have human corruption exciting divine wrath1 and punished by a divinely ordained annihilation of the race1 from which there escapes but a very small number destined to give birth to a new humanity4 ,finally1 after the event an expiatory sacrifice appeases the celestial anger1 and a solemn covenant is made between men and the deity1 who swears never so to destroy them again4 ,to me1 the agreement of these principal features outweighs the divergence in detail4 ,and we have also to observe how singularly akin is the part ascribed by the ,egyptian priest to ,ra with that assigned in the epic poem of ,uruk to the god ,bel1 in the deluge of ,khasisatra4 ,the ,egyptians believed1 as did other nations1 in the destruction of mankind2 but as inundation meant for them prosperity and life1 they changed the primitive tradition2 the human race1 instead of perishing by water1 was otherwise exterminated2 and the inundation--that crowning benefit to the valley of the ,nile--became in their eyes the sign that the wrath of ,ra was appeased4 ,v4 ,american ,stories of the ,flood4 ,it is a very remarkable fact1 says ,m4 ,alfred ,maury1 that we find in ,america traditions of the ,deluge coming infinitely nearer to that of the ,bible and the ,chaldean religion than among any people of the ,old ,world4 ,it is difficult to suppose that the emigration that certainly took place from ,asia into ,north ,america by the ,kourile and ,aleutian islands1 and still does so in our day1 should have brought in these memories1 since no trace is found of them among those ,mongol or ,siberian populations1#eg which were fused with the natives of the ,new ,world4444 ,no doubt certain ,american nations1 the ,mexicans and ,peruvians1 had reached a very advanced social condition at the time of the ,spanish conquest1 but this civilization had a special character1 and seems to have been developed on the soil where it flourished4 ,many very simple inventions1 such as the use of weights1 were unknown to these people1 and this shows that their knowledge was not derived from ,india or ,japan4 ,the attempts that have been made to trace the origin of ,mexican civilization to ,asia have not as yet led to any sufficiently conclusive facts4 ,besides1 had ,buddhism1 which we doubt1 made its way into ,america1 it could not have introduced a myth not found in its own ,scriptures4#eh ,the cause of these similarities between the diluvian traditions of the nations of the ,new ,world and that of the ,bible remains therefore unexplained4 ,i have particular pleasure in quoting these words by a man of immense erudition1 because he does not belong to orthodox writers1 and will not therefore be thought biassed by a preconceived opinion4 ,others also1 no less rationalistic than he1 have pointed out this likeness between ,american traditions of the ,deluge and those of the ,bible and the ,chaldeans4 ,the most important among the former are the ,mexican1 for they appear to have been definitively fixed by symbolic and mnemonic paintings before any contact with ,europeans4 ,according to these documents1 the ,noah of the ,mexican cataclysm was ,coxcox1 called by certain peoples ,teocipactli or ,tezpi4 ,he had saved himself1 together with his wife ,xochiquetzal1 in a bark1 or1 according to other traditions1 on a raft1 made of cypress wood 7,cupressus disticha74 ,paintings retracing the deluge of ,coxcox have been discovered among the ,aztecs1 ,miztecs1 ,zapotecs1 ,tlascaltecs1 and ,mechoacaneses4 ,the tradition of the latter is still more strikingly in conformity with the story as we have it in ,genesis and in ,chaldean sources4 ,it tells how ,tezpi embarked in a spacious vessel with his wife1 his children1 and several animals1 and grain1 whose preservation was essential to the subsistence of the human race4 ,when the great god ,tezcatlipoca decreed that the waters should retire1 ,tezpi sent a vulture from the bark4 ,the bird1 feeding on the carcases with which the earth was laden1 did not return4 ,tezpi sent out other birds1 of which the humming-bird only came back with a leafy branch in its beak4 ,then ,tezpi1 seeing that the country began to vegetate1 left his bark on the mountain of ,colhuacan4 ,the document1 however1 that gives the most valuable information as to the cosmogony of the ,mexicans is one known as ,codex ,vaticanus1 from the library where it is preserved4 ,it consists of four symbolic pictures1 representing the four ages of the world preceding the actual one4 ,they were copied at ,chobula from a manuscript anterior to the conquest1 and accompanied by the explanatory commentary of ,pedro de los ,rios1 a ,dominican monk1 who in #aeff1 less than fifty years after the arrival of ,cortez1 devoted himself to the research of indigenous traditions as being necessary to his missionary work4 ,the first age is marked with the cipher #acdjjf1 or #ebjf1 which ,alexander von ,humboldt understands as giving the number of years of the period1 and ,abbe ,brasseur de ,bourbourg as the date of its commencement1 from a proleptic era going back from the period of the execution of the manuscript4 ,this age is called ,tlatonatiuh1 ,sun of ,earth4 ,it is that of the giants1 or ,quinames1 the earliest inhabitants of ,anahuac1 whose end was destruction by famine4 ,the number of the second age is #abdjjd1 or #dhjd1 and it is called ,tlatonatiuh1 ,sun of ,fire4 ,it closes with the descent on ,earth of ,xiuhteuchli1 the god of fire4 ,mankind are all transformed into birds1 and only thus escape the conflagration4 ,nevertheless1 one human pair find refuge in a cave1 and repeople the world4 ,as to the third age1 ,ehecatonatiuh1 ,sun of ,wind1 its number is #ajdjjaj1 or #djaj4 ,its final catastrophe is a terrible hurricane raised by ,quetzalcoatl1 the god of the air4 ,with few exceptions1 men are metamorphosed into monkeys4 ,then comes the fourth age1 ,atonatiuh1 ,sun of ,water1 whose number is #ajdjjh1 or #djjh4 ,it ends by a great inundation1 a veritable deluge4 ,all mankind are changed into fish1 with the exception of one man and his wife1 who save themselves in a bark made of the trunk of a cypress-tree4 ,the picture represents ,matlalcueye1 goddess of waters1 and consort of ,tlaloc1 god of rain1 as darting down towards earth4 ,coxcox and ,xochiquetzal1 the two human beings preserved1 are seen seated on a tree-trunk and floating in the midst of the waters4 ,this flood is represented as the last cataclysm that devastates the earth4 ,all this is most important1 as a mind of the order of ,humboldt's did not hesitate to acknowledge4 ,however1 ,m4 ,girard de ,realle wrote quite recently3 ,the myth of the deluge has been met with in several parts of ,america1 and ,christian writers have not failed to see in it a reminiscence of the ,biblical tradition1 nay1 in connection with the pyramid of ,chobula1 they have found traces of the ,tower of ,babel4 ,we shall not waste time in pointing out how out of a fish-god1 ,coxcox1 among the ,chichimecs1 ,teocipactli among the ,aztecs1 and a goddess of flowers1 ,xochiquetzal1 it was easy to concoct the ,mexican figures of ,noah and his wife by joining on to them the story of the ark and the dove4 ,it is enough to observe that all these legends have only been collected and published at a relatively recent period4#ei ,the first chroniclers1 so cautious already despite their honest simplicity1 such as ,sahagun1 ,mendieta1 ,olmos1 and the ,hispano-indigenous authors1 such as the ,tezcucan ,ixthilxochitl and the ,tlascaltec ,camargo1 never breathe a word of stories they could not have failed to bring to light1 had they existed in their days4 ,lastly1 we find in ,mr4 ,bancroft's#fj work a criticism of these legends1 due to ,don ,jose ,fernando ,ramirez1 keeper of the ,national ,museum1 which proves incontestably that all these stories spring from all too ready and tendency-fraught interpretations of old ,mexican paintings1 which according to him only represent episodes in the migration of ,aztecs around the central lakes of the plateau of ,anahuac4 ,i much fear that the tendency here is not on the side of writers who are looked on as ground to powder by the epithet ,christian2 which1 indeed1 be it said in passing1 might well surprise a few among them4 ,and this tendency1 when resolved at any cost to attack the ,bible1 is as anti-scientific as when grasping at any uncritical argument in its defence4 ,no doubt the identical character of ,xochiquetzal or ,maciulxochiquetzal1 as goddess of the fertilizing rain and of vegetation1 with that of ,chalchihuitlicue or ,mallalcueye1 is a well-known fact1 more certain even than the character of fish-god of ,coxcox or ,teocipactli4 ,but the transformation of gods into heroes is a very common fact in all polytheisms1 and most common in the kind of unconscious euhemerism from which infant peoples never free themselves4 ,there is therefore nothing here to contradict the fact that these two divine personages1 contemplated as heroes1 may be taken as the two survivors of the ,flood1 and the ancestors of the new humanity4 ,as to the theory of ,don ,jose ,ramirez1 about the symbolic pictures that have been interpreted as expressing the diluvian tradition1 it is very ingenious and scientifically presented1 but not so absolutely proved as ,m4 ,girard de ,realle considers4 ,but even granting its incontestability1 it only removes part of the evidence which may have been unintentionally forced by those naturally disposed to see in it a parallel to ,genesis2 as for instance1 with regard to the sending out the birds by ,tezpi4 ,still the existence of the tradition among ,mexican peoples would not be shaken1 for it rests upon a whole of indubitable testimony1 confirming in a striking manner the interpretation hitherto given of the ,codex ,vaticanus4 ,the valuable work in the ,aztec language1 and in ,latin letters1 compiled by a native1 subsequently to the ,spanish conquest1 called ,codex ,chimalpopoca by ,abbe ,brasseur de ,bourbourg1 who gives an analysis and partial translation of it in the first volume of his ,histoire des ,nations ,civilisees du ,mexique1 contains in its third portion a history of the suns1 or successive ages of the world4 ,each takes its name from the way in which humanity is destroyed at its close4 ,the first is the age of jaguars1 who devour the primordial giants2#fa the second1 the age of wind2 at its close men lost themselves1 and were carried off by the hurricane1 and transformed themselves into monkeys4 ,houses1 woods1 everything was swept away by the wind4 ,then comes the age of fire1 whose sun is called ,tlalocan-,teuctli1 ,lord of the lower regions1 the usual appellation of ,mictlanteuctli1 the ,mexican ,pluto1 which seems to point to the idea of an age of special volcanic activity4 ,at its close1 mankind is destroyed by a rain of fire1 and such as do not perish escape under the form of birds4 ,finally1 the fourth age is that of water1 which immediately precedes our present epoch1 and closes with the ,deluge4 ,here is the narrative according to ,abbe ,brasseur's version1 held correct by ,americanists3-- ,this is the sun called ,nahui-atl1 '#d water4'#fb ,now the water was tranquil for forty years1 plus twelve1 and men lived for the third and fourth times4 ,when the sun ,nahui-atl came there had passed away four hundred years1 plus two ages1 plus seventy-six years4 ,then all mankind was lost and drowned and found themselves changed into fish4 ,the sky came nearer the water4 ,in a single day all was lost and the day ,nahui-xochitl '#d flower1' destroyed all our flesh4 ,and that year was that of ce-calli1 '#a house1'#fc and the day ,nahui-atl all was lost4 ,even the mountains sank into the water1 and the water remained tranquil for fifty-two springs4 ,now at the end of the year the god ,titlacahuan had warned ,nata and his spouse ,nena1 saying3 ',make no more wine of ,agave1 but begin to hollow out a great cypress1 and you will enter into it when in the month ,tozontli the water approaches the sky4' ,then they entered in1 and when the god had closed the door he said3 ',thou shalt eat but one ear of maize and thy wife one also4' ,but as soon as they had finished they went out1 and the water remained calm1 for the wood no longer moved1 and on opening it they began to see fish4 ,then they lit a fire1 by rubbing together pieces of wood1 and they roasted fish4 ,the gods ,citlallinicue and ,citlalatonac instantly looking down said3 ',divine ,lord1 what is that fire that is making there4 ,why do they thus smoke the sky8' ,at once ,titlacahuan-,tezcatlipoca descended4 ,he began to chide1 saying1 ',who has made this fire here8' ,and seizing hold of the fish he shaped their loins and heads1 and they were transformed into dogs 7chichime74 ,this last touch is a satire on the ,chichimecs1 or barbarians of the ,north1 founders of the kingdom of ,tezcuco4 ,it proves the decidedly indigenous character of the story1 and removes any such suspicion of a ,biblical imitation1 as the date might have led to4 ,the manuscript1 written in ,spanish by ,motolina1 who belonged to the generation of the conquistadores1 has hitherto only been known by extracts given from it by ,abbe ,brasseur in his ,recherches sur les ,ruines de ,palenque1 a work containing many useful documents1 though already pervaded by the delusions which towards the end of his career so strangely misled this learned pioneer of ,mexican antiquarianism4 ,here1 too1 we find the theory of the four suns1 or four ages1 given in the same order as by the author of the ,codex ,chimalpopoca4 ,the first is called age of ,tezcatlipoca1 because that god had then added on a half to the sun1 which was only half luminous1 or had made himself sun in its place4 ,this was the age of the ,quinames1 or giants1 who were almost all exterminated by famine4 ,after this1 ,quetzlcoatl1 the god of the air1 having armed himself with a great stick1 struck ,tezcatlipoca with it1 threw him into the water1 and and made himself sun in his place4 ,the fallen god1 transforming himself into a jaguar1 devoured such of the ,quinames as had escaped from the famine4 ,the statements of the ,codex ,vaticanus and the ,codex ,chimalpopoca as to the final catastrophe of the world's first age1 are thus reconciled by this last narrative4 ,motolina calls the two next ages those of wind and fire2 they are closed in the way we have seen4 ,the fourth is the age of the ,sun of ,water1 placed under the patronage of the goddess ,chalchihuitlicue4 ,the ,deluge terminates it1 and after this last cataclysm1 we enter upon our present era4 ,we come next to the ,history of the ,chichimecs1 by ,don ,fernando d',alva ,ixtlilxochitl1 descendant of the old pagan kings of ,tezcuco1 whose pretended silence on the subject we have seen appealed to as disproving the authenticity of these ,mexican diluvian traditions4 ,in the first chapter of his first book1 ,ixtlilxochitl relates the story of the cosmic ages according to the traditions of his native city4 ,he only gives four in all1 including the actual period4 ,the first is the ,atonatiuh1 or ,sun of ,waters1 which begins with the creation1 and ends with a universal deluge4 ,then comes the ,thlachitonatiuh1 or ,sun of ,earth1 when the giants called ,quinametziu-,tzocuilhioxime lived1 descendants of the survivors of the first epoch4 ,a frightful earthquake1 overthrowing the mountains1 and destroying the greater part of the dwellers on earth1 closes this age4 ,it is in the third age1 ,ehecatonatiuh1 ,sun of ,wind1 that ,olmecs and ,xicalanques came from the east to settle in the south of ,mexico4 ,at first they were conquered by the remnant of the ,quinames1 but ended by massacring these4 ,quetzalcoatl next appears as a religious reformer1 but is not listened to by men1 whose indocility is punished by the appalling hurricane during which such as escaped became monkeys4 ,then begins the present age1 ,tlatonatiuh1 or ,sun of ,fire1 thus called because it is to end by a rain of fire4 ,we see1 therefore1 that ,ixtlilxochitl was perfectly acquainted with the diluvian tradition1 and if he does not enter into its details1 he assigns it an important place in his series of ages4 ,therefore we must needs acknowledge the diluvian tradition to be really indigenous in ,mexico and not an invention of missionaries4 ,we may doubt as to some particulars in some of the versions1 though this arises chiefly from a preconceived idea1 because they too much resemble the story in ,genesis2 but as to the fundamental tradition it is unassailable1 and intimately connected with a conception not drawn from the ,bible--and universally admitted to have existed--that1 namely1 of the four ages of the world4 ,between this conception1 and that of the four ages or ,yugas of ,india1 and of the manvantaras where the destruction of the world and the renewals of humanity alternate1 there is an analogy which appeared very significant to ,humboldt1 ,mac,culloch1 and ,m4 ,maury4 ,it is one that justifies us in asking whether the ,mexicans devised it independently or borrowed it more or less directly from ,india4 ,the system of the four ages1 inseparable in ,mexico from that of the diluvian tradition1 confronts us with the problem--ever recurring with regard to ,american civilization--of how far these are spontaneous and how far derived from ,asia through ,buddhist or other missionaries4 ,in the present state of our knowledge we can as little solve this problem negatively as affirmatively1 and all attempts made to come to a positive conclusion are premature and unproductive4 ,before discovering whence ,american civilizations came1 we must thoroughly know what they were1 nor attempt the arduous and obscure question of their origin till we frame a real ,american archaeology on the same scientific basis and by the same methods as other archaeologies4 ,and in this respect ,messrs4 ,t4 ,g4 ,muller and ,herbert ,bancroft appear to me greatly in advance of their precursors in this field of inquiry4 ,for the present1 all that can be done is1 as ,i have attempted with ,flood stories1 to determine facts without pretending to draw inferences4 ,hence ,i should no longer boldly write1 as ,i did eight years ago3 ,the ,flood stories of ,mexico positively prove the tradition of the ,deluge to be one of the oldest held by humanity--a tradition so primitive as to be anterior to the dispersion of human families and the final developments of material civilization2 which the ,red race peopling ,america brought from the common cradle of our species into their new home1 at the same time that the ,semites1 ,chaldeans1 and ,aryans respectively carried it into theirs4#fd ,the fact is that among ,american peoples this tradition may not be primitive4 ,we may indeed affirm that it was not borrowed from the ,bible after the arrival of the ,spaniards1 but we cannot be equally confident that it was not the result of some previous foreign importation1 the precise date of which we have no means of fixing4 ,be that as it may1 the doctrines of successive ages1 and of the destruction of the men of the first age by a ,deluge1 is also found in the curious book of ,popol-vuh that collection of the mythological traditions of ,guatemala1 written after the conquest in the native tongue1 by a secret adept of the old religion2 discovered1 copied1 and translated into ,spanish in the beginning of the last century by the ,dominican ,francisco ,ximenez1 cure of ,st4 ,thomas of ,chiula4 ,his ,spanish version has been published by ,m4 ,schelzer1 the original text with a ,french translation by ,abbe ,brasseur4 ,here we read that the gods1 seeing that animals were neither capable of speaking nor of adoring them1 determined to make men in their own image4 ,they fashioned them at first in clay4 ,but those men had no consistency1 could not turn their heads2 spoke1 indeed1 but understood nothing4 ,the gods then destroyed their imperfect work by a ,deluge4 ,setting about it for the second time1 they made a man of wood and a woman of resin4 ,these creatures were far superior to the former2 they moved and lived1 but only like other animals2 they spoke1 but unintelligibly2 and gave no thought to the gods4 ,then ,hurakan1 the heart of heaven1 the god of storm1 caused a rain of burning resin to fall1 while the ground was shaken by a fearful earthquake4 ,all the descendants of the wood-and-resin pair perished1 with a few exceptions1 who became monkeys of the forest4 ,finally1 out of white and yellow maize1 the gods produced four perfect men3 ,balam-,quitze1 the smiling jaguar2 ,balam-agab1 the jaguar of the night2 ,mahuentah1 the distinguished name2 and ,igi-,balam1 the jaguar of the moon4 ,they were tall and strong2 saw and knew everything1 and rendered thanks to the gods4 ,but the latter were alarmed at this their final success1 and feared for their supremacy3 accordingly1 they threw a light veil1 like a mist1 over the vision of the four men1 which became like that of the men of to-day4 ,while they slept the gods created for them four wives of great beauty1 and from three of these pairs the ,quiches were born--,igi-,balam and his wife ,cakixaha having no children4 ,this series of awkward attempts at creation is sufficiently removed from the ,biblical narrative to do away with any suspicion of ,christian missionary influence over this indigenous quadrennial legend1 where1 as usual1 we find the belief in the destruction of primal mankind by a great flood4 ,we meet with it in ,nicaragua as well4 ,oviedo relates that ,pedsarias ,davila1 governor of the province in #aech1 charged ,f4 ,bobadilla1 of the ,order of ,st4 ,dominic1 to inquire into the spiritual condition of those ,indians whom his predecessors boasted of having converted in great numbers to ,catholicism1 which he1 ,davila1 with good reason1 doubted4 ,the monk accordingly examined the natives1 and ,oviedo has transmitted several dialogues which show us the creed of the ,nicaraguans a few years after the ,spanish conquest4 ,the following bears directly on our subject3-- ,question by ,bobadilla4 ,who has created heaven and earth1 the stars and moon1 man and all else8 ,answer 7by the ,cacique ,avogoaltegoan74 ,tamagastad and ,cippatoval1 the one is a man1 the other a woman4 ,q4 ,who created that man and woman8 ,a4 ,no one4 ,on the contrary1 all men and women descend from them4 ,q4 ,did they create ,christians8 ,a4 ,i do not know1 but the ,indians descend from ,tamagastad and ,cippatoval4 ,q4 ,are there any gods greater than they8 ,a4 ,no2 we believe them to be the greatest4 99 99 99 99 99 ,q4 ,are they gods of flesh or wood1 or any other substance8 ,a4 ,they are of flesh2 they are man and woman1 brown in colour like us ,indians4 ,they walked on earth dressed like us1 and ate what ,indians eat4 ,q4 ,who gave them to eat8 ,a4 ,everything belongs to them4 ,q4 ,where are they now8 ,a4 ,in heaven1 according to what our ancestors have told us4 ,q4 ,how did they ascend thither8 ,a4 ,i only know that it is their home4 ,i do not know how they were born1 for they have no father nor mother4 ,q4 ,how do they live at present8 ,a4 ,they eat what ,indians eat1 for maize and all food proceeds from the place where dwell the teotes 7gods74 ,q4 ,do you know1 or have you heard tell1 whether since the teotes created the world it has been destroyed8 ,a4 ,before the present race existed1 the world was destroyed by water and all became sea4 ,q4 ,how did that man and woman escape8 ,a4 ,they were in heaven1 for that was their dwelling1 and afterwards they came down to earth and re-made all things as they now are1 and we are their issue4 ,q4 ,you say the whole world was destroyed by water4 ,did not some individuals save themselves in a canoe1 or by some other way8 ,a4 ,no4 ,all the world was drowned1 according to what my ancestors told me4 ,the great god ,tamagastad1 of whom mention is made in this dialogue1 is evidently the same as ,thomagata1 the awful-visaged spirit of fire1 whose cultus was anterior among a portion of the ,muyscas at ,tunga and ,sogamosa to that of ,botchica4 ,this1 therefore1 brings us back to the religious and cosmogonic traditions of the very advanced civilization in the high table-land of ,cundinamarca1 and we are led to recognize in the ,flood-legend of ,botchica a certain echo of the so universally spread tradition of the ,deluge of early ages1 mingled with the memory of a local event1 from which the ancestors of the ,muyscas had suffered at the time of their first settlement4 ,neither must we forget that ,botchica and his wicked spouse1 who brought about the inundation of ,cundinamarca1 are no other than personifications of the sun and moon1 as were the pair ,manco-,capac and ,mama-,oello in the empire of the ,incas4 ,the moon of ,peru is gentle and beneficent1 well observes ,m4 ,girard de ,realle1 she helps her brother and husband in the work of civilization2 on the plateau of ,cundinamarca1 on the contrary1 she is a witch1 a veritable deity of night and of evil1 worthily represented by the lugubrious owl4 ,some have believed themselves to have discovered the ,flood-tradition among the ,peruvians1 but careful criticism disproves this4 ,for it only arises from an unintelligent interpretation of the myth of ,viracocha or ,con1 god of waters1 or more precisely1 the personification of the element1 as shown by the legend which represents him as having no bones1 and yet stretching himself out afar1 lowering the mountains and filling up the valleys in his course4 ,he was the chief god of the ,aymaras1 who1 according to them1 had created the earth2 and who1 issuing from ,lake ,titicaca1 to manifest himself on earth1 had assembled the earliest men at ,tiahuanaco4 ,later1 the official cosmogony of the ,incas led to his undergoing an euhemeristic transformation diminishing his religious importance2 and he is represented as one of the sons of the ,sun1 come upon earth to dwell among and civilize mankind1 a younger brother of ,manco-,capac4 ,now it is under the government of ,viracocha that the ,deluge is placed by the writers of very recent date1 who mention this event1 of which the native tradition was unknown to the ,inca ,garcilaso de la ,vega1 to ,montesinos1 ,balboa1 ,gomara1 ,f4 ,oliva1 and1 in short1 to all authorities of any weight in ,peruvian matters4 ,mac,culloch does indeed quote ,acosta and ,herrera1 but these authors never speak of a ,deluge involving all humanity2 they only say that ,viracocha gave laws to the earliest men at the close of a primordial period anterior to their creation1 when the whole surface of the earth had been under water4 ,numerous legends of the great inundation of earliest times have been found among the savage tribes of ,america4 ,but by their very nature these leave room for doubt4 ,they have not been committed to writing by the natives1 we only know them by intermediaries who may1 in perfectly good faith1 have altered them considerably in an unconscious desire to assimilate them to the ,bible story4 ,besides1 they have been only collected very lately1 when the tribes had been for a long time in contact with ,europeans1 and had often had living among them more than one adventurer who might well have introduced new elements into their traditions4 ,they are therefore very inferior in importance to those we have found existing in ,mexico1 ,guatemala1 and ,nicaragua1 previous to the arrival of the ,spanish conquerors4 ,the most remarkable of them1 as excluding by its very form the idea of ,european communication1 is that of the ,cherokees4 ,it seems a childish version of the ,indian tradition1 only that it is a dog instead of a fish who plays the part of deliverer to the man who escapes the catastrophe2 but this brings us back to a myth special to ,america--that of the transformation of fish into dogs1 as we have seen in the ,flood-story of the ,codex ,chimalpopoca4 ,the dog1 says the legend of the ,cherokees1 never ceased for several days to run up and down the banks of the river1 looking fixedly at the water and howling as in distress4 ,his master was annoyed by his ways and roughly ordered him to go home1 upon which he began speaking and revealed the impending calamity1 ending his prediction by saying that the only way in which his master and his family could escape was by throwing him at once into the water1 for he would become their deliverer by swimming to seek a boat1 but that there was not a moment to lose1 for a terrible rain was at hand which would lead to a general inundation in which everything would perish4 ,the man obeyed his dog1 was saved with his family1 and they repeopled the earth4 ,it is said that the ,tamanakis1 a ,carib tribe on the banks of the ,orinoco1 have a legend of the man and woman who escaped the flood by reaching the summit of ,mount ,tapanacu4 ,there they threw cocoa-nuts behind them1 from which sprung a new race of men and women4 ,if the report be true1 which1 however1 we cannot affirm1 this would be a very singular agreement with one of the distinctive features of the ,greek story of ,deucalion and ,pyrrha4 ,russian explorers have reported a childlike narrative of the flood in the ,aleutian ,islands1 forming the geographical link between ,asia and ,north ,america1 and at the extremity of the north-east of ,america among the ,kolosks4 ,henry the traveller gives the following tradition as current among the ,indians of the ,great ,lakes3-- ,in former times the father of the ,indian tribes dwelt towards the rising sun4 ,having been warned in a dream that a deluge was coming upon the earth1 he built a raft1 on which he saved himself with his family and all the animals4 ,he floated thus for several months4 ,the animals1 who at that time spoke1 loudly complained and murmured against him4 ,at last a new earth appeared1 on which he landed with all the animals1 who from that time lost the power of speech as a punishment for their murmurs against their deliverer4 ,according to ,father ,charlevoix1 the tribes of ,canada and the valley of the ,mississippi relate in their rude legends that all mankind was destroyed by a flood1 and that the good spirit1 to repeople the earth1 had changed animals into men4 ,it is to ,j4 ,s4 ,kohl we owe our acquaintance with the version of the ,chippeways--full of grotesque and perplexing touches--in which the man saved from the deluge is called ,menaboshu4#fe ,to know if the earth be drying he sends a bird1 the diver1 out of his bark2 then becomes the restorer of the human race and the founder of existing society4 ,catlin relates a story1 current among the ,mandans1 of the earth being a great tortoise borne on the waters1 and that when one day1 in digging the soil1 a tribe of white men pierced the shell of the tortoise1 it sank1 and the water covering it drowned all men1 with the exception of one1 who saved himself in a boat2 and when the earth re-emerged1 sent out a dove1 who returned with a branch of willow in its beak4 ,here we have ,noah's dove1 as in the story of ,tezpi and ,menaboshu we have other birds substituted for it4 ,but the native originality of this detail1 as of the whole diluvian tradition among the ,mandans1 may well be doubted when we remember that the physical peculiarities of this curious tribe on the banks of the ,missouri led ,catlin to consider it of mixed blood1 and partly white origin4 ,in the songs of the inhabitants of ,new ,california allusion was made to a very remote period when the sea left its bed and covered the earth4 ,the whole race of men and animals perished in this deluge1 sent by the supreme god ,chinigchinig1 with the exception of a few who had taken refuge on a high mountain which the water failed to reach4 ,the ,commissioners of the ,united ,states who explored ,new ,mexico before its annexation1 tell of the existence of a similar tradition among the different native tribes of that vast territory4 ,other travellers give us kindred narratives1 more or less strikingly resembling the ,bible record4 ,but for the most part they are too vaguely reported to be entirely trusted4 ,,vi4 ,polynesian ,traditions4--,in ,oceania even1 and not among the ,pelagian negroes or ,papoos1#ff but the ,polynesian1 racenatives of the archipelago of ,australasia1 the diluvian tradition has been traced1 mingled with recollections of sudden rises of the sea1 which are one of the most frequent scourges of those islands4 ,the most noted is that of ,tahiti1 which has been specially referred to the primeval tradition4 ,here it is as given by ,m4 ,gaussin1#fg who has published a translation of it1 as well as the ,tahitian text1 written by a native named ,mare3-- ,two men had gone out to sea to fish with the line1 ,roo and ,teahoroa by name4 ,they threw their hooks into the sea1 which caught in the hair of the god ,ruahatu4 ,they exclaimed1 ',a fish6' ,they drew up the line and saw that it was a man they had caught4 ,at sight of the god they bounded to the other end of their bark1 and were half dead with fear4 ,ruahatu asked them1 ',what is this8' ,the two fishermen replied1 ',we came to fish1 and we did not know that our hooks would catch thee4' ,the god then said1 ',unfasten my hair2' and they did so4 ,then ,ruahatu asked1 ',what are your names8' ,they replied1 ',roo and ,teahoroa4' ,ruahatu next said1 ',return to the shore1 and tell men that the earth will be covered with water1 and all the world will perish4 ,to-morrow morning repair to the islet called ,toa-marama2 it will be a place of safety for you and your children4' ,ruahatu caused the sea to cover the lands4 ,all were covered1 and all men perished except ,roo1 ,teahoroa1 and their families4 ,this story1 like all in this part of the world currently referred to the memory of the ,deluge1 has assumed the childish character peculiar to ,polynesian legends1 and moreover1 as ,m4 ,maury justly observes1 it may be naturally explained by the recollection of one of those tidal waves so common in ,polynesia4 ,the most essential feature of all traditions properly called diluvian is wanting here4 ,the island1 observes ,m4 ,maury1 has no resemblance to the ,ark4#fh ,it is true that one of the versions of the ,tahitian legend states that the two fishermen repaired to ,toa-marama1 not only with their families1 but with a pig1 a dog1 and a couple of fowls1 which recalls the entry of the animals into the ,ark4 ,on the other hand1 some details of a similar story among the ,fijis1 especially one in which1 for many years after the event1 canoes were kept ready in case of its repetition1 far better fit a local phenomenon1 a tidal wave1 than a universal deluge4 ,however1 if all these legends were exclusively related to local catastrophes1 it would be strange that they should appear and be almost similar in a certain number of localities at a great distance from each other1 and only where the ,polynesian race has taken root1 or left indubitable traces of its passage2--this race1 indigenous in the ,malay ,archipelago1 not having migrated thence till about the fourth century of the ,christian era--i4e41 at a time when1 in consequence of the communication between ,india and a portion of ,malaysia1#fi the ,flood-tradition under its ,indian form might well have entered in4 ,without1 therefore1 deciding the question one way or other1 we do not think that that opinion can absolutely be condemned which finds in these ,polynesian legends an echo of the tradition of the ,deluge1 much weakened1 much changed1 and more inextricably confused than anywhere else with local disasters of recent date4 ,the result1 then1 of this long review authorizes us to affirm the story of the ,deluge to be a universal tradition among all branches of the human race1 with the one exception1 however1 of the black4 ,now a recollection thus precise and concordant cannot be a myth voluntarily invented4 ,no religious or cosmogonic myth presents this character of universality4 ,it must arise from the reminiscence of a real and terrible event1 so powerfully impressing the imagination of the first ancestors of our race1 as never to have been forgotten by their descendants4 ,this cataclysm must have occurred near the first cradle of mankind1 and before the dispersion of the families from which the principal races were to spring2 for it would be at once improbable and uncritical to admit that at as many different points of the globe as we should have to assume in order to explain the wide spread of these traditions--local phenomena so exactly alike should have occurred1 their memory having assumed an identical form1 and presenting circumstances that need not necessarily have occurred to the mind in such cases4 ,let us observe1 however1 that probably the diluvian tradition is not primitive but imported in ,america2 that it undoubtedly wears the aspect of an importation among the rare populations of the yellow race where it is found2 and lastly1 that it is doubtful among the ,polynesians of ,oceania4 ,there will still remain three great races to which it is undoubtedly peculiar1 who have not borrowed it from each other1 but among whom the tradition is primitive1 and goes back to the most ancient times2 and these three races are precisely the only ones of which the ,bible speaks as being descended from ,noah1 those of which it gives the ethnic filiation in the tenth chapter of ,genesis4 ,this observation1 which ,i hold to be undeniable1 attaches a singularly historic and exact value to the tradition as recorded by the ,sacred ,book1 even if1 on the other hand1 it may lead to giving it a more limited geographical and ethnological significance4 ,in another paper ,i propose to inquire whether1 in the conception of the inspired writers1 the ,deluge really was universal1 in the sense customarily supposed4 ,but as the case now stands1 we do not hesitate to declare that1 far from being a myth1 the ,biblical ,deluge is a real and historical fact1 having1 to say the least1 left its impress on the ancestors of three races--,aryan or ,indo-,european1 ,semitic or ,syro-,arabian1 ,chamitic or ,kushite--that is to say1 on the three great civilized races of the ancient world1 those which constitute the higher humanity--before the ancestors of those races had as yet separated1 and in the part of ,asia they together inhabited4 ,,francois ,,lenormant4 ,,footnotes3 #ca ,the date of the termination of the works undertaken by ,yu1 in order to repair the damage done by this flood1 lies between #bbgh and #bjfb ,b4,c4 according to the chronological system adopted4 #cb ,this work of ,berosus was already out of existence in the fourth century of our era1 when ,eusebius of ,cesarea1 to whom we owe such fragments as we possess1 wrote4 ,only two abridgments remained1 due to later polygraphers1 ,abydenus and ,alexander ,polybistor4 ,eusebius gives the version of each editor1 the one ,i quote is that of ,alexander4 #cc ,abydenus says1 all that composed the scriptures4 #cd ,he is provisionally called ,izdhubar or ,ghirdhubar1 transcribing for want of a more certain method1 according to their phonetic value1 the characters composing the ideographic spelling of his name4 #ce ,the text is published in ,cuneiform ,inscriptions of ,western ,asia1 vol4 iv4 pp4 #ej and #ea4 ,the two principal translations hitherto given are those of ,george ,smith and ,m4 ,oppert4 ,the one we now offer contains a large share of personal work4 ,we avail ourselves of the labours of our illustrious precursors1 but believe that we have also added some important steps towards a precise understanding of the text4 #cf ,here several verses are wanting4 #cg ,the water of the twilight at break of day1 one of the personifications of rain4 #ch ,the god of thunder4 #ci ,the god of war and death4 #dj ,the ,chaldeo-,assyrian ,hercules4 #da ,the superior heaven of the fixed stars4 #db ,vases of the measure called in ,hebrew ,seah4 ,this relates to a detail of the ritualistic prescriptions for sacrifice4 #dc ,these metaphorical expressions appear to designate the rainbow4 #dd ,the god of epidemics4 #de ,studien zur ,kritik und ,erklarung der ,biblischen ,urgeschichte1 p4 #aej4 #df ,oannes and ,euahanes belong to an ,accadian form3 ,ea-,khan1 ,ea the fish2 ,oes to the simple ,ea1 as the ,aos of ,damascus4 #dg ,vendidad1 ii4 #df4 #dh ,chapter vii4 #di ,see especially ,yesht viii41 #ac ,vendidad1 xix4 #ace4 #ej ,it is in virtue of this assimilation that ,plutarch 7,de ,solert anim4 #ac7 speaks of the dove sent out by ,deucalion to see if the ,deluge had ceased1 a circumstance mentioned by no other ,greek mythographer4 #ea ,myvyrian ,archaeology of ,wales1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ej1 triad #ac4 #eb ,ibid4 p4 #ga1 triad #ig4 #ec ,vafthrudnismal1 st4 #bi4 #ed ,hanwsch1 ,slawischer ,mythus1 p4 #bcd4 #ee ,transactions of the ,society of ,biblical ,archaeology1 vol4 iv4 pp4 #a-ai4 #ef ,personification of the primordial abyss4 #eg ,nevertheless1 the ,deluge holds an important place among the cosmogonic traditions--decidedly original in character--which ,reguly has found among the ,voguls4 ,we also hear of a diluvian story among the ,eulets or ,kalmuks1 where it seems to have come in with ,buddhism4 #eh ,we must1 however1 observe that ,buddhist missionaries appear to have introduced the diluvian tradition of ,judea into ,china4 ,gutzlaff1 ,on ,buddhism in ,china1 in the ,journal of the ,royal ,asiatic ,society 7#ast series1 vol4 xii4 p4 #gh71 affirms that he saw its principal episode represented in a very fine painting of a temple to the goddess ,kivan-yin4 #ei ,recently published1 not recently collected4 ,the date of ,pedro de los ,rios shows this4 #fj ,the ,native ,races of the ,pacific ,states1 vol4 iii4 p4 #fh4 #fa ,by a singular alteration of the text it is said that the jaguars were devoured1 instead of they devoured4 #fb ,from the day of the year when the final cataclysm was supposed to have occurred4 #fc ,this designation of the year accords with the system of ,mexican cycles1 containing four groups of years1 each named after some object or animal4 #fd ,essai de commentaire des fragments de ,berose1 p4 #bhc4 #fe ,this name looks like a corruption of that of the ,indian ,manu ,vaivasvata4 #ff ,except in the ,fiji ,islands1 where the ,polynesians have been for some time settled among the ,melanians1 and have only been destroyed by these after having infused into the population an element sufficiently marked to render the ,fijis a mixed rather than a purely black race4 #fg ,gaussin3 ,du ,dialecte de ,tahiti et de la ,langue polynesienne1 p4 #bce4 ,see also ,ellis's ,polynesian ,researches4 #fh ,we may1 however1 observe that in the ,iranian myth of ,yima1 which we have reported above1 a square enclosure 7vara7 miraculously preserved from the deluge1 holds the place of the ,biblical ,ark and of the vessel of ,chaldean tradition4 #fi ,the date of the first establishment of ,indian ,brahmanists in ,java remains uncertain1 but from the end of the second century ,b4,c4 the ,greek ,iambulos 7,diod4 ,sicul4 ii4 #eg7 very exactly described as the way of writing in this island the syllabic system ,kavi1 borrowed from ,india4 ,,suspended ,,animation4 ,some time since an article appeared in the ,times1 quoted from the ,brisbane ,courier 7an ,australian paper of good credit71 stating that one ,signor ,rotura had devised a plan by which animals might be congealed for weeks or months without being actually deprived of life1 so that they might be shipped from ,australia for ,english ports as dead meat1 yet on their arrival here be restored to full life and activity4 ,many regarded this account as intended to be received seriously1 though a few days later an article appeared1 the opening words of which implied that only persons from north of the ,tweed should have taken the article au grand serieux4 ,of course it was a hoax2 but it is worthy of notice that the editor of the ,brisbane ,courier had really been misled1 as he admitted a few weeks later1 with a candour which did him credit4#gj ,this wonderful discovery1 however1 besides being worth publishing as a joke 7though rather a mischievous one1 as will presently be shown71 did good service also by eliciting from a distinguished physician certain statements respecting the possibility of suspending animation1 which otherwise might have remained for some time unpublished4 ,i propose here to consider these statements1 and the strange possibilities which some of them seem to suggest4 ,in the first place1 however1 it may be worth while to recall the chief statements in the clever ,australian story1 as some of ,dr4 ,richardson's statements refer specially to that narrative4 ,i shall take the opportunity of indicating certain curious features of resemblance between the ,australian story1 which really had its origin in ,america 7,i am assured that it was published a year earlier in a ,new ,york paper71 and an ,american hoax which acquired a wide celebrity some forty years ago1 the so-called ,lunar ,hoax4 ,as it is certain that the two stories came from different persons1 the resemblance referred to seems to suggest that the special mental qualities 7defects1 bien entendu7 which cause some to take delight in such inventions1 are commonly associated with a characteristic style of writing4 ,if ,buffon was right1 indeed1 in saying1 ,le style c'est de l'homme meme1 we can readily understand that clever hoaxers should thus have a style peculiar to themselves4 ,it can hardly be considered essential to the right comprehension of scientific experiments that a picturesque account should be given of the place where the experiments were made4 ,the history of the wonderful ,australian discovery opens nevertheless as follows3--,many of the readers of the ,brisbane ,courier who know ,sydney ,harbour will remember the long inlet opposite the heads known as ,middle ,harbour1 which1 in a succession of land-locked reaches1 stretches away like a chain of lakes for over twenty miles4 ,on one of these reaches1 made more than ordinarily picturesque by the bold headlands that drop almost sheer into the water1 stand1 on about an acre of grassy flat1 fringed by white beach on which the clear waters of the harbour lap1 two low brick buildings4 ,here1 in perfect seclusion1 and with a careful avoidance of publicity1 is being conducted an experiment1 the success of which1 now established beyond any doubt1 must have a wider effect upon the future prosperity of ,australia than any project ever contemplated4 ,it was precisely in this tone that the author of the ,lunar ,hoax#ga opened his account of those recent discoveries in astronomy which will build an imperishable monument to the age in which we live1 and confer upon the present generation of the human race a proud distinction through all future time4 ,it has been poetically said1 he remarks--though probably he would have found some difficulty in saying where or by whom this had been said1--that the stars of heaven are the hereditary regalia of man1 as the intellectual sovereign of the animal creation2 he may now fold the zodiac around him with a loftier consciousness of his mental supremacy 7a sublime idea1 irresistibly suggestive of the description which an ,american humourist gave of a certain actor's representation of the death of ,richard ,,iii41 he wrapped the star-spangled banner round him1 and died like the son of a hoss74 ,it next becomes necessary to describe the persons engaged in pursuing the experiments by which the art of freezing animals alive is to be attained4 ,the gentlemen engaged in this enterprise are ,signor ,rotura1 whose researches into the botany and natural history of ,south ,america have rendered his name eminent2 and ,mr4 ,james ,grant1 a pupil of the late ,mr4 ,nicolle1 so long associated with ,mr4 ,thomas ,mort in his freezing process4 ,next to the late ,mr4 ,nicolle1 ,mr4 ,james ,grant can claim pre-eminence of knowledge in the science of generating cold1 and his freezing chamber at ,woolhara has long been known as the seat of valuable experiments originated in his1 ,mr4 ,nicolle's1 lifetime4 ,is it merely an accident1 by the way1 or is it due to the circumstance that exceptional powers of invention in general matters are often found in company with singular poverty of invention as to details1 that two of the names here mentioned closely resemble names connected with the ,lunar ,hoax8 ,it was ,nicollet who in reality devised the ,lunar ,hoax1 though ,richard ,alton ,locke1 the reputed author1 probably gave to the story its final form2 and1 again1 the story purported to come from ,dr4 ,grant1 of ,glasgow4 ,in the earlier narrative1 again1 as in the later1 due care was taken to impress readers with the belief that those who had made the discovery1 or taken part in the work1 were worthy of all confidence4 ,sir ,w4 ,herschel was the inventor of the optical device by which the inhabitants of the moon were to be rendered visible1 a plan which evinced the most profound research in optical science1 and the most dexterous ingenuity in mechanical contrivance4 ,but his son1 ,sir ,john ,herschel1 nursed and cradled in the observatory1 and a practical astronomer from his boyhood1 determined upon testing it at whatever cost4 ,among his companions he had ,dr4 ,andrew ,grant1 ,lieutenant ,drummond of the ,royal ,engineers1 and a large party of the best ,english mechanics4 ,the accounts of preliminary researches1 doubts1 and difficulties are in both cases very similar in tone4 ,it appears that five months ago1 says the narrator of the ,australian hoax1 ,signor ,rotura called upon ,mr4 ,grant to invoke his assistance in a scheme for the transmission of live stock to ,europe4 ,signor ,rotura averred that he had discovered a ,south ,american vegetable poison1 allied to the well-known woolara 7sic7 that had the power of perfectly suspending animation1 and that the trance thus produced continued until the application of another vegetable essence caused the blood to resume its circulation and the heart its functions4 ,so perfect1 moreover1 was this suspension of life that ,signor ,rotura had found in a warm climate decomposition set in at the extremities after a week of this living death1 and he imagined that if the body in this inert state were reduced to a temperature sufficiently low to arrest decomposition1 the trance might be kept up for months1 possibly for years4 ,he frankly owned that he had never tried this preserving of the tissues by cold1 and could not confidently speak as to its effect upon the after-restoration of the animal operated on4 ,before he left ,mr4 ,grant he had turned that gentleman's doubts into wondering curiosity by experimenting on his dog4 ,the account of this experiment ,i defer for a moment till ,i have shown how closely in several respects this portion of the ,australian hoax resembles the corresponding part of the ,american story4 ,it will be observed that the great discovery is presented as simply a very surprising development of a process which is strictly within the limits1 not only of what is possible1 but of what is known4 ,so also in the case of the ,lunar ,hoax1 the amazing magnifying power by which living creatures in the moon were said to have been rendered visible1 was presented as simply a very remarkable development of the familiar properties of the telescope4 ,in both cases1 the circumstances which in reality limit the possible extension of the properties in question were kept conveniently concealed from view4 ,in both cases1 doubts and difficulties were urged with an apparent frankness intended to disarm suspicion4 ,in both cases1 also1 the inventor of the new method by which difficulties were to be overcome is represented as in conference with a man of nearly equal skill1 who urges the doubts naturally suggested by the wonderful nature of the promised achievements4 ,in the ,lunar ,hoax1 ,sir ,john ,herschel and ,sir ,david ,brewster are thus represented in conference4 ,herschel asks whether the difficulty arising from deficient illumination may not be overcome by effecting a transfusion of artificial light through the focal image4 ,brewster1 startled at the novel thought1 as he well might be1 hesitatingly refers to the refrangibility of rays and the angle of incidence1 which is effective though glorious in its absurdity4 7,yet it has been gravely asserted that this nonsense deceived ,arago47 ,sir ,john1 grown more confident1 adduced the example of the ,newtonian reflector1 in which the refrangibility was arrested by the second speculum and the angle of incidence restored by the third 7a bewilderingly ridiculous statement74 ',and1' continued he1 'why cannot the illuminated microscope1 say the hydro-oxygen1 be applied to render distinct1 and if necessary even to magnify1 the focal object8' ,sir ,david sprang from his chair in an ecstasy of conviction1 and leaping half-way to the ceiling 7from which we may infer that he was somewhat more than tete montee71 exclaimed1 ',thou art the man6' ,the method devised in each case being once accepted as sound1 the rest of course readily follows4 ,in the case of the ,lunar ,hoax a number of discoveries are made which need not here be described#gb 7though ,i shall take occasion presently to quote some passages relating to them which closely resemble in style certain passages in the ,australian narrative74 ,in the later hoax1 the illustrative experiments are forthwith introduced4 ,signor ,rotura1 having so far persuaded ,mr4 ,grant of the validity of the plan as to induce him to allow a favourite dog to be experimented upon1 injected two drops of his liquid1 mixed with a little glycerine1 into a small puncture made in the dog's ear4 ,in three or four minutes the animal was perfectly rigid1 the four legs stretched backward1 eyes wide open1 pupils very much dilated1 and exhibiting symptoms very similar to those caused by strychnine1 except that there had been no previous struggle or pain4 ,begging his owner to have no apprehension for the life of his favourite animal1 ,signor ,rotura lifted the dog carefully and placed him on a shelf in a cupboard1 where he begged he might be left till the following day1 when he promised to call at ten o'clock and revive the apparently dead brute4 ,mr4 ,grant continually during that day and night visited the cupboard1 and so perfectly was life suspended in his favourite--no motion of the pulse or heart giving any indication of the possibility of revival--that he confesses he felt all the sharpest reproaches of remorse at having sacrificed a faithful friend to a doubtful and dangerous experiment4 ,the temperature of the body1 too1 in the first four hours gradually lowered to #be degrees ,fahrenheit below ordinary blood temperature1 which increased his fears as to the result2 and by morning the body was as cold as in natural death4 ,at ten o'clock next morning1 according to promise1 ,signor ,rotura presented himself1 and laughing at ,mr4 ,grant's fears1 requested a tub of warm water to be brought4 ,he tested this with the thermometer at #cb degrees ,fahrenheit 7which1 being the temperature of freezing water1 can hardly be called warm71 and in this laid the dog1 head under4 ,in reply to ,mr4 ,grant's objections ,signor ,rotura assured him that1 as animation must remain entirely suspended until the administration of the antidote1 no water could be drawn into the lungs1 and that the immersion of the body was simply to bring it again to a blood-heat4 ,after about ten minutes of this bath the body was taken out1 and another liquid injected in a puncture made in the neck4 ,mr4 ,grant tells me1 proceeds the veracious narrator1 that the revival of ,turk was the most startling thing he ever witnessed2 and having since seen the experiment made upon a sheep1 ,i can fully confirm his statement4 ,the dog first showed the return of life in the eye 7winking1 doubtless1 at the joke71 and after five and a half minutes he drew a long breath1 and the rigidity left his limbs4 ,in a few minutes more he commenced gently wagging his tail1 and then slowly got up1 stretched himself1 and trotted off as though nothing had happened4 ,from this moment ,mr4 ,grant had full faith in ,signor ,rotura's discovery1 and promised him all the assistance in his power4 ,they next determined to try freezing the body4 ,but the first two experiments were not encouraging4 ,mr4 ,grant fortunately did not allow his favourite dog to be experimented upon further1 so a strange dog was put into the freezing room at ,mr4 ,grant's works for four days1 after having in the first place had his animation suspended by ,signor ,rotura4 ,although this animal survived so far as to draw a long breath1 the vital energies appeared too exhausted for a complete rally1 and the animal died4 ,so also did the next two animals experimented on1 a cat and a dog4 ,in the meantime1 however1 ,dr4 ,barker had been taken into their counsels1 and at his suggestion respiration was encouraged1 as in the case of persons drowned1 by artificial compression and expansion of the lungs4 ,dr4 ,barker was of opinion that1 as the heart in every case began to beat1 it was a want of vital force to set the lungs in proper motion that caused death4 ,the result showed his surmises to be entirely correct4 ,a number of animals whose lives had been sealed up in this artificial death have been kept in the freezing chamber from one to five weeks1 and it is found that though the shock to the system from this freezing is very great1 it is not increased by duration of time4 ,i need not follow the hoaxer's account of the buildings erected for the further prosecution of these researches4 ,one point1 however1 may be mentioned illustrating the resemblance to which ,i have already referred as existing between this ,australian narrative and the ,lunar ,hoax4 ,in describing the works erected at ,middle ,harbour1 the ,australian account carefully notes that the necessary funds were provided by ,mr4 ,christopher ,newton1 of ,pitt ,street4 ,in like manner1 in the ,lunar ,hoax we are told that the plate-glass required for the optical arrangement devised by ,sir ,j4 ,herschel was obtained1 by consent be it observed1 from the shop-window of ,m4 ,desanges1 the jeweller to his ex-majesty ,charles ,x41 in ,high ,street4 ,now comes the culminating experiment1 the circumstances of which are the more worthy of being carefully noted1 because it is distinctly stated by ,dr4 ,richardson that none of the experiments described in this narrative1 apocryphal though they may really be1 can be regarded as beyond the range of scientific possibilities3--,arrived at the works in ,middle ,harbour1 ,i was taken into the building that contains ,mr4 ,grant's apparatus for generating cold4444 ,attached to this is the freezing chamber1 a small1 dark room1 about eight feet by ten4 ,here were fourteen sheep1 four lambs1 and three pigs1 stacked on their sides in a heap1 alive1 which ,mr4 ,grant told me had been in their present position for nineteen days1 and were to remain there for another three months4 ,selecting one of the lambs1 ,signor ,rotura put it on his shoulder1 and carried it outside into the other building1 where a number of shallow cemented tanks were in the floor1 having hot and cold water taps to each tank1 with a thermometer hanging alongside4 ,one of these tanks was quickly filled1 and its temperature tested by the ,signor1 ,i meantime examining with the greatest curiosity and wonder the nineteen-days-dead lamb4 ,the days of miracles truly seem to have come back to us1 and many of those stories discarded as absurdities seem to me less improbable than this fact1 witnessed by myself4 ,there was the lamb1 to all appearance dead1 and as hard almost as a stone1 the only difference perceptible to me between his condition and actual death being the absence of dull glassiness about the eye1 which still retained its brilliant transparency4 ,indeed1 this brilliancy of the eye1 which is heightened by the enlargement of the pupil1 is very striking1 and lends a rather weird appearance to the bodies4 ,the lamb was gently dropped into the warm bath1 and was allowed to remain in it about twenty-three minutes1 its head being raised above the water twice for the introduction of the thermometer into its mouth1 and then it was taken out and placed on its side on the floor1 ,signor ,rotura quickly dividing the wool on its neck1 and inserting the sharp point of a small silver syringe under the skin and injecting the antidote4 ,this was a pale green liquid1 and1 as ,i believe1 a decoction from the root of the ,astracharlis1 found in ,south ,america4 ,the lamb was then turned on its back1 ,signor ,rotura standing across it1 gently compressing its ribs with his knees and hands in such a manner as to imitate their natural depression and expansion during breathing4 ,in ten minutes the animal was struggling to free itself1 and when released skipped out through the door and went gambolling and bleating over the little garden in front4 ,nothing has ever impressed me so entirely with a sense of the marvellous4 ,one is almost tempted to ask1 in the presence of such a discovery1 whether death itself may not ultimately be baffled by scientific investigation4 ,in the ,lunar ,hoax there is a passage resembling in tone the lively account of the lamb's behaviour when released4 ,herds of agile creatures like antelopes were seen in the moon1 abounding in the acclivitous glades of the woods4 ,this beautiful creature afforded us1 says the narrator1 the most exquisite amusement4 ,the mimicry of its movements upon our white-painted canvas was as faithful and luminous as that of animals within a few yards of the camera obscura4 ,frequently1 when attempting to put our fingers upon its beard1 it would suddenly bound away1 as if conscious of our earthly impertinence2 but then others would appear1 whom we could not prevent nibbling the herbage1 say or do to them what we would4 ,and again1 a little further on1 ,we fairly laughed at the recognition of so familiar an acquaintance as a sheep in so distant a land--a good large sheep1 which would not have disgraced the farms of ,leicestershire or the shambles of ,leadenhall ,market2 presently they appeared in great numbers1 and on reducing the lenses we found them in flocks over a great part of the valley4 ,i need not say how desirous we were of finding shepherds to these flocks1 and even a man with blue apron and rolled-up sleeves would have been a welcome sight to us1 if not to the sheep2 but they fed in peace1 lords of their own pastures1 without either protector or destroyer in human shape4 ,not less amusing1 though more gravely written1 is the account of the benefits likely to follow from the use of the wonderful process for freezing animals alive4 ,cargoes of live sheep can be readily sent from ,australia to ,europe4 ,any that cannot be restored to life will still be good meat2 while the rest can be turned to pasture or driven alive to market4 ,with bullocks the case would not be quite so simple1 because of their greater size and weight1 which would render them more difficult to handle with safety4 ,the carcass being rendered brittle by freezing1 they are so much the more liable to injury4 ,it sounded odd to hear ,mr4 ,grant and ,signor ,rotura laying stress upon the danger of breakage in a long voyage4 ,this one can readily imagine4 ,some of the remoter consequences of the discovery are touched on by the narrator1 though but lightly1 as if he saw the necessity of keeping his wonders within reasonable limits4 ,signor ,rotura1 though he had never attempted his experiment on a human being1 which was considerate on his part1 had no doubt at all as to its perfect safety4 ,he had requested ,sir ,henry ,parkes to allow him to operate on the next felon under capital sentence4 ,this1 by the way1 was a compromising statement on our hoaxer's part4 ,it requires very little acquaintance with our laws to know that no one could allow a felon condemned to death to be experimented on in this or in any other manner4 ,such a man is condemned to die1 and to die without any preliminary tortures1 bodily or mental1 other than those inseparable from the legally adopted method of bringing death about4 ,he can neither be allowed to remain alive after an experiment1 and necessarily free 7because he has not been condemned to other punishment than the death penalty71 nor can he be first experimented upon and then hanged4 ,so that that single sentence in the narrative should have shown every one that it was a hoax1 even if the inherent absurdity of many other parts of the story had not shown this very clearly4 ,as to whether a temporary suspension of the vital faculties would affect the longevity of the patient1 ,signor ,rotura expressed himself somewhat doubtful2 he believed1 however1 that the duration of life might in this way be prolonged for years4 ,i was anxious1 says the hoaxer1 to know if a period of1 say1 five years of this inertness were submitted to1 whether it would be so much cut out of one's life1 or if it would be simply five years of unconscious existence tacked on to one's sentient life4 ,signor ,rotura could give no positive answer1 but he believes1 as no change takes place or can take place while this frozen trance continues1 no consumption1 destruction1 or reparation of tissue being possible1 it would be so many unvalued and profitless years added to a lifetime4 ,of some of the strange ideas suggested by this conception ,i shall take occasion to speak further on2 ,i must for the present turn1 however1 from the consideration of this ingenious hoax to discuss the scientific possibilities which underlie the narrative1 or at least some parts of the narrative4 ,in the first place1 it must be noticed that in the phenomena of hibernation we have what at a first view seems closely to resemble the results of ,signor ,rotura's apocryphal experiments4 ,as was remarked in the ,times1 the idea underlying the ,australian story is that the hibernation of animals can be artificially imitated and extended1 so that as certain animals lie in a state of torpor and insensibility throughout the winter months1 all animals also may perhaps be caused to lie in such a state for an indefinite length of time1 if only a suitable degree of cold is maintained1 and some special contrivance adopted to prevent insensibility from passing into death4 ,the phenomena of hibernation are indeed so surprising1 when rightly understood1 that inexperienced persons might well believe in almost any wonders resulting from the artificial production 7which1 be it remembered1 is altogether possible7 of the hibernating condition1 and the artificial extension of this condition to other animals than those which at present hibernate1 and to long periods of time4 ,it has been justly said1 that if hibernation had only been noticed among cold-blooded animals1 its possibility in the case of mammals would have seemed inconceivable4 ,the first news that the bat and hedgehog pass into the state of complete hibernation1 would probably have bean received as either a daring hoax or a very gross blunder4 ,let us consider what hibernation really is4 ,when1 as winter approaches and their insect food disappears1 the bat and the hedgehog resign themselves to torpor1 the processes which we are in the habit of associating with vitality gradually diminish in activity4 ,the breathing becomes slower and slower1 the heart beats more and more slowly1 more and more feebly4 ,at last the breathing ceases altogether4 ,the circulation does not wholly cease1 however4 ,so far as is known1 the life of warm-blooded animals cannot continue after the circulation has entirely ceased for more than a certain not very considerable length of time4#gc ,the chemical changes on which animal heat depends1 and without which there can be no active vitality1 cease with the cessation of respiration4 ,but dormant vitality is still maintained in hibernation1 because the heart's fibre1 excited to contract by the carbonized blood1 continues to propel the blood through the torpid body4 ,this slow circulation of venous blood continues during the whole period of hibernation4 ,it is the only vital process which can be recognised2 and it is not easy to understand how the life of any warm-blooded animal can be maintained in this way4 ,the explanation usually offered is that the material conveyed by the absorbents suffices to counterbalance the process of waste occasioned by the slow circulation4 ,but this does not in reality touch the chief difficulty presented by the phenomena of hibernation4 ,so far as mere waste is concerned 7as ,i have elsewhere pointed out7 the imagined ,australian process is as effectual as hibernation2 in that process1 of course the circulation would be as completely checked as the respiration2 thus there would be no waste1 and the absorbents 7which would also be absolutely dormant7 would not have to do even that slight amount of work which they accomplish during hibernation4 ,science can only say that the known cases of hibernation among warm-blooded animals show that the vital forces may be reduced much lower without destroying life1 than but for them we should have deemed conceivable4 ,but next let us consider what science has to say as to the artificial suspension of vitality4 ,in ,dr4 ,richardson's paper on this subject there is much which seems almost as surprising as anything in the ,australian story4 ,indeed1 he seems scarcely to have felt assured that that story really was a hoax4 ,the statements1 he says1 which1 under the head of ',a ,wonderful ,discovery1' are copied from the ,brisbane ,courier1 seem greatly to have astonished the reading public4 ,to what extent the statements are true or untrue it is impossible to say4 ,the whole may be a cleverly-written fiction1 and certain of the words and names used seem1 according to some readers1 to suggest that view2 but be this so or not1 ,i wish to indicate that some part at all events of what is stated might be true1 and is certainly within the range of possibility4 ,the discovery1 he proceeds1 which is described in the communication under notice1 is not in principle new2 on the subject of suspension of animation ,i have myself been making experimental inquiries for twenty-five years at least1 and have communicated to the scientific world many essays1 lectures1 and demonstrations1 relating to it4 ,i have twice read papers bearing on this inquiry to the ,royal ,society1 once to the ,british ,association for the ,advancement of ,science1 two or three times in my lectures on ,experimental and ,practical ,medicine1 and published one in ,nature4 ,in respect to the particular point of the preservation of animal bodies for food1 ,i dwelt on this topic in the lectures delivered before the ,society of ,arts1 in ,april and ,may of last year 7#ahgh71 explaining very definitely that the course of research in the direction of preservation must ultimately lead to a process by which we should keep the structures of animals in a form of suspended molecular life4 ,in other words1 ,dr4 ,richardson had indicated the possibility of doing precisely that which would have constituted the chief value of the ,australian discovery1 if this had been real4 ,let us next consider what is known respecting the possibility of suspending a conscious and active life4 ,this is first stated in general terms by ,dr4 ,richardson1 as follows3--,if an animal perfectly free from disease be subjected to the action of some chemical agents or physical agencies which have the property of reducing to the extremest limit the motor forces of the body1 the muscular irritability1 and the nervous stimulus to muscular action1 and if the suspension of the muscular irritability and of the nervous excitation be made at once and equally1 the body even of a warm-blooded animal may be brought down to a condition so closely resembling death1 that the most careful examination may fail to detect any signs of life4 ,this general statement must be carefully studied if the reader desires thoroughly to understand at once the power and the limits of the power of science in this direction4 ,the motor forces1 the muscular irritability1 and the nervous stimulus to muscular action1 can be reduced to a certain extent without destroying life1 but not absolutely without destroying life4 ,the reduction of the muscular irritability must be made at once and equally2 if the muscular irritability is reduced to its lowest limit while the nervous excitation remains unaltered1 or is less reduced1 death ensues2 and vice versa1 if the nervous excitation is reduced to its lowest limits while the muscular irritability remains unaltered1 or is little reduced1 death equally follows4 ,then it is to be noticed that though when the state of seeming death is brought about1 the most careful examination may fail to detect any signs of life1 it does not follow that science may not find perfectly sure means of detecting cases where life still exists but is at its very lowest4 ,of course all the ordinary tests1 in which so many place complete reliance--a mirror placed close to the mouth1 a finger on the pulse1 hand1 or ear applied to the breast#gd over the heart1 and so forth--would be utterly inadequate1 in such a case1 to reveal any signs of life4 ,that doctors have been deceived by cases of suspended vitality not artificially produced1 but presenting similar phenomena1 is well known4 ,a case in point may not be out of place here1 as illustrating well certain features of suspended animation1 and showing the possibility that in some cases consciousness may remain1 even when the most careful examination detects no traces of life4 ,the case is described by ,dr4 ,alexander ,crichton1 in his ,inquiry into the ,nature and ,origin of ,mental ,derangement4 ,a young lady1 who had seemed gradually to sink until she died1 had been placed in her coffin1 careful scrutiny revealing no signs of vitality4 ,on the day appointed for her funeral1 several hymns were sung before her door4 ,she was conscious of all that happened around her1 and heard her friends lamenting her death4 ,she felt them put on the dead-clothes1 and lay her in the coffin1 which produced an indescribable mental anxiety4 ,she tried to cry1 but her mind was without power1 and could not act on the body4 ,it was equally impossible to her to stretch out her arms or to open her eyes or to cry1 although she continually endeavoured to do so4 ,the internal anguish of her mind was1 however1 at its utmost height when the funeral hymns began to be sung and when the lid of the coffin was about to be nailed on4 ,the thought that she was to be buried alive was the first one which gave activity to her mind1 and caused it to operate on her corporeal frame4 ,just as the people were about to nail on the lid1 a kind of perspiration was observed to appear on the surface of the body4 ,it grew greater every moment1 and at last a kind of convulsive motion was observed in the hands and feet of the corpse4 ,a few minutes after1 during which fresh signs of returning life appeared1 she at once opened her eyes1 and uttered a most pitiable shriek4 ,in this case it was considered that the state of trance had been brought about by the excessive contractile action of the nervous centres4 ,st4 ,augustine1 by the way1 remarks in his ,de ,civitate ,dei on the case of a certain priest called ,restitutus 7appropriately enough71 who could when he wished withdraw himself from life in such sort that he did not feel when twitched or stung1 but might even be burned without suffering pain except afterwards from the wound so produced4 ,not only did he not struggle or even move1 but like a dead person he did not breathe1 yet afterwards he said that he could hear the voices of those around him 7if they spoke loudly7 as if from a great distance 7de longinquo74 ,to return1 however1 to ,dr4 ,richardson's discussion of the artificial suspension of active life4 ,he recognises three degrees of muscular irritability1 to which he has given the names of active efficient1 passive efficient1 and negative1--though doubtless he would recognize the probability that the line separating the first from the second may not always be easily traced1 and that1 though there is a most definite distinction between the second and the third1 the actual position of the boundary line has not as yet been determined4 ,in other words1 so far as the first and second states are concerned1 there are not two degrees only1 but many4 ,as regards the third or negative state1 which is only another way of describing death1 there is1 of course1 only one degree1 though the evidence as to the existence of this state may be more or less complete and obvious4 ,dr4 ,richardson defines the active efficient state of muscular irritability as that represented in the ordinary living muscle in which the heart is working at full tension1 and all parts of the body are thoroughly supplied with blood1 with perfection of consciousness in waking hours1 and1 in a word1 full life4 ,the second1 or passive efficient state1 is represented in suspended animation1 in which the heart is working regularly but at low tension1 supplying the muscles and other parts with sufficient blood to maintain the molecular life1 but no more4 ,the third of these states--the negative--is represented when there is no motion whatever of blood through the body1 as in an animal entirely frozen4 ,with the first and third of these states ,i have in reality nothing to do1 unless indeed it could be shown that the third or negative state can be produced without causing death4 ,perhaps in assuming1 as ,i did above1 that this state is identical with the state of the dead1 ,i was1 in fact1 assuming what science has yet to demonstrate4 ,i may at any rate1 however1 say without fear of valid contradiction1 that science has as yet never succeeded in showing that this negative state may be attained even for a moment without death ensuing2 and the probability 7almost amounting to certainty7 is that death and this change of state have in every instance been simultaneous4 ,dr4 ,richardson speaks of the second stage as that in which animation is usually suspended2 but he does not show that the third stage can even possibly be attained without death4 ,the second stage1 or stage of passive efficiency1 closely resembles the third1 but differs from it in that1 under favouring circumstances1 the whole of the phenomena of the active efficient stage may be perfectly resumed1 the heart suddenly enlarging in volume from its filling with blood1 and reanimating the whole organism by the force of its renewed stroke in full tension4 ,so far as we have yet proceeded1 continues ,dr4 ,richardson1 the whole phenomena of restoration from death are accomplished during this stage2 meaning1 it would seem1 that in all instances of restoration the restoration has been from the second1 never from the third stage4 ,to those who are not accustomed to see them they are no doubt very wonderful1 looking like veritable restorations from death4 ,they surprise even medical men the first time they are witnessed by them4 ,he gives an interesting illustration4 ,at a meeting of the ,british ,medical ,association at ,leeds1 a member of the ,association was showing to a large audience the action of nitrous oxide gas1 using a rabbit as the subject of his demonstration4 ,the animal was removed from the narcotizing chamber a little too late1 for it had ceased to breathe1 and it was placed on the table to all appearance dead4 ,at this stage1 he proceeds1 ,i went to the table1 and by use of a small pair of double-acting bellows restored respiration4 ,in about four minutes there was revival of active irritability in the abdominal muscles1 and two minutes later the animal leaped again into life1 as if it had merely been asleep4 ,there was nothing remarkable in the fact2 but it excited1 even in so cultivated an audience as was then present1 the liveliest surprise4 ,but when we learn the condition necessary that a body which has once been reduced to the state of passive efficiency should be restored to active life1 we recognise that even when science has learned how to reduce vitality to a minimum without destroying it1 few will care to risk the process1 either in their own persons or in the case of those dear to them4 ,besides the condition already indicated1 that the muscular irritability and the nervous excitation must be simultaneously and equally reduced1 it is essential that the blood1 the muscular fluid1 and the nervous fluid should all three remain in what ,dr4 ,richardson calls the aqueous condition1 and not become what he calls pectous1 a word which we must understand to bear the same relation to the word solid or crystalline that the word aqueous1 as used by ,dr4 ,richardson1 bears to the word watery4 ,if all three fluids remain in the aqueous condition1 the period during which life may be restored is left undefined4 ,it may be a very long period1 including weeks1 and possibly months1 granting that decomposition of the tissues is not established2 and even after a limited process of decomposition1 there may be renewal of life in cold-blooded animals4 ,but if pectous change begins in any one of the structures ,i have named1 it extends like a crystallization quickly through all the structures1 and thereupon recovery is impossible1 for the change in one of the parts is sufficient to prevent the restoration of all4 ,thus the heart may be beating1 but the blood being pectous it beats in vain2 or the heart may beat and the blood may flow1 but the voluntary muscles being pectous the circulating action is vain2 or the heart may beat1 the blood may flow1 and the muscles may remain in the aqueous condition1 but the nerves being pectous the circulating action is in vain2 or sometimes the heart may come to rest1 and the other parts may remain susceptible1 but the motion of the heart and blood not being present to quicken them into activity1 their life is in vain4 ,add to this1 that the restoration of the motor forces1 of the muscular irritability1 and of the nervous excitation1 must be as simultaneous and as equal as their reduction had been1 and we begin to recognise decided objections to the too frequent suspension of animation1 even when the most perfect artificial means have been devised for bringing about that interesting result4 ,although1 however1 we may not feel encouraged to believe that many will care to have experiments tried on themselves in this direction1 we may still examine with interest the results of experimental research and experience4 ,these agree in showing that there are means by which active life may be suspended1 while at the same time the aqueous condition of the fluids mentioned above 7the blood1 the muscular fluid1 and the nervous fluid1 the two latter of which are for convenience called the colloidal animal fluids1 and are derived from the blood7 is retained4 ,the first and in some respects the most efficient of these means is cold4 ,the blood and the colloidal fluids remain in the aqueous condition when the body is exposed to cold at freezing-point4 ,at this same point all vital acts1 excepting perhaps the motion of the heart 7it is ,dr4 ,richardson1 be it remembered1 who thus uses the significant word perhaps71 may be temporarily arrested in an animal1 and then some animals may continue apparently dead for long intervals of time1 and may yet return to life under conditions favourable to recovery4 ,dr4 ,richardson gives a singular illustration of this1 describing an experiment which must have appeared even more surprising to those who witnessed it than that in which the rabbit was restored to life4 ,in one of my lectures on death from cold1 he says1 which ,i delivered in the winter session of #ahfg1 some fish which during a hard frost had been frozen in a tank at ,newcastle-on-,tyne1 were sent up to me by rail4 ,they were produced in the completely frozen state at the lecture1 and by careful thawing many of them were restored to perfect life4 ,at my ,croomian lecture on muscular irritability after systemic death1 a similar fact was illustrated from frogs4 ,it would appear1 indeed1 that so far as cold-blooded animals are concerned1 there is no recognisable limit to the time during which they may remain thus frozen yet afterwards recover4 ,but1 even in their case1 much skill is required to make the recovery sure4 ,if in thawing them the utmost care is not taken to thaw gradually1 and at a temperature always below the natural temperature of the living animal1 the fluids will pass from the frozen state through the aqueous into the pectous so rapidly that death from pectous change will be pronounced without perceiving any intermediate or life stage at all4 ,naturally it is much more difficult to restore life in the case of warm-blooded animals4 ,indeed1 ,dr4 ,richardson remarks1 that in the case of the more complex and differently shielded organs of warm-blooded animals1 it is next to impossible to thaw equally and simultaneously all the colloidal fluids4 ,in very young animals it can be done4 ,young kittens1 a day or two old1 that have been drowned in ice-cold water1 will recover after two hours' immersion almost to a certainty1 if brought into dry air at a temperature of #ih degrees ,fahrenheit4 ,the gentlest motion of the body will be sufficient to re-start the respiration1 and therewith the life4 ,remarking on such cases as these1 ,dr4 ,richardson notes that the nearest natural approach to the stage of passive efficiency is seen in hibernating animals4 ,he states1 however1 that in hibernation the complete state of passive efficiency is not produced4 ,he does not accept the opinion of those who consider that in true hibernation breathing ceases as above described4 ,a slow respiration continues1 he believes1 as well as that low stage of active efficiency of circulation which we have already indicated4 ,the hibernating animal sleeps only2 and while sleeping it consumes or wastes2 and if the cold be prolonged it may die from waking4 ,more decisive1 because surer1 is the evidence derived from the possibility of waking the hibernating animals by the common methods used for waking a sleeper4 ,this certainly seems to show that animation is not positively suspended4 ,he asks next the question whether an animal like a fish1 frozen equally through all its structures1 is to be regarded as actually dead in the strict sense of the word or not1 seeing that if it be uniformly and equally thawed it may recover from this perfectly frozen state4 ,in like manner1 he says1 it may be doubted whether a healthy warm-blooded animal suddenly and equally frozen through all its parts is dead1 although it is not recoverable4 ,if1 as seems certainly to be the case1 the animal dies because in the very act of trying to restore it some inequality in the process is almost sure to determine a fatal issue1 some vital centre passing into the pectous state1 the animal could not have been dead before restoration was attempted2 for the dead cannot die again4 ,albeit1 the outlook is not encouraging1 at any rate so far as the use of cold alone for maintaining suspended animation in full-grown warm-blooded animals is concerned4 ,cold will1 however1 for a long time maintain ready for motion active organs locally subject to it ,even after death this effect of cold may be locally demonstrated1 ,dr4 ,richardson tells us1 and has sometimes been so demonstrated to the wonder of the world4 ,for instance1 on ,january #ag1 in the year #ahjc1 ,aldini1 the nephew of ,galvani1 created the greatest astonishment in ,london by a series of experiments which he conducted on a malefactor1 twenty-six years old1 named ,john ,forster1 who was executed at ,newgate1 and whose body1 an hour after execution1 was delivered over to ,mr4 ,keate1 ,master of the ,college of ,surgeons1 for research4 ,the body had been exposed for an hour to an atmosphere two degrees below freezing-point1#ge and from that cause1 though ,aldini does not seem to have recognised the fact1 the voluntary muscles retained their irritability to such a degree that when ,aldini began to pass voltaic currents through the body1 some of the bystanders seem to have concluded that the unfortunate malefactor had come again to life4 ,it is significant also that ,aldini in his report says that his object was not to produce reanimation1 but to obtain a practical knowledge how far galvanism might be employed as an auxiliary to revive persons who were accidentally suffocated1 as though he himself were in some doubt1--that is1 not in doubt only about the power of galvanism1 but in doubt whether ,forster had been restored to life for a while1 or not6 ,dr4 ,richardson has himself repeated1 on lower animals1 these experiments of ,aldini's1 except that the animals on which he has experimented have passed into death under chloroform1 not through suffocation4 ,his object1 in fact1 was to determine the best treatment for human beings who sink under chloroform and other anaesthetics4 ,he finds that in warm weather he fails to get the same results4 ,noticing this1 he says1 ,i experimented at and below the freezing-point1 and then found that both by the electrical discharge1 and by injection of water heated to #acj degrees 7again this terrible inexactness of expression7 into the muscles through the arteries1 active muscular movements could be produced in warm-blooded animals many hours after death4 ,thus1 for lecture experiment1 ,i have removed one muscle from the body of an animal that had slept to death from chloroform1 and putting the muscle in a glass tube surrounded with ice and salt1 ,i have kept it for several days in a condition for its making a final muscular contraction1 and1 by gently thawing it1 have made it1 in the act of final contraction1 do some mechanical work1 such as moving a long needle on the face of a dial1 or discharging a pistol4 ,in muscles so removed from the body and preserved ready for motion there is1 however1 only one final act4 ,for as the blood and nervous supply are both cut off from it1 there is nothing left in it but the reserved something that was fixed by the cold4 ,but ,i do not see any reason why this should not be maintained in reservation for weeks or months1 as easily as for days1 in a fixed cold atmosphere4 ,cold being1 however1 obviously insufficient of itself for the suspension of active life in warm-blooded animals1 at least if such life is eventually to be restored1 let us next consider some of the agencies which either alone or aided by cold may suspend without destroying life4 ,the first known of all such agencies was mandragora4 ,dioscorides describes a wine1 called morion1 which was made from the leaves and the root of mandragora1 and possessed properties resembling those of chloral hydrate4 ,that it must have been an effective narcotic is shown by the circumstance that painful operations were performed on patients subjected to its influence1 without their suffering the least pain1 or even feeling4 ,the sleep thus produced lasted several hours4 ,dr4 ,richardson considers that the use of this agent was probably continued until the twelfth or thirteenth century4 ,from the use of it doubtless came1 he says1 the ,shaksperian legend of ,juliet4 ,he strangely omits to notice that ,shakspeare elsewhere speaks of this narcotic by name1 where ,iago says of ,othello3 ,not poppy1 nor mandragora1 ,nor all the drowsy syrups of the world1 ,shall ever med'cine thee to that sweet sleep ,which thou own'dst yesterday4 ,probably the use of mandragora as a narcotic may have continued much later than the thirteenth century4 ,in earlier times it was certainly used as opium is now used1 not for medicinal purposes1 but to produce for a while an agreeable sensation of dreamy drowsiness4 ,there were those1 says ,dr4 ,richardson1 in his interesting article on ,narcotics in the ,,contemporary ,,review for ,july last1 who drank of it for taste or pleasure1 and who were spoken of as 'mandragorites1' as we might speak of 'alcoholists' or 'chloralists4' ,they passed into the land of sleep and dream1 and waking up in scare and alarm were the screaming mandrakes of an ancient civilization4 ,he has himself made the morion of the ancients1 dispensing the prescription of ,dioscorides and ,pliny4 ,the same chemist1 ,mr4 ,hanbury1 he says1 who first put chloral into my hands for experiment1 also procured for me the root of the true mandragora4 ,from that root ,i made the morion1 tested it on myself1 tried its effects1 and re-proved1 after a lapse perhaps of four or five centuries1 that it had all the properties originally ascribed to it4 ,the deadly nightshade has similar properties4 7,in fact1 morion was originally made from the ,atropa belladonna1 not from its ally the ,atropa mandragora47 ,in #ahea1 ,dr4 ,richardson attended two children who were poisoned for a time from eating the berries and chewing the leaves of the nightshade1 which they had gathered near ,richmond4 ,they were brought home insensible1 he says1 and they lay in a condition of suspended life for seven hours1 the greatest care being required to detect either the respiration or the movements of the heart2 they nevertheless recovered4 ,with the nitrite of amyl1 ,dr4 ,richardson has suspended the life of a frog for nine days1 yet the creature was then restored to full and vigorous life4 ,he has shown also that the same power of suspension1 though in less degree1 could be produced in warm-blooded animals1 and that the heart of a warm-blooded animal would contract for a period of eighteen hours after apparent death4 ,the action of nitrite of amyl seems to resemble that of cold4 ,in the pleasing language of the doctors1 it prevents the pectous change of colloidal matter1 and so prevents rigor mortis1 coagulation of blood1 and solidification of nervous centres and cords4 ,so long as this change is prevented1 active life can be restored4 ,but when in these experiments the pectous change occurred1 all was over1 and resolution into new forms of matter by putrefaction was the result4 ,from the analogy of some of the symptoms resulting from the use of nitrite of amyl with the symptoms of catalepsy1 ,dr4 ,richardson has ventured to suggest that under some abnormal conditions the human body itself1 in its own chemistry1 may produce an agent which causes the suspended life observed during the cataleptic condition4 ,the suggestion has an interest apart from the question of the possibility of safely suspending animation for considerable periods of time3 it might be possible to detect the nature of the agent thus produced by the chemistry of the human body 7if the theory is correct71 and thus to learn how its power might be counteracted4 ,chloral hydrate seems singularly efficient in producing the semblance of death1--so completely1 indeed1 as to deceive even the elect4 ,dr4 ,richardson states that at the meeting of the ,british ,association at ,exeter1 some pigeons which had been put to sleep by the needle injection of a large dose of chloral1 fell into such complete resemblance of death that they passed for dead among an audience containing many physiologists and other men of science4 ,for my own part1 he proceeds1 ,i could detect no sign of life in them1 and they were laid in one of the out-offices of the museum of the infirmary as dead4 ,in this condition they were left late at night1 but in the following morning they were found alive1 and as well as if nothing hurtful had happened to them4 ,similar effects seem to be produced by the deadly poisons cyanogen gas and hydrocyanic acid1 though in the following case1 narrated by ,dr4 ,richardson1 the animal experimented upon 7not with the idea of eventually restoring it to life7 belonged to a race so specially tenacious of life that some may consider only one of its proverbial nine lives to have been affected4 ,in the laboratory of a large drug establishment a cat1 by request of its owner1 was killed1 as was assumed1 instantaneously and painlessly by a large dose of ,scheele's acid4 ,the animal appeared to die without a pang1 and1 presenting every appearance of death1 was laid in a sink to be removed on the next morning4 ,at night the animal was lying still in form of death in the tank beneath a tap4 ,in the morning it was found alive and well1 but with the fur wet from the dropping of water from the tap4 ,this fact was communicated to ,dr4 ,richardson by an eminent chemist under whose direct observation it occurred1 in corroboration of an observation of his own similar in character4 ,our old friend alcohol 7if friend it can be called7 possesses the power of suspending active vitality without destroying life1 or at any rate without depriving the muscles of their excitability4 ,dr4 ,richardson records the case of a drunken man who1 while on the ice at the ,welsh ,harp lake1 fell into the water through an opening in the ice1 and was for more than fifteen minutes completely immersed4 ,he was extricated to all appearance dead1 but under artificial respiration was restored to consciousness1 though he did not survive for many hours4 ,on the whole1 alcoholic suspension of life does not appear to be the best method available4 ,to test it1 the patient must first get very1 very drunk1 and even then1 like the soldiers in the old song1 must go on drinking1 lest the experiment should terminate simply in the fiasco of a drunken sleep4 ,the last agent for suspending life referred to by ,dr4 ,richardson is pure oxygen4 ,but he has not yet obtained such information on the power of oxygen in this respect as he hopes to do4 ,summing up the results of the various experiments made with narcotics and other agents for suspending life1 ,dr4 ,richardson remarks that much is already known in the world of science in respect to the suspension of animal life by artificial means3 cold as well as various chemical agents has this power1 and it is worthy of note that cold1 together with the agents named1 is antiseptic1 as though whatever suspended living action1 suspended also by some necessary and correlative influence the process of putrefactive change4 ,he points out that if the news from ,brisbane were reliable1 it would be clear that what had been done had been effected by the combination of one of the chemical agents above named1 or of a similar agent1 with cold4 ,the only question which would remain as of moment is1 not whether a new principle has been developed1 but whether in matter of detail a new product has been discovered which1 better than any of the agents we already possess1 destroys and suspends animation4 ,in organic chemistry1 he proceeds1 there are1 ,i doubt not1 hundreds of substances which1 like mandragora and nitrite of amyl1 would suspend the vital process1 and it may be a new experimenter has met with such an agent4 ,it is not incredible1 indeed1 that the ,indian ,fakirs possess a vegetable extract or essence which possesses the same power1 and by means of which they perform their as yet unexplained feat of prolonged living burial4 ,but he is careful to note the weak points of the ,australian story--viz41 first1 the statement that the method used is a secret1 for men of true science know no such word2 secondly1 that the experimenter has himself to go to ,america to procure more supplies of his agents2 and1 thirdly1 that he requires two agents1 one of which is an antidote to the other4 ,as respects this third point1 he asks very pertinently how an antidote can be absorbed and enter into the circulation in a body practically dead4 ,it is1 of course1 now well known that the whole story was a hoax1 and a mischievous one4 ,several ,australian farmers travelled long distances to ,sydney to make inquiries about a method which promised such important results1 only to find that there was not a particle of truth in the story4 ,,richard ,a4 ,,proctor4 ,,footnotes3 #gj ,many fail to see a joke when it is gravely propounded in print1 who would at once recognise it as such1 were it uttered verbally1 with however serious a countenance4 ,possibly this is due to the necessary absence in the printed account of the indications by which we recognise that a speaker is jesting--as a certain expression of countenance1 or a certain intonation of voice1 by which the grave utterer of a spoken jest conveys his real meaning4 ,in a paper which recently appeared in the ,gentleman's ,magazine1 ,mr4 ,foster 7,thomas of that ilk7 propounded very gravely the theory that our ,nursery ,rhymes have in reality had their origin in ,nature ,myths4 ,he explained1 for instance1 that the rhymes relating to ,little ,jack ,horner were originally descriptive of sunrise in winter3 ,little ,jack is the sun in winter1 the ,christmas pie is the cloud-covered sky2 the thumb represents the sun's first ray piercing through the clouds2 and ,jack's rejoicing means the brightness of full sunlight4 ,so also the rhymes beginning ,hey ,diddle ,diddle are shown to be of deep and solemn import1 all in manifest burlesque of some recent extravagant interpretations of certain ancient stories by ,goldziher1 ,steinthal1 and others4 ,yet this fun was seriously criticized by more than half the critics1 by some approvingly1 by some otherwise4 #ga ,for a full account of this clever hoax the reader is referred to my ,myths and ,marvels of ,astronomy4 #gb ,the most curious are given in the ninth essay of my work referred to in the preceding note4 #gc ,few probably are aware how long some animals may remain without breathing and yet survive4 ,kittens and puppies have been brought to life after being immersed in water for nearly three-quarters of an hour4 #gd ,objection has been taken to the italicized words in the following passage from ,no ,thoroughfare 7one of the parts certainly written by ,dickens and not by ,wilkie ,collins73 ,the cry came up3 ',his heart still beats against mine4 ,i warm him in my arms4 ,i have cast off the rope1 for the ice melts under us1 and the rope would separate me from him2 but ,i am not afraid4' 444 ,the cry came up1 ',we are sinking lower1 but his heart still beats against mine4' 444 ,the cry came up1 ',we are sinking still1 and we are deadly cold4 ,his heart no longer beats against mine4 ,let no one come down to add to our weight4 ,lower the rope only4' 444 ,the cry came up with a deathly silence1 ',raise6 softly6' 444 ,she broke from them all and sank over him on his litter1 with both her loving hands upon the heart that stood still4 ,it has been supposed that ,dickens wilfully departed here from truth1 in order to leave the impression on the reader that ,vendale was assuredly dead4 ,that he wished to convey this impression is obvious4 ,he often showed similar care to remove1 if possible1 all hope from the anxious reader's mind 7markedly so in his latest and unfinished work1 where nevertheless any one well acquainted with ,dickens's manner knows not only that ,drood is alive1 but that disguised as ,datchery he was to have watched ,jasper to the end74 ,but in reality1 it has happened more than once that persons have been restored to life who have been found in snow-drifts not merely reduced to complete insensibility1 but without any recognisable heart-beat4 ,dickens had probably heard of such cases when in ,switzerland4 #ge ,dr4 ,richardson will certainly excite the contempt of the northern professor who rebuked me recently for speaking of heat when ,i should have said temperature4 ,an atmosphere two degrees below freezing-point is an expression as inadmissible1 if we must be punctilious in such matters1 as the expressions blood-heat1 a heat of ten degrees1 and so forth4 ,possibly1 however1 it is not desirable to be punctilious when there is no possibility of being misunderstood1 especially as it may be noticed 7the ,edinburgh professor has often afforded striking illustrations of the fact by errors of his own7 that too great an effort to be punctilious often results in very remarkable incorrectness of expression4 ,,john ,,stuart ,,mill',s ,,philosophy ,,tested4 ,,iv4--,,utilitarianism4 ,in some respects ,mill's ,essays1 published under the title ,utilitarianism1 are among his best writings4 ,they have1 in the first place1 the excellence of brevity4 ,ninety-six pages1 printed in handsome type1 make but a light task for the student who wishes to enter into the intricacies of moral doctrine4 ,moreover1 the last ,essay consists of a digression concerning the nature and origin of the idea of ,justice1 and it occupies nearly one-third of the whole book4 ,thus ,mill managed to compress his discussion of so important a subject as the foundations of ,moral ,right and ,wrong into some sixty pleasant pages4 ,and pleasant pages they certainly are1 for they are written in ,mill's very best style4 ,now ,mill1 even when he is most prolix1 when he is pursuing the intricacies of the most involved points of logic and philosophy1 can seldom or never be charged with dulness and heaviness4 ,his language is too easy1 polished1 and apparently lucid4 ,in these ,essays on ,utilitarianism1 he reaches his own highest standard of style4 ,there is hardly any other book in the range of philosophy1 so far as my reading has gone1 which can be read with less effort4 ,there is something enticing in the easy flow of sentences and ideas1 and without apparent difficulty the reader finds himself agreeably borne into the midst of the most profound questions of ethical philosophy1 questions which have been the battle-ground of the human intellect for two thousand five hundred years4 ,partly to this excellence of style1 partly to ,mill's immense reputation1 acquired by other works and in other ways1 must we attribute the importance which has been generally attached to these ninety-six pages4 ,probably no other modern work of the same small typographical extent has been equally discussed1 criticized1 and admired1 unless1 indeed1 it be the ,essay on ,liberty of the same author4 ,the result is1 that ,mill has been generally regarded as the latest and best expounder of the great ,utilitarian ,doctrine--that doctrine which is1 by one and no doubt the preponderating school1 regarded as the foundation of all moral and legislative progress4 ,many there are who think that1 what ,hume and ,paley and ,jeremy ,bentham began1 ,mill has carried nearly to perfection in these agreeable ,essays4 ,nothing can be more plain1 too1 than that ,mill himself believed he was dutifully expounding the doctrines of his father1 of his father's friend1 the great ,bentham1 and of the other unquestionable ,utilitarians among whom he grew up4 ,mill seems to pride himself upon having been the first1 not indeed to invent1 but to bring into general acceptance the name of the school to which he supposed himself to belong4 ,he says3#gf ,the author of this essay has reason for believing himself to be the first person who brought the word utilitarian into use4 ,he did not invent it1 but adopted it from a passing expression in ,mr4 ,galt's ',annals of the ,parish4' ,after using it as a designation for several years1 he and others abandoned it from a growing dislike to anything resembling a badge or watchword of sectarian distinction4 ,but as a name for one single opinion1 not a set of opinions--to denote the recognition of utility as a standard1 not any particular way of applying it--the term supplies a want in the language1 and offers1 in many cases1 a convenient mode of avoiding tiresome circumlocution4 ,in the ,autobiography 7p4 #gi71 ,mill makes a statement to the same effect1 saying-- ,i did not invent the word1 but found it in one of ,galt's novels1 the ',annals of the ,parish1' in which the ,scotch clergyman1 of whom the book is a supposed autobiography1 is represented as warning his parishioners not to leave the ,gospel and become utilitarians4 ,with a boy's fondness for a name and a banner ,i seized on the word1 and for some years called myself and others by it as a sectarian appellation2 and it came to be occasionally used by some others holding the opinions it was intended to designate4 ,as those opinions attracted more notice1 the term was repeated by strangers and opponents1 and got into rather common use just about the time when those who had originally assumed it1 laid down that along with other sectarian characteristics4 ,it is pointed out1 however1 by ,mr4 ,sidgwick in his article on ,benthamism1#gg that ,bentham himself suggested the name ,utilitarian1 in a letter to ,dumont1 as far back as ,june1 #ahjb4 ,mill explicitly states that it was his purpose in these ,essays on ,utilitarianism to expound a previously received doctrine of utility4 ,towards the close of his first chapter1 containing ,general ,remarks1 he says 7p4 #f73 ,on the present occasion1 ,i shall1 without further discussion of the other theories1 attempt to contribute something towards the understanding and appreciation of the ,utilitarian or ,happiness theory1 and towards such proof as it is susceptible of4 ,he proceeds to explain that a preliminary condition of the rational acceptance or rejection of a doctrine is that its formula should be correctly understood4 ,the very imperfect notion ordinarily formed of the ,utilitarian formula was the chief obstacle which impeded its reception2 the main work to be done1 therefore1 by a ,utilitarian writer was to clear the doctrine from the grosser misconceptions4 ,thus the question would be greatly simplified1 and a large proportion of its difficulties removed4 ,his ,essays purport throughout to be a defence and exposition of the ,utilitarian doctrine4 ,but one characteristic of ,mill's writings is that there is often a wide gulf between what he intends and what he achieves4 ,there is even a want of security that what he is at any moment urging may not be the logical contrary of what he thinks he is urging4 ,this happens to be palpably the case with the celebrated ,essays before us4 ,mill explains and defends his favourite doctrine with so much affection and so much candour that he finally explains himself into the opposite doctrine4 ,yet with that simplicity which is a pleasing feature of his personal character1 ,mill continues to regard himself as a ,utilitarian long after he has left the grounds of ,paley and ,bentham4 ,lines of logical distinction and questions of logical consistency are of little account to one who cannot distinguish between fact and feeling1 between sense and sentiment4 ,it is possible that no small part of the favour with which these ,essays have always been received by the general public is due to the happy way in which ,mill has combined the bitter and the sweet4 ,the uncompromising rigidity of the ,benthamist formulas is softened and toned down4 ,an apparently scientific treatment is combined with so many noble sentiments and high aspirations1 that almost any one except a logician may be disarmed4 ,but nothing can endure if it be not logical4 ,these ,essays may be very agreeable reading2 they may make readers congratulate themselves on so easily becoming moral philosophers2 but they cannot really advance moral science if they represent one thing as being another thing4 ,i make it my business therefore in this article to show that ,mill was intellectually unfitted to decide what was utilitarian and what was not4 ,in removing the obstacles to the reception of his favourite doctrine he removed its landmarks too1 and confused everything4 ,it is true that ,i come rather late in the day to show this4 ,some scores1 if not hundreds1 of critics have shown the same fact more or less clearly4 ,eminent men of the most different schools and tones of thought--such as the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,martineau1 ,mr4 ,sidgwick1 ,dr4 ,ward1 ,professor ,birks1 the late ,professor ,grote--have criticized and refuted ,mill time after time4 ,since commencing my analysis of ,mill's ,philosophy1 ,i have been surprised to find1 too1 that some who were supposed to support ,mill's school through thick and thin1 have long since discovered the inconsistencies which ,i would now expose1 at such wearisome length as if they were new discoveries4 ,such is the ground which my friend1 ,professor ,croom ,robertson1 takes in his quarterly review1 ,mind1 which must be considered our best authority on philosophical questions4 ,as to this matter of ,utilitarianism1 a very eminent author1 formerly a friend of ,mill himself1 assures me that the subject is quite threshed out1 and implies that there is no need for me to trouble the public any more about it4 ,in fact1 it would seem to be allowed within philosophical circles that ,mill's works are often wrongheaded and unphilosophical4 ,yet these works are supposed to have done so much good that obloquy attaches to any one who would seek to diminish the respect paid to them by the public at large4 ,philosophers1 and teachers of the last generation at least1 have done their best to give ,mill's groundless philosophy a hold upon all the schools and all the press1 and yet we of this generation are to wait calmly until this influence dissolves of its own accord4 ,we are to do nothing to lessen the natural respect paid to the memory of the dead1 especially of the dead who have unquestionably laboured with single-minded purpose for what they considered the good of their fellow-creatures4 ,but in nothing is it more true than in philosophy1 that the evil that men do lives after them2 the good is oft interred with their bones4 ,words and false arguments cannot be recalled4 ,throw a stone into the surface of the still sea1 and you are powerless to prevent the circle of disturbance from spreading more and more widely4 ,true it is1 that one disturbance may be overcome and apparently obliterated by other deeper disturbances2 but ,mill's works and opinions were disseminated by the immense former influence of the united band of ,benthamist philosophers4 ,he is criticized and discussed and repeated1 in almost every philosophical work of the last thirty or forty years4 ,he is taken throughout the world as the representative of ,british philosophy1 and it is not sufficient for a few eminent thinkers in ,oxford1 or ,cambridge1 or ,london1 or ,edinburgh1 or ,aberdeen1 to acknowledge in a tacit sort of way that this doctrine and that doctrine is wrong4 ,eventually1 no doubt1 the opinion of the ,lecture ,halls and ,combination ,rooms will guide the public opinion2 but it may take a generation for tacit opinions to permeate society4 ,we must have them distinctly and boldly expressed4 ,it is especially to be remembered that the public press throughout the ,english-speaking countries is mostly conducted by men educated in the time when ,mill's works were entirely predominant4 ,these men are now for the most part cut off1 by geographical or professional obstacles1 from the direct influence of ,oxford or ,cambridge4 ,the circle of disturbance has spread beyond the immediate reach of those centres of thought4 ,to be brief1 ,i do not believe that ,mill's immense philosophical influence1 founded as it is on confusion of thought1 will readily collapse4 ,i fear that it may remain as a permanent obstacle in the way of sound thinking4 ,citius emergit veritas ex errore1 quam ex confusione4 ,had ,mill simply erred as did ,hobbes about elementary geometry1 and ,berkeley about infinitesimals1 it would be necessary merely to point out the errors and consign them to merciful oblivion4 ,but it is not so easy to consign to oblivion ponderous works so full of confusion of thought that every inexperienced and unwarned reader is sure to lose his way in them1 and to take for profound philosophy that which is really a kind of kaleidoscopic presentation of philosophic ideas and phrases1 in a succession of various but usually inconsistent combinations4 ,to the public at large1 ,mill's works still undoubtedly remain as the standard of accurate thinking1 and the most esteemed repertory of philosophy4 ,i cannot therefore consider my criticism superfluous1 and at the risk of repeating much that has been said by the eminent critics already mentioned1 or by others1 ,i must show that ,mill has thrown ethical philosophy into confusion as far as could well be done in ninety-six pages4 ,the nature of the ,utilitarian doctrine is explained by ,mill with sufficient accuracy in pp4 #i and #aj1 where he says-- ,the creed which accepts as the foundation of morals1 ,utility1 or the ,greatest ,happiness ,principle1 holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness1 wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness4 ,by happiness is intended pleasure1 and the absence of pain2 by unhappiness1 pain1 and the privation of pleasure4 ,to give a clear view of the moral standard set up by the theory1 much more requires to be said2 in particular1 what things it includes in the ideas of pain and pleasure2 and to what extent this is left an open question4 ,but these supplementary explanations do not affect the theory of life on which this theory of morality is grounded--namely1 that pleasure1 and freedom from pain1 are the only things desirable as ends2 and that all desirable things 7which are as numerous in the utilitarian as any other scheme7 are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves1 or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain4 ,mill proceeds to say that such a theory of life excites inveterate dislike in many minds1 and among them some of the most estimable in feeling and purpose4 ,to hold forth no better end than pleasure is felt to be utterly mean and grovelling--a doctrine worthy only of swine4 ,mill accordingly proceeds to inquire whether there is anything really grovelling in the doctrine--whether1 on the contrary1 we may not include under pleasure1 feelings and motives which are in the highest degree noble and elevating4 ,the whole inquiry turns upon this question--,do pleasures differ in quality as well as in quantity8 ,can a small amount of pleasure of very elevated character outweigh a large amount of pleasure of low quality8 ,we should never think of estimating pictures by their size and number4 ,the productions of ,west and ,fuseli1 which were the wonder and admiration of our grandparents1 can now be bought by the square yard1 to cover the bare walls of eating-houses and music-halls4 ,sic transit gloria mundi4 ,but a choice sketch by ,turner sometimes sells for many pounds per square inch4 ,it is clear1 then1 that in the opinion of connoisseurs1 which must1 for our present purpose1 be considered final1 high art is almost wholly a matter of quality4 ,two great pictures by ,west may be nearly twice as valuable as one2 and two equally choice sketches by ,turner are twice as good as one2 but it would seem hardly possible in the present day for the disciple of high art to bring ,west and ,turner into the same category of thought4 ,i suppose that even ,turner will presently begin to wane before the higher criticism4 ,a corresponding difficulty lies at the very basis of the ,utilitarian theory of ethics4 ,the tippler may esteem two pints of beer doubly as much as one2 the hero may feel double satisfaction in saving two lives instead of one2 but who shall weigh the pleasure of a pint of beer against the pleasure of saving a fellow-creature's life4 ,paley1 indeed1 cut the ,gordian knot of this difficulty in a summary manner2 he denied altogether that there is any difference between pleasures1 except in continuance and intensity4 ,it must have required some moral courage to write the paragraph to be next quoted2 yet ,paley1 however much he may be said to have temporized and equivocated about oaths and subscription to ,articles1 cannot be accused of want of explicitness in this passage4 ,there is a directness and clear-hitting of the point in ,paley's writings which always charms me4 ,in strictness1 any condition may be denominated happy1 in which the amount or aggregate of pleasure exceeds that of pain2 and the degree of happiness depends upon the quantity of this excess4 ,and the greatest quantity of it ordinarily attainable in human life1 is what we mean by happiness1 when we inquire or pronounce what human happiness consists in4 ,in which inquiry ,i will omit much usual declamation on the dignity and capacity of our nature2 the superiority of the soul to the body1 of the rational to the animal part of our constitution2 upon the worthiness1 refinement1 and delicacy of some satisfactions1 or the meanness1 grossness1 and sensuality of others2 because ,i hold that pleasures differ in nothing1 but in continuance and intensity3 from a just computation of which1 confirmed by what we observe of the apparent cheerfulness1 tranquillity1 and contentment1 of men of different tastes1 tempers1 stations1 and pursuits1 every question concerning human happiness must receive its decision4#gh ,bentham1 it need hardly be said1 adopted the same idea as the basis of his ethical and legislative theories4 ,in his uncompromising style he tells us#gi that ,nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters1 pain and pleasure4 ,it is for them alone to point out what we ought to do1 as well as to determine what we shall do4 ,on the one hand the standard of right and wrong1 on the other the chain of causes and effects1 are fastened to their throne4 ,they govern us in all we do1 in all we say1 in all we think3 every effort we can make to throw off our subjection will serve but to demonstrate and confirm it4 ,in words a man may pretend to abjure their empire3 but in reality he will remain subject to it all the while4 ,the principle of utility recognises this subjection1 and assumes it for the foundation of that system1 the object of which is to rear the fabric of felicity by the hands of reason and of law4 ,systems which attempt to question it1 deal in sounds instead of sense1 in caprice instead of reason1 in darkness instead of light4 ,elsewhere ,bentham proceeds to show how we may estimate the values of pleasures and pains1 meaning obviously by values the quantities or forces4 ,as these feelings are both the ends and the instruments of the moralist and legislator1 it especially behoves us to learn how to estimate these values aright1 and ,bentham tells us most distinctly4#hj ,to a person1 he says1 considered by himself1 the value of a pleasure or pain considered by itself1 will be greater or less1 according to the four following circumstances4 #a4 ,its intensity4 #b4 ,its duration4 #c4 ,its certainty or uncertainty4 #d4 ,its propinquity or remoteness4 ,but when the value of any pleasure or pain is to be considered for the purpose of estimating the general tendency of the act1 we have to take into account also1 #e4 ,the fecundity1 or the chance it has of being followed by sensations of the same kind1 that is1 pleasures1 if it be a pleasure2 pains1 if it be a pain4 #f4 ,its purity1 or the chance it has of not being followed by sensations of the opposite kind3 that is1 pains1 if it be a pleasure2 pleasures1 if it be a pain4 ,finally1 when we consider the interests of a number of persons1 we must also estimate a pleasure or pain with reference to1 #g4 ,its extent2 that is the number of persons to whom it extends1 or who are affected by it4 ,thus did ,bentham clearly and explicitly lay the foundations of the moral and political sciences1 and to impress these fundamental propositions on the memory he framed the following curious mnemonic lines1 which may be quoted for the sake of their quaintness3-- ,intense1 long1 certain1 speedy1 fruitful1 pure---- ,such marks in pleasures and in pains endure4 ,such pleasures seek1 if private be thy end3 ,if it be public1 wide let them extend4 ,such pains avoid1 whichever be thy view3 ,if pains must come1 let them extend to few4 ,in all that ,bentham says about pleasure and pain1 there is not a word about the intrinsic superiority of one pleasure to another4 ,he advocates our seeking pure pleasures2 but with him a pure pleasure was clearly defined as one not likely to be followed by feelings of the opposite kind2 the pleasure of opium-eating1 for instance1 would be called impure1 simply because it is likely to lead to bad health and consequent pain2 if not so followed by evil consequences1 the pleasure would be as pure as any other pleasure4 ,with ,bentham morality became1 as it were1 a question of the ledger and the balance-sheet2 all feelings were reduced to the same denomination of value1 and whenever we indulge in a little enjoyment1 or endure a pain1 the consequences in regard to subsequent enjoyment or suffering are to be inexorably scored for or against us1 as the case may be4 ,our conduct must be judged wise or foolish according as1 in the long-run1 we find a favourable hedonic balance-sheet4 ,what ,mill in his earlier life thought about these foundations of the utilitarian doctrine1 and the elaborate structure reared therefrom by ,bentham1 he has told us in his ,autobiography1 pp4 #fd to #gj4 ,subsequently ,mill revolted1 as we all know1 against the narrowness of the ,benthamist creed4 ,while wishing to retain#ha the precision of expression1 the definiteness of meaning1 the contempt of declamatory phrases and vague generalities1 which were so honourably characteristic both of ,bentham and of his own father1 ,james ,mill1 ,john ,stuart decided to give a wider basis and a more free and genial character to the utilitarian speculations4 ,let us consider how ,mill proceeded to give this genial character to the utilitarian philosophy4 ,it must be admitted1 he says1#hb that utilitarian writers in general have placed the superiority of mental over bodily pleasures chiefly in the greater permanency1 safety1 uncostliness1 c41 of the former--that is1 in their circumstantial advantages rather than in their intrinsic nature4 ,as regards ,bentham1 at least1 ,mill might have omitted the word chiefly4 ,but according to ,mill1 there is no need why they should have taken such a ground4 ,they might have taken the other1 and1 as it may be called1 higher ground1 with entire consistency4 ,it is quite compatible with the principle of utility to recognise the fact1 that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others4 ,it would be absurd1 that while1 in estimating all other things1 quality is considered as well as quantity1 the estimation of pleasures should be supposed to depend on quantity alone4 ,then ,mill proceeds to point out1 with all the persuasiveness of his best style1 that there are higher feelings which we would not sacrifice for any quantity of a lower feeling4 ,few human creatures1 he holds1 would consent to be changed into any of the lower animals for a promise of the fullest allowance of a beast's pleasures2 no intelligent human being would consent to be a fool1 no instructed person would be an ignoramus1 no person of feeling and conscience would be selfish and base1 and so forth4 ,mill1 in fact1 treats us to a good deal of what ,paley so cynically called the usual declamation1 on the dignity and capacity of our nature1 and the worthiness of some satisfactions compared with the grossness and sensuality of others4 ,it must be allowed that ,mill has the best of it1 at least with the majority of readers4 ,paley is simply brutal as to the way in which he depresses everything to the same level of apparent sensuality4 ,mill overflows with genial and noble aspirations2 he hardly deigns to count the lower pleasures as worth putting in the scale2 it is better1 he thinks1 to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied2 better to be ,socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied4 ,if the pig or the fool is of a different opinion1 it is because they only know their own side of the question4 ,the other party to the comparison knows both sides4 ,in the pages which follow there is much nobleness and elevation of thought4 ,but where is the logic8 ,we are nothing if we are not logical4 ,but does ,mill1 in the fervour of his revolt against the cold1 narrow restraints of the ,benthamist formulas1 consider the consistency and stability of his position8 ,let us examine in some detail the position to which he has brought himself4 ,it is plain1 in the first place1 that pleasure is with ,mill the ultimate purpose of existence2 for the philosophy is that of utilitarianism1 and ,mill distinctly assures us 7,autobiography1 p4 #agh7 that he never ceased to be a utilitarian4 ,we must1 of course1 distinguish between the pleasure of the individual and the pleasure of other individuals of the race1 between ,egoistic and ,universalistic ,hedonism1 as ,mr4 ,sidgwick calls these very different doctrines4 ,but the happiness of the race is1 of course1 made up of the happiness of its units1 so that unless most of the individuals pursue a course ensuring happiness1 the race cannot be happy in the aggregate4 ,now1 to acquire happiness the individual must1 of course1 select that line of conduct which is likely to--that is1 will in the majority of cases--bring happiness4 ,he must aim at something which is capable of being reached4 ,mill tells us 7p4 #ah7 that if by happiness be meant a continuity of highly pleasurable excitement1 it is evident enough that this is impossible to attain4 ,a state of exalted pleasure lasts only moments1 or in some cases1 and with some intermissions1 hours or days1 and is the occasional brilliant flash of enjoyment1 not its permanent and steady flame4 ,of this the philosophers who have taught that happiness is the end of life were as fully aware as those who taunt them4 ,the happiness which they meant was not a life of rapture2 but moments of such1 in an existence made up of few and transitory pains1 many and various pleasures1 with a decided predominance of the actual over the passive1 and having as the foundation of the whole1 not to expect more from life than it is capable of bestowing4#hc ,a life thus composed1 to those who have been fortunate enough to obtain it1 has always appeared worthy of the name of happiness4 ,then ,mill goes on to point out what he considers has been sufficient to satisfy great numbers of mankind 7p4 #ai73 ,the main constituents of a satisfied life appear to be two1 either of which by itself is often found sufficient for the purpose3 tranquillity1 and excitement4 ,with much tranquillity1 many find that they can be content with very little pleasure3 with much excitement1 many can reconcile themselves to a considerable quantity of pain4 ,there is assuredly no inherent impossibility in enabling even the mass of mankind to unite both4 ,from these passages we must gather that at any rate the mass of mankind will attain happiness if they are satisfied with these main constituents1 and we are especially told that the foundation of the whole utilitarian philosophy 7,mill does not specify the substantive to which the adjective whole applies in the above quotation1 but it must from the context be either utilitarian philosophy1 search for happiness1 or some closely equivalent idea7 is not to expect from life more than it is capable of bestowing4 ,the question1 then1 may fairly arise whether upon a fair calculation of probabilities they are not wise1 upon ,mill's own showing1 who aim at moderate achievements in life1 so that in accomplishing these they may insure a satisfied life4 ,this seems the more reasonable1 if1 as ,mill elsewhere tells us1 the nobler feelings are very apt to be killed off by the chilly realities of life4 ,many1 he says 7p4 #ad71 who begin with youthful enthusiasm for everything noble1 as they advance in years sink into indolence and selfishness4 ,but ,i do not believe that those who undergo this very common change1 voluntarily choose the lower description of pleasure in preference to the higher1 ,i believe that before they devote themselves exclusively to the one1 they have already become incapable of the other4 ,capacity for the nobler feelings is in most natures a very tender plant1 easily killed1 not only by hostile influences1 but by mere want of sustenance2 and in the majority of young persons it speedily dies away if the occupations to which their position in life has devoted them1 and the society into which it has thrown them1 are not favourable to keeping that higher capacity in exercise4 ,men lose their high aspirations as they lose their intellectual tastes1 because they have not time or opportunity for indulging them2 and they addict themselves to inferior pleasures1 not because they deliberately prefer them1 but because they are either the only ones to which they have access1 or the only ones which they are any longer capable of enjoying4 ,it may be questioned whether any one who has remained equally susceptible to both classes of pleasure1 ever knowingly and calmly preferred the lower2 though many1 in all ages1 have broken down in an ineffectual attempt to combine both4 ,it would seem1 then1 that for the mass of mankind there is small prospect indeed of achieving happiness through high aspirations4 ,they will not have time nor opportunity for indulging them4 ,if they look for happiness solely to such aspirations they must be disappointed1 and cannot have a satisfied life2 if they attempt to combine the higher and lower lives they are likely to break down in the ineffectual attempt4 ,now1 ,i submit that1 under these circumstances1 it is folly1 according to ,mill's scheme of morality1 to aim high2 it is equivalent to going into a life-lottery1 in which there are no doubt high prizes to be gained1 but few and far between4 ,it is simply gambling with hedonic stakes2 preferring a small chance of high enjoyment to comparative certainty of moderate pleasures4 ,mill clearly admits this when he says 7p4 #ad71 ,it is indisputable that the being whose capacities of enjoyment are low has the greatest chance of having them fully satisfied2 and a highly endowed being will always feel that any happiness which he can look for1 as the world is constituted1 is imperfect4 ,although1 then1 the foundation of the whole is not to expect from life more than it is capable of bestowing1 we are actually to prefer becoming highly endowed1 although we cannot expect life to satisfy the corresponding aspirations4 ,that is to say1 although seeking for happiness1 we are to prefer the course in which we are approximately certain of not obtaining it4 ,but ,mill goes on to give some explanations4 ,he says that the highly endowed being can learn to bear the imperfections of his happiness1 if they are at all bearable 7p4 #ad74 ,this is small comfort if they happen to be not at all bearable1 an alternative which is not further pursued by ,mill4 ,and will not this intolerable fate be most likely to befall those whose aspirations have been pitched most highly8 ,but ,mill goes on3 ,they 7that is1 the imperfections of life or happiness87 will not make him envy the being who is indeed unconscious of the imperfections1 but only because he feels not at all the good which those imperfections qualify4 ,it is better to be a human being dissatisfied1 than a pig satisfied2 better to be ,socrates dissatisfied1 than a fool satisfied4 ,and if the fool1 or the pig1 is of a different opinion1 it is because they only know their own side of the question4 ,the other party to the comparison knows both sides4 ,concerning this position of affairs the most apposite remark ,i can make is contained in the somewhat trite and vulgar saying1 ,where ignorance is bliss1 'tis folly to be wise4 ,if ,socrates is pretty sure to be dissatisfied1 and yet1 owing to his wisdom1 cannot help wishing to be ,socrates1 he seems to have no chance of that individual happiness which depends on being satisfied1 and not expecting from life more than it is capable of bestowing4 ,the great majority of people who do not know what it is like to be ,socrates1 are surely to be congratulated that they can1 without scruple or remorse1 seek a prize of happiness which there is a fair prospect of securing4 ,but ,mill tells us that those who choose the lower life do so because they only know their own side of the question4 ,the other party to the comparison knows both sides4 ,then ,mill introduces a paragraph1 already partially quoted1 in which he allows that men often do1 from infirmity of character1 make their selection for the nearer good1 though they know it to be the less valuable4 ,many who begin with youthful enthusiasm for everything noble1 sink in later years into indolence and selfishness4 ,the capacity for the nobler feelings is easily killed1 and men lose their high aspirations because they have not time and opportunity for indulging them4 ,i submit that1 from ,mill's point of view1 these are all valid reasons why they should not choose the higher life4 ,we are considering here1 not those who have always been devoid of the nobler feelings1 but those who have in earlier life been full of enthusiasm and high aspirations4 ,if such men1 with few exceptions1 decide eventually in favour of the lower life1 they are parties who do know both sides of the comparison1 and deliberately choose not to be ,socrates1 with the prospect of the very imperfect happiness 7probably involving short rations7 which is incident to the life of ,socrates4 ,mill1 indeed1 calmly assumes that the vote goes in his own and ,socrates' favour4 ,he says 7p4 #ae73 ,from this verdict of the only competent judges1 ,i apprehend there can be no appeal4 ,on a question which is the best worth having of two pleasures1 or which of two modes of existence is the most grateful to the feelings1 apart from its moral attributes and from its consequences1 the judgment of those who are qualified by knowledge of both1 or1 if they differ1 that of the majority among them1 must be admitted as final4 ,and there need be the less hesitation to accept this judgment respecting the quality of pleasures1 since there is no other tribunal to be referred to1 even on the question of quantity4 ,what means are there of determining which is the acutest of two pains1 or the intensest of two pleasurable sensations1 except the general suffrage of those who are familiar with both8 ,now1 were we dealing with a writer of average logical accuracy there would be considerable presumption that when he adduces evidence and claims a result in his own favour in this confident way1 there would be some ground for the claim4 ,but my scrutiny of ,mill's ,system of ,logic has taught me caution in admitting such presumptions in respect of his writings1 and here is a case in point4 ,he claims that the suffrage of the majority is in favour of ,socrates' life1 although he has admitted that the vast majority of men somehow or other elect not to be ,socrates4 ,he assumes1 indeed1 that this is because their aspirations have been first killed off by unfavourable circumstances2 his only residuum of fact is contained in this somewhat hesitating conclusion already quoted3-- ,it may be questioned whether any one who has remained equally susceptible to both classes of pleasures1 ever knowingly and calmly preferred the lower2 though many1 in all ages1 have broken down in an ineffectual attempt to combine both4 ,although1 then1 millions and millions are continually deciding against ,socrates' life1 for one reason or another 7and many in all ages who make the ineffectual attempt at a combination break down71 ,mill gratuitously assumes that they are none of them competent witnesses1 because they must have lost their higher feelings before they could have descended to the lower level2 then the comparatively few who do choose the higher life and succeed in attaining it are adduced as giving a large majority1 or even a unanimous vote in favour of their own choice4 ,i submit that this is a fallacy probably to be best classed as a petitio principii2 ,mill entirely begs the question when he assumes that every witness against him is an incapacitated witness1 because he must have lost his capacity for the nobler feelings before he could have decided in favour of the lower4 ,the verdict which ,mill takes in favour of his high-quality pleasures is entirely that of a packed jury4 ,it is on a par with the verdict which would be given by vegetarians in favour of a vegetable diet4 ,no doubt1 those who call themselves vegetarians would almost unanimously say that it is the best and highest diet2 but then1 all those who have tried such diet and found it impracticable have disappeared from the jury1 together with all those whose common sense1 or scientific knowledge1 or weak state of health1 or other circumstances1 have prevented them from attempting the experiment4 ,by the same method of decision1 we might all be required to get up at five o'clock in the morning and do four hours of head-work before breakfast1 because the few hard-headed and hard-bodied individuals who do this sort of thing are unanimously of opinion that it is a healthly and profitable way of beginning the day4 ,of course1 it will be understood that ,i am not denying the moral superiority of some pleasures and courses of life over others4 ,i am only showing that ,mill's attempt to reconcile his ideas on the subject with the ,utilitarian theory hopelessly fails4 ,the few pleasant pages in which he makes this attempt 7,utilitarianism1 pp4 #h-bh71 form1 in fact1 a most notable piece of sophistical reasoning4 ,much of the interest of these undoubtedly interesting passages arises from the kaleidoscopic way in which the standing difficulties of ethical science are woven together1 as if they were logically coherent in ,mill's mode of presentation4 ,the ideas involved are as old as ,plato and ,aristotle4 ,the high aspirations correspond to to kalon of ,plato4 ,the superior man who can judge both sides of the question is the beltistos aner of ,aristotle4 ,the ,utilitarian doctrine is that of ,epicurus4 ,now1 ,mill managed to persuade himself that he could in twenty pages reconcile the controversies of ages4 ,nor is it to be supposed that ,bentham1 in making his analysis of the conditions of pleasure1 overlooked the difference of high and low2 he did not overlook it at all--he analyzed it4 ,a pleasure to be high must have the marks of intensity1 length1 certainty1 fruitfulness1 and purity1 or of some of these at least2 and when we take ,altruism into account1 the feelings must be of wide extent--that is1 fruitful of pleasure and devoid of evil to great numbers of people4 ,it is a higher pleasure to build a ,free ,library than to establish a new ,race ,course2 not because there is a ,free-,library-building emotion1 which is essentially better than a ,race-,course-establishing emotion1 each being a simple unanalyzable feeling2 but because we may1 after the model of inquiry given by ,bentham1 resolve into its elements the effect of one action and the other upon the happiness of the community4 ,thus1 we should find that ,mill proposed to give geniality to the ,utilitarian philosophy by throwing into confusion what it was the very merit of ,bentham to have distinguished and arranged scientifically4 ,we must hold to the dry old ,jeremy1 if we are to have any chance of progress in ,ethics4 ,mill1 at some crisis in his mental history1 decided in favour of a genial instead of a logical and scientific ,ethics1 and the result is the mixture of sentiment and sophistry contained in the attractive pages under review4 ,in order to treat adequately of ,mill's ethical doctrines it would no doubt be necessary to go on to other parts of the ,essays1 and to inquire how he treats other moral elements1 such as the ,social or ,altruistic ,feelings4 ,the existence of such feelings is admitted on p4 #df1 and1 indeed1 insisted on as a basis of powerful natural sentiment1 constituting the strength of the ,utilitarian morality4 ,but it would be an endless work to examine all phases of ,mill's doctrines1 and to show whether or not they are logically consistent inter se4 ,they are really not worth the trouble4 ,just let us notice1 however1 how he treats the question whether moral feelings are innate or not4 ,on this point ,mill gives 7p4 #de7 the following characteristic deliverance3--,if1 as is my own belief1 the moral feelings are not innate1 but acquired1 they are not for that reason the less natural4 ,it is natural to man to speak1 to reason1 to build cities1 to cultivate the ground1 though these are acquired faculties4 ,the moral feelings are not indeed a part of our nature1 in the sense of being in any perceptible degree present in all of us2 but this1 unhappily1 is a fact admitted by those who believe the most strenuously in their transcendental origin4 ,like the other acquired capacities above referred to1 the moral faculty1 if not a part of our nature1 is a natural outgrowth from it2 capable1 like them1 in a certain small degree1 of springing up spontaneously2 and susceptible of being brought by cultivation to a high degree of development4 ,if life were long enough1 ,i should like1 with the assistance of the ,methods of ,ethics1 to analyze the ideas involved in this passage4 ,i can merely suggest the following questions3--,if acquired capacities are equally natural with those not acquired1 what is the use of introducing a distinction without a difference8 ,if moral feelings can spring up spontaneously1 even in the smallest degree1 and then be developed by natural outgrowths1 how do any of our feelings differ from natural ones8 ,what does ,mill mean1 at the top of the next page1 by speaking of moral associations which are wholly of artificial creation8 ,are these also not the less natural because they are of artificial creation8 ,if not1 we should like to know how to draw the line between acquired and artificial capacities4 ,how1 again1 are we to interpret the use of the word natural1 on p4 #ej1 where1 speaking of the deeply-rooted conception which every individual even now has of himself as a social being1 he says-- ,this feeling in most individuals is much inferior in strength to their selfish feelings1 and is often wanting altogether4 ,but to those who have it1 it possesses all the characters of a natural feeling4 ,it does not present itself to their minds as a superstition of education1 c4 ,here a natural feeling is contrasted to the product of education1 although we were before told that acquired capacities1 like speaking1 building1 cultivating1 were none the less natural4 ,but ,i must candidly confess that when ,mill introduces the words nature and natural1 ,i am completely baffled4 ,i give it up4 ,i can no longer find any logical marks to assist me in tracking out his course of thought4 ,the word nature may be ,mill's key to a profound philosophy2 but ,i rather think it is the key to many of his fallacies4 ,i often amuse myself by trying to imagine what ,bentham would have said of ,benthamism expounded by ,mill4 ,especially would it be interesting to hear ,bentham on ,mill's use of the word natural4 ,no passage in which ,bentham analyzes the meaning of nature1 or natural1 occurs to me1 but the following is his treatment of the word unnatural1 as employed in ,ethics3-- ,unnatural1 when it means anything1 means unfrequent3 and there it means something2 although nothing to the present purpose4 ,but here it means no such thing3 for the frequency of such acts is perhaps the great complaint4 ,it therefore means nothing2 nothing1 ,i mean1 which there is in the act itself4 ,all it can serve to express is1 the disposition of the person who is talking of it3 the disposition he is in to be angry at the thoughts of it4#hd ,would that the grand old man1 as he still sits benignly pondering in his own proper bones and clothes1 in the upper regions of a well-known institution1 could be got to deliver himself in like style about feelings which are not the less natural because they are acquired4 ,before passing on1 however1 ,i must point out1 in the extract from p4 #de1 the characteristic habit which ,mill has of minimizing things which he is obliged to admit4 ,instead of denying straightforwardly that we have moral feelings1 he says they are not present in all of us in any perceptible degree4 ,the moral faculty is capable of springing up spontaneously in a certain small degree4 ,this will remind every reader of the way in which1 in his ,essays on ,religion1 instead of flatly adopting ,atheism or ,theism1 which are clear logical negatives each of the other1 he concludes that though ,god is almost proved not to exist1 ,he may possibly exist1 and we must imagine this chance to be as large as we can1 though it belongs only to one of the lower degrees of probability4 ,exactly the same manner of meeting a weighty question will be discovered again in his demonstration of the non-existence of necessary truths4 ,i shall hope to examine carefully his treatment of this important part of philosophy on a future occasion4 ,we shall then find1 ,i believe1 that his argument proves non-existence of such things as necessary truths1 because those truths which cannot be explained on the association principle are very few indeed4 ,i beg pardon for introducing an incongruous illustration1 but ,mill's manner of minimizing an all-important admission often irresistibly reminds me of the young woman who1 being taxed with having borne a child1 replied that it was only a very small one4 ,such are the intricacies and wide extent of ethical questions1 that it is not practicable to pursue the analysis of ,mill's doctrine in at all a full manner4 ,we cannot detect the fallacious reasoning with the same precision as in matters of geometric and logical science4 ,this analysis is the less needful too1 because1 since ,mill's ,essays appeared1 ,moral ,philosophy has undergone a revolution4 ,i do not so much allude to the reform effected by ,mr4 ,sidgwick's ,methods of ,ethics1 though that is a great one1 introducing as it does a precision of thought and nomenclature which was previously wanting4 ,i allude1 of course1 to the establishment of the ,spencerian ,theory of ,morals1 which has made a new era in philosophy4#he ,mill has been singularly unfortunate from this point of view4 ,he might be defined as the last great philosophic writer conspicuous for his ignorance of the principles of evolution4 ,he brought to confusion the philosophy of his master1 ,bentham2 he ignored that which was partly to replace1 partly to complete it4 ,i am aware that1 in her ,introductory ,notice to the ,essays on ,religion 7p4 viii471 ,miss ,helen ,taylor apologizes for ,mill having omitted any references to the works of ,mr4 ,darwin and ,sir ,henry ,maine in passages where there is coincidence of thought with those writers1 or where subjects are treated which they have since discussed in a manner to which the ,author of these ,essays would certainly have referred had their works been published before these were written4#hf ,here it is implied that ,mill anticipated the authors of the ,evolution philosophy in some of their thoughts1 and it is a most amiable and pardonable bias which leads ,miss ,taylor to find in the works of one so dear to her that which is not there4 ,the fact is that the whole tone of ,mill's moral and political writings is totally opposed to the teaching of ,darwin and ,spencer1 ,taylor and ,maine4 ,mill's idea of human nature was that we came into the world like lumps of soft clay1 to be shaped by the accidents of life1 or the care of those who educate us4 ,austin insisted on the evidence which history and daily experience afford of the extraordinary pliability of human nature1 and ,mill borrowed the phrase from him4#hg ,no phrase could better express the misapprehensions of human nature which1 it is to be hoped1 will cease for ever with the last generation of writers4 ,human nature is one of the last things which can be called pliable4 ,granite rocks can be more easily moulded than the poor savages that hide among them4 ,we are all of us full of deep springs of unconquerable character1 which education may in some degree soften or develop1 but can neither create nor destroy4 ,the mind can be shaped about as much as the body2 it may be starved into feebleness1 or fed and exercised into vigour and fulness2 but we start always with inherent hereditary powers of growth4 ,the non-recognition of this fact is the great defect in the moral system of ,bentham4 ,the great ,jeremy was accustomed to make short work with the things which he did not understand1 and it is thus he disposes of the pretended system of a moral sense3#hh ,one man says he has a thing made on purpose to tell him what is right and what is wrong1 and that it is called a moral sense2 and then he goes to his work at his ease1 and says such a thing is right and such a thing is wrong--,why8 because my moral sense tells me it is4 ,bentham then bluntly ignored the validity of innate feelings1 but this omission1 though a great defect1 did not much diminish the value of his analysis of the good and bad effects of actions4 ,mill discarded the admirable ,benthamist analysis1 but failed to introduce the true ,evolutionist principles2 thus he falls between the two4 ,it is to ,herbert ,spencer we must look for a more truthful philosophy of morals than was possible before his time4 ,the publication of the first part of his ,principles of ,morality1 under the title ,the ,data of ,ethics1 gives us1 in a definite form1 and in his form1 what we could previously only infer from the general course of his philosophy and from his brief letter on ,utilitarianism addressed to ,mill4 ,although but fragments1 these writings enable us to see that a definite step has been made in a matter debated since the dawn of intellect4 ,the moral sense doctrine1 so rudely treated by ,bentham1 is no longer incapable of reconciliation with the greatest happiness principle1 only it now becomes a moving and developable moral sense4 ,an absolute and unalterable moral standard was opposed to the palpable fact that customs and feelings differ widely1 and ,paley1 on this ground1 was induced to reject it4 ,now we perceive that we all have a moral sense2 but the moral sense of one individual1 and still more of one race1 may differ from that of another individual or race4 ,each is more or less fitted to its circumstances1 and the best is ascertained by eventual success4 ,at the tail end of an article it is1 of course1 impossible to discuss the grounds or results of the ,spencerian philosophy4 ,to me it presents itself1 in its main features1 as unquestionably true2 indeed1 it is already difficult to look back and imagine how philosophers could have denied of the human mind and actions what is so obviously true of the animal races generally4 ,as a reaction from the old views about innate ideas1 the philosophers of the eighteenth century wished to believe that the human mind was a kind of tabula rasa1 or carte blanche1 upon which education could impress any character4 ,but if so1 why not harness the lion1 and teach the sheep to drive away the wolf8 ,if the moral1 not to speak of the physical characteristics of the lower animals1 are so distinct1 why should there not be moral and mental differences among ourselves1 descending1 as we obviously do1 from different stocks with different physical characteristics8 ,notice what ,mr4 ,darwin says on this point3-- ,mr4 ,j4 ,s4 ,mill speaks1 in his celebrated work1 ',utilitarianism' 7#ahfd1 p4 #df71 of the social feelings as a 'powerful natural sentiment1' and as 'the natural basis of sentiment for utilitarian morality2' but on the previous page he says1 'if1 as is my own belief1 the moral feelings are not innate1 but acquired1 they are not for that reason less natural4' ,it is with hesitation that ,i venture to differ from so profound a thinker1 but it can hardly be disputed that the social feelings are instinctive or innate in the lower animals2 and why should they not be so in man8 ,mr4 ,bain and others believe that the moral sense is acquired by each individual during his lifetime4 ,on the general theory of evolution this is at least extremely improbable4#hi ,many persons may be inclined to like the philosophy of ,spencer no better than that of ,mill4 ,but1 if the one be true and the other false1 liking and disliking have no place in the matter4 ,there may be many things which we cannot possibly like2 but if they are1 they are4 ,it is possible that the ,principles of ,evolution1 as expounded by ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer1 may seem as wanting in geniality as the formulas of ,bentham4 ,there is nothing genial1 it must be confessed1 about the mollusca and other cold-blooded organisms with which ,mr4 ,spencer perpetually illustrates his principles4 ,heaven forbid that any one should try to give geniality to ,mr4 ,spencer's views of ethics by any operation comparable to that which ,mill performed upon ,benthamism4 ,nevertheless1 ,i fully believe that all which is sinister and ungenial in the ,philosophy of ,evolution is either the expression of unquestionable facts1 or else it is the outcome of misinterpretation4 ,it is impossible to see how ,mr4 ,spencer1 any more than other people1 can explain away the existence of pain and evil4 ,nobody has done this2 perhaps nobody ever shall do it2 certainly systems of ,theology will not do it4 ,a true philosopher will not expect to solve everything4 ,but if we admit the patent fact that pain exists1 let us observe also the tendency which ,spencer and ,darwin establish towards its minimization4 ,evolution is a striving ever towards the better and the happier4 ,there may be almost infinite powers against us1 but at least there is a deep-laid scheme working towards goodness and happiness4 ,so profound and wide-spread is this confederacy of the powers of good1 that no failure and no series of failures can disconcert it4 ,let mankind be thrown back a hundred times1 and a hundred times the better tendencies of evolution will re-assert themselves4 ,paley pointed out how many beautiful contrivances there are in the human form1 tending to our benefit4 ,spencer has pointed out that the ,universe is one deep-laid framework for the production of such beneficent contrivances4 ,paley called upon us to admire such exquisite inventions as a hand or an eye4 ,spencer calls upon us to admire a machine which is the most comprehensive of all machines1 because it is ever engaged in inventing beneficial inventions ad infinitum4 ,such at least is my way of regarding his ,philosophy4 ,darwin1 indeed1 cautions us against supposing that natural selection always leads towards the production of higher and happier types of life4 ,retrogression may result as well as progression4 ,but ,i apprehend that retrogression can only occur where the environment of a living species is altered to its detriment4 ,mankind degenerates when forced1 like the ,esquimaux1 to inhabit the ,arctic regions4 ,still in retrograding1 in a sense1 the being becomes more suited to its circumstances--more capable therefore of happiness4 ,the inventing machine of ,evolution would be working badly if it worked otherwise4 ,but1 however this may be1 we must accept the philosophy if it be true1 and1 for my part1 ,i do so without reluctance4 ,according to ,mill1 we are little self-dependent gods1 fighting with a malignant and murderous power called ,nature1 sure1 one would think1 to be worsted in the struggle4 ,according to ,spencer1 as ,i venture to interpret his theory1 we are the latest manifestation of an all-prevailing tendency towards the good--the happy4 ,creation is not yet concluded1 and there is no one of us who may not become conscious in his heart that he is no ,automaton1 no mere lump of ,protoplasm1 but the ,creature of a ,creator4 ,w4 ,,stanley ,,jevons4 ,,footnotes3 #gf ,utilitarianism1 fifth edition1 p4 #i1 foot-note4 ,except where otherwise specified1 the references throughout this article will be to the pages of the fifth edition of ,utilitarianism4 #gg ,fortnightly ,review1 ,may1 #ahgg1 vol4 xxi4 p4 #fdh4 #gh ,the ,principles of ,moral and ,political ,philosophy1 ,book ,i4 chap4 vi4 #bnd paragraph4 #gi ,an ,introduction to the ,principles of ,morals and ,legislation1 p4 #a4 #hj ,principles1 c4 chap4 iv4 sect4 #b-e4 ,the statement is not a verbatim extract but an abridgment of the sections named4 #ha ,autobiography1 p4 #bad4 #hb ,utilitarianism1 p4 #aa4 #hc ,italicised by the present writer4 #hd ,principles of ,morals and ,legislation1 ed4 #ahbc1 vol4 i4 p4 #ca4 #he ,a very important article by ,dr4 ,e4 ,l4 ,youmans upon ,mr4 ,spencer's philosophy has just appeared in the ,north ,american ,review for ,october1 #ahgi4 ,dr4 ,youmans traces the history of the ,evolution doctrines1 and proves the originality and independence of ,mr4 ,spencer as regards the closely related views of ,mr4 ,darwin1 ,mr4 ,wallace1 and ,professor ,huxley4 ,the eminent men in question are no doubt in perfect agreement2 but ,dr4 ,youmans seems to think that readers in general do not properly understand the singular originality and boldness of ,mr4 ,spencer's vast and partially accomplished enterprise in philosophy4 #hf ,mr4 ,morley does not seem to countenance any such claims4 ,on the contrary1 he remarks in his ,critical ,miscellanies1 p4 #cbd1 that ,mill's ,essays lose in interest by not dealing with the ,darwinian hypothesis4 #hg ,autobiography1 p4 #ahg4 #hh ,principles of ,morals1 c41 p4 #bi4 #hi ,the ,descent of ,man1 and ,selection in ,relation to ,sex1 #ahga1 vol4 i4 p4 #ga4 ,i cannot help thinking that ,mr4 ,darwin felt the inconsistency and confusion of ideas in the passages quoted1 although he does not so express himself4 ,otherwise1 why does he quote from two pages8