,,critical1 ,,historical1 ,,and ,,miscellaneous ,,essays ,by ,lord ,macaulay ,with ,a ,memoir ,and ,index ,in ,six ,volumes4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,new ,york3 ,published ,by ,sheldon ,and ,company4 #ahfj ,illustration3 #jjjg ,,essays4 ,,mill ,,on ,,government47#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,march #ahbi47 ,of #ethose philosophers who call themselves ,utilitarians1 and whom others generally call ,benthamites1 ,mr4 ,mill is1 with the exception of the illustrious founder of the sect1 by far the most distinguished4 ,the little work now before us contains a summary of the opinions held by this gentleman and his brethren on several subjects most important to society4 ,all the seven essays of which it consists abound in curious matter4 ,but at present we intend to confine our remarks to the ,treatise on ,government1 which stands first in the volume4 ,on some future occasion1 we may perhaps attempt to do justice to the rest4 ,it must be owned that to do justice to any composition of ,mr4 ,mill is not1 in the opinion of his admirers1 a very easy task4 ,they do not1 indeed1 place him in the same rank with ,mr4 ,bentham2 but the terms in which they extol the disciple1 though feeble when compared with the hyperboles of adoration employed by 7#a7 ,essays on ,government1 ,jurisprudence1 the ,liberty of the ,press1 ,prisons and ,prison ,discipline1 ,colonies1 the ,law of ,nations1 and ,education1 ,by ,james ,mill1 ,esq41 author of the ,history of ,british ,india4 ,reprinted by permission from the ,supplement to the ,encyclopdia ,britannica4 7,not for sale47 ,london1 #ahbh4 #fthem in speaking of the master1 are as strong as any sober man would allow himself to use concerning ,locke or ,bacon4 ,the essay before us is perhaps the most remarkable of the works to which ,mr4 ,mill owes his fame4 ,by the members of his sect1 it is considered as perfect and unanswerable4 ,every part of it is an article of their faith2 and the damnatory clauses1 in which their creed abounds far beyond any theological symbol with which we are acquainted1 are strong and full against all who reject any portion of what is so irrefragably established4 ,no man1 they maintain1 who has understanding sufficient to carry him through the first proposition of ,euclid1 can read this master-piece of demonstration and honestly declare that he remains unconvinced4 ,we have formed a very different opinion of this work4 ,we think that the theory of ,mr4 ,mill rests altogether on false principles1 and that even on those false principles he does not reason logically4 ,nevertheless1 we do not think it strange that his speculations should have filled the ,utilitarians with admiration4 ,we have been for some time past inclined to suspect that these people1 whom some regard as the lights of the world and others as incarnate demons1 are in general ordinary men1 with narrow understandings and little information4 ,the contempt which they express for elegant literature is evidently the contempt of ignorance4 ,we apprehend that many of them are persons who1 having read little or nothing1 are delighted to be rescued from the sense of their own inferiority by some teacher who assures them that the studies which they have neglected are of no value1 puts five or six phrases into their mouths1 lends them an odd number of the ,westminster ,review1 and in a month #gtransforms them into philosophers4 ,mingled with these smatterers1 whose attainments just suffice to elevate them from the insignificance of dunces to the dignity of bores1 and to spread dismay among their pious aunts and grandmothers1 there are1 we well know1 many well-meaning men who have really read and thought much2 but whose reading and meditation have been almost exclusively confined to one class of subjects2 and who1 consequently1 though they possess much valuable knowledge respecting those subjects1 are by no means so well qualified to judge of a great system as if they had taken a more enlarged view of literature and society4 ,nothing is more amusing or instructive than to observe the manner in which people who think themselves wiser than all the rest of the world fall into snares which the simple good sense of their neighbours detects and avoids4 ,it is one of the principal tenets of the ,utilitarians that sentiment and eloquence serve only to impede the pursuit of truth4 ,they therefore affect a quakerly plainness1 or rather a cynical negligence and impurity1 of style4 ,the strongest arguments1 when clothed in brilliant language1 seem to them so much wordy nonsense4 ,in the mean time they surrender their understandings1 with a facility found in no other party1 to the meanest and most abject sophisms1 provided those sophisms come before them disguised with the externals of demonstration4 ,they do not seem to know that logic has its illusions as well as rhetoric1--that a fallacy may lurk in a syllogism as well as in a metaphor4 ,mr4 ,mill is exactly the writer to please people of this description4 ,his arguments are stated with the utmost affectation of precision2 his divisions are awfully #h;formal2 and his style is generally as dry as that of ,euclid's ,elements4 ,whether this be a merit1 we must be permitted to doubt4 ,thus much is certain3 that the ages in which the true principles of philosophy were least understood were those in which the ceremonial of logic was most strictly observed1 and that the time from which we date the rapid progress of the experimental sciences was also the time at which a less exact and formal way of writing came into use4 ,the style which the ,utilitarians admire suits only those subjects on which it is possible to reason a priori ,it grew up with the verbal sophistry which flourished during the dark ages4 ,with that sophistry it fell before the ,baconian philosophy in the day of the great deliverance of the human mind4 ,the inductive method not only endured but required greater freedom of diction4 ,it was impossible to reason from phenomena up to principles1 to mark slight shades of difference in quality1 or to estimate the comparative effect of two opposite considerations between which there was no common measure1 by means of the naked and meagre jargon of the schoolmen4 ,of those schoolmen ,mr4 ,mill has inherited both the spirit and the style4 ,he is an ,aristotelian of the fifteenth century1 born out of due season4 ,we have here an elaborate treatise on ,government1 from which1 but for two or three passing allusions1 it would not appear that the author was aware that any governments actually existed among men4 ,certain propensities of human nature are assumed2 and from these premises the whole science of politics is synthetically deduced6 ,we can scarcely persuade ourselves that we are not reading a book written before the time of ,bacon and ,galileo1--a book #iwritten in those days in which physicians reasoned from the nature of heat to the treatment of fever1 and astronomers proved syllogistically that the planets could have no independent motion1--because the heavens were incorruptible1 and nature abhorred a vacuum6 ,the reason1 too1 which ,mr4 ,mill has assigned for taking this course strikes us as most extraordinary4 8,experience10 says he1 8if we look only at the outside of the facts1 appears to be divided on this subject4 ,absolute monarchy1 under ,neros and ,caligulas1 under such men as the ,emperors of ,morocco and ,sultans of ,turkey1 is the scourge of human nature4 ,on the other side1 the people of ,denmark1 tired out with the oppression of an aristocracy1 resolved that their king should be absolute2 and1 under their absolute monarch1 are as well governed as any people in ,europe40 ,this ,mr4 ,mill actually gives as a reason for pursuing the a priori method4 ,but1 in our judgment1 the very circumstances which he mentions irresistibly prove that the a priori method is altogether unfit for investigations of this kind1 and that the only way to arrive at the truth is by induction4 ,experience can never be divided1 or even appear to be divided1 except with reference to some hypothesis4 ,when we say that one fact is inconsistent with another fact1 we mean only that it is inconsistent with the theory which we have founded on that other fact4 ,but1 if the fact be certain1 the unavoidable conclusion is that our theory is false2 and1 in order to correct it1 we must reason back from an enlarged collection of facts to principles4 ,now here we have two governments which1 by ,mr4 ,mill's own account1 come under the same head in his theoretical classification4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that1 #aj;by reasoning on that theoretical classification1 we shall be brought to the conclusion that these two forms of government must produce the same effects4 ,but ,mr4 ,mill himself tells us that they do not produce the same effects4 ,hence he infers that the only way to get at truth is to place implicit confidence in that chain of proof a priori from which it appears that they must produce the same effects6 ,to believe at once in a theory and in a fact which contradicts it is an exercise of faith sufficiently hard3 but to believe in a theory because a fact contradicts it is what neither philosopher nor pope ever before required4 ,this1 however1 is what ,mr4 ,mill demands of us4 ,he seems to think that1 if all despots1 without exception1 governed ill1 it would be unnecessary to prove1 by a synthetical argument1 what would then be sufficiently clear from experience4 ,but1 as some despots will be so perverse as to govern well1 he finds himself compelled to prove the impossibility of their governing well by that synthetical argument which would have been superfluous had not the facts contradicted it4 ,he reasons a priori1 because the phenomena are not what1 by reasoning a priori1 he will prove them to be4 ,in other words1 he reasons a priori1 because1 by so reasoning1 he is certain to arrive at a false conclusion6 ,in the course of the examination to which we propose to subject the speculations of ,mr4 ,mill we shall have to notice many other curious instances of that turn of mind which the passage above quoted indicates4 ,the first chapter of his ,essay relates to the ends of government4 ,the conception on this subject1 he tells us1 which exists in the minds of most men is vague and undistinguishing4 ,he first assumes1 justly enough1 that the end of government is 8to increase to the utmost #aathe pleasures1 and diminish to the utmost the pains1 which men derive from each other40 ,he then proceeds to show1 with great form1 that 8the greatest possible happiness of society is attained by insuring to every man the greatest possible quantity of the produce of his labour40 ,to effect this is1 in his opinion1 the end of government4 ,it is remarkable that ,mr4 ,mill1 with all his affected display of precision1 has here given a description of the ends of government far less precise than that which is in the mouths of the vulgar4 ,the first man with whom ,mr4 ,mill may travel in a stage coach will tell him that government exists for the protection of the persons and property of men4 ,but ,mr4 ,mill seems to think that the preservation of property is the first and only object4 ,it is true1 doubtless1 that many of the injuries which are offered to the persons of men proceed from a desire to possess their property4 ,but the practice of vindictive assassination as it has existed in some parts of ,europe--the practice of fighting wanton and sanguinary duels1 like those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries1 in which bands of seconds risked their lives as well as the principals2--these practices1 and many others which might be named1 are evidently injurious to society2 and we do not see how a government which tolerated them could be said 8to diminish to the utmost the pains which men derive from each other40 ,therefore1 according to ,mr4 ,mill's very correct assumption1 such a government would not perfectly accomplish the end of its institution4 ,yet such a government might1 as far as we can perceive1 8insure to every man the greatest possible quantity of the produce of his labour40 ,therefore such a government might1 according to ,mr4 ,milks subsequent doctrine1 perfectly accomplish the end of its institution4 #ab,the matter is not of much consequence1 except as an instance of that slovenliness of thinking which is often concealed beneath a peculiar ostentation of logical neatness4 ,having determined the ends1 ,mr4 ,mill proceeds to consider the means4 ,for the preservation of property-some portion of the community must be intrusted with power4 ,this is ,government2 and the question is1 how are those to whom the necessary power is intrusted to be prevented from abusing it8 ,mr4 ,mill first passes in review the simple forms of government4 ,he allows that it would be inconvenient1 if not physically impossible1 that the whole community should meet in a mass2 it follows1 therefore1 that the powers of government cannot be directly exercised by the people4 ,but he sees no objection to pure and direct ,democracy1 except the difficulty which we have mentioned4 8,the community10 says he1 8cannot have an interest opposite to its interests4 ,to affirm this would be a contradiction in terms4 ,the community within itself1 and with respect to itself1 can have no sinister interest4 ,one community may intend the evil of another2 never its own4 ,this is an indubitable proposition1 and one of great importance40 ,mr4 ,mill then proceeds to demonstrate that a purely aristocratical form of government is necessarily bad4 8,the reason for which government exists is1 that one man1 if stronger than another1 will take from him whatever that other possesses and he desires4 ,but if one man will do this1 so will several4 ,and if powers are put into the hands of a comparatively small number1 called an aristocracy1--powers which make them stronger than the rest of the community1 they will take from the rest of the community as much as they please of the objects #acof desire4 ,they will thus defeat the very end for whieh government was instituted4 ,the unfitness1 therefore1 of an aristocracy to be intrusted with the powers of government1 rests on demonstration40 ,in exactly the same manner ,mr4 ,mill proves absolute monarchy to be a bad form of government4 8,if government is founded upon this as a law of human nature1 that a man1 if able1 will take from others any thing which they have and he desires1 it is sufficiently evident1 that when a man is called a king he does not change his nature2 so that when he has got power to enable him to take from every man whatever he pleases1 he will take whatever he pleases4 ,to suppose that he will not1 is to affirm that government is unnecessary1 and that human beings will abstain from injuring one another of their own accord4 8,it is very evident that this reasoning extends to every modification of the smaller number4 ,whenever the powers of government are placed in any hands other than those of the community1 whether those of one man1 of a few1 or of several1 those principles of human nature which imply that government is at all necessary1 imply that those persons will make use of them to defeat the very end for which government exists40 ,but is it not possible that a king or an aristocracy may soon be saturated with the objects of their desires1 and may then protect the community in the enjoyment of the rest8 ,mr4 ,mill answers in the negative4 ,he proves1 with great pomp1 that every man desires to have the actions of every other correspondent to his will4 ,others can be induced to conform to our will only by motives derived from pleasure or from pain4 ,the infliction of pain is of course direct injury2 and1 even if it take the milder course1 in order to produce obedience by motives derived from pleasure1 the government must confer favours4 ,but1 as there is no limit to its desire of obedience1 there will be no limit to its disposition to confer favours2 and1 as it can confer favours #adonly by plundering the people1 there will be no limit to its disposition to plunder the people4 8,it is therefore not true that there is in the mind of a king1 or in the minds of an aristocracy1 any point of saturation with the objects of desire40 ,mr4 ,mill then proceeds to show that1 as monarchical and oligarchical governments can influence men by motives drawn from pain1 as well as by motives drawn from pleasure1 they will carry their cruelty1 as well as their rapacity1 to a frightful extent4 ,as he seems greatly to admire his own reasonings on this subject1 we think it but fair to let him speak for himself4 8,the chain of inference in this ease is close and strong to a most unusual degree4 ,a man desires that the actions of other men shall be instantly and accurately correspondent to his will4 ,he desires that the actions of the greatest possible number shall be so4 ,terror is the grand instrument4 ,terror can work only through assurance that evil will follow any failure of conformity between the will and the actions willed4 ,every failure must therefore be punished4 ,as there are no bounds to the mind's desire of its pleasure1 there are1 of course1 no bounds to its desire of perfection in the instruments of that pleasure4 ,there are1 therefore1 no bounds to its desire of exactness in the conformity between its will and the actions willed2 and by consequence to the strength of that terror which is its procuring cause4 ,every the most minute failure must be visited with the heaviest infliction2 and as failure in extreme exactness must frequently happen1 the occasions of cruelty must be incessant4 8,we have thus arrived at several conclusions of the highest possible importance4 ,we have seen that the principle of human nature1 upon which the necessity of government is founded1 the propensity of one man to possess himself of the objects of desire at the cost of another1 leads on1 by infallible sequence1 where power over a community is attained1 and nothing checks1 not only to that degree of plunder which leaves the members 7excepting always the recipients and instruments of the plunder7 the bare means of subsistence1 but to that degree of cruelty which is necessary to keep in existence the most intense terrors40 #ae,now1 no man who has the least knowledge of the real state of the world1 either in former ages or at the present moment1 can possibly be convinced1 though he may perhaps be bewildered1 by arguments like these4 ,during the last two centuries1 some hundreds of absolute princes have reigned in ,europe ,is it true1 that their cruelty has kept in existence the most intense degree of terror2 that their rapacity has left no more than the bare means of subsistence to any of their subjects1 their ministers and soldiers excepted8 ,is this true of all of them8 ,of one half of them8 ,of one tenth part of them8 ,of a single one8 ,is it true1 in the full extent1 even of ,philip the ,second1 of ,louis the ,fifteenth1 or of the ,emperor ,paul8 ,but it is scarcely necessary to quote history4 ,no man of common sense1 however ignorant he may be of books1 can be imposed on by ,mr4 ,mill's argument ,i because no man of common sense can live among his fellow-creatures for a day without seeing innumerable facts which contradict it4 ,it is our business1 however1 to point out its fallacy2 and happily the fallacy is not very recondite4 ,we grant that rulers will take as much as they can of the objects of their desires2 and that1 when the agency of other men is necessary to that end1 they will attempt by all means in their power to enforce the prompt obedience of such men4 ,but what are the objects of human desire8 ,physical pleasure1 no doubt1 in part4 ,but the mere appetites which we have in common with the animals would be gratified almost as cheaply and easily as those of the animals are gratified1 if nothing were given to taste1 to ostentation1 or to the affections4 ,how small a portion of the income of a gentleman in easy circumstances is laid out merely in #af;giving pleasurable sensations to the body of the possessor6 ,the greater part even of what is spent on his kitchen and his cellar goes1 not to titillate his palate1 but to keep up his character for hospitality1 to save him from the reproach of meanness in housekeeping1 and to cement the ties of good neighbourhood4 ,it is clear that a king or an aristocracy may be supplied to satiety with mere corporal pleasures1 at an expense which the rudest and poorest community would scarcely feel4 ,those tastes and propensities which belong to us as reasoning and imaginative beings are not indeed so easily gratified4 ,there is1 we admit1 no point of saturation with objects of desire which come under this head4 ,and therefore the argument of ,mr4 ,mill will be just1 unless there be something in the nature of the objects of desire themselves which is inconsistent with it4 ,now1 of these objects there is none which men in general seem to desire more than the good opinion of others4 ,the hatred and contempt of the public are generally felt to be intolerable4 ,it is probable that our regard for the sentiments of our fellow-creatures springs1 by association1 from a sense of their ability to hurt or to serve us4 ,but1 be this as it may1 it is notorious that1 when the habit of mind of which we speak has once been formed1 men feel extremely solicitous about the opinions of those by whom it is most improbable1 nay1 absolutely impossible1 that they should ever be in the slightest degree injured or benefited4 ,the desire of posthumous fame and the dread of posthumous reproach and execration are feelings from the influence of which scarcely any man is perfectly free1 and which in many men are powerful and constant motives of action4 ,as we are afraid that1 if we handle this part of the argument after our own manner1 we #agshall incur the reproach of sentimentality1 a word which1 in the sacred language of the ,benthamites1 is synonymous with idiocy1 we will quote what ,mr4 ,mill himself says on the subject1 in his ,treatise on ,jurisprudence4 8,pains from the moral source are the pains derived from the unfavourable sentiments of mankind4444 ,these pains are capable of rising to a height with which hardly any other pains incident to our nature can be compared4 ,there is a certain degree of unfavourableness in the sentiments of his fellow-creatures1 under which hardly any man1 not below the standard of humanity1 can endure to live4 8,the importance of this powerful agency1 for the prevention of injurious acts1 is too obvious to need to be illustrated4 ,if sufficiently at command1 it would almost supersede the use of other means4444 8,to know how to direct the unfavourable sentiments of mankind1 it is necessary to know in as complete1 that is1 in as comprehensive1 a way as possible1 what it is which gives them birth4 ,without entering into the metaphysics of the question1 it is a sufficient practical answer1 for the present purpose1 to say that the unfavourable sentiments of man are excited by every thing which hurts them40 ,it is strange that a writer who considers the pain derived from the unfavourable sentiments of others as so acute that1 if sufficiently at command1 it would supersede the use of the gallows and the tread-mill1 should take no notice of this most important restraint when discussing the question of government4 ,we will attempt to deduce a theory of politics in the mathematical form1 in which ,mr4 ,mill delights1 from the premises with which he has himself furnished us4 ,proposition ,i4 ,theorem4 ,no rulers will do any thing which may hurt the people4 #ah,this is the thesis to be maintained3 and the following we humbly offer to ,mr4 ,mill1 as its syllogistic demonstration4 ,no rulers will do that which produces pain to themselves4 ,but the unfavourable sentiments of the people will give pain to them4 ,therefore no rulers will do any thing which may excite the unfavourable sentiments of the people4 ,but the unfavourable sentiments of the people are excited by every thing which hurts them4 ,therefore no rulers will do any thing which may hurt the people4 ,which was the thing to be proved4 ,having thus1 as we think1 not unsuccessfully imitated ,mr4 ,mill's logic1 we do not see why we should not imitate1 what is at least equally perfect in its kind1 his self-complacency1 and proclaim our ,evonka in his own words3 8,the chain of inference1 in this case1 is close and strong to a most unusual degree40 ,the fact is1 that1 when men1 in treating of things which cannot be circumscribed by precise definitions1 adopt this mode of reasoning1 when once they begin to talk of power1 happiness1 misery1 pain1 pleasure1 motives1 objects of desire1 as they talk of lines and numbers1 there is no end to the contradictions and absurdities into which they fall4 ,there is no proposition so monstrously untrue in morals or politics that we will not undertake to prove it1 by something which shall sound like a logical demonstration1 from admitted principles4 ,mr4 ,mill argues that1 if men are not inclined to plunder each other1 government is unnecessary2 and that1 if they are so inclined1 the powers of government1 when entrusted to a small number of them1 will necessarily #ai;be abused4 ,surely it is not by propounding dilemmas of this sort that we are likely to arrive at sound conclusions in any moral science4 ,the whole question is a question of degree4 ,if all men preferred the moderate approbation of their neighbours to any degree of wealth or grandeur1 or sensual pleasure1 government would be unnecessary4 ,if all men desired wealth so intensely as to be willing to brave the hatred of their fellow-creatures for sixpence1 ,mr4 ,mill's argument against monarchies and aristocracies would be true to the full extent4 ,but the fact is1 that all men have some desires which impel them to injure their neighbours1 and some desires which impel them to benefit their neighbours4 ,now1 if there were a community consisting of two classes of men1 one of which should be principally influenced by the one set of motives and the other by the other1 government would clearly be necessary to restrain the class which was eager for plunder and careless of reputation3 and yet the powers of government might be safely intrusted to the class which was chiefly actuated by the love of approbation4 ,now1 it might with no small plausibility be maintained that1 in many countries1 there are two classes which1 in some degree1 answer to this description2 that the poor compose the class which government is established to restrain1 and the people of some property the class to which the powers of government may without danger be confided4 ,it might be said that a man who can barely earn a livelihood by severe labour is under stronger temptations to pillage others than a man who enjoys many luxuries4 ,it might be said that a man who is lost in the crowd is less likely to have the fear of public opinion before his eyes than a man whose station and mode of living render him conspicuous4 ,we do #bjnot assert all this4 ,we only say that it was ,mr4 ,mill's business to prove the contrary2 and that1 not having proved the contrary1 he is not entitled to say1 8that those principles which imply that government is at all necessary1 imply that an aristocracy will make use of its power to defeat the end for which governments exist40 ,this is not true1 unless it be true that a rich man is as likely to covet the goods of his neighbours as a poor man1 and that a poor man is as likely to be solicitous about the opinions of his neighbours as a rich man4 ,but we do not see that1 by reasoning a priori on such subjects as these1 it is possible to advance one single step4 ,we know that every man has some desires which he can gratify only by hurting his neighbours1 and some which he can gratify only by pleasing them4 ,mr4 ,mill has chosen to look only at one-half of human nature1 and to reason on the motives which impel men to oppress and despoil others1 as if they were the only motives by which men could possibly be influenced4 ,we have already shown that1 by taking the other half of the human character1 and reasoning on it as if it were the whole1 we can bring out a result diametrically opposite to that at which ,mr4 ,mill has arrived4 ,we can1 by such a process1 easily prove that any form of government is good1 or that all government is superfluous4 ,we must now accompany ,mr4 ,mill on the next stage of his argument4 ,does any combination of the three simple forms of government afford the requisite securities against the abuse of power8 ,mr4 ,mill complains that those who maintain the affirmative generally beg the question2 and proceeds to settle the point by proving1 after his fashion1 that no combination of the three simple forms1 or of any two of them1 can possibly exist4 #ba0;,from the principles which we have already laid down it follows that1 of the objects of human desire1 and1 speaking more definitely1 of the means to the ends of human desire1 namely1 wealth and power1 each party will endeavour to obtain as much as possible4 8,if any expedient presents itself to any of the supposed parties effectual to this end1 and not opposed to any preferred object of pursuit1 we may infer with certainty that it will be adopted4 ,one effectual expedient is not more effectual than obvious4 ,any two of the parties1 by combining1 may swallow up the third4 ,that such combination will take place appears to be as certain as any thing which depends upon human will2 because there are strong motives in favour of it1 and none that can be conceived in opposition to it4444 ,the mixture of three of the kinds of government1 it is thus evident1 cannot possibly exist4444 ,it may be proper to inquire whether an union may not be possible of two of them4444 8,let us first suppose1 that monarchy is united with aristocracy4 ,their power is equal or not equal4 ,if it is not equal1 it follows1 as a necessary consequence1 from the principles which we have already established1 that the stronger will take from the weaker till it engrosses the whole4 ,the only question therefore is1 ,what will happen when the power is equal8 8,in the first place1 it seems impossible that such equality should ever exist4 ,how is it to be established8 or1 by what criterion is it to be ascertained8 ,if there is no such criterion1 it must1 in all eases1 be the result of chance4 ,if so1 the chances against it are as infinity to one4 ,the idea1 therefore1 is wholly chimerical and absurd4444 8,in this doctrine of the mixture of the simple forms of government is included the celebrated theory of the balance among the component parts of a government4 ,by this it is supposed that1 when a government is composed of monarchy1 aristocracy1 and democracy1 they balance one another1 and by mutual checks produce good government4 ,a few words will suffice to show that1 if any theory deserves the epithets of #8wild1 visionary and chimerical1' it is that of the balance4 ,if there are three powers1 how is it possible to prevent two of them from combining to swallow up the third8 8,the analysis which we have already performed will enable us to trace rapidly the concatenation of causes and effects in this imagined case4 #bb,we have already seen that the interest of the community1 considered in the aggregate or in the democratical point of view1 is1 that each individual should receive protection2 and that the powers which are constituted for that purpose should be employed exclusively for that purpose4444 ,we have also seen that the interest of the king and of the governing aristocracy is directly the reverse4 ,it is to have unlimited power over the rest of the community1 and to use it for their own advantage4 ,in the supposed case of the balance of the monarchical1 aristocratical1 and democratical powers1 it cannot be for the interest of either the monarchy or the aristocracy to combine with the democracy2 because it is the interest of the democracy1 or community at large1 that neither the king nor the aristocracy should have one particle of power1 or one particle of the wealth of the community1 for their own advantage4 8,the democracy or community have all possible motives to endeavour to prevent the monarchy and aristocracy from exercising power1 or obtaining the wealth of the community for their own advantage4 ,the monarchy and aristocracy have all possible motives for endeavouring to obtain unlimited power over the persons and property of the community4 ,the consequence is inevitable3 they have all possible1 motives for combining to obtain that power40 ,if any part of this passage be more eminently absurd than another1 it is1 we think1 the argument by which ,mr4 ,mill proves that there cannot be an union of monarchy and aristocracy4 ,their power1 he says1 must be equal or not equal4 ,but of equality there is no criterion4 ,therefore the chances against its existence are as infinity to one4 ,if the power be not equal1 then it follows1 from the principles of human nature1 that the stronger will take from the weaker1 till it has engrossed the whole4 ,now1 if there be no criterion of equality between two portions of power there can be no common measure of portions of power4 ,therefore it is utterly impossible to compare them together4 ,but where two #bcportions of lower are of the same kind1 there is no difficulty in ascertaining1 sufficiently for all practical purposes1 whether they are equal or unequal4 ,it is easy to judge whether two men run equally fast1 or can lift equal weights4 ,two arbitrators1 whose joint decision is to be final1 and neither of whom can do any thing without the assent of the other1 possess equal power4 ,two electors1 each of whom has a vote for a borough1 possess1 in that respect1 equal power4 ,if not1 all ,mr4 ,mill's political theories fall to the ground at once4 ,for1 if it be impossible to ascertain whether two portions of power are equal1 he never can show that1 even under a system of universal suffrage1 a minority might not carry every thing their own way1 against the wishes and interests of the majority4 ,where there are two portions of power differing in kind1 there is1 we admit1 no criterion of equality4 ,but then1 in such a case1 it is absurd to talk1 as ,mr4 ,mill does1 about the stronger and the weaker4 ,popularly1 indeed1 and with reference to some particular objects1 these words may very fairly be used4 ,but to use them mathematically is altogether improper4 ,if we are speaking of a boxing-match1 we may say that some famous bruiser has greater bodily power than any man in ,england4 ,if we are speaking of a pantomime1 we may say the same of some very agile harlequin4 ,but it would be talking nonsense to say1 in general1 that the power of ,harlequin either exceeded that of the pugilist1 or fell short of it4 ,if ,mr4 ,mill's argument be good as between different branches of a legislature1 it is equally good as between sovereign powers4 ,every government1 it may be said1 will1 if it can1 take the objects of its desires from every other4 ,if the ,french government can subdue ,england #bd;it will do so4 ,if the ,english government can subdue ,france it will do so4 ,but the power of ,england and ,france is either equal or not equal4 ,the chance that it is not exactly equal is as infinity to one1 and may safely be left out of the account2 and then the stronger will infallibly take from the weaker till the weaker is altogether enslaved4 ,surely the answer to all this hubbub of unmeaning words is the plainest possible4 ,for some purposes ,france is stronger than ,england4 ,for some purposes ,england is stronger than ,france4 ,for some1 neither has any power at all4 ,france has the greater population1 ,england the greater capital2 ,france has the greater army1 ,england the greater fleet4 ,for an expedition to ,rio ,janeiro or the ,philippines1 ,england has the greater power4 ,for a war on the ,po or the ,danube1 ,france has the greater power4 ,but neither has power sufficient to keep the other in quiet subjection for a month4 ,invasion would be very perilous2 the idea of complete conquest on either side utterly ridiculous4 ,this is the manly and sensible way of discussing such questions4 ,the ergo1 or rather the argal1 of ,mr4 ,mill cannot impose on a child4 ,yet we ought scarcely to say this2 for we remember to have heard a child ask whether ,bonaparte was stronger than an elephant6 ,mr4 ,mill reminds us of those philosophers of the sixteenth century who1 having satisfied themselves a priori that the rapidity with which bodies descended to the earth varied exactly as their weights1 refused to believe the contrary on the evidence of their own eyes and ears4 ,the ,british constitution1 according to ,mr4 ,mill's classification1 is a mixture of monarchy and aristocracy2 one ,house of ,parliament being composed of #be;hereditary nobles1 and the other almost entirely chosen by a privileged class who possess the elective franchise on account of their property1 or their connection with certain corporations4 ,mr4 ,mill's argument proves that1 from the time that these two powers were mingled in our government1 that is1 from the very first dawn of our history1 one or the other must have been constantly encroaching4 ,according to him1 moreover1 all the encroachments must have been on one side4 ,for the first encroachment could only have been made by the stronger ,i and that first encroachment would have made the stronger stronger still4 ,it is1 therefore1 matter of absolute demonstration1 that either the ,parliament was stronger than the ,crown in the reign of ,henry ,,viii41 or that the ,crown was stronger than the ,parliament in #afda4 8,hippocrate dira ce que lui plaira10 says the girl in ,moliere2 8mail le cocher est mort40 ,mr4 ,mill may say what he pleases2 but the ,english constitution is still alive4 ,that since the ,revolution the ,parliament has possessed great power in the state1 is what nobody will dispute4 ,the ,king1 on the other hand1 can create new peers1 and can dissolve ,parliaments4 ,william sustained severe mortifications from the ,house of ,commons1 and was1 indeed1 unjustifiably oppressed4 ,anne was desirous to change a ministry which had a majority in both ,houses4 ,she watched her moment for a dissolution1 created twelve ,tory peers1 and succeeded4 ,thirty years later1 the ,house of ,commons drove ,walpole from his seat4 ,in #aghd1 ,george ,,iii4 was able to keep ,mr4 ,pitt in office in the face of a majority of the ,house of ,commons4 ,in #ahjd1 the apprehension of a defeat in ,parliament compelled the same ,king to part from his most favoured minister4 ,but1 in #ahjg1 he was able to do #bf;exactly what ,anne had done nearly a hundred years before4 ,now1 had the power of the ,king increased during the intervening century1 or had it remained stationary8 ,is it possible that the one lot among the infinite number should have fallen to us8 ,if not1 ,mr4 ,mill has proved that one of the two parties must have been constantly taking from the other4 ,many of the ablest men in ,england think that the influence of the ,crown has1 on the whole1 increased since the reign of ,anne4 ,others think that the ,parliament has been growing in strength4 ,but of this there is no doubt1 that both sides possessed great power then1 and possess great power now4 ,surely1 if there were the least truth in the argument of ,mr4 ,mill1 it could not possibly be a matter of doubt1 at the end of a hundred and twenty years1 whether the one side or the other had been the gainer4 ,but we ask pardon4 ,we forgot that a fact1 irreconcilable with ,mr4 ,mill's theory1 furnishes1 in his opinion1 the strongest reason for adhering to the theory4 ,to take up the question in another manner1 is it not plain that there may be two bodies1 each possessing a perfect and entire power1 which cannot be taken from it without its own concurrence8 ,what is the meaning of the words stronger and weaker1 when applied to such bodies as these8 ,the one may1 indeed1 by physical force1 altogether destroy the other4 ,but this is not the question4 ,a third party1 a general of their own1 for example1 may1 by physical force1 subjugate them both4 ,nor is there any form of government1 ,mr4 ,mill's utopian democracy not excepted1 secure from such an occurrence4 ,we are speaking of the powers with which the constitution invests the two branches of the legislature3 and we ask ,mr4 ,mill how1 on his own principles1 he can #bgmaintain that one of them will be able to encroach on the other1 if the consent of the other be necessary to such encroachment8 ,mr4 ,mill tells us that1 if a government be composed of the three simple forms1 which he will not admit the ,british constitution to be1 two of the component parts will inevitably join against the third4 ,now1 if two of them combine and act as one1 this case evidently resolves itself into the last2 and all the observations which we have just made will fully apply to it4 ,mr4 ,mill says1 that 8any two of the parties1 by combining1 may swallow up the third20 and afterwards asks1 8,how it is possible to prevent two of them from combining to swallow up the third80 ,surely ,mr4 ,mill must be aware that in politics two is not always the double of one4 ,if the concurrence of all the three branches of the legislature be necessary to every law1 each branch will possess constitutional power sufficient to protect it against any thing but that physical force from which no form of government is secure4 ,mr4 ,mill reminds us of the ,irishman1 who could not be brought to understand how one juryman could possibly starve out eleven others4 ,but is it certain that two of the branches of the legislature will combine against the third8 8,it appears to be as certain10 says ,mr4 ,mill1 8as any thing which depends upon human will2 because there are strong motives in favour of it1 and none that can be conceived in opposition to it40 ,he subsequently sets forth what these motives are4 ,the interest of the democracy is that each individual should receive protection4 ,the interest of the ,king and the aristocracy is to have all the power that they can obtain1 and to use it for their own ends4 ,therefore the ,king and the #bh;aristocracy have all possible motives for combining against the people4 ,if our readers will look back to the passage quoted above1 they will see that we represent ,mr4 ,mill's argument quite fairly4 ,now we should have thought that1 without the help of either history or experience1 ,mr4 ,mill would have discovered1 by the light of his own logic1 the fallacy which lurks1 and indeed scarcely lurks1 under this pretended demonstration4 ,the interest of the ,king may be opposed to that of the people4 ,but is it identical with that of the aristocracy8 ,in the very page which contains this argument1 intended to prove that the ,king and the aristocracy will coalesce against the people1 ,mr4 ,mill attempts to show that there is so strong an opposition of interest between the ,king and the aristocracy that if the powers of government are divided between them the one will inevitably usurp the power of the other4 ,if so1 he is not entitled to conclude that they will combine to destroy the power of the people merely because their interests may be at variance with those of the people4 ,he is bound to show1 not merely that in all communities the interest of a king must be opposed to that of the people1 but also that1 in all communities1 it must be more directly opposed to the interest of the people than to the interest of the aristocracy4 ,but he has not shown this4 ,therefore he has not proved his proposition on his own principles4 ,to quote history would be a mere waste of time4 ,every schoolboy1 whose studies have gone so far as the ,abridgments of ,goldsmith1 can mention instances in which sovereigns have allied themselves with the people against the aristocracy1 and in which the nobles have allied themselves with the people against the sovereign4 ,in general1 when there are three parties #bi;every one of which has much to fear from the others1 it is not found that two of them combine to plunder the third4 ,if such a combination be formed it scarcely ever effects its purpose4 ,it soon becomes evident which member of the coalition is likely to be the greater gainer by the transaction4 ,he becomes an object of jealousy to his ally1 who1 in all probability1 changes sides1 and compels him to restore what he has taken4 ,everybody knows how ,henry ,,viii4 trimmed between ,francis and the ,emperor ,charles4 ,but it is idle to cite examples of the operation of a principle which is illustrated in almost every page of history1 ancient or modern1 and to which almost every state in ,europe has1 at one time or another1 been indebted for its independence4 ,mr4 ,mill has now1 as he conceives1 demonstrated that the simple forms of government are bad1 and that the mixed forms cannot possibly exist4 ,there is still1 however1 it seems1 a hope for mankind4 8,in the grand discovery of modern times1 the system of representation1 the solution of all the difficulties1 both speculative and practical1 will perhaps be found4 ,if it cannot1 we seem to be forced upon the extraordinary conclusion1 that good government is impossible4 ,for1 as there is no individual or combination of individuals1 except the community itself1 who would not have an interest in bad government if intrusted with its powers1 and as the community itself is incapable of exercising those powers1 and must intrust them to certain individuals1 the conclusion is obvious3 the community itself must check those individuals2 else they will follow their interest1 and produce bad government4 ,but how is it the community can cheek8 ,the community can act only when assembled2 and when assembled1 it is incapable of acting4 ,the community1 however1 can choose representatives40 ,the next question is--,how must the representative body be constituted8 ,mr4 ,mill lays down two principles1 #cj;about which1 he says1 8it is unlikely that there will be any dispute40 8,first1 ,the checking body must haye a degree of power sufficient for the business of checking40 8,secondly1 ,it must have an identity of interest with the community4 ,otherwise1 it will make a mischievous use of its power40 ,the first of these propositions certainly admits of no dispute4 ,as to the second1 we shall hereafter take occasion to make some remarks on the sense in which ,mr4 ,mill understands the words 8interest of the community40 ,it does not appear very easy1 on ,mr4 ,mill's principles1 to find out any mode of making the interest of the representative body identical with that of the constituent body4 ,the plan proposed by ,mr4 ,mill is simply that of very frequent election4 8,as it appears10 says he1 8that limiting the duration of their power is a security against the sinister interest of the people's representatives1 so it appears that it is the only security of which the nature of the case admits40 ,but all the arguments by which ,mr4 ,mill has proved monarchy and aristocracy to be pernicious will1 as it appears to us1 equally prove this security to be no security at all4 ,is it not clear that the representatives1 as soon as they are elected1 are an aristocracy1 with an interest opposed to the interest of the community8 ,why should they not pass a law for extending the term of their power from one year to ten years1 or declare themselves senators for life8 ,if the whole legislative power is given to them1 they will be constitutionally competent to do this4 ,if part of the legislative power is withheld from them1 to whom is that part given8 ,is the people to retain it1 and to express its assent or dissent in primary #ca;assemblies8 ,mr4 ,mill himself tells us that the community can only act when assembled1 and that1 when assembled1 it is incapable of acting4 ,or is it to be provided1 as in some of the ,american republics1 that no change in the fundamental laws shall be made without the consent of a convention1 specially elected for the purpose8 ,still the difficulty recurs3 ,why may not the members of the convention betray their trust1 as well as the members of the ordinary legislature8 ,when private men1 they may have been zealous for the interests of the community4 ,when candidates1 they may have pledged themselves to the cause of the constitution4 ,but1 as soon as they are a convention1 as soon as they are separated from the people1 as soon as the supreme power is put into their hands1 commences that interest opposite to the interest of the community which must1 according to ,mr4 ,mill1 produce measures opposite to the interests of the community4 ,we must find some other means1 therefore1 of checking this check upon a check2 some other prop to carry the tortoise1 that carries the elephant1 that carries the world4 ,we know well that there is no real danger in such a case4 ,but there is no danger only because there is no truth in ,mr4 ,mill's principles4 ,if men were what he represents them to be1 the letter of the very constitution which he recommends would afford no safeguard against bad government4 ,the real security is this1 that legislators will be deterred by the fear of resistance and of infamy from acting in the manner which we have described4 ,but restraints1 exactly the same in kind1 and differing only in degree1 exist in all forms of government4 ,that broad line of distinction which ,mr4 ,mill tries to point out between monarchies and aristocracies #cbon the one side1 and democracies on the other1 has in fact no existence4 ,in no form of government is there an absolute identity of interest between the people and their rulers4 ,in every form of government1 the rulers stand in some awe of the people4 ,the fear of resistance and the sense of shame operate1 in a certain degree1 on the most absolute kings and the most illiberal oligarchies4 ,and nothing but the fear of resistance and the sense of shame preserves the freedom of the most democratic communities from the encroachments of their annual and biennial delegates4 ,we have seen how ,mr4 ,mill proposes to render the interest of the representative body identical with that of the constituent body4 ,the next question is1 in what manner the interest of the constituent body is to be rendered identical with that of the community4 ,mr4 ,mill shows that a minority of the community1 consisting even of many thousands1 would be a bad constituent body1 and1 indeed1 merely a numerous aristocracy4 8,the benefits of the representative system10 says he1 8are lost1 in all cases in which the interests of the choosing body are not the same with those of the community4 ,it is very evident1 that if the community itself were the choosing body1 the interest of the community and that of the choosing body would be the same40 ,on these grounds ,mr4 ,mill recommends that all males of mature age1 rich and poor1 educated and ignorant1 shall have votes4 ,but why not the women too8 ,this question has often been asked in parliamentary debate1 and has never1 to our knowledge1 received a plausible answer4 ,mr4 ,mill escapes from it as fast as he can4 ,but we shall take the liberty to dwell a little on the words of the oracle4 8,one thing10 says he1 8is #ccpretty clear1 that all those individuals whose interests are involved in those of other individuals1 may be struck off without inconvenience4444 ,in this light women may be regarded1 the interest of almost all of whom is involved either in that of their fathers1 or in that of their husbands40 ,if we were to content ourselves with saying1 in answer to all the arguments in ,mr4 ,mill's essay1 that the interest of a king is involved in that of the community1 we should be accused1 and justly1 of talking nonsense4 ,yet such an assertion would not1 as far as we can perceive1 be more unreasonable than that which ,mr4 ,mill has here ventured to make4 ,without adducing one fact1 without taking the trouble to perplex the question by one sophism1 he placidly dogmatises away the interest of one half of the human race4 ,if there be a word of truth in history1 women have always been1 and still are1 over the greater part of the globe1 humble companions1 playthings1 captives1 menials1 beasts of burden4 ,except in a few happy and highly civilised communities1 they are strictly in a state of personal slavery4 ,even in those countries where they are best treated1 the laws are generally unfavourable to them1 with respect to almost all the points in which they are most deeply interested4 ,mr4 ,mill is not legislating for ,england or the ,united ,states2 but for mankind4 ,is then the interest of a ,turk the same with that of the girls who compose his harem8 ,is the interest of a ,chinese the same with that of the woman whom he harnesses to his plough8 ,is the interest of an ,italian the same with that of the daughter whom he devotes to ,god8 ,the interest of a respectable ,englishman may be said1 without any impropriety1 to be identical with that of his wife4 ,but #cdwhy is it so8 ,because human nature is not what ,mr4 ,mill conceives it to be2 because civilised men1 pursuing their own happiness in a social state1 are not ,yahoos fighting for carrion2 because there is a pleasure in being loved and esteemed1 as well as in being feared and servilely obeyed4 ,why does not a gentleman restrict his wife to the bare maintenance which the law would compel him to allow her1 that he may have more to spend on his personal pleasures8 ,because1 if he loves her1 he has pleasure in seeing her pleased2 and because1 even if he dislikes her1 he is unwilling that the whole neighbourhood should cry shame on his meanness and ill-nature4 ,why does not the legislature1 altogether composed of males1 pass a law to deprive women of all civil privileges whatever1 and reduce them to the state of slaves8 ,by passing such a law1 they would gratify what ,mr4 ,mill tells us is an inseparable part of human nature1 the desire to possess unlimited power of inflicting pain upon others4 ,that they do not pass such a law1 though they have the power to pass it1 and that no man in ,england wishes to see such a law passed1 proves that the desire to possess unlimited power of inflicting pain is not inseparable from human nature4 ,if there be in this country an identity of interest between the two sexes1 it cannot possibly arise from any thing but the pleasure of being loved1 and of communicating happiness4 ,for1 that it does not spring from the mere instinct of sex1 the treatment which women experience over the greater part of the world abundantly proves4 ,and1 if it be said that our laws of marriage have produced it1 this only removes the argument a step further2 for those laws have been made by males4 ,now1 if the kind feelings of one half of the species be a sufficient security for the happiness of the other1 #cewhy may not the kind feelings of a monarch or an aristocracy he sufficient at least to prevent them from grinding the people to the very utmost of their power8 ,if ,mr4 ,mill will examine why it is that women are better treated in ,england than in ,persia1 he may perhaps find out1 in the course of his inquiries1 why it is that the ,danes are better governed than the subjects of ,caligula4 ,we now come to the most important practical question in the whole essay4 ,is it desirable that all males arrived at years of discretion should vote for representatives1 or should a pecuniary qualification be required8 ,mr4 ,mill's opinion is1 that the lower the qualification the better2 and that the best system is that in which there is none at all4 8,the qualification10 says he1 8must either be such as to embrace the majority of the population1 or something less than the majority4 ,suppose1 in the first place1 that it embraces the majority1 the question is1 whether the majority would have an interest in oppressing those who1 upon this supposition1 would be deprived of political power8 ,if we reduce the calculation to its elements1 we shall see that the interest which they would have of this deplorable kind1 though it would be something1 would not be very great4 ,each man of the majority1 if the majority were constituted the governing body1 would have something less than the benefit of oppressing a single man4 ,if the majority were twice as great as the minority1 each man of the majority would only have one half the benefit of oppressing a single man4444 ,suppose1 in the second place1 that the qualification did not admit a body of electors so large as the majority1 in that case taking again the calculation in its elements1 we shall see that each man would have a benefit equal to that derived from the oppression of more than one man2 and that1 in proportion as the elective body constituted a smaller and smaller minority1 the benefit of misrule to the elective body would be increased1 and bad government would be insured40 ,the first remark which we have to make on this argument #cf;is1 that1 by ,mr4 ,mill's own account1 even a government in which every human being should vote would still be defective4 ,for1 under a system of universal suffrage1 the majority of the electors return the representative1 and the majority of the representatives make the law4 ,the whole people may vote1 therefore2 but only the majority govern4 ,so that1 by ,mr4 ,mill's own confession1 the most perfect system of government conceivable is one in which the interest of the ruling body to oppress1 though not great1 is something4 ,but is ,mr4 ,mill in the right when he says that such an interest could not be very great8 ,we think not4 ,if1 indeed1 every man in the community possessed an equal share of what ,mr4 ,mill calls the objects of desire1 the majority would probably abstain from plundering the minority4 ,a large minority would offer a vigorous resistance2 and the property of a small minority would not repay the other members of the community for the trouble of dividing it4 ,but it happens that in all civilised communities there is a small minority of rich men1 and a great majority of poor men4 ,if there were a thousand men with ten pounds apiece1 it would not be worth while for nine hundred and ninety of them to rob ten1 and it would be a bold attempt for six hundred of them to rob four hundred4 ,but1 if ten of them had a hundred thousand pounds apiece1 the case would be very different4 ,there would then be much to be got1 and nothing to be feared4 8,that one human being will desire to render the person and property of another subservient to his pleasures1 notwithstanding the pain or loss of pleasure which it may occasion to that other individual1 is10 according to ,mr4 ,mill1 8the foundation of government40 ,that the property of the rich minority can be made subservient #cgto the pleasures of the poor majority will scarcely be denied4 ,but ,mr4 ,mill proposes to give the poor majority power over the rich minority4 ,is it possible to doubt to what1 on his own principles such an arrangement must lead8 ,it may perhaps be said that1 in the long run1 it is for the interest of the people that property should be secure1 and that therefore they will respect it4 ,we answer thus3--,it cannot be pretended that it is not for the immediate interest of the people to plunder the rich4 ,therefore1 even if it were quite certain that1 in the long run1 the people would1 as a body1 lose by doing so1 it would not necessarily follow that the fear of remote ill consequences would overcome the desire of immediate acquisitions4 ,every individual might flatter himself that the punishment would not fall on him4 ,mr4 ,mill himself tells us1 in his ,essay on ,jurisprudence1 that no quantity of evil which is remote and uncertain will suffice to prevent crime4 ,but we are rather inclined to think that it would1 on the whole1 be for the interest of the majority to plunder the rich4 ,if so1 the ,utilitarians will say1 that the rich ought to be plundered4 ,we deny the inference4 ,for1 in the first place1 if the object of government be the greatest happiness of the greatest number1 the intensity of the suffering which a measure inflicts must be taken into consideration1 as well as the number of the sufferers4 ,in the next place1 we have to notice one most important distinction which ,mr4 ,mill has altogether overlooked4 ,throughout his essay1 he confounds the community with the species4 ,he talks of the greatest happiness of the greatest number3 but1 when we examine his reasonings1 we find that he thinks only of the greatest number of a single generation4 #ch,therefore1 even if we were to concede that all those arguments of which we have exposed the fallacy are unanswerable1 we might still deny the conclusion at which the essayist arrives4 ,even if we were to grant that he had found out the form of government which is best for the majority of the people now living on the face of the earth1 we might still without inconsistency maintain that form of government to be pernicious to mankind4 ,it would still be incumbent on ,mr4 ,mill to prove that the interest of every generation is identical with the interest of all succeeding generations4 ,and how on his own principles he could do this we are at a loss to conceive4 ,the case1 indeed1 is strictly analogous to that of an aristocratic government4 ,in an aristocracy1 says ,mr4 ,mill1 the few1 being invested with the powers of government1 can take the objects of their desires from the people4 ,in the same manner1 every generation in turn can gratify itself at the expense of posterity1--priority of time1 in the latter case1 giving an advantage exactly corresponding to that which superiority of station gives in the former4 ,that an aristocracy will abuse its advantage1 is1 according to ,mr4 ,mill1 matter of demonstration4 ,is it not equally certain that the whole people will do the same2 that1 if they have the power1 they will commit waste of every sort on the estate of mankind1 and transmit it to posterity impoverished and desolated8 ,how is it possible for any person who holds the doctrines of ,mr4 ,mill to doubt that the rich1 in a democracy such as that which he recommends1 would be pillaged as unmercifully as under a ,turkish ,pacha8 ,it is no doubt for the interest of the next generation1 and it may be for the remote interest of the present #ci;generation1 that property should be held sacred4 ,and so no doubt it will be for the interest of the next ,pacha1 and even for that of the present ,pacha1 if he should hold office long1 that the inhabitants of his ,pachalik should be encouraged to accumulate wealth4 ,scarcely any despotic sovereign has plundered his subjects to a large extent without having reason before the end of his reign to regret it4 ,every body knows how bitterly ,louis the ,fourteenth1 towards the close of his life1 lamented his former extravagance4 ,if that magnificent prince had not expended millions on ,marli and ,versailles1 and tens of millions on the aggrandisement of his grandson1 he would not have been compelled at last to pay servile court to low-born money-lenders1 to humble himself before men on whom1 in the days of his pride1 he would not have vouchsafed to look1 for the means of supporting even his own household4 ,examples to the same effect might easily be multiplied4 ,but despots1 we see1 do plunder their subjects1 though history and experience tell them that1 by prematurely exacting the means of profusion1 they are in fact devouring the seed-corn from which the future harvest of revenue is to spring4 ,why then should we suppose that the people will be deterred from procuring immediate relief and enjoyment by the fear of distant calamities1 of calamities which perhaps may not be fully felt till the times of their grand-children8 ,these conclusions are strictly drawn from ,mr4 ,mill's own principles3 and1 unlike most of the conclusions which he has himself drawn from those principles1 they are not1 as far as we know1 contradicted by facts4 ,the case of the ,united ,states is not in point4 ,in a country where the necessaries of life are cheap and the wages of labour high1 where a man who has no capital #dj;but his legs and arms may expect to become rich by industry and frugality1 it is not very decidedly even for the immediate advantage of the poor to plunder the rich2 and the punishment of doing so would very speedily follow the offence4 ,but in countries in which the great majority live from hand to mouth1 and in which vast masses of wealth have been accumulated by a comparatively small number1 the case is widely different4 ,the immediate want is1 at particular seasons1 craving1 imperious1 irresistible4 ,in our own time it has steeled men to the fear of the gallows1 and urged them on the point of the bayonet4 ,and1 if these men had at their command that gallows and those bayonets which now scarcely restrain them1 what is to be expected8 ,nor is this state of things one which can exist only under a bad government4 ,if there be the least truth in the doctrines of the school to which ,mr4 ,mill belongs1 the increase of population will necessarily produce it everywhere4 ,the increase of population is accelerated by good and cheap government4 ,therefore1 the better the government1 the greater is the inequality of conditions3 and the greater the inequality of conditions1 the stronger are the motives which impel the populace to spoliation4 ,as for ,america1 we appeal to the twentieth century4 ,it is scarcely necessary to discuss the effects which a general spoliation of the rich would produce4 ,it may indeed happen that1 where a legal and political system full of abuses is inseparably bound up with the institution of property1 a nation may gain by a single convulsion1 in which both perish together4 ,the price is fearful4 ,but1 if1 when the shock is over1 a new order of things should arise under which property may enjoy security1 the industry of individuals will soon #darepair the devastation4 ,thus we entertain no doubt that the ,revolution was1 on the whole1 a most salutary event for ,france4 ,but would ,france have gained if1 ever since the year #agic1 she had been governed by a democratic convention8 ,if ,mr4 ,mill's principles be sound1 we say that almost her whole capital would by this time have been annihilated4 ,as soon as the first explosion was beginning to be forgotten1 as soon as wealth again began to germinate1 as soon as the poor again began to compare their cottages and salads with the hotels and banquets of the rich1 there would have been another scramble for property1 another maximum1 another general confiscation1 another reign of terror4 ,four or five such convulsions following each other1 at intervals of ten or twelve years1 would reduce the most flourishing countries of ,europe to the state of ,barbary or the ,morea4 ,the civilised part of the world has now nothing to fear from the hostility of savage nations4 ,once the deluge of barbarism has passed over it1 to destroy and to fertilise2 and in the present state of mankind we enjoy a full security against that calamity4 ,that flood will no more return to cover the earth4 ,but is it possible that in the bosom of civilisation itself may be engendered the malady which shall destroy it8 ,is it possible that institutions may be established which1 without the help of earthquake1 of famine1 of pestilence1 or of the foreign sword1 may undo the work of so many ages of wisdom and glory1 and gradually sweep away taste1 literature1 science1 commerce1 manufactures1 everything but the rude arts necessary to the support of animal life8 ,is it possible that1 in two or three hundred years1 a few lean and half-naked fishermen may divide with owls and foxes the ruins of the #db;greatest ,european cities--may wash their nets amidst the relics of' her gigantic docks1 and build their huts out of the capitals of her stately cathedrals8 ,if the principles of ,mr4 ,mill he sound1 we say1 without hesitation1 that the form of government which he recommends will assuredly produce all this4 ,but1 if these principles be unsound1 if the reasonings by which we have opposed them be just1 the higher and middling orders are the natural representatives of the human race4 ,their interest may be opposed in some things to that of their poorer contemporaries2 but it is identical with that of the innumerable generations which are to follow4 ,mr4 ,mill concludes his essay1 by answering an objection often made to the project of universal suffrage--that the people do not understand their own interests4 ,we shall not go through his arguments on this subject1 because1 till he has proved that it is for the interest of the people to respect property1 he only makes matters worse by proving that they understand their interests4 ,but we cannot refrain from treating our readers with a delicious bonne bouche of wisdom1 which he has kept for the last moment4 8,the opinions of that class of the people who are below the middle rank are formed1 and their minds are directed1 by that intelligent1 that virtuous rank1 who come the most immediately in contact with them1 who are in the constant habit of intimate communication with them1 to whom they fly for advice and assistance in all their numerous difficulties1 upon whom they feel an immediate and daily dependence in health and in sickness1 in infancy and in old age1 to whom their children look up as models for their imitation1 whose opinions they hear daily repeated1 and account it their honour to adopt4 ,there can be no doubt that the middle rank1 which gives to science1 to art1 and to legislation itself their most distinguished ornaments1 and is the chief source of all that has exalted and refined human nature1 is that portion of the community1 of which1 if the basis of representation were #dc;ever so far extended1 the opinion would ultimately decide4 ,of the people1 beneath them1 a vast majority would be sure to be guided by their advice and example40 ,this single paragraph is sufficient to upset ,mr4 ,mill's theory4 ,will the people act against their own interest8 ,or will the middle rank act against its own interest8 ,or is the interest of the middle rank identical with the interest of the people8 ,if the people act according to the directions of the middle rank1 as ,mr4 ,mill says that they assuredly will1 one of these three questions must be answered in the affirmative4 ,but1 if any one of the three be answered in the affirmative1 his whole system falls to the ground4 ,if the interest of the middle rank be identical with that of the people1 why should not the powers of government be intrusted to that rank8 ,if the powers of government were intrusted to that rank1 there would evidently be an aristocracy of wealth2 and 8to constitute an aristocracy of wealth1 though it were a very numerous one1 would10 according to ,mr4 ,mill1 8leave the community without protection1 and exposed to all the evils of unbridled power40 ,will not the same motives which induce1 the middle classes to abuse one kind of power induce them to abuse another8 ,if their interest be the same with that of the people they will govern the people well4 ,if it be opposite to that of the people they will advise the people ill4 ,the system of universal suffrage1 therefore1 according to ,mr4 ,mill's own account1 is only a device for doing circuitously what a representative system1 with1 a pretty high qualification1 would do directly4 ,so ends this celebrated ,essay4 ,and such is this philosophy for which the experience of three thousand years is to be discarded2 this philosophy1 the professors #ddof which speak as if it had guided the world to the knowledge of navigation and alphabetical writing2 as if1 before its dawn1 the inhabitants of ,europe had lived in caverns and eaten each other6 ,we are sick1 it seems1 like the children of ,israel1 of the objects of our old and legitimate worship4 ,we pine for a new idolatry4 ,all that is costly and all that is ornamental in our intellectual treasures must be delivered up1 and cast into the furnace--and there comes out this ,calf6 ,our readers can scarcely mistake our object in writing this article4 ,they will not suspect us of any disposition to advocate the cause of absolute monarchy1 or of any narrow form of oligarchy1 or to exaggerate the evils of popular government4 ,our object at present is1 not so much to attack or defend any particular system of polity1 as to expose the vices of a kind of reasoning utterly unfit for moral and political discussions2 of a kind of reasoning which may so readily be turned to purposes of falsehood that it ought to receive no quarter1 even when by accident it may be employed on the side of truth4 ,our objection to the essay of ,mr4 ,mill is fundamental4 ,we believe that it is utterly impossible to deduce the science of government from the principles of human nature4 ,what proposition is there respecting human nature which is absolutely and universally true8 ,we know of only one3 and that is not only true1 but identical2 that men always act from self-interest4 ,this truism the ,utilitarians proclaim with as much pride as if it were new1 and as much zeal as if it were important4 ,but in fact1 when explained1 it means only that men1 if they can1 will do as they choose4 ,when we see the #de;actions of a man we know with certainty what he thinks his interest to be4 ,but it is impossible to reason with certainty from what we take to be his interest to his actions4 ,one man goes without a dinner that he may add a shilling to a hundred thousand pounds3 another runs in debt to give balls and masquerades4 ,one man cuts his father's throat to get possession of his old clothes3 another hazards his own life to save that of an enemy4 ,one man volunteers on a forlorn hope3 another is drummed out of a regiment for cowardice4 ,each of these men has1 no doubt1 acted from self-interest4 ,but we gain nothing by knowing this1 except the pleasure1 if it be one1 of multiplying useless words4 ,in fact1 this principle is just as recondite and just as important as the great truth that whatever is1 is4 ,if a philosopher were always to state facts in the following form--8,there is a shower3 but whatever is1 is2 therefore1 there is a shower10--his reasoning would be perfectly sound2 but we do not apprehend that it would materially enlarge the circle of human knowledge4 ,and it is equally idle to attribute any importance to a proposition which1 when interpreted1 means only that a man had rather do what he had rather do4 ,if the doctrine1 that men always act from self-interest1 be laid down in any other sense than this--if the meaning of the word self-interest be narrowed so as to exclude any one of the motives which may by possibility act on any human being1--the proposition ceases to be identical2 but at the same time it ,rases to be true4 ,what we have said of the word 8self-interest0 applies to all the synonymes and circumlocutions which are employed to convey the same meaning2 pain and pleasure1 happiness and misery1 objects of desire1 and so forth4 #df,the whole art of ,mr4 ,mill's essay consists in one simple trick of legerdemain4 ,it consists in using words of the sort which we have been describing first in one sense and then in another4 ,men will take the objects of their desire if they can4 ,unquestionably3--but this is an identical proposition3 for an object of desire means merely a thing which a man will procure if he can4 ,nothing can possibly be inferred from a maxim of this kind4 ,when we see a man take something we shall know that it was an object of his desire4 ,but till then we have no means of judging with certainty what he desires or what he will take4 ,the general proposition1 however1 having been admitted1 ,mr4 ,mill proceeds to reason as if men had no desires but those which can be gratified only by spoliation and oppression4 ,it then becomes easy to deduce doctrines of vast importance from the original axiom4 ,the only misfortune is1 that by thus narrowing the meaning of the word desire the axiom becomes false1 and all the doctrines consequent upon it are false likewise4 ,when we pass beyond those maxims which it is impossible to deny without a contradiction in terms1 and which1 therefore1 do not enable us to advance a single step in practical knowledge1 we do not believe that it is possible to lay down a single general rule respecting the motives which influence human actions4 ,there is nothing which may not1 by association or by comparison1 become an object either of desire or of aversion4 ,the fear of death is generally considered as one of the strongest of our feelings4 ,it is the most formidable sanction which legislators have been able to devise4 ,yet it is notorious that1 as ,lord ,bacon has observed1 there is no passion by which that fear has not been often overcome4 ,physical pain is indisputably an evil2 #dgyet it has been often endured1 and even welcomed4 ,innumerable martyrs have exulted in torments which made the spectators shudder2 and1 to use a more homely illustration1 there are few wives who do not long to be mothers4 ,is the love of approbation a stronger motive than the love of wealth8 ,it is impossible to answer this question generally even in the case of an individual with whom we are very intimate4 ,we often say1 indeed1 that a man loves fame more than money or money more than fame4 ,but this is said in a loose and popular sense2 for there is scarcely a man who would not endure a few sneers for a great sum of money1 if he were in pecuniary distress2 and scarcely a man1 on the other hand1 who1 if he were in flourishing circumstances1 would expose himself to the hatred and contempt of the public for a trifle4 ,in order1 therefore1 to return a precise answer even about a single human being1 we must know what is the amount of the sacrifice of reputation demanded and of the pecuniary advantage offered1 and in what situation the person to whom the temptation is proposed stands at the time4 ,but1 when the question is propounded generally about the whole species1 the impossibility of answering is still more evident4 ,man differs from man2 generation from generation2 nation from nation4 ,education1 station1 sex1 age1 accidental associations1 produce infinite shades of variety4 ,now1 the only mode in which we can conceive it possible to deduce a theory of government from the principles of human nature is this4 ,we must find out what are the motives which1 in a particular form of government1 impel rulers to bad measures1 and what are those which impel them to good measures4 ,we #dhmust then compare the effect of the two classes of motives2 and1 according as we find the one or the other to prevail1 we must pronounce the form of government in question good or bad4 ,now let it be supposed that1 in aristocratical and monarchical states1 the desire of wealth and other desires of the same class always tend to produce mis-government1 and that the love of approbation and other kindred feelings always tend to produce good government4 ,then1 if it be impossible1 as we have shown that it is1 to pronounce generally which of the two classes of motives is the more influential1 it is impossible to find out1 a priori1 whether a monarchical or aristocratical form of government be good or bad4 ,mr4 ,mill has avoided the difficulty of making the comparison1 by very coolly putting all the weights into one of the scales1--by reasoning as if no human being had ever sympathised with the feelings1 been gratified by the thanks1 or been galled by the execrations1 of another4 ,the case1 as we have put it1 is decisive against ,mr4 ,mill2 and yet we have put it in a manner far too favourable to him4 ,for1 in fact1 it is impossible to lay it down as a general rule that the love of wealth in a sovereign always produces misgovernment1 or the love of approbation good government4 ,a patient and farsighted ruler1 for example1 who is less desirous of raising a great sum immediately than of securing an unencumbered and progressive revenue1 will1 by taking off restraints from trade and giving perfect security to property1 encourage accumulation and entice capital from foreign countries4 ,the commercial policy of ,prussia1 which is perhaps superior to that of any country in the world1 and which puts to shame the #di;absurdities of our republican brethren on the other side of the ,atlantic1 has probably sprung from the desire of an absolute ruler to enrich himself4 ,on the other hand1 when the popular estimate of virtues and vices is erroneous1 which is too often the case1 the love of approbation leads sovereigns to spend the wealth of the nation on useless shows1 or to engage in wanton and destructive wars4 ,if then we can neither compare the strength of two motives1 nor determine with certainty to what description of actions either motive will lead1 how can we possibly deduce a theory of government from the nature of man8 ,how1 then1 are we to arrive at just conclusions on a subject so important to the happiness of mankind8 ,surely by that method which1 in every experimental science to which it has been applied1 has signally increased the power and knowledge of our species1--by that method for which our new philosophers would substitute quibbles scarcely worthy of the barbarous respondents and opponents of the middle ages1--by the method of ,induction2--by observing the present state of the world1--by assiduously studying the history of past ages1--by sifting the evidence of facts1--by carefully combining and contrasting those which are authentic1--by generalising with judgment and diffidence1--by perpetually bringing the theory which we have constructed to the test of new facts1--by correcting1 or altogether abandoning it1 according as those new facts prove it to be partially or fundamentally unsound4 ,proceeding thus1--patiently1--diligently1--candidly 1--we may hope to form a system as far inferior in pretension to that which we have been examining and as far superior to it in real utility as the prescriptions of a great physician1 varying with every #ejstage of every malady and with the constitution of every patient1 to the pill of the advertising quack which is to cure all human beings1 in all climates1 of all diseases4 ,this is that noble ,science of ,politics1 which is equally removed from the barren theories of the ,utilitarian sophists1 and from the petty craft1 so often mistaken for statesmanship by minds grown narrow in habits of intrigue1 jobbing1 and official etiquette2--which of all sciences is the most important to the welfare of nations1--which of all sciences most tends to expand and invigorate the mind1--which draws nutriment and ornament from every part of philosophy and literature1 and dispenses in return nutriment and ornament to all4 ,we are sorry and surprised when we see men of good intentions and good natural abilities abandon this healthful and generous study to pore over speculations like those which we have been examining4 ,and we should heartily rejoice to find that our remarks had induced any person of this description to employ1 ,in researches of real utility1 the talents and industry which are now wasted on verbal sophisms1 wretched of their wretched kind4 ,as to the greater part of the sect1 it is1 we apprehend1 of little consequence what they study or under whom4 ,it would be more amusing1 to be sure1 and more reputable1 if they would take up the old republican cant and declaim about ,brutus and ,timoleon1 the duty of killing tyrants and the blessedness of dying for liberty4 ,but1 on the whole1 they might have chosen worse4 ,they may as well be ,utilitarians as jockeys or dandies4 ,and1 though quibbling about self-interest and motives1 and objects of desire1 and the greatest happiness of the greatest number1 is but a poor employment #ea;for a grown man1 it certainly hurts the health less than hard drinking and the fortune less than high play2 it is not much more laughable than phrenology1 and is immeasurably more humane than cock-fighting4 ,,westminster ,,reviewer',s ,,defence ,,of ,,mill47#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,june #ahbi47 ,we #eb;have had great reason1 we think1 to be gratified by the success of our late attack on the ,utilitarians4 ,we could publish a long list of the cures which it has wrought in cases previously considered as hopeless4 ,delicacy forbids us to divulge names2 but we cannot refrain from alluding to two remarkable instances4 ,a respectable lady writes to inform us that her son1 who was plucked at ,cambridge last ,january1 has not been heard to call ,sir ,james ,mackintosh a poor ignorant fool more than twice since the appearance of our article4 ,a distinguished political writer in the ,westminster and ,parliamentary ,reviews has borrowed ,hume's ,history1 and has actually got as far as the battle of ,agincourt4 ,he assures us that he takes great pleasure in his new study1 and that he is very impatient to learn how ,scotland and ,england became one kingdom4 ,but the greatest compliment that we have received is that ,mr4 ,bentham himself should have condescended to take the field in defence of ,mr4 ,mill4 ,we have not been in the habit of reviewing reviews2 but1 as ,mr4 ,bentham is a truly great man1 and as his party have thought fit to announce in puffs and placards that this 7#a7 ,the ,westminster ,review4 ,no4 ,,xxi4 ,article ,,xvi4 ,edinburgh ,review4 ,no4 ,,xcvii4 ,article on ,mill's ,essays on ,government1 c4 #ec article is written by him1 and contains not only an answer to our attacks1 but a development of the 8greatest happiness principle10 with the latest improvements of the author1 we shall for once depart from our general rule4 ,however the conflict may terminate1 we shall at least not have been vanquished by an ignoble hand4 ,of ,mr4 ,bentham himself we shall endeavour1 even while defending ourselves against his reproaches1 to speak with the respect to which his venerable age1 his genius1 and his public services entitle him4 ,if any harsh expression should escape us1 we trust that he will attribute it to inadvertence1 to the momentary warmth of controversy1--to anything1 in short1 rather than to a design of affronting him4 ,though we have nothing in common with the crew of ,hurds and ,boswells1 who1 either from interested motives1 or from the habit of intellectual servility and dependence1 pamper and vitiate his appetite with the noxious sweetness of their undiscerning praise1 we are not perhaps less competent than they to appreciate his merit1 or less sincerely disposed to acknowledge it4 ,though we may sometimes think his reasonings on moral and political questions feeble and sophistical--though we may sometimes smile at his extraordinary language--we can never be weary of admiring the amplitude of his comprehension1 the keenness of his penetration1 the exuberant fertility with which his mind pours forth arguments and illustrations4 ,however sharply he may speak of us1 we can never cease to revere in him the father of the philosophy of ,jurisprudence4 ,he has a full right to all the privileges of a great inventor2 and1 in our court of criticism1 those privileges will never be pleaded in vain4 ,but they are limited in the same manner in which1 fortunately for the ends of justice1 the privileges of the peerage #ed;are now limited4 ,the advantage is personal and incommunicable4 ,a nobleman can now no longer cover with his protection every lackey who follows his heels1 or every bully who draws in his quarrel3 and1 highly as we respect the exalted rank which ,mr4 ,bentham holds among the writers of our time1 yet when1 for the due maintenance of literary police1 we shall think it necessary to confute sophists1 or to bring pretenders to shame1 we shall not depart from the ordinary course of our proceedings because the offenders call themselves ,benthamites4 ,whether ,mr4 ,mill has much reason to thank ,mr4 ,bentham for undertaking his defence1 our readers1 when they have finished this article1 will perhaps be inclined to doubt4 ,great as ,mr4 ,bentham's talents are1 he has1 we think1 shown an undue confidence in them4 ,he should have considered how dangerous it is for any man1 however eloquent and ingenious he may be1 to attack or defend a book without reading it3 and we feel quite convinced that ,mr4 ,bentham would never have written the article before us if he had1 before he began1 perused our review with attention1 and compared it with ,mr4 ,mill's ,essay4 ,he has utterly mistaken our object and meaning4 ,he seems to think that we have undertaken to set up some theory of government in opposition to that of ,mr4 ,mill4 ,but we distinctly disclaimed any such design4 ,from the beginning to the end of our article1 there is not1 as far as we remember1 a single sentence which1 when fairly construed1 can be considered as indicating any such design4 ,if such an expression can be found1 it has been dropped by inadvertence4 ,our object was to prove1 not that monarchy and aristocracy1 are good1 but that ,mr4 ,mill had not proved them to be bad2 not #eethat democracy is bad1 but that ,mr4 ,mill had not proved it to be good4 ,the points in issue are these3 whether the famous ,essay on ,government be1 as it has been called1 a perfect solution of the great political problem1 or a series of sophisms and blunders2 and whether the sect which1 while it glories in the precision of its logic1 extols this ,essay as a masterpiece of demonstration1 be a sect deserving of the respect or of the derision of mankind4 ,these1 we say1 are the issues2 and on these we with full confidence put ourselves on the country4 ,it is not necessary1 for the purposes of this investigation1 that we should state what our political creed is1 or whether we have any political creed at all4 ,a man who cannot act the most trivial part in a farce has a right to hiss ,romeo ,coates3 a man who does not know a vein from an artery may caution a simple neighbour against the advertisements of ,dr4 ,eady4 ,a complete theory of government would indeed be a noble present to mankind2 but it is a present which we do not hope and do not pretend that we can offer4 ,if1 however1 we cannot lav the foundation1 it is something to clear away the rubbish2 if we cannot set up truth1 it is something to pull down error4 ,even if the subjects of which the ,utilitarians treat were subjects of less fearful importance1 we should think it no small service to the cause of good sense and good taste to point out the contrast between their magnificent pretensions and their miserable performances4 ,some of them have1 however1 thought fit to display their ingenuity on questions of the most momentous kind1 and on questions concerning which men cannot reason ill with impunity4 ,we think it1 under these circumstances1 an absolute duty to expose the fallacy of their arguments4 ,it is no matter #efof pride or of pleasure4 ,to read their works is the most soporific employment that we know2 and a man ought no more to be proud of refuting them than of having two legs4 ,we must now come to close quarters with ,mr4 ,bentham1 whom1 we need not say1 we do not mean to include in this observation4 ,he charges us with maintaining1-- 8,first1 #8,that it is not true that all despots govern ill2'--whereon the world is in a mistake1 and the ,whigs have the true light4 ,and for proof1 principally1--that the ,king of ,denmark is not ,caligula4 ,to which the answer is1 that the ,king of ,denmark is not a despot4 ,he was put in his present situation by the people turning the scale in his favour in a balanced contest between himself and the nobility4 ,and it is quite clear that the same power would turn the scale the other way the moment a ,king of ,denmark should take into his head to be ,caligula4 ,it is of little consequence by what congeries of letters the ,majesty of ,denmark is typified in the royal press of ,copenhagen1 while the real fact is that the sword of the people is suspended over his head1 in ease of ill-behaviour1 as effectually as in other countries where more noise is made upon the subject4 ,every body believes the sovereign of ,denmark to be a good and virtuous gentleman2 but there is no more superhuman merit in his being so than in the ease of a rural squire who does not shoot his land-steward or quarter his wife with his yeomanry sabre4 8,it is true that there are partial exceptions to the rule1 that all men use power as badly as they dare4 ,there may have been such things as amiable negro-drivers and sentimental masters of press-gangs2 and here and there1 among the odd freaks of human nature1 there may have been specimens of men who were not tyrants1 though bred up to tyranny4' ,but it would be as wise to recommend wolves for nurses at the ,foundling on the credit of ,romulus and ,remus as to substitute the exception for the general fact1 and advise mankind to take to trusting to arbitrary power on the credit of these specimens40 ,now1 in the first place1 we never cited the case of ,denmark to prove that all despots do not govern ill4 ,we cited it to prove that ,mr4 ,mill did not know how #egto reason4 ,mr4 ,mill gave it as a reason for deducing the theory of government from the general laws of human nature that the ,king of ,denmark was not ,caligula4 ,this we said1 and we still say1 was absurd4 ,in the second place1 it was not we1 but ,mr4 ,mill1 who said that the ,king of ,denmark was a despot4 ,his words are these3--8,the people of ,denmark1 tired out with the oppression of an aristocracy1 resolved that their king should be absolute2 and under their absolute monarch are as well governed as any people in ,europe40 ,we leave ,mr4 ,bentham to settle with ,mr4 ,mill the distinction between a despot and an absolute king4 ,in the third place1 ,mr4 ,bentham says that there was in ,denmark a balanced contest between the king and the nobility4 ,we find some difficulty in believing that ,mr4 ,bentham seriously means to say this1 when we consider that ,mr4 ,mill has demonstrated the chance to be as infinity to one against the existence of such a balanced contest4 ,fourthly1 ,mr4 ,bentham says that in this balanced contest the people turned the scale in favour of the king against the aristocracy4 ,but ,mr4 ,mill has demonstrated that it cannot possibly be for the interest of the monarchy and democracy to join against the aristocracy2 and that1 wherever the three parties exist1 the king and the aristocracy will combine against the people4 ,this1 ,mr4 ,mill assures us1 is as certain as anything which depends upon human will4 ,fifthly1 ,mr4 ,bentham says that1 if the ,king of ,denmark were to oppress his people1 the people and nobles would combine against the king4 ,but ,mr4 ,mill has proved that it can never be for the interest of the aristocracy to combine with the democracy against the #ehking4 ,it is evidently ,mr4 ,bentham's opinion1 that 8monarchy1 aristocracy1 and democracy may balance each other1 and by mutual checks produce good government40 ,but this is the very theory which ,mr4 ,mill pronounces to be the wildest1 the most visionary1 the most chimerical ever broached on the subject of government4 ,we have no dispute on these heads with ,mr4 ,bentham4 ,on the contrary1 we think his explanation true---or1 at least1 true in part2 and we heartily thank him for lending us his assistance to demolish the essay of his follower4 ,his wit and his sarcasm are sport to us2 but they are death to his unhappy disciple4 ,mr4 ,bentham seems to imagine that we have said something implying an opinion favourable to despotism4 ,we can scarcely suppose that1 as he has not condescended to read that portion of our work which he undertook to answer1 he can have bestowed much attention on its general character4 ,had he done so he would1 we think1 scarcely have entertained such a suspicion4 ,mr4 ,mill asserts1 and pretends to prove1 that under no despotic government does any human being1 except the tools of the sovereign1 possess more than the necessaries of life1 and that the most intense degree of terror is kept up by constant cruelty4 ,this1 we say1 is untrue4 ,it is not merely a rule to which there are exceptions3 but it is not the rule4 ,despotism is bad2 but it is scarcely anywhere so bad as ,mr4 ,mill says that it is everywhere4 ,this we are sure ,mr4 ,bentham will allow4 ,if a man were to say that five hundred thousand people die every year in ,london of dram-drinking1 he would not assert a proposition more monstrously false than ,mr4 ,mill's4 ,would it be just to charge us with defending intoxication because we might say that such a man was grossly in the wrong8 #ei,we say with ,mr4 ,bentham that despotism is a bad thing4 ,we say with ,mr4 ,bentham that the exceptions do not destroy the authority of the rule4 ,but this we say--that a single exception overthrows an argument which either does not prove the rule at all1 or else proves the rule to be true without exceptions2 and such an argument is ,mr4 ,mill's argument against despotism4 ,in this respect there is a great difference between rules drawl from experience and rules deduced a priori4 ,we might believe that there had been a fall of snow last ,august1 and yet not think it likely that there would be snow next ,august4 ,a single occurrence opposed to our general experience would tell for very little in our calculation of the chances4 ,but if we could once satisfy ourselves that in any single right-angled triangle the square of the hypothenuse might be less than the squares of the sides1 we must reject the forty-seventh proposition of ,euclid altogether4 ,we willingly1 adopt ,mr4 ,bentham's lively illustration about the wolf2 and we will say in passing that it gives us real pleasure to see how little old age has diminished the gaiety of this eminent man4 ,we can assure him that his merriment gives us far more pleasure on his account than pain on our own4 ,we say with him1 ,keep the wolf out of the nursery1 in spite of the story of ,romulus and ,remus4 ,but1 if the shepherd who saw the wolf licking and suckling those famous twins were1 after telling this story to his companions1 to assert that it was an infallible rule that no wolf ever had spared1 or ever would spare1 any1 living thing which might fall in its way--that its nature was carnivorous--and that it conld not possibly disobey its nature1 we think that the hearers might have been excused for staring4 ,it may be strange1 but is not inconsistent1 that a wolf which has eaten #fjninety-nine children should spare the hundredth4 ,but the fact that a wolf has once spared a child is sufficient to show that there must be some flaw in the chain of reasoning purporting to prove that wolves cannot possibly spare children4 ,mr4 ,bentham proceeds to attack another position which he conceives us to maintain3-- 8,secondly1 ,that a government not under the control of the community 7for there is no question upon any other7 #8may soon be saturated4' ,tell it not in ,bow-street1 whisper it not in ,hatton-garden--that there is a plan for preventing injustice by #8saturation4' ,with what peals of unearthly merriment would ,minos1 acus1 and ,rhadamanthus be aroused upon their benches1 if the #8light wings of saffron and of blue' should bear this theory into their grim domains6 ,why do not the owners of pocket-handkerchiefs try to #8saturate8' ,why does not the cheated publican beg leave to check the gulosity of his defrauder with a repetatur haustus1 and the pummelled plaintiff neutralise the malice of his adversary1 by requesting to have the rest of the beating ,in presence of the court1--if it is not that such conduct would run counter to all the conclusions of experience1 and be the procreation of the mischief it affected to destroy8 ,woful is the man whose wealth depends on his having more than somebody else can be persuaded to take from him2 and woful also is the people that is in such a case60 ,now this is certainly very pleasant writing3 but there is no great difficulty in answering the argument4 ,the real reason which makes it absurd to think of preventing theft by pensioning off thieves is this1 that there is no limit to the number of thieves4 ,if there were only a hundred thieves in a place1 and we were quite sure that no person not already addicted to theft would take to it1 it might become a question whether to keep the thieves from dishonesty by raising them above distress would not be a better course than to employ officers against them4 ,but the actual cases are #fanot parallel4 ,every man who chooses can become a thief2 but a man cannot become a king or a member of the aristocracy whenever he chooses4 ,the number of the depredators is limited2 and therefore the amount of depredation1 so far as physical pleasures are concerned1 must be limited also4 ,now1 we made the remark which ,mr4 ,bentham censures with reference to physical pleasures only4 ,the pleasures of ostentation1 of taste1 of revenge1 and other pleasures of the same description1 have1 we distinctly allowed1 no limit4 ,our words are these3--8,a king or an aristocracy may be supplied to satiety with corporal pleasures1 at an expense which the rudest and poorest community would scarcely feel40 ,does ,mr4 ,bentham deny this8 ,if he does1 we leave him to ,mr4 ,mill4 8,what10 says that philosopher1 in his ,essay on ,education1 8,what are the ordinary pursuits of ,wealth and power1 ,which kindle to such a height the ardour of mankind8 ,not the mere love of eating and of drinking1 or all the physical objects together which wealth can purchase or power command4 ,with these every man is in the long run speedily satisfied40 ,what the difference is between being speedily satisfied and being soon saturated1 we leave ,mr4 ,bentham and ,mr4 ,mill to settle together4 ,the word #8saturation1' however1 seems to provoke ,mr4 ,bentham's mirth4 ,it certainly did not strike us as very pure ,english2 but1 as ,mr4 ,mill used it1 we supposed it to be good ,benthamese4 ,with the latter language we are not critically acquainted1 though1 as it has many roots in common with our mother tongue1 we can contrive1 by the help of a converted ,utilitarian1 who attends us in the capacity of ,moonshee1 to make out a little4 ,but ,mr4 ,bentham's authority is of course decisive2 and we bow to it4 #fb,mr4 ,bentham next represents us as maintaining3-- 8,thirdly1 ,that #8though there may be some tastes and propensities that have no point of saturation1 there exists a sufficient cheek in the desire of the good opinion of others4' ,the misfortune of this argument is1 that no man cares for the good opinion of those he has been accustomed to wrong4 ,if oysters have opinions1 it is probable they think very ill of those who eat them in ,august2 but small is the effect upon the autumnal glutton that engulfs their gentle substances within his own4 ,the planter and the slave-driver care just as much about negro opinion1 as the epicure about the sentiments of oysters4 ,m4 ,ude throwing live eels into the fire as a kindly method of divesting them of the unsavoury oil that lodges beneath their skins1 is not more convinced of the immense aggregate of good which arises to the lordlier parts of the creation1 than is the gentle peer who strips his fellow man of country and of family for a wild-fowl slain4 ,the goodly land-owner1 who lives by morsels squeezed indiscriminately from the waxy hands of the cobbler and the polluted ones of the nightman1 is in no small degree the object of both hatred and contempt2 but it is to be feared that he is a long way from feeling them to be intolerable4 ,the principle of #8,at mihi plaudo ipse domi1 simul ac nununos contemplai' in area' is sufficient to make a wide interval between the opinions of the plaintiff and defendant in such eases4 ,in short1 to banish law and leave all plaintiffs to trust to the desire of reputation on the opposite side1 would only be transporting the theory of the ,whigs from the ,house of ,commons to ,westminster ,hall40 ,now1 in the first place1 we never maintained the proposition which ,mr4 ,bentham puts into our mouths4 ,we said1 and say1 that there is a certain check to the rapacity and cruelty of men1 in their desire of the good opinion of others4 ,we never said that it was sufficient4 ,let ,mr4 ,mill show it to be insufficient4 ,it is enough for us to prove that there is a set-off against the principle from which ,mr4 ,mill deduces the whole theory of government4 ,the balance may be1 and1 we believe1 will be1 against despotism and the narrower forms of #fc;aristocracy4 ,but what is this to the correctness or incorrectness of ,mr4 ,mill's accounts8 ,the question is not1 whether the motives which lead rulers to behave ill are stronger than those which lead them to behave well2--but1 whether we ought to form a theory of government by looking only at the motives which lead rulers to behave ill and never noticing those which lead them to behave well4 ,absolute rulers1 says ,mr4 ,bentham1 do not care for the good opinion of their subjects2 for no man cares for the good opinion of those whom he has been accustomed to wrong4 ,by ,mr4 ,bentham's leave1 this is a plain begging of the question4 ,the point at issue is this3--,will kings and nobles wrong the people8 ,the argument in favour of kings and nobles is this3--they will not wrong the people1 because they care for the good opinion of the people4 ,but this argument ,mr4 ,bentham meets thus3--they will not care for the good opinion of the people1 because they are accustomed to wrong the people4 ,here ,mr4 ,mill differs1 as usual1 from ,mr4 ,bentham4 8,the greatest princes10 says he1 in his ,essay on ,education1 8the most despotical masters of human destiny1 when asked what they aim at by their wars and conquests1 would answer1 if sincere1 as ,frederick of ,prussia answered1 pour faire parler de soi2--to occupy a large space in the admiration of mankind40 ,putting ,mr4 ,mill's and ,mr4 ,bentham's principles together1 we might make out very easily that 8the greatest princes1 the most despotical masters of human destiny10 would never abuse their power4 ,a man who has been long accustomed to injure people must also have been long accustomed to do without their love1 and to endure their aversion4 ,such a man #fdmay not miss the pleasure of popularity2 for men seldom miss a pleasure which they have long denied themselves4 ,an old tyrant does without popularity just as an old water-drinker does without wine4 ,but1 though it is perfectly true that men who for the good of their health have long abstained from wine feel the want of it very little1 it would be absurd to infer that men will always abstain from wine when their health requires that they should do so4 ,and it would be equally absurd to say1 because men who have been accustomed to oppress care little for popularity1 that men will therefore necessarily prefer the pleasures of oppression to those of popularity4 ,then1 again1 a man may be accustomed to wrong people in one point and not in another4 ,he may care for their good opinion with regard to one point and not with regard to another4 ,the ,regent ,orleans laughed at charges of impiety1 libertinism1 extravagance1 idleness1 disgraceful promotions4 ,but the slightest allusion to the charge of poisoning threw him into convulsions4 ,louis the ,fifteenth braved the hatred and contempt of his subjects during many years of the most odious and imbecile misgovernment4 ,but1 when a report was spread that he used human blood for his baths1 he was almost driven mad by it4 ,surely ,mr4 ,bentham's position 8that no man cares for the good opinion of those whom he has been accustomed to wrong0 would be objectionable1 as far too sweeping and indiscriminate1 even if it did not involve1 as in the present case we have shown that it does1 a direct begging of the question at issue4 ,mr4 ,bentham proceeds3-- 8,fourthly1 ,the ,edinburgh ,reviewers are of opinion1 that #8it might1 with no small plausibility1 be maintained1 that in many #fe;countries1 there are two classes which1 in some decree1 answer to this description2' viz4 #8that the poor compose the class which government is established to restrain2 and the people of some property the class to which the powers of government may without danger be confided4' 8,they take great pains1 it is true1 to say this and not to say it4 ,they shuffle and creep about1 to secure a hole to escape at1 if #8what they do not assert' should be found in any degree inconvenient4 ,a man might waste his life in trying to find out whether the ,misses of the ,edinburgh mean to say ,yes or ,no in their political coquetry4 ,but whichever way the lovely spinsters may decide1 it is diametrically opposed to history and the evidence of facts1 that the poor are the class whom there is any difficulty in restraining4 ,it is not the poor but the rich that have a propensity to take the property of other people4 ,there is no instance upon earth of the poor having combined to take away the property of the rich2 and all the instances habitually brought forward in support of it are gross misrepresentations1 founded upon the most necessary acts of self-defence on the part of the most numerous classes4 ,such a misrepresentation is the common one of the ,agrarian law2 which was nothing but an attempt on the part of the ,roman people to get back some part of what had been taken from them by undisguised robbery4 ,such another is the stock example of the ,french ,revolution1 appealed to by the ,edinburgh ,review in the actual case4 ,it is utterly untrue that the ,french ,revolution took place because #8the poor began to compare their cottages and salads with the hotels and banquets of the rich2' it took place because they were robbed of their cottages and salads to support the hotels and banquets of their oppressors4 ,it is utterly untrue that there was either a scramble for property or a general confiscation2 the classes who took part with the foreign invaders lost their property1 as they would have done here1 and ought to do everywhere4 ,all these are the vulgar errors of the man on the lion's back1--which the lion will set to rights when he can tell his own story4 ,history is nothing but the relation of the sufferings of the poor from the rich2 except precisely so far as the numerous classes of the community have contrived to keep the virtual power in their hands1 or in other words1 to establish free governments4 ,if a poor man injures the rich1 the law is instantly at his heels2 the injuries of the rich towards the poor are always inflicted by the law4 ,and to enable the rich #ffto do this to any extent that may be practicable or prudent1 there is clearly one postulate required1 which is1 that the rich shall make the law40 ,this passage is alone sufficient to prove that ,mr4 ,bentham has not taken the trouble to read our article from beginning to end4 ,we are quite sure that he would not stoop to misrepresent it4 ,and1 if he had read it with any attention1 he would have perceived that all this coquetry1 this hesitation1 this ,yes and ,no1 this saying and not saying1 is simply an exercise of the undeniable right which in controversy belongs to the defensive side--to the side which proposes to establish nothing4 ,the affirmative of the issue and the burden of the proof are with ,mr4 ,mill1 not with us4 ,we are not bound1 perhaps we are not able1 to show that the form of government which he recommends is bad4 ,it is quite enough if we can show that he does not prove it to be good4 ,in his proof1 among many other flaws1 is this--,he says1 that if men are not inclined to plunder each other1 government is unnecessary1 and that1 if men are so inclined1 kings and aristocracies will plunder the people4 ,now this1 we say1 is a fallacy4 ,that some men will plunder their neighbours if they can1 is a sufficient reason for the existence of governments4 ,but it is not demonstrated that kings and aristocracies will plunder the people1 unless it be true that all men will plunder their neighbours if they can4 ,men are placed in very different situations4 ,some have all the bodily pleasures that they desire1 and many other pleasures besides1 without plundering anybody4 ,others can scarcely obtain their daily bread without plundering4 ,it may be true1 but surely it is not self-evident1 that the former class is under as strong temptations to plunder as the latter4 ,mr4 ,mill was therefore bound #fgto prove it4 ,that he has not proved it is one of thirty or forty fatal errors in his argument4 ,it is not necessary that we should express an opinion or even have an opinion on the subject4 ,perhaps we are in a state of perfect scepticism3 but what then8 ,are we the theory-makers8 ,when we bring before the world a theory of government1 it will be time to call upon us to offer proof at every step4 ,at present we stand on our undoubted logical right4 ,we concede nothing3 and we deny nothing4 ,we say to the ,utilitarian theorists3--,when you prove your doctrine1 we will believe it2 and1 till you prove it1 we will not believe it4 ,mr4 ,bentham has quite misunderstood what we said about the ,french ,revolution4 ,we never alluded to that event for the purpose of proving that the poor were inclined to rob the rich4 ,mr4 ,mill's principles of human nature furnished us with that part of our argument ready-made4 ,we alluded to the ,french ,revolution for the purpose of illustrating the effects which general spoliation produces on society1 not for the purpose of showing that general spoliation will take place under a democracy4 ,we allowed distinctly that1 in the peculiar circumstances of the ,french monarchy1 the ,revolution1 though accompanied by a great shock to the institution of property1 was a blessing4 ,surely ,mr4 ,bentham will not maintain that the injury produced by the deluge of assignats and by the maximum fell only on the emigrants1--or that there were not many emigrants who would have staid and lived peaceably under any government if their persons and property had been secure4 ,we never said that the ,french ,revolution took place because the poor began to compare their cottages and salads with the hotels and banquets of the rich4 #fh,we were not speaking about the causes of the ,revolution1 or thinking about them4 ,this we said1 and say1 that1 if a democratic government had been established in ,france1 the poor1 when they began to compare their cottages and salads with the hotels and banquets of the rich1 would1 on the supposition that ,mr4 ,mill's principles are sound1 have plundered the rich1 and repeated without provocation all the severities and confiscations which1 at the time of the ,revolution1 were committed with provocation4 ,we say that ,mr4 ,mill's favourite form of government would1 if his own views of human nature be just1 make those violent convulsions and transfers of property which now rarely happen1 except1 as in the case of the ,french ,revolution1 when the people are maddened by oppression1 events of annual or biennial occurrence4 ,we gave no opinion of our own4 ,we give none now4 ,we say that this proposition may be proved from ,mr4 ,mill's own premises1 by steps strictly analogous to those by which he proves monarchy and aristocracy to be bad forms of government4 ,to say this1 is not to say that the proposition is true4 ,for we hold both ,mr4 ,mill's premises and his deduction to be unsound throughout4 ,mr4 ,bentham challenges us to prove from history that the people will plunder the rich4 ,what does history say to ,mr4 ,mill's doctrine1 that absolute kings will always plunder their subjects so unmercifully as to leave nothing but a bare subsistence to any except their own creatures8 ,if experience is to be the test1 ,mr4 ,mill's theory is unsound4 ,if ,mr4 ,mill's reasoning a priori be sound1 the people in a democracy will plunder the rich4 ,let us use one weight and one measure4 ,let us not throw history aside when we are proving a theory1 and take it up again when we have to refute an objection founded on the principles of that theory4 #fi,we have not done1 however1 with ,mr4 ,bentham's charges against us4 8,among other specimens of their ingenuity1 they think they embarrass the subject by asking why1 on the principles in question1 women should not have votes as well as men4 ,and why not8 ,gentle shepherd1 tell me why4-- ,if the mode of election was what it ought to be1 there would be no more difficulty in women voting for a representative in ,parliament than for a director at the ,india ,house4 ,the world will find out at some time that the readiest way to secure justice on some points is to be just on all3--that the whole is easier to accomplish than the part2 and that1 whenever the camel is driven through the eye of the needle1 it would be simple folly and debility that would leave a hoof behind40 ,why1 says or sings ,mr4 ,bentham1 should not women vote8 ,it may seem uncivil in us to turn a deaf ear to his ,arcadian warblings4 ,but we submit1 with great deference1 that it is not our business to tell him why4 ,we fully agree with him that the principle of female suffrage is not so palpably absurd that a chain of reasoning ought to be pronounced unsound merely because it leads to female suffrage4 ,we say that every argument which tells in favour of the universal suffrage of the males tells equally in favour of female suffrage4 ,mr4 ,mill1 however1 wishes to see all men vote1 but says that it is unnecessary that women should vote3 and for making this distinction he gives as a reason an assertion which1 in the first place1 is not true1 and which1 in the next place1 would1 if true1 overset his whole theory of human nature2 namely1 that the interest of the women is identical with that of the men4 ,we side with ,mr4 ,bentham1 so far at least as this3 that1 when we join to drive the camel through the needle1 he shall go through hoof and all4 ,we at present desire to be excused from #gj;driving the camel4 ,it is ,mr4 ,mill who leaves the hoof behind4 ,but we should think it uncourteous to reproach him in the language which ,mr4 ,bentham1 in the exercise of his paternal authority over the sect1 thinks himself entitled to employ4 8,another of their perverted ingenuities is1 that #8they are rather inclined to think1' that it would1 on the whole1 be for the interest of the majority to plunder the rich2 and if so1 the ,utilitarians will say that the rich ought to be plundered4 ,on which it is sufficient to reply1 that for the majority to plunder the rich would amount to a declaration that nobody should be rich2 which1 as all men wish to be rich1 would involve a suicide of hope4 ,and as nobody has shown a fragment of reason why such a proceeding should be for the general happiness1 it does not follow that the #8,utilitarians' would recommend it4 ,the ,edinburgh ,reviewers have a waiting gentlewoman's ideas of #8,utilitarianism4' ,it is unsupported by anything but the pitiable #8,we are rather inclined to think'--and is utterly contradicted by the whole course of history and human experience besides1--that there is either danger or possibility of such a consummation as the majority agreeing on the plunder of the rich4 ,there have been instances in human memory1 of their agreeing to plunder rich oppressors1 rich traitors1 rich enemies1--but the rich simpliciter never4 ,it is as true now as in the days of ,harrington1 that #8a people never will1 nor ever can1 never did1 nor ever shall1 take up arms for levelling4' ,all the commotions in the world have been for something else2 and #8levelling' is brought forward as the blind to conceal what the other was40 ,we say1 again and again1 that we are on the defensive4 ,we do not think it necessary to prove that a quack medicine is poison4 ,let the vendor prove it to be sanative4 ,we do not pretend to show that universal suffrage is an evil4 ,let its advocates show it to be a good4 ,mr4 ,mill tells us that1 if power be given for short terms to representatives elected by all the males of mature age1 it will then be for the interest of those #garepresentatives to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number4 ,to prove this1 it is necessary that he should prove three propositions3 first1 that the interest of such a representative body will be identical with the interest of the constituent body2 secondly1 that the interest of the constituent body will be identical with that of the community2 thirdly1 that the interest of one generation of a community is identical with that of all succeeding generations4 ,the two first propositions ,mr4 ,mill attempts to prove1 and fails4 ,the last he does not even attempt to prove4 ,we therefore refuse our assent to his conclusions4 ,is this unreasonable8 ,we never even dreamed1 what ,mr4 ,bentham conceives us to have maintained1 that it could be for the greatest happiness of mankind to plunder the rich4 ,but we are 8rather inclined to think10 though doubtingly and with a disposition to yield to conviction1 that it may be for the pecuniary interest of the majority of a single generation in a thickly-peopled country to plunder the rich4 ,why we are inclined to think so we will explain1 whenever we send a theory of government to an ,encyclopaedia4 ,at present we are bound to say only that we think so1 and shall think so till somebody shows us a reason for thinking otherwise4 ,mr4 ,bentham's answer to us is simple assertion4 ,he must not think that we mean any discourtesy by meeting it with a simple denial4 ,the fact is1 that almost all the governments that have ever existed in the civilised world have been1 in part at least1 monarchical and aristocratical4 ,the first government constituted on principles approaching to those which the ,utilitarians hold was1 we think1 that of the ,united ,states4 ,that the poor have never combined to plunder the rich in #gbthe governments of the old world1 no more proves that they might not combine to plunder the rich under a system of universal suffrage1 than the fact that the ,english kings of the ,house of ,brunswick have not been ,neros and ,domitians proves that sovereigns may safely be intrusted with absolute power4 ,of what the people would do in a state of perfect sovereignty we can judge only by indications1 which1 though rarely of much moment in themselves1 and though always suppressed with little difficulty1 are yet of great significance1 and resemble those by which our domestic animals sometimes remind us that they are of kin with the fiercest monsters of the forest4 ,it would not be wise to reason from the behaviour of a dog crouching under the lash1 which is the case of the ,italian people1 or from the behaviour of a dog pampered with the best morsels of a plentiful kitchen1 which is the case of the people of ,america1 to the behaviour of a wolf1 which is nothing but a dog run wild1 after a week's fast among the snows of the ,pyrenees4 ,no commotion1 says ,mr4 ,bentham1 was ever really produced by the wish of levelling3 the wish has been put forward as a blind2 but something else has been the real object4 ,grant all this4 ,but why has levelling been put forward as a blind in times of commotion to conceal the real objects of the agitators8 ,is it with declarations which involve 8a suicide of hope0 that men attempt to allure others8 ,was famine1 pestilence1 slavery1 ever held out to attract the people8 ,if levelling has been made a pretence for disturbances1 the argument against ,mr4 ,bentham's doctrine is as strong as if it had been the real object of disturbances4 ,but the great objection which ,mr4 ,bentham makes to our review1 still remains to be noticed3--#gc,the pith of the charge against the author of the ,essays is1 that he has written #8an elaborate ,treatise on ,government1' and #8deduced the whole science from the assumption of certain propensities of human nature4' ,now1 in the name of ,sir ,richard ,birnie and all saints1 from what else should it be deduced8 ,what did ever anybody imagine to be the end1 object1 and design of government as it ought to be but the same operation1 on an extended scale1 which that meritorious chief magistrate conducts on a limited one at ,bow-street2 to wit1 the preventing one man from injuring another8 ,imagine1 then1 that the ,whiggery of ,bow-street were to rise up against the proposition that their science was to be deduced from #8certain propensities of human nature1' and thereon were to ratiocinate as follows3-- 8#8,how then are we to arrive at just conclusions on a subject so #8important to the happiness of mankind8 ,surely by that method1 which1 in every experimental science to which it has been applied1 has signally increased the power and knowledge of our species1--by that method for which our new philosopher6 would substitute quibbles scarcely worthy of the barbarous respondents and opponents of the middle ages1--by the method of induction1--by observing the present state of the world1--by assiduously studying the history of past ages1--by sifting the evidence of facts1--by carefully combining and contrasting those which are authentic1--by generalising with judgment and diffidence1--by perpetually bringing the theory which we have constructed to the test of new facts1--by correcting1 or altogether abandoning it1 according as those new facts prove it to be partially or fundamentally unsound4 ,proceeding thus1--patiently1 diligently1 candidly1 we may hope to form a system as far inferior in pretension to that which we have been examining1 and as far superior to it in real utility1 as the prescriptions of a great physician1 varying with every stage of every malady1 and with the constitution of every patient1 to the pill of the advertising quack1 which is to cure all human beings1 in all climates1 of all diseases4'0 8,fancy now1--only fancy1--the delivery of these wise words at ,bow-street2 and think how speedily the practical catchpolls would reply1 that all this might be very fine1 but as far as they had studied history1 the naked story was1 after all1 that numbers of men had a propensity to thieving1 and their business was to catch them2 that they1 too1 had been sifters of facts2 and1 to say the truth1 their simple opinion was1 that their brethren of the red #gdwaistcoat--though they should be sorry to think ill of any man--had somehow contracted a leaning to the other side1 and were more bent on puzzling the case for the benefit of the defendants1 than on doing the duty of good officers and true4 ,such would1 beyond all doubt1 be the sentence passed on such trimmers in the microcosm of ,bow-street4 ,it might not absolutely follow that they were in a plot to rob the goldsmiths' shops1 or to set fire to the ,house of ,commons2 but it would be quite clear that they had got a feeling1--that they were in process of siding with the thieves1--and that it was not to them that any man must look who was anxious that pantries should be safe40 ,this is all very witty2 but it does not touch us4 ,on the present occasion1 we cannot but flatter ourselves that we bear a much greater resemblance to a practical catchpoll than either ,mr4 ,mill or ,mr4 ,bentham4 ,it would1 to be sure1 be very absurd in a magistrate1 discussing the arrangements of a police-office1 to spout ill the style either of our article or ,mr4 ,bentham's2 but1 in substance1 he would proceed1 if he were a man of sense1 exactly as we recommend4 ,he would1 on being appointed to provide for the security of property in a town1 study attentively the state of the town4 ,he would learn at what places1 at what times1 and under what circumstances1 theft and outrage were most frequent4 ,are the streets1 he would ask1 most infested with thieves at sunset or at midnight8 ,are there any public places of resort which give peculiar facilities to pickpockets8 ,are there any districts completely inhabited by a lawless population8 ,which are the flash-houses1 and which the shops of receivers8 ,having made himself master of the facts he would act accordingly4 ,a strong detachment of officers might be necessary for ,petticoat ,lane2 another for the pit entrance of ,covent ,garden ,theatre4 ,grosvenor ,square and ,hamilton ,place would require little or no protection4 #ge;,exactly thus should we reason about government4 ,lombardy is oppressed by tyrants2 and constitutional checks1 such as may produce security to the people1 are required4 ,it is1 so to speak1 one of the resorts of thieves2 and there is great need of police-officers4 ,denmark resembles one of those respectable streets in which it is scarcely necessary to station a catchpoll1 because the inhabitants would at once join to seize a thief4 ,yet1 even in such a street1 we should wish to see an officer appear now and then1 as his occasional superintendence would render the security more complete4 ,and even ,denmark1 we think1 would be better off under a constitutional form of government4 ,mr4 ,mill proceeds like a director of police1 who1 without asking a single question about the state of his district1 should give his orders thus3--8,my maxim is1 that every man will take what he can4 ,every man in ,london would be a thief1 but for the thief-takers4 ,this is an undeniable principle of human nature4 ,some of my predecessors have wasted their time in inquiring about particular pawnbrokers1 and particular alehouses4 ,experience is altogether divided4 ,of people placed in exactly the same situation1 ,i see that one steals1 and that another would sooner burn his hand off4 ,therefore ,i trust to the laws of human nature alone1 and pronounce all men thieves alike4 ,let every body1 high and low1 be watched4 ,let ,townsend take particular care that the ,duke of ,wellington does not steal the silk handkerchief of the lord in waiting at the levee4 ,a person has lost a watch4 ,go to ,lord ,fitz-william and search him for it2 he is as great a receiver of stolen goods as ,ikey ,solomons himself4 ,don't tell me about his rank1 and character1 and fortune4 ,he is a man2 and a man does not change his nature #gfwhen he is called a lord4 7#a7 ,either men will steal or they will not steal4 ,if they will not1 why do ,i sit here8 ,if they will1 his lordship must be a thief40 ,the ,whiggery of ,bow ,street would perhaps rise up against this wisdom4 ,would ,mr4 ,bentham think that the ,whiggery of ,bow ,street was ,in the wrong8 ,we blamed ,mr4 ,mill for deducing his theory of government from the principles of human nature4 8,in the name of ,sir ,richard ,birnie and all saints10 cries ,mr4 ,bentham1 8from what else should it be deduced80 ,in spite of this solemn adjuration1 we shall venture to answer ,mr4 ,bentham's question by another4 ,how does he arrive at those principles of human nature from which he proposes to deduce the science of government8 ,we think that we may venture to put an answer into his mouth2 for in truth there is but one possible answer4 ,he will say--,by experience4 ,but what is the extent of this experience8 ,is it an experience which includes experience of the conduct of men intrusted with the powers of government2 or is it exclusive of that experience8 ,if it includes experience of the manner in which men act when intrusted with the powers of government1 then those principles of human nature from which the science of government is to be deduced can only be known after going through that inductive process by which we propose to arrive at the science of government4 ,our knowledge of human nature1 instead of being prior in order to our knowledge 7#a7 8,if ,government is founded upon this1 as a law of human nature1 that a man1 if able1 will take from others anything which they have and he desires1 it is sufficiently evident that when a man is called a king1 he does not change his nature3 so that1 when he has power to take what he pleases1 he will take what he pleases4 ,to suppose that he will not1 is to affirm that government is unnecessary1 and that human beings will abstain from injuring one another of their own accord40--,mill4 on ,government4 #gg of the science of government1 will be posterior to it4 ,and it would be correct to say1 that by means of the science of government1 and of other kindred sciences--the science of education1 for example1 which falls under exactly the same principle--we arrive at the science of human nature4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we are to deduce the theory of government from principles of human nature1 in arriving at which principles we have not taken into the account the manner in which men act when invested with the powers of government1 then those principles must be defective4 ,they have not been formed by a sufficiently copious induction4 ,we are reasoning1 from what a man does in one situation1 to what he will do in another4 ,sometimes we may be quite justified in reasoning thus4 ,when we have no means of acquiring information about the particular case before us1 we are compelled to resort to cases which bear some resemblance to it4 ,but the most satisfactory course is to obtain information about the particular case2 and1 whenever this can be obtained1 it ought to be obtained4 ,when first the yellow fever broke out1 a physician might be justified in treating it as he had been accustomed to treat those complaints which1 on the whole1 had the most symptoms in common with it4 ,but what should we think of a physician who should now tell us that he deduced his treatment of yellow fever from the general theory of pathology8 ,surely we should ask him1 ,whether1 in constructing his theory of pathology1 he had or had not taken into the account the facts which had been ascertained respecting the yellow fever8 ,if he had1 then it would be more correct to say that he had arrived at the principles of pathology partly by his experience of cases of yellow fever than #ghthat he had deduced his treatment of yellow fever from the principles of pathology4 ,if he had not1 he should not prescribe for us4 ,if we had the yellow fever1 we should prefer a man who had never treated any cases but cases of yellow fever to a man who had walked the hospitals of ,london and ,paris for years1 but who knew nothing of our particular disease4 ,let ,lord ,bacon speak for us3 8,inductionem cense-mus cam esse demonstrandi formam1 qu sensum tue-tur1 et naturam promit1 et operibus imminet1 ac fere immiscetur4 ,itaque ordo quoque demonstrandi plane invertitur4 ,adhuc enim res ita geri consuevit1 ut a sensu et particularibus primo loco ad maxime generalia advoletur1 tanquam ad polos fixos1 circa quos disputationes vertantur2 ab illis ctera1 per media1 deriventur2 via certe compendiari1 sed prcipiti1 et ad naturam im-pervi1 ad disputationes proclivi et accommodat4 ,at1 secundum nos1 axiomata continenter et gradatim exci-4 tantur1 ut non1 nisi postremo loco1 ad maxime generalia veniatur40 ,can any words more exactly describe the political reasonings of ,mr4 ,mill than those in which ,lord ,bacon thus describes the logomachies of the schoolmen8 ,mr4 ,mill springs at once to a general principle of the widest extent1 and from that general principle deduces syllogistically every thing which is included in it4 ,we say with ,bacon--8non1 nisi postremo loco1 ad maxime generalia veniatur40 ,in the present inquiry1 the science of human nature is the 8maxime generale40 ,to this the ,utilitarian rushes at once1 and from this he deduces a hundred sciences4 ,but the true philosopher1 the inductive reasoner1 travels up to it slowly1 through those hundred sciences1 of which the science of government is one4 ,as we have lying before us that incomparable volume1 #githe noblest and most useful of all the works of the human reason1 the ,novum ,organum1 we will transcribe a few lines1 in which the ,utilitarian philosophy is portrayed to the life4 8,syllogismus act principia scientiarum non adhibetur1 ad media axiomata frustra adhibetur1 cum sit subtilitati natur longe impar4 ,assensum itaque constringit1 non res4 ,syllogismus ex propositionibus constat1 propositiones ex verbis1 verba notionnm tesser sunt4 ,itaque si notiones ips1 id quod basis rei est1 confus sint1 et temer a rebus abstraet1 nihil in iis qu superstruuntur est firmitudinis4 ,itaque spes est una in ,induetione vera4 ,in notionibus nil sani est1 nee in ,logieis nee in physicis4 ,non substantia1 non qualitas1 agere1 pati1 ipsum esse1 bonne notiones sunt2 multo minus grave1 leve1 densum1 tenue1 humidum1 siecum1 generatio1 corruptio1 attrahere1 fugare1 elementum1 materia1 forma1 et id genus1 sed omnes phantastie et male terminat40 ,substitute for the 8substantia10 the 8generatio10 the 8corruptio10 the 8elementum10 the 8materia0 of the old schoolmen1 ,mr4 ,mill's pain1 pleasure1 interest1 power1 objects of desire1--and the words of ,bacon will seem to suit the current year as well as the beginning of the seventeenth century4 ,we have now gone through the objections that ,mr4 ,bentham makes to our article3 and we submit ourselves on all the charges to the judgment of the public4 ,the rest of ,mr4 ,bentham's article consists of an exposition of the ,utilitarian principle1 or1 as he decrees that it shall be called1 the 8greatest happiness principle40 ,he seems to think that we have been assailing it4 ,we never said a syllable against it4 ,we spoke slightingly of the ,utilitarian sect1 as we thought of them1 and think of them2 but it was not for holding this doctrine that we blamed them4 ,in attacking them we no more meant to attack the 8greatest happiness0 #hjprinciple than when we say that ,mahometanism is a false religion we mean to deny the unity of ,god1 which is the first article of the ,mahometan creed2--no more than ,mr4 ,bentham1 when he sneers at the ,whigs1 means to blame them for denying the divine right of kings4 ,we reasoned throughout our article on the supposition that the end of government was to produce the greatest happiness to mankind4 ,mr4 ,bentham gives an account of the manner ,in which he arrived at the discovery of the 8greatest happiness principle40 ,he then proceeds to describe the effects which1 as he conceives1 that discovery is producing in language so rhetorical and ardent that1 if it had been written by any other person1 a genuine ,utilitarian would certainly have thrown down the book in disgust4 8,the only rivals of any note to the new principle which were brought forward1 were those known by the names of the #8moral sense1' and the #8original contract4' ,the new principle superseded the first of these1 by presenting it with a guide for its decisions2 and the other1 by making it unnecessary to resort to a remote and imaginary contract for what was clearly the business of every man and every hour4 ,throughout the whole horizon of morals and of politics1 the consequences were glorious and vast4 ,it might be said without danger of exaggeration1 that they who sat in darkness had seen a great light4 ,the mists in which mankind had jousted against each other were swept away1 as when the sun of astronomical science arose in the full development of the principle of gravitation4 ,if the object of legislation was the greatest happiness1 morality was the promotion of the same end by the conduct of the individual2 and by analogy1 the happiness of the world was the morality of nations4 84444,all the sublime obscurities1 which had haunted the mind of man from the first formation of society1--the phantoms whose steps had been on earth1 and their heads among the clouds1--marshalled themselves at the sound of this new principle of connection and of union1 and stood a regulated band1 where all #hawas order1 symmetry1 and force4 ,what men had struggled for and bled1 while they saw it but as through a glass darkly1 was made the object of substantial knowledge and lively apprehension4 ,the bones of sages and of patriots stirred within their tombs1 that what they dimly saw and followed had become the world's common heritage4 ,and the great result was wrought by no supernatural means1 nor produced by any unparallelable concatenation of events4 ,it was foretold by no oracles1 and ushered by no portents2 but was brought about by the quiet and reiterated exercise of ,god's first gift of common sense40 ,mr4 ,bentham's discovery does not1 as we think we shall be able to show1 approach in importance to that of gravitation1 to which he compares it4 ,at all events1 ,mr4 ,bentham seems to us to act much as ,sir ,isaac ,newton would have done if he had gone about boasting that he was the first person who taught bricklayers not to jump off scaffolds and break their legs4 ,does ,mr4 ,bentham profess to hold out any new motive which may induce men to promote the happiness of the species to which they belong8 ,not at all4 ,he distinctly admits that1 if he is asked why government should attempt to produce the greatest possible happiness1 he can give no answer4 8,the real answer10 says he1 8appeared to be1 that men at large ought not to allow a government to afflict them with move evil or less good than they can help4 ,what a government ought to do is a mysterious and searching question1 which those may answer who know what it means2 but what other men ought to do is a question of no mystery at all4 ,the word ought1 if it means anything1 must have reference to some kind of interest or motives2 and what interest a government has in doing right1 when it happens to be interested in doing wrong1 is a question for the schoolmen4 ,the fact appears to be1 that ought is not predicable of governments4 ,the question is not why governments are bound not to do this or that1 but why other men should let them if they can help it4 ,the point is not to determine why the lion should #hbnot eat sheep1 but why men should not eat their own mutton if they can40 ,the principle of ,mr4 ,bentham1 if we understand it1 is this1 that mankind ought to act so as to produce their greatest happiness4 ,the word ought1 he tells us1 has no meaning1 unless it be used with reference to some interest4 ,but the interest of a man is synonymous with his greatest happiness3--and therefore to say that a man ought to do a thing1 is to say that it is for his greatest happiness to do it4 ,and to say that mankind ought to act so as to produce their greatest happiness1 is to say that the greatest happiness is the greatest happiness--and this is all6 ,does ,mr4 ,bentham's principle tend to make any man wish for anything for which he would not have wished1 or do any thing which he would not have done1 if the principle had never been heard of8 ,if not1 it is an utterly useless principle4 ,now1 every man pursues his own happiness or interest--call it which you will4 ,if his happiness coincides with the happiness of the species1 then1 whether he ever heard of the 8greatest happiness principle0 or not1 he will1 to the best of his knowledge and ability1 attempt to produce the greatest happiness of the species4 ,but1 if what he thinks his happiness be inconsistent with the greatest happiness of mankind1 will this new principle convert him to another frame of mind8 ,mr4 ,bentham himself allows1 as we have seen1 that he can give no reason why a man should promote the greatest happiness of others if their greatest happiness be inconsistent with what he thinks his own4 ,we should very much like to know how the ,utilitarian principle would run when reduced to one plain imperative proposition8 ,will it run thus--pursue #hcyour own happiness8 ,this is superfluous4 ,every man pursues it1 according to his light1 and always has pursued it1 and always must pursue it4 ,to say that a man has done any thing1 is to say that he thought it for his happiness to do it4 ,will the principle run thus--pursue the greatest happiness of mankind1 whether it be your own greatest happiness or not8 ,this is absurd and impossible2 and ,bentham himself allows it to be so4 ,but1 if the principle be not stated in one of these two ways1 we cannot imagine how it is to be stated at all4 ,stated in one of these ways1 it is an identical proposition1--true1 but utterly barren of consequences4 ,stated in the other way1 it is a contradiction in terms4 ,mr4 ,bentham has distinctly declined the absurdity4 ,are we then to suppose that he adopts the truism8 ,there are thus1 it seems1 two great truths which the ,utilitarian philosophy is to communicate to mankind--two truths which are to produce a revolution in morals1 in laws1 in governments1 in literature1 in the whole system of life4 ,the first of these is speculative2 the second is practical4 ,the speculative truth is1 that the greatest happiness is the greatest happiness4 ,the practical rule is very simple2 for it imports merely that men should never omit1 when they wish for any thing1 to wish for it1 or when they do any thing1 to do it6 ,it is a great comfort to us to think that we readily assented to the former of these great doctrines as soon as it was stated to us2 and that we have long endeavoured1 as far as human frailty would permit1 to conform to the latter in our practice4 ,we are1 however1 inclined to suspect that the calamities of the human race have been owing1 less to their not knowing that happiness was happiness1 than to their not knowing how to obtain it--less to their neglecting to do what they did1 than to their not #hd;being able to do what they wished1 or not wishing to do what they ought4 ,thus frivolous1 thus useless is this philosophy1--8controversianun ferax1 operiun effoeta1 ad garriendum prompta1 ad generandum invalida40 7#a7 ,the humble mechanic who discovers some slight improvement in the construction of safety lamps or steam-vessels does more for the happiness of mankind than the 8magnificent principle10 as ,mr4 ,bentham calls it1 will do in ten thousand years4 ,the mechanic teaches us how we may in a small degree be better off than we were4 ,the ,utilitarian advises us with great pomp to be as well off as we can4 ,the doctrine of a moral sense may be very unphilosophical2 but we do not think that it can be proved to be pernicious4 ,men did not entertain certain desires and aversions because they believed in a moral sense1 but they gave the name of moral sense to a feeling which they found in their minds1 however it came there4 ,if they had given it no name at all it would still have influenced their actions2 and it will not be very easy to demonstrate that it has influenced their actions the more because they have called it the moral sense4 ,the theory of the original contract is a fiction1 and a very absurd fiction2 but in practice it meant1 what the 8greatest happiness principle10 if ever it becomes a watchword of political warfare1 will mean--that is to say1 whatever served the turn of those who used it4 ,both the one expression and the other sound very well in debating clubs2 but in the real conflicts of life our passions and interests bid them stand aside and know their place4 ,the 8greatest happiness principle0 has always been latent under the words1 social contract1 justice1 7#a7 ,bacon1 ,novum ,organum4 #he;benevolence1 patriotism1 liberty1 and so forth1 just as for as it was for the happiness1 real or imagined1 of those who used these words to promote the greatest happiness of mankind4 ,and of this we may be sure1 that the words 8greatest happiness0 will never1 in any man's mouth1 mean more than the greatest happiness of others which is consistent with what he thinks his own4 ,the project of mending a bad world by teaching people to give new names to old things reminds us of ,walter ,shandy's scheme for compensating the loss of his son's nose by christening him ,trismegistus4 ,what society wants is a new motive--not a new cant4 ,if ,mr4 ,bentham can find out any argument yet undiscovered which may induce men to pursue the general happiness1 he will indeed be a great benefactor to our species4 ,but those whose happiness is identical with the general happiness are even now promoting the general happiness to the very best of their power and knowledge3 and ,mr4 ,bentham himself confesses that he has no means of persuading those whose happiness is not identical with the general happiness to act upon his principle4 ,is not this1 then1 darkening counsel by words without knowledge8 ,if the only fruit of the 8magnificent principle0 is to be1 that the oppressors and pilferers of the next generation are to talk of seeking the greatest happiness of the greatest number1 just as the same class of men have talked in our time of seeking to uphold the ,protestant constitution--just as they talked under ,anne of seeking the good of the ,church1 and under ,cromwell of seeking the ,lord--where is the gain8 ,is not every great question already enveloped in a sufficiently dark cloud of unmeaning words8 ,is it so difficult for a man to cant some one or more of the good old ,english cants which his #hf;father and grandfather canted before him1 that he must learn1 in the schools of the ,utilitarians1 a new sleight of tongue1 to make fools clap and wise men sneer8 ,let our countrymen keep their eyes on the neophytes of this sect1 and see whether we turn out to be mistaken in the prediction which we now hazard4 ,it will before long be found1 we prophesy1 that1 as the corruption of a dunce is the generation of an ,utilitarian1 so is the corruption of an ,utilitarian the generation of a jobber4 ,the most elevated station that the 8greatest happiness principle0 is ever likely to attain is this1 that it may be a fashionable phrase among newspaper writers and members of parliament--that it may succeed to the dignity which has been enjoyed by the 8original contract10 by the 8constitution of #afhh10 and other expressions of the same kind4 ,we do not apprehend that it is a less flexible cant than those which have preceded it1 or that it will less easily furnish a pretext for any design for which a pretext may be required4 ,the 8original contract0 meant in the ,convention ,parliament the co-ordinate authority of the ,three ,estates4 ,if there were to be a radical insurrection to-morrow1 the 8original contract0 would stand just as well for annual parliaments and universal suffrage4 ,the 8,glorious ,constitution10 again1 has meant everything in turn3 the ,habeas ,corpus ,act1 the ,suspension of the ,habeas ,corpus ,act1 the ,test ,act1 the ,repeal of the ,test ,act4 ,there has not been for many years a single important measure which has not been unconstitutional with its opponents1 and which its supporters have not maintained to be agreeable to the true spirit of the constitution4 ,is it easier to ascertain what is for the greatest happiness of the human race than what is the #hg;constitution of ,england8 ,if not1 the greatest happiness principle will be what the 8principles of the constitution0 are1 a thing to be appealed to by everybody1 and understood by everybody in the sense which suits him best4 ,it will mean cheap bread1 dear bread1 free trade1 protecting duties1 annual parliaments1 septennial parliaments1 universal suffrage1 ,old ,sarum1 trial by jury1 martial law--everything1 in short1 good1 bad1 or indifferent1 of which any person1 from rapacity or from benevolence1 chooses to undertake the defence4 ,it will mean six-and-eightpence with the attorney1 tithes at the rectory1 and game-laws at the manor-house4 ,the ,statute of ,uses1 in appearance the most sweeping legislative reform in our history1 was said to have produced no other effect than that of adding three words to a conveyance4 ,the universal admission of ,mr4 ,bentham's great principle would1 as far as we can see1 produce no other effect than that those orators who1 while waiting for a meaning1 gain time 7like bankers paying in sixpences during a run7 by uttering words that mean nothing would substitute 8the greatest happiness10 or rather1 as the longer phrase1 the 8greatest happiness of the greatest number10 for 8under existing circumstances10--8now that ,i am on my legs10--and 8,mr4 ,speaker1 ,i1 for one1 am free to say40 ,in fact1 principles of this sort resemble those forms which are sold by law-stationers1 with blanks for the names of parties1 and for the special circumstances of every case--mere customary headings and conclusions1 which are equally at the command of the most honest and of the most unrighteous claimant4 ,it is on the filling up that everything depends4 ,the 8greatest happiness principle0 of ,mr4 ,bentham is included in the ,christian morality2 and1 to our #hhthinking1 it is there exhibited in an infinitely more sound and philosophical form than in the ,utilitarian speculations4 ,for in the ,new ,testament it is neither an identical proposition1 nor a contradiction in terms2 and1 as laid down by ,mr4 ,bentham1 it must be either the one or the other4 8,do as you would be done by3 ,love your neighbour as yourself30 these are the precepts of ,jesus ,christ4 ,understood in an enlarged sense1 these precepts are1 in fact1 a direction to every man to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number4 ,but this direction would be utterly unmeaning1 as it actually is in ,mr4 ,bentham's philosophy1 unless it were accompanied by a sanction4 ,in the ,christian scheme1 accordingly1 it is accompanied by a sanction of immense force4 ,to a man whose greatest happiness in this world is inconsistent with the greatest happiness of the greatest number is held out the prospect of an infinite happiness hereafter1 from which he excludes himself by wronging his fellow-creatures here4 ,this is practical philosophy1 as practical as that on which penal legislation is founded4 ,a man is told to do something which otherwise he would not do1 and is furnished with a new motive for doing it4 ,mr4 ,bentham has no new motive to furnish his disciples with4 ,he has talents sufficient to effect any thing that can be effected4 ,but to induce men to act without an inducement is too much1 even for him4 ,he should reflect that the whole vast world of morals cannot be moved unless the mover can obtain some stand for his engines beyond it4 ,he acts as ,archimedes would have done1 if he had attempted to move the earth by a lever fixed on the earth4 ,the action and reaction neutralise each other4 ,the artist labours1 and the world remains at rest4 ,mr4 ,bentham can only tell us to do something #hiwhich we have always been doing1 and should still have continued to do1 if we had never heard of the 8greatest happiness principle0--or else to do something which we have no conceivable motive for doing1 and therefore shall not do4 ,mr4 ,bentham's principle is at best no more than the golden rule of the ,gospel without its sanction4 ,whatever evils1 therefore1 have existed in societies in which the authority of the ,gospel is recognised may1 a fortiori1 as it appears to us1 exist in societies in which the ,utilitarian principle is recognised4 ,we do not apprehend that it is more difficult for a tyrant or a persecutor to persuade himself and others that in putting to death those who oppose his power or differ from his opinions he is pursuing 8the greatest happiness10 than that he is doing as he would be done by4 ,but religion gives him a motive for doing as he would be done by3 and ,mr4 ,bentham furnishes him no motive to induce him to promote the general happiness4 ,if1 on the other hand1 ,mr4 ,bentham's principle mean only that every man should pursue his own greatest happiness1 he merely asserts what everybody knows1 and recommends what everybody does4 ,it is not upon this 8greatest happiness principle0 that the fame of ,mr4 ,bentham will rest4 ,he has not taught people to pursue their own happiness2 for that they always did4 ,he has not taught them to promote the happiness of others1 at the expense of their own2 for that they will not and cannot do4 ,but he has taught them how1 in some most important points1 to promote their own happiness2 and1 if his school had emulated him as successfully in this respect as in the trick of passing off truisms for discoveries1 the name of ,benthamite would have been no word for the scoffer4 ,but few of those who consider themselves as in a more especial #ijmanner his followers have anything in common with him but his faults4 ,the whole science of' ,jurisprudence is his4 ,he has done much for political economy2 but we are not aware that in either department any improvement has been made by members of his sect4 ,he discovered truths2 all that they have done has been to make those truths unpopular4 ,he investigated the philosophy of law2 he could teach them only to snarl at lawyers4 ,we entertain no apprehensions of danger to the institutions of this country from the ,utilitarians4 ,our fears are of a different kind4 ,we dread the odium and discredit of their alliance4 ,we wish to see a broad and clear line drawn between the judicious friends of practical reform and a sect which1 having derived all its influence from the countenance which they have imprudently bestowed upon it1 hates them with the deadly hatred of ingratitude4 ,there is not1 and we firmly believe that there never was1 in this country a party so unpopular4 ,they have already made the science of political economy--a science of vast importance to the welfare of nations--an object of disgust to the majority of the community4 ,the question of parliamentary reform will share the same fate if once an association be formed in the public mind between ,reform and ,utilitarianism4 ,we bear no enmity to any member of the sect2 and for ,mr4 ,bentham we entertain very high admiration4 ,we know that among his followers there are some well-intentioned men1 and some men of talents3 but we cannot say that we think the logic on which they pride themselves likely to improve their heads1 or the scheme of morality which they have adopted likely to improve their hearts4 ,their theory of morals1 however1#ia well deserves an article to itself2 and perhaps1 on some future occasion1 we may discuss it more fully than time and space at present allow4 ,the preceding article was written1 and was actually in types1 when a letter from ,mr4 ,bentham appeared in the newspapers1 importing that1 8though he had furnished the ,westminster ,review with some memoranda respecting #8the greatest happiness principle1' he had nothing to do with the remarks on our former article40 ,we are truly happy to find that this illustrious man had so small a share in a performance which1 for his sake1 we have treated with far greater lenity than it deserved4 ,the mistake1 however1 does not in the least affect any part of our arguments2 and we have therefore thought it unnecessary to cancel or cast anew any of the foregoing pages4 ,indeed1 we are not sorry that the world should see how respectfully we were disposed to treat a great man1 even when we considered him as the author of a very weak and very unfair attack on ourselves4 ,we wish1 however1 to intimate to the actual writer of that attack that our civilities were intended for the author of the 8,preuves ,judiciaires10 and the 8,defence of ,usury0--and not for him4 ,we cannot conclude1 indeed1 without expressing a wish--though we fear it has but little chance of reaching ,mr4 ,bentham--that he would endeavour to find better editors for his compositions4 ,if ,m4 ,dumont had not been a rdacteur of a different description from some of his successors1 ,mr4 ,bentham would never have attained the distinction of even giving his name to a sect4 ,,utilitarian ,,theory ,,of ,,government4 7#a7 7,edinburgh1 ,review1 ,october #ahbi47 ,we #ib;have long been of opinion that the ,utilitarians have owed all their influence to a mere delusion--that1 while professing to have submitted their minds to an intellectual discipline of peculiar severity1 to have discarded all sentimentality1 and to have acquired consummate skill in the art of reasoning1 they are decidedly inferior to the mass of educated men in the very qualities in which they conceive themselves to excel4 ,they have undoubtedly freed themselves from the dominion of some absurd notions4 ,but their struggle for intellectual emancipation has ended1 as injudicious and violent struggles for political emancipation too often end1 in a mere change of tyrants4 ,indeed1 we are not sure that we do not prefer the venerable nonsense which holds prescriptive sway over the ultra-,tory to the upstart dynasty of prejudices and sophisms by which the revolutionists of the moral world have suffered themselves to be enslaved4 ,the ,utilitarians have sometimes been abused as intolerant1 arrogant1 irreligious1--as enemies of literature1 of the fine arts1 and of the domestic charities4 7#a7 ,westminster ,review1 7,,xxii4 ,art4 #af17 on the ,strictures of the ,edinburgh ,review 7,,xcviii4 ,art4 #a7 on the ,utilitarian ,theory of ,government1 and the 8,greatest ,happiness ,principle40 #ic,they have been reviled for some things of which they were guilty1 and for some of which they were innocent4 ,but scarcely anybody seems to have perceived that almost all their peculiar faults arise from the utter want both of comprehensiveness and of precision in their mode of reasoning4 ,we have1 for some time past1 been convinced that this was really the case2 and that1 whenever then philosophy should be boldly and unsparingly scrutinised1 the world would see that it had been under a mistake respecting them4 ,we have made the experiment2 and it has succeeded far beyond our most sanguine expectations4 ,a chosen champion of the ,school has come forth against us4 ,a specimen of his logical abilities now lies before us2 and we pledge ourselves to show that no prebendary at an anti-,catholic meeting1 no true-blue baronet after the third bottle at a ,pitt ,club1 ever displayed such utter incapacity of comprehending or answering an argument as appears in the speculations of this ,utilitarian apostle2 that he does not understand our meaning1 or ,mr4 ,mill's meaning1 or ,mr4 ,bentham's meaning1 or his own meaning2 and that the various parts of his system--if the name of system can be so misapplied--directly contradict each other4 ,having shown this1 we intend to leave him in undisputed possession of whatever advantage he may derive from the last word4 ,we propose only to convince the public that there is nothing in the far-famed logic of the ,utilitarians of which any plain man has reason to be afraid2 that this logic will impose on no man who dares to look it in the face4 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer begins by charging us with having misrepresented an important part of ,mr4 ,mill's argument4 #id0,the first extract given by the ,edinburgh ,reviewers from the essay was an insulated passage1 purposely despoiled of what had preceded and what followed4 ,the author had been observing1 that #8some profound and benevolent investigators of human affairs had adopted the conclusion that1 of all the possible forms of government1 absolute monarchy is the best4' ,this is what the reviewers have omitted at the beginning4 ,he then adds1 as in the extract1 that #8,experience1 if we look only at the outside of the facts1 appears to be divided on this subject2' there are ,caligulas in one place1 and kings of ,denmark in another4 #8,as the surface of history affords1 therefore1 no certain principle of decision1 we must go beyond the surface1 and penetrate to the springs within4' ,this is what the reviewers have omitted at the end40 ,it is perfectly true that our quotation from ,mr4 ,mill's essay was1 like most other quotations1 preceded and followed by something which we did not quote4 ,but1 if the ,westminster ,reviewer means to say that either what preceded or what followed would1 if quoted1 have shown that we put a wrong interpretation on the passage which was extracted1 he does not understand ,mr4 ,mill rightly4 ,mr4 ,mill undoubtedly says that1 8as the surface of history affords no certain principle of decision1 we must go beyond the surface1 and penetrate to the springs within40 ,but these expressions will admit of several interpretations4 ,in what sense1 then1 does ,mr4 ,mill use them8 ,if he means that we ought to inspect the facts with close attention1 he means what is rational4 ,but1 if he means that we ought to leave the facts1 with all their apparent inconsistencies1 unexplained--to lay down a general principle of the widest extent1 and to deduce doctrines from that principle by syllogistic argument1 without pausing to consider whether those doctrines be or be not consistent with the facts1--then he means what is irrational2 and this is clearly what he does mean3 for he immediately begins1 without offering #iethe least explanation of the contradictory appearances which he has himself described1 to go beyond the surface in the following manner3--8,that one human being will desire to render the person and property of another subservient to his pleasures1 notwithstanding the pain or loss of pleasure which it may occasion to that other individual1 is the foundation of government44 ,the desire of the object implies the desire of the power necessary to accomplish the object40 ,and thus he proceeds to deduce consequences directly inconsistent with what he has himself stated respecting the situation of the ,danish people4 ,if we assume that the object of government is the preservation of the persons and property of men1 then we must hold that1 wherever that object is attained1 there the principle of good government exists4 ,if that object be attained both in ,denmark and in the ,united ,states of ,america1 then that which makes government good must exist1 under whatever disguise of title or name1 both in ,denmark and in the ,united ,states4 ,if men lived in fear for their lives and their possessions under ,nero and under the ,national ,convention1 it follows that the causes from which misgovernment proceeds existed both in the despotism of ,rome and in the democracy of ,france4 ,what1 then1 is that which1 being found in ,denmark and in the ,united ,states1 and not being found in the ,roman ,empire or under the administration of ,robespierre1 renders governments1 widely differing in their external form1 practically good8 ,be it what it may1 it certainly is not that which ,mr4 ,mill proves a priori that it must be1--a democratic representative assembly4 ,for the ,danes have no such assembly4 ,the latent principle of good government ought to #if;be tracked1 as it appears to us1 in the same manner in which ,lord ,bacon proposed to track the principle of ,heat4 ,make as large a list as possible1 said that great man1 of those bodies in which1 however widely they differ from each other in appearance1 we perceive heat2 and as large a list as possible of those which1 while they bear a general resemblance to hot bodies1 are nevertheless not hot4 ,observe the different degrees of heat in different hot bodies2 and then1 if there be something which is found in all hot bodies1 and of which the increase or diminution is always accompanied by an increase or diminution of heat1 we may hope that we have really discovered the object of our search4 ,in the same manner we ought to examine the constitution of all those communities in which1 under whatever form1 the blessings of good government are enjoyed2 and to discover1 if possible1 in what they resemble each other1 and in what they all differ from those societies in which the object of government is not attained4 ,by proceeding thus we shall arrive1 not indeed at a perfect theory of government1 but at a theory which will be of great practical use1 and which the experience of every successive generation will probably bring nearer and nearer to perfection4 ,the inconsistencies into which ,mr4 ,mill has been betrayed by taking a different course ought to serve as a warning to all speculators4 ,because ,denmark is well governed by a monarch who1 in appearance at least1 is absolute1 ,mr4 ,mill thinks that the only mode of arriving at the true principles of government is to deduce them a priori from the laws of human nature4 ,and what conclusion does he bring out by this deduction8 ,we will give it in his own words3--8,in the grand discovery of modern times1 the system of representation1 #igthe solution of all the difficulties1 both speculative and practical1 will perhaps be found4 ,if it cannot1 we seem to be forced upon the extraordinary conclusion that good government is impossible40 ,that the ,danes are well governed without a representation is a reason for deducing the theory of government from a general principle from which it necessarily follows that good government is impossible without a representation6 ,we have done our best to put this question plainly2 and we think that1 if the ,westminster ,reviewer will read over what we have written twice or thrice with patience and attention1 some glimpse of our meaning will break in even on his mind4 ,some objections follow1 so frivolous and unfair1 that we are almost ashamed to notice them4 8,when it was said that there was in ,denmark a balanced contest between the king and the nobility1 what was said was1 that there was a balanced contest1 but it did not last4 ,it was balanced till something put an end to the balance2 and so is everything else ,that such a balance will not last1 is precisely what ,mr4 ,mill had demonstrated40 ,mr4 ,mill1 we positively affirm1 pretends to demonstrate1 not merely that a balanced contest between the king and the aristocracy will not last1 but that the chances are as infinity to one against the existence of such a balanced contest4 ,this is a mere question of fact4 ,we quote the words of the essay1 and defy the ,westminster ,reviewer to impeach our accuracy3-- 8,it seems impossible that such equality should ever exist4 ,how is it to be established8 ,or by what criterion is it to be ascertained8 ,if there is no such criterion1 it must1 in all cases1 be the result of chance4 ,if so1 the chances against it are as infinity to one40 ,the ,reviewer has confounded the division of power #ihwith the balance or equal division of power4 ,mr4 ,mill says that the division of power can never exist long1 because it is next to impossible that the equal division of power should ever exist at all4 8,when ,mr4 ,mill asserted that it cannot be for the interest of either the monarchy or the aristocracy to combine with the democracy1 it is plain he did not assert that if the monarchy and aristocracy were in doubtful contest with each other1 they would not1 either of them1 accept of the assistance of the democracy4 ,he spoke of their taking the side of the democracy2 not of their allowing the democracy to take side with themselves40 ,if ,mr4 ,mill meant any thing1 he must have meant this--that the monarchy and the aristocracy will never forget their enmity to the democracy in their enmity to each other4 8,the monarchy and aristocracy10 says he1 8have all possible motives for endeavouring to obtain unlimited power over the persons and property of the community4 ,the consequence is inevitable4 ,they have all possible motives for combining to obtain that power1 and unless the people have power enough to be a match for both they have no protection4 ,the balance1 therefore1 is a thing the existence of which upon the best possible evidence is to be regarded as impossible40 ,if ,mr4 ,mill meant only what the ,westminster ,reviewer conceives him to have meant1 his argument would leave the popular theory of the balance quite untouched4 ,for it is the very theory of the balance that the help of the people will be solicited by the nobles when hard pressed by the king1 and by the king when hard pressed by the nobles2 and that1 as the price of giving alternate support to the crown and the aristocracy1 they will obtain something for themselves1 as the ,reviewer admits that they have done in ,denmark4 ,if ,mr4 ,mill admits this1 he admits the only theory of the balance of which we ever heard--that #iivery theory which he has declared to be wild and chimerical4 ,if he denies it1 he is at issue with the ,westminster ,reviewer as to the phenomena of the ,danish government4 ,we now come to a more important passage4 ,our opponent has discovered1 as he conceives1 a radical error which runs through our whole argument1 and vitiates every part of it4 ,we suspect that we shall spoil his triumph4 8,mr4 ,mill never asserted #8that under no despotic government does any human being1 except the tools of the sovereign possess more than the necessaries of life1 and that the most intense degree of terror is kept up by constant cruelty4' ,he said that absolute power leads to such results1 #8by infallible sequence1 where power over a community is attained1 and nothing checks' ,the critic on the ,mount never made a more palpable misquotation4 8,the spirit of this misquotation runs through every part of the reply of the ,edinburgh ,review that relates to the ,essay on ,government2 and is repeated in as many shapes as the ,roman pork4 ,the whole description of #8,mr4 ,mill's argument against despotism1'--including the illustration from right-angled triangles and the square of the hypothenuse1--is founded on this invention of saying what an author has not said1 and leaving unsaid what he has40 ,we thought1 and still think1 for reasons which our readers will soon understand1 that we represented ,mr4 ,mill's principle quite fairly1 and according to the rule of law and common sense1 ut res magis valeat guam pereat4 ,let us1 however1 give him all the advantage of the explanation tendered by his advocate1 and see what he will gain by it4 ,the ,utilitarian doctrine then is1 not that despots and aristocracies will always plunder and oppress the people to the last point1 but that they will do so if nothing checks them4 ,in the first place1 it is quite clear that the doctrine #ajjthus stated is of no use at all1 unless the force of the checks be estimated4 ,the first law of motion is1 that a ball once projected will fly on to all eternity with undiminished velocity1 unless something checks4 ,the fact is1 that a ball stops in a few seconds after proceeding a few yards with very variable motion4 ,every man would wring his child's neck and pick his friend's pocket if nothing checked him4 ,in fact1 the principle thus stated means only that governments will oppress unless they abstain from oppressing4 ,this is quite true1 we own4 ,but we might with equal propriety turn the maxim round1 and lay it down1 as the fundamental principle of government1 that all rulers will govern well1 unless some motive interferes to keep them from doing so4 ,if there be1 as the ,westminster ,reviewer acknowledges1 certain checks which1 under political institutions the most arbitrary in seeming1 sometimes produce good government1 and almost always place some restraint on the rapacity and cruelty of the powerful1 surely the knowledge of those checks1 of their nature1 and of their effect1 must be a most important part of the science of government4 ,does ,mr4 ,mill say any thing upon this part of the subject8 ,not one word4 ,the line of defence now taken by the ,utilitarians evidently degrades ,mr4 ,mill's theory of government from the rank which1 till within the last few months1 was claimed for it by the whole sect4 ,it is no longer a practical system1 fit to guide statesmen1 but merely a barren exercise of the intellect1 like those propositions in mechanics in which the effect of friction and of the resistance of the air is left out of the question2 and which1 therefore1 though correctly deduced from the premises1 are in practice utterly false4 ,for1 if ,mr4 #aja,mill professes to prove only that absolute monarchy and aristocracy are pernicious without checks1--if he allows that there are checks which produce good government even under absolute monarchs and aristocracies1--and if he omits to tell us what those checks are1 and what effects they produce under different circumstances1--he surely gives us no information which can be of real utility4 ,but the fact is1--and it is most extraordinary that the ,westminster ,reviewer should not have perceived it1--that1 if once the existence of checks on the abuse of power in monarchies and aristocracies be admitted1 the whole of ,mr4 ,milks theory falls to the ground at once4 ,this is so palpable1 that1 in spite of the opinion of the ,westminster ,reviewer1 we must acquit ,mr4 ,mill of having intended to make such an admission4 ,we still think that the words1 8where power over a community is attained1 and nothing checks10 must not be understood to mean that under a monarchical or aristocratical form of government there can really be any check which can in any degree mitigate the wretchedness of the people4 ,for all possible checks may be classed under two general heads1--want of will1 and want of power4 ,now1 if a king or an aristocracy1 having the power to plunder and oppress the people1 can want the will1 all ,mr4 ,mill's principles of human nature must be pronounced unsound4 ,he tells us1 8that the desire to possess unlimited power of inflicting pain upon others1 is an inseparable part of human nature20 and that a 8chain of inference1 close and strong to a most unusual degree10 leads to the conclusion that those who possess this power will always desire to use it4 ,it is plain1 therefore1 that1 if ,mr4 ,mill's principles be sound1 the #ajb;check on a monarchical or an aristocratical government will not be the want of will to oppress4 ,if a king or an aristocracy1 having1 as ,mr4 ,mill tells us that they always must have1 the will to oppress the people with the utmost severity1 want the power1 then the government1 by whatever name it may be called1 must be virtually a mixed government or a pure democracy3 for it is quite clear that the people possess some power in the state--some means of influencing the nominal rulers4 ,but ,mr4 ,mill has demonstrated that no mixed government can possibly exist1 or at least that such a government must come to a very speedy end2 therefore1 every country in which people not in the service of the government have1 for any length of time1 been permitted to accumulate more than the bare means of subsistence must be a pure democracy4 ,that is to say1 ,france before the revolution1 and ,ireland during the last century1 were pure democracies4 ,prussia1 ,austria1 ,russia1 all the governments of the civilised world1 are pure democracies4 ,if this be not a reductio ad absurdum1 we do not know what is4 ,the errors of ,mr4 ,mill proceed principally from that radical vice in his reasoning which1 in our last number1 we described in the words of ,lord ,bacon4 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer is unable to discover the meaning of our extracts from the ,novum ,organum1 and expresses himself as follows3 8,the quotations from ,lord ,bacon are misapplications1 such as anybody may make to any thing he dislikes4 ,there is no more resemblance between pain1 pleasure1 motives1 c41 and substantia1 generation corrupting elementum1 materia1--than between lines1 angles1 magnitudes1 c41 and the same40 ,it would perhaps be unreasonable to expect that a #ajcwriter who cannot understand his own ,english should understand ,lord ,bacon's ,latin4 ,we will therefore attempt to make our meaning clearer4 ,what ,lord ,bacon blames in the schoolmen of his time is this1--that they reasoned syllogistically on words which had not been defined with precision2 such as moist1 dry1 generation1 corruption1 and so forth4 ,mr4 ,mill's error is exactly of the same kind4 ,he reasons syllogistically about power1 pleasure1 and pain1 without attaching any definite notion to any one of those words4 ,there is no more resemblance1 says the ,westminster ,reviewer1 between pain and substantia than between pain and a line or an angle4 ,by his permission1 in the very point to which ,lord ,bacon's observation applies1 ,mr4 ,mill's subjects do resemble the substantia and elementum of the schoolmen and differ from the lines and magnitudes of ,euclid4 ,we can reason a priori on mathematics1 because we can define with an exactitude which precludes all possibility of confusion4 ,if a mathematician were to admit the least laxity into his notions1 if he were to allow himself to be deluded by the vague sense which words bear in popular use1 or by the aspect of an ill-drawn diagram1 if he were to forget in his reasonings that a point was indivisible1 or that the definition of a line excluded breadth1 there would be no end to his blunders4 ,the schoolmen tried to reason mathematically about things which had not been1 and perhaps could not be1 defined with mathematical accuracy4 ,we know the result4 ,mr4 ,mill has in our time attempted to do the same4 ,he talks of power1 for example1 as if the meaning of the word power were as determinate as the meaning of the word circle4 ,but1 when we analyse his speculations1 we find that his notion of power is1 #ajd;in the words of ,bacon1 8phantastica et male terminata40 ,there are two senses in which we may use the word power and those words which denote the various distributions of power1 as1 for example1 monarchy2--the one sense popular and superficial1--the other more1 scientific and accurate4 ,mr4 ,mill1 since he chose to reason a priori1 ought to have clearly pointed out in which sense he intended to use words of this kind1 and to have adhered inflexibly to the sense on which he fixed4 ,instead of doing this1 he flies backwards and forwards from the one sense to the other1 and brings out conclusions at last which suit neither4 ,the state of those two communities to which he has himself referred--the kingdom of ,denmark and the empire of ,rome--may serve to illustrate our meaning4 ,looking merely at the surface of things1 we should call ,denmark a despotic monarchy1 and the ,roman world1 in the first century after ,christ1 an aristocratical republic4 ,caligula was1 in theory1 nothing more than a magistrate elected by the senate1 and subject to the senate4 ,that irresponsible dignity which1 in the most limited monarchies of our time1 is ascribed to the person of the sovereign never belonged to the earlier ,csars4 ,the sentence of death which the great council of the commonwealth passed on ,nero was strictly according to the theory of the constitution4 ,let1 in fact1 the power of the ,roman emperors approached nearer to absolute dominion than that of any prince in modern ,europe4 ,on the other hand1 the ,king of ,denmark1 in theory the most despotic of princes1 would in practice find it most perilous to indulge in cruelty and licentiousness4 ,nor is there1 we believe1 at the present moment a single sovereign in our x #ajepart of the world who has so much real power over the lives of his subjects as ,robespierre1 while he lodged at a ,handler's and dined at a restaurateur's1 exercised over the lives of those whom he called his fellow-citizens4 ,mr4 ,mill and the ,westminster ,reviewer seem to agree that there cannot long exist in any society a division of power between a monarch1 an aristocracy1 and the people1 or between any two of them4 ,however the power be distributed1 one of the three parties will1 according to them1 inevitably monopolise the whole4 ,now1 what is here meant by power8 ,if ,mr4 ,mill speaks of the external semblance of power1--of power recognised by the theory of the constitution1--he is palpably wrong4 ,in ,england1 for example1 we have had for ages the name and form of a mixed government1 if nothing more4 ,indeed1 ,mr4 ,mill himself owns that there are appearances which have given colour to the theory of the balance1 though he maintains that these appearances are delusive4 ,but1 if he uses the word power in a deeper and philosophical sense1 he is1 if possible1 still more in the wrong than on the former supposition4 ,for1 if he had considered in what the power of one human being over other human beings must ultimately consist1 he would have perceived1 not only that there are mixed governments in the world1 but that all the governments in the world1 and all the governments which can even be conceived as existing in the world1 are virtually mixed4 ,if a king possessed the lamp of ,aladdin1--if he governed by the help of a genius who carried away the daughters and wives of his subjects through the air to the royal ,parc-aux-cerfs1 and turned into stone every man who wagged a finger against his majesty's government1 there would indeed be an unmixed despotism4 #ajf;,but1 fortunately1 a ruler can be gratified only by means of his subjects4 ,his power depends on their obedience2 and1 as any three or four of them are more than a match for him by himself1 he can only enforce the unwilling obedience of some by means of the willing obedience of others4 ,take any of those who are popularly called absolute princes--,napoleon for example4 ,could ,napoleon have walked through ,paris1 cutting off the head of one person in every house which he passed8 ,certainly not without the assistance of an army4 ,if not1 why not8 ,because the people had sufficient physical power to resist him1 and would have put forth that power in defence of their lives and of the lives of their children4 ,in other words1 there was a portion of power in the democracy under ,napoleon4 ,napoleon might probably have indulged himself in such an atrocious freak of power if his army would have seconded him4 ,but1 if his army had taken part with the people1 he would have found himself utterly helpless2 and1 even if they had obeyed his orders against the people1 they would not have suffered him to decimate their own body4 ,in other words1 there was a portion of power in the hands of a minority of the people1 that is to say1 in the hands of an aristocracy1 under the reign of ,napoleon4 ,to come nearer home1--,mr4 ,mill tells us that it is a mistake to imagine that the ,english government is mixed4 ,he holds1 we suppose1 with all the politicians of the ,utilitarian school1 that it is purely aristocratical4 ,there certainly is an aristocracy in ,england2 and we are afraid that their power is greater than it ought to be4 ,they have power enough to keep up the game-laws and corn-laws2 but they have not power enough to subject the bodies of men of the lowest class to wanton #ajgoutrage at their pleasure4 ,suppose that they were to make a law that any gentleman of two thousand a-year might have a day-labourer or a pauper flogged with a cat-of-nine-tails whenever the whim might take him4 ,it is quite clear that the first day on which such flagellation should be administered would be the last day of the ,english aristocracy4 ,in this point1 and in many other points which might be named1 the commonalty in our island enjoy a security quite as complete as if they exercised the right of universal suffrage4 ,we say1 therefore1 that the ,english people have in their own hands a sufficient guarantee that in some points the aristocracy will conform to their wishes2--in other words1 they have a certain portion of power over the aristocracy4 ,therefore the ,english government is mixed4 ,wherever a king or an oligarchy refrains from the last extremity of rapacity and tyranny through fear of the resistance of the people1 there the constitution1 whatever it may be called1 is in some measure democratical4 ,the admixture of democratic power may be slight4 ,it may be much slighter than it ought to be2 but some admixture there is4 ,wherever a numerical minority1 by means of superior wealth or intelligence1 of political concert1 or of military discipline1 exercises a greater influence on the society than any other equal number of persons1--there1 whatever the form of government may be called1 a mixture of aristocracy does in fact exist4 ,and1 wherever a single man1 from whatever cause1 is so necessary to the community1 or to any portion of it1 that he possesses more power than any other man1 there is a mixture of monarchy4 ,this is the philosophical classification of governments3 and if we use this classification we shall find1 not only that #ajhthere are mixed governments1 but that all governments are1 and must always be1 mixed4 ,but we may safely challenge ,mr4 ,mill to give any definition of power1 or to make any classification of governments1 which shall bear him ont in his assertion that a lasting division of authority is impracticable4 ,it is evidently on the real distribution of power1 and not on names and badges1 that the happiness of nations must depend4 ,the representative system1 though doubtless a great and precious discovery in politics1 is only one of the many modes in which the democratic part of the community can efficiently check the governing few4 ,that certain men have been chosen as deputies of the people1--that there is a piece of paper stating such deputies to possess certain powers1--these circumstances in themselves constitute no security for good government4 ,such a constitution nominally existed in ,france2 while1 in fact1 an oligarchy of committees and clubs trampled at once on the electors and the elected4 ,representation is a very happy contrivance for enabling large bodies of men to exert their power with less risk of disorder than there would otherwise be4 ,but1 assuredly1 it does not of itself give power4 ,unless a representative assembly is sure of being supported in the last resort by the physical strength of large masses who have spirit to defend the constitution and sense to defend it in concert1 the mob of the town in which it meets may overawe it2--the howls of the listeners in its gallery may silence its deliberations2--an able and daring individual may dissolve it4 ,and1 if that sense and that spirit of which we speak be diffused through a society1 then1 even without a representative assembly1 that society will enjoy many of the blessings of good government4 #aji,which is the better able to defend himself as a strong man with nothing but his fists1 or a paralytic cripple encumbered with a sword which he cannot lift8 ,such1 we believe1 is the difference between ,denmark and some new republics in which the constitutional forms of the ,united ,states have been most sedulously imitated4 ,look at the ,long ,parliament on the day on which ,charles came to seize the five members3 and look at it again on the day when ,cromwell stamped with his foot on its floor4 ,on which day was its apparent power the greater8 ,on which day was its real power the less8 ,nominally subject1 it was able to defy the sovereign4 ,nominally sovereign1 it was turned out of doors by its servant4 ,constitutions are in politics what paper money is in commerce4 ,they afford great facilities and conveniences4 ,but we must not attribute to them that value which really belongs to what they represent4 ,they are not power1 but symbols of power1 and will1 in an emergency1 prove altogether useless unless the power for which they stand be forthcoming4 ,the real power by which the community is governed is made up of all the means which all its members possess of giving pleasure or pain to each other4 ,great light may be thrown on the nature of a circulating medium by the phenomena of a state of barter4 ,and in the same manner it may be useful to those who wish to comprehend the nature and operation of the outward signs of power to look at communities in which no such signs exist2 for example1 at the great community of nations4 ,there we find nothing analogous to a constitution3 but do we not find a government8 ,we do in fact find government in its purest1 and simplest1 and most intelligible form4 ,we see one portion #aajof power acting directly on another portion of power4 ,we see a certain police kept up2 the weak to a certain degree protected2 the strong to a certain degree restrained4 ,we see the principle of the balance in constant operation4 ,we see the whole system sometimes undisturbed by any attempt at encroachment for twenty or thirty years at a time2 and all this is produced without a legislative assembly1 or an executive magistracy--without tribunals--without any code which deserves the name2 solely by the mutual hopes and fears of the various members of the federation4 ,in the community of nations1 the first appeal is to physical force4 ,in communities of men1 forms of government serve to put off that appeal1 and often render it unnecessary4 ,but it is still open to the oppressed or the ambitious4 ,of course1 we do not mean to deny that a form of government will1 after it has existed for a long time1 materially affect the real distribution of power throughout the community4 ,this is because those who administer a government1 with their dependents1 form a compact and disciplined body1 which1 acting methodically and in concert1 is more powerful than any other equally numerous body which is inferior in organisation4 ,the power of rulers is not1 as superficial observers sometimes seem to think1 a thing sui generis4 ,it is exactly similar in kind1 though generally superior in amount1 to that of any set of conspirators who plot to overthrow it4 ,we have seen in our time the most extensive and the best organised conspiracy that ever existed--a conspiracy which possessed all the elements of real power in so great a degree that it was able to cope with a strong government1 and to triumph over it--the ,catholic ,association4 ,an ,utilitarian #aaawould tell us1 we suppose1 that the ,irish ,catholics had no portion of political power whatever on the first day of the late ,session of ,parliament4 ,let us really go beyond the surface of facts3 let us1 in the sound sense of the words1 penetrate to the springs within2 and the deeper we go the more reason shall we find to smile at those theorists who hold that the sole hope of the human race is in a rule-of-three sum and a ballot-box4 ,we must now return to the ,westminster ,reviewer4 ,the following paragraph is an excellent specimen of his peculiar mode of understanding and answering arguments4 8,the reply to the argument against #8saturation1' supplies its own answer4 ,the reason why it is of no use to try to #8saturate' is precisely what the ,edinburgh ,reviewers have suggested1--#8that there is no limit to the number of thieves' ,there are the thieves1 and the thieves' cousins1--with their men-servants1 their maid-servants1 and their little ones1 to the fortieth generation4 ,it is true1 that #8a man cannot become a king or a member of the aristocracy whenever he chooses3' but if there is to be no limit to the depredators except their own inclination to increase and multiply1 the situation of those who are to suffer is as wretched as it needs be4 ,it is impossible to define what are #8corporal pleasures4' ,a ,duchess of ,cleveland was a #8corporal pleasure4' ,the most disgraceful period in the history of any nation--that of the ,restoration--presents an instance of the length to which it is possible to go in an attempt to #8saturate' with pleasures of this kind40 ,to reason with such a writer is like talking to a deaf man who catches at a stray word1 makes answer beside the mark1 and is led further and further into error by every attempt to explain4 ,yet1 that our readers may fully appreciate the abilities of the new philosophers1 we shall take the trouble to go over some of our ground again4 ,mr4 ,mill attempts to prove that there is no point of #aabsaturation with the objects of human desire4 ,he then takes it for granted that men have no objects of desire but those which can be obtained only at the expense of the happiness of others4 ,hence he infers that absolute monarchs and aristocracies will necessarily oppress and pillage the people to a frightful extent4 ,we answered in substance thus4 ,there are two kinds of objects of desire2 those which give mere bodily pleasure1 and those which please through the medium of associations4 ,objects of the former class1 it is true1 a man cannot obtain without depriving somebody else of a share4 ,but then with these every man is soon satisfied4 ,a king or an aristocracy cannot spend any very large portion of the national wealth on the mere pleasures of sense4 ,with the pleasures which belong to us as reasoning and imaginative beings we are never satiated1 it is true3 but then1 on the other hand1 many of those pleasures can be obtained without injury to any person1 and some of them can be obtained only by doing good to others4 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer1 in his former attack on us1 laughed at us foil saying that a king or an aristocracy could not be easily satiated with the pleasures of sense1 and asked why the same course was not tried with thieves4 ,we were not a little surprised at so silly an objection from the pen1 as we imagined1 of ,mr4 ,bentham4 ,we returned1 however1 a very simple answer4 ,there is no limit to the number of thieves4 ,any man who chooses can steal3 but a man cannot become a member of the aristocracy or a king whenever he chooses4 ,to satiate one thief1 is to tempt twenty other people to steal4 ,but by satiating one king or five hundred nobles with bodily pleasures we do not produce more kings or more nobles4 ,the answer #aacof the ,westminster ,reviewer we have quoted above2 and it will amply repay our readers for the trouble of examining it4 ,we never read any passage which indicated notions so vague and confused4 ,the number of the thieves1 says our ,utilitarian1 is not limited4 ,for there are the dependents and friends of the king and of the nobles4 ,is it possible that he should not perceive that this comes under a different head8 ,the bodily pleasures which a man in power dispenses among his creatures are bodily pleasures as respects his creatures1 no doubt4 ,but the pleasure which he derives from bestowing them is not a bodily pleasure4 ,it is one of those pleasures which belong to him as a reasoning and imaginative being4 ,no man of common understanding can have failed to perceive that1 when we said that a king or an aristocracy might easily be supplied to satiety with sensual ,pleasures1 we were speaking of sensual pleasures directly enjoyed by themselves4 ,but 8it is impossible10 says the ,reviewer1 8to define what are corporal pleasures40 ,our brother would indeed1 we suspect1 find it a difficult task2 nor1 if we are to judge of his genius for classification from the specimen which immediately follows1 would we advise him to make the attempt4 8,a ,duchess of ,cleveland was a corporal pleasure40 ,and to this wise remark is appended a note1 setting forth that ,charles the ,second gave to the ,duchess of ,cleveland the money which he ought to have spent on the war with ,holland4 ,we scarcely know how to answer a man who unites so much pretension to so much ignorance4 ,there are1 among the many ,utilitarians who talk about ,hume1 ,condillac1 and ,hartley1 a few who have read those writers4 ,let the ,reviewer ask one of these what he thinks on the subject4 ,we shall not undertake to whip #aad;a pupil of so little promise through his first course of metaphysics4 ,we shall1 therefore1 only say--leaving him to guess and wonder what we can mean--that1 in our opinion1 the ,duchess of ,cleveland was not a merely corporal pleasure1--that the feeling which leads a prince to prefer one woman to all others1 and to lavish the wealth of kingdoms on her1 is a feeling which can only be explained by the law of association4 ,but we are tired1 and even more ashamed than tired1 of exposing these blunders4 ,the whole article is of a piece4 ,one passage1 however1 we must select1 because it contains a very gross misrepresentation4 8,they never alluded to the ,french ,revolution for the purpose of proving that the poor were inclined to rob the rich4' ,they only said1 #8as soon as the poor again began to compare their cottages and salads with the hotels and banquets of the rich1 there would have been another scramble for property1 another general confiscation1' c40 ,we said that1 if ,mr4 ,mill's principles of human nature were correct1 there would have been another scramble for property1 and another confiscation4 ,we particularly pointed this out in our last article4 ,we showed the ,westminster ,reviewer that he had misunderstood us4 ,we dwelt particularly on the condition which was introduced into our statement4 ,we said that we had not given1 and did not mean to give1 any opinion of our own4 ,and1 after this1 the ,westminster ,reviewer thinks proper to repeat his former misrepresentation1 without taking the least notice of that qualification to which we1 in the most marked manner1 called his attention4 ,we hasten on to the most curious part of the article under our consideration--the defence of the 8greatest happiness principle40 ,the ,reviewer charges us with having quite mistaken its nature4 #aae0;,all that they ave established is1 that they do not understand it4 ,instead of the truism of the ,whigs1 #8that the greatest happiness is the greatest happiness1' what ,mr4 ,bentham had demonstrated1 or at all events had laid ,inch ,inundations that there was no trouble in demonstrating1 was1 that the greatest happiness of the individual was in the long run to be obtained by pursuing the greatest happiness of the aggregate40 ,it was distinctly admitted by the ,westminster ,reviewer1 as we remarked in our last article1 that he could give no answer to the question1--why governments should attempt to produce the greatest possible happiness8 ,the ,reviewer replies thus3-- 8,nothing of the kind will be admitted at all4 ,in the passage thus selected to be tacked to the other1 the question started was1 concerning #8the object of government2' in which government was spoken of as an operation1 not as anything that is capable of feeling pleasure or pain4 ,in this sense it is true enough1 that ought is not predicable of governments40 ,we will quote1 once again1 the passage which we quoted in our last ,number2 and we really hope that our brother critic will feel something like shame while he peruses it4 8,the real answer appeared to be1 that men at large ought not to allow a government to afflict them with more evil or less good1 than they can help4 ,what a government ought to do is a mysterious and searching question which those may answer who know what it means2 but what other men ought to do is a question of no mystery at all4 ,the word ought1 if it means anything1 must have reference to some kind of interest or motives2 and what interest a government has in doing right1 when it happens to be interested in doing wrong1 is a question for the schoolmen4 ,the fact appears to be that ought is not predicable of governments4 ,the question is not1 why governments are bound not to do this or that1 but why other men should let them if they can help it4 ,the point is not to determine why the lion should not eat sheep1 but why men should not eat their own mutton if they can40 #aaf,we defy the ,westminster ,reviewer to reconcile this passage with the 8general happiness principle0 as he now states it4 ,he tells us that he meant by government1 not the people invested with the powers of government1 but a mere operation incapable of feeling pleasure or pain4 ,we say1 that he meant the people invested with the powers of government1 and nothing else4 ,it is true that ought is not predicable of an operation4 ,but who would ever dream of raising any question about the duties of an operation8 ,what did the ,reviewer mean by saying1 that a government could not be interested in doing right because it was interested in doing wrong8 ,can an operation be interested in either8 ,and what did he mean by his comparison about the lion8 ,is a lion an operation incapable of pain or pleasure8 ,and what did he mean by the expression1 8other men10 so obviously opposed to the word 8government08 ,but let the public judge between us4 ,it is superfluous to argue a point so clear4 ,the ,reviewer does indeed seem to feel that his expressions cannot be explained away1 and attempts to shuffle out of the difficulty by owning1 that 8the double meaning of the word government was not got clear of without confusion40 ,he has now1 at all events1 he assures us1 made himself master of ,mr4 ,bentham's philosophy4 ,the real and genuine 8greatest happiness principle0 is1 that the greatest happiness of every individual is identical with the greatest happiness of society2 and all other 8greatest happiness principles0 whatever are counterfeits4 8,this10 says he1 8is the spirit of ,mr4 ,bentham's principle2 and if there is anything opposed to it in any former statement it may be corrected by the present40 ,assuredly1 if a fair and honourable opponent had1 #aag;in discussing a question so abstruse as that concerning the origin of moral obligation1 made some unguarded admission inconsistent with the spirit of his doctrines1 we should not be inclined to triumph over him4 ,but no tenderness is due to a writer who1 in the very act of confessing his blunders1 insults those by whom his blunders have been detected1 and accuses them of misunderstanding what1 in pet1 he has himself mis-stated4 ,the whole of this transaction illustrates excellently the real character of this sect4 ,a paper comes forth1 professing to contain a full developement of the 8greatest happiness principle10 with the latest improvements of ,mr4 ,bentham4 ,the writer boasts that his article has the honour of being the announcement and the organ of this wonderful discovery1 which is to make 8the bones of sages and patriots stir within their tombs40 ,this 8magnificent principle0 is then stated thus3 ,mankind ought to pursue their greatest happiness4 ,but there are persons whose interest is opposed to the greatest happiness of mankind4 ,ought is not predicable of such persons4 ,for the word ought has no meaning unless it be used with reference to some interest4 ,we answered1 with much more lenity than we should have shown to such nonsense1 had it not proceeded1 as we supposed1 from ,mr4 ,bentham1 that interest was synonymous with greatest happiness2 and that1 therefore1 if the word ought has no meaning1 unless used with reference to interest1 then1 to say that mankind ought to pursue their greatest happiness1 is simply to say1 that the greatest happiness is the greatest happiness2 that every individual pursues his own happiness2 that either what he thinks is happiness must coincide with the greatest happiness of society or not2 that1 if what he thinks his happiness coincides with the greatest #aah;happiness of society1 he will attempt to promote the greatest happiness of society whether he ever heard of the 8greatest happiness principle0 or not2 and that1 by the admission of the ,westminster ,reviewer1 if his happiness is inconsistent with the greatest happiness of society1 there is no reason why he should promote the greatest happiness of society4 ,now1 that there are individuals who think that for their happiness which is not for the greatest happiness of society is evident4 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer allowed that some of these individuals were in the right2 and did not pretend to give any reason which could induce any one of them to think himself in the wrong4 ,so that the 8magnificent principle0 turned out to be1 either a truism or a contradiction in terms2 either this maxim--8,do what you do20 or this maxim1 8,do what you cannot do40 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer had the wit to see that he could not defend this palpable nonsense2 but1 instead of manfully owning that he had misunderstood the whole nature of the 8greatest happiness principle0 in the summer1 and had obtained new light during the autumn1 he attempts to withdraw the former principle unobserved1 and to substitute another1 directly opposed to it1 in its place2 clamouring all the time against our unfairness1 like one who1 while changing the carol diverts the attention of the table from his sleight of hand by vociferating charges of foul play against other people4 ,the 8greatest happiness principle0 for the present quarter is then this1--that every individual will best promote his own happiness in this world1 religious considerations being left out of the question1 by promoting the greatest happiness of the whole species4 ,and this principle1 we are told1 holds good with respect to kings and aristocracies as well as with other people4 #aai0;,it is certain that the individual operators in any government1 if they were thoroughly intelligent and entered into a perfect calculation of all existing chances1 would seek lor their own happiness in the promotion of the general2 which brings them1 if they knew it1 under ,mr4 ,bentham's rule4 ,the mistake of supposing the contrary1 lies in confounding criminals who have had the luck to escape punishment with those who have the risk still before them4 ,suppose1 for instance1 a member of the ,house of ,commons were at this moment to debate within himself1 whether it would be for his ultimate happiness to begin1 according to his ability1 to misgovern4 ,if he could be sure of being as lucky as some that are dead and gone1 there might be difficulty in finding him an answer4 ,but he is not sure2 and never can be1 till he is dead4 ,he does not know that he is not close upon the moment when misgovernment such as he is tempted to contemplate1 will be made a terrible example of4 ,it is not fair to pick out the instance of the thief that has died unhanged4 ,the question is1 whether thieving is at this moment an advisable trade to begin with all the possibilities of hanging not got over8 ,this is the spirit of ,mr4 ,bentham's principle2 and if there is any thing opposed to it in any former statement1 it may be corrected by the present40 ,we hope that we have now at last got to the real 8magnificent principle10--to the principle which is really to make 8the hones of the sages and patriots stir40 ,what effect it may produce on the bones of the dead we shall not pretend to decide2 but we are sure that it will do very little for the happiness of the living4 ,in the first place1 nothing is more certain than this1 that the ,utilitarian theory of government1 as developed in ,mr4 ,mill's ,essay and in all the other works on the subject which have been put forth by the sect1 rests on these two principles1--that men follow their interest1 and that the interest of individuals may be1 and in fact perpetually is1 opposed to the interest of society4 ,unless these two principles be granted1 ,mr4 ,mill's ,essay does not contain one sound sentence4 ,all his arguments #abj;against monarchy and aristocracy1 all his arguments in favour of democracy1 nay1 the very argument by which he shows that there is any necessity for having government at all1 must be rejected as utterly worthless4 ,this is so palpable that even the ,westminster ,reviewer1 though not the most clear-sighted of men1 could not help seeing it4 ,accordingly1 he attempts to guard himself against the objection1 after the manner of such reasoners1 by committing two blunders instead of one4 8,all this10 says he1 8only shows that the members of a government would do well if they were all-wise20 and he proceeds to tell us that1 as rulers are not all-wise1 they will invariably act against this principle wherever they can1 so that the democratical checks will still be necessary to produce good government4 ,no form which human folly takes is so richly and exquisitely laughable as the spectacle of an ,utilitarian in a dilemma4 ,what earthly good can there be in a principle upon which no man will act until he is allwise8 ,a certain most important doctrine1 we are told1 has been demonstrated so clearly that it ought to be the foundation of the science of government4 ,and yet the whole frame of government is to be constituted exactly as if this fundamental doctrine were false1 and on the supposition that no human being will ever act as if he believed it to be true6 ,the whole argument of the ,utilitarians in favour of universal suffrage proceeds on the supposition that even the rudest and most uneducated men cannot1 for any length of time1 be deluded into acting against their own true interest4 ,yet now they tell us that1 in all aristocratical communities1 the higher and more educated class will1 not occasionally1 but invariably1 act against #aba;its own interest4 ,now1 the only use of proving anything1 as far as we can see1 is that people may believe it4 ,to say that a man does what he believes to be against his happiness is a contradiction in terms4 ,if1 therefore1 government and laws are to be constituted on the supposition on which ,mr4 ,mill's ,essay is founded1 that all individuals will1 whenever they have power over others put into their hands1 act in opposition to the general happiness1 then government1 and laws must be constituted on the supposition that no individual believes1 or ever will believe1 his own happiness to be identical with the happiness of society4 ,that is to say1 government and laws are to be constituted on the supposition that no human being will ever be satisfied by ,mr4 ,bentham's proof of his 8greatest happiness principle10--a supposition which may be true enough1 but which says little1 we think1 for the principle in question4 ,but where has this principle been demonstrated8 ,we are curious1 we confess1 to see this demonstration which is to change the face of the world and yet is to convince nobody4 ,the most amusing circumstance is that the ,westminster ,reviewer himself does not seem to know whether the principle has been demonstrated or not4 8,mr4 ,bentham10 he says1 8has demonstrated it1 or at all events has laid such foundations that there is no trouble in demonstrating it40 ,surely it is rather strange that such a matter should be left in doubt4 ,the ,reviewer proposed1 in his former article1 a slight verbal emendation in the statement of the principle2 he then announced that the principle had received its last improvement2 and gloried in the circumstance that the ,westminster ,review had been selected as the organ of that improvement4 ,did it never occur to #abb;him that one slight improvement to a doctrine is to prove it8 ,mr4 ,bentham has not demonstrated the 8greatest happiness principle10 as now stated4 ,he is far too wise a man to think of demonstrating any such thing4 ,in those sections of his ,introduction to the ,principles of ,morals and ,legislation1 to which the ,reviewer refers us in his note1 there is not a word of the kind4 ,mr4 ,bentham says1 most truly1 that there are no occasions in which a man has not some motives for consulting the happiness of other men2 and he proceeds to set forth what those motives are--sympathy on all occasions1 and the love of reputation on most occasions4 ,this is the very doctrine which we have been maintaining against ,mr4 ,mill and the ,westminster ,reviewer4 ,the principal charge which we brought against ,mr4 ,mill was1 that those motives to which ,mr4 ,bentham ascribes so much influence were quite left out of consideration in his theory4 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer1 in the very article now before us1 abuses us for saying1 in the spirit1 and almost in the words of ,mr4 ,bentham1 that 8there is a certain check to the rapacity and cruelty of men in their desire of the good opinion of others40 ,but does this principle1 in which we fully agree with ,mr4 ,bentham1 go the length of the new 8greatest happiness principle80 ,the question is1 not whether men have some motives for promoting the greatest happiness1 but whether the stronger motives be those which impel them to promote the greatest happiness4 ,that this would always be the case if men knew their own worldly interests is the assertion of the ,reviewer4 ,as he expresses some doubt whether ,mr4 ,bentham has demonstrated this or not1 we would advise him to set the point at rest by giving his own demonstration4 #abc,the ,reviewer has not attempted to give a general confirmation of the 8greatest happiness principle20 but he has tried to prove that it holds good in one or two particular cases4 ,and even in those particular cases he has utterly failed4 ,a man1 says he1 who calculated the chances fairly would perceive that it would be for his greatest happiness to abstain from stealing2 for a thief runs a greater risk of being hanged than an honest man4 ,it would have been wise1 we think1 in the ,westminster ,reviewer1 before he entered on a discussion of this sort1 to settle in what human happiness consists4 ,each of the ancient sects of philosophy held some tenet on this subject which served for a distinguishing badge4 ,the summum bonum of the ,utilitarians1 as far as we can ,judge from the passage which we are now considering1 is the not being hanged4 ,that it is an unpleasant thing to be hanged1 we most willingly concede to our brother4 ,but that the whole question of happiness or misery resolves itself into this single point1 we cannot so easily admit4 ,we must look at the thing purchased as well as the price paid for it4 ,a thief1 assuredly1 runs a greater risk of being hanged than a labourer2 and so an officer in the army runs a greater risk of being shot than a banker's clerk2 and a governor of ,india runs a greater risk of lying of cholera than a lord of the bedchamber4 ,but does it therefore follow that every man1 whatever his habits or feelings may be1 would1 if he knew his own happiness1 become a clerk rather than a cornet1 or goldstick in waiting rather than governor of ,india8 ,nothing can be more absurd than to suppose1 like the ,westminster ,reviewed that thieves steal only because they do not calculate the chances of being #abd;hanged as correctly as honest men4 ,it never seems to have occurred to him as possible that a man may so greatly prefer the life of a thief to the life of a labourer that he may determine to brave the risk of detection and punishment1 though he may even think that risk greater than it really is4 ,and how1 on ,utilitarian principles1 is such a man to be convinced that he is in the wrong8 8,you will be found out40--8,undoubtedly40--8,you will be hanged within two years40--8,i expect to be hanged within one year40--8,then why do you pursue this lawless mode of life80--8,because ,i would rather live for one year with plenty of money1 dressed like a gentleman1 eating and drinking of the best1 frequenting public places1 and visiting a dashing mistress1 than break stones on the road1 or sit down to the loom1 with the certainty of attaining a good old age4 ,it is my humour4 ,are you answered80 8,a king1 says the ,reviewer again1 would govern well1 if he were wise1 for fear of provoking his subjects to insurrection4 ,therefore1 the true happiness of a king is identical with the greatest happiness of society4 ,tell ,charles ,,ii4 that1 if he will be constant to his queen1 sober at table1 regular at prayers1 frugal in his expenses1 active in the transaction of business1 if he will drive the herd of slaves1 buffoons1 and procurers from ,whitehall1 and make the happiness of his people the rule of his conduct1 he will have a much greater chance of reigning in comfort to an advanced age2 that his profusion and tyranny have exasperated his subjects1 and may1 perhaps1 bring him to an end as terrible as his father's40 ,he might answer1 that he saw the danger1 but that life was not worth having without ease and vicious pleasures4 ,and what has our philosopher to say8 ,does he not see that it is no more possible to #abereason a man out of liking a short life and a merry one more than a long life and a dull one than to reason a ,greenlander out of his train oil8 ,we may say that the tastes of the thief and the tyrant differ from ours2 but what right have we to say1 looking at this world alone1 that they do not pursue their greatest happiness very judiciously8 ,it is the grossest ignorance of human nature to suppose that another man calculates the chances differently from us1 merely because he does what1 in his place1 we should not do4 ,every man has tastes and propensities1 which he is disposed to gratify at a risk and expense which people of different temperaments and habits think extravagant4 8,why10 says ,horace1 8does one brother like to lounge in the forum1 to play in the ,campus1 and to anoint himself in the baths1 so well1 that he would not put himself out of his way for all the wealth of the richest plantations of the ,east2 while the other toils from sunrise to sunset for the purpose of increasing his fortune80 ,horace attributes the diversity to the influence of the ,genius and the natal star3 and eighteen hundred years have taught us only to disguise our ignorance beneath a more philosophical language4 ,we think1 therefore1 that the ,westminster ,reviewer1 even if we admit his calculation of the chances to be right1 does not make out his case4 ,but he appears to us to miscalculate chances more grossly than any person who ever acted or speculated in this world4 8,it is for the happiness10 says he1 8of a member of the ,house of ,commons to govern well2 for he never can tell that he is not close on the moment when misgovernment will be terribly punished3 if he was sure that he should be as lucky as his predecessors1 it might be #abf;for his happiness to misgovern2 but he is not sure40 ,certainly a member of ,parliament is not sure that he shall not be torn in pieces by a mob1 or guillotined by a revolutionary tribunal for his opposition to reform4 ,nor is the ,westminster ,reviewer sure that he shall not be handed for writing in favour of universal suffrage4 ,we may have democratical massacres4 ,we may also have aristocratical proscriptions4 ,it is not very likely1 thank ,god1 that we should see either4 ,but the radical1 we think1 runs as much danger as the aristocrat4 ,as to our friend the ,westminster ,reviewer1 he1 it must be owned1 has as good a right as any man on his side1 8,antoni gladios conternnere40 ,but take the man whose votes1 ever since he has sate in ,parliament1 have been the most uniformly bad1 and oppose him to the man whose votes have been the most uniformly good4 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer would probably select ,mr4 ,sadler and ,mr4 ,hume4 ,now1 does any rational man think1--will the ,westminster ,reviewer himself say1--that ,mr4 ,sadler runs more risk of coming to a miserable end on account of his public conduct than ,mr4 ,hume8 ,mr4 ,sadler does not know that he is not close on the moment when he will be made an example of2 for ,mr4 ,sadler knows1 if possible1 less about the future than about the past4 ,but he has no more reason to expect that he shall be made an example of than to expect that ,london will be swallowed up by an earthquake next spring2 and it would be as foolish in him to act on the former supposition as on the latter4 ,there is a risk2 for there is a risk of every thing which does not involve a contradiction2 but it is a risk from which no man in his wits would give a shilling to be insured4 ,yet our ,westminster ,reviewer tells us that this risk alone1 apart from all #abg;considerations of religion1 honour1 or benevolence1 would1 as a matter of mere calculation1 induce a wise member of the ,house of ,commons to refuse any emoluments which might be offered him as the price of his support to pernicious measures4 ,we have hitherto been examining cases proposed by our opponent4 ,it is now our turn to propose one2 and we beg that he will spare no wisdom in solving it4 ,a thief is condemned to be hanged4 ,on the eve of the day fixed for the execution a turnkey enters his cell and tells him that all is safe1 that he has only to slip out1 that his friends are waiting in the neighbourhood with disguises1 and that a passage is taken for him in an ,american packet4 ,now1 it is clearly for the greatest happiness of society that the thief should be hanged and the corrupt turnkey exposed and punished4 ,will the ,westminster ,reviewer tell us that it is for the greatest happiness of the thief to summon the head jailer and tell the whole story8 ,now1 either it is for the greatest happiness of a thief to be hanged or it is not4 ,if it is1 then the argument1 by which the ,westminster ,reviewer attempts to prove that men do not promote their own happiness by thieving1 falls to the ground4 ,if it is not1 then there are men whose greatest happiness is at variance with the greatest happiness of the community4 ,to sum up our arguments shortly1 we say that the 8greatest happiness principle10 as now stated1 is diametrically opposed to the principle stated in the ,westminster ,review three months ago4 ,we say that1 if the 8greatest happiness principle10 as now stated1 be sound1 ,mr4 ,mill's ,essay1 and all other works concerning ,government which1 like that ,essay1 proceed on the supposition that individuals may have #abh;an interest opposed to the greatest happiness of society1 are fundamentally erroneous4 ,we say that those who hold this principle to be sound must be prepared to maintain1 either that monarchs and aristocracies may be trusted to govern the community1 or else that men cannot be trusted to follow their own interest when that interest is demonstrated to them4 ,we say that1 if men cannot be trusted to follow their own interest when that interest has been demonstrated to them1 then the ,utilitarian arguments in favour of universal suffrage are good for nothing4 ,we say that the 8greatest happiness principle0 has not been proved2 that it cannot be generally proved2 that even in the particular cases selected by the ,reviewer it is not clear that the principle is true2 and that many cases might be stated in which the common sense of mankind would at once pronounce it to be false4 ,we now leave the ,westminster ,reviewer to alter and amend his 8magnificent principle0 as he thinks best4 ,unlimited1 it is false4 ,properly limited1 it will be barren4 ,the 8greatest happiness principle0 of the #ast of ,july1 as far as we could discern its meaning through a cloud of rodomontade1 was an idle truism4 ,the 8greatest happiness principle0 of the #ast of ,october is1 in the phrase of the ,american newspapers1 8important if true40 ,but unhappily it is not true4 ,it is not our business to conjecture what new maxim is to make the bones of sages and patriots stir on the #ast of ,december4 ,we can only say that1 unless it be something infinitely more ingenious than its two predecessors1 we shall leave it unmolested4 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer may1 if he pleases1 indulge himself like #abi,sultan ,schahriar with espousing a rapid succession of virgin theories4 ,but we must beg to be excused from playing the part of the vizier who regularly attended on the day after the wedding to strangle the new ,sultana4 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer charges us with urging it as an objection to the 8greatest happiness principle0 that 8it is included in the ,christian morality40 ,this is a mere fiction of his own4 ,we never attacked the morality of the ,gospel4 ,we blamed the ,utilitarians for claiming the credit of a discovery1 when they had merely stolen that morality1 and spoiled it in the stealing4 ,they have taken the precept of ,christ and left the motive2 and they demand the praise of a most wonderful and beneficial invention1 when all that they have done has been to make a most useful maxim useless by separating it from its sanction4 ,on religious principles it is true that every individual will best promote his own happiness by promoting the happiness of others4 ,but if religious considerations be left out of the question it is not true4 ,if we do not reason on the supposition of a future state1 where is the motive8 ,if we do reason on that supposition1 where is the discovery8 ,the ,westminster ,reviewer tells us that 8we wish to see the science of ,government unsettled because we see no prospect of a settlement which accords with our interests40 ,his angry eagerness to have questions settled resembles that of a judge in one of ,dryden's plays--the ,amphitryon1 we think--who wishes to decide a pause after hearing only one party1 and1 when he has been at last compelled to listen to the statement of the defendant1 flies into a passion1 and exclaims1 8,there now1 sir6 ,see what you have done4 ,the case was #acjquite dear a minute ago2 and you must come and puzzle it60 ,he is the zealot of a sect4 ,we are searchers after truth4 ,he wishes to have the question settled4 ,we wish to have it sifted first4 ,the querulous manner in which we have been blamed for attacking ,mr4 ,mill's system1 and propounding no system of our own1 reminds us of the horror with which that shallow dogmatist1 ,epicurus1 the worst parts of whose nonsense the ,utilitarians have attempted to revive1 shrank from the keen and searching scepticism of the second ,academy4 ,it is not our fault that an experimental science of vast extent does not admit of being settled by a short demonstration2--that the subtilty of nature1 in the moral as in the physical world1 triumphs over the subtilty of syllogism4 ,the quack1 who declares on affidavit that1 by using his pills and attending to his printed directions1 hundreds who had been dismissed incurable from the hospitals have renewed their youth like the eagles1 may1 perhaps1 think that ,sir ,henry ,halford1 when he feels the pulses of patients1 inquires about their symptoms1 and prescribes a different remedy to each1 is unsettling the science of medicine for the sake of a fee4 ,if1 in the course of this controversy1 we have refrained from expressing any opinion respecting the political institutions of ,england1 it is not because we have not an opinion or because we shrink from avowing it4 ,the ,utilitarians1 indeed1 conscious that their boasted theory of government would not bear investigation1 were desirous to turn the dispute about ,mr4 ,mill's ,essay into a dispute about the ,whig party1 rotten boroughs1 unpaid magistrates1 and ex-officio informations4 ,when we blamed them for talking nonsense4 #acathey cried out that they were insulted for being reformers1--just as poor ,ancient ,pistol swore that the scars which he had received from the cudgel of ,fluellen were got in the ,gallia wars4 ,we1 however1 did not think it desirable to mix up political questions1 about which the public mind is violently agitated1 with a great problem in moral philosophy4 ,our notions about ,government are not1 however1 altogether unsettled4 ,we have an opinion about parliamentary reform1 though we have not arrived at that opinion by the royal road which ,mr4 ,mill has opened for the explorers of political science4 ,as we are taking leave1 probably for the last time1 of this controversy1 we will state very concisely what our doctrines are4 ,on some future occasion we may1 perhaps1 explain and defend them at length4 ,our fervent wish1 and we will add our sanguine hope1 is that we may see such a reform of the ,house of ,commons as may render its votes the express image of the opinion of the middle orders of ,britain4 ,a pecuniary qualification we think absolutely necessary2 and1 in settling its amount1 our object would be to draw the line in such a manner that every decent farmer and shopkeeper might possess the elective franchise4 ,we should wish to see an end put to all the advantages which particular forms of property possess over other forms1 and particular portions of property over other equal portions4 ,and this would content us4 ,such a reform would1 according to ,mr4 ,mill1 establish an aristocracy of wealth1 and leave the community without protection and exposed to all the evils of unbridled power4 ,most willingly would we stake the whole controversy between us on the success of the experiment which we propose4 ,,southey',s ,,colloquies4 7#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,january #ahcj47 ,it #acbwould be scarcely possible for a man of ,mr4 ,southey's talents and acquirements to write two volumes so large as those before us1 which should be wholly destitute of information and amusement4 ,yet we do not remember to have read with so little satisfaction any equal quantity of matter1 written by any man of real abilities4 ,we have1 for some time past1 observed with great regret the strange infatuation which leads the ,poet ,laureate to abandon those departments of literature in which he might excel1 and to lecture the public on sciences of which he has still the very alphabet to learn4 ,he has now1 we think1 done his worst4 ,the subject which he has at last undertaken to treat is one which demands all the highest intellectual and moral qualities of a philosophical statesman1 an understanding at once comprehensive and acute1 a heart at once upright and charitable4 ,mr4 ,southey brings to the task two faculties which were never1 we believe1 vouchsafed in measure so copious to any human being1 the faculty of believing without a reason1 and the faculty of hating without a provocation4 7#a7 ,sir ,thomas ,more2 or1 ,colloquies on the ,progress and ,prospects of ,society4 ,by ,robert ,southey1 ,esq41 ,,ll4,d41 ,poet ,laureate4 #b vols4 #hvo1 ,london3 #ahbi4 #acc;,it is1 indeed1 most extraordinary1 that a mind like ,mr4 ,southey's1 a mind richly endowed in many respects by nature1 and highly cultivated by study1 a mind which has exercised considerable influence on the most enlightened generation of the most enlightened people that ever existed1 should be utterly destitute of the power of discerning truth from falsehood4 ,yet such is the fact4 ,government is to ,mr4 ,southey one of the fine arts4 ,he judges of a theory1 of a public measure1 of a religion or a political party1 of a peace or a war1 as men judge of a picture or a statue1 by the effect produced on his imagination4 ,a chain of associations is to him what a chain of reasoning is to other men2 and what he calls his opinions are in fact merely his tastes4 ,this description might perhaps apply to a much greater man1 ,mr4 ,burke4 ,but ,mr4 ,burke assuredly possessed an understanding admirably fitted for the investigation of truth1 an understanding stronger than that of any statesman1 active or speculative1 of the eighteenth century1 stronger than every thing1 except his own fierce and ungovernable sensibility4 ,hence he generally chose his side like a fanatic1 and defended it like a philosopher4 ,his conduct on the most important occasions of his life1 at the time of the impeachment of ,hastings for example1 and at the time of the ,french ,revolution1 seems to have been prompted by those feelings and motives which ,mr4 ,coleridge has so happily described1 8,stormy pity1 and the cherish'd lure ,of pomp1 and proud precipitance of soul4 ,hindostan1 with its vast cities1 its gorgeous pagodas1 its infinite swarms of dusky population1 its long-descended dynasties1 its stately etiquette1 excited in a mind so capacious1 so imaginative1 and so susceptible1 #acdthe most intense interest4 ,the peculiarities of the costume1 of the manners1 and of the laws1 the very mystery which hung over the language and origin of the people1 seized his imagination4 ,to plead under the ancient arches of ,westminster ,hall1 in the name of the ,english people1 at the bar of the ,english nobles1 for great nations and kings separated from him by half the world1 seemed to him the height of human glory4 ,again1 it is not difficult to perceive that his hostility to the ,french ,revolution principally arose from the vexation which he felt at having all his old political associations disturbed1 at seeing the well known landmarks of states obliterated1 and the limes and distinctions with which the history of ,europe had been filled for ages at once swept away4 ,he felt like an antiquary whose shield had been scoured1 or a connoisseur who found his ,titian retouched4 ,but1 however he came by an opinion1 he had no sooner got it than he did his best to make out a legitimate title to it4 ,his reason1 like a spirit in the service of an enchanter1 though spellbound1 was still mighty4 ,it did whatever work his passions and his imagination might impose4 ,but it did that work1 however arduous1 with marvellous dexterity and vigour4 ,his course was not determined by argument2 but he could defend the wildest course by arguments more plausible than those by which common men support opinions which they have adopted after the fullest deliberation4 ,reason has scarcely ever displayed1 even in those well constituted minds of which she occupies the throne1 so much power and energy as in the lowest offices of that imperial servitude4 ,now in the mind of ,mr4 ,southey reason has no place at all1 as either leader or follower1 as either sovereign or slave4 ,he does not seem to know what an #ace;argument is4 ,he never uses arguments himself4 ,he never troubles himself to answer the arguments of his opponents4 ,it has never occurred to him1 that a man ought to be able to give some better account of the way in which he has arrived at his opinions than merely that it is his will and pleasure to hold them4 ,it has never occurred to him that there is a difference between assertion and demonstration1 that a rumour does not always prove a fact1 that a single fact1 when proved1 is hardly foundation enough for a theory1 that two contradictory propositions cannot be undeniable truths1 that to beg the question is not the way to settle it1 or that when an objection is raised1 it ought to be met with something more convincing than 8scoundrel0 and 8blockhead40 ,it would be absurd to read the works of such a writer for political instruction4 ,the utmost that can be expected from any system promulgated by him is that it may be splendid and affecting1 that it may suggest sublime and pleasing images4 ,his scheme of philosophy is a mere day-dream1 a poetical creation1 like the ,domdaniel cavern1 the ,swerga1 or ,padalon2 and indeed it bears no inconsiderable resemblance to those gorgeous visions4 ,like them1 it has something of invention1 grandeur1 and brilliancy4 ,but1 like them1 it is grotesque and extravagant1 and perpetually violates even that conventional probability which is essential to the effect of works of art4 ,the warmest admirers of ,mr4 ,southey will scarcely1 we think1 deny that his success has almost always borne an inverse proportion to the degree in which his undertakings have required a logical head4 ,his poems1 taken in the mass1 stand far higher than his prose works4 ,his official ,odes indeed1 amoung which the #acf,vision of ,judgment must be classed1 are1 for the most part1 worse than ,pye's and as bad as ,cibber's2 nor do we think him generally happy in short pieces4 ,but his longer poems1 though full of faults1 are nevertheless very extraordinary productions4 ,we doubt greatly whether they will be read fifty years hence2 but that1 if they are read1 they will be admired1 we have no doubt whatever4 ,but1 though in general we prefer ,mr4 ,southey's poetry to his prose1 we must make one exception4 ,the ,life of ,nelson is1 beyond all doubt1 the most perfect and the most delightful of his works4 ,the fact is1 as his poems most abundantly prove1 that he is by no means so skilful in designing as in filling up4 ,it was therefore an advantage to him to be furnished with an outline of characters and events1 and to have no other task to perform than that of touching the cold sketch into life4 ,no writer1 perhaps1 ever lived1 whose talents so precisely qualified him to write the history of the great naval warrior4 ,there were no fine riddles of the human heart to read1 no theories to propound1 no hidden causes to develope1 no remote consequences to predict4 ,the character of the hero lay on the surface4 ,the exploits were brilliant and picturesque4 ,the necessity of adhering to the real course of events saved ,mr4 ,southey from those faults which deform the original plan of almost every one of his poems1 and which even his innumerable beauties of detail scarcely redeem4 ,the subject did not require the exercise of those reasoning powers the want of which is the blemish of his prose4 ,it would not be easy to find1 in all literary history1 an instance of a more exact hit between wind and water4 ,john ,wesley and the ,peninsular ,war were subjects of a very different kind1 subjects which required #acg;all the qualities of a philosophic historian4 ,in ,mr4 ,southey's works on these subjects1 he has1 on the whole1 failed4 ,yet there are charming specimens of the art of narration in both of them4 ,the ,life of ,wesley will probably live4 ,defective as it is1 it contains the only popular account of a most remarkable moral revolution1 and of a man whose eloquence and logical acuteness might have made him eminent in literature1 whose genius for government was not inferior to that of ,richelieu1 and who1 whatever his errors may-have been1 devoted all his powers1 in defiance of obloquy and derision1 to what he sincerely considered as the highest good of his species4 ,the ,history of the ,peninsular ,war is already dead3 indeed1 the second volume was dead-born4 ,the glory of producing an imperishable record of that great conflict seems to be reserved for ,colonel ,napier4 ,the ,book of the ,church contains some stories very prettily told4 ,the rest is mere rubbish4 ,the adventure was manifestly one which could be achieved only by a profound thinker1 and one in which even a profound thinker might have failed1 unless his passions had been kept under strict control4 ,but in all those works in which ,mr4 ,southey has completely abandoned narration1 and has undertaken to argue moral and political questions1 his failure has been complete and ignominious4 ,on such occasions his writings are rescued from utter contempt and derision solely by the beauty and purity of the ,english4 ,we find1 we confess1 so great a charm in ,mr4 ,southey's style that1 even when he writes nonsense1 we generally read it with pleasure1 except indeed when he tries to be droll4 ,a more insufferable jester never existed4 ,he very often attempts to be humorous1 and yet we do not remember a single #achoccasion on which he has succeeded farther than to be quaintly and flippantly dull4 ,in one of his works he tells us that ,bishop ,spratt was very properly so called1 inasmuch as he was a very small poet4 ,and in the book now before us he cannot quote ,francis ,bugg1 the renegade ,quaker1 without a remark on his unsavoury name4 ,a wise man might talk folly like this by his own fireside2 but that any human being1 after having made such a joke1 should write it down1 and copy it out1 and transmit it to the printer1 and correct the proof-sheets1 and send it forth into the world1 is enough to make us ashamed of our species4 ,the extraordinary bitterness of spirit which ,mr4 ,southey manifests towards his opponents is1 no doubt1 in a great measure to be attributed to the manner in which he forms his opinions4 ,differences of taste1 it has often been remarked1 produce greater exasperation than differences on points of science4 ,but this is not all4 ,a peculiar austerity marks almost all ,mr4 ,southey's judgments of men and actions4 ,we are far from blaming him for fixing on a high standard of morals1 and for applying that standard to every case4 ,but rigour ought to be accompanied by discernment2 and of discernment ,mr4 ,southey seems to be utterly destitute4 ,his mode of judging is monkish4 ,it is exactly what we should expect from a stern old ,benedictine1 who had been preserved from many ordinary frailties by the restraints of his situation4 ,no man out of a cloister ever wrote about love1 for example1 so coldly and at the same time so grossly4 ,his descriptions of it are just what we should hear from a recluse who knew the passion only from the details of the confessional4 ,almost all his heroes make love either like ,seraphim or like cattle4 ,he seems to have no notion of #aci;any thing between the ,platonic passion of the ,glendoveer who gazes with rapture on his mistress's leprosy1 and the brutal appetite of ,arvalan and ,roderick4 ,in ,roderick1 indeed1 the two characters are united4 ,he is first all clay1 and then all spirit4 ,he goes forth a ,tarquin1 and comes back too ethereal to be married4 ,the only love scene1 as far as we can recollect1 in ,madoc1 consists of the delicate attentions which a savage1 who has drunk too much of the ,prince's excellent metheglin1 offers to ,goervyl4 ,it would be the labour of a week to find1 in all the vast mass of ,mr4 ,southey's poetry1 a single passage indicating any sympathy with those feelings which have consecrated the shades of ,vaucluse and the locks of ,meillerie4 ,indeed1 if we except some very pleasing images of paternal tenderness and filial duty1 there is scarcely any thing soft or humane in ,mr4 ,southey's poetry4 ,what theologians call the spiritual sins are his cardinal virtues1 hatred1 pride1 and the insatiable thirst of vengeance4 ,these passions he disguises under the name of duties2 he purifies them from the alloy of vulgar interests2 he ennobles them by uniting them with energy1 fortitude1 and a severe sanctity of manners2 and he then holds them up to the admiration of mankind4 ,this is the spirit of ,thalaba1 of ,ladurlad1 of ,adosinda1 of ,roderick after his conversion4 ,it is the spirit which1 in all his writings1 ,mr4 ,southey appears to affect4 8,i do well to be angry10 seems to be the predominant feeling of his mind4 ,almost the only mark of charity which he vouchsafes to his opponents is to pray for their reformation2 and this he does in terms not unlike those in which we can imagine a ,portuguese priest interceding with ,heaven for a ,jew1 delivered over to the secular arm after a relapse4 #adj,we have always heard1 and fully believe1 that ,mr4 ,southey is a very amiable and humane man2 nor do we intend to apply to him personally any of the remarks which we have made on the spirit of his writings4 ,such are the caprices of human nature4 ,even ,uncle ,toby troubled himself very little about the ,french grenadiers who fell on the glacis of ,namur4 ,and ,mr4 ,southey1 when he takes up his pen1 changes his nature as much as ,captain ,shandy1 when he girt on his sword4 ,the only opponents to whom the ,laureate gives quarter are those in whom he finds something of his own character reflected4 ,he seems to have an instinctive antipathy for calm1 moderate men1 for men who shun extremes1 and who render reasons4 ,he has treated ,mr4 ,owen of ,lanark1 for example1 with infinitely more respect than he has shown to ,mr4 ,hallam or to ,dr4 ,lingard2 and this for no reason that we can discover1 except that ,mr4 ,owen is more unreasonably and hopelessly in the wrong than any speculator of our time4 ,mr4 ,southey's political system is just what we might expect from a man who regards politics1 not as matter of science1 but as matter of taste and feeling4 ,all his schemes of government have been inconsistent with themselves4 ,in his youth he was a republican2 yet1 as he tells us in his preface to these ,colloquies1 he was even then opposed to the ,catholic ,claims4 ,he is now a violent ,ultra-,tory4 ,yet1 while he maintains1 with vehemence approaching to ferocity1 all the sterner and harsher parts of the ,ultra-,tory theory of government1 the baser and dirtier part of that theory disgusts him4 ,exclusion1 persecution1 severe punishments for libellers and demagogues1 proscriptions1 massacres1 civil war1 if necessary1 rather than any concession to a discontented people2 these are the measures which #ada;he seems inclined to recommend4 ,a severe and gloomy tyranny1 crushing opposition1 silencing remonstrance1 drilling the minds of the people into unreasoning obedience1 has in it something of grandeur which delights his imagination4 ,but there is nothing fine in the shabby tricks and jobs of office2 and ,mr4 ,southey1 accordingly1 has no toleration for them4 ,when a ,jacobin1 he did not perceive that his system led logically1 and would have led practically1 to the removal of religious distinctions4 ,he now commits a similar error4 ,he renounces the abject and paltry part of the creed of his party1 without perceiving that it is also an essential part of that creed4 ,he would have tyranny and purity together2 though the most superficial observation might have shown him that there can be no tyranny without corruption4 ,it is high time1 however1 that we should proceed to the consideration of the work which is our more immediate subject1 and which1 indeed1 illustrates in almost every page our general remarks on ,mr4 ,southey's writings4 ,in the preface1 we are informed that the author1 notwithstanding some statements to the contrary1 was always opposed to the ,catholic ,claims4 ,we fully believe this2 both because we are sure that ,mr4 ,southey is incapable of publishing a deliberate falsehood1 and because his assertion is in itself probable4 ,we should have expected that1 even in his wildest paroxysms of democratic enthusiasm1 ,mr4 ,southey would have felt no wish to see a simple remedy applied to a great practical evil4 ,we should have expected that1 the only measure which all the great statesmen of two generations have agreed with each other in supporting would be the only measure which ,mr4 ,southey would have agreed with himself in opposing4 ,he has passed from #adbone extreme of political opinion to another1 as ,satan in ,milton went round the globe1 contriving constantly to 8ride with darkness40 ,wherever the thickest shadow of the night may at any moment chance to fall1 there is ,mr4 ,southey4 ,it is not every body who could have so dexterously avoided blundering on the daylight in the course of a journey to the antipodes4 ,mr4 ,southey has not been fortunate in the plan of any of his fictitious narratives4 ,but he has never failed so conspicuously as in the work before us2 except1 indeed1 in the wretched ,vision of ,judgment4 ,in ,november1 #ahag1 it seems the ,laureate was sitting over his newspaper1 and meditating about the death of the ,princess ,charlotte4 ,an elderly person of very dignified aspect makes his appearance1 announces himself as a stranger from a distant country1 and apologizes very politely for not having provided himself with letters of introduction4 ,mr4 ,southey supposes his visitor to be some ,american gentleman who has come to see the lakes and the lake-poets1 and accordingly proceeds to perform1 with that grace1 which only long practice can give1 all the duties which authors owe to starers4 ,he assures his guest that some of the most agreeable visits which he has received have been from ,americans1 and that he knows men among them whose talents and virtues would do honour to any country4 ,in passing we may observe1 to the honour of ,mr4 ,southey1 that1 though he evidently has no liking for the ,american institutions1 he never speaks of the people of the ,united ,states with that pitiful affectation of contempt by which some members of his party have done more than wars or tariffs can do to excite mutual enmity between two communities formed for mutual friendship4 ,great as the faults of his mind are1 paltry spite #adclike this has no place in it4 ,indeed it is scarcely conceivable that a man of his sensibility and his imagination should look without pleasure and national pride on the vigorous and splendid youth of a great people1 whose veins are filled with our blood1 whose minds are nourished with our literature1 and on whom is entailed the rich inheritance of our civilisation1 our freedom1 and our glory4 ,but we must return to ,mr4 ,southey's study at ,keswick4 ,the visitor informs the hospitable poet that he is not an ,american but a spirit4 ,mr4 ,southey1 with more frankness than civility1 tells him that he is a very queer one4 ,the stranger holds out his hand4 ,it has neither weight nor substance4 ,mr4 ,southey upon this becomes more serious2 his hair stands on end2 and he adjures the spectre to tell him what he is1 and why he comes4 ,the ghost turns out to be ,sir ,thomas ,more4 ,the traces of martyrdom1 it seems1 are worn in the other world1 as stars and ribands are worn in this4 ,sir ,thomas shows the poet a red streak round his neck1 brighter than a ruby1 and informs him that ,cranmer wears a suit of flames in paradise1 the right hand glove1 we suppose1 of peculiar brilliancy4 ,sir ,thomas pays but a short visit on this occasion1 but promises to cultivate the new acquaintance which he has formed1 and1 after begging that his visit may be kept secret from ,mrs4 ,southey1 vanishes into air4 ,the rest of the book consists of conversations between ,mr4 ,southey and the spirit about trade1 currency1 ,catholic emancipation1 periodical literature1 female nunneries1 butchers1 snuff1 book-stalls1 and a hundred other subjects4 ,mr4 ,southey very hospitably takes an opportunity to escort the ghost round the lakes1 and directs his attention to the most beautiful #addpoints of view4 ,why a spirit was to be evoked for the purpose of talking over such matters and seeing such sights1 why the vicar of the parish1 a blue-stocking from ,london1 or an ,american1 such as ,mr4 ,southey at first supposed the aerial visitor to be1 might not have done as well1 we are unable to conceive4 ,sir ,thomas tells ,mr4 ,southey nothing about future events1 and indeed absolutely disclaims the gift of prescience4 ,he has learned to talk modern ,english4 ,he has read all the new publications1 and loves a jest as well as when he jested with the executioner1 though we cannot say that the quality of his wit has materially improved in ,paradise4 ,his powers of reasoning1 too1 are by no means in as great vigour as when he sate on the woolsack2 and though he boasts that he is 8divested of all those passions which cloud the intellects and warp the understandings of men10 we think him1 we must confess1 far less stoical than formerly4 ,as to revelations1 he tells ,mr4 ,southey at the outset to expect none from him4 ,the ,laureate expresses some doubts1 which assuredly will not raise him in the opinion of our modern millennarians1 as to the divine authority of the ,apocalypse4 ,but the ghost preserves an impenetrable silence4 ,as far as we remember1 only one hint about the employment of disembodied spirits escapes him4 ,he encourages ,mr4 ,southey to hope that there is a ,paradise ,press1 at which all the valuable publications of ,mr4 ,murray and ,mr4 ,colburn are reprinted as regularly as at ,philadelphia2 and delicately insinuates that ,thalaba and the ,curse of ,kehama are among the number4 ,what a contrast does this absurd fiction present to those charming narratives which ,plato and ,cicero prefixed to their dialogues6 ,what cost in machinery1 yet what poverty of effect6 ,a ghost brought in #adeto say what any man might have said6 ,the glorified spirit of a great statesman and philosophe6 dawdling1 like a bilious old nabob at a watering place1 over quarterly reviews and novels1 dropping in to pay long calls1 making excursions in search of the picturesque6 ,the scene of ,st4 ,george and ,st4 ,dennis in the ,pucelle is hardly more ridiculous4 ,we know what ,voltaire meant4 ,nobody1 however1 can suppose that ,mr4 ,southey means to make game of the mysteries of a higher state of existence4 ,the fact is that1 in the work before us1 in the ,vision of ,judgement1 and in some of his other pieces1 his mode of treating the most solemn subjects differs from that of open scoffers only as the extravagant representations of sacred persons and things in some grotesque ,italian paintings differ from the caricatures which ,carlile exposes in the front of his shop4 ,we interpret the particular act by the general character4 ,what in the window of a convicted blasphemer we call blasphemous1 we call only absurd and ill judged in an altar-piece4 ,we now come to the conversations which pass between ,mr4 ,southey and ,sir ,thomas ,more1 or rather between two ,southeys1 equally eloquent1 equally angry1 equally unreasonable1 and equally given to talking about what they do not understand4 7#a7 ,perhaps we could not select a better instance of the spirit which pervades the whole book than the passages in which ,mr4 ,southey gives his opinion of the manufacturing system4 ,there is nothing which he hates so bitterly4 ,it is1 according to him1 a system more tyrannical than that of the feudal ages1 a system of actual servitude1 a system which destroys the bodies and degrades the 7#a7 ,a passage in which some expressions used by ,mr4 ,southey were misrepresented1 certainly without any unfair intention1 has been here omitted4 #adfminds of those who are engaged in it4 ,he expresses a hope that the competition of other nations may drive us out of the field2 that our foreign trade may decline2 and that we may thus enjoy a restoration of national sanity and strength4 ,but he seems to think that the extermination of the whole manufacturing population would be a blessing1 if the evil could be removed in no other way4 ,mr4 ,southey does not bring forward a single fact in support of these views2 and1 as it seems to us1 there are facts which lead to a very different conclusion4 ,in the first place1 the poor-rate is very decidedly lower in the manufacturing than in the agricultural districts4 ,if ,mr4 ,southey will look over the ,parliamentary returns on this subject1 he will find that the amount of parochial relief required by the labourers in the different counties of ,england is almost exactly in inverse proportion to the degree in which the manufacturing system has been introduced into those counties4 ,the returns for the years ending in ,march #ahbe1 and in ,march #ahbh1 are now before us4 ,in the former year we find the poor-rate highest in ,sussex1 about twenty shillings to every inhabitant4 ,then come ,buckinghamshire1 ,essex1 ,suffolk1 ,bedfordshire1 ,huntingdonshire1 ,kent1 and ,norfolk4 ,in all these the rate is above fifteen shillings a head4 ,we will not go through the whole4 ,even in ,westmoreland and the ,north ,riding of ,yorkshire1 the rate is at more than eight shillings4 ,in ,cumberland and ,monmouthshire1 the most fortunate of all the agricultural districts1 it is at six shillings4 ,but in the ,west ,riding of ,yorkshire1 it is as low as five shillings2 and when we come to ,lancashire1 we find it at four shillings1 one fifth of what it is in ,sussex4 ,the returns of the year ending in ,march #ahbh #adg;are a little1 and but a little1 more unfavourable to the manufacturing districts4 ,lancashire1 even in that season of distress1 required a smaller poor-rate than any other district1 and little more than one fourth of the poor-rate raised in ,sussex4 ,cumberland alone1 of the agricultural districts1 was as well off as the ,west ,riding of ,yorkshire4 ,these facts seem to indicate that the manufacturer is both in a more comfortable and in a less dependent situation than the agricultural labourer4 ,as to the effect of the manufacturing system on the bodily health1 we must beg leave to estimate it by a standard far too low and vulgar for a mind so imaginative as that of ,mr4 ,southey1 the proportion of births and deaths4 ,we know that1 during the growth of this atrocious system1 this new misery1 to use the phrases of ,mr4 ,southey1 this new enormity1 this birth of a portentous age1 this pest which no man can approve whose heart is not seared or whose understanding has not been darkened1 there has been a great diminution of mortality1 and that this diminution has been greater in the manufacturing towns than any where else4 ,the mortality still is1 as it always was1 greater in towns than in the country4 ,but the difference has diminished in an extraordinary degree4 ,there is the best reason to believe that the annual mortality of ,manchester1 about the middle of the last century1 was one in twenty-eight4 ,it is now reckoned at one in forty-five4 ,in ,glasgow and ,leeds a similar improvement has taken place4 ,nay1 the rate of mortality in those three great capitals of the manufacturing districts is now considerably less than it was1 fifty years ago1 over ,england and ,wales taken together1 open country and all4 ,we might with some plausibility maintain that the people #adhlive longer because they are better fed1 better lodged1 better clothed1 and better attended in sickness1 and that these improvements are owing to that increase of national wealth which the manufacturing system has produced4 ,much more might be said on the subject4 ,but to what end8 ,it is not from bills of mortality and statistical tables that ,mr4 ,southey has learned his political creed4 ,he cannot stoop to study the history of the system which he abuses1 to strike the balance between the good and evil which it has produced1 to compare district with district1 or generation with generation4 ,we will give his own reason for his opinion1 the only reason which he gives for it1 in his own words3-- 8,we remained awhile in silence looking upon the assemblage of dwellings below4 ,here1 and in the adjoining hamlet of ,millbeck1 the effects of manufactures and of agriculture may be seen and compared4 ,the old cottages are such as the poet and the painter especially delight in beholding4 ,substantially built of the native stone without mortar1 dirtied with no white lime1 and their long low roofs covered with slate1 if they had been raised by the magic of some indigenous ,amphion's music1 the materials could not have adjusted themselves more beautifully in accord with the surrounding scene2 and time has still further harmonized them with weather-stains1 lichens1 and moss1 short grasses1 and short fern1 and stone-plants of various kinds4 ,the ornamented chimneys1 round or square1 less adorned than those which1 like little turrets1 crest the houses of the ,portuguese peasantry2 and yet not less happily suited to their place1 the hedge of dipt box beneath the windows1 the rose-bushes beside the door1 the little patch of flower-ground1 with its tall holly-hocks in front2 the garden beside1 the bee-hives1 and the orchard with its bank of daffodils and snow-drops1 the earliest and the profusest in these parts1 indicate in the owners some portion of ease and leisure1 some regard to neatness and comfort1 some sense of natural1 and innocent1 and healthful enjoyment4 ,the new cottages of the manufacturers are upon the manufacturing pattern--naked1 and in a row4 #adi';,how is it1' said ,i1 #8that every thing which is connected with manufactures presents such features of unqualified deformity8 ,from the largest of ,mammon's temples down to the poorest hovel in which his helotry are stalled1 these edifices have all one character4 ,time will not mellow them2 nature will neither clothe nor conceal them2 and they will remain always as offensive to the eye as to the mind40 ,here is wisdom4 ,here are the principles on which nations are to be governed4 ,rose-bushes and poor-rates1 rather than steam-engines and independence4 ,mortality and cottages with weather-stains1 rather than health and long life with edifices which time cannot mellow4 ,we are told1 that our age has invented atrocities beyond the imagination of our fathers2 that society has been brought into a state compared with which extermination would be a blessing2 and all because the dwellings of cotton-spinners are naked and rectangular4 ,mr4 ,southey has found out a way1 he tells us1 in which the effects of manufactures and agriculture may be compared4 ,and what is this way8 ,to stand on a hill1 to look at a cottage and a factory1 and to see which is the prettier4 ,does air4 ,southey think that the body of the ,english peasantry live1 or ever lived1 in substantial or ornamented cottages1 with box-hedges1 flower-gardens1 bee-hives1 and orchards8 ,if not1 what is his parallel worth8 ,we despise those mock philosophers1 who think that they serve the cause of science by depreciating literature and the fine arts4 ,but if any thing could excuse their narrowness of mind it would be such a book as this4 ,it is not strange that1 when one enthusiast makes the picturesque the test of political good1 another should feel inclined to proscribe altogether the pleasures of taste and imagination4 ,thus it is that ,mr4 ,southey reasons about matters #aejwith which he thinks himself perfectly conversant4 ,we cannot1 therefore1 be surprised to find that he commits extraordinary blunders when he writes on points of which he acknowledges himself to be ignorant4 ,he confesses that he is not versed in political economy1 and that he has neither liking nor aptitude for it2 and he then proceeds to read the public a lecture concerning it which fully bears out his confession4 8,all wealth10 says ,sir ,thomas ,more1 8in former times was tangible4 ,it consisted in land1 money1 or chattels1 which were either of real or conventional value40 ,montesinos1 as ,mr4 ,southey somewhat affectedly calls himself1 answers thus3-- 8,jewels1 for example1 and pictures1 as in ,holland1 where indeed at one time tulip bulbs answered the same purpose40 8,that bubble10 says ,sir ,thomas1 8was one of those contagious insanities to which communities are subject4 ,all wealth was real1 till the extent of commerce rendered a paper currency necessary2 which differed from precious stones and pictures in this important point1 that there was no limit to its production40 8,we regard it10 says ,montesinos1 8as the representative of real wealth2 and1 therefore1 limited always to the amount of what it represents40 8,pursue that notion10 answers the ghost1 8and you will be in the dark presently4 ,your provincial banknotes1 which constitute almost wholly the circulating medium of certain districts1 pass current to-day4 ,tomorrow tidings may come that the house which issued them has stopt payment1 and what do they represent then8 ,you will find them the shadow of a shade40 #aea,we scarcely know at which end to begin to disentangle this knot of absurdities4 ,we might ask1 why it should be a greater proof of insanity in men to set a high value on rare tulips than on rare stones1 which are neither more useful nor more beautiful8 ,we might ask how it can be said that there is no limit to the production of paper money1 when a man is hanged if he issues any in the name of another1 and is forced to cash what he issues in his own8 ,but ,mr4 ,southey's error lies deeper still4 8,all wealth10 says he1 8was tangible and real till paper currency was introduced40 ,now1 was there ever1 since men emerged from a state of utter barbarism1 an age in which there were no debts8 ,is not a debt1 while the solvency of the debtor is undoubted1 always reckoned as part of the wealth of the creditor8 ,yet is it tangible and real wealth8 ,does it cease to be wealth1 because there is the security of a written acknowledgment for it8 ,and what else is paper currency8 ,did ,mr4 ,southey ever read a bank-note8 ,if he did1 he would see that it is a written acknowledgment of a debt1 and a promise to pay that debt4 ,the promise may be violated3 the debt may remain unpaid3 those to whom it was due may suffer3 but this is a risk not confined to cases of paper currency3 it is a risk inseparable from the relation of debtor and creditor4 ,every man who sells goods for any thing but ready money runs the risk of finding that what he considered as part of his wealth one day is nothing at all the next day4 ,mr4 ,southey refers to the picture-galleries of ,holland4 ,the pictures were undoubtedly real and tangible possessions4 ,but surely it might happen that a burgomaster might owe a picture-dealer a thousand guilders for a ,teniers4 ,what in this case corresponds to our paper money is not the #aebpicture1 which is tangible1 but the claim of the picture-dealer on his customer for the price of the picture2 and this claim is not tangible4 ,now1 would not the picture-dealer consider this claim as part of his wealth8 ,would not a tradesman who knew of the claim give credit to the picture-dealer the more readily on account of the claim8 ,the burgomaster might be ruined4 ,if so1 would not those consequences follow which1 as ,mr4 ,southey tells us1 were never heard of till paper money came into use8 ,yesterday this claim was worth a thousand guilders4 ,to-day what is it8 ,the shadow of a shade4 ,it is true that1 the more readily claims of this sort are transferred from hand to hand1 the more extensive will be the ,injury produced by a single failure4 ,the laws of all nations sanction1 in certain cases1 the transfer of rights not yet reduced into possession4 ,mr4 ,southey would scarcely wish1 we should think1 that all indorsements of bills and notes should be declared invalid4 ,yet even if this were done1 the transfer of claims would imperceptibly take place1 to a very great extent4 ,when the baker trusts the butcher1 for example1 he is in fact1 though not in form1 trusting the butcher's customers4 ,a man who owes large bills to tradesmen1 and fails to pay them1 almost always produces distress through a very wide circle of people with whom he never dealt4 ,in short1 what ,mr4 ,southey takes for a difference in kind is only a difference of form and degree4 ,in every society men have claims on the property of others4 ,in every society there is a possibility that some debtors may not be able to fulfil their obligations4 ,in every society1 therefore1 there is wealth which is not tangible1 and which may become the shadow of a shade4 #aec,mr4 ,southey then proceeds to a dissertation on the national debt1 which he considers in a new and most consolatory light1 as a clear addition to the income of the country4 8,you can understand10 says ,sir ,thomas1 8that it constitutes a great part of the national wealth40 8,so large a part10 answers ,montesinos1 8that the interest amounted1 during the prosperous time of agriculture1 to as much as the rental of all the land in ,great ,britain2 and at present to the rental of all lands1 all houses1 and all other fixed property put together40 ,the ,ghost and the ,laureate agree that it is very desirable that there should be so secure and advantageous a deposit for wealth as the funds afford4 ,sir ,thomas then proceeds3-- 8,another and far more momentous benefit must not be overlooked2 the expenditure of an annual interest1 equalling1 as you have stated1 the present rental of all fixed property40 8,that expenditure10 quoth ,montesinos1 8gives employment to half the industry in the kingdom1 and feeds half the mouths4 ,take1 indeed1 the weight of the national debt from this great and complicated social machine1 and the wheels must stop40 ,from this passage we should have been inclined to think that ,mr4 ,southey supposes the dividends to be a free gift periodically sent down from heaven to the fundholders1 as quails and manna were sent to the ,israelites2 were it not that he has vouchsafed1 in the following question and answer1 to give the public some information which1 we believe1 was very little needed4 8,whence comes the interest80 says ,sir ,thomas4 8,it is raised10 answers ,montesinos1 8by taxation40 ,now1 has ,mr4 ,southey ever considered what would #aed;be done with this sum if it were not paid as interest to the national creditor8 ,if he would think over this matter for a short time1 we suspect that the 8momentous benefit0 of which he talks would appear to him to shrink strangely in amount4 ,a fundholder1 we will suppose1 spends dividends amounting to five hundred pounds a year2 and his ten nearest neighbours pay fifty pounds each to the tax-gatherer1 for the purpose of discharging the interest of the national debt4 ,if the debt were wiped out1 a measure1 be it understood1 which we by no means recommend1 the fundholder would cease to spend his five hundred pounds a year4 ,he would no longer give employment to industry1 or put food into the mouths of labourers4 ,this ,mr4 ,southey thinks a fearful evil4 ,but is there no mitigating circumstances8 ,each of the ten neighbours of our fundholder has fifty pounds a year more than formerly4 ,each of them will1 as it seems to our feeble understandings1 employ more industry and feed more mouths than formerly4 ,the sum is exactly the same4 ,it is in different1 hands4 ,but on what grounds does ,mr4 ,southey call upon us to believe that it is in the hands of men who will spend it less liberally or less judiciously8 ,he seems to think that nobody but a fundholder can employ the poor2 that1 if a tax is remitted1 those who formerly used to pay it proceed immediately to dig holes in the earth1 and to bury the sum which the government had been accustomed to take2 that no money can set industry in motion till such money has been taken by the tax-gatherer out of one man's pocket and put into another man's pocket4 ,we really wish that ,mr4 ,southey would try to prove this principle1 which is indeed the foundation of his whole theory of finance3 for we think it right to hint #aeeto him that our hard-hearted and unimaginative generation will expect some more satisfactory reason than the only one with which he has yet favoured it1 namely1 a similitude touching evaporation and dew4 ,both the theory and the illustration1 indeed1 are old friends of ours4 ,in every season of distress which we can remember1 ,mr4 ,southey has been proclaiming that it is not from economy1 but from increased taxation1 that the country must expect relief2 and he still1 we find1 places the undoubting faith of a political ,diafoirus1 in his 8,iesaignare1 repurgare1 et reclysterizare4 8,a people10 he tells us1 8may be too rich1 but a government cannot be so40 8,a state10 says he1 8cannot have more wealth at its command than may be employed for the general good1 a liberal expenditure in national works being one of the surest means of promoting national prosperity2 and the benefit being still more obvious1 of an expenditure directed to the purposes of national improvement4 ,but a people may be too rich40 ,we fully admit that a state cannot have at its command more wealth than may be employed for the general good4 ,but neither can individuals1 or bodies of individuals1 have at their command more wealth than may be employed for the general good4 ,if there be no limit to the sum which may be usefully laid out in public works and national improvement1 then wealth1 whether in the hands of private men or of the government1 may always1 if the possessors choose to spend it usefully1 be usefully spent4 ,the only ground1 therefore1 on which ,mr4 ,southey can possibly maintain that a government cannot be too rich1 but that a people may be too rich1 must be this1 that governments are more #aeflikely to spend their money on good objects than private individuals4 ,but what is useful expenditure8 8,a liberal expenditure in national works10 says ,mr4 ,southey1 8is one of the surest means for promoting national prosperity40 ,what does he mean by national prosperity8 ,does he mean the wealth of the state8 ,if so1 his reasoning runs thus3 ,the more wealth a state has the better2 for the more wealth a state has the more wealth it will have4 ,this is surely something like that fallacy1 which is ungallantly termed a lady's reason4 ,if by national prosperity he means the wealth of the people1 of how gross a contradiction is ,mr4 ,southey guilty4 ,a people1 he tells us1 may be too rich3 a government cannot3 for a government can employ its riches in making the people richer4 ,the wealth of the people is to be taken from them1 because they have too much1 and laid out in works1 which will yield them more4 ,we are really at a loss to determine whether ,mr4 ,southey's reason for recommending large taxation is that it will make the people rich1 or that it will make them poor4 ,but we are sure that1 if his object is to make them rich1 he takes the wrong course4 ,there are two or three principles respecting public works1 which1 as an experience of vast extent proves1 may be trusted in almost every case4 ,it scarcely ever happens that any private man or body of men will invest property in a canal1 a tunnel1 or a bridge1 but from an expectation that the outlay will be profitable to them4 ,no work of this sort can be profitable to private speculators1 unless the public be willing to pay for the use of it4 ,the public will not pay of their own accord for what yields no profit or convenience to them4 ,there is thus a direct and #aeg,previous connection between the motive which induces individuals to undertake such a work1 and the utility of the work4 ,can we find any such connection in the case of a public work executed by a government8 ,if it is useful1 are the individuals who rule the country richer8 ,if it is useless1 are they poorer8 ,a public man may be solicitous for his credit4 ,but is not he likely to gain more credit by an useless display of ostentatious architecture in a great town than by the best road or the best canal in some remote province8 ,the fame of public works is a much less certain test of their utility than the amount of toll collected at them4 ,in a corrupt age1 there will be direct embezzlement4 ,in the purest age1 there will be abundance of jobbing4 ,never were the statesmen of any country more sensitive to public opinion1 and more spotless in pecuniary transactions1 than those who have of late governed ,england4 ,yet we have only to look at the buildings recently erected in ,london for a proof of our rule4 ,in a bad age1 the fate of the public is to be robbed outright4 ,in a good age1 it is merely to have the dearest and the worst of every thing4 ,buildings for state purposes the state must erect4 ,and here we think that1 in general1 the state ought to stop4 ,we firmly believe that five hundred thousand pounds subscribed by individuals for rail-roads or canals would produce more advantage to the public than five millions voted by ,parliament for the same purpose4 ,there are certain old saws about the master's eye and about every body's business1 in which we place very great faith4 ,there is1 we have said1 no consistency in ,mr4 ,southey's political system4 ,but if there be in his political #aehsystem any leading principle1 any one error which diverges more widely and variously than any other1 it is that of which his theory about national works is a ramification4 ,he conceives that the business of the magistrate is1 not merely to see that the persons and property of the people are secure from attack1 but that he ought to be a jack-of-all-trades1 architect1 engineer1 schoolmaster1 merchant1 theologian1 a ,lady ,bountiful in every parish1 a ,paul ,pry in every house1 spying1 eaves-dropping1 relieving1 admonishing1 spending our money for us1 and choosing our opinions for us4 ,his principle is1 if we understand it rightly1 that no man can do any thing so well for himself as his rulers1 be they who they may1 can do it for him1 and that a government approaches nearer and nearer to perfection1 in proportion as it interferes more and more with the habits and notions of individuals4 ,he seems to be fully convinced that it is in the power of government to relieve all the distresses under which the lower orders labour4 ,nay1 he considers doubt on this subject as impious4 ,we cannot refrain from quoting his argument on this subject4 ,it is a perfect jewel of logic4 8#8,many thousands in your metropolis1' says ,sir ,thomas ,more1 #8rise every morning without knowing how they are to subsist during the day2 as many of them1 where they are to lay their heads at night4 ,all men1 even the vicious themselves1 know that wickedness leads to misery3 but many1 even among the good and the wise1 have yet to learn that misery is almost as often the cause of wickedness4' 8#8,there are many1' says ,montesinos1 #8who know this1 but believe that it is not in the power of human institutions to prevent this misery4 ,they see the effect1 but regard the causes as inseparable from the condition of human nature4' 8#8,as surely as ,god is good1' replies ,sir ,thomas1 #8so surely there is no such thing as necessary evil4 ,for1 by the religious #aeimind1 sickness1 and pain ,i and death1 are not to be accounted evils4'0 ,now if sickness1 pain1 and death1 are not evils1 we cannot understand why it should be an evil that thousands should rise without knowing how they are to subsist4 ,the only evil of hunger is that it produces first pain1 then sickness1 and finally death4 ,if it did not produce these1 it would be no calamity4 ,if these are not evils1 it is no calamity4 ,we will propose a very plain dilemma3 either physical pain is an evil1 or it is not an evil4 ,if it is an evil1 then there is necessary evil in the universe3 if it is not1 why should the poor be delivered from it8 ,mr4 ,southey entertains as exaggerated a notion of the wisdom of governments as of their power4 ,he speaks with the greatest disgust of the respect now paid to public opinion4 ,that opinion is1 according to him1 to be distrusted and dreaded2 its usurpation ought to be vigorously resisted2 and the practice of yielding to it is likely to ruin the country4 ,to maintain police is1 according to him1 only one of the ends of government4 ,the duties of a ruler are patriarchal and paternal4 ,he ought to consider the moral discipline of the people as his first object1 to establish a religion1 to train the whole community in that religion1 and to consider all dissenters as his own enemies4 8#8,nothing1' says ,sir ,thomas1 #8is more certain1 than that religion is the basis upon which civil government rests2 that from religion power derives its authority1 laws their efficacy1 and both their zeal and sanction2 and it is necessary that this religion be established as for the security of the state1 and for the welfare of the people1 who would otherwise be moved to and fro with every wind of doctrine4 ,a state is secure in proportion as the people are attached to its institutions3 it is1 therefore1 the first and plainest rule of sound policy1 that the people be trained up in the way #afjthey should go4 ,the state that neglects this prepares its own destruction2 and they who train them in any other way are undermining it4 ,nothing in abstract science can be more certain than these positions are4' 8#a ,all of which1' answers ,montesinos1 #8are nevertheless denied by our professors of the arts ,babblative and ,scribblative3 some in the audacity of evil designs1 and others in the glorious assurance of impenetrable ignorance4'0 ,the greater part of the two volumes before us is merely an amplification of these paragraphs4 ,what does ,mr4 ,southey mean by saying that religion is demonstrably the basis of civil government8 ,he cannot surely mean that men have no motives except those derived from religion for establishing and supporting-civil government1 that no temporal advantage is derived from civil government1 that men would experience no temporal inconvenience from living in a state of anarchy8 ,if he allows1 as we think he must allow1 that it is for the good of mankind in this world to have civil government1 and that the great majority of mankind have always thought it for their good ,in this world to have civil government1 we then have a basis for government quite distinct from religion4 ,it is true that the ,christian religion sanctions government1 as it sanctions every thing which promotes the happiness and virtue of our species4 ,but we are at a loss to conceive in what sense religion can be said to be the basis of government1 in which religion is not also the basis of the practices of eating1 drinking1 and lighting fires in cold weather4 ,nothing in history is more certain than that government has existed1 has received some obedience1 and has given some protection1 in times in which it derived no support from religion1 in times in which there was no religion that influenced the hearts and lives of men4 ,it was not from dread of ,tartarus1 or #afa;from belief in the ,elysian fields1 that an ,athenian wished to have some institutions which might keep ,orestes from filching his cloak1 or ,aliclias from breaking his head4 8,it is from religion10 says ,mr4 ,southey1 8that power derives its authority1 and laws their efficacy40 ,from what religion does our power over the ,hindoos derive its authority1 or the law in virtue of which we hang ,brahmins its efficacy8 ,for thousands of years civil government has existed in almost every corner of the world1 in ages of priestcraft1 in ages of fanaticism1 in ages of ,epicurean indifference1 in ages of enlightened piety4 ,however pure or impure the faith of the people might be1 whether they adored a beneficent or a malignant power1 whether they thought the soul mortal or immortal1 they have1 as soon as they ceased to be absolute savages1 found out their need of civil government1 and instituted it accordingly4 ,it is as universal as the practice of cookery4 ,yet1 it is as certain1 says ,mr4 ,southey1 as any thing in abstract science1 that government is founded on religion4 ,we should like to know what notion ,mr4 ,southey has of the demonstrations of abstract science4 ,a very vague one1 we suspect4 ,the proof proceeds4 ,as religion is the basis of government1 and as the state is secure in proportion as the people are attached to public institutions1 it is therefore1 says ,mr4 ,southey1 the first rule of policy1 that the government should train the people in the way in which they should go2 and it is plain that those who train them in any other way are undermining the state4 ,now it does not appear to us to be the first object that people should always believe in the established religion and be attached to the established government4 ,a religion may be false4 ,a government may be oppressive4 ,and whatever support government gives to #afb;false religions1 or religion to oppressive governments1 ,ive consider as a clear evil4 ,the maxim1 that governments ought to train the people in the way in which they should go1 sounds well4 ,but is there any reason for believing that a government is more likely to lead the people in the right way than the people to fall into the right way of themselves8 ,have there not been governments which were blind leaders of the blind8 ,are there not still such governments8 ,can it be laid down as a general rule that the movement of political and religious truth is rather downwards from the government to the people than upwards from the people to the government8 ,these are questions which it is of importance to have clearly resolved4 ,mr4 ,southey declaims against public opinion1 which is now1 he tells us1 usurping supreme power4 ,formerly1 according to him1 the laws governed2 now public opinion governs4 ,what are laws but expressions of the opinion of some class which has power over the rest of the community8 ,by what was the world ever governed but by the opinion of some person or persons8 ,by what else can it ever be governed8 ,what are all systems1 religious1 political1 or scientific1 but opinions resting on evidence more or less satisfactory8 ,the question is not between human opinion and some higher and more certain mode of arriving at truth1 but between opinion and opinion1 between the opinions of one man and another1 or of one class and another1 or of one generation and another4 ,public opinion is not infallible2 but can ,mr4 ,southey construct any institutions which shall secure to us the guidance of an infallible opinion8 ,can ,mr4 ,southey select any family1 any profession1 any class1 in short1 distinguished by any plain badge from the rest of the #afc;community1 whose opinion is more likely to be just than this much abused public opinion8 ,would he choose the peers1 for example8 ,or the two hundred tallest men in the country8 ,or the poor ,knights of ,windsor8 ,or children who are born with cauls8 ,or the seventh sons of seventh sons8 ,we cannot suppose that he would recommend popular election2 for that is merely an appeal to public opinion4 ,and to say that society ought to be governed by the opinion of the wisest and best1 though true1 is useless4 ,whose opinion is to decide1 who are the wisest and best8 ,mr4 ,southey and many other respectable people seem to think that1 when they have once proved the moral and religious training of the people to be a most important object1 it follows1 of course1 that it is an object which the government ought to pursue4 ,they forget that we have to consider1 not merely the goodness of the end1 but also the fitness of the means4 ,neither in the natural nor in the political body have all members the same office4 ,there is surely no contradiction in saying that a certain section of the community may be quite competent to protect the persons and property of the rest1 yet quite unfit to direct our opinions1 or to superintend our private habits4 ,so strong is the interest of a ruler to protect his subjects against all depredations and outrages except his own1 so clear and simple are the means by which this end is to be effected1 that men are probably better off under the worst governments in the world than they would be in a state of anarchy4 ,even when the appointment of magistrates has been left to chance1 as in the ,italian ,republics1 things have gone on far better than if there had been no magistrates at all1 and if every man had done what seemed right in his own #afd;eyes4 ,but we see no reason for thinking that the opinions of the magistrate on speculative question are more likely to be right than those of any other man4 ,none of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed1 popular election1 the accident of the lot1 or the accident of birth1 affords1 as far as we can perceive1 much security for his being wiser than any of his neighbours4 ,the chance of his being wiser than all his neighbours together is still smaller4 ,now we cannot understand how it can be laid down that it is the duty and the right of one class to direct the opinions of another1 unless it can be proved that the former class is more likely to form just opinions than the latter4 ,the duties of government would be1 as ,mr4 ,southey says that they are1 paternal1 if a government were necessarily as much superior in wisdom to a people as the most foolish father1 for a time1 is to the most intelligent child1 and if a government loved a people as fathers generally love their children4 ,but there is no reason to believe that a government will have either the paternal warmth of affection or the paternal superiority of intellect4 ,mr4 ,southey might as well say that the duties of the shoemaker are paternal and that it is an usurpation in any man not of the craft to say that his shoes are bad and to insist on having better4 ,the division of labour would be no blessing1 if those by whom a thing is done were to pay no attention to the opinion of those for whom it is done4 ,the shoemaker1 in the ,relapse1 tells ,lord ,foppington that his lordship is mistaken in supposing that his shoe pinches4 8,it does not pinch2 it cannot pinch2 ,i know my business2 and ,i never made a better shoe40 ,this is the way in which ,mr4 ,southey would have a government treat a people who usurp the privilege of thinking4 ,nay1 the #afeshoemaker of ,vanbrugh has the advantage in the comparison4 ,he contented himself with regulating his customer's shoes1 about which he had peculiar means of information1 and did not presume to dictate about the coat and hat4 ,but ,mr4 ,southey would have the rulers of a country prescribe opinions to the people1 not only about politics1 but about matters concerning which a government has no peculiar sources of information1 and concerning which any man in the streets may know as much and think as justly as the ,king1 namely religion and morals4 ,men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely1 ,a government can interfere in discussion only by making it less free than it would otherwise be4 ,men are most likely to form just opinions when they have no other wish than to know the truth1 and are exempt from all influence1 either of hope or fear4 ,government1 as government1 can bring nothing but the influence of hopes and fears to support its doctrines4 ,it carries on controversy1 not with reasons1 but with threats and bribes4 ,if it employs reasons1 it does so1 not in virtue of any powers which belong to it as a government4 ,thus1 instead of a contest between argument and argument1 we have a contest between argument and force4 ,instead of a contest in which truth1 from the natural constitution of the human mind1 has a decided advantage over falsehood1 we have a contest in which truth can be victorious only by accident4 ,and what1 after all1 is the security which this training gives to governments8 ,mr4 ,southey would scarcely propose that discussion should be more effectually shackled1 that public opinion should be more1 strictly disciplined into conformity with established #aff;institutions1 than in ,spain and ,italy4 ,yet we know that the restraints which exist in ,spain and ,italy have not prevented atheism from spreading among the educated classes1 and especially among those whose office it is to minister at the altars of ,god4 ,all our readers know how1 at the time of the ,french ,revolution1 priest after priest came forward to declare that his doctrine1 his ministry1 his whole life1 had been a lie1 a mummery during which he could scarcely compose his countenance sufficiently to carry on the imposture4 ,this was the case of a false1 or at least of a grossly corrupted religion4 ,let us take then the case of all others most favourable to ,mr4 ,southey's argument4 ,let us take that form of religion which he holds to be the purest1 the system of the ,arminian part of the ,church of ,england4 ,let us take the form of government which he most admires and regrets1 the government of ,england in the time of ,charles the ,first4 ,would he wish to see a closer connection between church and state than then existed8 ,would he wish for more powerful ecclesiastical tribunals8 for a more zealous king8 for a more active primate8 ,would he wish to see a more complete monopoly of public instruction given to the ,established ,church8 ,could any government do more to train the people in the way in which he would have them8 ,and in what did all this training end8 ,the ,report of the state of the ,province of ,canterbury1 delivered by ,laud to his master at the close of #afci1 represents the ,church of ,england as in the highest and most palmy state4 ,so effectually had the government pursued that policy which ,mr4 ,southey wishes to see revived that there was scarcely the least appearance of dissent4 ,most of the bishops stated that all was well amoung their flocks4 ,seven or eight #afgpersons in the diocese of ,peterborough had seemed refractory to the church1 but had made ample submission4 ,in ,norfolk and ,suffolk all whom there had been reason to suspect had made profession of conformity1 and appeared to observe it strictly4 ,it is confessed that there was a little difficulty in bringing some of the vulgar in ,suffolk to take the sacrament at the rails in the chancel4 ,this was the only open instance of non-conformity which the vigilant eye of ,laud could detect in all the dioceses of his twenty-one suffragans1 on the very eve of a revolution in which primate1 and church1 and monarch1 and monarchy were to perish together4 4 ,at which time would ,mr4 ,southey pronounce the constitution more secure2 in #afci1 when ,laud presented this ,report to ,charles2 or now1 when thousands of meetings openly collect millions of dissenters1 when designs against the tithes are openly avowed1 when books attacking not only the ,establishment1 but the first principles of ,christianity1 are openly sold in the streets8 ,the signs of discontent1 he tells us1 are stronger in ,england now than in ,france when the ,states-,general met3 and hence he would have us infer that a revolution like that of ,france may be at hand4 ,does he not know that the danger of states is to be estimated1 not by what breaks out of the public mind1 but by what stays in it8 ,can he conceive any thing more terrible than the situation of a government which rules without apprehension over a people of hypocrites1 which is flattered by the press and cursed in the inner chambers1 which exults in the attachment and obedience of its subjects1 and knows not that those subjects are leagued against it in a free-masonry of hatred1 the sign of which is every day conveyed in #afhthe glance of ten thousand eyes1 the pressure of ten thousand hands1 and the tone of ten thousand voices8 ,profound and ingenious policy6 ,instead of curing the disease1 to remove those symptoms by which alone its nature can be known6 ,to leave the serpent his deadly sting1 and deprive him only of his warning rattle6 ,when the people whom ,charles had so assiduously trained in the good way had rewarded his paternal care by cutting off his head1 a new kind of training came into fashion4 ,another government arose which1 like the former1 considered religion as its surest basis1 and the religious discipline of the people as its first duty4 ,sanguinary laws were enacted against libertinism2 profane pictures were burned3 drapery was put on indecorous statues2 the theatres were shut up2 fast-days were numerous2 and the ,parliament resolved that no person should be admitted into any public employment1 unless the ,house should be first satisfied of his vital godliness4 ,we know what was the end of this training4 ,we know that it ended in impiety1 in filthy and heartless sensuality1 in the dissolution of all ties of honour and morality4 ,we know that at this very day scriptural phrases1 scriptural names1 perhaps some scriptural doctrines1 excite disgust and ridicule1 solely because they are associated with the austerity of that period4 ,thus has the experiment of training the people in established forms of religion been twice tried in ,england on a large scale1 once by ,charles and ,laud1 and once by the ,puritans4 ,the ,high ,tories of our time still entertain many of the feelings and opinions of ,charles and ,laud1 though in a mitigated form2 nor is it difficult to see that the heirs of the ,puritans are still amongst us4 ,it would be desirable that each of #afithese parties should remember how little advantage or honour it formerly derived from the closest alliance with power1 that it fell by the support of rulers1 and rose by their opposition1 that of the two systems that in which the people were at any time drilled was always at that time the unpopular system1 that the training of the ,high ,church ended in the reign of the ,puritans1 and that the training of the ,puritans ended in the reign of the harlots4 ,this was quite natural4 ,nothing is so galling to a people not broken in from the birth as a paternal1 or1 in other words1 a meddling government1 a government which tells them what to read1 and say1 and eat1 and drink1 and wear4 ,our fathers could not bear it two hundred years ago2 and we are not more patient than they4 ,mr4 ,southey thinks that the yoke of the church is dropping off because it is loose4 ,we feel convinced that it is borne only because it is easy1 and that1 in the instant in which an attempt is made to tighten it1 it will be flung away4 ,it will be neither the first nor the strongest yoke that has been broken asunder and trampled under foot in the day of the vengeance of ,england4 ,how far ,mr4 ,southey would have the government carry its measures for training the people in the doctrines of the church1 we are unable to discover4 ,in one passage ,sir ,thomas ,more asks with great vehemence1 8,is it possible that your laws should suffer the unbelievers to exist as a party8 ,vetitum est adeo sceleris nihil80 ,montesinos answers4 8,they avow themselves in defiance of the laws4 ,the fashionable doctrine which the press at this time maintains is1 that this is a matter in which the laws ought not to interfere1 every man #agj;having a right1 both to form what opinion he pleases upon religious subjects1 and to promulgate that opinion40 ,it is clear1 therefore1 that ,mr4 ,southey would not give full and perfect toleration to infidelity4 ,in another passage1 however1 he observes with some truth1 though too sweepingly1 that 8any degree of intolerance short of that full extent which the ,papal ,church exercises where it has the power1 acts upon the opinions which it is intended to suppress1 like pruning upon vigorous plants2 they grow the stronger for it40 ,these two passages1 put together1 would lead us to the conclusion that1 in ,mr4 ,southey's opinion1 the utmost severity ever employed by the ,roman ,catholic ,church in the days of its greatest power ought to be employed against unbelievers in ,england2 in plain words1 that ,carlile and his shopmen ought to be burned in ,smith-field1 and that every person who1 when called upon1 should decline to make a solemn profession of ,christianity ought to suffer the same fate4 ,we do not1 however1 believe that ,mr4 ,southey would recommend such a course1 though his language would1 according to all the rules of logic1 justify us in supposing this to be his meaning4 ,his opinions form no system at all4 ,he never sees1 at one glance1 more of a question than will furnish matter for one flowing and well turned sentence2 so that it would be the height of unfairness to charge him personally with holding a doctrine1 merely because that doctrine is deducible1 though by the closest and most accurate reasoning1 from the premises which he has laid down4 ,we are1 therefore1 left completely in the dark as to ,mr4 ,southey's opinions about toleration4 ,immediately after censuring the government for not punishing infidels1 he proceeds to discuss #agathe question of the ,catholic disabilities1 now1 thank ,god1 removed1 and defends them on the ground that the ,catholic doctrines tend to persecution1 and that the ,catholics persecuted when they had power4 8,they must persecute10 says he1 8if they believe their own creed1 for conscience-sake2 and if they do not believe it1 they must persecute for policy2 because it is only by intolerance that so corrupt and injurious a system can be upheld40 ,that unbelievers should not be persecuted is an instance of national depravity at which the glorified spirits stand aghast4 ,yet a sect of ,christians is to be excluded from power1 because those who formerly held the same opinions were guilty of persecution4 ,we have said that we do not very well know what ,mr4 ,southey's opinion about toleration is4 ,but1 on the whole1 we take it to be this1 that everybody is to tolerate him1 and that he is to tolerate nobody4 ,we will not be deterred by any fear of misrepresentation from expressing our hearty approbation of the mild1 wise1 and eminently ,christian manner in which the ,church and the ,government have lately acted with respect to blasphemous publications4 ,we praise them for not having thought it necessary to encircle a religion pure1 merciful1 and philosophical1 a religion to the evidence of which the highest intellects have yielded1 with the defences of a false and bloody superstition4 ,the ark of ,god was never taken till it was surrounded by the arms of earthly defenders4 ,in captivity1 its sanctity was sufficient to vindicate it from insult1 and to lay the hostile fiend prostrate on the threshold of his own temple4 ,the real security of ,christianity is to be found in its benevolent morality1 in its exquisite adaptation to the human heart1 in the #agb;facility with which its scheme accommodates itself to the capacity of every human intellect1 in the consolation which it bears to the house of mourning1 in the light with which it brightens the great mystery of the grave4 ,to such a system it can bring no addition of dignity or of strength1 that it is part and parcel of the common law4 ,it is not now for the first time left to rely on the force of its own evidences and the attractions of its own beauty4 ,its sublime theology confounded the ,grecian schools in the fair conflict of reason with reason4 ,the bravest and wisest of the ,csars found their arms and their policy unavailing1 when opposed to the weapons that were not carnal and the kingdom that was not of this world4 ,the victory which ,porphyry and ,diocletian failed to gain is not1 to all appearance1 reserved for any of those who have1 in this age1 directed their attacks against the last restraint of the powerful and the last hope of the wretched4 ,the whole history of ,christianity shows1 that she is in far greater danger of being corrupted by the alliance of power1 than of being crushed by its opposition4 ,those who thrust temporal sovereignty upon her treat her as their prototypes treated her author4 ,they bow the knee1 and spit upon her2 they cry 8,hail60 and smite her on the cheek2 they put a sceptre in her hand1 but it is a fragile reed2 they crown her1 but it is with thorns2 they cover with purple the wounds which their own hands have inflicted on her2 and inscribe magnificent titles over the cross on which they have fixed her to perish in ignominy and pain4 ,the general view which ,mr4 ,southey takes of the prospects of society is very gloomy2 but we comfort ourselves with the consideration that ,mr4 ,southey is no prophet4 ,he foretold1 we remember1 on the very #agc;eve of the abolition of the ,test and ,corporation ,acts1 that these hateful laws were immortal1 and that pious minds would long be gratified by seeing the most solemn religious rite of the ,church profaned for the purpose of upholding her political supremacy4 ,in the book before us1 he says that ,catholics cannot possibly be admitted into ,parliament until those whom ,johnson called 8the bottomless ,whigs0 come into power4 ,while the book was in the press1 the prophecy was falsified3 and a ,tory of the ,tories1 ,mr4 ,southey's own favourite hero1 won and wore that noblest wreath1 8,ob cives servatos40 ,the signs of the times1 ,mr4 ,southey tells us1 are very threatening4 ,his fears for the country would decidedly preponderate over his hopes1 but for his firm reliance on the mercy of ,god4 ,now1 as we know that ,god has once suffered the civilised world to be overrun by savages1 and the ,christian religion to be corrupted by doctrines which made it1 for some ages1 almost as bad as ,paganism1 we cannot think it inconsistent with his attributes that similar calamities should again befal mankind4 ,we look1 however1 on the state of the world1 and of this kingdom in particular1 with much greater satisfaction and with better hopes4 ,mr4 ,southey speaks with contempt of those who think the savage state happier than the social4 ,on this subject1 he says1 ,rousseau never imposed on him even in his youth4 ,but he conceives that a community which has advanced a little way in civilisation is happier than one which has made greater progress4 ,the ,britons in the time of ,csar were happier1 he suspects1 than the ,english of the nineteenth century4 ,on the whole1 he selects the generation which preceded the ,reformation #agd;as that in which the people of this country were better off than at any time before or since4 ,this opinion rests on nothing1 as far as we can see1 except his own individual associations4 ,he is a man of letters2 and a life destitute of literary pleasures seems insipid to him4 ,he abhors the spirit of the present generation1 the severity of its studies1 the boldness of its inquiries1 and the disdain with which it regards some old prejudices by which his own mind is held in bondage4 ,he dislikes an utterly unenlightened age3 he dislikes an investigation2 and reforming age4 ,the first twenty years of the sixteenth century would have exactly suited him4 ,they furnished just the quantity of intellectual excitement which he requires4 ,the learned few read and wrote largely4 ,a scholar was held in high estimation4 ,but the rabble did not presume to think2 and even the most inquiring and independent of the educated classes paid more reverence to authority1 and less to reason1 than is usual in our time4 ,this is a state of things in which ,mr4 ,southey would have found himself quite comfortable2 and1 accordingly1 he pronounces it the happiest state of things ever known in the world4 ,the savages were wretched1 lays ,mr4 ,southey3 but the people in the time of ,sir ,thomas ,more were happier than either they or we4 ,now we think it quite certain that we have the advantage over the contemporaries of ,sir ,thomas ,more1 in every point in which they had any advantage over savages4 ,mr4 ,southey does not even pretend to maintain that the people in the sixteenth century were better lodged or clothed than at present4 ,he seems to admit that in these respects there has been some little improvement1 it is indeed a matter about which scarcely any doubt #age;can exist in the most perverse mind that the improvements of machinery have lowered the price of manufactured articles1 and have brought within the reach of the poorest some conveniences which ,sir ,thomas ,more or his master could not have obtained at any price4 ,the labouring classes1 however1 were1 according to ,mr4 ,southey1 better fed three hundred years ago than at present4 ,we believe that he is completely in error on this point4 ,the condition of servants in noble and wealthy families1 and of scholars at the ,universities must surely have been better in those times than that of day-labourers2 and we are sure that it was not better than that of our workhouse paupers4 ,from the household book of the ,northumberland family1 we find that in one of the greatest establishments of the kingdom the servants lived very much as common sailors live now4 ,in the reign of ,edward the ,sixth the state of the students at ,cambridge is described to us1 on the very best authority1 as most wretched4 ,many of them dined on pottage made of a farthing's worth of beef with a little salt and oatmeal1 and literally nothing else4 ,this account we have from a contemporary master of ,st4 ,john's4 ,our parish poor now eat wheat bread4 ,in the sixteenth century the labourer was glad to get barley1 and was often forced to content himself with poorer fare4 ,in ,harrison's introduction to ,holinshed we have an account of the state of our working population in the 8golden days10 as ,mr4 ,southey calls them1 8of good ,queen ,bess40 8,the gentilitie10 says he1 8commonly provide themselves sufficiently of wheat for their own tables1 why lest their household and poore neighbours in some shires are inforced to content themselves with rye or barleie2 yea1 and in time of #agf;dearth1 many with bread made eyther of beanes1 peason1 or otes1 or of altogether1 and some acornes among4 ,i will not say that this extremity is oft so well to be seen in time of plentie as of dearth2 but if ,i should ,i could easily bring my trial3 for albeit there be much more grounde eared nowe almost in everye place then liathe beene of late yeares1 yet such a price of corne continueth in cache towne and markete1 without any just cause1 that the artificer and poore labouring man is not able to reach unto it1 but is driven to content himself with horse-corne40 ,we should like to see what the effect would be of putting any parish in ,england now on allowance of 8horse-corne40 ,the helotry of ,mammon are not1 in our day1 so easily enforced to content themselves as the peasantry of that happy period1 as ,mr4 ,southey considers it1 which elapsed between the fall of the feudal and the rise of the commercial tyranny4 8,the people10 says ,mr4 ,southey1 8are worse fed than when they were fishers40 ,and yet in another place he complains that they will not eat fish4 8,they have contracted10 says he1 8,i know not how1 some obstinate prejudice against a kind of food at once wholesome and delicate1 and every where to be obtained cheaply and in abundance1 were the demand for it as general as it ought to be40 ,it is true that the lower orders have an obstinate prejudice against fish4 ,but hunger has no such obstinate prejudices4 ,if what was formerly a common diet ,i now eaten only in times of severe pressure1 the inference is plain4 ,the people must be fed with what they at least think better food than that of their ancestors4 ,the advice and medicine which the poorest labourer #agg;can now obtain1 in disease1 or after an accident1 is far superior to what ,henry the ,eighth could have commanded4 ,scarcely any part of the country is out of the reach of practitioners who are probably not so far inferior to ,sir ,henry ,halford as they are superior to ,dr4 ,butts4 ,that there has been a great improvement in this respect1 ,mr4 ,southey allows4 ,indeed he could not well have denied it4 8,but10 says he1 8the evils for which these sciences are the palliative1 have increased since the time of the ,druids1 in a proportion that heavily overweighs the benefit of improved therapeutics40 ,we know nothing either of the diseases or the remedies of the ,druids4 ,but we are quite sure that the improvement of medicine has far more than kept pace with the increase of disease during the last three centuries4 ,this is proved by the best possible evidence4 ,the term of human life is decidedly longer in ,england than in any former age1 respecting which we possess any information on which we can ,lely4 ,all the rants in the world about picturesque cottages and temples of ,mammon will not shake this argument4 ,no test of the physical well-being of society can be named so decisive as that which is furnished by bills of mortality4 ,that the lives of the people of this country have been gradually lengthening during the course of several generations1 is as certain as any fact in statistics2 and that the lives of men should become longer and longer1 while their bodily condition during life is becoming worse and worse1 is utterly incredible4 ,let our readers think over these circumstances4 ,let them take into the account the sweating sickness and the plague4 ,let them take into the account that fearful disease which first made its appearance in the #agh;generation to which ,mr4 ,southey assigns the palm of felicity1 and raged through ,europe with a fury at which the physician stood aghast1 and before which the people were swept away by myriads4 ,let them consider the state of the northern counties1 constantly the scene of robberies1 rapes1 massacres1 and conflagrations4 ,let them add to all this the fact that seventy-two thousand persons suffered death by the hands of the executioner during the reign of ,henry the ,eighth1 and judge between the nineteenth and the sixteenth century4 ,we do not say that the lower orders in ,england do not suffer severe hardships4 ,but1 in spite of ,mr4 ,southey's assertions1 and in spite of the assertions of a class of politicians1 who1 differing from ,mr4 ,southey in every other point1 agree with him in this1 we are inclined to doubt whether the labouring classes here really suffer greater physical distress than the labouring classes of the most flourishing countries of the ,continent4 ,it will scarcely be maintained that the lazzaroni who sleep under the porticoes of ,naples1 or the beggars who besiege the convents of ,spain1 are in a happier situation than the ,english commonalty4 ,the distress which has lately been experienced in the northern part of ,germany1 one of the best governed and most prosperous regions of ,europe1 surpasses1 if we have been correctly informed1 any thing which has of late years been known among us4 ,in ,norway and ,sweden the peasantry are constantly compelled to mix bark with their bread2 and even this expedient has not always preserved whole families and neighbourhoods from perishing together of famine4 ,an experiment has lately been tried in the kingdom of the ,netherlands1 which #agi;has been cited to prove the possibility of establishing agricultural colonies on the waste lands of ,england1 but which proves to our minds nothing so clearly as this1 that the rate of subsistence to which the labouring classes are reduced in the ,netherlands is miserably low1 and very far inferior to that of the ,english paupers4 ,no distress which the people here have endured for centuries approaches to that which has been felt by the ,french in our own time4 ,the beginning of the year #ahag was a time of great distress in this island4 ,but the state of the lowest classes here was luxury compared with that of the people of ,france4 ,we find in ,magendie's 8,journal de ,physiologie ,exprimentale0 a paper on a point of physiology connected with the distress of that season4 ,it appears that the inhabitants of six departments1 ,aix1 ,jura1 ,doubs1 ,haute ,saone1 ,vosges1 and ,saone-et-,loire1 were reduced first to oatmeal and potatoes1 and at last to nettles1 bean-stalks1 and other kinds of herbage fit only for cattle2 that when the next harvest enabled them to eat barley-bread1 many of them died from intemperate indulgence in what they thought an exquisite repast2 and that a dropsy of a peculiar description was produced by the hard fare of the year4 ,dead bodies were found on the roads and in the fields4 ,a single surgeon dissected six of these1 and found the stomach shrunk1 and filled with the unwholesome aliments which hunger had driven men to share with beasts4 ,such extremity of distress as this is never heard of in ,england1 or even in ,ireland4 ,we are1 on the whole1 inclined to think1 though we would speak with diffidence on a point on which it would be rash to pronounce a positive judgment without a much longer and closer investigation than we have bestowed upon it1 that the labouring #ahj;classes of this island1 though they have their grievances and distresses1 some produced by their own improvidence1 some by the errors of their rulers1 are on the whole better off as to physical comforts than the inhabitants of any equally extensive district of the old world4 ,for this very reason1 suffering is more acutely felt and more loudly bewailed here than elsewhere4 ,we must take into the account the liberty of discussion1 and the strong interest which the opponents of a ministry always have to exaggerate the extent of the public disasters4 ,there are countries in which the people quietly endure distress that here would shake the foundations of the state1 countries in which the inhabitants of a whole province turn out to eat grass with less clamour than one ,spitalfields weaver would make here1 if the overseers were to put him on barley-bread4 ,in those new commonwealths in which a civilised population has at its command a boundless extent of the richest soil1 the condition of the labourer is probably happier than in any society which has lasted for many centuries4 ,but in the old world we must confess ourselves unable to find any satisfactory record of any great nation1 past or present1 in which the working classes have been in a more comfortable situation than in ,england during the last thirty years4 ,when this island was thinly peopled1 it was barbarous3 there was little capital2 and that little was insecure4 ,it is now the richest and the most highly civilised spot in the world2 but the population is dense4 ,thus we have never known that golden age which the lower orders ,in the ,united ,states are now enjoying4 ,we have never known an age of liberty1 of order1 and of education1 an age in which the mechanical sciences were carried to a great height1 yet in which the people were not sufficiently #ahanumerous to cultivate even the most fertile valleys4 ,but1 #8when we compare our own condition with that of our ancestors1 we think it clear that the advantages arising from the progress of civilisation have far more than counterbalanced the disadvantages arising from the progress of population4 8,while our numbers have increased tenfold1 our wealth has increased a hundred-fold4 ,though there are so many more people to share the wealth now existing in the country than there were in the sixteenth century1 it seems certain that a greater share falls to almost every individual than fell to the share of any of the corresponding class in the sixteenth century4 ,the ,king keeps a more splendid court4 ,the establishments of the nobles are more magnificent4 ,the esquires are richer2 the merchants are richer2 the shopkeepers are richer4 ,the serving-man1 the artisan1 and the husbandman1 have a more copious and palatable supply of food1 better clothing1 and better furniture4 ,this is no reason for tolerating abuses1 or for neglecting any means of ameliorating the condition of our poorer countrymen4 ,but it is a reason against telling them1 as some of our philosophers are constantly telling them1 that they are the most wretched people who ever existed on the face of the earth4 8,we have already adverted to ,mr4 ,southey's amusing doctrine about national wealth4 ,a state1 says he1 cannot be too rich2 but a people may be too rich4 ,his reason for thinking this is extremely curious4 8,a people may be too rich1 because it is the tendency of the commercial1 and more especially of the manufacturing system1 to collect wealth rather than to diffuse it4 ,where wealth is necessarily employed in any of the speculations of trade1 its increase is in proportion to its amount4 ,great capitalists become like pikes in a fish-pond1 who devour the weaker fish2 and it is but too certain4 #ahbthat the poverty of one part of the people seems to increase in the same ratio as the riches of another4 ,there are examples of this in history4 ,in ,portugal1 when the high tide of wealth flowed in from the conquests in ,africa and the ,east1 the effect of that great influx was not more visible in the augmented splendour of the court1 and the luxury of the higher ranks1 than in the distress of the people40 ,mr4 ,southey's instance is not a very fortunate one4 ,the wealth which did so little for the ,portuguese was not the fruit either of manufactures or of commerce carried on by private individuals4 ,it was the wealth1 not of the people1 but of the government and its creatures1 of those who1 as ,mr4 ,southey thinks1 can never be too rich4 ,the fact is that ,mr4 ,southey's proposition is opposed to all history1 and to the phnomena which surround us on every side4 ,england is the richest country in ,europe1 the most commercial country1 and the country in which manufactures flourish most4 ,russia and ,poland are the poorest countries in ,europe4 ,they have scarcely any trade1 and none but the rudest manufactures4 ,is wealth more diffused in ,russia and ,poland than in ,england8 ,there are individuals in ,russia and ,poland whose incomes are probably equal to those of our richest countrymen4 ,it may be doubted whether there are not1 in those countries1 as many fortunes of eighty thousand a year as here4 ,but are there as many fortunes of two thousand a year1 or of one thousand a year8 ,there are parishes in ,england which contain more people of between three hundred and three thousand pounds a year than could be found in all the dominions of the ,emperor ,nicholas4 ,the neat and commodious houses which have been built in ,london and its vicinity1 for people of this class1 within the last thirty years would of themselves #ahc;form a city larger than the capitals of some ,european kingdoms4 ,and this is the state of society in which the great proprietors have devoured a smaller6 ,the cure which ,mr4 ,southey thinks that he has discovered is worthy of the sagacity which he has shown in detecting the evil4 ,the calamities arising from the collection of wealth in the hands of a few capitalists are to be remedied by collecting it in the hands of one great capitalist1 who has no conceivable motive to use it better than other capitalists1 the all-devouring state4 ,it is not strange that1 differing so widely from ,mr4 ,southey as to the past progress of society1 we should differ from him also as to its probable destiny4 ,he thinks1 that to all outward appearance1 the country is hastening to destruction2 but he relies firmly on the goodness of ,god4 ,we do not see either the piety or the rationality of thus confidently expecting that the ,supreme ,being will interfere to disturb the common succession of causes and effects4 ,we1 too1 rely on his goodness1 on his goodness as manifested1 not in extraordinary interpositions1 but in those general laws which it has pleased him to establish in the physical and in the moral world4 ,we rely on the natural tendency of the human intellect to truth1 and on the natural tendency of society to improvement4 ,we know no well authenticated instance of a people which has decidedly retrograded in civilisation and prosperity1 except from the influence of violent and terrible calamities1 such as those which laid the ,roman empire in ruins1 or those which1 about the beginning of the sixteenth century1 desolated ,italy4 ,we know of no country which1 at the end of fifty years of peace1 and tolerably good government1 has been less prosperous than at the beginning of that period4 ,the political importance of a #ahdstate may decline1 as the balance of power is disturbed by the introduction of new forces4 ,thus the influence of ,holland and of ,spain is much diminished4 ,but are ,holland and ,spain poorer than formerly8 ,we doubt it4 ,other countries have outrun them4 ,but we suspect that they have been positively1 though not relatively1 advancing4 ,we suspect that ,holland is richer than when she sent her navies up the ,thames1 that ,spain is richer than when a ,french king was brought captive to the footstool of ,charles the ,fifth4 ,history is full of the signs of this natural progress of society4 ,we see in almost every part of the annals of mankind how the industry of individuals1 struggling up against wars1 taxes1 famines1 conflagrations1 mischievous prohibitions1 and more mischievous protections1 creates faster than governments can squander1 and repairs whatever invaders can destroy4 ,we see the wealth of nations increasing1 and all the arts of life approaching nearer and nearer to perfection1 in spite of the grossest corruption and the wildest profusion on the part of rulers4 ,the present moment is one of great distress4 ,but how small will that distress appear when we think over the history of the last forty years2 a war1 compared with which all other wars sink into insignificance2 taxation1 such as the most heavily taxed people of former times could not have conceived2 a debt larger than all the public debts that ever existed in the world added together2 the food of the people studiously rendered dear2 the currency imprudently debased1 and imprudently restored4 ,yet is the country poorer than in #agij8 ,we firmly believe that1 in spite of all the mis-government of her rulers1 she has been almost constantly becoming richer and richer4 ,now and then #ahethere has been a stoppage1 now and then a short retrogression2 but as to the general tendency there can be no doubt4 ,a single breaker may recede2 but the tide is evidently coming in4 ,if we were to prophesy that in the year #aihj a population of fifty millions1 better fed1 clad1 and lodged than the ,english of our time1 will cover these islands1 that ,sussex and ,huntingdonshire will be wealthier than the wealthiest parts of the ,west ,riding of ,yorkshire now are1 that cultivation1 rich as that of a flower-garden1 will be carried up to the very tops of ,ben ,nevis and ,helvellyn1 that machines constructed on principles yet undiscovered will be in every house1 that there will be no highways but railroads1 no travelling but by steam1 that our debt1 vast as it seems to us1 will appear to our great-grandchildren a trifling encumbrance1 which might easily be paid off in a year or two1 many people would think us insane4 ,we prophesy nothing2 but this we say3 ,if any person had told the ,parliament which met in perplexity and terror after the crash in #agbj that in #ahhj the wealth of ,england would surpass all their wildest dreams1 that the annual revenue would equal the principal of that debt which they considered as an intolerable burden1 that for one man of ten thousand pounds then living there would be five men of fifty thousand pounds1 that ,london would be twice as large and twice as populous1 and that nevertheless the rate of mortality would have diminished to one half of what it then was1 that the post-office would bring more into the exchequer than the excise and customs had brought in together under ,charles the ,second1 that stage-coaches would run from ,london to ,york in twenty-four hours1 that men would be in the habit of sailing without wind1 and would be beginning #ahfto ride without horses1 our ancestors would have given as much credit to the prediction as they gave to ,gulliver's ,travels4 ,yet the prediction would have been true2 and they would have perceived that it was not altogether absurd1 if they had considered that the country was then raising every year a sum which would have purchased the fee-simple of the revenue of the ,plantagenets1 ten times what supported the government of ,elizabeth1 three times what1 in the time of ,oliver ,cromwell1 had been thought intolerably oppressive4 ,to almost all men the state of things under which they have been used to live seems to be the necessary state of things4 ,we have heard it said that five per cent1 is the natural interest of money1 that twelve is the natural number of a jury1 that forty shillings is the natural qualification of a county voter4 ,hence it is that1 though in every age everybody knows that up to his own time progressive improvement has been taking place1 nobody seems to reckon on any improvement during the next generation4 ,we cannot absolutely prove that those are in error who tell us that society has reached a turning point1 that we have seen our best days4 ,but so said all who came before us1 and with just as much apparent reason4 8,a million a year will beggar us10 said the patriots of #afdj4 8,two millions a year will grind the country to powder10 was the cry in #affj1 8,six millions a year1 and a debt of fifty millions60 exclaimed ,swift2 8the high allies have been the ruin of us40 8,a hundred and forty millions of debt60 said ,junius2 8well may we say that we owe ,lord ,chatham more than we shall ever pay1 if we owe him such a load as this40 8,two hundred and forty millions of debt60 cried all the statesmen of #aghc in chorus2 8what abilities1 or what #ahg;economy on the part of a minister1 can save a country so burdened80 ,we know that if1 since #aghc1 no fresh debt had been incurred1 the increased resources of the country would have enabled us to defray that debt at which ,pitt1 ,fox1 and ,burke stood aghast1 nay1 to defray it over and over again1 and that with much lighter taxation than what we have actually borne4 ,on what principle is it that1 when we see nothing but improvement behind us1 we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us8 ,it is not by the intermeddling of ,mr4 ,southey's idol1 the omniscient and omnipotent ,state1 but by the prudence and energy of the people1 that ,england has hitherto been carried forward in civilisation2 and it is to the same prudence and the same energy that we now look with comfort and good hope4 ,our rulers will best promote the improvement of the nation by strictly confining themselves to their own legitimate duties1 by leaving capital to find its most lucrative course1 commodities their fair price1 industry and intelligence their natural reward1 idleness and folly their natural punishment1 by maintaining peace1 by defending property1 by diminishing the price of law1 and by observing strict economy in every department of the state4 ,let the ,government do this3 the ,people will assuredly do the rest4 ,,mr4 ,,robert ,,montgomery4 7#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,april #ahcj47 ,the #ahhwise men of antiquity loved to convey instruction under the covering of apologue2 and though this practice is generally thought childish1 we shall make no apology for adopting it on the present occasion4 ,a generation which has bought eleven editions of a poem by ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery may well condescend to listen to a fable of ,pilpay4 7#b7 ,a pious ,brahmin1 it is written1 made a vow that on a certain day he would sacrifice a sheep1 and on the appointed morning he went forth to buy one4 ,there lived in his neighbourhood three rogues who knew of his vow1 and laid a scheme for profiting by it4 ,the first met him and said1 8,oh ,brahmin1 wilt thou buy a sheep8 ,i have one fit for sacrifice40 8,it is for that very purpose10 said the holy man1 8that ,i came forth this day40 ,then the impostor opened a bag1 and brought out of it an unclean beast1 an ugly dog1 lame and blind4 ,thereon the ,brahmin cried out1 8,wretch1 who touchest things impure1 and utterest things untrue1 callest thou that cur a sheep80 8,truly10 answered the other1 8it is a sheep of the finest fleece1 and of the 7#a74 ,the ,omnipresence of the ,deity3 a ,poem4 ,by ,robert ,montgomery4 ,eleventh ,edition4 ,london3 #ahcj4 7#b74 ,satan3 a ,poem4 ,by ,robert ,montgomery4 ,second ,edition4 ,london3 #ahcj4 #ahisweetest flesh4 ,oh ,brahmin1 it will be an offering most acceptable to the gods40 8,friend10 said the ,brahmin1 8either thou or ,i must be blind40 ,just then one of the accomplice's came up4 8,praised be the gods10 said this second rogue1 8that ,i have been saved the trouble of going to the market for a sheep6 ,this is such a sheep as ,i wanted4 ,for how much wilt thou sell it80 ,when the ,brahmin heard this1 his mind waved to and fro1 like one swinging in the air at a holy festival4 8,sir10 said he to the new comer1 8take heed what thou dost2 this is no sheep1 but an unclean cur40 8,oh ,brahmin10 said the new comer1 8thou art drunk or mad60 ,at this time the third confederate drew near4 8,let us ask this man10 said the ,brahmin1 8what the creature is1 and ,i will stand by what he shall say40 ,to this the others agreed2 and the ,brahmin called out1 8,oh stranger1 what dost thou call this beast80 8,surely1 oh ,brahmin10 said the knave1 8it is a fine sheep40 ,then the ,brahmin said1 8,surely the gods have taken away my senses20 and he asked pardon of him who carried the dog1 and bought it for a measure of rice and a pot of ghee1 and offered it up to the gods1 who1 being wroth at this unclean sacrifice1 smote him with a sore disease in all his joints4 ,thus1 or nearly thus1 if we remember rightly1 runs the story of the ,sanscrit sop4 ,the moral1 like the moral of every fable that is worth the telling1 lies on the surface4 ,the writer evidently means to caution us against the practices of puffers1 a class of people who have more than once talked the public into the most absurd errors1 but who surely never played a more curious or a more difficult trick than when they passed ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery off upon the world as a great poet4 #aij;,in an age in which there are so few readers that a writer cannot subsist on the sum arising from the sale of his works1 no man who has not an independent fortune can devote himself to literary pursuits1 unless he is assisted by patronage4 ,in such an age1 accordingly1 men of letters too often pass their lives in dangling at the heels of the wealthy and powerful2 and all the faults which dependence tends to produce1 pass into their character4 ,they become the parasites and slaves of the great4 ,it is melancholy to think how many of the highest and most exquisitely formed of human intellects have been condemned to the ignominious labour of disposing the commonplaces of adulation in new forms and brightening them into new splendour4 ,horace invoking ,augustus in the most enthusiastic language of religious veneration1 ,statius flattering a tyrant1 and the minion of a tyrant1 for a morsel of bread1 ,ariosto versifying the whole genealogy of a niggardly patron1 ,tasso extolling the heroic virtues of the wretched creature who locked him up in a mad-house1 these are but a few of the instances which might easily be given of the degradation to which those must submit who1 not possessing a competent fortune1 are resolved to write when there are scarcely any who read4 ,this evil the progress of the human mind tends to remove4 ,as a taste for books becomes more and more common1 the patronage of individuals becomes less and less necessary4 ,in the middle of the last century a marked change took place4 ,the tone of literary men1 both in this country and in ,france1 became higher and more independent4 ,pope boasted that he was the 8one poet0 who had 8pleased by manly ways20 he derided the soft dedications with which ,halifax had been fed1 asserted his own superiority over the pensioned ,boileau1 #aia;and gloried in being not the follower1 but the friend1 of nobles and princes4 ,the explanation of all this is very simple4 ,pope was the first ,englishman who1 by the mere sale of his writings1 realised a sum which enabled him to live in comfort and in perfect independence4 ,johnson extols him for the magnanimity which he showed in inscribing his ,iliad not to a minister or a peer1 but to ,congreve4 ,in our time this would scarcely be a subject for praise4 ,nobody is astonished when ,mr4 ,moore pays a compliment of this kind to ,sir ,walter ,scott1 or ,sir ,walter ,scott to ,mr4 ,moore4 ,the idea of either of those gentlemen looking out for some lord who would be likely to give him a few guineas in return for a fulsome dedication seems laughably incongruous4 ,yet this is exactly what ,dryden or ,otway would have done2 and it would be hard to blame them for it4 ,otway is said to have been choked with a piece of bread which he devoured in the rage of hunger2 and1 whether this story be true or false1 he was beyond all question miserably poor4 ,dryden1 at near seventy1 when at the head of the literary men of ,england1 without equal or second1 received three hundred pounds for his ,fables1 a collection of ten thousand verses1 and of such verses as no man then living1 except himself1 could have produced4 ,pope1 at thirty1 had laid up between six and seven thousand pounds1 the fruits of his poetry4 ,it was not1 we suspect1 because he had a higher spirit or a more scrupulous conscience than his predecessors1 but because he had a larger income1 that he kept up the dignity of the literary character so much better than they had done4 ,from the time of ,pope to the present day the readers have been constantly becoming more and more numerous1 and the writers1 consequently1 more and more #aib;independent4 ,it is assuredly a great evil that men1 fitted by their talents and acquirements to enlighten and charm the world1 should be reduced to the necessity of flattering wicked and foolish patrons in return for the sustenance of life4 ,but1 though we heartily rejoice that this evil is removed1 we cannot but see with concern that another evil has succeeded to it4 ,the public is now the patron1 and a most liberal patron4 ,all that the rich and powerful bestowed on authors from the the time of ,mcenas to that of ,harley would not1 we apprehend1 make up a sum equal to that which has been paid by ,english booksellers to authors during the last fifty years4 ,men of letters have accordingly ceased to court individuals1 and have begun to court the public4 ,they formerly used flattery4 ,they now use puffing4 ,whether the old or the new vice be the worse1 whether those who formerly lavished insincere praise on others1 or those who now contrive by every art of beggary and bribery to stun the public with praises of themselves1 disgrace their vocation the more deeply1 we shall not attempt to decide4 ,but of this we are sure1 that it is high time to make a stand against the new trickery4 ,the puffing of books is now so shamefully and so successfully carried on that it is the duty of all who are anxious for the purity of the national taste1 or for the honour of the literary character1 to join in discountenancing the practice4 ,all the pens that ever were employed in magnifying ,bish's lucky office1 ,romanis's fleecy hosiery1 ,packwood's razor strops1 and ,rowland's ,kalydor1 all the placard-bearers of ,dr4 ,eady1 all the wall-chalkers of ,day and ,martin1 seem to have taken service with the poets and novelists of this generation4 ,devices which in the lowest trades #aic;are considered as disreputable are adopted without scruple1 and improved upon with a despicable ingenuity1 by people engaged in a pursuit which never was and never will be considered as a mere trade by any man of honour and virtue4 ,a butcher of the higher class disdains to ticket his meat4 ,a mercer of the higher class would be ashamed to hang up papers in his window inviting the passers-by to look at the stock of a bankrupt1 all of the first quality1 and going for half the value4 ,we expect some reserve1 some decent pride1 in our hatter and our bootmaker4 ,but no artifice by which notoriety can be obtained is thought too abject for a man of letters4 ,it is amusing to think over the history of most of the publications which have had a run during the last few years4 ,the publisher is often the publisher of some periodical work4 ,in this periodical work the first flourish of trumpets is sounded4 ,the peal is then echoed and re-echoed by all the other periodical works over which the publisher1 or the author1 or the author's coterie1 may have any influence4 ,the newspapers are for a fortnight filled with puffs of all the various kinds which ,sheridan enumerated1 direct1 oblique1 and collusive4 ,sometimes the praise is laid on thick for simple-minded people4 8,pathetic10 8sublime10 8splendid10 8graceful10 8brilliant wit10 8exquisite humour10 and other phrases equally flattering1 fall1 in a shower as thick and as sweet as the sugar-plums at a ,roman carnival4 ,sometimes greater art is used4 ,a sinecure has been offered to the writer if he would suppress his work1 or if he would even soften down a few of his incomparable portraits4 ,a distinguished military and political character has challenged the inimitable satirist of the vices of the great2 and the puffer is glad to #aidlearn that the parties have been bound over to keep the peace4 ,sometimes it is thought expedient that the puffer should put on a grave face1 and utter his panegyric in the form of admonition4 8,such attacks on private character cannot be too much condemned4 ,even the exuberant wit of our author1 and the irresistible power of his withering sarcasm1 are no excuses for that utter disregard which he manifests for the feelings of others4 ,we cannot but wonder that a winter of such transcendent talents1 a writer who is evidently no stranger to the kindly charities and sensibilities of our nature1 should show so little tenderness to the foibles of noble and distinguished individuals1 with whom it is clear1 from every page of his work1 that he must have been constantly mingling in society40 ,these are but tame and feeble imitations of the paragraphs with which the daily papers are filled whenever an attorney's clerk or an apothecary's assistant undertakes to tell the public in bad ,english and worse ,french1 how people tie their neckcloths and eat their dinners in ,grosvenor ,square4 ,the editors of the higher and more respectable newspapers usually prefix the words 8,advertisement10 or 8,from a ,correspondent10 to such paragraphs4 ,but this makes little difference4 ,the panegyric is extracted1 and the significant heading omitted4 ,the fulsome eulogy makes its appearance on the covers of all the ,reviews and ,magazines1 with 8,times0 or 8,globe0 affixed1 though the editors of the ,times and the ,globe have no more to do with it than with ,mr4 ,goss's way of making old rakes young again4 ,that people who live by personal slander should practise these arts is not surprising4 ,those who stoop to write calumnious books may well stoop to puff them2 #aie;and that the basest of all trades should be carried on in the basest of all manners is quite proper and as it should be4 ,but how any man who has the least self-respect1 the least regard for his own personal dignity1 can condescend to persecute the public with this ,rag-fair importunity1 we do not understand4 ,extreme poverty may1 indeed1 in some degree1 be an excuse for employing these shifts1 as it may be an excuse for stealing a leg of mutton4 ,but we really think that a man of spirit and delicacy would quite as soon satisfy his wants in the one way as in the other4 ,it is no excuse for an author that the praises of journalists are procured by the money or influence of his publishers1 and not by his own4 ,it is his business to take such precautions as may prevent others from doing what must degrade him4 ,it is for his honour as a gentleman1 and1 if he is really a man of talents1 it will eventually be for his honour and interest as a writer1 that his works should come before the public recommended by their own merits alone1 and should be discussed with perfect freedom4 ,if his objects be really such as he may own without shame1 he will find that they will1 in the long run1 be better attained by suffering the voice of criticism to be fairly heard4 ,at present1 we too often see a writer attempting to obtain literary fame as ,shakspeare's usurper obtains sovereignty4 ,the publisher plays ,buckingham to the author's ,richard4 ,some few creatures of the conspiracy are dexterously disposed here and there in the crowd4 ,it is the business of these hirelings to throw up their caps1 and clap their hands1 and utter their vivas4 ,the rabble at first stare and wonder1 and at last join in shouting for shouting's sake2 and thus a crown is placed on a head which has no right to it1 by the huzzas of a few servile dependents4 #aif,the opinion of the great body of the reading public is very materially influenced even by the unsupported assertions of those who assume a right to criticize4 ,nor is the public altogether to blame on this account4 ,most even of those who have really a great enjoyment in reading are in the same state1 with respect to a book1 in which a man who has never given particular attention to the art of painting is with respect to a picture4 ,every man who has the least sensibility or imagination derives a certain pleasure from pictures4 ,yet a man of the highest and finest intellect might1 unless he had formed his taste by contemplating the best pictures1 be easily persuaded by a knot of connoisseurs that the worst daub in ,somerset ,house was a miracle of art4 ,if he deserves to be laughed at1 it is not for his ignorance of pictures1 but for his ignorance of men4 ,he knows that there is a delicacy of taste in painting which he does not possess1 that he cannot distinguish hands1 as practised judges distinguish them1 that he is not familiar with the finest models1 that he has never looked at them with close attention1 and that1 when the general effect of a piece has pleased him or displeased him1 he has never troubled himself to ascertain why4 ,when1 therefore1 people1 whom he thinks more competent to judge than himself1 and of whose sincerity he entertains no doubt1 assure him that a particular work is exquisitely beautiful1 he takes it for granted that they must be in the right4 ,he returns to the examination1 resolved to find or imagine beauties2 and1 if he can work himself up into something like admiration1 he exults in his own proficiency4 ,just such is the manner in which nine readers out of ten judge of a book4 ,they are ashamed to dislike what men who speak as having authority declare to be good4 ,at present1 however contemptible a poem #aigor a novel may be1 there is not the least difficulty in procuring favourable notices of it from all sorts of publications1 daily1 weekly1 and monthly4 ,in the mean time1 little or nothing is said on the other side4 ,the author and the publisher are interested in crying up the book4 ,nobody has any very strong interest in crying it down4 ,those who are best fitted to guide the public opinion think it beneath them to expose mere nonsense1 and comfort themselves by reflecting that such popularity cannot last4 ,this contemptuous lenity has been carried too far4 ,it is perfectly true that reputations which have been forced into an unnatural bloom fade almost as soon as they have expanded2 nor have we any apprehensions that puffing will ever raise any scribbler to the rank of a classic4 ,it is indeed amusing to turn over some late volumes of periodical works1 and to see how many immortal productions have1 within a few months1 been gathered to the ,poems of ,blackmore and the novels of ,mrs4 ,behn2 how many 8profound views of human nature10 and 8exquisite delineations of fashionable manners10 and 8vernal1 and sunny1 and refreshing thoughts10 and 8high imaginings10 and 8young breathings10 and 8embody-ings10 and 8pinings10 and 8minglings with the beauty of the universe10 and 8harmonies which dissolve the soul in a passionate sense of loveliness and divinity10 the world has contrived to forget4 ,the names of the books and of the writers are buried in as deep an oblivion as the name of the builder of ,stonehenge4 ,some of the well puffed fashionable novels of eighteen hundred and twenty-nine hold the pastry of eighteen hundred and thirty2 and others1 which are now extolled in language almost too high-flown for the merits of ,don ,quixote1 will1 we have no doubt1 line the trunks of eighteen #aih;hundred and thirty-one4 ,but1 though we have no apprehensions that puffing will ever confer permanent reputation on the undeserving1 we still think its influence most pernicious4 ,men of real merit will1 if they persevere1 at last reach the station to which they are entitled1 and intruders will be ejected with contempt and derision4 ,but it is no small evil that the avenues to fame should be blocked up by a swarm of noisy1 pushing1 elbowing pretenders1 who1 though they will not ultimately be able to make good their own entrance1 hinder1 in the mean time1 those who have a right to enter4 ,all who will not disgrace themselves by joining in the unseemly scuffle must expect to be at first hustled and shouldered back4 ,some men of talents1 accordingly1 turn away in dejection from pursuits in which success appears to bear no proportion to desert4 ,others employ in self-defence the means by which competitors1 far inferior to themselves1 appear for a time to obtain a decided advantage4 ,there are few who have sufficient confidence in their own powers and sufficient elevation of mind to wait with secure and contemptuous patience1 while dunce after dunce presses before them4 ,those who will not stoop to the baseness of the modern fashion are too often discouraged4 ,those who stoop to it are always degraded4 ,we have of late observed with great pleasure some symptoms which lead us to hope that respectable literary men of all parties are beginning to be impatient of this insufferable nuisance4 ,and we purpose to do what in us lies for the abating of it4 ,we do not think that we can more usefully assist in this good work than by showing our honest countrymen what that sort of poetry is which puffing can drive through eleven editions1 and how easy any bellman might1 if a bellman #aiiwould stoop to the necessary degree of meanness1 become a 8master-spirit of the age40 ,we have no enmity to ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery4 ,we know nothing whatever about him1 except what we have learned from his books1 and from the portrait prefixed to one of them1 in which he appears to be doing his very best to look like a man of genius and sensibility1 though with less success than his strenuous exertions deserve4 ,we select him1 because his works have received more enthusiastic praise1 and have deserved more unmixed contempt1 than any which1 as far as our knowledge extends1 have appeared within the last three or four years4 ,his writing bears the same relation to poetry which a ,turkey carpet bears to a picture4 ,there are colours in a ,turkey carpet out of which a picture might be made4 ,there are words in ,mr4 ,montgomery's writing which1 when disposed in certain orders and combinations1 have made1 and will again make1 good poetry4 ,but1 as they now stand1 they seem to be put together on principle in such a manner as to give no image of any thing 8in the heavens above1 or in the earth beneath1 or in the waters under the earth40 ,the poem on the ,omnipresence of the ,deity commences with a description of the creation1 in which we can find only one thought which has the least pretension to ingenuity1 and that one thought is stolen from ,dryden1 and marred in the stealing2 8,last1 softly beautiful as music's close1 ,angelic woman into being rose4 ,the all-pervading influence of the ,supreme ,being is then described in a few tolerable lines borrowed from ,pope1 and a great many intolerable lines of ,mr4 ,robert #bjj,montgomery's own4 ,the following may stand as a specimen3 8,but who could trace ,thine unrestricted course1 ,though ,fancy follow'd with immortal force8 ,there's not a blossom fondled by the breeze1 ,there's not a fruit that beautifies the trees1 ,there's not a particle in sea or air1 ,but nature owns thy plastic influence there6 ,with fearful gaze1 still be it mine to see ,how all is fill'd and vivified by ,thee2 ,upon thy mirror1 earth's majestic view1 ,to paint ,thy ,presence1 and to feel it too4 ,the last two lines contain an excellent specimen of ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery's ,turkey-carpet style of writing4 ,the majestic view of earth is the mirror of ,god's presence2 and on this mirror ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery paints ,god's presence4 ,the use of a mirror1 we submit1 is not to be painted upon4 ,a few more lines1 as bad as those which we have quoted1 bring us to one of the most amusing instances of literary pilfering which we remember4 ,it might be of use to plagiarists to know1 as a general rule1 that what they steal is1 to employ a phrase common in advertisements1 of no use to any but the right owner4 ,we never fell in1 however1 with any plunderer who so little understood how to turn his booty to good account as ,mr4 ,montgomery4 ,lord ,byron1 in a passage which every body knows by heart1 has said1 addressing the sea1 8,time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow4 ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery very coolly appropriates the image and reproduces the stolen goods in the following form3 8,and thou1 vast ,ocean1 on whose awful face ,time's iron feet can print no ruin-trace4 ,so may such ill got gains ever prosper6 #bja,the effect which the ,ocean produces on ,atheists is then described in the following3 lofty lines3 ,o v 8,oh6 never did the dark-soul'd ,atheist stand1 ,and watch the breakers boiling on the strand1 ,and1 while ,creation stagger'd at his nod1 ,mock the dread presence of the mighty ,god6 ,we hear ,him in the wind-heaved ocean's roar1 ,hurling her billowy crags upon the shore2 ,we hear ,him in the riot of the blast1 ,and shake1 while rush the raving whirlwinds past60 ,if ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery's genius were not far too free and aspiring to be shackled by the rules of syntax1 we should suppose that it is at the nod of the ,atheist that creation staggers4 ,but ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery's readers must take such grammar as they can get1 and be thankful4 ,a few more lines bring us to another instance of unprofitable theft4 ,sir ,walter ,scott has these lines in the ,lord of the ,isles3 8,the dew that on the violet lie8 ,mocks the dark lustre of thine eyes40 ,this is pretty taken separately1 and1 as is always the case with the good things of good writers1 much prettier in its place than can even be conceived by those who see it only detached from the context4 ,now for ,mr4 ,montgomery3 8,and the bright dew-bead on the bramble lies1 ,like liquid rapture upon beauty's eyes4 ,the comparison of a violet1 bright with the dew1 to a woman's eyes1 is as perfect as a comparison can be4 ,sir ,walter's lines are part of a song addressed to a woman at daybreak1 when the violets are bathed in dew2 and the comparison is therefore peculiarly natural and graceful4 ,dew on a bramble is no more like a woman's eyes than dew anywhere else4 ,there is a very #bjbpretty ,eastern tale of which the fate of plagiarists often reminds us4 ,the slave of a magician saw his master wave his wand1 and heard him give orders to the spirits who arose at the summons4 ,the slave stole the wand1 and waved it himself in the air2 but he had not observed that his master used the left hand for that purpose4 ,the spirits thus irregularly summoned tore the thief to pieces instead of obeying his orders4 ,there are very few who can safely venture to conjure with the rod of ,sir ,walter2 and ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery is not one of them4 ,mr4 ,campbell1 in one of his most pleasing pieces1 has this line1 8,the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky4 ,the thought is good1 and has a very striking propriety where ,mr4 ,campbell has placed it1 in the mouth of a soldier telling his dream4 ,but1 though ,shakspeare assures us that 8every true man's apparel fits your thief10 it is by no means the case1 as we have already seen1 that every true poet's similitude fits your plagiarist4 ,let us see how ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery uses the image3 ,ye quenchless stars6 so eloquently bright1 ,untroubled sentries of the shadowy night1 ,while half the world is lapp'd in downy dreams1 ,and round the lattice creep your midnight beams1 ,how sweet to gaze upon your placid eyes1 ,in lambent beauty looking from the skies4 ,certainly the ideas of eloquence1 of untroubled repose1 of placid eyes1 on the lambent beauty of which it is sweet to gaze1 harmonize admirably with the idea of a sentry4 ,we would not be understood1 however1 to say1 that ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery cannot make similitudes for himself4 ,a very few lines further on1 we find one #bjcwhich has every mark of originality1 and on which1 we will be bound1 none of the poets whom he has plundered will ever think of making reprisals3 8,the soul1 aspiring1 pants its source to mount1 ,as streams meander level with their fount4 ,we take this to be1 on the whole1 the worst similitude in the world4 ,in the first place1 no stream meanders1 or can possibly meander1 level with its fount4 ,in the next place1 if streams did meander level with their founts1 no two motions can be less like each other than that of meandering level and that of mounting upwards4 ,we have then an apostrophe to the ,deity1 couched in terms which1 in any writer who dealt in meanings1 we should call profane1 but to which we suppose ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery attaches no idea whatever4 8,yes6 pause and think1 within one fleeting hour1 ,how vast a universe obeys ,thy power2 ,unseen1 but felt1 ,thine interfused control ,works in each atom1 and pervades the whole2 ,expands the blossom1 and erects the tree1 ,conducts each vapour1 and commands each sea1 ,beams in each ray1 bids whirlwinds be unfurl'd1 ,unrolls the thunder1 and upheaves a world60 ,no field-preacher surely ever carried his irreverent familiarity so far as to bid the ,supreme ,being stop and think on the importance of the interests which are under his care4 ,the grotesque indecency of such an address throws into shade the subordinate absurdities of the passage1 the unfurling of whirlwinds1 the unrolling of thunder1 and the upheaving of worlds4 ,then comes a curious specimen of our poet's ,english3 8,yet not alone created realms engage ,thy faultless wisdom1 grand1 primeval sage6 ,for all the thronging woes to life allied ,thy mercy tempers1 and ,thy cares provide4 #bjd,we should be glad to know what the word 8,for0 means here4 ,if it is a preposition1 it makes nonsense of the words1 8,thy mercy tempers40 ,if it is an adverb1 it makes nonsense of the words1 8,thy cares provide40 ,these beauties we have taken1 almost at random1 from the first part of the poem4 ,the second part is a series of descriptions of various events1 a battle1 a murder1 an execution1 a marriage1 a funeral1 and so forth4 ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery terminates each of these descriptions by assuring us that the ,deity was present at the battle1 murder1 execution1 marriage1 or funeral in question4 ,and this proposition1 which might be safely predicated of every event that ever happened or ever will happen1 forms the only link which connects these descriptions with the subject or with each other4 ,how the descriptions are executed our readers are probably by this time able to conjecture4 ,the battle is made up of the battles of all ages and nations3 8red-mouthed cannons1 uproaring to the clouds10 and 8hands grasping firm the glittering shield40 ,the only military operations of which this part of the poem reminds us1 are those which reduced the ,abbey of ,quedlinburgh to submission1 the ,templar with his cross1 the ,austrian and ,prussian grenadiers in full uniform1 and ,curtius and ,dentatus with their battering-ram4 ,we ought not to pass unnoticed the slain war-horse1 who will no more 8,roll his red eye1 and rally for the fight2 or the slain warrior who1 while 8lying on his bleeding breast10 contrives to 8stare ghastly and grimly on the skies40 ,as to this last exploit1 we can only say1 as ,dante did on a similar occasion1 8,forse per forza gia di' parlasia ,si stravolse lost alenn del tutto3 ,ma i nol vidi1 n credo clie sia4 #bje,the tempest is thus described3 8,but lo6 around the marsh'lling clouds unite1 ,like thick battalions halting for the fight2 ,the sun sinks back1 the tempest spirits sweep ,fierce through the air1 and flutter on the deep4 ,till from their caverns rush the maniac blasts1 ,tear the loose sails1 and split the creaking masts1 ,and the lash'd billows1 rolling in a train1 ,rear their white heads1 and race along the main60 ,what1 we should like to know1 is the difference between the two operations which ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery so accurately distinguishes from each other1 the fierce sweeping of the tempest-spirits through the air1 and the rushing of the maniac blasts from their caverns8 ,and why does the former operation end exactly when the latter commences8 ,we cannot stop over each of ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery's descriptions4 ,we have a shipwrecked sailor1 who 8visions a viewless temple in the air20 a murderer who stands on a heath1 8with ashy lips1 in cold convulsion spread20 a pious man1 to whom1 as he lies in bed at night1 8,the panorama of past life appears1 ,warms his pure mind1 and melts it into tears2 a traveller1 who loses his way1 owing to the thickness of the 8cloud-battalion10 and the want of 8heaven-lamps1 to beam their holy light40 ,we have a description of a convicted felon1 stolen from that incomparable passage in ,crabbe's ,borough1 which has made many a rough and cynical reader cry like a child4 ,we can1 however1 conscientiously declare that persons of the most excitable sensibility may safely venture upon ,mr4 #bjf,robert ,montgomery's version4 ,then we have the 8poor1 mindless1 pale-faced maniac boy10 who ,rolls his vacant eye1 ,to greet the glowing fancies of the sky40 ,what are the glowing fancies of the sky8 ,and what is the meaning of the two lines which almost immediately follow8 8,a soulless thing1 a spirit of the woods1 ,he loves to commune with the fields and floods4 ,how can a soulless thing be a spirit8 ,then comes a panegyric on the ,sunday4 ,a baptism follows2 after that a marriage3 and we then proceed1 in due course1 to the visitation of the sick1 and the burial of the dead4 ,often as ,death has been personified1 ,mr4 ,montgomery has found something new to say about him4 8,o ,death6 though dreadless vanquisher of earth1 ,the ,elements shrank blasted at thy birth6 ,careering round the world like tempest wind1 ,martyrs before1 and victims strew'd behind2 ,ages on ages cannot grapple thee1 ,dragging the world into eternity60 ,if there be any one line in this passage about which we are more in the dark than about the rest1 it is the fourth4 ,what the difference may be between the victims and the martyrs1 and why the martyrs are to lie before ,death1 and the victims behind him1 are to us great mysteries4 ,we now come to the third part1 of which we may say with honest ,cassio1 8,why1 this is a more excellent song than the other40 ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery is very severe on the infidels1 and undertakes to prove1 that1 as he elegantly expresses it1 ,one great ,enchanter helm'd the harmonious whole ,what an enchanter has to do with helming1 or what a #bjg;helm has to do with harmony1 he does not explain4 ,he proceeds with his argument thus3 8,and dare men dream that dismal ,chance has framed ,all that the eye perceives1 or tongue has named2 ,the spacious world1 and all its wonders1 born ,designless1 sell-created1 and forlorn2 ,like to the flashing bubbles on a stream1 ,fire from the cloud1 or phantom in a dream8 ,we should be sorry to stake our faith in a higher ,power on ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery's logic4 ,he informs us that lightning is designless and self-created4 ,if he can believe this1 we cannot conceive why he may not believe that the whole universe is designless and self-created4 ,a few lines before1 he tells us that it is the ,deity who bids 8thunder rattle from the skiey deep40 ,his theory is therefore this1 that ,god made the thunder1 but that the lightning made itself4 ,but ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery's metaphysics are not at present our game4 ,he proceeds to set forth the fearful effects of ,atheism4 8,then1 blood-stain'd ,murder1 bare thy hideous arm1 ,and thou1 ,rebellion1 welter in thy storm3 ,awake1 ye spirits of avenging crime2 ,burst from your bonds1 and battle with the time60 ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery is fond of personification1 and belongs1 we need not say1 to that school of poets who hold that nothing more is necessary to a personification in poetry than to begin a word with a capital letter4 ,murder may1 without impropriety1 bare her arm1 as she did long ago1 in ,mr4 ,campbell's ,pleasures of ,hope4 ,but what possible motive ,rebellion can have for weltering in her storm1 what avenging crime may be1 who its spirits may be1 why they should burst from their bonds1 what their bonds may be1 why they should battle with the time1 what the time may be1 and #bjhwhat a battle between the time and the spirits of avenging crime would resemble1 we must confess ourselves quite unable to understand4 8,and here let ,memory turn her tearful glance ,on the dark horrors of tumultuous ,france1 ,when blood and blasphemy defiled her land1 ,and fierce ,rebellion shook her savage hand4 ,whether ,rebellion shakes her own hand1 shakes the hand of ,memory1 or shakes the hand of ,france1 or what any one of these three metaphors would mean1 we know no more than we know what is the sense of the following passage3 8,let the foul orgies of infuriate crime ,picture the raging havoc of that time1 ,when leagued ,rebellion march'd to kindle man1 ,fright in her rear1 and ,murder in her van4 ,and thou1 sweet flower of ,austria1 slaughter'd ,queen1 ,who dropp'd no tear upon the dreadful scene1 ,when gush'd the life-blood from thine angel form1 ,and martyr'd beauty perish'd in the storm1 ,once worshipp'd paragon of all who saw1 ,thy look obedience1 and thy smile a law4 ,what is the distinction between the foul orgies and the raging havoc which the foul orgies are to picture8 ,why does ,fright go behind ,rebellion1 and ,murder before8 ,why should not ,murder fall behind ,fright8 ,or why should not all the three walk abreast8 ,we have read of a hero who had 8,amazement in his van1 with flight combined1 ,and ,sorrow's faded form1 and ,solitude behind4 ,gray1 we suspect1 could have given a reason for disposing the allegorical attendants of ,edward thus4 ,but to proceed1 8,flower of ,austria0 is stolen from ,byron4 8,dropp'd0 is false ,english4 8,perish'd in the storm0 means nothing at all2 and 8thy look obedience'' means the very reverse of what ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery intends to say4 #bji,our poet then proceeds to demonstrate the immortality of the soul3 8,and shall the soul1 the fount of reason1 die1 ,when dust and darkness round its temple lie8 ,did ,god breathe in it no ethereal fire1 ,dimless and quenchless1 though the breath expire8 ,the soul is a fountain2 and therefore it is not to die1 though dust and darkness lie round its temple1 because an ethereal fire has been breathed into it1 which cannot be quenched though its breath expire4 ,is it the fountain1 or the temple1 that breathes1 and has fire breathed into it8 ,mr4 ,montgomery apostrophizes the 8,immortal beacons1--spirits of the just1 and describes their employments in another world1 which are to be1 it seems1 bathing in light1 hearing fiery streams flow1 and riding on living cars of lightning4 ,the deathbed of the sceptic is described with what we suppose is meant for energy4 ,we then have the deathbed of a ,christian made as ridiculous as false imagery and false ,english can make it4 ,but this is not enough4 ,the ,day of ,judgment is to be described1 and a roaring cataract of nonsense is poured forth upon this tremendous subject4 ,earth1 we are told1 is dashed into ,eternity4 ,furnace blazes wheel round the horizon1 and burst into bright wizard phantoms4 ,racing hurricanes unroll and whirl quivering fire-clouds4 ,the white waves gallop4 ,shadowy worlds career around4 ,the red and raging eye of ,imagination is then forbidden to pry further4 ,but further ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery persists in prying4 ,the stars bound through the airy roar4 ,the unbosomed deep yawns on the ruin4 ,the billows of ,eternity then begin to advance4 #baj,the world glares in fiery slumber4 ,a car comes forward driven by living thunder4 8,creation shudders with sublime dismay1 ,and in a blazing tempest whirls away4 ,and this is fine poetry6 ,this is what ranks its writer with the master-spirits of the age6 ,this is what has been described1 over and over again1 in terms which would require some qualification if used respecting ,paradise ,lost6 ,it is too much that this patchwork1 made by stitching together old odds and ends of what1 when new1 was but tawdry frippery1 is to be picked off the dunghill on which it ought to rot1 and to be held up to admiration as an inestimable specimen of art4 ,and what must we think of a system by means of which verses like those which we have quoted1 verses fit only for the poet's corner of the ,morning ,post1 can produce emolument and fame8 ,the circulation of this writer's poetry has been greater than that of ,southey's ,roderick1 and beyond all comparison greater than that of ,cary's ,dante or of the best works of ,coleridge4 ,thus encouraged ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery has favoured the public with volume after volume4 ,we have given so much space to the examination of his first and most popular performance that we have none to spare for his ,universal ,prayer1 and his smaller poems1 which1 as the puffing journals tell us1 would alone constitute a sufficient title to literary immortality4 ,we shall pass at once to his last publication1 entitled ,satan4 ,this poem was ushered into the world with the usual roar of acclamation4 ,but the thing was now past a joke4 ,pretensions so unfounded1 so impudent1 and so successful1 had aroused a spirit of resistance4 ,in several magazines and reviews1 accordingly1 ,satan has been handled somewhat roughly1 and the arts of the #baapuffers have been exposed with good sense and spirit4 ,we shall1 therefore1 be very concise4 ,of the two poems we rather prefer that on the ,omnipresence of the ,deity1 for the same reason which induced ,sir ,thomas ,more to rank one bad book above another4 8,marry1 this is somewhat4 ,this is rhyme4 ,but the other is neither rhyme nor reason40 ,satan is a long soliloquy1 which the ,devil pronounces in five or six thousand lines of bad blank verse1 concerning geography1 polities1 newspapers1 fashionable society1 theatrical amusements1 ,sir ,walter ,scott's novels1 ,lord ,byron's poetry1 and ,mr4 ,martin's pictures4 ,the new designs for ,milton have1 as was natural1 particularly attracted the attention of a personage who occupies so conspicuous a place in them4 ,mr4 ,martin must be pleased to learn that1 whatever may be thought of those performances on earth1 they give full satisfaction in ,pandmonium1 and that he is there thought to have hit off the likenesses of the various ,thrones and ,dominations very happily4 ,the motto to the poem of ,satan is taken from the ,book of ,job3 8,whence comest thou8 ,from going to and fro in the earth1 and walking up and down in it40 ,and certainly ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery has not failed to make his hero go to and fro1 and walk up and down4 ,with the exception1 however1 of this propensity to locomotion1 ,satan has not one ,satanic quality4 ,mad ,tom had told us that 8the prince of darkness is a gentleman0 but we had yet to learn that he is a respectable and pious gentleman1 whose principal fault is that he is something of a twaddle and far too liberal of his good advice4 ,that happy change in his character which ,origen anticipated1 and of which ,tillotson did not despair1 seems to be rapidly taking #babplace4 ,bad habits are not eradicated in a moment4 ,it is not strange1 therefore1 that so old an offender should now and then relapse for a short time into wrong dispositions4 ,but to give him his due1 as the proverb recommends1 we must say that he always returns1 after two or three lines of impiety1 to his preaching style4 ,we would seriously advise ,mr4 ,montgomery to omit or alter about a hundred lines in different parts of this large volume1 and to republish it under the name of 8,gabriel40 ,the reflections of which it consists would come less absurdly1 as far as there is a more and a less in extreme absurdity1 from a good than from a bad angel4 ,we can afford room only for a single quotation4 ,we give one taken at random1 neither worse nor better1 as far as we can perceive1 than any other equal number of lines in the book4 ,the ,devil goes to the play1 and moralises thereon as follows3 8,music and ,pomp their mingling spirits shed ,around me2 beauties in their cloud-like robes ,shine forth1--a scenic paradise1 it glares ,intoxication through the reeling sense ,of flush'd enjoyment4 ,in the motley host ,three prime gradations may be rank'd3 the first1 ,to mount upon the wings of ,shakspeare's mind1 ,and win a flash of his ,promethean thought1-- ,to smile and weep1 to shudder1 and achieve ,a round of passionate omnipotence1 ,attend3 the second1 are a sensual tribe1 ,convened to hear romantic harlots sing1 ,on forms to banquet a lascivious gaze1 ,while the bright perfidy of wanton eyes ,through brain and spirit darts delicious fire3 ,the last1 a throng most pitiful6 who seem1 ,with their corroded figures1 rayless glance1 ,and death-like struggle of decaying age1 ,like painted skeletons in charnel pomp ,set forth to satirize the human kind6-- ,how fine a prospect for demoniac view6 #8,creatures whose souls outbalance worlds awake6' ,methinks ,i hear a pitying angel cry4 #bac;,here we conclude4 ,if our remarks give pain to ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery1 we are sorry for it4 ,but1 at whatever cost of pain to individuals1 literature must be purified from this taint1 ,and1 to show that we are not actuated by any feelings of personal enmity towards him1 we hereby give notice that1 as soon as any book shall1 by means of puffing1 reach a second edition1 our intention is to do unto the writer of it as we have done unto ,mr4 ,robert ,montgomery4 ,,sadler',s ,,law ,,of ,,population4 7#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,july #ahcj47 ,we #bad;did not expect a good book from ,mr4 ,sadler3 and it is well that we did not2 for he has given us a very bad one4 ,the matter of his treatise is extraordinary2 the manner more extraordinary still4 ,his arrangement is confused1 his repetitions endless1 his style everything which it ought not to be4 ,instead of saying what he has to say with the perspicuity1 the precision1 and the simplicity in which consists the eloquence proper to scientific writing1 he indulges without measure in vague1 bombastic declamation1 made up of those fine things which boys of fifteen admire1 and which everybody1 who is not destined to be a boy all his life1 weeds vigorously out of his compositions after five-and-twenty4 ,that portion of his two thick volumes which is not made up of statistical tables1 consists principally of ejaculations1 apostrophes1 metaphors1 similes1--all the worst of their respective kinds4 ,his thoughts are dressed up in this shabby finery with so much profusion and so little discrimination1 that they remind us of a company of wretched strolling players1 who have huddled on suits of ragged and faded tinsel1 taken from a common wardrobe1 and fitting neither their persons 7#a7 ,the ,law of ,population3 a ,treatise in ,six ,books1 in ,disproof of the ,perfecundity of ,human ,beings1 and developing the real ,principle of their ,increase4 ,by ,michael ,thomas ,sadlek1 ,m4 ,p4 #b vols4 #hvo4 ,london3 #ahcj4 #baenor their parts2 and who then exhibit themselves to the laughing and pitying spectators1 in a state of strutting1 ranting1 painted1 gilded beggary4 8,oh1 rare ,daniels60 8,political economist1 go and do thou likewise60 8,hear1 ye political economists and anti-populationists60 8,population1 if not proscribed and worried down by the ,cerberean dogs of this wretched and cruel system1 really does press against the level of the means of subsistence1 and still elevating that level1 it continues thus to urge society through advancing stages1 till at length the strong and resistless hand of necessity presses the secret spring of human prosperity1 and the portals of ,providence fly open1 and disclose to the enraptured gaze the promised land of contented and rewarded labour40 ,these are specimens1 taken at random1 of ,mr4 ,sadler's eloquence4 ,we could easily multiply them2 but our readers1 we fear1 are already inclined to cry for mercy4 ,much blank verse and much rhyme is also scattered through these volumes1 sometimes rightly quoted1 sometimes wrongly1--sometimes good1 sometimes insufferable1--sometimes taken from ,shakspeare1 and sometimes1 for aught we know1 ,mr4 ,sadler's own4 8,let man10 cries the philosopher1 8take heed how he rashly violates his trust20 and thereupon he breaks forth into singing as follows3 8,what myriads wait in destiny's dark womb1 ,doubtful of life or an eternal tomb6 ',tis his to blot them from the book of fate1 ,or1 like a second ,deity1 create2 ,to dry the stream of being in its source1 ,or bid it1 widening1 win its restless course2 ,while1 earth and heaven replenishing1 the flood ,rolls to its ,ocean fount1 and rests in ,god4 ,if these lines are not ,mr4 ,sadler's1 we heartily beg #baf;his pardon for our suspicion--a suspicion which1 we acknowledge1 ought not to be lightly entertained of any human being4 ,we can only say that we never met with them before1 and that we do not much care how long it may be before we meet with them1 or with any others like them1 again4 ,the spirit of this work is as bad as its style4 ,we never met with a book which so strongly indicated that the writer was in a good humour with himself1 and in a bad humour with everybody else2 which contained so much of that kind of reproach which is vulgarly said to be no slander1 and of that kind of praise which is vulgarly said to be no commendation4 ,mr4 ,malthus is attacked in language which it would be scarcely decent to employ respecting ,titus ,oates4 8,atrocious10 8execrable10 8blasphemous10 and other epithets of the same kind1 are poured forth against that able1 excellent1 and honourable man1 with a profusion which in the early part of the work excites indignation1 but1 after the first hundred pages1 produces mere weariness and nausea4 ,in the preface1 ,mr4 ,sadler excuses himself on the plea of haste4 ,two-thirds of his book1 he tells us1 were written in a few months4 ,if any terms have escaped him which can be construed into personal disrespect1 he shall deeply regret that he had not more time to revise them4 ,we must inform him that the tone of his book required a very different apology2 and that a quarter of a year1 though it is a short time for a man to be engaged in writing a book1 is a very long time for a man to be in a passion4 ,the imputation of being in a passion ,mr4 ,sadler will not disclaim4 ,his is a theme1 he tells us1 on which 8it were impious to be calm20 and he boasts that1 8instead of conforming to the candour of the present age1 he has #bag;imitated the honesty of preceding ones1 in expressing himself with the utmost plainness and freedom throughout40 ,if ,mr4 ,sadler really wishes that the controversy about his new principle of population should be carried on with all the license of the seventeenth century1 we can have no personal objections4 ,we are quite as little afraid of a contest in which quarter shall be neither given nor taken as he can be4 ,but we would advise him seriously to consider1 before he publishes the promised continuation of his work1 whether he be not one of that class of writers who stand peculiarly in need of the candour which he insults1 and who would have most to fear from that unsparing severity which he practises and recommends4 ,there is only one excuse for the extreme acrimony with which this book is written2 and that excuse is but a bad one4 ,mr4 ,sadler imagines that the theory of ,mr4 ,malthus is inconsistent with ,christianity1 and even with the purer forms of ,deism4 ,now1 even had this been the case1 a greater degree of mildness and self-command than ,mr4 ,sadler has shown would have been becoming in a writer who had undertaken to defend the religion of charity4 ,but1 in fact1 the imputation which has been thrown on ,mr4 ,malthus and his followers is so absurd as scarcely to deserve an answer4 ,as it appears1 however1 in almost every page of ,mr4 ,sadler's book1 we will say a few words respecting it4 ,mr4 ,sadler describes ,mr4 ,malthus's principle in the following words3-- 8,it pronounces that there exists an evil in the principle of population2 an evil1 not accidental1 but inherent2 not of occasional occurrence1 but in perpetual operation2 not light1 transient1 or mitigated1 but productive of miseries1 compared with which all those inflicted by human institutions1 that is to say1 by the weakness #bah;and wickedness of man1 however instigated1 are #8light3 an evil1 finally1 for which there is no remedy save one1 which had been long overlooked1 and which is now enunciated in terms which evince anything rather than confidence4 ,it is a principle1 moreover1 pre-eminently bold1 as well as #8clear4' ,with a presumption1 to call it by no fitter name1 of which it may be doubted whether literature1 heathen or ,christian1 furnishes a parallel1 it professes to trace this supposed evil to its source1 #8the laws of nature1 which are those of ,god2' thereby implying1 and indeed asserting1 that the law by which the ,deity multiplies his offspring1 and that by which he makes provision for their sustentation1 are different1 and1 indeed1 irreconcilable40 8,this theory10 he adds1 8in the plain apprehension of the many1 lowers the character of the ,deity in that attribute1 which1 as ,rousseau has well observed1 is the most essential to him1 his goodness2 or otherwise1 impugns his wisdom40 ,now nothing is more certain than that there is physical and moral evil in the world4 ,whoever1 therefore1 believes1 as we do most firmly believe1 in the goodness of ,god must believe that there is no incompatibility between the goodness of ,god and the existence of physical and moral evil4 ,if1 then1 the goodness of ,god be not incompatible with the existence of physical and moral evil1 on what grounds does ,mr4 ,sadler maintain that the goodness of ,god is incompatible with the law of population laid down by ,mr4 ,malthus8 ,is there any difference between the particular form of evil which would be produced by over-population1 and other forms of evil which we know to exist in the world8 ,it is1 says ,mr4 ,sadler1 not a light or transient evil1 but a great and permanent evil4 ,what then8 ,the question of the origin of evil is a question of ay or no1--not a question of more or less4 ,if any explanation can be found by which the slightest inconvenience #bai;ever sustained by any sentient being can be reconciled with the divine attribute of benevolence1 that explanation will equally apply to the most dreadful and extensive calamities that can ever afflict the human race4 ,the difficulty arises from an apparent contradiction in terms2 and that difficulty is as complete in the case of a headache which lasts for an hour as in the case of a pestilence which unpeoples an empire1--in the case1 of the gust which makes us shiver for a moment as in the case of the hurricane in which an ,armada is cast away4 ,it is1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler1 an instance of presumption unparalleled in literature1 heathen or ,christian1 to trace an evil to 8the laws of nature1 which are those of ,god10 as its source4 ,is not hydrophobia an evil8 ,and is it not a law of nature that hydrophobia should be communicated by the bite of a mad dog8 ,is not malaria an evil8 ,and is it not a law of nature that in particular situations the human frame should be liable to malaria8 ,we know that there is evil in the world4 ,if it is not to be traced to the laws of nature1 how did it come into the world8 ,is it supernatural8 ,and1 if we suppose it to be supernatural1 is not the difficulty of reconciling it with the divine attributes as great as if we suppose it to be natural8 ,or1 rather1 what do the words natural and supernatural mean when applied to the operations of the ,supreme ,mind8 ,mr4 ,sadler has attempted1 in another part of his work1 to meet these obvious arguments1 by a distinction without a difference4 8,the scourges of human existence1 as necessary regulators of the numbers of mankind1 it is also agreed by some1 are not inconsistent with the wisdom or benevolence of the ,governor of the #bbjuniverse2 though such think that it is a mere after-concern to #8reconcile the undeniable state of the fact to the attributes we assign to the ,deity4' #8,the purpose of the earthquake1' say they1 #8the hurricane1 the drought1 or the famine1 by which thousands1 and sometimes almost millions1 of the human race1 are at once overwhelmed1 or left the victims of lingering want1 is certainly inscrutable4' ,how singular is it that a sophism like this1 so false1 as a mere illustration1 should pass for an argument1 as it has long done6 ,the principle of population is declared to be naturally productive of evils to mankind1 and as having that constant and manifest tendency to increase their numbers beyond the means of their subsistence1 which has produced the unhappy and disgusting consequences so often enumerated4 ,this is1 then1 its universal tendency or rule4 ,but is there in ,nature the same constant tendency to these earthquakes1 hurricanes1 droughts1 and famines1 by which so many myriads1 if not millions1 are overwhelmed or reduced at once to ruin8 ,no2 these awful events are strange exceptions to the ordinary course of things2 their visitations are partial1 and they occur at distant intervals of time4 ,while ,religion has assigned to them a very solemn office1 ,philosophy readily refers them to those great and benevolent principles of ,nature by which the universe is regulated4 ,but were there a constantly operating tendency to these calamitous occurrences2 did we feel the earth beneath us tremulous1 and giving ceaseless and certain tokens of the coming catastrophe of nature2 were the hurricane heard mustering its devastating powers1 and perpetually muttering around us2 were the skies #8like brass1' without a cloud to produce one genial drop to refresh the thirsty earth1 and famine1 consequently1 visibly on the approach2 ,i say1 would such a state of things1 as resulting from the constant laws of ,nature1 be #8reconcilable with the attributes we assign to the ,deity1' or with any attributes which in these inventive days could be assigned to him1 so as to represent him as anything but the tormentor1 rather than the kind benefactor1 of his creatures8 ,life1 in such a condition1 would be like the unceasingly threatened and miserable existence of ,damocles at the table of ,dionysius1 and the tyrant himself the worthy image of the ,deity of the anti-populationists40 ,surely this is wretched trifling4 ,is it on the number of bad harvests1 or of volcanic eruptions1 that this #bba;great question depends8 ,mr4 ,sadler's piety1 it seems1 would be proof against one rainy summer1 but would be overcome by three or four in succession4 ,on the coasts of the ,mediterranean1 where earthquakes are rare1 he would be an optimist4 ,south ,america would make him a sceptic1 and ,java a decided ,manichean1 ,to say that religion assigns a solemn office to these visitations is nothing to the purpose4 ,why was man so constituted as to need such warnings8 ,it is equally unmeaning to say that philosophy refers these events to benevolent general laws of nature4 ,in so far as the laws of nature produce evil1 they are clearly not benevolent4 ,they may produce much good4 ,but why is this good mixed with evil8 ,the most subtle and powerful intellects have been labouring for centuries to solve these difficulties4 ,the true solution1 we are inclined to think1 is that which has been rather suggested1 than developed1 by ,paley and ,butler4 ,but there is not one solution which will not apply quite as well to the evils of over population as to any other evil4 ,many excellent people think that it is presumptuous to meddle with such high questions at all1 and that1 though there doubtless is an explanation1 our faculties are not sufficiently enlarged to comprehend that explanation4 ,this mode of getting rid of the difficulty1 again1 will apply quite as well to the evils of over-population as to any other evils4 ,we are sure that those who humbly confess their inability to expound the great enigma act more rationally and more decorously than ,mr4 ,sadler1 who tells us1 with the utmost confidence1 which are the means and which the ends1--which the exceptions and which the rules1 in the government of the universe2--who consents to bear a little evil without denying the divine benevolence1 #bbb;but distinctly announces that a certain quantity of dry weather or stormy weather would force him to regard the ,deity as the tyrant of his creatures4 ,the great discovery by which ,mr4 ,sadler has1 as he conceives1 vindicated the ways of ,providence is enounced with all the pomp of capital letters4 ,we must particularly beg that our readers will peruse it with attention4 8,no one fact relative to the human species is more clearly ascertained1 whether by general observation or actual proof1 than that their fecundity varies in different communities and countries4 ,the principle which effects this variation1 without the necessity of those cruel and unnatural expedients so frequently adverted to1 constitutes what ,i presume to call ,the ,law of ,population2 and that law may be thus briefly enunciated3-- 8,the ,prolificness of human beings1 otherwise similarly ,,circumstanced1 ,,varies ,,inversely ,,as ,,their ,,numbers4 8,the preceding definition may be thus amplified and explained4 ,premising1 as a mere truism1 that marriages under precisely similar circumstances will1 on the average1 be equally fruitful everywhere1 ,i proceed to state1 first1 that the prolificness of a given number of marriages will1 all other circumstances being the same1 vary in proportion to the condensation of the population1 so that that prolificness shall be greatest where the numbers on an equal space are the fewest1 and1 on the contrary1 the smallest where those numbers are the largest40 ,mr4 ,sadler1 at setting out1 abuses ,mr4 ,malthus for enouncing his theory in terms taken from the exact sciences4 8,applied to the mensuration of human fecundity10 he tells us1 8the most fallacious of all things is geometrical demonstration20 and he again informs us that those 8act an irrational and irreverent part who affect to measure the mighty depth of ,god's mercies by their arithmetic1 and to demonstrate1 by their geometrical ratios1 that it is inadequate to receive and #bbc;contain the efflux of that fountain of life which is in ,him40 ,it appears1 however1 that it is not to the use of mathematical words1 but only to the use of those words in their right senses that ,mr4 ,sadler objects4 ,the law of inverse variation1 or inverse proportion1 is as much a part of mathematical science as the law of geometric progression4 ,the only difference in this respect between ,mr4 ,malthus and ,mr4 ,sadler is1 that ,mr4 ,malthus knows what is meant by geometric progression1 and that ,mr4 ,sadler has not the faintest notion of what is meant by inverse variation4 ,had he understood the proposition which he has enounced with so much pomp1 its ludicrous absurdity must at once have flashed on his mind4 ,let it be supposed that there is a tract in the back settlements of ,america1 or in ,new ,south ,wales1 equal in size to ,london1 with only a single couple1 a man and his wife1 living upon it4 ,the population of ,london1 with its immediate suburbs1 is now probably about a million and a half4 ,the average fecundity of a marriage in ,london is1 as ,mr4 ,sadler tells us1 #b4ce4 ,how many children will the woman in the back settlements bear according to ,mr4 ,sadler's theory8 ,the solution of the problem is easy4 ,as the population in this tract in the back settlements is to the population of ,london1 so will be the number of children born from a marriage in ,london to the number of children born from the marriage of this couple in the back settlements4 ,that is to say-- #b3a1ejj1jjj33 #b4ce3a1gfb1ejj4 ,the lady will have #a1gfb1ejj children3 a large 8efflux of the fountain of life10 to borrow ,mr4 ,sadler's sonorous rhetoric1 as the most philoprogenitive parent could possibly desire4 #bbd;,but let us1 instead of putting cases of our own1 look at some of those which ,mr4 ,sadler has brought forward in support of his theory4 ,the following table1 he tells us1 exhibits a striking proof of the truth of his main position4 ,it seems to us to prove only that ,mr4 ,sadler does not know what inverse proportion means4 ,illustration3 #jbcj ,is #a to #afj as #c4ff to #e4dh8 ,if ,mr4 ,sadler's principle were just1 the number of children produced by a marriage at the ,cape would be1 not #e4dh1 but very near #fjj4 ,or take ,america and ,france4 ,is #d to #adj as #d4bb to #e4bb8 ,the number of births to a marriage in ,north ,america ought1 according to this proportion1 to be about #aej4 ,mr4 ,sadler states the law of population in ,england thus3-- 8,where the inhabitants are found to be on the square mile1 ,from #ej to #ajj 7#b counties7 the births to #ajj marriages are #dbj --#ajj to #aej 7#i counties74444 #cif --#aej to #bjj 7#af counties7444 #cij --#bjj to #bej 7#d counties74444 #chh --#bej to #cjj 7#e counties74444 #cgh --#cjj to #cej 7#c counties74444 #cec --#ejj to #fjj 7#b counties74444 #cca --#djjj and upwards 7#a county7 #bdf 8,now1 ,i think it quite reasonable to conclude1 that1 were there #bbenot another document in existence relative to this subject1 the facts thus deduced from the census of ,england are fully sufficient to demonstrate the position1 that the fecundity of human beings varies inversely as their numbers4 ,how1 ,i ask1 can it be evaded80 ,what1 we ask1 is there to evade8 ,is #bdf to #dbj as #ej to #djjj8 ,is #cca to #cif as #ajj to #ejj8 ,if the law propounded by ,mr4 ,sadler were correct1 the births to a hundred marriages in the least populous part of ,england1 would be1 #bdf ,x #djjj #ej1 that is #ai1fhj1--nearly two hundred children to every mother4 ,but we will not carry on these calculations4 ,the absurdity of ,mr4 ,sadler's proposition is so palpable that it is unnecessary to select particular instances4 ,let us see what are the extremes of population and fecundity in well-known countries4 ,the space which ,mr4 ,sadler generally takes is a square mile4 ,the population at the ,cape of ,good ,hope is1 according to him1 one to the square mile4 ,that of ,london is two hundred thousand to the square mile4 ,the number of children at the ,cape1 ,mr4 ,sadler informs us1 is #e4dh to a marriage4 ,in ,london1 he states it at #b4ce to a marriage4 ,now how can that of which all the variations lie between #b4ce and #e4dh vary1 either directly or inversely1 as that which admits of all the variations between one and two hundred thousand8 ,mr4 ,sadler evidently does not know the meaning of the word proportion4 ,a million is a larger quantity than ten4 ,a hundred is a larger quantity than five4 ,mr4 ,sadler thinks1 therefore1 that there is no impropriety in saying that a hundred is to five as a million is to ten1 or in the inverse ratio of ten to a million4 ,he proposes to prove that the fecundity of marriages varies in inverse proportion to the density of the population4 ,but all that #bbf;he attempts to prove is that1 while the population increases from one to a hundred and sixty on the square mile1 the fecundity will diminish from #e4dh to #c4ff2 and that again1 while the population increases from one hundred and sixty to two hundred thousand on the square mile1 the fecundity will diminish from #c4ff to #b4ce4 ,the proposition which ,mr4 ,sadler enounces1 without understanding the words which he uses1 would indeed1 if it could be proved1 set us at ease as to the dangers of over-population4 ,but it is1 as we have shown1 a proposition so grossly absurd that it is difficult for any man to keep his countenance while he repeats it4 ,the utmost that ,mr4 ,sadler has ever attempted to prove is this1--that the fecundity of the human race diminishes as population becomes more condensed1--but that the diminution of fecundity bears a very small ratio to the increase of population1--so that1 while the population on a square mile is multiplied two hundred-thousand-fold1 the fecundity decreases by little more than one-half4 ,does this principle vindicate the honour of ,god8 ,does it hold out any new hope or comfort to man8 ,not at all4 ,we pledge ourselves to show1 with the utmost strictness of reasoning1 from ,mr4 ,sadler's own principles1 and from facts of the most notorious description1 that every consequence which follows from the law of geometrical progression1 laid down by ,mr4 ,mal-thus1 will follow from the law1 miscalled a law of inverse variation1 which has been laid down by ,mr4 ,sadler4 ,london is the most thickly peopled spot of its size in the known world4 ,therefore the fecundity of the population of ,london must1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler1 #bbg;be less than the fecundity of human beings living on any other spot of equal size4 ,mr4 ,sadler tells us1 that 8the ratios of mortality are influenced by the different degrees in which the population is condensated2 and that1 other circumstances being2 similar1 the relative number of deaths in a thinly-populated1 or country district1 is less than that which takes place in towns1 and in towns of a moderate size less again than that which exists in large and populous cities40 ,therefore the mortality in ,london must1 according to him1 be greater than in other places4 ,but1 though1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler1 the fecundity is less in ,london than elsewhere1 and though the mortality is greater there than elsewhere1 we find that even in ,london the number of births greatly exceeds the number of deaths4 ,during the ten years which ended with #ahbj1 there were fifty thousand more baptisms than burials within the bills of mortality4 ,it follows1 therefore1 that1 even within ,london itself1 an increase of the population is taking place by internal propagation4 ,now1 if the population of a place in which the fecundity is less and the mortality greater than in other places still goes on increasing by propagation1 it follows that in other places the population will increase1 and increase still faster4 ,there is clearly nothing in ,mr4 ,sadler's boasted law of fecundity which will keep the population from multiplying till the whole earth is as thick with human beings as ,st4 ,giles's parish4 ,if ,mr4 ,sadler denies this1 he must hold that1 in places less thickly peopled than ,london1 marriages may be less fruitful than in ,london1 which is directly contrary to his own principles2 or that in places less thickly peopled than ,london1 and similarly situated1 people will die faster than in ,london1 which is again directly contrary #bbhto his own principles4 ,now1 if it follows1 as it clearly does follow1 from ,mr4 ,sadler's own doctrines1 that the human race might he stowed together by three or four hundred to the acre1 and might still1 as far as the principle of propagation is concerned1 go on increasing1 what advantage1 in a religious or moral point of view1 has his theory over that of ,mr4 ,malthus8 ,the principle of ,mr4 ,malthus1 says ,mr4 ,sadler1 leads to consequences of the most frightful description4 ,be it so4 ,but do not all these consequences spring equally from his own principle8 ,revealed religion condemns ,mr4 ,malthus4 ,be it so4 ,but ,mr4 ,sadler must share in the reproach of heresy4 ,the theory of ,mr4 ,malthus represents the ,deity as a ,dionysius hanging the sword over the heads of his trembling slaves4 ,be it so4 ,but under what rhetorical figure are we to represent the ,deity of ,mr4 ,sadler8 ,a man who wishes to serve the cause of religion ought to hesitate long before he stakes the truth of religion on the event of a controversy respecting facts in the physical world4 ,for a time he may succeed in making a theory which he dislikes unpopular by persuading the public that it contradicts the ,scriptures and is inconsistent with the attributes of the ,deity4 ,but1 if at last an overwhelming force of evidence proves this maligned theory to be true1 what is the effect of the arguments by which the objector has attempted to prove that it is irreconcilable with natural and revealed religion8 ,merely this1 to make men infidels4 ,like the ,israelites1 in their battle with the ,philistines1 he has presumptuously and without warrant brought down the ark of ,god into the camp as a means of ensuring victory3--and the consequence of this profanation is that1 when the battle is lost1 the ark is taken4 #bbi;,in every age the ,church has been cautioned against this fatal and impious rashness by its most illustrious members1--by the fervid ,augustin1 by the subtle ,aquinas1 by the all-accomplished ,pascal4 ,the warning has been given in vain4 ,that close alliance which1 under the disguise of the most deadly enmity1 has always subsisted between fanaticism and atheism is still unbroken4 ,at one time1 the cry was1--8,if you hold that the earth moves round the sun1 you deny the truth of the ,bible40 ,popes1 conclaves1 and religious orders1 rose up against the ,copernican heresy4 ,but1 as ,pascal said1 they could not prevent the earth from moving1 or themselves from moving along with it4 ,one ,bing1 however1 they could do1 and they did4 ,they could teach numbers to consider the ,bible as a collection of old women's stories which the progress of civilisation and knowledge was refuting one by one4 ,they had attempted to show that the ,ptolemaic system was as much a part of ,christianity as the resurrection of the dead4 ,was it strange1 then1 that1 when the ,ptolemaic system became an object of ridicule to every man of education in ,catholic countries1 the doctrine of the resurrection should be in peril8 ,in the present generation1 and in our own country1 the prevailing system of geology has been1 with equal folly1 attacked on the ground that it is inconsistent with the ,mosaic dates4 ,and here we have ,mr4 ,sadler1 out of his especial zeal for religion1 first proving that the doctrine of superfecundity is irreconcilable with the goodness of ,god1 and then laying down principles1 and stating facts1 from which the doctrine of superfecundity necessarily follows4 ,this blundering piety reminds us of the adventures of a certain missionary who went to convert the inhabitants of ,madagascar4 ,the good father had #bcj;an audience of the king1 and began to instruct his majesty in the history of the human race as given in the ,scriptures4 8,thus1 sir10 said he1 8was woman made out of the rib of man1 and ever since that time a woman has had one rib more than a man40 8,surely1 father1 you must be mistaken there10 said the king4 8,mistaken60 said the missionary4 8,it is an indisputable fact4 ,my faith upon it6 ,my life upon it60 ,the good man had heard the fact asserted by his nurse when he was a child1--had always considered it as a strong confirmation of the ,scriptures1 and fully believed it without having ever thought of verifying it4 ,the king ordered a man and woman1 the leanest that could be found1 to be brought before him1 and desired his spiritual instructor to count their ribs4 ,the father counted over and over1 upward and downward1 and still found the same number in both4 ,he then cleared his throat1 stammered1 stuttered1 and began to assure the king that1 though he had committed a little error in saving that a woman had more ribs than a man1 he was quite right in saying that the first woman was made out of the rib of the first man4 8,how can ,i tell that80 said the king4 8,you come to me with a strange story1 which you say is revealed to you from heaven4 ,i have already made you confess that one half of it is a lie3 and how can you have the face to expect that ,i shall believe the other half80 ,we have shown that ,mr4 ,sadler's theory1 if it be true1 is as much a theory of superfecundity as that of ,mr4 ,malthus4 ,but it is not true4 ,and from ,mr4 ,sadler's own tables we will prove that it is not true4 ,the fecundity of the human race in ,england ,mr4 ,sadler rates as follows3-- ,illustration3 #jbcg #bca,where the inhabitants are found to be on the square mile--,from #ej to #ajj 7#b counties7 the births to #ajj marriages are #dbj -- #ajj to #aej 7#i counties7 4444#cif -- #aej to #bjj 7#af counties7 444#cij -- #bjj to #bej 7#d counties7 4444#chh -- #bej to #cjj 7#e counties744444#cgh -- #cjj to #cej 7#c counties7 4444#cec -- #ejj to #fjj 7#b counties7 4444#cca -- #djjj and upwards 7#a county74#bdf ,having given this table1 he begins1 as usual1 to boast and triumph4 8,were there not another document on the subject in existence10 says he1 8the facts thus deduced from the census of ,england are sufficient to demonstrate the position1 that the fecundity of human beings varies inversely as their numbers40 ,in no case would these facts demonstrate that the fecundity of human beings varies inversely as their numbers in the right sense of the words inverse variation4 ,but certainly they would1 8if there were no other document in existence10 appear to indicate something like what ,mr4 ,sadler means by inverse variation4 ,unhappily for him1 however1 there are other documents in existence2 and he has himself furnished us with them4 ,we will extract another of his tables3-- ,the result of his inquiries with respect to ,france he presents in the following table3-- ,illustration3 #jbch ,then comes the shout of exultation as regularly as the ,gloria ,patri at the end of a ,psalm4 8,is there any possibility of gainsaying the conclusions these facts force upon us2 namely that the fecundity of marriages is regulated by the density of the population1 and inversely to it80 ,certainly these tables1 taken separately1 look well for ,mr4 ,sadler's theory4 ,he must be a bungling gamester who cannot win when he is suffered to pack the cards his own way4 ,we must beg leave to shuffle them a little2 and we will venture to promise our readers that some curious results will follow from the operation4 ,in nine counties of ,england1 says ,mr4 ,sadler1 in which the population is from #ajj to #aej on the square mile1 the births to #ajj marriages are #cif4 ,he afterwards expresses some doubts as to the accuracy of the documents from which this estimate has been formed1 and rates the number of births as high as #dad4 ,let him take his choice4 ,we will allow him every advantage4 #bcc;,in the table which we have quoted1 numbered lxiv41 he tells us that in ,almondness1 where the population is #bfg to the square mile1 there are #dae births to #ajj marriages4 ,the population of ,almondness is twice as thick as the population of the nine counties referred to in the other table4 ,yet the number of births to a marriage is greater in ,almondness than in those counties4 ,once more1 he tells us that in three counties1 in which the population was from #cjj to #cej on the square mile1 the births to #ajj marriages were #cec4 ,he afterwards rates them at #cge4 ,again we say1 let him take his choice4 ,but from his table of the population of ,lancashire it appears that1 in the hundred of ,ley-land1 where the population is #ced to the square mile1 the number of births to #ajj marriages is #cia4 ,here again we have the marriages becoming more fruitful as the population becomes denser4 ,let us now shuffle the censuses of ,england and ,france together4 ,in two ,english counties which contain from fifty to #ajj inhabitants on the square mile1 the births to #ajj marriages are1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler1 #dbj4 ,but in forty-four departments of ,france1 in which there are from one to two hecatares to each inhabitant1 that is to say1 in which the population is from #abe to #bej1 or rather more1 to the square mile1 the number of births to #ajj marriages is #dbc and a fraction4 ,again1 in five departments of ,france in which there is less than one hecatare to each inhabitant1 that is to sav1 in which the population is more than #bej to the square mile1 the number of births to #ajj marriages is #dad and a fraction4 ,but1 in the four counties of ,england in which the population is from #bjj to #bej on the square mile1 the number of births to #ajj marriages is1 #bcd;according to one of ,mr4 ,sadler's tables1 only #chh1 and by his very highest estimate no more than #djb4 ,mr4 ,sadler gives us a long table of all the towns of ,england and ,ireland1 which1 he tells us1 irrefragably demonstrates his principle4 ,we assert1 and will prove1 that these tables are alone sufficient to upset his whole theory4 ,it is very true that in the great towns the number of births to a marriage appears to be smaller than in the less populous towns4 ,but we learn some other facts from these tables which we should be glad to know how ,mr4 ,sadler will explain4 ,we find that the fecundity in towns of fewer than #c1jjj inhabitants is actually much greater than the average fecundity of the kingdom1 and that the fecundity in towns of between #c1jjj and #d1jjj inhabitants is at least as great as the average fecundity of the kingdom4 ,the average fecundity of a marriage in towns of fewer than #c1jjj inhabitants is about four2 in towns of between #c1jjj and #d1jjj inhabitants it is #c4fj4 ,now the average fecundity of ,england1 when it contained only #afj inhabitants to a square mile1 and when1 therefore1 according to the new law of population1 the fecundity must have been greater than it now is1 was only1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler1 #c4ff to a marriage4 ,to proceed1--the fecundity of a marriage in the ,english towns of between #d1jjj and #e1jjj inhabitants is stated at #c4ef4 ,but1 when we turn to ,mr4 ,sadler's table of the counties1 we find the fecundity of a marriage in ,warwickshire and ,staffordshire rated at only #c4dh1 and in ,lancashire and ,surrey at only #c4da4 ,these facts disprove ,mr4 ,sadler's principle2 and the fact on which he lays so much stress--that the fecundity is less in the great towns than in the small #bcetowns--does not tend in any degree to prove his principle4 ,there is not the least reason to believe that the population is more dense1 on a given space1 in ,london or ,manchester than in a town of #d1jjj inhabitants4 ,but it is quite certain that the population is more dense in a town of #d1jjj inhabitants than in ,warwickshire or ,lancashire4 ,that the fecundity of ,manchester is less than the fecundity of ,sandwich or ,guildford is a circumstance which has nothing whatever to do with ,mr4 ,sadler's theory4 ,but that the fecundity of ,sandwich is greater than the average fecundity of ,kent1--that the fecundity of ,guildford is greater than the average fecundity of ,surrey1--as from his own tables appears to be the case1--these are facts utterly inconsistent with his theory4 ,we need not here examine why it is that the human race is less fruitful in great cities than in small towns or in the open country4 ,the fact has long been notorious4 ,we are inclined to attribute it to the same causes which tend to abridge human life in great cities1--to general sickliness and want of tone1 produced by close air and sedentary employments4 ,thus far1 and thus far only1 we agree with ,mr4 ,sadler1 that1 when population is crowded together in such masses that the general health and energy of the frame are impaired by the condensation1 and by the habits attending on the condensation1 then the fecundity of the race diminishes4 ,but this is evidently a check of the same class with war1 pestilence1 and famine4 ,it is a check for the operation of which ,mr4 ,malthus has allowed4 ,that any condensation which does not affect the general health will affect fecundity1 is not only not proved--it is disproved--by ,mr4 ,sadler's own tables4 #bcf,mr4 ,sadler passes on to ,prussia1 and sums up his information respecting that country as follows3-- ,illustration3 #jbdb ,after the table comes the boast as usual3 8,thus is the law of population deduced from the registers of ,prussia also2 and were the argument to pause here1 it is conclusive4 ,the results obtained from the registers of this and the preceding countries exhibiting1 as they do most clearly1 the principle of human increase1 it is utterly impossible should have been the work of chance2 on the contrary1 the regularity with which the facts class themselves in conformity with that principle1 and the striking analogy which the whole of them bear to each other1 demonstrate equally the design of ,nature1 and the certainty of its accomplishment40 ,we are sorry to disturb ,mr4 ,sadler's complacency4 ,but1 in our opinion1 this table completely disproves his whole principle4 ,if we read the columns perpendicularly1 indeed1 they seem to be in his favour4 ,but how stands the case if we read horizontally8 ,does ,mr4 ,sadler believe that1 during the thirty years which elapsed between #aged and #aghd1 the population of ,prussia had been diminishing8 ,no fact in history is better ascertained than that1 during the long peace which followed the seven years' war1 it increased with great rapidity4 ,indeed1 if the fecundity were what ,mr4 ,sadler states it to have been1 it must have increased with great #bcgrapidity4 ,yet1 the ratio of births to marriages is greater in #aghd than in #aged1 and that in every province4 ,it is1 therefore1 perfectly clear that the fecundity does not diminish whenever the density of the population increases4 ,we will try another of ,mr4 ,sadler's tables3 ,illustration3 #jbdc ,standing by itself1 this table1 like most of the others1 seems to support ,mr4 ,sadler's theory4 ,but surely ,london1 at the close of the seventeenth century1 was far more thickly peopled than the kingdom of ,england now is4 ,yet the fecundity in ,london at the close of the seventeenth century was #d2 and the average fecundity of the whole kingdom now is not more1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler1 than #c4e ,then1 again1 the large towns in #agjj were far more thickly peopled than ,westmorland and the ,north ,riding of ,yorkshire now are4 ,yet the fecundity in those large towns was then #d4e4 ,and ,mr4 ,sadler tells us that it is now only #d4b in ,westmorland and the ,north ,riding4 ,it is scarcely necessary to say any thing about the #bch;censuses of the ,netherlands1 as ,mr4 ,sadler himself confesses that there is some difficulty in reconciling them with his theory1 and helps out his awkward explanation by supposing1 quite gratuitously1 as it seems to us1 that the official documents are inaccurate4 ,the armament which he has drawn from the ,united ,states will detain us but for a very short time4 ,he has not told us1--perhaps he had not the means of telling us1--what proportion the number of births in the different parts of that country bears to the number of marriages4 ,he shows that in the thinly-peopled states the number of children bears a greater proportion to the number of grown-up people than in the old states2 and this1 he conceives1 is a sufficient proof that the condensation of the population is unfavourable to fecundity4 ,we deny the inference altogether4 ,nothing can be more obvious than the explanation of the phenomenon4 ,the back settlements are for the most part peopled by emigration from the old states2 and emigrants are almost always breeders4 ,they are almost always vigorous people in the prime of life4 ,mr4 ,sadler himself1 in another part of his book1 in which he tries very unsuccessfully to show that1 the rapid multiplication of the people of ,america is principally owing to emigration from ,europe1 states this fact in the plainest manner3 8,nothing is more certain1 than that emigration is almost universally supplied by #8single persons in the beginning of mature life2' nor1 secondly1 that such persons1 as ,dr4 ,franklin long ago asserted1 #8marry and raise families4' 8,nor is this all4 ,it is not more true1 that emigrants1 generally speaking1 consist of individuals in the prime of life'1 than that #8they are the most active and vigorous' of that age1 as ,dr4 ,sey-bert describes them to be4 ,they are1 as it respects the principle at issue1 a select class1 even compared with that of their own age generally considered4 ,their very object in leaving their native #bci;countries is to settle in life1 a phrase that needs no explanation2 and they do so4 ,no equal number of human beings1 therefore1 have ever given so large or rapid an increase to a community as #8settlers' have invariably done40 ,it is perfectly clear that children are more numerous in the back settlements of ,america than in the maritime states1 not because unoccupied land makes people prolific1 but because the most prolific people go to the unoccupied laud4 ,mr4 ,sadler having1 as he conceives1 fully established his theory of population by statistical evidence1 proceeds to prove1 8that it is in unison1 or rather required by the principles of physiology40 ,the difference between himself and his opponents he states as follows3-- 8,in pursuing this part of my subject1 ,i must begin by reminding the reader of the difference between those who hold the superfecundity of mankind and myself1 in regard to those principles which will form the basis of the present argument4 ,they contend1 that production precedes population2 ,i1 on the contrary1 maintain that population precedes1 and is indeed the cause of1 production4 ,they teach that man breeds up to the capital1 or in proportion to the abundance of the food1 he possesses2 ,i assert1 that he is comparatively sterile when he is wealthy1 and that he breeds in proportion to his poverty2 not meaning1 however1 by that poverty1 a state of privation approaching to actual starvation1 any more than1 ,i suppose1 they would contend1 that extreme and culpable excess is the grand patron of population4 ,in a word1 they hold that a state of ease and affluence is the great promoter of prolificness3 ,i maintain that a considerable degree of labour1 and even privation1 is a more efficient cause of an increased degree of human fecundity40 ,to prove this point he quotes ,aristotle1 ,hippocrates1 ,dr4 ,short1 ,dr4 ,gregory1 ,dr4 ,perceval1 ,m4 ,villermi1 ,lord ,bacon1 and ,rousseau4 ,we will not dispute about it2 for it seems quite clear to us that if he succeeds #bdj;in establishing it he overturns his own theory4 ,if men breed in proportion to their poverty1 as he tells us here1--and at the same time breed in inverse proportion to their numbers1 as he told us before1--it necessarily follows that the poverty of men must be in inverse proportion to their numbers4 ,inverse proportion1 indeed1 as we have shown1 is not the phrase which expresses ,mr4 ,sadler's meaning4 ,to speak more correctly1 it follows1 from his own positions1 that1 if one population be thinner than another1 it will also be poorer4 ,is this the fact8 ,mr4 ,sadler tells us1 in one of those tables which we have already quoted1 that in the ,united ,states the population is four to a square mile1 and the fecundity #e1bb to a marriage1 and that in ,russia the population is twenty-three to a square mile1 and the fecundity #d4id to a marriage4 ,is the ,north ,american labourer poorer than the ,russian boor8 ,if not1 what becomes of ,mr4 ,sadler's argument8 ,the most decisive proof of ,mr4 ,sadler's theory1 according to him1 is that which he has kept for the last4 ,it is derived from the registers of the ,english ,peerage4 ,the ,peers1 he says1 and says truly1 are the class with respect to whom we possess the most accurate statistical information4 8,touching their number1 this has been accurately known and recorded ever since the order has existed in the country4 ,for several centuries past1 the addition to it of a single individual has been a matter of public interest and notoriety3 this hereditary honour conferring not personal dignity merely1 but important privileges1 and being almost always identified with great wealth and influence4 ,the records relating to it are kept with the most scrupulous attention1 not only by heirs and expectants1 but they are appealed to by more distant connections1 as conferring distinction on all who can claim such affinity4 ,hence there are few disputes concerning successions to this rank1 but such as go back #bdato very remote periods4 ,in later times1 the marriages1 births1 and deaths1 of the nobility1 have not only been registered by and known to those personally interested1 but have been published periodically1 and1 consequently1 subject to perpetual correction and revision2 while many of the most powerful motives which can influence the human mind conspire to preserve these records from the slightest falsification4 ,compared with these1 therefore1 all other registers1 or reports1 whether of sworn searchers or others1 are incorrectness itself40 ,mr4 ,sadler goes on to tell us that the ,peers are a marrying class1 and that their general longevity proves them to be a healthy class4 ,still peerages often become extinct2--and from this fact he infers that they are a sterile class4 ,so far1 says he1 from increasing in geometrical progression1 they do not even keep up their numbers4 8,nature interdicts their increase40 8,thus10 says he1 8in all ages of the world1 and in every nation of it1 have the highest ranks of the community been the most sterile1 and the lowest the most prolific4 ,as it respects our own country1 from the lowest grade of society1 the ,irish peasant1 to the highest1 the ,british peer1 this remains a conspicuous truth2 and the regulation of the degree of fecundity conformably to this principle1 through the intermediate gradations of society1 constitutes one of the features of the system developed in these pages40 ,we take the issue which ,mr4 ,sadler has himself offered4 ,w agree with him1 that the registers of the ,english ,peerage are of far higher authority than any other statistical documents4 ,we are content that by those registers his principles should be judged4 ,and we meet him by positively denying his facts4 ,we assert that the ,english nobles are not only not a sterile1 but an eminently prolific1 part of the community4 ,mr4 ,sadler concludes that they are sterile1 merely because peerages often become extinct4 ,is this the proper way of ascertaining the point8 ,is it thus that he avails #bdb;himself of those registers on the accuracy and fulness of which he descants so largely8 ,surely his right course would have been to count the marriages1 and the number of births in the ,peerage4 ,this he has not done2--but we have done it4 ,and what is the result8 ,it appears from the last edition of ,debrett's ,peerage1 published in #ahbh1 that there were at that time #bhg peers of the ,united ,kingdom1 who had been married once or oftener4 ,the whole number of marriages contracted by these #bhg peers was #chh4 ,the number of children by these marriages was #adcg1--more than five to a peer1--more than #d4c to a marriage1--more1 that is to sav1 than the average number in those counties of ,england in which1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler's own statement1 the fecundity is the greatest4 ,but this is not all4 ,these marriages had not1 in #ahbh1 produced their full effect4 ,some of them had been very lately contracted4 ,in a very large proportion of them there was every probability of additional issue4 ,to allow for this probability1 we may safely add one to the average which we have already obtained1 and rate the fecundity of a noble marriage in ,england at #e4c2--;higher than the fecundity which ,mr4 ,sadler assigns to the people of the ,united ,states4 ,even if we do not make this allowance1 the average fecundity of the marriages of peers is higher by one-fifth than the average fecundity of marriages throughout the kingdom4 ,and this is the sterile class6 ,this is the class which 8nature has interdicted from increasing60 ,the evidence to which ,mr4 ,sadler has himself appealed proves that his principle is false1--utterly false1--wildly and extravagantly false4 ,it proves that a class4 #bdcliving during half of every year in the most crowded population in the world1 breeds faster than those who live in the country2--that the class which enjoys the greatest degree of luxury and ease breeds faster than the class which undergoes labour and privation4 ,to talk a little in ,mr4 ,sadler's style1 we must own that we are ourselves surprised at the results which our examination of the peerage has brought out4 ,we certainly should have thought that the habits of fashionable life1 and long residence even in the most airy parts of so great a city as ,london1 would have been more unfavourable to the fecundity of the higher orders than they appear to be4 ,peerages1 it is true1 often become extinct4 ,but it is quite clear1 from what we have stated1 that this is not because peeresses are barren4 ,there is no difficulty in discovering what the causes really are4 ,in the first place1 most of the titles of our nobles are limited to heirs male2 so that1 though the average fecundity of a noble marriage is upwards of five1 yet1 for the purpose of keeping up a peerage1 it cannot be reckoned at much more than two and a half4 ,secondly1 though the peers are1 as ,mr4 ,sadler says1 a marrying class1 the younger sons of peers are decidedly not a marrying class2 so that a peer1 though he has at least as great a chance of having a son as his neighbours1 has less chance than they of having a collateral heir4 ,we have now disposed1 we think1 of ,mr4 ,sadler's principle of population4 ,our readers must1 by this time1 be pretty well satisfied as to his qualifications for setting up theories of his own4 ,we will1 therefore1 present them with a few instances of the skill and fairness which he shows when he undertakes to null down the theories of other men4 ,the doctrine #bddof ,mr4 ,malthus1 that population1 if not checked by want1 by vice1 by excessive mortality1 or by the prudent self-denial of individuals1 would increase in a geometric progression1 is1 in ,mr4 ,sadler's opinion1 at once false and atrocious4 8,it may at once be denied10 says he1 8that human increase proceeds geometrically2 and for this simple but decisive reason1 that the existence of a geometrical ratio of increase in the works of nature1 is neither true nor possible4 ,it would fling into utter confusion all order1 time1 magnitude1 and space40 ,this is as curious a specimen of reasoning as any that has been offered to the world since the days when theories were founded on the principle that nature abhors a vacuum4 ,we proceed a few pages farther1 however2 and we then find that geometric progression is unnatural only in those cases in which ,mr4 ,malthus conceives that it exists2 and that1 in all cases in which ,mr4 ,malthus denies the existence of a geometric ratio1 nature changes sides1 and adopts that ratio as the rule of increase4 ,mr4 ,malthus holds that subsistence will increase only in an arithmetical ratio4 8,as far as nature has to do with the question10 says ,mr4 ,sadler1 8men might1 for instance1 plant twice the number of peas1 and breed from a double number of the same animals1 with equal prospect of their multiplication40 ,now1 if ,mr4 ,sadler thinks that1 as far as nature is concerned1 four sheep will double as fast as two1 and eight as fast as four1 how can he deny that the geometrical ratio of increase does exist in the works of nature8 ,or has he a definition of his own for geometrical progression1 as well as for inverse proportion8 ,mr4 ,malthus1 and those who agree with him1 have #bde;generally referred to the ,united ,states1 as a country in which the human race increases in a #8geometrical ratio1 and have fixed on twenty-five years as the term in which the population of that country doubles itself4 ,mr4 ,sadler contends that it is physically impossible for a people to double in twenty-five years2 nay1 that thirty-five years is far too short a period1--that the ,americans do not double by procreation in less than forty-seven years1--and that the rapid increase of their numbers is produced by emigration from ,europe4 ,emigration has certainly had some effect in increasing the population of the ,united ,states4 ,but so great has the rate of that increase been that1 after making frill allowance for the effect of emigration1 there win be a residue1 attributable to procreation alone1 amply sufficient to double the population in twenty-five years4 ,mr4 ,sadler states the results of the four censuses as follows3-- 8,there were1 of white inhabitants1 in the whole of the ,united ,states in #agij1 #c1jic1aaa2 in #ahjj1 #d1cji1fef2 in #ahaj1 #e1hfb1jic2 and in #ahbj1 #g1hfa1gaj4 ,the increase1 in the first term1 being #ci per cent42 that in the second1 #cf per cent42 and that in the third and last1 #cc per cent4 ,it is superfluous to say1 that it is utterly impossible to deduce the geometric theory of human increase1 whatever be the period of duplication1 from such terms as these40 ,mr4 ,sadler is a bad arithmetician4 ,the increase in the last term is not1 as he states it1 #cc per cent41 but more than #cd per cent4 ,now1 an increase of #cb per cent1 in ten years1 is more than sufficient to double the population in twenty-five years4 ,and there is1 we think1 very strong reason to believe that the white population of the ,united ,states does increase by #cb per cent1 every ten years4 #bdf,our reason is this4 ,there is in the ,united ,states a class of persons whose numbers are not increased by emigration1--the negro slaves4 ,during the interval which elapsed between the census of #ahaj and the census of #ahbj1 the change in their numbers must have been produced by procreation1 and by procreation alone4 ,their situation1 though much happier than that of the wretched beings who cultivate the sugar plantations of ,trinidad and ,demerara1 cannot be supposed to be more favourable to health and fecundity than that of free labourers4 ,in #ahaj1 the slave trade had been but recently abolished2 and there were in consequence many more male than female slaves1--a circumstance1 of course1 very unfavourable to procreation4 ,slaves are perpetually passing into the class of freemen2 but no freeman ever descends into servitude2 so that the census will not exhibit the whole effect of the procreation which really takes place4 ,we find1 by the census of #ahaj1 that the number of slaves in the ,union was then #a1aia1jjj4 ,in #ahbj1 they had increased to #a1ech1jjj4 ,that is to say1 in ten years1 they had increased #bi per cent4--within three per cent of that rate of increase which would double their numbers in twenty-five years4 ,we may1 we think1 fairly calculate that1 if the female slaves had been as numerous as the males1 and if no manumissions had taken place1 the census of the slave population would have exhibited an increase of #cb per cent1 in ten years4 ,if we are right in fixing on #cb per cent1 as the rate at which the white population of ,america increases by procreation in ten years1 it will follow that1 during the last ten years of the eighteenth century1 nearly one-sixth of the increase was the effect of emigration2 from #bdgahjj to #ahaj1 about one-ninth2 and from #ahaj to #ahbj1 about one-seventeenth4 ,this is what we should have expected2 for it is clear that1 unless the number of emigrants be constantly increasing1 it must1 as compared with the resident population1 be relatively decreasing4 ,the number of persons added to the population of the ,united ,states by emigration1 between #ahaj and #ahbj1 would be nearly #abj1jjj4 ,from the data furnished by ,mr4 ,sadler himself1 we should be inclined to think that this would be a fair estimate4 8,dr4 ,seybert says1 that the passengers to ten of the principal ports of the ,united ,states1 in the year #ahag1 amounted to #bb1bce2 of whom #aa1igg were from ,great ,britain and ,ireland2 #d1afd from ,germany and ,holland3 #a1bde from ,france2 #eh from ,italy2 #b1ija from the ,british possessions in ,north ,america2 #a1efi from the ,west ,indies2 and from all other countries1 #cba4 ,these1 however1 we may conclude1 with the editor of ,styles's ,register1 were far short of the number that arrived40 ,we have not the honour of knowing either ,dr4 ,seybert or the editor of ,styles's ,register4 ,we cannot1 therefore1 decide on their respective claims to our confidence so peremptorily as ,mr4 ,sadler thinks fit to do4 ,nor can we agree to what ,mr4 ,sadler very gravely assigns as a reason for disbelieving ,dr4 ,seybert's testimony4 8,such accounts10 he says1 8if not wilfully exaggerated1 must always fall short of the truth40 ,it would be a curious question of casuistry to determine what a man ought to do in a case in which he cannot tell the truth except by being guilty of wilful exaggeration4 ,we will1 however1 suppose1 with ,mr4 ,sadler1 that ,dr4 ,seybert1 finding himself compelled to choose between two sins1 preferred telling a falsehood to exaggerating2 and that he has consequently underrated the number of emigrants4 ,we will take it at double of the #bdh;,doctor's estimate1 and suppose that1 in #ahag1 #de1jjj ,europeans crossed to the ,united ,states4 ,now1 it must be remembered that the year #ahag was a year of the severest and most general distress over all ,europe1--a year of scarcity everywhere1 and of cruel famine in some places4 ,there can1 therefore1 be no doubt that the emigration of #ahag was very far above the average1 probably more than three times that of an ordinary year4 ,till the year #ahae1 the war rendered it almost impossible to emigrate to the ,united ,states either from ,england or from the ,continent4 ,if we suppose the average emigration of the remaining years to have been #af1jjj1 we shall probably not be much mistaken4 ,in #ahah and #ahai1 the number was certainly much beyond that average2 in #ahae and #ahaf1 probably much below it4 ,but1 even if we were to suppose that1 in every year from the peace to #ahbj1 the number of emigrants had been as high as we have supposed it to be in #ahag1 the increase by procreation among the white inhabitants of the ,united ,states would still appear to be about #cj per cent1 in ten years4 ,mr4 ,sadler acknowledges that ,cobbett exaggerates the number of emigrants when he states it at #aej1jjj a year4 ,yet even this estimate1 absurdly great as it is1 would not be sufficient to explain the increase of the population of the ,united ,states on ,mr4 ,sadler's principles4 ,he is1 he tells us1 8convinced that doubling in #ce years is a far more rapid duplication than ever has taken place in that country from procreation only40 ,an increase of #bj per cent1 in ten years1 by procreation1 would therefore be the very utmost that he would allow to be possible4 ,we have already shown1 by reference to the census of the slave population1 that this doctrine is quite absurd4 ,and1 if we suppose it to #bdi;be sound1 we shall be driven to the conclusion that above eight hundred thousand people emigrated from ,europe to the ,united ,states in a space of little more than five years4 ,the whole increase of the white population from #ahaj to #ahbj was within a few hundreds of #b1jjj1jjj4 ,if we are to attribute to procreation only #bj per cent1 on the number returned by the census of #ahaj1 we shall have about #hcj1jjj persons to account for in some other way2--and to suppose that the emigrants who went to ,america between the peace of #ahae and the census of #ahbj1 with the children who were born to them there1 would make up that number1 would be the height of absurdity4 ,we could say much more2 but we think it quite unnecessary at present4 ,we have shown that ,mr4 ,sadler is careless in the collection of facts1--that he is incapable of reasoning on facts when he has collected them1--that he does not understand the simplest terms of science1--that he has enounced a proposition of which he does not know the meaning1--that the proposition which he means to enounce1 and which he tries to prove1 leads directly to all those consequences which he represents as impious and immoral1--and that1 from the very documents to which he has himself appealed1 it may be demonstrated that his theory is false4 ,we may1 perhaps1 resume the subject when his next volume appears4 ,meanwhile1 we hope that he will delay its publication until he has learned a little arithmetic1 and unlearned a great deal of eloquence4 ,,john ,,bunyan4 7#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,december #ahcj47 ,this #bej;is an eminently beautiful and splendid edition of a book which well deserves all that the printer and the engraver can do for it4 ,the ,life of ,bunyan is1 of course1 not a performance which can add much to the literary reputation of such a writer as ,mr4 ,southey4 ,but it is written in excellent ,english1 and1 for the most part1 in an excellent spirit4 ,mr4 ,southey propounds1 we need not say1 many opinions from which we altogether dissent2 and his attempts to excuse the odious persecution to which ,bunyan was subjected have sometimes moved our indignation4 ,but we will avoid this topic4 ,we are at present much more inclined to join in paying homage to the genius of a great man than to engage in a controversy concerning church-government and toleration4 ,we must not pass without notice the engravings with which this volume is decorated4 ,some of ,mr4 ,heath's wood-cuts are admirably designed and executed4 ,mr4 ,martin's illustrations do not please us quite so well4 ,his ,valley of the ,shadow of ,death is not that ,valley of the ,shadow of ,death which ,bunyan imagined4 ,at all events1 it is not that dark and 7#a7 ,the ,pilgrim's ,progress1 with a ,life of ,john ,bunyan4 ,by ,robert ,southey1 ,esq41 ,,ll4,d4 ,poet ,laureate4 ,illustrated with ,engravings4 #hvo4 ,london3 #ahcj4 #bea;horrible glen which has from childhood been in our mind's eye4 ,the valley is a cavern3 the quagmire is a lake3 the straight path runs zigzag3 and ,christian appears like a speck in the darkness of the immense vault4 ,we miss1 too1 those hideous forms which make so striking a part of the description of ,bunyan1 and which ,salvator ,rosa would have loved to draw4 ,it is with unfeigned diffidence that we pronounce judgment on any question relating to the art of painting4 ,but it appears to us that ,mr4 ,martin has not of late been fortunate in his choice of subjects4 ,he should never have attempted to illustrate the ,paradise ,lost4 ,there can be no two manners more directly opposed to each other than the manner of his painting and the manner of ,milton's poetry4 ,those things which are mere accessories in the description6 become the principal objects in the pictures2 and those figures which are most prominent in the descriptions can be detected in the pictures only by a very close scrutiny4 ,mr4 ,martin has succeeded perfectly in representing the pillars and candelabra of ,pandimonium4 ,but he has forgotten that ,milton's ,pandmonium is merely the background to ,satan4 ,in the picture1 the ,archangel is scarcely visible amidst the endless colonnades of his infernal palace4 ,milton's ,paradise1 again1 is merely the background to his ,adam and ,eve4 ,but in ,mr4 ,martin's picture6 the landscape is everything4 ,adam1 ,eve1 and ,raphael attract much less notice than the lake and the mountains1 the gigantic flowers1 and the giraffes which feed upon them4 ,we read that ,james the ,second sat to ,varelst1 the great flower-painter4 ,when the performance was finished1 his ,majesty appeared in the midst of a bower of sun-flowers and tulips1 which completely drew away all attention from the central figure4 #beb;,all who looked at the portrait took it for a flower-piece4 ,mr4 ,martin1 we think1 introduces his immeasurable spaces1 his innumerable multitudes1 his gorgeous prodigies of architecture and landscape1 almost as unseasonably as ,varelst introduced his flower-pots and nosegays4 ,if ,mr4 ,martin were to paint ,lear in the storm1 we suspect that the blazing sky1 the sheets of rain1 the swollen torrents1 and the tossing forest1 would draw away all attention from the agonies of the insulted king and father4 ,if he were to paint the death of ,lear1 the old man1 asking the by-standers to undo his button1 would be thrown into the shade by a vast blaze of pavilions1 standards1 armour1 and heralds' coats4 ,mr4 ,martin would illustrate the ,orlando ,furioso well1 the ,orlando ,innamorato still better1 the ,arabian ,nights best of all4 ,fairy palaces and gardens1 porticoes of agate1 and groves flowering with emeralds and rubies1 inhabited by people for whom nobody cares1 these are his proper domain4 ,he would succeed admirably in the enchanted ground of ,alcina1 or the mansion of ,aladdin4 ,but he should avoid ,milton and ,bunyan4 ,the characteristic peculiarity of the ,pilgrim's ,progress is that it is the only work of its kind which possesses a strong human interest4 ,other allegories only amuse the fancy4 ,the allegory of ,bunyan has been read by many thousands with tears4 ,there are some good allegories in ,johnson's works1 and some of still higher merit by ,addison4 ,in these performances there is1 perhaps1 as much wit and ingenuity as in the ,pilgrim's ,progress4 ,but the pleasure which is produced by the ,vision of ,mirza1 the ,vision of ,theodore1 the genealogy of ,wit1 or the contest between ,rest and ,labour1 is exactly similar to the pleasure which we derive #bec;from one of ,cowley's odes or from a canto of ,hudibras4 ,it is a pleasure which belongs wholly to the understanding1 and in which the feelings have no part whatever4 ,nay1 even ,spenser himself1 though assuredly one of the greatest poets that ever lived1 could not succeed in the attempt to make allegory interesting4 ,it was in vain that he lavished the riches of his mind on the ,house of ,pride and the ,house of ,temperance4 ,one unpardonable fault1 the fault of tediousness1 pervades the whole of the ,fairy ,queen4 ,we become sick of cardinal virtues and deadly sins1 and long for the society of plain men and women4 ,of the persons who read the first canto1 not one in ten reaches the end of the first book1 and not one in a hundred perseveres to the end of the poem4 ,very few and very weary are those who are in at the death of the ,blatant ,beast4 ,if the last six books1 which are said to have been destroyed in ,ireland1 had been preserved4 ,we doubt whether any heart less stout than that of a commentator would have held out to the end4 ,it is not so with the ,pilgrim's ,progress4 ,that wonderful book1 while it obtains admiration from the most fastidious critics1 is loved by those who are too simple to admire it4 ,dr4 ,johnson1 all whose studies were desultory1 and who hated1 as he said1 to read books through1 made an exception in favour of the ,pilgrim's ,progress4 ,that work was one of the two or three works which he wished longer4 ,it was by no common merit that the illiterate sectary extracted praise like this from the most pedantic of critics and the most bigoted of ,tories4 ,in the wildest parts of ,scotland the ,pilgrim's ,progress is the delight of the peasantry3 ,in every nursery the ,pilgrim's ,progress is a greater favourite than ,jack the ,giant-killer4 ,every reader knows the #bedstraight and narrow path as well as he knows a road in which he has gone backward and forward a hundred times4 ,this is the highest miracle of genius1 that things which are not should he as though they were1 that the imaginations of one mind should become the personal recollections of another4 ,and this miracle the tinker has wrought4 ,there is no ascent1 no declivity1 no resting-place1 no turn-stile1 with which we are net perfectly acquainted4 ,the wicket gate1 and the desolate swamp which separates it from the ,city of ,destruction1 the long line of road1 as straight as a rule can make it1 the ,interpreter's house and all its fair shows1 the prisoner in the iron cage1 the palace1 at the doors of which armed men kept guard1 and on the battlements of which walked persons clothed all in gold1 the cross and the sepulchre1 the steep hill and the pleasant arbour1 the stately front of the ,house ,beautiful by the wayside1 the chained lions crouching in the porch1 the low green valley of ,humiliation1 rich with grass and covered with flocks1 all are as well known to us as the sights of our own street4 ,then we come to the narrow place where ,apollyon strode right across the whole breadth of the way1 to stop the journey of ,christian1 and where afterwards the pillar was set up to testify how bravely the pilgrim had fought the good fight4 ,as we advance1 the valley becomes deeper and deeper4 ,the shade of the precipices on both sides falls blacker and blacker4 ,the clouds gather overhead4 ,doleful voices1 the clanking of chains1 and the rushing of many feet to and fro1 are heard through the darkness4 ,the way1 hardly discernible in gloom1 runs close by the mouth of the burning pit1 which sends forth its flames1 its noisome smoke1 and its hideous shapes1 to terrify the adventurer4 ,thence he goes on1 #bee;amidst the snares and pitfalls1 with the mangled bodies of those who have perished lying in the ditch by his side4 ,at the end of the long dark valley he passes the dens in which the old giants dwelt1 amidst the bones of those whom they had slain4 ,then the road passes straight on through a waste moor1 till at length the towers of a distant city appear before the traveller2 and soon he is in the midst of the innumerable multitudes of ,vanity ,fair4 ,there are the jugglers and the apes1 the shops and the puppet-shows4 ,there are ,italian ,row1 and ,french ,row1 and ,spanish ,row1 and ,britain ,row1 with their crowds of buyers1 sellers1 and loungers1 jabbering all the languages of the earth4 ,thence we go on by the little hill of the silver mine1 and through the meadow of lilies1 along the bank of that pleasant river which is bordered on both sides by fruit-trees4 ,on the left branches off the path leading to the horrible castle1 the court-yard of which is paved with the skulls of pilgrims2 and right onward are the sheepfolds and orchards of the ,delectable ,mountains4 ,from the ,delectable ,mountains1 the way lies through the fogs and briers of the ,enchanted ,ground1 with here and there a bed of soft cushions spread under a green arbour4 ,and beyond is the land of ,beulah1 where the flowers1 the grapes1 and the songs of birds never cease1 and where the sun shines night and day4 ,thence are plainly seen the golden pavements and streets of pearl1 on the other side of that black and cold river over which there is no bridge4 ,all the stages of the journey1 all the forms which cross or overtake the pilgrims1 giants1 and hobgoblins1 ill-favoured ones1 and shining ones1 the tall1 comely1 swarthy ,madame ,bubble1 with her great purse by her side1 #bef;and her fingers playing with the money1 the black man in the bright vesture1 ,mr4 ,worldly ,wiseman and my ,lord ,hategood1 ,mr4 ,talkative1 and ,mrs4 ,timorous1 all are actually existing beings to us4 ,we follow the travellers through their allegorical progress with interest not inferior to that with which we follow ,elizabeth from ,siberia to ,moscow1 or ,jeanie ,deans from ,edinburgh to ,london4 ,bunyan is almost the only writer who ever gave to the abstract the interest of the concrete4 ,in the works of many celebrated authors1 men are mere personifications4 ,we have not a jealous man1 but jealousy2 not a traitor1 but perfidy2 not a patriot1 but patriotism4 ,the mind of ,bunyan1 on the contrary1 was so imaginative that personifications1 when he dealt with them1 became men4 ,a dialogue between two qualities1 in his dream1 has more dramatic effect than a dialogue between two human beings in most plays4 ,in this respect the genius of ,bunyan bore a great resemblance to that of a man who had very little else in common with him1 ,percy ,bysshe ,shelley4 ,the strong imagination of ,shelley made him an idolater in his own despite4 ,out of the most indefinite terms of a hard1 cold1 dark1 metaphysical system1 he made a gorgeous ,pantheon1 full of beautiful1 majestic1 and lifelike forms4 ,he turned atheism itself into a mythology1 rich with visions as glorious as the gods that live in the marble of ,phidias1 or the virgin saints that smile on us from the canvass of ,murillo4 ,the ,spirit of ,beauty1 the ,principle of ,good1 the ,principle of ,evil1 when he treated of them1 ceased to be abstractions4 ,they took shape and colour4 ,they were no longer mere words2 but 8intelligible forms20 8fair humanities20 objects of love1 of adoration1 or of fear4 ,as there can be no stronger sign of a mind destitute of #begthe poetical faculty than that tendency which was so common among the writers of the ,french school to turn images ,into abstractions1 ,venus1 for example1 into ,love1 ,minerva into ,wisdom1 ,mars into ,war1 and ,bacchus into ,festivity1 so there can be no stronger sign of a mind truly poetical than a disposition to reverse this abstracting process1 and to make individuals out of generalities4 ,some of the metaphysical and ethical theories of ,shelley were certainly most absurd and pernicious4 ,but we doubt whether any modern poet has possessed in an equal degree some of the highest qualities of the great ancient masters4 ,the words bard and inspiration1 which seem so cold and affected when applied to other modern writers1 have a perfect propriety when applied to him4 ,he was not an author1 but a bard4 ,his poetry seems not to have been an art1 but an inspiration4 ,had he lived to the full age of man1 he might not improbably have given to the world some great work of the very highest rank in design and execution4 ,but1 alas6 ,illustration3 #jbfc ,but we must return to ,bunyan4 ,the ,pilgrim's ,progress undoubtedly is not a perfect allegory4 ,the types are often inconsistent with each other2 and sometimes the allegorical disguise is altogether thrown off4 ,the river1 for example1 is emblematic of death2 and we are told that every human being must pass through the river4 ,but ,faithful does not pass through it4 ,he is martyred1 not in shadow1 but in reality1 at ,vanity ,fair ,hopeful talks to ,christian about ,esau's birthright and about his own convictions of sin as ,bunyan might have talked with one of his own congregation4 ,the damsels at the ,house ,beautiful catechize ,christiana's #beh;boys1 as any good ladies might catechize any boys at a ,sunday ,school4 ,but we do not believe that any man1 whatever might be his genius1 and whatever his good luck1 could long continue a figurative history without falling into many inconsistencies4 ,we are sure that inconsistencies1 scarcely less gross than the worst into which ,bunyan has fallen1 may be found in the shortest and most elaborate allegories of the ,spectator and the ,rambler4 ,the ,tale of a ,tub and the ,history of ,john ,bull swarm with similar errors1 if the name of error can be properly applied to that which is unavoidable4 ,it is not easy to make a simile go on all-fours4 ,but we believe that no human ingenuity could produce such a centipede as a long allegory in which the correspondence between the outward sign and the thing signified should be exactly preserved4 ,certainly no writer1 ancient or modern1 has yet achieved the adventure4 ,the best thing1 on the whole1 that an allego-rist can do1 is to present to his readers a succession of analogies1 each of which may separately be striking and happy1 without looking very nicely to see whether they harmonize with each other4 ,this ,bunyan has done2 and1 though a minute scrutiny may detect inconsistencies in every page of his ,tale1 the general effect which the ,tale produces on all persons1 learned and unlearned1 proves that he has done well4 ,the passages which it is most difficult to defend are those in which he altogether drops the allegory1 and puts into the mouth of his pilgrims religious ejaculations and disquisitions1 better suited to his own pulpit at ,bedford or ,reading than to the ,enchanted ,ground or to the ,interpreter's ,garden4 ,yet even these passages1 though we will not undertake to defend them against the objections of critics1 we feel that we could ill spare4 ,we #bei;feel that the story owes much of its charm to these occasional glimpses of solemn and effecting subjects1 which will not be hidden1 which force themselves through the veil1 and appear before us in their native aspect4 ,the effect is not unlike that which is said to have been produced on the ancient stage1 when the eyes of the actor were seen flaming through his mask1 and giving life and expression to what would else have been an inanimate and uninteresting disguise4 ,it is very amusing and very instructive to compare the ,pilgrim's ,progress with the ,grace ,abounding4 ,the latter work is indeed one of the most remarkable pieces of autobiography in the world4 ,it is a full and open confession of the fancies which passed through the mind of an illiterate man1 whose affections were warm1 whose nerves were irritable1 whose imagination was ungovernable1 and who was under the influence of the strongest religious excitement4 ,in whatever age ,bunyan had lived1 the history of his feelings would1 in all probability1 have been very curious4 ,but the time in which his lot was cast was the time of a great stirring of the human mind4 ,a tremendous burst of public feeling1 produced by the tyranny of the hierarchy1 menaced the old ecclesiastical institutions with destruction4 ,to the gloomy regularity of one intolerant ,church had succeeded the license of innumerable sects1 drunk with the sweet and heady must of their new liberty4 ,fanaticism1 engendered by persecution1 and destined to engender persecution in turn1 spread rapidly through society4 ,even the strongest and most commanding minds were not proof against this strange taint4 ,any time might have produced ,george ,fox and ,james ,naylor4 ,but to one time alone belong the frantic delusions of such a statesman #bfj;as ,vane1 and the hysterical tears of such a soldier as ,cromwell4 ,the history of ,bunyan is the history of a most excitable mind in an age of excitement4 ,by most of his biographers he has been treated with gross injustice4 ,they have understood in a popular sense all those strong terms of self-condemnation which he employed in a theological sense4 ,they have1 therefore1 represented him as an abandoned wretch reclaimed by means almost miraculous1 or1 to use their favourite metaphor1 8as a brand plucked from the burning40 ,mr4 ,ivimey calls him the depraved ,bunyan and the wicked tinker of ,elstow4 ,surely ,mr4 ,ivimey ought to have been too familiar with the bitter accusations which the most pious people are in the habit1 of bringing against themselves1 to understand literally all the strong expressions which are to be found in the ,grace ,abounding4 ,it is quite clear1 as ,mr4 ,southey most justly remarks1 that ,bunyan never was a vicious man4 ,he married very early2 and he solemnly declares that he was strictly faithful to his wife4 ,he does not appear to have been a drunkard4 ,he owns1 indeed1 that1 when a boy1 he never spoke without an oath4 ,but a single admonition cured him of this bad habit for life2 and the cure must have been wrought early2 for at eighteen he was in the army of the ,parliament2 and1 if he had carried the vice of profaneness into that service1 he would doubtless have received something more than an admonition from ,serjeant ,bind-their-kings-in-chains1 or ,captain ,hew-,agag-in-pieces-before-the-,lord4 ,bell-ringing and playing at hockey on ,sundays seem to have been the worst vices of this depraved tinker4 ,they would have passed for virtues with ,archbishop ,laud4 ,it is quite clear that1 from a very early age1 ,bunyan was a man of a #bfastrict life and of a tender conscience4 8,he had been10 says ,mr4 ,southey1 8a blackguard40 ,even this we think too hard a censure4 ,bunyan was not1 we admit1 so fine a gentleman as ,lord ,digby2 but he was a blackguard no otherwise than as every labouring man that ever lived has been a blackguard4 ,indeed ,mr4 ,southey acknowledges this4 8,such he might have been expected to be by his birth1 breeding1 and vocation4 ,scarcely indeed1 by possibility1 could he have been otherwise40 ,a man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly below those of his class deserves to be called a blackguard4 ,but it is surely unfair to apply so strong a word of reproach to one who is only what the great mass of every community must inevitably be4 ,those horrible internal conflicts which ,bunyan has described with so much power of language prove1 not that he was a worse man than his neighbours1 but that his mind was constantly occupied by religious considerations1 that his fervour exceeded his knowledge1 and that his imagination exercised despotic power over his body and mind4 ,he heard voices from heaven4 ,he saw strange visions of distant hills1 pleasant and sunny as his own ,delectable ,mountains4 ,from those abodes he was shut out1 and placed in a dark and horrible wilderness1 where he wandered through ice and snow1 striving to make his way into the happy region of light4 ,at one time he was seized with an inclination to work miracles4 ,at another time he thought himself actually possessed by the devil4 ,he could distinguish the blasphemous whispers4 ,he felt his infernal enemy pulling at his clothes behind him4 ,he spurned with his feet and struck with his hands at the destroyer4 ,sometimes he was tempted to sell his part in the salvation #bfbof mankind4 ,sometimes a violent impulse urged him to start up from his food1 to fall on his knees1 and to break forth into prayer4 ,at length he fancied that he had committed the unpardonable sin4 ,his agony convulsed his robust frame4 ,he was1 he says1 as if his breastbone would split2 and this he took for a sign that he was destined to burst asunder like ,judas4 ,the agitation of his nerves made all his movements tremulous2 and this trembling1 he supposed1 was a visible mark of his reprobation1 like that which had been set on ,cain4 ,at one time1 indeed1 an encouraging voice seemed to rush in at the window1 like the noise of wind1 but very pleasant1 and commanded1 as he says1 a great calm in his soul4 ,at another time1 a word of comfort 8was spoke loud unto him2 it showed a great word2 it seemed to be writ in great letters40 ,but these intervals of ease were short3 ,his state1 during two years and a half1 was generally the most horrible that the human mind can imagine4 8,i walked10 says he1 with his own peculiar eloquence1 8to a neighbouring town2 and sat down upon a settle in the street1 and fell into a very deep pause about the most fearful state my sin had brought me to2 and1 after long musing1 ,i lifted up my head2 but methought ,i saw as if the sun that shineth in the heavens did grudge to give me light2 and as if the very stones in the street1 and tiles upon the houses1 did band themselves against me4 ,methought that they all combined together to banish me out of the world4 ,i was abhorred of them1 and unfit to dwell among them1 because ,i had sinned against the ,saviour4 ,oh1 how happy now was every creature over ,i6 for they stood fast1 and kept their station4 ,but ,i was gone and lost40 ,scarcely any madhouse could produce an instance of delusion so strong1 or of misery so acute4 #bfc;,it was through this ,valley of the ,shadow of ,death1 overhung by darkness1 peopled with devils1 resounding with blasphemy and lamentation1 and passing amidst quagmires1 snares1 and pitfalls1 close by the very mouth of hell1 that ,bunyan journeyed to that bright and fruitful land of ,beulah1 in which he sojourned during the latter period of his pilgrimage4 ,the only trace which his cruel sufferings and temptations seem to have left behind them was an affectionate compassion for those who were still in the state in which he had once been4 ,religion has scarcely ever worn a form so calm and soothing as in his allegory4 ,the feeling which predominates through the whole book is a feeling of tenderness for weak1 timid1 and harassed minds4 ,the character of ,mr4 ,fearing1 of ,mr4 ,feeble-,mind1 of ,mr4 ,despondency and his daughter ,miss ,muchafraid1 the account of poor ,littlefaith who was robbed by the three thieves1 of his spending money1 the description of ,christian's terror in the dungeons of ,giant ,despair and in his passage through the river1 all clearly show how strong a sympathy ,runyan felt1 after his own mind had become clear and cheerful1 for persons afflicted with religious melancholy4 ,mr4 ,southey1 who has no love for the ,calvinists1 admits that1 if ,calvinism had never worn a blacker appearance than in ,bunyan's works1 it would never have become a term of reproach4 ,in fact1 those works of ,bunyan with which we are acquainted are by no means more ,calvinistic than the articles and homilies of the ,church of ,england4 ,the moderation of his opinions on the subject of predestination gave offence to some zealous persons4 ,we have seen an absurd allegory1 the heroine of which is named ,hephzibah1 written by some raving supralapsarian preacher #bfdwho was dissatisfied with the mild theology of the ,pilgrim's ,progress4 ,in this foolish hook1 if we recollect rightly1 the ,interpreter is called the ,enlightener1 and the ,house ,beautiful is ,castle ,strength4 ,mr4 ,southey tells us that the ,catholics had also their ,pilgrim's ,progress1 without a ,giant ,pope1 in which the ,interpeter is the ,director1 and the ,house ,beautiful ,grace's ,hall4 ,it is surely a remarkable proof of the power of ,bunyan's genius1 that two religious parties1 both of which regarded his opinions as heterodox1 should have had recourse to him for assistance4 ,there are1 we think1 some characters and scenes in the ,pilgrim's ,progress1 which can be fully comprehended and enjoyed only by persons familiar with the history of the times through which ,bunyan lived4 ,the character of ,mr4 ,greatheart1 the guide1 is an example4 ,his fighting is1 of course1 allegorical2 but the allegory is not strictly preserved4 ,he delivers a sermon on imputed righteousness to his companions2 and1 soon after1 he gives battle to ,giant ,grim1 who had taken upon him to back the lions4 ,he expounds the fifty-third chapter of ,isaiah to the household and guests of ,gaius2 and then he sallies out to attack ,slaygood1 who was of the nature of flesh-eaters1 in his den4 ,these are inconsistencies2 but they are inconsistencies which add1 we think1 to the interest of the narrative4 ,we have not the least doubt that ,bunyan had in view some stout old ,greatheart of ,naseby and ,worcester1 who prayed with his men before he drilled them1 who knew the spiritual state of every dragoon in his troop1 and who1 with the praises of ,god in his mouth1 and a two-edged sword in his hand1 had turned to flight1 on many fields of battle1 the swearing1 drunken bravoes of ,rupert and ,lunsford4 #bfe ,every age produces such men as ,by-ends4 ,but the middle of the seventeenth century was eminently prolific of such men4 ,mr4 ,southey thinks that the satire was aimed at some particular individual2 and this seems by no means improbable4 ,at all events1 ,bunyan must have known many of those hypocrites who followed religion only when religion walked in silver slippers1 when the sun shone1 and when the people applauded4 ,indeed he might have easily found all the kindred of ,by-ends among the public men of his time4 ,he might have found among the peers my ,lord ,turnabout1 my ,lord ,time-server1 and my ,lord ,fair-speech2 in the ,house of ,commons1 ,mr4 ,smooth-man1 ,mr4 ,anything1 and ,mr4 ,facing-both-ways2 nor would 8the parson of the parish1 ,mr4 ,two-tongues10 have been wanting4 ,the town of ,bedford probably contained more than one politician who1 after contriving to raise an estate by seeking the ,lord during the reign of the saints1 contrived to keep what he had got by persecuting the saints during the reign of the strumpets1 and more than one priest who1 during repeated changes in the discipline and doctrines of the church1 had remained constant to nothing but his benefice4 ,one of the most remarkable passages in the ,pilgrim's ,progress is that in which the proceedings against ,faithful are described4 ,it is impossible to doubt that ,bunyan intended to satirise the mode in whieh state trials were conducted under ,charles the ,second4 ,the license given to the witnesses for the prosecution1 the shameless partiality and ferocious insolence of the judge1 the precipitancy and the blind rancour of the jury1 remind us of those odious mummeries which1 from the ,restoration to the ,revolution1 were merely forms preliminary to hanging1 drawing1 and quartering4 #bff,lord ,hategood performs the office of counsel for the prisoners as well as ,scroggs himself could have performed it4 8,judge4 ,thou runagate1 heretic1 and traitor1 hast thou heard what these honest gentlemen have witnessed against thee8 8,faithful4 ,may ,i speak a few words in my own defence8 8,judge4 ,sirrah1 sirrah6 thou deservest to live no longer1 but to be slain immediately upon the place2 yet1 that all men may see our gentleness to thee1 let us hear what thou1 vile runagate1 hast to say40 ,no person who knows the state trials can be at a loss for parallel cases4 ,indeed1 write what ,bunyan would1 the baseness and cruelty of the lawyers of those times 8sinned up to it still10 and even went beyond it4 ,the imaginary trial of ,faithful1 before a jury composed of personified vices1 was just and merciful1 when compared with the real trial of ,alice ,lisle before that tribunal where all the vices sat in the person of ,jefferies4 ,the style of ,bunyan is delightful to every reader1 and invaluable as a study to every person who wishes to obtain a wide command over the ,english language4 ,the vocabulary is the vocabulary of the common people4 ,there is not an expression1 if we except a few technical terms of theology1 which would puzzle the rudest peasant4 ,we have observed several pages which do not contain a single word of more than two syllables4 ,yet no writer has said more exactly what he meant to say4 ,for magnificence1 for pathos1 for vehement exhortation1 for subtle disquisition1 for every purpose of the poet1 the orator1 and the divine1 this homely dialect1 the dialect of plain working men1 was perfectly sufficient4 ,there is no book in our literature on which we would so readily stake the fame of #bfgthe old unpolluted ,english language1 no book which shows so well how rich that language is in its own proper wealth1 and how little it has been improved by all that it has borrowed4 ,cowper said1 forty or fifty years ago1 that he dared not name ,john ,bunyan in his verse1 for fear of moving a sneer4 ,to our refined forefathers1 we suppose1 ,lord ,roscommon's ,essay on ,translated ,verse1 and the ,duke of ,buckinghamshire's ,essay on ,poetry1 appeared to be compositions infinitely superior to the allegory of the preaching tinker4 ,we live in better times2 and we are not afraid to say1 that1 though there were many clever men in ,england during the latter half of the seventeenth century1 there were only two minds which possessed the imaginative faculty in a very eminent degree4 ,one of those minds produced the ,paradise ,lost1 the other the ,pilgrim's ,progress4 ,,sadler',s ,,refutation ,,refuted4 7#a7 7,edinburg ,review1 ,january #ahca47 ,we #bfh;have1 in violation of our usual practice1 transcribed ,mr4 ,sadler's title-page from top to bottom1 motto and all4 ,the parallel implied between the ,essay on the ,human ,understanding and the ,essay on ,superfecundity is exquisitely laughable4 ,we can match it1 however1 with mottoes as ludicrous4 ,we remember to have heard of a dramatic piece1 entitled 8,news from ,camperdown10 written soon after ,lord ,duncan's victory1 by a man once as much in his own good graces as ,mr4 ,sadler is1 and now as much forgotten as ,mr4 ,sadler will soon be1 ,robert ,heron4 ,his piece was brought upon the stage1 and damned1 8as it is phrased10 in the second act2 but the author1 thinking that it had been unfairly and unjustly 8run down10 published it1 in order to put his critics to shame1 with this motto from ,swift3--8,when a true genius appears in the 7#a7 ,a ,refutation of an ,article in the ,edinburgh ,review 7,no4 ,,cii47 entitled1 8,sadler's ,law of ,population1 and ,disproof of ,human ,superfecundity20 containing also ,additional ,proofs of the ,principle enunciated in that ,treatise1 founded on the ,censuses of different ,countries recently published4 ,by ,michael ,thomas ,sadler1 ,m4,p4 #hvo4 ,london3 #ahcj4 8,before anything came out against my ,essay1 ,i was told ,i must prepare myself for a storm coming against it1 it being resolved by some men that it was necessary that book of mine should1 as it is phrased1 be run down40--,john ,locke4 #bfiworld1 you may know him by this mark--that the dunces are all in confederacy against him40 ,we remember another anecdote1 which may perhaps be acceptable to so zealous a churchman as ,mr4 ,sadler4 ,a certain ,antinomian preacher1 the oracle of a barn1 in a county of which we do not think it proper to mention the name1 finding that divinity was not by itself a sufficiently lucrative profession1 resolved to combine with it that of dog-stealing4 ,he was1 by ill-fortune1 detected in several offences of this description1 and was in consequence brought before two justices1 who1 in virtue of the powers given them by an act of parliament1 sentenced him to a whipping for each theft4 ,the degrading punishment inflicted on the pastor naturally thinned the flock2 and the poor man was in danger of wanting bread4 ,he accordingly put forth a handbill1 solemnly protesting his innocence1 describing his sufferings1 and appealing to the ,christian charity of the public2 and to his pathetic address he prefixed this most appropriate text3 8,thrice was ,i beaten with rods4--,st4 ,paul's ,epistle to the ,corinthians40 ,he did not perceive that1 though ,st4 ,paul had been scourged1 no number of whippings1 however severe1 will of themselves entitle a man to be considered as an apostle4 ,mr4 ,sadler seems to us to have fallen into a somewhat similar error4 ,he should remember that1 though ,locke may have been laughed at1 so has ,sir ,claudius ,hunter2 and that it takes something more than the laughter of all the world to make a ,locke4 ,the body of this pamphlet by no means justifies the parallel so modestly insinuated on the title-page4 ,yet we must own that1 though ,mr4 ,sadler has not risen to the level of ,locke1 he has done what was almost as difficult1 if not as honourable--he has fallen below his #bgjown4 ,he is at best a bad writer4 ,his arrangement is an elaborate confusion4 ,his style has been constructed1 with great care1 in such a manner as to produce the least possible effect by means of the greatest possible number of words4 ,aspiring to the exalted character of a ,christian philosopher1 he can never preserve through a single paragraph either the calmness of a philosopher or the meekness of a ,christian4 ,his ill-nature would make a very little wit formidable4 ,but1 happily1 his efforts to wound resemble those of a juggler's snake4 ,the bags of poison are full1 but the fang is wanting4 ,in this foolish pamphlet1 all the unpleasant peculiarities of his style and temper are brought out in the strongest manner4 ,he is from the beginning to the end in a paroxysm of rage1 and would certainly do us some mischief if he knew how4 ,we will give a single instance for the present4 ,others will present themselves as we proceed4 ,we laughed at some doggerel verses which he cited1 and which we1 never having seen them before1 suspected to be his own4 ,we are now sure that1 if the principle on which ,solomon decided a famous case of filiation were correct1 there can be no doubt as to the justice of our suspicion4 ,mr4 ,sadler1 who1 whatever elements of the poetical character he may lack1 possesses the poetical irritability in an abundance which might have sufficed for ,homer himself1 resolved to retaliate on the person1 who1 as he supposed1 had reviewed him4 ,he has1 accordingly1 ransacked some collection of college verses1 in the hope of finding1 among the performances of his supposed antagonist1 something as bad as his own4 ,and we must in fairness admit that he has succeeded pretty well4 ,we must admit that the gentleman in question sometimes put into his exercises1 at seventeen4 #bga;almost as great nonsense as ,mr4 ,sadler is in the habit of putting into his books at sixty4 ,mr4 ,sadler complains that we have devoted whole pages to mere abuse of him4 ,we deny the charge4 ,we have1 indeed1 characterised1 in terms of just reprehension1 that spirit which shows itself in every part of his prolix work4 ,those terms of reprehension we are by no means inclined to retract2 and we conceive that we might have used much stronger expressions1 without the least offence either to truth or to decorum4 ,there is a limit prescribed to us by our sense of what is due to ourselves4 ,but we think that no indulgence is due to ,mr4 ,sadler4 ,a writer who distinctly announces that he has not conformed to the candour of the age--who makes it his boast that he expresses himself throughout with the greatest plainness and freedom--and whose constant practice proves that by plainness and freedom he means coarseness and rancour--has no right to expect that others shall remember courtesies which he has forgotten1 or shall respect one who has ceased to respect himself4 ,mr4 ,sadler declares that he has never vilified ,mr4 ,malthus personally1 and has confined himself to attacking the doctrines which that gentleman maintains4 ,we should wish to leave that point to the decision of all who have read ,mr4 ,sadler's book1 or any twenty pages of it4 ,to quote particular instances of a temper which penetrates and inspires the whole work1 is to weaken our charge4 ,yet1 that we may not be suspected of flinching1 we will give two specimens1--the two first which occur to our recollection4 8,whose minister is it that speaks thus80 says ,mr4 ,sadler1 after misrepresenting in a most extraordinary manner1 though1 we are willing to believe1 unintentionally1 one of the positions #bgbof ,mr4 ,malthus4 8,whose minister is it that speaks thus8 ,that of the lover and avenger of little children80 ,again1 ,mr4 ,malthus recommends1 erroneously perhaps1 but assuredly from humane motives1 that alms1 when given1 should be given very sparingly4 ,mr4 ,sadler quotes the recommendation1 and adds the following courteous comment3--8,the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel40 ,we cannot think that a writer who indulges in these indecent and unjust attacks on professional and personal character has any right to complain of our sarcasms on his metaphors and rhymes4 ,we will now proceed to examine the reply which ,mr4 ,sadler has thought fit to make to our arguments4 ,he begins by attacking our remarks on the origin of evil4 ,they are1 says he1 too profound for common apprehension2 and he hopes that they are too profound for our own4 ,that they seem profound to him we can well believe4 ,profundity1 in its secondary as in its primary sense1 is a relative term4 ,when ,grihlrig was nearly drowned in the ,brobdignagian cream-jug he doubtless thought it very deep4 ,but to common apprehension our reasoning would1 we are persuaded1 appear perfectly simple4 ,the theory of ,mr4 ,malthus1 says ,mr4 ,sadler1 cannot be true1 because it asserts the existence of a great and terrible evil1 and is therefore inconsistent with the goodness of ,god4 ,we answer thus4 ,we know that there are in the world great and terrible evils4 ,in spite of these evils1 we believe in the goodness of ,god4 ,why may we not then continue to believe in his goodness1 though another evil should be added to the list8 ,how does ,mr4 ,sadler answer this8 ,merely by telling #bgcus that we are too wicked to be reasoned with4 ,he completely shrinks from the question2 a question1 be it remembered1 not raised by us--a question which we should have felt strong objections to raising unnecessarily--a question put forward by himself1 as intimately connected with the subject of his two ponderous volumes4 ,he attempts to carp at detached parts of our reasoning on the subject4 8,with what success he carries on this guerilla war after declining a general action with the main body of our argument our readers shall see4 8,the reviewer sends me to ,paley1 who is1 ,i confess1 rather more intelligible on the subject1 and who1 fortunately1 has decided the very point in dispute4 ,i will first give the words of the reviewer1 who1 when speaking of my general argument regarding the magnitude of the evils1 moral and physical1 implied in the theory ,i oppose1 sums up his ideas thus3--#8,mr4 ,sadler says1 that it is not a light or transient evil1 but a great and permanent evil4 ,what then8 ,the question of the origin of evil is a question of av or no1--not a question of more or less4' ,but what says ,paley8 ,his express rule is this1 that #8when we cannot resolve all appearances into benevolence of design1 we make the few give place to the many1 the little to the great2 that we take our judgment from a large and decided preponderancy4' ,now in weighing these two authorities1 directly at issue on this point1 ,i think there will be little trouble in determining which we shall make #8to give place or1 if we #8look to a large and decided preponderance' of either talent1 learning1 or benevolence1 from whom we shall #8take our judgment4' ,the effrontery1 or1 to speak more charitably1 the ignorance of a reference to ,paley on this subject1 and in this instance is really marvellous40 ,now1 does not ,mr4 ,sadler see that the very words which he quotes from ,paley contain in themselves a refutation of his whole argument8 ,paley says1 indeed1 as every man in his senses would say1 that in a certain case1 which he has specified1 the more and the less #bgd;come into question4 ,but in what case8 8,when we cannot resolve all appearances into the benevolence of design40 ,it is better that there should be a little evil than a great deal of evil4 ,this is self-evident4 ,but it is also self-evident that no evil is better than a little evil4 ,why1 then1 is there any evil8 ,it is a mystery which we cannot solve4 ,it is a mystery which ,paley1 by the very words which ,mr4 ,sadler has quoted1 acknowledges himself unable to solve2 and it is because he cannot solve that mystery that he proceeds to take into consideration the more and the less4 ,believing in the divine goodness1 we must necessarily believe that the evils which exist are necessary to avert greater evils4 ,but what those greater evils are we do not know4 ,how the happiness of any part of the sentient creation would be in any respect diminished if1 for example1 children cut their teeth without pain1 we cannot understand4 ,the case is exactly the same with the principle of ,mr4 ,malthus4 ,if superfecundity exists1 it exists1 no doubt1 because it is a less evil than some other evil which otherwise would exist4 ,can ,mr4 ,sadin his senses would say1 that in a certain case1 which he has specified1 the more and the less #bgd;come into question4 ,but in what case8 8,when we cannot resolve all appearances into the benevolence of design40 ,it is better that there should be a little evil than a great deal of evil4 ,this is self-evident4 ,but it is also self-evident that no evil is better than a little evil4 ,why1 then1 is there any evil8 ,it is a mystery which we cannot solve4 ,it is a mystery which ,paley1 by the very words which ,mr4 ,sadler has quoted1 acknowledges himself unable to solve2 and it is because he cannot solve that mystery that he proceeds to take into consideration the more and the less4 ,believing in the divine goodness1 we must necessarily believe that the evils which exist are necessary to avert greater evils4 ,but what those greater evils are we do not know4 ,how the happiness of any part of the sentient creation would be in any respect diminished if1 for example1 children cut their teeth without pain1 we cannot understand4 ,the case is exactly the same with the principle of ,mr4 ,malthus4 ,if superfecundity exists1 it exists1 no doubt1 because it is a less evil than some other evil which otherwise would exist4 ,can ,mr4 ,sadler prove that this is an impossibility8 ,one single expression which ,mr4 ,sadler employs on this subject is sufficient to show how utterly incompetent he is to discuss it4 8,on the ,christian hypothesis10 says he1 8no doubt exists as to the origin of evil40 ,he does not1 we think1 understand what is meant by the origin of evil4 ,the ,christian ,scriptures profess to give no solution of that mystery4 ,they relate facts2 but they leave the metaphysical question undetermined4 ,they tell us that man fell2 but why he was not so constituted as to be incapable of falling1 or why the ,supreme ,being has not mitigated the consequences of the ,fall more than they actually have been mitigated1 the #bge,scriptures did not tell us1 and1 it may without presumption be said1 could not tell us1 unless we had been creatures different from what we are4 ,there is something1 either in the nature of our faculties or in the nature of the machinery employed by us for the purpose of reasoning1 which condemns us1 on this and similar subjects1 to hopeless ignorance4 ,man can understand these high matters only by ceasing to be man1 just as a fly can understand a lemma of ,newton only by ceasing to be a fly4 ,to make it an objection to the ,christian system that it gives us no solution of these difficulties1 is to make it an objection to the ,christian system that it is a system formed for human beings4 ,of the puzzles of the ,academy1 there is not one which does not apply as strongly to ,deism as to ,christianity1 and to ,atheism as to ,deism4 ,there are difficulties in everything4 ,yet we are sure that something must be true4 ,if revelation speaks on the subject of the origin of evil it speaks only to discourage dogmatism and temerity4 ,in the most ancient1 the most beautiful1 and the most profound of all works on the subject1 the ,book of ,job1 both the sufferer who complains of the divine government1 and the injudicious advisers who attempt to defend it on wrong principles1 are silenced by the voice of supreme wisdom1 and reminded that the question is beyond the reach of the human intellect4 ,st4 ,paul silences the supposed objector1 who strives to force him into controversy1 in the same manner4 ,the church has been1 ever since the apostolic times1 agitated by this question1 and by a question which is inseparable from it1 the question of fate and free-will4 ,the greatest theologians and philosophers have acknowledged that these things were too high for them1 and have contented #bgfthemselves with hinting at what seemed to be the most probable solution4 ,what says ,johnson8 8,all our effort ends in belief that for the evils of life there is some good reason1 and in confession that the reason cannot be found40 ,what says ,paley8 8,of the origin of evil no universal solution has been discovered4 ,i mean no solution which reaches to all cases of complaint4--,the consideration of general laws1 although it may concern the question of the origin of evil very nearly1 which ,i think it does1 rests in views disproportionate to our faculties1 and in a knowledge which we do not possess4 ,it serves rather to account for the obscurity of the subject1 than to supply us with distinct answers to our difficulties40 ,what says presumptuous ignorance8 8,no doubt whatever exists as to the origin of evil40 ,it is remarkable that ,mr4 ,sadler does not tell us what his solution is4 ,the world1 we suspect1 will lose little by his silence4 ,he falls on the reviewer again4 8,though ,i have shown10 says he1 8and on authorities from which none can lightly differ1 not only the cruelty and immorality which this system necessarily involves1 but its most revolting feature1 its gross partiality1 he has wholly suppressed this1 the most important part of my argument2 as even the bare notice of it would have instantly exposed the sophistry to which he has had recourse4 ,if1 however1 he would ,fairly meet the whole question1 let him show me that #8hydrophobia1' which he gives as an example of the laws of ,god and nature1 is a calamity to which the poor alone are liable2 or that #8malaria1' which1 with singular infelicity1 he has chosen as an illustration of the fancied evils of population1 is a respecter of persons40 ,we said nothing about this argument1 as ,mr4 ,sadler calls it1 merely because we did not think it worth while2 and we are half ashamed to say anything about it now4 ,but1 since ,mr4 ,sadler is so urgent for an answer1 #bgg;he shall have one4 ,if there is evil1 it must be either partial or universal4 ,which is the better of the two8 ,hydrophobia1 says this great philosopher1 is no argument against the divine goodness1 because mad dogs bite rich and poor alike2 but1 if the rich were exempted1 and only nine people suffered for ten who suffer now1 hydrophobia would forthwith1 simply because it would produce less evil than at present1 become an argument against the divine goodness6 ,to state such a proposition1 is to refute it4 ,and is not the malaria a respecter of persons8 ,it infests ,rome4 ,does it infest ,london8 ,there are complaints peculiar to the tropical countries4 ,there are others which are found only in mountainous districts2 others which are confined to marshy regions2 others again which run in particular families4 ,is not this partiality8 ,why is it more inconsistent with the divine goodness that poor men should suffer an evil from which rich men are exempt1 than that a particular portion of the community should inherit gout1 scrofula1 insanity1 and other maladies8 ,and are there no miseries under which1 in fact1 the poor alone are suffering8 ,mr4 ,sadler himself acknowledges1 in this very paragraph1 that there are such2 but he tells us that these calamities are the effects of misgovernment1 and that this misgovernment is the effect of political economy4 ,be it so4 ,but does he not see that he is only removing the difficulty one step farther8 ,why does ,providence suffer men1 whose minds are filled with false and pernicious notions1 to have power in the state8 ,for good ends1 we doubt not1 if the fact be so2 but for ends inscrutable to us1 who see only a small part of the vast scheme1 and who see that small part only for a short period4 ,does ,mr4 ,sadler doubt that the ,supreme ,being has power as absolute #bghover the revolutions of political as over the organisation of natural bodies8 ,surely not3 and1 if not1 we do not see that he vindicates the ways of ,providence by attributing the distresses1 which the poor1 as he confesses1 endure1 to an error in legislation rather than to a law of physiology4 ,turn the question as we may1 disguise it as we may1 we shall find that it at last resolves itself into the same great enigma1--the origin of physical and moral evil3 an enigma which the highest human intellects have given up in despair1 but which ,mr4 ,sadler thinks himself perfectly able to solve4 ,he next accuses us of having paused long on verbal criticism4 ,we certainly did object to his improper use of the words1 8inverse variation40 ,mr4 ,sadler complains of this with his usual bitterness4 8,now what is the ,reviewer's quarrel with me on this occasion8 ,that he does not understand the meaning of my terms8 ,no4 ,he acknowledges the contrary4 ,that ,i have not fully explained the sense in which ,i lave used them8 ,no4 ,an explanation1 he knows1 is immediately subjoined1 though he has carefully suppressed it4 ,that ,i have varied the sense in which ,i have applied them8 ,no4 ,i challenge him to show it4 ,but he nevertheless goes on for many pages together in arguing against what he knows1 and1 in fact1 acknowledges1 ,i did not mean2 and then turns round and argues again1 though much more feebly1 indeed1 against what he says ,i did mean6 ,now1 even had ,i been in error as to the use of a word1 ,i appeal to the reader whether such an unworthy and disingenuous course would not1 if generally pursued1 make controversy on all subjects1 however important1 that into which1 in such hands1 it always degenerates--a dispute about words40 ,the best way to avoid controversies about words is to use words in their proper senses4 ,mr4 ,sadler may think our objection captious2 but how he can think it disingenuous we do not well understand4 ,if we had #bgirepresented him as meaning what we knew that he did not mean1 we should have acted in a disgraceful manner4 ,but we did not represent him1 and he allows that we did not represent him1 as meaning what he did not mean4 ,we blamed him1 and with perfect justice and propriety1 for saying what he did not mean4 ,every man has in one sense a right to define his own terms2 that is to say1 if he chooses to call one two1 and two seven1 it would be absurd to charge him with false arithmetic for saying that seven is the double of one4 ,but it would be perfectly fair to blame him for changing the established sense of words4 ,the words1 8inverse variation10 in matters not purely scientific1 have often been used in the loose way in which ,mr4 ,sadler has used them4 ,but we shall be surprised if he can find a single instance of their having been so used in a matter of pure arithmetic4 ,we will illustrate our meaning thus4 ,lord ,thur-low1 in one of his speeches about ,indian affairs1 said that one ,hastings was worth twenty ,macartneys4 ,he might1 with equal propriety1 have said ten ,macartneys1 or a hundred ,macartneys4 ,nor would there have been the least inconsistency in his using all the three expressions in one speech4 ,but would this be an excuse for a financier who1 in a matter of account1 should reason as if ten1 twenty1 and a hundred were the same number8 ,mr4 ,sadler tells us that he purposely avoided the use of the word proportion in stating his principle4 ,he seems1 therefore1 to allow that the word proportion would have been improper4 ,yet he did in fact employ it in explaining his principle1 accompanied with an awkward explanation intended to signify that1 though he said proportion1 he meant something quite different #bhj;from proportion4 ,we should not have said so much on this subject1 either in our former article1 or at present1 but that there is in all ,mr4 ,sadler's writings an air of scientific pedantry1 which renders his errors fair game4 ,we will now let the matter rest2 and1 instead of assailing ,mr4 ,sadler with our verbal criticism1 proceed to defend ourselves against his literal criticism4 8,the ,reviewer promised his readers that some curious results should follow from his shuffling4 ,we will enable him to keep his word4 8#8,in two ,english counties1' says he1 #8which contain from #ej to #ajj inhabitants on the square mile1 the births to #ajj marriages are1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler1 #dbj2 but in #dd departments of ,france1 in which there are from one to two hecatares hectares to each inhabitant1 that is to say1 in which the population is from #abe to #bej1 or rather more1 to the square mile1 the number of births to one hundred marriages is #dbc and a fraction4' 8,the first curious result is1 that our ,reviewer is ignorant1 not only of the name1 but of the extent1 of a ,french hectare2 otherwise he is guilty of a practice which1 even if transferred to the gambling-table1 would1 ,i presume1 prevent him from being allowed ever to shuffle1 even there1 again4 ,he was most ready to pronounce upon a mistake of one per cent1 in a calculation of mine1 the difference in no wise affecting the argument in hand2 but here ,i must inform him1 that his error1 whether wilfully or ignorantly put forth1 involves his entire argument4 8,the ,french hectare ,i had calculated to contain #ajggjh #fg_/ajj ,english square feet1 or #bdgbfe acres2 ,dr4 ,kelly takes it1 on authority which he gives1 at #ajgfdd ,english square feet4 ,the last ,french ,annuaires1 however1 state it1 ,i perceive1 as being equal to #bdgciad acres4 ,the difference is very trifling1 and will not in the slightest degree cover our critic's error4 ,when1 therefore1 the ,reviewer calculates the population of the departments of ,france thus3 #8from one to two hectares to each inhabitant1 that is to say1 in which the population is from #abe to #bej1 or rather more1 to the square mile2 his #8that #bha;is to say' is that which he ought not to have said--no rare case with him1 as we shall show throughout40 ,we must inform ,mr4 ,sadler1 in the first place1 that we inserted the vowel which amuses him so much1 not from ignorance or from carelessness1 but advisedly1 and in conformity with the practice of several respectable writers4 ,he will find the word hecatare in ,rees's ,cyclopaedia4 ,he will find it also in ,dr4 ,young4 ,we prefer the form which we have employed1 because it is etymologically correct4 ,mr4 ,sadler seems not to know that a hecatare is so called1 because it contains a hundred acres4 ,we were perfectly acquainted with the extent as well as with the name of a hecatare4 ,is it at all strange that we should use the words 8#bej1 or rather more10 in speaking of #beh and a fraction8 ,do not people constantly employ round numbers with still greater looseness1 in translating foreign distances and foreign money8 ,if indeed1 as ,mr4 ,sadler says1 the difference which he chooses to call an error involved the entire argument1 or any part of the argument1 we should have been guilty of gross unfairness4 ,but it is not so4 ,the difference between #beh and #bej1 as even ,mr4 ,sadler would see if he were not blind with fury1 was a difference to his advantage4 ,our point was this4 ,the fecundity of a dense population in certain departments of ,france is greater than that of a thinly scattered population in certain counties of ,england4 ,the more dense1 therefore1 the population in those departments of ,france1 the stronger was our case4 ,by putting #bej1 instead of #beh1 we understated our case4 ,mr4 ,sadler's correction of our orthography leads us to suspect that he knows very little of ,greek2 and his #bhb;correction of our calculation quite satisfies us that he knows very little of logic4 ,but1 to come to the gist of the controversy4 ,our argument1 drawn from ,mr4 ,sadler's own ,tables1 remains absolutely untouched4 ,he makes excuses indeed2 for an excuse is the last thing that ,mr4 ,sadler will ever want4 ,there is something half laughable and half provoking in the facility with which he asserts and retracts1 says and unsays1 exactly as suits his argument4 ,sometimes the register of baptisms is imperfect1 and sometimes the register of burials4 ,then again these registers become all at once exact almost to an unit4 ,he brings forward a census of ,prussia in proof of his theory4 ,we show that it directly confutes his theory2 and it forthwith becomes 8notoriously and grossly defective40 ,the census of the ,netherlands is not to be easily dealt with2 and the census of the ,netherlands is therefore pronounced inaccurate4 ,in his book on the ,law of ,population1 he tells us that 8in the slave-holding ,states of ,america1 the male slaves constitute a decided majority of that unfortunate class40 ,this fact1 we turned against him2 and1 forgetting that he had himself stated it1 he tells that 8it is as erroneous as many other ideas which we entertain10 and that 8he will venture to assert that the female slaves were1 at the nubile age1 as numerous as the males40 ,the increase of the negroes in the ,united ,states puzzles him2 and he creates a vast slave trade to solve it4 ,he confounds together things perfectly different2 the slave-trade carried on under the ,american flag1 and the slave-trade carried on for the supply of the ,american soil1--the slave-trade with ,africa1 and the internal slave-trade between the different ,states4 ,he exaggerates a few occasional acts of smuggling into #bhc;an immense and regular importation1 and makes his escape as well as he can under cover of this hubbub of words4 ,documents are authentic and facts true precisely in proportion to the support which they afford to his theory4 ,this is one way1 undoubtedly1 of making books3 but we question much whether it be the way to make discoveries4 ,as to the inconsistencies which we pointed out between his theory and his own tables1 he finds no difficulty in explaining them away or facing them out4 ,in one case there would have been no contradiction if1 instead of taking one of his tables1 we had multiplied the number of three tables together1 and taken the average4 ,another would never have existed if there had not been a great migration of people into ,lancashire4 ,another is not to be got over by any device4 ,but then it is very small1 and of no consequence to the argument4 ,here1 indeed1 he is perhaps right4 ,the inconsistencies which we noticed were1 in themselves1 of little moment4 ,we gave them as samples1--as mere hints1 to caution those of our readers who might also happen to be readers of ,mil ,sadler against being deceived by his packing4 ,he complains of the word packing4 ,we repeat it2 and1 since he has defied us to the proof1 we will go fully into the question which1 in our last article1 we only glanced at1 and prove1 in such a manner as shall not leave even to ,mr4 ,sadler any shadow of excuse1 that his theory owes its speciousness to packing1 and to packing alone4 ,that our readers may fully understand our reasoning1 we will again state what ,mr4 ,sadler's proportion is4 ,he asserts that1 on a given space1 the number of children to a marriage becomes less and #bhdless as the population becomes more and more numerous4 ,we will begin with the censuses of ,france given by ,mr4 ,sadler4 ,by joining the departments together in combinations which suit his purpose1 he has contrived to produce three tables1 which he presents as decisive proofs of his theory4 ,the first is as follows3-- 8,the legitimate births are1 in those departments where there are to each inhabitant-- ,illustration3 #jbij ,these tables1 as we said in our former article1 certainly look well for ,mr4 ,sadler's theory4 8,do they80 says he4 8,assuredly they do2 and in admitting this1 the ,reviewer has admitted the theory to be proved40 ,we cannot absolutely agree to this4 ,a theory is not proved1 we must tell ,mr4 ,sadler1 merely because the #bhe;evidence in its favour looks well at first sight4 ,there is an old proverb1 very homely in expression1 but well deserving to be had in constant remembrance by all men1 engaged either in action or in speculation--8,one story is good till another is told60 ,we affirm1 then1 that the results which these tables present1 and which seem so favourable to ,mr4 ,sadler's theory1 are produced by packing1 and by packing alone4 ,in the first place1 if we look at the departments singly1 the whole is in disorder4 ,about the department in which ,paris is situated there is no dispute3 ,mr4 ,malthas distinctly admits that great cities prevent propagation4 ,there remain eighty-four departments2 and of these there is not1 we believe1 a single one in the place which1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler's principle1 it ought to occupy4 ,that which ought to be highest in fecundity is tenth in one table1 fourteenth in another1 and only thirty-first according to the third4 ,that which ought to be third is twenty-second by the table1 which places it highest4 ,that which ought to be fourth is fortieth by the table1 which places it highest4 ,that which ought to be eighth is fiftieth or sixtieth4 ,that which ought to be tenth from the top is at about the same distance from the bottom4 ,on the other hand1 that which1 according to ,mr4 ,sadler's principle1 ought to be last but two of all the eighty-four is third in two of the tables1 and seventh in that which places it lowest2 and that which ought to be last is1 in one of ,mr4 ,sadler's tables1 above that which ought to be first1 in two of them1 above that which ought to be third1 and1 in all of them1 above that which ought to be fourth4 ,by dividing the departments in a particular manner1 #bhf,mr4 ,sadler has produced results which he contemplates with great satisfaction4 ,but1 if we draw the lines a little higher up or a little lower down1 we shall find that all his calculations are thrown into utter confusion2 and that the phenomena1 if they indicate any thing1 indicate a law the very reverse of that which he has propounded4 ,let us take1 for example1 the thirty-two departments1 as they stand in ,mr4 ,sadler's table1 from ,lozre to ,meuse inclusive1 and divide them into two sets of sixteen departments each4 ,the set from ,lozre and ,loiret inclusive consists of those departments in which the space to each inhabitant is from #c4h hecatares to #b4db4 ,the set from ,cantal to ,meuse inclusive consists of those departments in which the space to each inhabitant is from #b4db hecatares to #b4jg4 ,that is to say1 in the former set the inhabitants are from #fh to #ajg on the square mile1 or thereabouts4 ,in the latter they are from #ajg to #abe4 ,therefore1 on ,mr4 ,sadler's principle1 the fecundity ought to be smaller in the latter set than in the former4 ,it is1 however1 greater1 and that in every one of ,mr4 ,sadler's three tables4 ,let us now go a little lower down1 and take another set of sixteen departments--those which lie together in ,mr4 ,sadler's tables1 from ,hrault to ,jura inclusive4 ,here the population is still thicker than in the second of those sets which we before compared4 ,the fecundity1 therefore1 ought1 on ,mr4 ,sadler's principle1 to be less than in that set4 ,but it is again greater1 and that in all ,mr4 ,sadler's three tables4 ,we have a regularly ascending series1 where1 if his theory had any truth in it1 we ought to have a regularly descending series4 ,we will give the results of our calculation4 ,the number of children to #ajjj marriages is-- ,illustration3 #jbic ,first ,table4 ,second ,table4 ,third ,table4 ,in the sixteen departments where there are from #fh to #ajg people on a square mile #dahh #dbbf #cghj ,in the sixteen departments where there are from #ajg to #abe people on a square mile #dcgd #dccb #chee ,in the sixteen departments where there are from #acd to #abe people on a square mile #ddhd #ddaf #ciad #bhg,we will give another instance1 if possible still more decisive4 ,we will take the three departments of ,france which ought1 on ,mr4 ,sadler's principle1 to be the lowest in fecundity of all the eighty-five1 saving only that in which ,paris stands2 and we will compare them with the three departments in which the fecundity ought1 according to him1 to be greater than in any other department of ,france1 two only excepted4 ,we will compare ,bas ,rhin1 ,rhone1 and ,nord1 with ,lozre1 ,landes1 and ,indre4 ,in ,lozre1 ,landes1 and ,indre1 the population is from #fh to #hd on the square mile1 or nearly so4 ,in ,bas ,rhin1 ,rhone1 and ,nord1 it is from #cjj to #dag on the square mile4 ,there cannot be a more overwhelming answer to ,mr4 ,sadler's theory than the table which we subjoin3 ,the number of births to #ajjj marriages is-- ,take the whole of the third1 fourth1 and fifth divisions into which ,mr4 ,sadler has portioned out the ,french departments4 ,these three divisions make up almost the whole kingdom of ,france4 ,they contain seventy-nine out of the eighty-five departments4 ,mr4 ,sadler has contrived to divide them in such a manner that1 to a person who looks merely at his averages1 the fecundity seems to diminish as the population thickens4 ,we will separate them into two parts instead of three4 ,we will draw the line between the department of ,gironde and that of ,hrault4 ,on the one side are the thirty-two departments from ,cher to ,gironde inclusive4 ,on the other side are the forty-six departments from ,hrault to ,nord inclusive4 ,in all the departments of the former set1 the population is under #acb on the square mile4 ,in all the departments of the latter set1 it is above #acb on the square mile4 ,it is clear that1 if there be one word of truth in ,,mv4 ,sadler's theory1 the fecundity in the latter of these divisions must be very decidedly smaller than in the former4 ,is it so8 ,it is1 on the contrary1 greater in all the three tables4 ,we give the result4 ,the number of births to #ajjj marriages is-- ,illustration3 #jbid ,in the thirty-two departments in whieh there are from #hf to #ac4b people on the square mile #dbaj #daii #cgfj ,in the forty-seven departments in whieh there are from #acb to #da4g people on the square mile4444 ,this fact is alone enough to decide the question4 ,yet it is only one of a crowd of similar facts4 ,if the #bhiline between ,mr4 ,sadler's second and third divisions be drawn six departments lower down1 the third and fourth divisions will1 in all the tables1 be above the second4 ,if the line between the third and fourth divisions he drawn two departments lower down1 the fourth division will be above the third in all the tables4 ,if the line between the fourth and fifth divisions be drawn two departments lower down1 the fifth will1 in all the tables1 be above the fourth1 above the third1 and even above the second4 ,how then has ,mr4 ,sadler obtained his results8 ,by packing solely4 ,by placing in one compartment a district no larger than the ,isle of ,wight2 in another1 a district somewhat less than ,yorkshire2 in a third1 a territory much larger than the island of ,great ,britain4 ,by the same artifice it is that he has obtained from the census of ,england those delusive averages which he brings forward with the utmost ostentation in proof of his principle4 ,we will examine the facts relating to ,england1 as we have examined those relating to ,f rance4 ,if we look at the counties one by one1 ,mr4 ,sadler's principle utterly fails4 ,hertfordshire with #bea on the square mile2 ,worcestershire with #beh2 and ,kent with #bhb1 exhibit a far greater fecundity than the ,east-,riding of ,york1 which has #aea on the square mile2 ,monmouthshire1 which has #ade2 or ,northumberland1 which has #ajh4 ,the fecundity of ,staffordshire1 which has more than #cjj on the square mile1 is as high as the average fecundity of the counties which have from #aej to #bjj on the square mile4 ,but1 instead of confining ourselves to particular instances1 we will try masses4 ,take the eight counties of ,england which stand together in #bij,mr4 ,sadler's list1 from ,cumberland to ,dorset inclusive4 ,in these the population is from #ajg to #aej on the square mile4 ,compare with these the eight counties from ,berks to ,durham inclusive1 in which the population is from #age to #bjj on the square mile4 ,is the fecundity in the latter counties smaller than in the former8 ,on the contrary1 the result stands thus3 ,the number of children to #ajj marriages is-- ,in the eight counties of ,england1 in which there are from #ajg to #adf people on the square mile #chh ,in the eight counties of ,england1 in which there are from #age to #bjj people on the square mile #djb ,take the six districts from the ,east-,riding of ,york to the ,county of ,norfolk inclusive4 ,here the population is from #aej to #agj on the square mile4 ,to these oppose the six counties from ,derby to ,worcester inclusive4 ,the population is from #bjj to #bfj4 ,here again we find that a law1 directly the reverse of that which ,mr4 ,sadler has laid down1 appears to regulate the fecundity of the inhabitants4 ,the number of children to #ajj marriages is-- ,in the six counties in which there are from #aej to #agj people on the square mile4 4 4 #cib ,in the six counties in which there are from #bjj to #bfj people on the square mile4 4 4 #cii ,but we will make another experiment on ,mr4 ,sadler's tables1 if possible more decisive than any of those which we have hitherto made4 ,we will take the four largest divisions into which he has distributed the ,english counties1 and which follow each other in regular order4 ,that our readers may fully comprehend the nature of that packing by which his theory is supported1 we will set before them this part of his table4 ,illustration3 #jbig ,the number of children to #ajj marriages is-- ,in the seventeen counties of ,england in which there are from #ajj to #agg people on the square mile444444 #chg ,in the seventeen counties in which there are from #agg to #bhb people on the square mile4 #chi ,the difference is small1 but not smaller than differences which ,mr4 ,sadler has brought forward as proofs of his theory4 ,we say1 that these ,english tables no more prove that fecundity increases with the population than that it diminishes with the population4 ,the thirty-four counties which we have taken make up1 at least1 four-fifths of the kingdom3 and we see that1 through those thirty-four counties1 the phenomena are directly opposed to ,mr4 ,sadler's principle4 ,that in the capital1 and in great manufacturing towns1 marriages are less prolific than in the open country1 we admit1 and ,mr4 ,malthus admits4 ,but that any condensation of the population1 short of that which injures all physical energies1 will diminish the prolific powers of man1 is1 from these very tables of ,mr4 ,sadler1 completely disproved4 ,it is scarcely worth while to proceed with instances1 after proofs so overwhelming as those which we have given4 ,yet we will show that ,mr4 ,sadler has formed his averages on the census of ,prussia by an artifice exactly similar to that which we have already exposed4 ,illustration3 #jbih ,the number of births to a marriage is-- ,illustration3 #jbii ,we will go no farther with this examination4 ,in fact1 we have nothing more to examine4 ,the tables which we have scrutinised constitute the whole strength of ,mr4 ,sadler's case2 and we confidently leave it to our readers to say1 whether we have not shown that the strength of his case is weakness4 ,be it remembered too that we are reasoning on data furnished by ,mr4 ,sadler himself4 ,we have not made collections of facts to set against his1 as we easily might have done4 ,it is on his own showing1 it is out of his own mouth1 that his theory stands condemned4 ,that packing which we have exposed is not the only sort of packing which ,mr4 ,sadler has practised4 ,we mentioned in our review some facts relating to the towns of ,england1 which appear from ,mr4 ,sadler's tables1 and which it seems impossible to explain if his principles be sound4 ,the average fecundity of a marriage in towns of fewer than #cjjj inhabitants is greater than the average fecundity of the kingdom4 ,the average fecundity in towns of from #djjj to #ejjj inhabitants is greater than the average fecundity of ,warwickshire1 ,lancashire1 or ,surrey4 ,how is it1 we asked1 #bie;if ,mr4 ,sadler's principle be correct1 that the fecundity of ,guildford should be greater than the average fecundity of the county in which it stands8 ,mr4 ,sadler1 in reply1 talks about 8the absurdity of comparing the fecundity in the small towns alluded to with that ,in the counties of ,warwick and ,stafford1 or those of ,lancaster and ,surrey40 ,he proceeds thus-- 8,in ,warwickshire1 far above half the population is comprised in large towns1 including1 of course1 the immense metropolis of one great branch of oui' manufactures1 ,birmingham4 ,in the county of ,stafford1 besides the large and populous towns in its iron districts1 situated so close together as almost to form1 for considerable distances1 a continuous street2 there is1 in its potteries1 a great population1 recently accumulated1 not included1 indeed1 in the towns distinctly enumerated in the censuses1 but vastly exceeding in its condensation that found in the places to which the ,reviewer alludes4 ,in ,lancashire again1 to which he also appeals1 one-fourth of the entire population is made up of the inhabitants of two only of the towns of that county2 far above half of it is contained in towns1 compared with which those he refers to are villages2 even the hamlets of the manufacturing parts of ,lancashire are often far more populous than the places he mentions4 ,but he presents us with a climax of absurdity in appealing lastly to the population of ,surrey as quite rural compared with that of the twelve towns1 having less than #ejjj inhabitants in their respective jurisdictions1 such as ,saffron-,walden1 ,monmouth1 c4 ,now1 in the last census1 ,surrey numbered #cih1feh inhabitants1 and1 to say not a word about the other towns of the county1 much above two hundred thousands of these are within the ,bills of mortality6 #8,we should1 therefore1 be glad to know' how it is utterly inconsistent with my principle that the fecundity of ,guildford1 which numbers about #cjjj inhabitants1 should be greater than the average fecundity of ,surrey1 made up1 as the bulk of the population of ,surrey is1 of the inhabitants of some of the worst parts of the metropolis8 ,or why the fecundity of a given number of marriages in the eleven little rural towns he alludes to1 being somewhat higher than that of an equal number1 half taken for instance1 from the heart of ,birmingham or ,manchester1 and half from the populous districts by which they are surrounded1 is inconsistent with my theory80 #bif0;,had the ,reviewer's object1 in this instance1 been to discover the truth1 or had he known how to pursue it1 it is perfectly clear1 at first sight1 that he would not have instituted a comparison between the prolificness which exists in the small towns he has alluded to1 and that in certain districts1 the population of which is made up1 partly of rural inhabitants and partly of accumulations of people in immense masses1 the prolificness of which1 if he will allow me still the use of the phrase1 is inversely as their magnitude2 but he would have compared these small towns with the country places properly so called1 and then again the different classes of towns with each other2 this method would have led hint to certain conclusions on the subject40 ,now1 this reply shows that ,mr4 ,sadler does not in the least understand the principle which he has himself laid down4 ,what is that principle8 ,it is this1 that the fecundity of human beings on given spaces1 varies inversely as their numbers4 ,we know what he means by inverse variation4 ,but we must suppose that he uses the words1 8given spaces0 in the proper sense4 ,given spaces are equal spaces4 ,is there any reason to believe1 that in those parts of ,surrey which lie within the bills of mortality there is any space1 equal in area to the space on which ,guildford stands1 which is more thickly peopled than the space on which ,guildford stands8 ,we do not know that there is any such4 ,we are sure that there are not many4 ,why1 therefore1 on ,mr4 ,sadler's principle1 should the people of ,guildford be more prolific than the people who live within the bills of mortality8 ,and1 if the people of ,guildford ought1 as on ,mr4 ,sadler's principle they unquestionably ought1 to stand as low in the scale of fecundity as the people of ,southwark itself1 it follows1 most clearly1 that they ought to stand far lower than the average obtained by taking all the people of ,surrey together4 ,the same remark applies to the case of ,birmingham1 #big;and to all the other eases which ,mr4 ,sadler mentions4 8,towns of #ejjj inhabitants may be1 and often are1 as thickly peopled1 on a given space10 as ,birmingham4 ,they are1 in other words1 as thickly peopled as a portion of ,birmingham1 equal to them in area4 ,if so1 on ,mr4 ,sadler's principle1 they ought to be as low in the scale of fecundity as ,birmingham4 ,but they are not so4 ,on the contrary1 they stand higher than the average obtained by taking the fecundity of ,birmingham in combination with the fecundity of the rural districts of ,warwickshire4 ,the plain fact is1 that ,mr4 ,sadler has confounded the population of a city with its population 8on a given space10--a mistake which1 in a gentleman who assures us that mathematical science was one of his early and favourite studies1 is somewhat curious4 ,it is as absurd1 on his principle1 to say that the fecundity of ,london ought to be less than the fecundity of ,edinburgh1 because ,london has a greater population than ,edinburgh1 as to say that the fecundity of ,russia ought to be greater than that of ,england1 because ,russia has a greater population than ,england4 ,he cannot say that the spaces on which towns stand are too small to exemplify the truth of his principle4 ,for he has himself brought forward the scale of fecundity in towns1 as a proof of his principle4 ,and1 in the very passage which we quoted above1 he tells us that1 if we knew how to pursue truth1 or wished to find it1 we 8should have compared these small towns with country places1 and the different classes of towns with each other40 ,that is to say1 we ought to compare together such unequal spaces as give results favourable to his theory1 and never to compare such equal spaces as give results opposed to it4 ,does he mean #bih;any thing by 8a given space80 ,or does he mean merely such a space as suits his argument8 ,it is perfectly clear that1 if he is allowed to take this course1 he may prove any thing4 ,no fact can come amiss to him4 ,suppose1 for example1 that the fecundity of ,new ,york should prove to be smaller than the fecundity of ,liverpool4 8,that10 says ,mr4 ,sadler1 8makes for my theory4 ,for there are more people within two miles of the ,broadway of ,new ,york1 than within two miles of the ,exchange of ,liverpool40 ,suppose1 on the other hand1 that the fecundity of ,new ,york should be greater than the fecundity of ,liverpool4 8,this10 says ,mr4 ,sadler again1 8is an unanswerable proof of my theory4 ,for there are many more people within forty miles of ,liverpool than within forty miles of ,new ,york40 ,in order to obtain his numbers1 he takes spaces in any combinations which may suit him4 ,in order to obtain his averages1 he takes numbers in any combinations which may suit him4 ,and then he tells us that1 because his tables1 at the first1 glance1 look well for his theory1 his theory is irrefragably proved4 ,we will add a few words respecting the argument which we drew from the peerage4 ,mr4 ,sadler asserted that the ,peers were a class condemned by nature to sterility4 ,we denied this1 and showed1 from the last edition of ,debrett1 that the ,peers of the ,united ,kingdom have considerably more than the average number of children to a marriage4 ,mr4 ,sadler's answer has amused us much4 ,he denies the accuracy of our counting1 and1 by reckoning all the ,scotch and ,irish ,peers as ,peers of the ,united ,kingdom1 certainly makes very different numbers from those which we gave4 ,a member of the ,parliament of the ,united ,kingdom might have been expected1 we think1 to #biiknow ,letter what a ,peer of the ,united ,kingdom is4 ,by taking the ,scotch and ,irish ,peers1 ,mr4 ,sadler has altered the average4 ,but it is considerably higher than the average fecundity of ,england1 and still1 therefore1 constitutes an unanswerable argument against his theory4 ,the shifts to which1 in this difficulty1 he has recourse1 are exceedingly diverting4 8,the average fecundity of the marriages of ,peers10 said we1 8is higher by one-fifth than the average fecundity of marriages throughout the kingdom40 8,where1 or by whom did the ,reviewer find it supposed10 answers ,mr4 ,sadler1 8that the registered baptisms expressed the full fecundity of the marriages of ,england80 ,assuredly1 if the registers of ,england are so defective as to explain the difference which1 on our calculation1 exists between the fecundity of the peers and the fecundity of the people1 no argument against ,mr4 ,sadler's theory can be drawn from that difference4 ,but what becomes of all the other arguments which ,mr4 ,sadler has founded on these very registers8 ,above all1 what becomes of his comparison between the censuses of ,england and ,france8 ,in the pamphlet before us1 he dwells with great complacency on a coincidence which seems to him to support his theory1 and which to us seems1 of itself1 sufficient to overthrow it4 8,in my table of the population of ,france1 in the forty-four departments in which there1 are from one to two hectares to each inhabitant1 the fecundity of #ajj marriages1 calculated on the average of the results of the three computations relating to different periods given in my table1 is #djf4g4 ,in the twenty-two counties of ,england1 in which there is from one to two hectares to each inhabitant1 or #cjj;from #abi to #bei on the square mile1--beginning1 therefore1 with ,huntingdonshire1 and ending with ,worcestershire1--the whole number of marriages during ten years will be found to amount to #cgi1jbd1 and the whole number of the births during the same term to #a1ede1edi--or #djg births to #ajj marriages6 ,a difference of one in one thousand only1 compared with the ,french proportion60 ,does not ,mr4 ,sadler see that1 if the registers of ,england1 which are notoriously very defective1 give a result exactly corresponding almost to an unit with that obtained from the registers of ,france1 which are notoriously very full and accurate1 this proves the very reverse of what he employs it to prove8 ,the correspondence of the registers proves that there is no correspondence in the facts4 ,in order to l'aise the average fecundity of ,england even to the level of the average fecundity of the peers of the three kingdoms1 which is #c4ha to a marriage1 it is necessary to add nearly six per cent1 to the number of births given in the ,english registers4 ,but1 if this addition be made1 we shall have1 in the counties of ,england1 from ,huntingdonshire to ,worcestershire inclusive1 #d4cj births to a marriage or thereabouts2 and the boasted coincidence between the phenomena of propagation in ,france and ,england disappears at once4 ,this is a curious specimen of ,mr4 ,sadler's proficiency in the art of making excuses4 ,in the same pamphlet he reasons as if the same registers were accurate to one in a thousand1 and as if they were wrong at the very least by one in eighteen4 ,he tries to show that we have not taken a fair criterion of the fecundity of the peers4 ,we are not quite sure that we understand his reasoning on this subject4 ,the order of his observations is more than usually confused1 and the cloud of words moi-e than usually #cjathick4 ,we will give the argument on which he seems to lay most stress in his own words3 8,but ,i shall first notice a far more obvious and important ,linn der into which the ,reviewer has fallen2 or into which1 ,i rather fear1 he knowingly wishes to precipitate his readers1 since ,i have distinctly pointed ont what ought to have preserved him from it in the very chapter he is criticising and contradicting ,it is this3--he has entirely omitted 8counting0 the sterile marriages of all those peerages which have become extinct during the very period his counting embraces he counts1 for instance1 ,bar4 ,fitzwilliam1 his marriages1 and heir2 but has he not omitted to enumerate the marriages of those branches of the same noble house1 which have become extinct since that venerable individual possessed his title8 ,he talks of my having appealed merely to the extinction of peerages in my argument2 but1 on his plan of computation1 extinctions are perpetually and wholly lost sight of4 ,in computing the average6 prolificness of the marriages of the nobles1 he positively counts from a select class of them only1 one from which the unprolific are constantly weeded1 and regularly disappear2 and he thus comes to the conclusion1 that the peers are #8an eminently prolific class6' ,just as though a farmer should compute the rate of increase1 not from the quantity of seed sown1 but from that part of it only which comes to perfection1 entirely omitting all which had failed to spring up or come to maturity4 ,upon this principle the most scanty crop ever obtained1 in which the husbandman should fail to receive #8seed again1' as the phrase is1 might be so #8counted as to appear #8eminently prolific' indeed40 ,if we understand this passage rightly1 it decisively proves that ,mr4 ,sadler is incompetent to perform even the lowest offices of statistical research4 ,what shadow of reason is there to believe that the peers who were alive in the year #ahbh differed as to their prolificness from any other equally numerous set of peers taken at random8 ,in what sense were the peers who were alive in #ahbh analogous to that part of the seed which comes to perfection8 ,did we entirely omit all that failed8 ,on the contrary1 we counted the sterile as #cjbwell as the fruitful marriages of all the peers of the ,united ,kingdom living at one time4 ,in what way were the peers who were alive in #ahbh a select class8 ,in what way were the sterile weeded from among them8 ,did every peer who had been married without having issue die in #ahbg8 ,what shadow of reason is there to suppose that there was not the ordinary proportion of barren marriages among the marriages contracted by the noblemen whose names are in ,debrett's last edition8 ,but we ought1 says ,mr4 ,sadler1 to have counted all the sterile marriages of all the peers 8whose titles had become extinct during the period which our counting embraced20 that is to say1 since the earliest marriage contracted by any peer living in #ahbh4 ,was such a proposition ever heard of before8 ,surely we were bound to do no such thing1 unless at the same time we had counted also the children born from all the fruitful marriages contracted by peers during the same period4 ,mr4 ,sadler would have us divide the number of children born to peers living in #ahbh1 not by the number of marriages which those peers contracted1 but by the number of marriages which those peers contracted added to a crowd of marriages selected1 on account of their sterility1 from among the noble marriages which have taken place during the last fifty years4 ,is this the way to obtain fair averages8 ,we might as well require that all the noble marriages which during the last fifty years have produced ten children apiece should be added to those of the peers living in #ahbh4 ,the proper way to ascertain whether a set of people be prolific or sterile is1 not to take marriages selected from the mass either on account of their fruitfulness or on account of their sterility1 but to take a collection of marriages which #cjcthere is no reason to think either more or less fruitful than others4 ,what reason is there to think that the marriages contracted by the peers who were alive in #ahbh were more fruitful than those contracted by the peers who were alive in #ahjj or in #agjj8 ,we will add another passage from ,mr4 ,sadler's pamphlet on this subject4 ,we attributed the extinction of peerages partly to the fact that those honours are for the most part limited to heirs male4 8,this is a discovery indeed6' ,peeresses1 #8eminently prolific1 do not1 as ,macbeth conjured his spouse1 #8bring forth men-children only2' they actually produce daughters as well as sons66 ,why1 does not the ,reviewer see1 that so long as the rule of nature1 which proportions the sexes so accurately to each other1 continues to exist1 a tendency to a diminution in one sex proves1 as certainly as the demonstration of any mathematical problem1 a tendency to a diminution in both2 but to talk of #8eminently prolific' peeresses1 and still maintain that the rapid extinction in peerages is owing to their not bearing male children exclusively1 is arrant nonsense40 ,now1 if there be any proposition on the face of the earth which we should not have expected to hear characterised as arrant nonsense1 it is this1--that an honour limited to males alone is more likely to become extinct than an honour which1 like the crown of ,england1 descends indifferently to sons and daughters4 ,we have heard1 nay1 we actually know families1 in which1 much as ,mr4 ,sadler may marvel at it1 there are daughters and no sons4 ,nay1 we know many such families4 ,we are as much inclined as ,mr4 ,sadler to trace the benevolent and wise arrangements of ,providence in the physical world1 when once we are satisfied as to the facts on which we proceed4 ,and we have always considered it as an arrangement deserving of the highest #cjd;admiration1 that1 though in families the number of males and females differs widely1 yet in great collections of human beings the disparity almost disappears4 ,the chance undoubtedly is1 that in a thousand marriages the number of daughters will not very much exceed the number of sons4 ,but the chance also is1 that several of those marriages will produce daughters1 and daughters only4 ,in every generation of the peerage there are several such cases4 ,when a peer whose title is limited to male heirs dies1 leaving only daughters1 his peerage must expire1 unless he have1 not only a collateral heir1 but a collateral heir descended through an uninterrupted line of males from the first possessor of the honour4 ,if the deceased peer was the first nobleman of his family1 then1 by the supposition1 his peerage will become extinct4 ,if he was the second1 it will become extinct1 unless he leaves a brother or a brother's son4 ,if the second peer had a brother1 the first peer must have had at least two sons2 and this is more than the average number of sons to a marriage in ,england4 ,when1 therefore1 it is considered how many peerages are in the first and second generation1 it will not appear strange that extinctions should frequently take place4 ,there are peerages which descend to females as well as males4 ,but1 in such cases1 if a peer dies1 leaving only daughters1 the very fecundity of the marriage is a cause of the extinction of the peerage4 ,if there were only one daughter1 the honour would descend4 ,if there are several1 it falls into abeyance4 ,but it is needless to multiply words in a case so clear2 and indeed it is needless to say anything more about ,mr4 ,sadler's book4 ,we have1 if we do not deceive ourselves1 completely exposed the calculations on #cjewhich his theory rests2 and we do not think that we should either amuse our readers or serve the cause of science if we were to rebut in succession a series of futile charges brought in the most angry spirit against ourselves2 ignorant imputations of ignorance1 and unfair complaints of unfairness1--conveyed in long1 dreary1 declamations1 so prolix that we cannot find space to quote them1 and so confused that we cannot venture to abridge them4 ,there is much indeed in this foolish pamphlet to laugh at1 from the motto in the first page down to some wisdom about cows in the last4 ,one part of it indeed is solemn enough1 we mean a certain jeu d'esprit of ,mr4 ,sadler's touching a tract of ,dr4 ,arbuthnot's4 ,this is indeed 8very tragical mirth10 as ,peter ,quince's playbill has it2 and we would not advise any person who reads for amusement to venture on it as long as he can procure a volume of the ,statutes at ,large4 ,this1 however1 to do ,mr4 ,sadler justice1 is an exception4 ,his witticisms1 and his tables of figures1 constitute the only parts of his work which can be perused with perfect gravity4 ,his blunders are diverting1 his excuses exquisitely comic4 ,but his anger is the most grotesque exhibition that we ever saw4 ,he foams at the mouth with the love of truth1 and vindicates the ,divine benevolence with a most edifying heartiness of hatred4 ,on this subject we will give him one word of parting advice4 ,if he raves in this way to ease his mind1 or because he thinks that he does himself credit by it1 or from a sense of religious duty1 far be it from us to interfere4 ,his peace1 his reputation1 and his religion are his own concern2 and he1 like the nobleman to whom his treatise is dedicated1 has a right to do what he will with his own4 ,but1 if he has adopted his #cjf abusive style from a notion that it would hurt our feelings1 we must inform him that he is altogether mistaken2 and that he would do well in future to give us his arguments1 if he has any1 and to keep his anger for those who fear it4 ,,civil ,,disabilities ,,of ,,the ,,jews47#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,january #ahca47 ,the #cjg;distinguished member of the ,house of ,commons who1 towards the close of the late ,parliament1 brought forward a proposition for the relief of the ,jews1 has given notice of his intention to renew it4 ,the force of reason1 in the last session1 carried the measure through one stage1 in spite of the opposition of power4 ,reason and power are now on the same side2 and we have little doubt that they will conjointly achieve a decisive victory4 ,in order to contribute our share to the success of just principles1 we propose to pass in review1 as rapidly as possible1 some of the arguments1 or phrases claiming to be arguments1 which have been employed to vindicate a system full of absurdity and injustice4 ,the constitution1 it is said1 is essentially ,christian2 and therefore to admit ,jews to office is to destroy the constitution4 ,nor is the ,jew injured by being excluded from political power4 ,for no man has any right to power4 ,a man has a right to his property2 a man has a right to be protected from personal injury4 ,these rights the law allows to the ,jew2 and with these rights it would be atrocious to interfere4 ,but it is a mere matter of favour to admit any man to political 7#a7 ,statement of the ,civil ,disabilities and ,privations affecting ,jews in ,england4 #h vo4 ,london3 #ahbi4 #cjhpower2 and no man can justly complain that he is shut out from it4 ,we cannot but admire the ingenuity of this contrivance for shifting the burden of the proof from those to whom it properly belongs1 and who would1 we suspect1 find it rather cumbersome4 ,surely no ,christian can deny that every human being has a right to be allowed every gratification which produces no harm to others1 and to be spared every mortification which produces no good to others4 ,is it not a source of mortification to a class of men that they are excluded from political power8 ,if it be1 they have1 on ,christian principles1 a right to be freed from that mortification1 unless it can be shown that their exclusion is necessary for the averting of some greater evil4 ,the presumption is evidently in favour of toleration4 ,it is for the prosecutor to make out his case4 ,the strange argument which we are considering would prove too much even for those who advance it4 ,if no mail has a right to political power1 then neither ,jew nor ,gentile has such a right4 ,the whole foundation of government is taken away4 ,but if government be taken away1 the property and the persons of men are insecure2 and it is acknowledged that men have a right to their property and to personal security4 ,if it be right that the property of men should be protected1 and if this can only be done by means of government1 then it must be right that government should exist4 ,now there cannot be government unless some person or persons possess political power4 ,therefore it is right that some person or persons should possess political power4 ,that is to say1 some person or persons must have a right to political power4 ,it is because men are not in the habit of considering #cjiwhat the end of government is1 that ,catholic disabilities and ,jewish disabilities have been suffered to exist so long4 ,we hear of essentially ,protestant governments and essentially ,christian governments1 words which mean just as much as essentially ,protestant cookery1 or essentially ,christian horsemanship4 ,government exists for the purpose of keeping the peace1 for the purpose of compelling us to settle our disputes by arbitration instead of settling them by blows1 for the purpose of compelling us to supply our wants by industry instead of supplying them by rapine4 ,this is the only operation for which the machinery of government is peculiarly adapted1 the only operation which wise governments ever propose to themselves as their chief object4 ,if there is any class of people who are not interested1 or who do not think themselves interested1 in the security of property and the maintenance of order1 that class ought to have no share of the powers which exist for the purpose of securing property and maintaining order4 ,but why a man should be less fit to exercise those powers because he wears a beard1 because he does not eat ham1 because he goes to the synagogue on ,saturdays instead of going to the church on ,sundays1 we cannot conceive4 ,the points of difference between ,christianity and ,judaism have very much to do with a man's fitness to be a bishop or a rabbi4 ,but they have no more to do with his fitness to be a magistrate1 a legislator1 or a minister of finance1 than with his fitness to be a cobbler4 ,nobody has ever thought of compelling cobblers to make any declaration on the true faith of a ,christian4 ,any man would rather have his shoes mended by a heretical cobbler than by a person who had subscribed all the thirty-nine articles1 but had never handled an #caj;awl4 ,men act thus1 not because they are indifferent to religion1 but because they do not see what religion has to do with the mending of their shoes4 ,yet religion has as much to do with the mending of shoes as with the budget and the army estimates4 ,we have surely had several signal proofs within the last twenty years that a very good ,christian may be a very bad ,chancellor of the ,exchequer4 ,but it would be monstrous1 say the persecutors1 that ,jews should legislate for a ,christian community4 ,this is a palpable misrepresentation4 ,what is proposed is1 not that the ,jews should legislate for a ,christian community1 but that a legislature composed of ,christians and ,jews should legislate for a community composed of ,christians and ,jews4 ,on nine hundred and ninety-nine questions out of a thousand1 on all questions of police1 of finance1 of civil and criminal law1 of foreign policy1 the ,jew1 as a ,jew1 has no interest hostile to that of the ,christian1 or even to that of the ,churchman4 ,on questions relating to the ecclesiastical establishment1 the ,jew and the ,churchman may differ4 ,but they cannot differ more widely than the ,catholic and the ,churchman1 or the ,independent and the ,churchman4 ,the principle that ,churchmen ought to monopolize the whole power of the state would at least have an intelligible meaning4 ,the principle that ,christians ought to monopolize it has no meaning at all4 ,for no question connected with the ecclesiastical institutions of the country can possibly come before ,parliament1 with respect to which there will not be as wide a difference between ,christians as there can be between any ,christian and any ,jew4 ,in fact1 the ,jews are not now excluded from political power4 ,they possess it2 and as long as they are #caa;allowed to accumulate large fortunes1 they must possess it4 ,the distinction which is sometimes made between civil privileges and political power is a distinction without a difference4 ,privileges are power4 ,civil and political are synonymous words1 the one derived from the ,latin1 the other from the ,greek4 ,nor is this mere verbal quibbling4 ,if we look for a moment at the facts of the case1 we shall see that the things are inseparable1 or rather identical4 ,that a ,jew should be a judge in a ,christian country would be most shocking4 ,but he may be a juryman4 ,he may try issues of fact2 and no harm is done4 ,but if he should be suffered to try issues of law1 there is an end of the constitution4 ,he may sit in a box plainly dressed1 and return verdicts4 ,but that he should sit on the bench in a black gown and white wig1 and grant new trials1 would be an abomination not to be thought of among baptized people4 ,the distinction is certainly most philosophical4 ,what power in civilised society is so great as that of the creditor over the debtor8 ,if we take this away from the ,jew1 we take away from him the security of his property4 ,if we leave it to him1 we leave to him a power more despotic by far than that of the king and all his cabinet4 ,it would be impious to let a ,jew sit in ,parliament4 ,but a ,jew may make money2 and money may make members of ,parliament4 ,gattan and ,old ,sarum may be the property of a ,hebrew4 ,an elector of ,penryn will take ten pounds from ,shylock rather than nine pounds nineteen shillings and eleven pence three farthings from ,antonio4 ,to this no objection is made4 ,that a ,jew should possess the substance of legislative power1 that he should command eight votes on every #cab;division as if he were the great ,duke of ,newcastle himself1 is exactly as it should be4 ,but that he should pass the bar and sit down on those mysterious cushions of green leather1 that he should cry 8hear0 and 8order10 and talk about being on his legs1 and being1 for one1 free to say this and to say that1 would be a profanation sufficient to bring ruin on the country4 ,that a ,jew should be privy-councillor to a ,christian king would be an eternal disgrace to the nation4 ,but the ,jew may govern the money-market1 and the money-market may govern the world4 ,the minister may be in doubt as to his scheme of finance till he has been closeted with the ,jew4 ,a congress of sovereigns may be forced to summon the ,jew to their assistance4 ,the scrawl of the ,jew on the back of a piece of paper may be worth more than the royal word of three kings1 or the national faith of three new ,american republics4 ,but that he should put ,right ,honourable before his name would be the most frightful of national calamities4 ,it was in this way that some of our politicians reasoned about the ,irish ,catholics4 ,the ,catholics ought to have no political power4 ,the sun of ,england is set for ever if the ,catholics exercise political power4 ,give the ,catholics every thing else2 but keep political power from them4 ,these wise men did not see that1 when every thing else had been given1 political power had been given4 ,they continued to repeat their cuckoo song1 when it was no longer a question whether ,catholics should have political power or not1 when a ,catholic ,association bearded the ,parliament1 when a ,catholic agitator exercised infinitely more authority than the ,lord ,lieutenant4 ,if it is our duty as ,christians to exclude the ,jews #j-aj #cac;from political power1 it must be our duty to treat them as our ancestors treated them1 to murder them1 and banish them1 and rob them4 ,for in that way1 and in that way alone1 can we really deprive them of political power4 ,if we do not adopt this course1 we may take away the shadow1 but we must leave them the substance4 ,we may do enough to pain and irritate them2 but we shall not do enough to secure ourselves from danger1 if danger really exists4 ,where wealth is1 there power must inevitably be4 ,the ,english ,jews1 we are told1 are not ,englishmen4 ,they are a separate people1 living locally in this island1 but living morally and politically in communion with their brethren who are scattered over all the world4 ,an ,english ,jew looks on a ,dutch or a ,portuguese ,jew as his countryman1 and on an ,english ,christian as a stranger4 ,this want of patriotic feeling1 it is said1 renders a ,jew unfit to exercise political functions4 ,the argument has in it something plausible2 but a close examination shows it to be quite1 unsound4 ,even if the alleged facts are admitted1 still the ,jews are not the only people who have preferred their sect to their country4 ,the feeling of patriotism1 when society is in a healthful state1 springs up1 by a natural and inevitable association1 in the minds of citizens who know that they owe all their comforts and pleasures to the bond which unites them in one community4 ,but1 under a partial and oppressive government1 these associations cannot acquire that strength which they have in a better state of things4 ,men are compelled to seek from their party that protection which they ought to receive from their country1 and they1 by a natural consequence1 transfer to their party that affection which they would otherwise have felt for their country4 ,the #cad;,huguenots of ,france called in the help of ,england against their ,catholic kings4 ,the ,catholics of ,france called in the help of ,spain against a ,huguenot king4 ,would it be fair to infer1 that at present the ,french ,protestants would wish to see their religion made dominant by the help of a ,prussian or ,english army8 ,surely not4 ,and why is it that they are not willing1 as they formerly were willing1 to sacrifice the interests of their country to the interests of their religious persuasion8 ,the reason is obvious3 they were persecuted then1 and are not persecuted now4 ,the ,english ,puritans1 under ,charles the ,first1 prevailed on the ,scotch to invade ,england4 ,do the ,protestant ,dissenters of our time wish to see the ,church put down by an invasion of foreign ,calvinists8 ,if not1 to what cause are we to attribute the change8 ,surely to this1 that the ,protestant ,dissenters are far better treated now than in the seventeenth century4 ,some of the most illustrious public men that ,england ever produced were inclined to take refuge from the tyranny of ,laud in ,north ,america4 ,was this because ,presbyterians and ,independents are incapable of loving their country8 ,but it is idle to multiply instances4 ,nothing is so offensive to a man who knows any thing of history or of human nature as to hear those who exercise the powers of government accuse any sect of foreign attachments4 ,if there be any proposition universally true in politics it is this1 that foreign attachments are the fruit of domestic misrule4 ,it has always been the trick of bigots to make their subjects miserable at home1 and then to complain that they look for relief abroad2 to divide society1 and to wonder that it is not united2 to govern as if a section of the state were the whole1 and to censure the other sections of the state for their #caewant of patriotic spirit4 ,if the ,jews have not felt towards ,england like children1 it is because she has treated them like a step-mother4 ,there is no feeling which more certainly developes itself in the minds of men living under tolerably good government than the feeling of patriotism4 ,since the beginning of the world1 there never was any nation1 or any large portion of any nation1 not cruelly oppressed1 which was wholly destitute of that feeling4 ,to make it therefore ground of accusation against a class of men1 that they are not patriotic1 is the most vulgar legerdemain of sophistry4 ,it is the logic which the wolf employs against the lamb4 ,it is to accuse the mouth of the stream of poisoning the source4 ,if the ,english ,jews really felt a deadly hatred to ,england1 if the weekly prayer of their synagogues were that all the curses denounced by ,ezekiel on ,tyre and ,egypt might fall on ,london1 if1 in their solemn feasts1 they called down blessings on those who should dash our children to pieces on the stones1 still1 we say1 their hatred to their countrymen would not be more intense than that which sects of ,christians have often borne to each other4 ,but in fact the feeling of the ,jews is not such4 ,it is precisely what1 in the situation in which they are placed1 we should expect it to be4 ,they are treated far better than the ,french ,protestants were treated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries1 or than our ,puritans were treated in the time of ,laud4 ,they1 therefore1 have no rancour against the government or against their countrymen4 ,it will not be denied that they are far better affected to the state than the followers of ,coligni or ,vane4 ,but they are not so well treated as the dissenting sects of ,christians are now treated in ,england2 and on this account1 and1 we #caf;firmly believe1 on this account alone1 they have a more exclusive spirit4 ,till we have carried the experiment farther1 we are not entitled to conclude that they cannot be made ,englishmen altogether4 ,the statesman who treats them as aliens1 and then abuses them for not entertaining all the feelings of natives1 is as unreasonable as the tyrant who punished their fathers for not making bricks without straw4 ,rulers must not be suffered thus to absolve themselves of their solemn responsibility4 ,it does not lie in their mouths to say that a sect is not patriotic4 ,it is their business to make it patriotic4 ,history and reason clearly indicate the means4 ,the ,english ,jews are1 as far as we can see1 precisely what our government has made them4 ,they are precisely what any sect1 what any class of men1 treated as they have been treated1 would have been4 ,if all the red-haired people in ,europe had1 during centuries1 been outraged and oppressed1 banished from this place1 imprisoned in that1 deprived of their money1 deprived of their teeth1 convicted of the most improbable crimes on the feeblest evidence1 dragged at horses' tails1 hanged1 tortured1 burned alive1 if1 when manners became milder1 they had still been subject to debasing restrictions and exposed to vulgar insults1 locked up in particular streets in some countries1 pelted and ducked by the rabble in others1 excluded every where from magistracies and honours1 what would be the patriotism of gentlemen with red hair8 ,and if1 under such circumstances1 a proposition were made for admitting red-haired men to office1 how striking a speech might an eloquent admirer of our old institutions deliver against so revolutionary a measure6 8,these men10 he might say1 8scarcely consider themselves as ,englishmen4 ,they think a #cagred-haired ,frenchman or a red-haired ,german more closely connected with them than a man with brown hair born in their own parish4 ,if a foreign sovereign patronises red hair1 they love him better than their own native king4 ,they are not ,englishmen3 they cannot be ,englishmen3 nature has forbidden it3 experience proves it to be impossible4 ,right to political power they have none2 for no man has a right to political power4 ,let them enjoy personal security2 let their property be under the protection of the law4 ,but if they ask for leave to exercise power over a community of which they are only half members1 a community the constitution of which is essentially darkhaired1 let us answer them in the words of our wise ancestors1 ,nolumus leges ,anglice mutari40 ,but1 it is said1 the ,scriptures declare that the ,jews are to be restored to their own country2 and the whole nation looks forward to that restoration4 ,they are1 therefore1 not so deeply interested as others in the prosperity of ,england4 ,it is not their home1 but merely the place of their sojourn1 the house of their bondage4 ,this argument1 which first appeared in the ,times newspaper1 and which has attracted a degree of attention proportioned not so much to its own intrinsic force as to the general talent with which that journal is conducted1 belongs to a class of sophisms by which the most hateful persecutions may easily be justified4 ,to charge men with practical consequences which they themselves deny is disingenuous in controversy2 it is atrocious in government4 ,the doctrine of predestination1 in the opinion of many people1 tends to make those who hold it utterly immoral4 ,and certainly it would seem that a man who believes his eternal destiny to be already irrevocably fixed is likely to indulge his passions #cahwithout restraint and to neglect his religious duties4 ,if he is an heir of wrath1 his exertions must be unavailing4 ,if he is preordained to life1 they must be superfluous4 ,but would it be wise to punish every man who holds the higher doctrines of ,calvinism1 as if he had actually committed all those crimes which we know some ,antinomians to have committed8 ,assuredly not4 ,the fact notoriously is that there are many ,calvinists as moral in their conduct as any ,arminian1 and many ,arminians as loose as any ,calvinist4 ,it is altogether impossible to reason from the opinions which a man professes to his feelings and his actions2 and in fact no person is ever such a fool as to reason thus1 except when he wants a pretext for persecuting his neighbours4 ,a ,christian is commanded1 under the strongest sanctions1 to be just in all his dealings4 ,yet to how many of the twenty-four millions of professing ,christians in these islands would any man in his senses lend a thousand pounds without security8 ,a man who should act1 for one day1 on the supposition that all the people about him were influenced by the religion which they professed1 would find himself ruined before night2 and no man ever does act on that supposition in any of the ordinary concerns of life1 in borrowing1 in lending1 in buying1 or in selling4 ,but when any of our fellow-creatures are to be oppressed1 the case is different4 ,then we represent those motives which we know to be so feeble for good as omnipotent for evil4 ,then we lay to the charge of our victims all the vices and follies to which their doctrines1 however remotely1 seem to tend4 ,we forget that the same weakness1 the same laxity1 the same disposition to prefer the present to the future1 which make men worse than a good religion1 make them better than a bad one4 #cai;,it was in this way that our ancestors reasoned1 and that some people in our own time still reason1 about the ,catholics4 ,a ,papist believes himself bound to obey the pope4 ,the pope has issued a bull deposing ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,therefore every ,papist will treat her grace as an usurper4 ,therefore every ,papist is a traitor4 ,therefore every ,papist ought to be hanged1 drawn1 and quartered4 ,to this logic we owe some of the most hateful laws that ever disgraced our history4 ,surely the answer lies on the surface4 ,the ,church of ,rome may have commanded these men to treat the queen as an usurper4 ,but she has commanded them to do many other things which they have never done4 ,she enjoins her priests to observe strict purity4 ,you are always taunting them with their licentiousness4 ,she commands all her followers to fast often1 to be charitable to the poor1 to take no interest for money1 to fight no duels1 to see no plays4 ,do they obey these injunctions8 ,if it be the fact that very few of them strictly observe her precepts1 when her precepts are opposed to their passions and interests1 may not loyalty1 may not humanity1 may not the love of ease1 may not the fear of death1 be sufficient to prevent them from executing those wicked orders which she has issued against the sovereign of ,england8 ,when we know that many of these people do not care enough for their religion to go without beef on a ,friday for it1 why should we think that they will run the risk of being racked and hanged for it8 ,people are now reasoning about the ,jews as our fathers reasoned about the ,papists4 ,the law which is inscribed on the wails of the synagogues prohibits covetousness4 ,but if we were to say that a ,jew mortgagee would not foreclose because ,god had commanded #cbj;him not to covet his neighbour's house1 every body would think us out of our wits4 ,yet it passes for an argument to say that a ,jew will take no interest in the prosperity of the country in which he lives1 that he will not care how bad its laws and police may he1 how heavily it may be taxed1 how often it may be conquered and given up to spoil1 because ,god has promised that1 by some unknown means1 and at some undetermined time1 perhaps ten thousand years hence1 the ,jews shall migrate to ,palestine4 ,is not this the most profound ignorance of human nature8 ,do we not know that what is remote and indefinite affects men far less than what is near and certain8 ,the argument too applies to ,christians as strongly as to ,jews4 ,the ,christian believes as well as the ,jew1 that at some future period the present order of things will come to an end4 ,nay1 many ,christians believe that the ,messiah will shortly establish a kingdom on the earth1 and reign visibly over all its inhabitants4 ,whether this doctrine be orthodox or not we shall not here inquire4 ,the number of people who hold it is very much greater than the number of ,jews residing in ,england4 ,many of those who hold it are distinguished by rank1 wealth1 and ability4 ,it is preached from pulpits1 both of the ,scottish and of the ,english church4 ,noblemen and members of ,parliament have written in defence of it4 ,now wherein does this doctrine differ1 as far as its political tendency is concerned1 from the doctrine of the ,jews8 ,if a ,jew is unfit to legislate for us because he believes that he or his remote descendants will be removed to ,palestine1 can we safely open the ,house of ,commons to a fifth-monarchy man1 who expects that before this generation shall pass away1 all the kingdoms of the earth will be swallowed up in one divine empire8 #cba;,does a ,jew engage less eagerly than a ,christian in any competition which the law leaves open to him8 ,is he less active and regular in his business than his neighbours8 ,does he furnish his house meanly1 because he is a pilgrim and sojourner in the land8 ,does the expectation of being restored to the country of his fathers make him insensible to the fluctuations of the stock-exchange8 ,does he1 in arranging his private affairs1 ever take into the account the chance of his migrating to ,palestine8 ,if not1 why are we to suppose that feelings which never influence his dealings as a merchant1 or his dispositions as a testator1 will acquire a boundless influence over him as soon as he becomes a magistrate or a legislator8 ,there is another argument which we would not willingly treat with levity1 and which yet we scarcely know how to treat seriously4 ,scripture1 it is said1 is full of terrible denunciations against the ,jews4 ,it is foretold that they are to be wanderers4 ,is it then right to give them a home8 ,it is foretold that they are to be oppressed4 ,can we with propriety suffer them to be rulers8 ,to admit them to the rights of citizens is manifestly to insult the ,divine oracles4 ,we allow that to falsify a prophecy inspired by ,divine ,wisdom would be a most atrocious crime4 ,it is1 therefore1 a happy circumstance for our frail species1 that it is a crime which no man can possibly commit4 ,if we admit the ,jews to seats in ,parliament1 we shall1 by so doing1 prove that the prophecies in question1 whatever they may mean1 do not mean that the ,jews shall be excluded from ,parliament4 ,in fact it is already clear that the prophecies do not bear the meaning put upon them by the respectable persons whom we are now answering4 ,in ,france and #cbb;in the ,united ,states the ,jews are already admitted to all the rights of citizens4 ,a prophecy1 therefore1 which should mean that the ,jews would never1 during the course of their wanderings1 he admitted to all the rights of citizens in the places of their sojourn1 would be a false prophecy4 ,this1 therefore1 is not the meaning of the prophecies of ,scripture4 ,but we protest altogether against the practice of confounding prophecy with precept1 of setting up predictions which are often obscure against a morality which is always clear4 ,if actions are to be considered as just and good merely because they have been predicted1 what action was ever more laudable than that crime which our bigots are now1 at the end of eighteen centuries1 urging us to avenge on the ,jews1 that crime which made the earth shake and blotted out the sun from heaven8 ,the same reasoning which is now employed to vindicate the disabilities imposed on our ,hebrew countrymen will equally vindicate the kiss of ,judas and the judgment of ,pilate4 8,the ,son of man goeth1 as it is written of him2 but woe to that man by whom the ,son of man is betrayed40 ,and woe to those who in any age or in any country1 disobey his benevolent commands under pretence of accomplishing his predictions4 ,if this argument justifies the laws now existing against the ,jews1 it justifies equally all the cruelties which have ever been committed against them1 the sweeping edicts of banishment and confiscation1 the dungeon1 the rack1 and the slow fire4 ,how can we excuse ourselves for leaving property to people who are to 8serve their enemies in hunger1 and in thirst1 and in nakedness1 and in want of all things20 for giving protection to the persons of those who are to 8fear day and night1 and to have none assurance of their #cbclife20 for not seizing on the children of a race whose 8sons and daughters are to be given unto another people80 ,we have not so learned the doctrines of ,him who commanded us to love our neighbour as ourselves1 and who1 when he was called upon to explain what ,he meant by a neighbour1 selected as an example a heretic and an alien4 ,last year1 we remember1 it was represented by a pious writer in the ,john ,bull newspaper1 and by some other equally fervid ,christians1 as a monstrous indecency1 that the measure for the relief of the ,jews should be brought forward ,in ,passion week4 ,one of these humorists ironically recommended that it should be read a second time on ,good ,friday4 ,we should have had no objection2 nor do we believe that the day could be commemorated in a more worthy manner4 ,we know of no day fitter for terminating long hostilities1 and repairing cruel wrongs1 than the day on which the religion of mercy was founded4 ,we know of no day fitter for blotting out from the statute-book the last traces of intolerance than the day on which the spirit of intolerance produced the foulest of all judicial murders1 the day on which the list of the victims of intolerance1 that noble list wherein ,socrates and ,mole are enrolled1 was glorified by a yet greater and holier name4 ,,moore',s ,,life ,,of ,,lord ,,byron4 7#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,june #ahca47 ,we #cbd;have read this book with the greatest pleasure4 ,considered merely as a composition1 it deserves to be classed among the best specimens of ,english prose which our age has produced4 ,it contains1 indeed1 no single passage equal to two or three which we could select from the ,life of ,sheridan4 ,but1 as a whole1 it is immeasurably superior to that work4 ,the style is agreeable1 clear1 and manly1 and when it rises into eloquence1 rises without effort or ostentation4 ,nor is the matter inferior to the manner4 ,it would be difficult to name a book which exhibits more kindness1 fairness1 and modesty4 ,it has evidently been written1 not for the purpose of showing1 what1 however1 it often shows1 how well its author can write1 but for the purpose of vindicating1 as far as truth will permit2 the memory of a celebrated man who can no longer vindicate himself4 ,mr4 ,moore never thrusts himself between ,lord ,byron and the public4 ,with the strongest temptations to egotism1 he has said no more about himself than the subject absolutely required4 ,a great part1 indeed the greater part1 of these volumes1 consists of extracts from the ,letters and ,journals 7#a7 ,letters and ,journals of ,lord ,byron2 with ,notices of his ,life4 ,by ,thomas ,mooke1 ,esq4 #b vols4 #dto4 ,london3 #ahcj4 #cbeof ,lord ,byron2 and it is difficult to speak too highly of the skill which has been shown in the selection and arrangement4 ,we will not say that we have not occasionally remarked in these two large quartos an anecdote which should have been omitted1 a letter which should have been suppressed1 a name which should have been concealed by asterisks1 or asterisks which do not answer the purpose of concealing the name4 ,but it is impossible1 on a general survey1 to deny that the task has been executed with great judgment and great humanity4 ,when we consider the life which ,lord ,byron had led1 his petulance1 his irritability1 and his communicativeness1 we cannot but admire the dexterity with which ,mr4 ,moore has contrived to exhibit so much of the character and opinions of his friend1 with so little pain to the feelings of the living4 ,the extracts from the journals and correspondence of ,lord ,byron are in the highest degree valuable1 not merely on account of the information which they contain respecting the distinguished man by whom they were written1 but on account also of their rare merit as compositions4 ,the ,letters1 at least those which were sent from ,italy1 are among the best in our language4 ,they are less affected than those of ,pope and ,walpole2 they have more matter in them than those of ,cowper4 ,knowing that many of them were not written merely for the person to whom they were directed1 but were general epistles1 meant to be read by a large circle1 we expected to find them clever and spirited1 but deficient in ease4 ,we looked with vigilance for instances of stiffness in the language and awkwardness in the transitions4 ,we have been agreeably disappointed2 and we must confess that1 if the epistolary style of ,lord ,byron was artificial1 it was a #cbfrare and admirable instance of that highest art which cannot be distinguished from nature4 ,of the deep and painful interest which this book excites no abstract can give a just notion4 ,so sad and dark a story is scarcely to be found in any work of fiction2 and we are little disposed to envy the moralist who can read it without being softened4 ,the pretty fable by which the ,duchess of ,orleans illustrated the character of her son the ,regent might1 with little change1 be applied to ,byron4 ,all the fairies1 save one1 had been bidden to his cradle4 ,all the gossips had been profuse of their gifts4 ,one had bestowed nobility1 another genius1 a third beauty4 ,the malignant elf who had been uninvited came last1 and1 unable to reverse what her sisters had done for their favourite1 had mixed up a curse with every blessing4 ,in the rank of ,lord ,byron1 in his understanding1 in his character1 in his very person1 there was a strange union of opposite extremes4 ,he was born to all that men covet and admire4 ,but in every one of those eminent advantages which he possessed over others was mingled something of misery and debasement4 ,he was sprung from a house1 ancient indeed and noble1 but degraded and impoverished by a series of crimes and follies which had attained a scandalous publicity4 ,the kinsman whom he succeeded had died poor1 and1 but for merciful judges1 would have died upon the gallows4 ,the young peer had great intellectual powers2 yet there was an unsound part in his mind4 ,he had naturally a generous and feeling heart3 but his temper was wayward and irritable4 ,he had a head which statuaries loved to copy1 and a foot the deformity of which the beggars in the streets mimicked4 ,distinguished #cbg;at once by the strength and by the weakness of his intellect1 affectionate yet perverse1 a poor lord1 and a handsome cripple1 he required1 if ever man required1 the firmest and the most judicious training4 ,but1 capriciously as nature had dealt with him1 the parent to whom the office of forming his character was intrusted was more capricious still4 ,she passed from paroxysms of rage to paroxysms of tenderness4 ,at one time she stifled him with her caresses3 at another time she insulted his deformity4 ,he came into the world2 and the world treated him as his mother had treated him1 sometimes with fondness1 sometimes with cruelty1 never with justice4 ,it indulged him without discrimination1 and punished him without discrimination4 ,he was truly a spoiled child1 not merely the spoiled child of his parent1 but the spoiled child of nature1 the spoiled child of fortune1 the spoiled child of fame1 the spoiled child of society4 ,his first poems were received with a contempt which1 feeble as they were1 they did not absolutely deserve4 ,the poem which he published on his return from his travels was1 on the other hand1 extolled far above its merit4 ,at twenty-four he found himself on the highest pinnacle of literary fame1 with ,scott1 ,wordsworth1 ,southey1 and a crowd of other distinguished writers beneath his feet4 ,there is scarcely an instance in history of so sudden a rise to so dizzy an eminence4 ,every thing that could stimulate1 and every thing that could gratify the strongest propensities of our nature1 the gaze of a hundred drawing-rooms1 the acclamations of the whole nation1 the applause of applauded men1 the love of lovely women1 all this world and all the glory of it were at once offered to a youth to whom nature had given violent passions1 and to #cbhwhom education had never taught to control them4 ,he lived as many men live who have no similar excuse to plead for their fruits4 ,but his countrymen and his countrywomen would love him and admire him4 ,they were resolved to see in his excesses only the flash and outbreak of that same fiery mind which glowed in his poetry4 ,he attacked religion2 yet in religious circles his name was mentioned with fondness1 and in many religious publications his works were censured with singular tenderness4 ,he lampooned the ,prince ,regent2 yet he could not alienate the ,tories4 ,every thing1 it seemed1 was to be forgiven to youth1 rank1 and genius4 ,then came the reaction4 ,society1 capricious in its indignation as it had been capricious in its fondness1 flew into a rage with its froward and petted darling4 ,he had been worshipped with an irrational idolatry4 ,he was persecuted with an irrational fury4 ,much has been written about those unhappy domestic occurrences which decided the fate of his life4 ,yet nothing is1 nothing ever was1 positively known to the public1 but this1 that he quarrelled with his lady1 and that she refused to live with him4 ,there have been hints in abundance1 and shrugs and shakings of the head1 and 8,well1 well1 we know10 and 8,we could an if we would10 and 8,if we list to speak10 and 8,there be that might an they list40 ,but we are not aware that there is before the world substantiated by credible1 or even by tangible evidence1 a single fact indicating that ,lord ,byron was more to blame than any other man who is on bad terms with his wife4 ,the professional men whom ,lady ,byron consulted were undoubtedly of opinion that she ought not to live with her husband4 ,but it is to be remembered #cbithat they formed that opinion without hearing both sides4 ,we do not say1 we do not mean to insinuate1 that ,lady ,byron was in any respect to blame4 ,we think that those who condemn her on the evidence which is now before the public are as rash as those who condemn her husband4 ,we will not pronounce any judgment1 we cannot1 even in our own minds1 form any judgment1 on a transaction which is so imperfectly known to us4 ,it would have been well if1 at the time of the separation1 all those who knew as little about the matter then as we know about it now had shown that forbearance which1 under such circumstances1 is but common justice4 ,we know no spectacle so ridiculous as the ,british public in one of its periodical fits of morality4 ,in general1 elopements1 divorces1 and family quarrels1 pass with little notice4 ,we read the scandal1 talk about it for a day1 and forget it4 ,but once in six or seven years our virtue becomes outrageous4 ,we cannot suffer the laws of religion and decency to be violated4 ,we must make a stand against vice4 ,we must teach libertines that the ,english people appreciate the importance of domestic ties4 ,accordingly some unfortunate man1 in no respect more depraved than hundreds whose offences have been treated with lenity1 is singled out as an expiatory sacrifice4 ,if he has children1 they are to be taken from him4 ,if he has a profession1 he is to be driven from it4 ,he is cut by the higher orders1 and hissed by the lower4 ,he is1 in truth1 a sort of whipping-boy1 by whose vicarious agonies all the other transgressors of the same class are1 it is supposed1 sufficiently chastised4 ,we reflect1 very complacently on our own severity1 and compare with great pride the high standard of morals established in ,england with #ccjthe ,parisian laxity4 ,at length our anger is satiated4 ,our victim is ruined and heart-broken4 ,and our virtue goes quietly to sleep for seven years more4 ,it is clear that those vices which destroy domestic happiness ought to be as much as possible repressed4 ,it is equally clear that they cannot be repressed by penal legislation4 ,it is therefore right and desirable that public opinion should be directed against them4 ,but it should be directed against them uniformly1 steadily1 and temperately1 not by sudden fits and starts4 ,there should be one weight and one measure4 ,decimation is always an objectionable mode of punishment4 ,it is the resource of judges too indolent and hasty to investigate facts and to discriminate nicely between shades of guilt4 ,it is an irrational practice1 even when adopted by military tribunals4 ,when adopted by the tribunal of public opinion1 it is infinitely more irrational4 ,it is good that a certain portion of disgrace should constantly attend on certain bad actions4 ,but it is not good that the offenders should merely have to stand the risks of a lottery of infamy1 that ninety-nine out of every hundred should escape1 and that the hundredth1 perhaps the most innocent of the hundred1 should pay for all4 ,we remember to have seen a mob assembled in ,lincoln's ,inn to hoot a gentleman against whom the most oppressive proceeding known to the ,english law was then in progress4 ,he was hooted because he had been an unfaithful husband1 as if some of the most popular men of the age1 ,lord ,nelson for example1 had not been unfaithful husbands4 ,we remember a still stronger case4 ,will posterity believe that1 in an age in which men whose gallantries were universally known1 and had been legally proved1 filled some of the highest offices in the state and in the army1 #ccapresided at the meetings of religious and benevolent institutions1 were the delight of every society1 and the favourites of the multitude1 a crowd of moralists went to the theatre1 in order to pelt a poor actor for disturbing the conjugal felicity of an alderman8 ,what there was in the circumstances either of the offender or of the sufferer to vindicate the zeal of the audience1 we could never conceive4 ,it has never been supposed that the situation of an actor is peculiarly favourable to the rigid virtues1 or that an alderman enjoys any special immunity from injuries such as that which on this occasion roused the anger of the public4 ,but such is the justice of mankind4 ,in these cases the punishment was excessive2 but the offence was known and proved4 ,the case of ,lord ,byron was harder4 ,true ,jedwood justice was dealt out to him4 ,first came the execution1 then the investigation1 and last of all1 or rather not at all1 the accusation4 ,the public1 without knowing any thing whatever about the transactions in his family1 flew into a violent passion with him1 and proceeded to invent stories which might justify its anger4 ,ten or twenty different accounts of the separation1 inconsistent with each other1 with themselves1 and with common sense1 circulated at the same time4 ,what evidence there might be for any one of these1 the virtuous people who repeated them neither knew nor cared4 ,for in fact these stories were not the causes1 but the effects of the public indignation4 ,they resembled those loathsome slanders which ,lewis ,goldsmith1 and other abject libellers of the same class1 were in the habit of publishing about ,bonaparte2 such as that he poisoned a girl with arsenic when he was at the military school1 that he hired a grenadier to shoot ,dessaix at ,marengo1 that #ccb;he filled ,st4 ,cloud with all the pollutions of ,capre4 ,there was a time when anecdotes like these obtained some credence from persons who1 hating the ,french emperor without knowing why1 were eager to believe any thing which might justify their hatred4 ,lord ,byron fared in the same way4 ,his countrymen were in a bad humour with him4 ,his writings and his character had lost the charm of novelty4 ,he had been guilty of the offence which1 of all offences1 is punished most severely2 he had been over-praised2 he had excited too warm an interest2 and the public1 with its usual justice1 chastised him for its own folly4 ,the attachments of the multitude bear no small resemblance to those of the wanton enchantress in the ,arabian ,tales1 who1 when the forty days of her fondness were over1 was not content with dismissing her lovers1 but condemned them to expiate1 in loathsome shapes1 and under cruel penances1 the crime of having once pleased her too well4 ,the obloquy which ,byron had to endure was such as might well have shaken a more constant mind4 ,the newspapers were filled with lampoons4 ,the theatres shook with execrations4 ,he was excluded from circles where he had lately been the observed of all observers4 ,all those creeping things that riot in the decay of nobler natures hastened to their repast2 and they were right2 they did after their kind4 ,it is not every day that the savage envy of aspiring dunces is gratified by the agonies of such a spirit1 and the degradation of such a name4 ,the unhappy man left his country for ever4 ,the howl of contumely followed him across the sea1 up the ,rhine1 over the ,alps2 it gradually waxed fainter2 it died away2 those who had raised it began to ask each #cccother1 what1 after all1 was the matter about which they had been so clamorous1 and wished to invite back the criminal whom they had just chased from them4 ,his poetry became more popular than it had ever been2 and his complaints were read with tears by thousands and tens of thousands who had never seen his face4 ,he had fixed his home on the shores of the ,adriatic1 in the most picturesque and interesting of cities1 beneath the brightest of skies1 and by the brightest of seas4 ,censoriousness was not the vice of the neighbours whom he had chosen4 ,they were a race corrupted by a bad government and a bad religion1 long renowned for skill in the arts of voluptuousness1 and tolerant of all the caprices of sensuality4 ,from the public opinion of the country of his adoption1 he had nothing to dread4 ,with the public opinion of the country of his birth1 he was at open war4 ,he plunged into wild and desperate excesses1 ennobled by no generous or tender sentiment4 ,from his ,venetian harem he sent forth volume after volume1 full of eloquence1 of wit1 of pathos1 of ribaldry1 and of bitter disdain4 ,his health sank under the effects of his intemperance4 ,his hair turned grey4 ,his food ceased to nourish him4 ,a hectic fever withered him up4 ,it seemed that his body and mind were about to perish together4 ,from this wretched degradation he was in some measure rescued by a connection1 culpable indeed1 yet such as1 if it were judged by the standard of morality established in the country where he lived1 might be called virtuous4 ,but an imagination polluted by vice1 a temper embittered by misfortune1 and a frame habituated to the fatal excitement of intoxication1 prevented him from fully enjoying the happiness which he might have derived from the purest and most tranquil of his #ccdmany attachments4 ,midnight draughts of ardent spirits and ,rhenish wines had begun to work the ruin of his fine intellect4 ,his verse lost much of the energy and condensation which had distinguished it4 ,but he would not resign1 without a struggle1 the empire which he had exercised over the men of his generation4 ,a new dream of ambition arose before him2 to be the chief of a literary party2 to be the great mover of an intellectual revolution2 to guide the public mind of ,england from his ,italian retreat1 as ,voltaire had guided the public mind of ,france from the villa of ,ferney4 ,with this hope1 as it should seem1 he established the ,liberal4 ,but1 powerfully as he had affected the imaginations of his contemporaries1 he mistook his own powers if he hoped to direct their opinions2 and he still more grossly mistook his own disposition1 if he thought that he could long act in concert with other men of letters4 ,the plan failed1 and failed ignominiously4 ,angry with himself1 angry with his coadjutors1 he relinquished it1 and turned to another project1 the last and noblest of his life4 ,a nation1 once the first among the nations1 preeminent in knowledge1 preeminent in military glory1 the cradle of philosophy1 of eloquence1 and of the fine arts1 had been for ages bowed down under a cruel yoke4 ,all the vices which oppression generates1 the abject vices which it generates in those who submit to it1 the ferocious vices which it generates in those who struggle against it1 had deformed the character of that miserable race4 ,the valour which had won the great battle of human civilisation1 which had saved ,europe1 which had subjugated ,asia1 lingered only among pirates and robbers4 ,the ingenuity1 once so conspicuously displayed in every department of physical and moral science1 had #cce;been depraved into a timid and servile cunning4 ,on a sudden this degraded people had risen on their oppressors4 ,discountenanced or betrayed by the surrounding potentates1 they had found in themselves something of that which might well supply the place of all foreign assistance1 something of the energy of their fathers4 ,as a man of letters1 ,lord ,byron conld not but be interested in the event of this contest4 ,his political opinions1 though1 like all his opinions1 unsettled1 leaned strongly towards the side of liberty4 ,he bad assisted the ,italian insurgents with his purse1 and1 if their struggle against the ,austrian government had been prolonged1 would probably have assisted them with his sword4 ,but to ,greece he was attached by peculiar ties4 ,he had when young resided in that country4 ,much of his most splendid and popular poetry had been inspired by its scenery and by its history4 ,sick of inaction1 degraded in his own eyes by his private vices and by his literary failures1 pining for untried excitement and honourable distinction1 he carried his exhausted body and his wounded spirit to the ,grecian camp4 ,his conduct in his new situation showed so much vigour and good sense as to justify us in believing that1 if his life had been prolonged1 he might have distinguished himself as a soldier and a politician4 ,but pleasure and sorrow had done the work of seventy years upon his delicate frame4 ,the hand of death was upon him3 he knew it2 and the only wish which he uttered was that he might die sword in hand4 ,this was denied to him4 ,anxiety1 exertion1 exposure1 and those fatal stimulants which had become indispensable to him1 soon stretched him on a sick bed1 in a strange land1 amidst strange faces1 without one human #ccf;being that he loved near him4 ,there1 at thirty-six1 the most celebrated ,englishman of the nineteenth century closed his brilliant and miserable career4 ,we cannot even now retrace those events without feeling something of what was felt by the nation1 when it was first known that the grave had closed over so much sorrow and so much glory2 something of what was felt by those who saw the hearse1 with its long train of coaches1 turn slowly northward1 leaving behind it that cemetery which had been consecrated by the dust of so many great poets1 but of which the doors were closed against all that remained of ,byron4 ,we well remember that on that day1 rigid moralists could not refrain from weeping for one so young1 so illustrious1 so unhappy1 gifted with such rare gifts1 and tried by such strong temptations4 ,it is unnecessary to make any reflections4 ,the history carries its moral with it4 ,our age has indeed been fruitful of warnings to the eminent1 and of consolations to the obscure4 ,two men have died within our recollection1 who1 at a time of life at which many people have hardly completed their education1 had raised themselves1 each in his own department1 to the height of glory4 ,one of them died at ,longwood2 the other at ,missolonghi4 ,it is always difficult to separate the literary character of a man who lives in our own time from his personal character4 ,it is peculiarly difficult to make this separation in the case of ,lord ,byron4 ,for it is scarcely too much to say1 that ,lord ,byron never wrote without some reference1 direct or indirect1 to himself4 ,the interest excited by the events of his life mingles itself in our minds1 and probably in the minds of almost all our readers1 with the interest which properly belongs to his works4 ,a generation must pass away before it will be #ccgpossible to form a fair judgment of his books1 considered merely as books4 ,at present they are not only books1 but relics4 ,we will however venture1 though with unfeigned diffidence1 to offer some desultory remarks on his poetry4 ,his lot was cast in the time of a great literary revolution4 ,that poetical dynasty which had dethroned the successors of ,shakspeare and ,spenser was1 in its turn1 dethroned by a race who represented themselves as heirs of the ancient line1 so long dispossessed by usurpers4 ,the real nature of this revolution has not1 we think1 been comprehended by the great majority of those who concurred in it4 ,wherein especially does the poetry of our times differ from that of the last century8 ,ninety-nine persons out of a hundred would answer that the poetry of the last century was correct1 but cold and mechanical1 and that the poetry of our time1 though wild and irregular1 presented far more vivid images1 and excited the passions far more strongly than that of ,parnell1 of ,addison1 or of ,pope4 ,in the same manner we constantly hear it said1 that the poets of the age of ,elizabeth had far more genius1 but far less correctness1 than those of the age of ,anne4 ,it seems to be taken for granted1 that there is some incompatibility1 some antithesis between correctness and creative power4 ,we rather suspect that this notion arises merely from an abuse of words1 and that it has been the parent of many of the fallacies which perplex the science of criticism4 ,what is meant by correctness in poetry8 ,if by correctness be meant the conforming to rules which have their foundation in truth and in the principles of human nature1 then correctness is only another name #cci;for excellence4 ,if by correctness be meant the conforming to rules purely arbitrary1 correctness may be another name for dulness and absurdity4 ,a writer who describes visible objects falsely and violates the propriety of character1 a writer who makes the mountains 8nod their drowsy heads0 at night1 or a dying man take leave of the world with a rant like that of ,maximin1 may be said in the high and just sense of the phrase1 to write incorrectly4 ,he violates the first great law of his art4 ,his imitation is altogether unlike the thing imitated4 ,the four poets who are most eminently free from incorrectness of this description are ,homer1 ,dante1 ,shakspeare1 and ,milton4 ,they are1 therefore1 in one sense1 and that the best sense1 the most correct of poets4 ,when it is said that ,virgil1 though he had less genius than ,homer1 was a more correct writer1 what sense is attached to the word correctness8 ,is it meant that the story of the neid is developed more skilfully than that of the ,odyssey8 that the ,roman describes the face of the external world1 or the emotions of the mind1 more accurately than the ,greek8 that the characters of ,achates and ,mnestheus are more nicely discriminated1 and more consistently supported1 than those of ,achilles1 of ,nestor1 and of ,ulysses8 ,the fact incontestably is that1 for every violation of the fundamental laws of poetry which can be found in ,homer1 it would be easy to find twenty in ,virgil4 ,troilus and ,cressida is perhaps of all the plays of ,shakspeare that which is commonly considered as the most incorrect4 ,yet it seems to us infinitely more correct1 in the sound sense of the term1 than what are called the most correct plays of the most correct dramatists4 ,compare it1 for example1 with the ,iphigenie #cciof ,racine4 ,we are sure that the ,greeks of ,shakspeare bear a for greater resemblance than the ,greeks of ,racine to the real ,greeks who besieged ,troy2 and for this reason1 that the ,greeks ol ,shakspeare are human beings1 and the ,greeks of ,racine mere names1 mere words printed in capitals at the head of paragraphs of declamation4 ,racine1 it is true1 would have shuddered at the thought of making a warrior at the siege of ,troy quote ,aristotle4 ,but of what use is it to avoid a single anachronism1 when the whole play is one anachronism1 the sentiments and phrases of ,versailles in the camp of ,aulis8 ,in the sense in which we are now using the word correctness1 we think that ,sir ,walter ,scott1 ,mr4 ,wordsworth1 ,mr4 ,coleridge1 are for more correct poets than those who are commonly extolled as the models of correctness1 ,pope1 for example1 and ,addison4 ,the single description of a moonlight night in ,pope's ,iliad contains more inaccuracies than can be found in all the ,excursion4 ,there is not a single scene in ,cato1 in which all that conduces to poetical illusion1 all the propriety of character1 of language1 of situation1 is not more grossly violated than in any part of the ,lay of the last ,minstrel4 ,no man can possibly think that the ,romans of ,addison resemble the real ,romans so closely as the moss-troopers of ,scott resemble the real mosstroopers4 ,wat ,tinlinn and ,william of ,deloraine are not1 it is true1 persons of so much dignity as ,cato4 ,but the dignity of the persons represented has as little to do with the correctness of poetry as with the correctness of painting4 ,we prefer a gipsy by ,reynolds to his ,majesty's head on a sign-post1 and a ,borderer by ,scott to a ,senator by ,addison4 ,in what sense1 then1 is the word correctness used #cdj;by those who say1 with the author of the ,pursuits of ,literature1 that ,pope was the most correct of ,english ,poets1 and that next to ,pope came the late ,mr4 ,gifford8 ,what is the nature and value of that correctness1 the praise of which is denied to ,macbeth1 to ,lear1 and to ,othello1 and given to ,hoole's translations and to all the ,seatonian prize-poems8 ,we can discover no eternal rule1 no rule founded in reason and in the nature of things1 which ,shakspeare does not observe much more strictly than ,pope4 ,but if by correctness be meant the conforming to a narrow legislation which1 while lenient to the mala in se1 multiplies1 without the shadow of a reason1 the mala prohibita1 if by correctness be meant a strict attention to certain ceremonious observances1 which are no more essential to poetry than etiquette to good government1 or than the washings of a ,pharisee to devotion1 then1 assuredly1 ,pope may be a more correct poet than ,shakspeare2 and1 if the code were a little altered1 ,colley ,cibber might be a more correct poet than ,pope4 ,but it may well be doubted whether this kind of correctness be a merit1 nay1 whether it be not an absolute fault4 ,it would be amusing to make a digest of the irrational laws which bad critics have framed for the government of poets4 ,first in celebrity and in absurdity stand the dramatic unities of place and time4 ,no human being has ever been able to find any thing that could1 even by courtesy1 be called an argument for these unities1 except that they have been deduced from the general practice of the ,greeks4 ,it requires no very profound examination to discover that the ,greek dramas1 often admirable as compositions1 are1 as exhibitions of human character and human life1 far inferior to the ,english plays of the age of ,elizabeth4 #cda;,every scholar knows that the dramatic part of the ,athenian tragedies was at first subordinate to the lyrical part4 ,it would1 therefore1 have been little less than a miracle if the laws of the ,athenian stage had been found to suit plays in which there was no chorus4 ,all the greatest masterpieces of the dramatic art have been composed in direct violation of the unities1 and could never have been composed if the unities had not been violated4 ,it is clear1 for example1 that such a character as that of ,hamlet could never have been developed within the limits to which ,alfieri confined himself4 ,yet such was the reverence of literary men during the last century for these unities that ,johnson who1 much to his honour1 took the opposite side1 was1 as he says1 8frightened at his own temerity10 and 8afraid to stand against the authorities which might be produced against him40 ,there are other rules of the same kind without end4 8,shakspeare10 says ,rymer1 8ought not to have made ,othello black2 for the hero of a tragedy ought always to be white40 8,milton10 says another critic1 8ought not to have taken ,adam for his hero2 for the hero of an epic poem ought always to be victorious40 8,milton10 says another1 8ought not to have put so many similes into his first book2 for the first book of an epic poem ought always to be the most unadorned4 ,there are no similes in the first book of the ,iliad40 8,milton10 says another1 8ought not to have placed in an epic poem such lines as these4 8',while thus ,i called1 and strayed ,i knew not whither4'0 ,and why not8 ,the critic is ready with a reason1 a lady's reason4 8,such lines10 says he1 8are not1 it must be allowed1 unpleasing to the ear2 but the redundant #cdbsyllable ought to be confined to the drama1 and not admitted into epic poetry40 ,as to the redundant syllable in heroic rhyme on serious subjects1 it has been1 from the time of ,pope downward1 proscribed by the general consent of all the correct school4 ,no magazine would have admitted so incorrect a couplet as that of ,drayton2 8,as when we lived untouch'd with these disgraces1 ,when as our kingdom was our dear embraces4 ,another law of heroic rhyme1 which1 fifty years ago1 was considered as fundamental1 was1 that there should be a pause1 a comma at least1 at the end of every couplet4 ,it was also provided that there should never be a full stop except at the end of a line4 ,well do we remember to have heard a most correct judge of poetry revile ,mr4 ,rogers for the incorrectness of that most sweet and graceful passage1 8,such grief was ours1--it seems but yesterday1-- ,when in thy prime1 wishing so much to stay1 ',twas thine1 ,maria1 thine without a sigh ,at midnight in a sister's arms to die4 ,oh thou wert lovely2 lovely was thy frame1 ,and pure thy spirit as from heaven it came3 ,and when recalled to join the blest above ,thou diedst a victim to exceeding love1 ,nursing the young to health4 ,in happier hours1 ,when idle ,fancy wove luxuriant flowers1 ,once in thy mirth thou badst me write on thee2 ,and now ,i write what thou shalt never see4 ,sir ,roger ,newdigate is fairly entitled1 we think1 to be ranked among the great critics of this school4 ,he made a law that none of the poems written for the prize which he established at ,oxford should exceed fifty lines4 ,this law seems to us to have at least as much foundation in reason as any of those which we #cdc;have mentioned2 nay1 much more1 for the world1 we believe1 is pretty well agreed in thinking that the shorter a prize-poem is1 the better4 ,we do not see why we should not make a few more rules of the same kind2 why we should not enact that the number of scenes in every act shall be three or some multiple of three1 that the number of lines in every scene shall be an exact square1 that the dramatis personae shall never be more or fewer than sixteen1 and that1 in heroic rhymes1 every thirty-sixth line shall have twelve syllables4 ,if we were to lay down these canons1 and to call ,pope1 ,goldsmith1 and ,addison incorrect writers for not having complied with our whims1 we should act precisely as those critics act who find incorrectness in the magnificent imagery and the varied music of ,coleridge and ,shelley4 ,the correctness which the last century prized so much resembles the correctness of those pictures of the garden of ,eden which we see in old ,bibles4 ,we have an exact square1 enclosed by the rivers ,pison1 ,gihon1 ,hiddekel1 and ,euphrates1 each with a convenient bridge in the centre1 rectangular beds of flowers1 a long canal1 neatly bricked and railed in1 the tree of knowledge1 clipped like one of the limes behind the ,tuilleries1 standing in the centre of the grand alley1 the snake twined round it1 the man on the right hand1 the woman on the left1 and the beasts drawn up in an exact circle round them4 ,in one sense the picture is correct enough4 ,that is to say1 the squares are correct2 the circles are correct2 the man and the woman are in a most correct line with the tree2 and the snake forms a most correct spiral4 ,but if there were a painter so gifted that he could place on the canvass that glorious paradise1 seen by the #cdd;interior eye of him whose outward sight had failed with long watching and labouring for liberty and truth1 if there were a painter who could set before us the mazes of the sapphire brook1 the lake with its fringe of myrtles1 the flowery meadows1 the grottoes overhung by vines1 the forests shining with ,hesperian fruit and with the plumage of gorgeous birds1 the massy shade of that nuptial bower which showered down roses on the sleeping lovers1 what should we think of a connoisseur who should tell us that this painting1 though finer than the absurd picture in the old ,bible1 was not so correct8 ,surely we should answer1 ,it is both finer and more correct2 and it is finer because it is more correct4 ,it is not made up of correctly drawn diagrams2 but it is a correct painting1 a worthy representation of that which it is intended to represent4 ,it is not in the fine arts alone that this false correctness is prized by narrow-minded men1 by men who cannot distinguish means from ends1 or what is accidental from what is essential4 ,m4 ,jourdain admired correctness in fencing4 8,you had no business to hit me then4 ,you must never thrust in quart till you have thrust in tierce40 ,m4 ,tomes liked correctness in medical practice4 8,i stand up for ,artemius4 ,that he killed his patient is plain enough4 ,but still he acted quite according to rule4 ,a man dead is a man dead2 and there is an end of the matter4 ,but if rules are to be broken1 there is no saying what consequences may follow40 ,we have heard of an old ,german officer1 who was a great admirer of correctness in military operations4 ,he used to revile ,bonaparte for spoiling the science of war1 which had been carried to such exquisite perfection by ,marshal #cde;,daun4 8,in my youth we used to march and countermarch all the summer without gaining or losing a square league1 and then we went into winter quarters4 ,and now comes an ignorant1 hot-headed young man1 who flies about from ,bologne to ,ulm1 and from ,ulm to the middle of ,moravia1 and fights battles in ,december4 ,the whole system of his tactics is monstrously incorrect40 ,the world is of opinion1 in spite of critics like these1 that the end of fencing is to hit1 that the end of medicine is to cure1 that the end of war is to conquer1 and that those means are the most correct which best accomplish the ends4 ,and has poetry no end1 no eternal and immutable principles8 ,is poetry1 like heraldry1 mere matter of arbitrary regulation8 ,the heralds tell us that certain scutcheons and bearings denote certain conditions1 and that to put colours on colours1 or metals on metals1 is false blazonry4 ,if all this were reversed1 if every coat of arms in ,europe were new fashioned1 if it were decreed that or should never be placed but on argent1 or argent but on or1 that illegitimacy should be denoted by a lozenge1 and widowhood by a bend1 the new science would be just as good as the old science1 because both the new and the old would be good for nothing4 ,the mummery of ,portcullis and ,rouge ,dragon1 as it has no other value than that which caprice has assigned to it1 may well submit to any laws which caprice may impose on it4 ,but it is not so with that great imitative art1 to the power of which all ages1 the rudest and the most enlightened1 bear witness4 ,since its first great masterpieces were produced1 every thing that is changeable in this world has been changed4 ,civilisation has been gained1 lost1 gained again4 ,religions1 and languages1 and forms of government1 and usages of private #cdflife1 and modes of thinking1 all have undergone a succession of revolutions4 ,every thing has passed away but the great features of nature1 and the heart of man1 and the miracles of that art of which it is the office to reflect back the heart of man and the features of nature4 ,those two strange old poems1 the wonder of ninety generations1 still retain all their freshness4 ,they still command the veneration of minds enriched by the literature of many nations and ages4 ,they are still1 even in wretched translations1 the delight of schoolboys4 ,having survived ten thousand capricious fashions1 having seen successive codes of criticism become obsolete1 they still remain to us1 immortal with the immortality of truth1 the same when perused in the study of an ,english scholar1 as when they were first chanted at the banquets of the ,ionian princes4 ,poetry is1 as was said more than two thousand years ago1 imitation4 ,it is an art analogous in many respects to the art of painting1 sculpture1 and acting4 ,the imitations of the painter1 the sculptor1 and the actor1 are indeed1 within certain limits1 more perfect than those of the poet4 ,the machinery which the poet employs consists merely of words2 and words cannot1 even when employed by such an artist as ,homer or ,dante1 present to the mind images of visible objects quite so lively and exact as those which we carry away from looking on the works of the brush and the chisel4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the range of poetry is infinitely wider than that of any other imitative art1 or than that of all the other imitative arts together4 ,the sculptor can imitate only form2 the painter only form and colour2 the actor1 until the poet supplies him with words1 only form1 colour1 and motion4 ,poetry holds the outer world in common with the other arts4 ,the #cdg;heart of man is the province1 of poetry1 and of poetry alone4 ,the painter1 the sculptor1 and the actor can exhibit no more of human passion and character than that small portion which overflows into the gesture and the face1 always an imperfect1 often a deceitful1 sign of that which is within4 ,the deeper and more complex parts of human nature can be exhibited by means of words alone4 ,thus the objects of the imitation of poetry are the whole external and the whole internal universe1 the face of nature1 the vicissitudes of fortune1 man as he is in himself1 man as he appears in society1 all things which really exist1 all things of which we can form an image in our minds by combining together parts of things which really exist4 ,the domain of this ,imperial art is commensurate with the imaginative faculty4 ,an art essentially imitative ought not surely to be subjected to rules which tend to make its imitations less perfect than they otherwise would be2 and those who obey such rules ought to be called1 not correct1 but incorrect artists4 ,the true way to judge of the rules by which ,english poetry was governed during the last century is to look at the effects which they produced4 ,it was in #aghj that ,johnson completed his ,lives of the ,poets4 ,he tells us in that work that1 since the time of ,dryden1 ,english poetry had shown no tendency to relapse into its original savageness1 that its language had been refined1 its numbers tuned1 and its sentiments improved4 ,it may perhaps be doubted whether the nation had any great reason to exult in the refinements and improvements which gave it ,douglas for ,othello1 and the ,triumphs of ,temper for the ,fairy ,queen4 ,it was during the thirty years which preceded the #cdh;appearance of ,johnson's ,lives that the diction and versification of ,english poetry were1 in the sense in which the word is commonly used1 most correct4 ,those thirty years are1 as respects poetry1 the most deplorable part of our literary history4 ,they have indeed bequeathed to us scarcely any poetry which deserves to be remembered4 ,two or three hundred lines of ,gray1 twice as many of ,goldsmith1 a few stanzas of ,beattie and ,collins1 a few strophes of ,mason1 and a few clever prologues and satires1 were the masterpieces of this age of consummate excellence4 ,they may all be printed in one volume1 and that volume would be by no means a volume of extraordinary merit4 ,it would contain no poetry of the very highest class1 and little which could be placed very high in the second class4 ,the ,paradise ,regained or ,comus would outweigh it all4 ,at last1 when poetry had fallen into such utter decay that ,mr4 ,hayley was thought a great poet1 it began to appear that the excess of the evil was about to work the cure4 ,men became tired of an insipid conformity to a standard which derived no authority from nature or reason4 ,a shallow criticism had taught them to ascribe a superstitious value to the spurious correctness of poetasters4 ,a deeper criticism brought them back to the true correctness of the first great masters4 ,the eternal laws of poetry regained their power1 and the temporary fashions which had superseded those laws went after the wig of ,lovelace and the hoop of ,clarissa4 ,it was in a cold and barren season that the seeds of that rich harvest which we have reaped were first sown4 ,while poetry was every year becoming more feeble and more mechanical1 while the monotonous versification #cdiwhich ,pope had introduced1 no longer redeemed by his brilliant wit and his compactness of expression1 palled on the ear of the public1 the great works of the old masters were every day attracting more and more of the admiration which they deserved4 ,the plays of ,shakspeare were better acted1 better edited1 and better known than they had ever been4 ,our fine ancient ballads were again read with pleasure1 and it became a fashion to imitate them4 ,many of the imitations were altogether contemptible4 ,but they showed that men had at least begun to admire the excellence which they could not rival4 ,a literary revolution was evidently at hand4 ,there was a ferment in the minds of men1 a vague craving for something new1 a disposition to hail with delight any thing which might at first sight wear the appearance of originality4 ,a reforming age is always fertile of impostors4 ,the same excited state of public feeling which produced the great separation from the see of ,rome produced also the excesses of the ,anabaptists4 ,the same stir in the public mind of ,europe which overthrew the abuses of the old ,french government1 produced the ,jacobins and ,theophilanthropists4 ,macpherson and ,della ,crusca were to the true reformers of ,english poetry what ,knipperdoling was to ,luther1 or ,clootz to ,turgot4 ,the success of ,chatterton's forgeries and of the far more contemptible forgeries of ,ireland showed that people had begun to love the old poetry well1 though not wisely4 ,the public was never more disposed to believe stories without evidence1 and to admire books without merit4 ,any thing which could break the dull monotony of the correct school was acceptable4 ,the forerunner of the great restoration of our literature was ,cowper4 ,his literary career began and #cej;ended at nearly the same time with that of ,alfieri4 ,a comparison between ,alfieri and ,cowper may1 at first sight1 appear as strange as that which a loyal ,presbyterian minister is said to have made in #agde between ,george the ,second and ,enoch4 ,it may seem that the gentle1 shy1 melancholy ,calvinist1 whose spirit had been broken by fagging at school1 who had not courage to earn a livelihood by reading the titles of bills in the ,house of ,lords1 and whose favourite associates were a blind old lady and an evangelical divine1 could have nothing in common with the haughty1 ardent1 and voluptuous nobleman1 the horse-jockey1 the libertine1 who fought ,lord ,ligonier in ,hyde ,park1 and robbed the ,pretender of his queen4 ,but though the private lives of these remarkable men present scarcely any points of resemblance1 their literary lives bear a close analogy to each other4 ,they both found poetry in its lowest state of degradation1 feeble1 artificial1 and altogether nerveless4 ,they both possessed precisely the talents which fitted them for the task of raising it from that deep abasement4 ,they cannot1 in strictness1 be called great poets4 ,they had not in any very high degree the creative power1 8,the vision and the faculty divine2 but they had great vigour of thought1 great warmth of feeling1 and what1 in their circumstances1 was above all things important1 a manliness of taste which approached to roughness4 ,they did not deal in mechanical versification and conventional phrases4 ,they wrote concerning things the thought of which set their hearts on fire2 and thus what they wrote1 even when it wanted every other grace1 had that inimitable grace which sincerity and strong passion impart to the rudest and most homely compositions4 ,each of them sought #cea;for inspiration in a noble and affecting subject1 fertile of images which had not yet been hackneyed4 ,liberty was the muse of ,alfieri1 ,religion was the muse of ,cowper4 ,the same truth is found in their lighter pieces4 ,they were not among those who deprecated the severity1 or deplored the absence1 of an unreal mistress in melodious commonplaces4 ,instead of raving about imaginary ,chloes and ,sylvias1 ,cowper wrote of ,mrs4 ,unwin's knitting-needles4 ,the only love-verses of ,alfieri were addressed to one whom he truly and passionately loved4 8,tutte le rime amorose che se-guono10 says he1 8tutte sono per essa1 e ben sue1 e di lei solamente2 poiche mai d0 altra donna per certo non canter40 ,these great men were not free from affectation4 ,but their affectation was directly opposed to the affectation which generally prevailed4 ,each of them expressed1 in strong and bitter language1 the contempt which he felt for the effeminate poetasters who were in fashion both in ,england and in ,italy4 ,cowper complains that 8,manner is all in all1 whate'er is writ1 ,the substitute for genius1 taste1 and wit4 ,he praised ,pope2 yet he regretted that ,pope had 8,made poetry a mere mechanic art1 ,and every warbler had his tune by heart4 ,alfieri speaks with similar scorn of the tragedies of his predecessors4 8,mi eadevano dalle mani per la languidezza1 triviality e prolissit'i dei modi e del verso1 senza parlare poi della snervatezza dei pensieri4 ,or perche mai questa nostra divina lingua1 si maschia aneo1 ed energica1 e feroce1 in boeca di ,dante1 dovra1 ella farsi cost sbiadata ed eunuca nel dialogo tragico80 ,to men thus sick of the languid manner of their #ceb;contemporaries ruggedness seemed a venial fault1 or rather a positive merit4 ,in their hatred of meretricious ornament1 and of what ,cowper calls 8creamy smoothness10 they erred on the opposite side4 ,their style was too austere1 their versification too harsh4 ,it is not easy1 however1 to overrate the service which they rendered to literature4 ,the intrinsic value of their poems is considerable4 ,but the example which they set of mutiny against an absurd system was invaluable4 ,the part which they performed was rather that of ,moses than that of ,joshua4 ,they opened the house of bondage2 but they did not enter the promised land4 ,during the twenty years which followed the death of ,cowper1 the revolution in ,english poetry was fully consummated4 ,none of the writers of this period1 not even ,sir ,walter ,scott1 contributed so much to the consummation as ,lord ,byron4 ,yet ,lord ,byron contributed to it unwillingly1 and with constant self-reproach and shame4 ,all his tastes and inclinations led him to take part with the school of poetry which was going out against the school which was coming in4 ,of ,pope himself he spoke with extravagant admiration4 ,he did not venture directly to say that the little man of ,twickenham was a greater poet than ,shakspeare or ,milton2 but he hinted pretty clearly that he thought so4 ,of his contemporaries1 scarcely any had so much of his admiration as ,mr4 ,gifford1 who1 considered as a poet1 was merely ,pope1 without ,pope's wit and fancy1 and whose satires are decidedly inferior in vigour and poignancy to the very imperfect juvenile performance of ,lord ,byron himself4 ,he now and then praised ,mr4 ,wordsworth and ,mr4 ,coleridge1 but ungraciously and without cordiality4 ,when he attacked them1 he brought his whole soul to the work4 #cec,of the most elaborate of ,mr4 ,wordsworth's poems he could find nothing to say1 but that it was 8clumsy1 and frowsy1 and his aversion40 ,peter ,bell excited his spleen to such a degree that he evoked the shades of ,pope and ,dryden1 and demanded of them whether it were possible that such trash could evade contempt8 ,in his heart he thought his own ,pilgrimage of ,harold inferior to his ,imitation of ,horace's ,art of ,poetry1 la feeble echo of ,pope and ,johnson4 ,this insipid performance he repeatedly designed to publish1 and was withheld only by the solicitations of his friends4 ,he has distinctly declared his approbation of the unities1 the most absurd laws by which genius was ever held in servitude4 ,in one of his works1 we think in his letter to ,mr4 ,bowles1 he compares the poetry of the eighteenth century to the ,parthenon1 and that of the nineteenth to a ,turkish mosque1 and boasts that1 though he had assisted his contemporaries in building their grotesque and barbarous edifice1 he had never joined them in defacing the remains of a chaster and more graceful architecture4 ,in another letter he compares the change which had recently passed on ,english poetry to the decay of ,latin poetry after the ,augustan age4 ,in the time of ,pope1 he tells his friend1 it was all ,horace with us4 ,it is all ,claudian now4 ,for the great old masters of the art he had no very enthusiastic veneration4 ,in his letter to ,mr4 ,bowles he uses expressions which clearly indicate that he preferred ,pope's ,iliad to the original4 ,mr4 ,moore confesses that his friend was no very fervent admirer of ,shakspeare4 ,of all the poets of the first class1 ,lord ,byron seems to have admired ,dante and ,milton most4 ,yet in the fourth canto of ,childe ,harold1 he places ,tasso1 a writer not merely inferior to them1 but of #cedquite a different order of mind1 on at least a footing of equality with them4 ,mr4 ,hunt is1 we suspect1 quite correct in saying that ,lord ,byron could see little or no merit in ,spenser4 ,but ,byron the critic and ,byron the poet were two very different men4 ,the effects of the noble writer's theory may indeed often be traced in his practice4 ,but his disposition led him to accommodate himself to the literary taste of the age in which he lived2 and his talents would have enabled him to accommodate himself to the taste of any age4 ,though he said much of his contempt for mankind1 and though he boasted that amidst the inconstancy of fortune and of fame he was all-sufficient to himself1 his literary career indicated nothing of that lonely and unsocial pride which he affected4 ,we cannot conceive him1 like ,milton or ,wordsworth1 defying the criticism of his contemporaries1 retorting their scorn1 and labouring on a poem in the full assurance that it would be unpopular1 and in the full assurance that it would be immortal4 ,he has said1 by the mouth of one of his heroes1 in speaking of political greatness1 that 8he must serve who fain would sway20 and this he assigns as a reason for not entering into political life4 ,he did not consider that the sway which he had exercised in literature had been purchased by servitude1 by the sacrifice of his own taste to the taste of the public4 ,he was the creature of his age2 and whenever he had lived he would have been the creature of his age4 ,under ,charles the ,first ,byron would have been more quaint than ,donne4 ,under ,charles the ,second the rants of ,byron's rhyming plays would have pitted it1 boxed it1 and galleried it1 with those of any ,bays or ,bilboa4 ,under ,george the ,first the monotonous #ceesmoothness of ,byron's versification and the terseness of his expression would have made ,pope himself envious4 ,as it was1 he was the man of the last thirteen years of the eighteenth century1 and of the first twenty-three years of the nineteenth century4 ,he belonged half to the old1 and half to the new school of poetry4 ,his personal taste led him to the former2 his thirst of praise to the latter2 his talents were equally suited to both4 ,his fame was a common ground on which the zealots of both sides1 ,gifford1 for example1 and ,shelley1 might meet4 ,he was the representative1 not of either literary party1 but of both at once1 and of their conflict1 and of the victory by which that conflict was terminated4 ,his poetry fills and measures the whole of the vast interval through which our literature has moved since the time of ,johnson4 ,it touches the ,essay on ,man at the one extremity1 and the ,excursion at the other4 ,there are several parallel instances in literary history4 ,voltaire1 for example1 was the connecting link between the ,france of ,lewis the ,fourteenth and the ,france of ,lewis the ,sixteenth1 between ,racine and ,boileau on the one side1 and ,condorcet and ,beaumarchais on the other4 ,he1 like ,lord ,byron1 put himself at the head of an intellectual revolution1 dreading it all the time1 murmuring at it1 sneering at it1 yet choosing rather to move before his age in any direction than to be left behind and forgotten4 ,dryden was the connecting link between the literature of the age of ,james the ,first1 and the literature of the age of ,anne4 ,oromasdes and ,arimanes fought for him4 ,arimanes carried him off4 ,but his heart was to the last with ,oromasdes4 ,lord ,byron was1 in the same manner4 #cefthe mediator between two generations1 between two hostile poetical sects4 ,though always sneering at ,mr4 ,wordsworth1 he was yet1 though perhaps unconsciously1 the interpreter between ,mr4 ,wordsworth and the multitude4 ,in the ,lyrical ,ballads and the ,excursion ,mr4 ,wordsworth appeared as the high priest of a worship1 of which nature was the idol4 ,no poems have ever indicated a more exquisite perception of the beauty of the outer world1 or a more passionate love and reverence for that beauty4 ,yet they were not popular2 and it is not likely that they ever will be popular as the poetry of ,sir ,walter ,scott is popular4 ,the feeling which pervaded them was too deep for general sympathy4 ,their style was often too mysterious for general comprehension4 ,they made a few esoteric disciples1 and many scoffers4 ,lord ,byron founded what may be called an exoteric ,lake school2 and all the readers of verse in ,england1 we might say in ,europe1 hastened to sit at his feet4 ,what ,mr4 ,wordsworth had said like a recluse1 ,lord ,byron said like a man of the world1 with less profound feeling1 but with more perspicuity1 energy1 and conciseness4 ,we would refer our readers to the last two cantos of ,childe ,harold and to ,manfred1 in proof of these observations4 ,lord ,byron1 like ,mr4 ,wordsworth1 had nothing dramatic in his genius4 ,he was indeed the reverse of a great dramatist1 the very antithesis to a great dramatist4 ,all his characters1 ,harold looking on the sky1 from which his country and the sun are disappearing together1 the ,giaour1 standing apart in the gloom of the side aisle1 and casting a haggard scowl from under his long hood at the crucifix and the censer1 ,conrad leaning on his sword by the watch-tower1 ,lara smiling on the dancers1 ,alp gazing steadily on the fatal cloud #ceg;as it passes before the moon1 ,manfred wandering among the precipices of ,berne1 ,azzo on the judgment-seat1 ,ugo at the bar1 ,lambrol frowning on the siesta of his daughter and ,juan1 ,cain presenting his unacceptable offering1 are essentially the same4 ,the varieties are varieties merely of age1 situation1 and outward show4 ,if ever ,lord ,byron attempted to exhibit men of a different kind1 he always made them either insipid or unnatural4 ,selim is nothing4 ,bonnivart is nothing4 ,don ,juan1 in the first and best cantos1 is a feeble copy of the ,page in the ,marriage of ,figaro4 ,johnson1 the man whom ,juan meets in the slave-market1 is a most striking failure4 ,how differently would ,sir ,walter ,scott have drawn a bluff1 fearless ,englishman1 in such a situation6 ,the portrait would have seemed to walk out of the canvass4 ,sardanapalus is more coarsely drawn than any dramatic personage that we can remember4 ,his heroism and his effeminacy1 his contempt of death and his dread of a weighty helmet1 his kingly resolution to be seen in the foremost ranks1 and the anxiety with which he calls for a looking-glass1 that he may be seen to advantage1 are contrasted1 it is true1 with all the point of ,juvenal4 ,indeed the hint of the character seems to have been taken from what ,juvenal says of ,otho3 8,speculum civilis sarcina belli4 ,nimirum summi ducis est occidere ,galbam1 ,et curare cutem summi constantia civis1 ,bedriaci in campo spolium affectare l'alati1 ,et pressum in faciem digitis extendere panem4 ,these are excellent lines in a satire4 ,but it is not the business of the dramatist to exhibit characters in this sharp antithetical way4 ,it is not thus that ,shakspeare makes ,prince ,hal rise from the rake of #ceh;,eastcheap into the hero of ,shrewsbury1 and sink again into the ,bike of ,eastcheap4 ,it is not thus that ,shakspeare has exhibited the union of effeminacy and valour in ,antony4 ,a dramatist cannot commit a greater error than that of following those pointed descriptions of character in which satirists and historians indulge so much4 ,it is by rejecting what is natural that satirists and historians produce these striking characters4 ,their great object generally is to ascribe to every man as many contradictory qualities as possible3 and this is an object easily attained4 ,by judicious selection and judicious exaggeration1 the intellect and the disposition of any human being might be described as being made up of nothing but startling contrasts4 ,if the dramatist attempts to create a being answering to one of these descriptions1 he fails1 because he reverses an imperfect analytical process4 ,he produces1 not a man1 but a personified epigram4 ,very eminent writers have fallen into this snare4 ,ben ,jonson has given us a ,hermogenes1 taken from the lively lines of ,horace2 but the inconsistency which is so amusing in the satire appears unnatural and disgusts us in the play4 ,sir ,walter ,scott has committed a far more glaring error of the same kind in the novel of ,peveril4 ,admiring1 as every judicious reader must admire1 the keen and vigorous lines in which ,dryden satirised the ,duke of ,buckingham1 ,sir ,walter attempted to make a ,duke of ,buckingham to suit them1 a real living ,zimri2 and he made1 not a man1 but the most grotesque of all monsters4 ,a writer who should attempt to introduce into a play or a novel such a ,wharton as the ,wharton of ,pope1 or a ,lord ,hervey answering to ,sporus1 would fail in the same manner4 ,but to return to ,lord ,byron2 his women1 like his men1 #cei;are all of one breed4 ,haidee is a half-savage and girlish ,julia2 ,julia is a civilised and matronly ,haidee4 ,leila is a wedded ,zuleika1 ,zuleika a virgin ,leila4 ,gulnare and ,medora appear to have been intentionally opposed to each other4 ,yet the difference is a difference of situation only4 ,a slight change of circumstances would1 it should seem1 have sent ,gulnare to the lute of ,medora1 and armed ,medora with the dagger of ,gulnare4 ,it is hardly too much to say1 that ,lord ,byron could exhibit only one man and only one woman1 a man proud1 moody1 cynical1 with defiance on his brow1 and misery in his heart1 a scorner of his kind1 implacable in revenge1 yet capable of deep and strong affection3 a woman all softness and gentleness1 loving to caress and to be caressed1 but capable of being transformed by passion into a tigress4 ,even these two characters1 his only two characters1 he could not exhibit dramatically4 ,he exhibited them in the manner1 not of ,shakspeare1 but of ,clarendon4 ,he analysed them2 he made them analyse themselves2 but he did not make them show themselves4 ,we are told1 for example1 in many lines of great force and spirit1 that the speech of ,lara was bitterly sarcastic1 that he talked little of his travels1 that if he was much questioned about them1 his answers became short1 and his brow gloomy4 ,but we have none of ,lara's sarcastic speeches or short answers4 ,it is not thus that the great masters of human nature have portrayed human beings4 ,homer never tells us that ,nestor loved to relate long stories about his youth4 ,shakspeare never tells us that in the mind of ,iago every thing that is beautiful and endearing was associated with some filthy and debasing idea4 #cfj;,it is curious to observe the tendency which the dialogue of ,lord ,byron always has to lose its character of a dialogue1 and to become soliloquy4 ,the scenes between ,manfred and the ,chamois-hunter1 between ,manfred and the ,witch of the ,alps1 between ,manfred and the ,abbot1 are instances of this tendency4 ,manfred1 after a few unimportant speeches1 has all the talk to himself4 ,the other interlocutors are nothing more than good listeners4 ,they drop an occasional question or ejaculation which sets ,manfred off again on the inexhaustible topic of his personal feelings4 ,if we examine the fine passages in ,lord ,byron's dramas1 the description of ,rome1 for example1 in ,manfred1 the description of a ,venetian revel in ,marino ,faliero1 the concluding invective which the old doge pronounces against ,venice1 we shall find that there is nothing dramatic in these speeches1 that they derive none of their effect from the character or situation of the speaker1 and that they would have been as fine1 or finer1 if they had been published as fragments of blank verse by ,lord ,byron4 ,there is scarcely a speech in ,shakspeare of which the same could be said4 ,no skilful reader of the plays of ,shakspeare can endure to see what are called the fine things taken out1 under the name of 8,beauties0 or of 8,elegant ,extracts10 or to hear any single passage1 8,to be or not to be10 for example1 quoted as a sample of the great poet4 8,to be or not to be0 has merit undoubtedly as a composition4 ,it would have merit if put into the mouth of a chorus4 ,but its merit as a composition vanishes when compared with its merit as belonging to ,hamlet4 ,it is not too much to say that the great plays of ,shakspeare would lose less by being deprived of all the passages which are commonly called the fine passages1 than those passages #cfalose by being read separately from the play4 ,this is perhaps the highest praise which can be given to a dramatist4 ,on the other hand1 it may be doubted whether there is1 in all ,lord ,byron's plays1 a single remarkable passage which owes any portion of its interest or effect to its connection with the characters or the action4 ,he has written only one scene1 as far as we can recollect1 which is dramatic even in manner1 the scene between ,lucifer and ,cain4 ,the conference is animated1 and each of the interlocutors has a fair share of it4 ,but this scene1 when examined1 will be found to be a confirmation of our remarks4 ,it is a dialogue only in form4 ,it is a soliloquy in essence4 ,it is in reality a debate carried on within one single unquiet and sceptical mind4 ,the questions and the answers1 the objections and the solutions1 all belong to the same character4 ,a writer who showed so little dramatic skill in works professedly dramatic was not likely to write narrative with dramatic effect4 ,nothing conld indeed be more rude and careless than the structure of his narrative poems4 ,he seems to have thought1 with the hero of the ,rehearsal1 that the plot was good for nothing but to bring in fine things4 ,his two longest works1 ,childe ,harold and ,don ,juan1 have no plan whatever4 ,either of them might have been extended to any length1 or cut short at any point4 ,the state in which the ,giaour appears illustrates the manner in which all ,byron's poems were constructed4 ,they are all1 like the ,giaour1 collections of fragments2 and1 though there may be no empty spaces marked by asterisks1 it is still easy to perceive1 by the clumsiness of the joining1 where the parts for the sake of which the whole was composed end and begin4 #cfb;,it was in description and meditation that ,byron excelled4 8,description10 as he said in ,don ,juan1 8was his forte40 ,his manner is indeed peculiar1 and is almost unequalled2 rapid1 sketchy1 full of vigour2 the selection happy2 the strokes few and bold4 ,in spite of the reverence which we feel for the genius of ,mr4 ,wordsworth we cannot but think that the minuteness of his descriptions often diminishes their effect1 ,he has accustomed himself to gaze on nature with the eye of a lover1 to dwell on every feature1 and to mark every change of aspect4 ,those beauties which strike the most negligent observer1 and those which only a close attention discovers1 are equally familiar to him and are equally prominent in his poetry4 ,the proverb of old ,hesiod1 that half is often more than the whole1 is eminently applicable to description4 ,the policy of the ,dutch who cut down most of the precious trees in the ,spice ,islands1 in order to raise the value of what remained1 was a policy which poets would do well to imitate4 ,it was a policy which no poet understood better than ,lord ,byron4 ,whatever his faults might be1 he was never1 while his mind retained its vigour1 accused of prolixity4 ,his descriptions1 great as was their intrinsic merit1 derived their principal interest from the feeling which always mingled with them4 ,he was himself the beginning1 the middle1 and the end1 of all his own poetry1 the hero of every tale1 the chief object in every landscape4 ,harold1 ,lara1 ,manfred1 and a crowd of other characters1 were universally considered merely as loose incognitos of ,byron2 and there is every reason to believe that he meant them to be so considered4 ,the wonders of the outer world1 the ,tagus1 with the mighty fleets of ,england riding on its bosom1 the towers of #cfc;,cintra overhanging the shaggy forest of cork-trees and willows1 the glaring marble of ,pentelicus1 the banks of the ,rhine1 the glaciers of ,clarens1 the sweet ,lake of ,leman1 the dell of ,egeria with its summer-birds and rustling lizards1 the shapeless ruins of ,rome overgrown with ivy and wall-flowers1 the stars1 the sea1 the mountains1 all were mere accessaries1 the background to one dark and melancholy figure4 ,never had any writer so vast a command of the whole eloquence of scorn1 misanthropy and despair4 ,that ,marah was never dry4 ,no art could sweeten1 no draughts could exhaust1 its perennial waters of bitterness4 ,never was there such variety in monotony as that of ,byron4 ,from maniac laughter to piercing lamentation1 there was not a single note of human anguish of which he was not master4 ,year after year1 and month after month1 he continued to repeat that to be wretched is the destiny of all2 that to be eminently wretched is the destiny of the eminent2 that all the desires by which we are cursed lead alike to misery1 if they are not gratified1 to the misery of disappointment1 if they are gratified1 to the misery of satiety4 ,his heroes are men who have arrived by different roads at the same goal of despair1 who are sick of life1 who are at war with society1 who are supported in their anguish only by an unconquerable pride resembling that of ,prometheus on the rock or of ,satan in the burning marl1 who can master their agonies by the force of their will1 and who1 to the last1 defy the whole power of earth and heaven4 ,he always described himself as a man of the same kind with his favourite creations1 as a man whose heart had been withered1 whose capacity for happiness was gone and could not be restored1 but whose invincible spirit dared the worst that could befall him here or hereafter4 #cfd;,how much of this morbid feeling sprang from an original disease of the mind1 how much from real misfortune1 how much from the nervousness of dissipation1 how much was fanciful1 how much was merely affected1 it is impossible for us1 and would probably have been impossible for the most intimate friends of ,lord ,byron1 to decide4 ,whether there ever existed1 or can ever exist1 a person answering to the description which he gave of himself may be doubted2 but that he was not such a person is beyond all doubt4 ,it is ridiculous to imagine that a man whose mind was really imbued with scorn of his fellow-creatures would have published three or four books every year in order to tell them so2 or that a man who could say with truth that he neither sought sympathy nor needed it would have admitted all ,europe to hear his farewell to his wife1 and his blessings on his child4 ,in the second canto of ,childe ,harold1 he tells us that he is insensible to fame and obloquy3 8,ill may such contest now the spirit move1 ,which heeds nor keen reproof nor partial praise4 ,yet we know on the best evidence that1 a day or two before he published these lines1 he was greatly1 indeed childishly1 elated by the compliments paid to his maiden speech ,in the ,house of ,lords4 ,we are far1 however1 from thinking that his sadness was altogether feigned4 ,he was naturally a man of great sensibility2 he had been ill educated2 his feelings had been early exposed to sharp trials2 he had been crossed in his boyish love2 he had been mortified by the failure of his first literary efforts2 he was straitened in pecuniary circumstances2 he was unfortunate in his domestic relations2 the public treated him with cruel injustice3 his health and spirits suffered from his #cfe;dissipated habits of life2 he was1 on the whole1 an unhappy man4 ,he early discovered that1 by parading his unhappiness before the multitude1 he produced an immense sensation4 ,the world gave him every encouragement to talk about his mental sufferings4 ,the interest which his first confessions excited induced him to affect much that he did not feel2 and the affectation probably reacted on his feelings4 ,how far the character in which he exhibited himself was genuine1 and how far theatrical1 it would probably have puzzled himself to say4 ,there can be no doubt that this remarkable man owed the vast influence which he exercised over his contemporaries at least as much to his gloomy egotism as to the real power of his poetry4 ,we never could very clearly understand how it is that egotism1 so unpopular in conversation1 should be so popular in writing2 or how it is that men who affect in their compositions qualities and feelings which they have not1 impose so much more easily on their contemporaries than on posterity4 ,the interest which the loves of ,petrarch excited in his own time1 and the pitying fondness with which half ,europe looked upon ,rousseau1 are well known4 ,to readers of our age1 the love of ,petrarch seems to have been love of that kind which breaks no hearts1 and the sufferings of ,rousseau to have deserved laughter rather than pity1 to have been partly counterfeited1 and partly the consequences of his own perverseness and vanity4 ,what our grandchildren may think of the character of ,lord ,byron1 as exhibited in his poetry1 we will not pretend to guess4 ,it is certain1 that the interest which he excited during his life is without a parallel in literary history ,the feeling with which young readers of #cffpoetry regarded him can be conceived only by those who have experienced it4 ,to people who are unacquainted with real calamity1 8nothing is so dainty sweet as lovely melancholy40 ,this faint image of sorrow has in all ages been considered by young gentlemen as an agreeable excitement4 ,old gentlemen and middle-aged gentlemen have so many real causes of sadness that they are rarely inclined 8to be as sad as night only for wantonness40 ,indeed they want the power almost as much as the inclination4 ,we know very few persons engaged in active life who1 even if they were to procure stools to be melancholy upon1 and were to sit down with all the premeditation of ,master ,stephen1 would be able to enjoy much of what somebody calls the 8ecstasy of woe40 ,among that large class of young persons whose reading is almost entirely confined to works of imagination1 the popularity of ,lord ,byron was unbounded4 ,they bought pictures of him2 they treasured up the smallest relics of him2 they learned his poems by heart1 and did their best to write like him1 and to look like him4 ,many of them practised at the glass in the hope of catching the curl of the upper lip1 and the scowl of the brow1 which appear in some of his portraits4 ,a few discarded their neckcloths in imitation of their great leader4 ,for some years the ,minerva press sent forth no novel without a mysterious1 unhappy1 ,lara-like peer4 ,the number of hopeful under-graduates and medical students who became things of dark imaginings1 on whom the freshness of the heart ceased to fall like dew1 whose passions had consumed themselves to dust1 and to whom the relief of tears was denied1 passes all calculation4 ,this was not the worst4 ,there was created in the minds of #cfgmany of these enthusiasts a pernicious and absurd association between intellectual power and moral depravity4 ,from the poetry of ,lord ,byron they drew a system of ethics1 compounded of misanthropy and voluptuousness1 a system in which the two great commandments were1 to hate your neighbour1 and to love your neighbour's wife4 ,this affectation has passed away2 and a few more years will destroy whatever yet remains of that magical potency which once belonged to the name of ,byron4 ,to us he is still a man1 young1 noble1 and unhappy4 ,to our children he will be merely a writer2 and their impartial judgment will appoint his place among writers1 without regard to his rank or to his private history4 ,that his poetry will undergo a severe sifting1 that much of what has been admired by his contemporaries will be rejected as worthless1 we have little doubt4 ,but we have as little doubt1 that1 after the closest scrutiny1 there will still remain much that can only perish with the ,english language4 ,,samuel ,,johnson4 7#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,september #ahca47 ,this #cfhwork has greatly disappointed us4 ,whatever faults we may have been prepared to find in it1 we fully expected that it would be a valuable addition to ,english literature2 that it would contain many curious facts1 and many judicious remarks2 that the style of the notes would be neat1 clear1 and precise2 and that the typographical execution would be1 as in new editions of classical works it ought to be1 almost faultless4 ,we are sorry to be obliged to say that the merits of ,mr4 ,croker's performance are on a par with those of a certain leg of mutton on which ,dr4 ,johnson dined1 while travelling from ,london to ,oxford1 and which he1 with characteristic energy1 pronounced to be 8as bad as bad could be1 ill fed1 ill killed1 ill kept1 and ill dressed40 ,this edition is ill compiled1 ill arranged1 ill written1 and ill printed4 ,nothing in the work has astonished us so much as the ignorance or carelessness of ,mr4 ,croker with respect to facts and dates4 ,many of his blunders are such as we should be surprised to hear any well educated 7#a7 ,the ,life of ,samuel ,johnson1 ,,ll4,d4 ,including a ,journal of a ,tour to the ,hebrides1 by ,james ,boswell1 ,esq4 ,a new ,edition1 with numerous ,additions and ,notes4 ,by ,john ,wilson ,croker1 ,,ll4,d4 ,f4,r4,s4 ,five volumes #hvo4 ,london3 #ahca4 #cfi;gentleman commit1 even in conversation4 ,the notes absolutely swarm with misstatements into which the editor never would have fallen1 if he had taken the slightest pains to investigate the truth of his assertions1 or if he had even been well acquainted with the book on which he undertook to comment4 ,we will give a few instances4 ,mr4 ,croker tells us in a note that ,derrick1 who was master of the ceremonies at ,bath1 died very poor in #agfj4 7#a7 ,we read on2 and1 a few pages later1 we find ,dr4 ,johnson and ,boswell talking of this same ,derrick as still living and reigning1 as having retrieved his character1 as possessing so much power over his subjects at ,bath1 that his opposition might be fatal to ,sheridan's lectures on oratory4 7#b7 ,and all this is ,in #agfc4 ,the fact is1 that ,derrick died in #agfi4 ,in one note we read1 that ,sir ,herbert ,croft1 the author of that pompous and foolish account of ,young1 which appears among the ,lives of the ,poets1 died in #ahje4 7#c7 ,another note in the same volume states1 that this same ,sir ,herbert ,croft died at ,paris1 after residing abroad for fifteen years1 on the #bgth of ,april #ahaf4 7#d7 ,mr4 ,croker informs us1 that ,sir ,william ,forbes of ,pitsligo1 the author of the ,life of ,beattie1 died in #ahaf4 7#e7 ,a ,sir ,william ,forbes undoubtedly died in that year1 but not the ,sir ,william ,forbes in question1 whose death took place in #ahjf4 ,it is notorious1 indeed1 that the biographer of ,beattie lived just long enough to complete the history of his friend4 ,eight or nine years before the date which ,mr4 ,croker has assigned for ,sir ,william's death1 ,sir ,walter ,scott 7#a7 ,i4 #cid4 7#b7 ,i4 #djd4 7#c7 ,,iv4 #cba 7#d7 ,,iv4 #dbh4 7#e7 ,,ii4 #bfb4 #cgjlamented that event in the introduction to the fourth canto of ,marmion4 ,every school-girl knows the lines3 8,scarce had lamented ,forbes paid ,the tribute to his ,minstrel's shade2 ,the tale of friendship scarce was told1 ,ere the narrator's heart was cold3 ,far may we search before we find ,a heart so manly and so kind60 ,in one place1 we are told1 that ,allan ,ramsay1 the painter1 was born in #agji1 and died in #aghd2 7#a7 in another1 that he died in #aghd1 in the seventy-first year of his age4 7#b7 ,in one place1 ,mr4 ,croker says1 that at the commencement of the intimacy between ,dr4 ,johnson and ,mrs4 ,thrale1 in #agfe1 the lady was twenty-five years old4 7#c7 ,in other places he says1 that ,mrs4 ,thrale's thirty-fifth year coincided with ,johnson's seventieth47#d7 ,johnson was born in #agji4 ,if1 therefore1 ,mrs4 ,thrale's thirty-fifth year coincided with ,johnson's seventieth1 she could have been only twenty-one years old in #agfe4 ,this is not all4 ,mr4 ,croker1 in another place1 assigns the year #aggg as the date of the complimentary lines which ,johnson made on ,mrs4 ,thrale's thirty-fifth birth-day4 7#e7 ,if this date be correct1 ,mrs4 ,thrale must have been born in #agdb1 and could have been only twenty-three when her acquaintance with ,johnson commenced4 ,mr4 ,croker therefore gives us three different statements as to her age4 ,two of the three must be incorrect4 ,we will not decide between them2 we will only say1 that the reasons which ,mr4 ,croker gives for thinking that ,mrs4 ,thrale was exactly thirty-five years old when ,johnson was seventy1 appear to us utterly frivolous4 7#a7 ,,iv4 #aje4 7#b7 ,v4 #bha4 7#c7 ,i4 #eaj4 7#d7 ,,iv4 #bga4 #cbb4 7#e7 ,,iii4 #dfc4 #cga;,again1 ,mil ,croker informs his readers that 8,lord ,mansfield survived ,johnson full ten years40 7#a7 ,lord ,mansfield survived ,dr4 ,johnson just eight years and a quarter4 ,johnson found in the ,library of a ,french lady1 whom he visited during his short visit to ,paris1 some works which he regarded with great disdain4 8,i looked10 says he1 8into the books in the lady's closet1 and1 in contempt1 showed them to ,mr4 ,thrale4 ,prince ,titi1 ,bibliothque des ,fes1 and other books40 7#b7 8,the ,history of ,prince ,titi10 observes ,mr4 ,croker1 8was said to be the autobiography of ,frederick ,prince of ,wales1 but was probably written by ,ralph his secretary40 ,a more absurd note never was penned4 ,the history of ,prince ,titi1 to which ,mr4 ,croker refers1 whether written by ,prince ,frederick or by ,ralph1 was certainly never published4 ,if ,mr4 ,croker had taken the trouble to read with attention that very passage in ,park's ,royal and ,noble ,authors which he cites as his authority1 he would have seen that the manuscript was given up to the government4 ,even if this memoir had been printed1 it is not very likely to find its way into a ,french lady's bookcase4 ,and would any man in his senses speak contemptuously of a ,french lady1 for having in her possession an ,english work1 so curious and interesting as a ,life of ,prince ,frederick1 whether written by himself or by a confidential secretary1 must have been8 ,the history at which ,johnson laughed was a very proper companion to the ,bibliothque des ,fes1 a fairy tale about good ,prince ,titi and naughty ,prince ,violent4 ,mr4 ,croker may find it in the ,magasin des ,enfans1 the first ,french book which the little girls of ,england read to their governesses4 7#a7 ,,ii4 #aea4 7#b7 ,,iii4 #bga4 #cgb,mr4 ,croker states that ,mr4 ,henry ,bate1 who afterwards assumed the name of ,dudley1 was proprietor of the ,morning ,herald1 and fought a duel with ,george ,robinson ,stoney1 in consequence of some attacks on ,lady ,strathmore which appeared in that paper47#a7 ,now ,mr4 ,bate was then connected1 not with the ,morning ,herald1 but with the ,morning ,post2 and the dispute took place before the ,morning ,herald was in existence4 ,the duel was fought in ,january1 #aggg4 ,the ,chronicle of the ,annual ,register for that year contains an account of the transaction1 and distinctly states that ,mr4 ,bate was editor of the ,morning ,post4 ,the ,morning ,herald1 as any person may see by looking at any number of it1 was not established till some years after this affair4 ,for this blunder there is1 we must acknowledge1 some excuse3 for it certainly seems almost incredible to a person living in our time that any human being should ever have stooped to fight with a writer in the ,morning ,post4 8,james de ,duglas10 says ,mr4 ,croker1 8was requested by ,king ,robert ,bruce1 in his last hours1 to repair1 with his heart to ,jerusalem1 land humbly to deposit it at the sepulchre of our ,lord1 which he did in #acbi47b7 ,now1 it is well known that he did no such thing1 and for a very sufficient reason1 because he was killed by the way4 ,nor was it in #acbi that he set out4 ,robert ,bruce died in #acbi1 and the expedition of ,douglas took place in the following year1 8,quand le printems vint et la saison10 says ,froissart1 in ,june1 #accj1 says ,lord ,hailes1 whom ,mr4 ,croker cites as the authority for his statement4 ,mr4 ,croker tells us that the great ,marquis of ,montrose was beheaded at ,edinburgh in #afej47c7 ,there is not 7#a7 ,v4 #aif4 7#b7 ,,iv4 #bi4 7#c7 ,,ii4 #ebf4 a #cgc;forward boy at any school in ,england who does not know that the marquis was hanged4 ,the account of the execution is one of the finest passages in ,lord ,clarendon's ,history4 ,we can scarcely suppose that ,mr4 ,croker has never read that passage2 and yet we can scarcely suppose that any person who has ever perused so noble and pathetic a story can have utterly forgotten all its most striking circumstances4 8,lord ,townshend10 says ,mr4 ,croker1 8was not secretary of state till #agbj47a7 ,can ,mr4 ,croker possibly be ignorant that ,lord ,townshend was made secretary of state at the accession of ,george ,i4 in #agad1 that he continued to be secretary of state till he was displaced by the intrigues of ,sunderland and ,stanhope at the close of #agaj1 and that he returned to the office of secretary of state1 not in #agbj1 but in #agba8 ,mr4 ,croker1 indeed1 is generally unfortunate in his statements respecting the ,townshend family4 ,he tells us that ,charles ,townshend1 the chancellor of the exchequer1 was 8nephew of the prime minister1 and son of a peer who was secretary of state1 and leader of the ,house of ,lords40 7#b7 ,charles ,townshend was not nephew1 but grandnephew1 of the ,duke of ,newcastle1 not son1 but grandson1 of the ,lord ,townshend who was secretary of state1 and leader of the ,house of ,lords4 8,general ,burgoyne surrendered at ,saratoga10 says ,mr4 ,croker1 8in ,march1 #aggh40 7#c7 ,general ,burgoyne surrendered on the #agth of ,october1 #aggg4 8,nothing10 says ,mr4 ,croker1 8can be more unfounded than the assertion that ,byng fell a martyr to political party4 ,by a strange coincidence of circumstances1 it happened that there was a total change of administration between his condemnation and his death3 7#a7 ,,iii4 #eb4 7#b7 ,,iii4 #cfh4 7#c7 ,,iv4 #bbb4 #cgdso that one party presided at his trial1 and another at his execution3 there can be no stronger proof that he was not a political martyr40 7#a7 ,now what will our readers think of this writer1 when we assure them that this statement1 so confidently made1 respecting events so notorious1 is absolutely untrue8 ,one and the same administration was in office when the court-martial on ,byng commenced its sittings1 through the whole trial1 at the condemnation1 and at the execution4 ,in the month of ,november1 #agef1 the ,duke of ,newcastle and ,lord ,hardwicke resigned2 the ,duke of ,devonshire became first lord of the treasury1 and ,mr4 ,pitt1 secretary of state4 ,this administration lasted till the month of ,april1 #ageg4 ,byng's court-martial began to sit on the #bhth of ,december1 #agef4 ,he was shot on the #adth of ,march1 #ageg4 ,there is something at once diverting and provoking in the cool and authoritative manner in which ,mr4 ,croker makes these random assertions4 ,we do not suspect him of intentionally falsifying history4 ,but of this high literary misdemeanour we do without hesitation accuse him1 that he has no adequate sense of the obligation which a writer1 who professes to relate facts1 owes to the public4 ,we accuse him of a negligence and an ignorance analogous to that crassa negligentia1 and that crassa ignorantia1 on which the law animadverts in magistrates and surgeons1 even when malice and corruption are not imputed4 ,we accuse him of having undertaken a work which1 if not performed with strict accuracy1 must be very much worse than useless1 and of having performed it as if the difference between an accurate and an inaccurate statement was not worth the trouble of looking into the most common book of reference4 7#a7 #a4 #bih4 #cge;,but we must proceed4 ,these volumes contain mistakes more gross1 if possible1 than any that we have yet mentioned4 ,boswell has recorded some observations made by ,johnson on the changes which had taken place in ,gibbon's religious opinions4 ,that ,gibbon when a lad at ,oxford turned ,catholic is well known4 8,it is said10 cried ,johnson1 laughing1 8that he has been a ,mahommedan40 8,this sarcasm10 says the editor1 8probably alludes to the tenderness with which ,gibbon's malevolence to ,christianity induced him to treat ,mahommedanism in his history40 ,now the sarcasm was uttered in #aggj2 and that part of the ,history of the ,decline and ,fall of the ,roman ,empire which relates to ,mahommedanism was not published till #aghh1 twelve years after the date of this conversation1 and near four years after the death of ,johnson4 7#a7 8,it was in the year #agja10 says ,mr4 ,croker1 8that ,goldsmith published his ,vicar of ,wakefield4 ,this 7#a7 ,a defence of this blunder was attempted4 ,that the celebrated chapters in which ,gibbon has traced the progress of ,mahommedanism were not written in #aggf could not be denied4 ,but it was confidently asserted that his partiality to ,mahommedanism appeared in his first volume4 ,this assertion is untrue4 ,no passage which can by any art be construed into the faintest indication of the faintest partiality for ,mahommedanism has ever been quoted or ever will be quoted from the first volume of the ,history of the ,decline and ,fall of the ,woman ,empire4 ,to what then1 it has been asked1 could ,johnson allude8 ,possibly to some anecdote or some conversation of which all trace is lost4 ,one conjecture may be offered1 though with diffidence4 ,gibbon tells us in his memoirs1 that at ,oxford he took a fancy for studying ,arabic1 and was prevented from doing so by the remonstrances of his tutor4 ,soon after this1 the young man fell in with ,bossuet's controversial writings1 and was speedily converted by them to the ,roman ,catholic faith4 ,the apostasy of a gentleman commoner would of course be for a time the chief subject of conversation in the common room of ,magdalene4 ,his whim about ,arabic learning would naturally be mentioned1 and would give occasion to some jokes about the probability of his turning ,mussulman4 ,if such jokes were made1 ,johnson1 who frequently visited ,oxford1 was very likely to hear of them4 #cgfleads the editor to observe a more serious inaccuracy of ,mrs4 ,piozzi1 than ,mr4 ,boswell notices1 when he says ,johnson left her table to go and sell the ,vicar of ,wakefield for ,goldsmith4 ,now ,dr4 ,johnson was not acquainted with the ,thrales till #agfe1 four years after the book had been published40 7#a7 ,mr4 ,croker1 in reprehending the fancied inaccuracy of ,mrs4 ,thrale1 has himself shown a degree of inaccuracy1 or1 to speak more properly1 a degree of ignorance1 hardly credible4 ,in the first place1 ,johnson became acquainted with the ,thrales1 not in #agfe1 but in #agfd1 and during the last weeks of #agfd dined with them every ,thursday1 as is written in ,mrs4 ,piozzi's anecdotes4 ,in the second place1 ,goldsmith published the ,vicar of ,wakefield1 not in #agfa1 but in #agff4 ,mrs4 ,thrale does not pretend to remember the precise date of the summons which called ,johnson from her table to the help of his friend4 ,she says only that it was near the beginning of her acquaintance with ,johnson1 and certainly not later than #agff4 ,her accuracy is therefore completely vindicated4 ,it was probably after one of her ,thursday dinners in #agfd that the celebrated scene of the landlady1 the sheriff's officer1 and the bottle of ,madeira1 took place4 7#b7 ,the very page which contains this monstrous blunder1 contains another blunder1 if possible1 more monstrous still4 ,sir ,joseph ,mawbey1 a foolish member of ,parliament1 at whose speeches and whose pig-styes the wits of ,brookes's were1 fifty years ago1 in the habit of laughing most unmercifully1 stated1 on the authority of ,garrick1 that ,johnson1 while sitting in a coffee-house 7#a7 ,v4 #dji4 7#b7 ,this paragraph has been altered2 and a slight inaccuracy immaterial to the argument1 has been removed4 #cgg;at ,oxford1 about the time of his doctor's degree1 used some contemptuous expressions respecting ,home's play and ,macpherson's ,ossian4 8,many men10 he said1 8many women1 and many children1 might have written ,douglas40 ,mr4 ,croker conceives that he has detected an inaccuracy1 and glories over poor ,sir ,joseph in a most characteristic manner4 8,i have quoted this anecdote solely with the view of showing to how little credit hearsay anecdotes are in general entitled4 ,here is a story published by ,sir ,joseph ,mawbey1 a member of the ,house of ,commons1 and a person every way worthy of credit1 who says he had it from ,garrick4 ,now mark3 ,johnson's visit to ,oxford1 about the time of his doctor's degree1 was in #aged1 the first time he had been there since he left the university4 ,but ,douglas was not acted till #agej1 and ,ossian not published till #agfj4 ,all1 therefore1 that is new in ,sir ,joseph ,mawbey's story is false40 7#a7 ,assuredly we need not go far to find ample proof that a member of the ,house of ,commons may commit a very gross error4 ,now mark1 say we1 in the language of ,mr4 ,croker4 ,the fact is1 that ,johnson took his ,master's degree in #aged 7#b7 and his ,doctor's degree in #agge4 7#c7 ,in the spring of #aggf1 7#d7 he paid a visit to ,oxford1 and at this visit a conversation respecting the works of ,home and ,macpherson might have taken place1 and1 in all probability1 did take place4 ,the only real objection to the story ,mr4 ,croker has missed4 ,boswell states1 apparently on the best authority1 that as early at least as the year #agjc1 ,johnson1 in conversation with ,blair1 used the same expressions respecting ,ossian1 which ,sir ,joseph represents him as having used respecting ,douglas4 7#e7 ,sir ,joseph1 or ,garrick1 confounded1 7#a7 ,v4 #aji4 7#b7 ,i4 #bfb4 7#c7 ,,iii4 #bje4 7#d7 ,,iii4 #cbf4 7#e7 ,i4 #dje4 #cghwe suspect1 the two stories4 ,but their error is venial1 compared with that of ,mr4 ,croker4 ,we will not multiply instances of this scandalous inaccuracy4 ,it is clear that a writer who1 even when warned by the text on which he is commenting1 falls into such mistakes as these1 is entitled to no confidence whatever4 ,mr4 ,croker has committed an error of five years with respect to the publication of ,goldsmith's novel1 an error of twelve years with respect to the publication of part of ,gibbon's ,history1 an error of twenty-one years with respect to an event in ,johnson's life so important as the taking of the doctoral degree4 ,two of these three errors he has committed1 while ostentatiously displaying his own accuracy1 and correcting what he represents as the loose assertions of others4 ,how can his readers take on trust his statements concerning the births1 marriages1 divorces1 and deaths of a crowd of people1 whose names are scarcely known to this generation8 ,it is not likely that a person who is ignorant of what almost every body knows can know that of which almost every body is ignorant4 ,we did not open this book with any wish to find blemishes in it4 ,we have made no curious researches4 ,the work itself1 and a very common knowledge of literary and political history1 have enabled us to detect the mistakes which we have pointed out1 and many other mistakes of the same kind4 ,we must say1 and we say it with regret1 that we do not consider the authority of ,mr4 ,croker1 unsupported by other evidence1 as sufficient to justify any writer who may follow him in relating a single anecdote or in assigning a date to a single event4 ,mr4 ,croker shows almost as much ignorance and heedlessness in his criticisms as in his statements concerning #cgi;facts4 ,dr4 ,johnson said1 very reasonably as it appears to us1 that some of the satires of ,juvenal are too gross for imitation4 ,mr4 ,croker1 who1 by the way1 is angry with ,johnson for defending ,prior's tales against the charge of indecency1 resents this aspersion on ,juvenal1 and indeed refuses to believe that the doctor can have said any thing so absurd4 ,he probably said--some passages of them--for there are none of ,juvenal's satires to which the same objection may be made as to one of ,horace's1 that it is altogether gross and licentious4 7#a7 ,surely ,mr4 ,croker can never have read the second and ninth satires of ,juvenal4 ,indeed the decisions of this editor on points of classical learning1 though pronounced in a very authoritative tone1 are generally such that1 if a schoolboy under our care were to utter them1 our soul assuredly should not spare for his crying4 ,it is no disgrace to a gentleman who has been engaged during near thirty years in political life that he has forgotten his ,greek and ,latin4 ,but he becomes justly ridiculous if1 when no longer able to construe a plain sentence1 he affects to sit in judgment on the most delicate questions of style and metre4 ,from one blunder1 a blunder which no good scholar would have made1 ,mr4 ,croker was saved1 as he informs us1 by ,sir ,robert ,peel1 who quoted a passage exactly in point from ,horace4 ,we heartily wish that ,sir ,robert1 whose classical attainments are well known1 had been more frequently consulted4 ,unhappily he was not always at his friend's elbow2 and we have therefore a rich abundance of the strangest errors4 ,boswell has preserved a poor epigram by ,johnson1 inscribed 8,ad ,lan ram parituram40 ,mr4 ,croker censures the poet for applying the word puella to a lady in 7#a7 ,i4 #afg #chj,laura's situation1 and for talking of the beauty of ,lucina4 8,lucina10 he says1 8was never lamed for her beauty40 7#a7 ,if ,sir ,robert ,peel had seen this note1 he probably would have again refuted ,mr4 ,croker's criticisms by an appeal to ,horace4 ,in the secular ode1 ,lucina is used as one of the names of ,diana1 and the beauty of ,diana is extolled by all the most orthodox doctors of the ancient mythology1 from ,homer in his ,odyssey1 to ,claudian in his ,rape of ,proserpine4 ,in another ode1 ,horace describes ,diana as the goddess who assists the 8laborantes utero paellas40 ,but we are ashamed to detain our readers with this fourth-form learning4 ,boswell found1 in his tour to the ,hebrides1 an inscription written by a ,scotch minister4 ,it runs thus3 8,joannes ,macleod1 c41 gentis su ,philarchus1 c41 ,flor ,macdonald matrimoniali vinculo conjugatus turrem hanc ,beganodunensem provorum habitaculum longe vetustissimum1 diu penitus labefactatam1 anno r vulgaris mdcdxxxvi4 instauravit40--8,the minister10 says ,mr4 ,croker1 8seems to have been no contemptible ,latinist4 ,is not ,philarchus a very happy term to express the paternal and kindly authority of the head of a clan80 7#b7 ,the composition of this eminent ,latinist1 short as it is1 contains several words that are just as much ,coptic as ,latin1 to say nothing of the incorrect structure of the sentence4 ,the word ,philarchus1 even if it were a happy term expressing a paternal and kindly authority1 would prove nothing for the minister's ,latin1 whatever it might prove for his ,greek4 ,but it is clear that the word ,philarchus means1 not a man who rules by love1 but a man who loves rule4 ,the ,attic writers of the best age used 7#a7 ,i4 #acc4 7,,ii47 #deh4 ,illustration3 #jchg #chathe word ,greek in the sense which we assign to it4 ,would ,mr4 ,croker translate ,greek1 a man who acquires wisdom by means of love1 or ,greek1 a man who makes money by means of love8 ,in fact1 it requires no ,bentley or ,casaubon to perceive1 that ,philarchus is merely a false spelling for ,phylarchus1 the chief of a tribe4 ,mr4 ,johnson was not a first-rate ,greek scholar2 but he knew more ,greek than most boys when they leave school2 and no schoolboy could venture to use the word ,greek in the sense which ,mr4 ,croker ascribes to it without imminent danger of a flogging4 ,mr4 ,croker has also given us a specimen of his skill in translating ,latin4 ,johnson wrote a note in which he consulted his friend ,dr4 ,lawrence1 on the propriety of losing some blood4 ,the note contains these words3--8,si per te licet1 imperatur nuncio ,holderum ad me deducere40 ,johnson should rather have written 8imperatum est40 ,but the meaning of the words is perfectly clear4 8,if you say yes1 the messenger has orders to bring ,holder to me40 ,mr4 ,broker translates the words as follows3 8,if you consent1 pray tell the #a ,,iv4 #bea4 #chbmessenger to bring ,holder to me40 7#a7 ,if ,mr4 ,croker is resolved to write on points of classical learning1 we would advise him to begin by giving an hour every morning to our old friend ,corderius4 ,indeed we cannot open any volume of this work in any place1 and turn it over for two minutes in any direction1 without lighting on a blunder4 ,johnson1 in his ,life of ,tickell1 stated that the poem entitled ,the ,royal ,progress1 which appears in the last volume of the ,spectator1 was written on the accession of ,george ,i4 ,the word 8arrival0 was afterwards substituted for 8accession40 8,the reader will observe10 says ,mr4 ,croker1 8that the ,whig term accession1 which might imply legality1 was altered into a statement of the simple fact of ,king ,george's arrival4'0 7#b7 ,now ,johnson1 though a bigoted ,tory1 was not quite such a fool as ,mr4 ,croker here represents him to be4 ,in the ,life of ,granville1 ,lord ,lansdowne1 which stands a very few pages from the ,life of ,tickell1 mention is made of the accession of ,anne1 and of the accession of ,george ,i4 ,the word arrival was used in the ,life of ,tickell for the simplest of all reasons4 ,it was used because the subject of the poem called ,the ,royal ,progress was the arrival of the king1 and not his accession1 which took place near two months before his arrival4 ,the editor's want of perspicacity is indeed very amusing4 ,he is perpetually telling us that he cannot understand something in the text which is as plain as language can make it4 8,mattaire10 said ,dr4 ,johnson1 8wrote ,latin verses from time to time1 and published a set in his old age1 which he called ,senilia1 in which he shows so little learning or taste in writing1 as to make ,carteret a dactyl40 7#c7 ,hereupon we have this 7#a7 ,v4 #ag4 7#b7 ,,iv4 #dbe4 7#c7 ,,iv4 #cce4 #chcnote3 8,the editor does not understand this objection1 nor the following observation40 ,the following observation1 which ,mr4 ,croker cannot understand1 is simply this3 8,in matters of genealogy10 says ,johnson1 8it is necessary to give the bare names as they are4 ,but in poetry and in prose of any elegance in the writing1 they require to have inflection given to them40 ,if ,mr4 ,croker had told ,johnson that this was unintelligible1 the doctor would probably have replied1 as he replied on another occasion1 8,i have found you a reason1 sir2 ,i am not bound to find you an understanding40 ,every body who knows any thing of ,latinity knows that1 in genealogical tables1 ,joannes ,baro de ,carteret1 or ,vice-comes de ,carteret1 may be tolerated1 but that in compositions which pretend to elegance1 ,carteretus1 or some other form which admits of inflection1 ought to be used4 ,all our readers have doubtless seen the two distichs of ,sir ,william ,jones1 respecting the division of the time of a lawyer4 ,one of the distichs is translated from some old ,latin lines2 the other is original4 ,the former runs thus3 8,six hours to sleep1 to law's grave study six1 ,four spend in prayer1 the rest on nature fix4 8,rather10 says ,sir ,william ,jones1 8,six hours to law1 to soothing slumbers seven1 ,ten to the world allot1 and all to heaven40 ,the second couplet puzzles ,mr4 ,croker strangely4 8,sir ,william10 says he1 8has shortened his day to twenty-three hours1 and the general advice of #8all to heaven1' destroys the peculiar appropriation of a certain period to religious exercises40 7#a7 ,now1 we did 7#a7 ,v4 #bcc4 #chdnot think that it was in human dulness to miss the meaning of the lines so completely4 ,sir ,william distributes twenty-three hours among various employments4 ,one hour is thus left for devotion4 ,the reader expects that the verse will end with 8and one to heaven40 ,the whole point of the lines consists in the unexpected substitution of 8all0 for 8one40 ,the conceit is wretched enough2 but it is perfectly intelligible1 and never1 we will venture to say1 perplexed man1 woman1 or child before4 ,poor ,tom ,davies1 after failing in business1 tried to live by his pen4 ,johnson called him 8an author generated by the corruption of a bookseller40 ,this is a very obvious1 and even a commonplace allusion to the famous dogma of the old physiologists4 ,dryden made a similar allusion to that dogma before ,johnson was born4 ,mr4 ,croker1 ,however1 is unable to understand what the doctor meant4 8,the expression10 he says1 8seems not quite clear40 ,and he proceeds to talk about the generation of insects1 about bursting into gaudier life1 and ,heaven knows what4 7#a7 ,there is still a stranger instance of the editor's talent for finding out difficulty in what is perfectly plain4 8,no man10 said ,johnson1 8can now be made a bishop for his learning and piety40 8,from this too just observation10 says ,boswell1 8there are some eminent exceptions40 ,mr4 ,croker is puzzled by ,boswell's very natural and simple language4 8,that a general observation should be pronounced too just1 by the very person who admits that it is not universally just1 is not a little odd40 7#b7 ,a very large proportion of the two thousand five hundred notes which the editor boasts of having added #a ,,iv4 #cbc4 #b ,,iii4 #bbh4 #cheto those of ,boswell and ,malone consists of the flattest and poorest reflections1 reflections such as the least intelligent reader is quite competent to make for himself1 and such as no intelligent reader would think it worth while to utter aloud4 ,they remind us of nothing so much as of those profound and interesting annotations which are penciled by sempstresses and apothecaries' boys on the dog-eared margins of novels borrowed from circulating libraries2 8,how beautiful60 8,cursed prosy60 8,i don't like ,sir ,reginald ,malcolm at all40 8,i think ,pelham is a sad dandy40 ,mr4 ,croker is perpetually stopping us in our progress through the most delightful narrative in the language1 to observe that really ,dr4 ,johnson was very rude1 that he talked more for victory than for truth1 that his taste for port wine with capillaire in it was very odd1 that ,boswell was impertinent1 that it was foolish in ,mrs4 ,thrale to blame the music-master2 and so forth4 ,we cannot speak more favourably of the manner in which the notes are written than of the matter of which they consist4 ,we find in every page words used in wrong senses1 and constructions which violate the plainest rules of grammar4 ,we have the vulgarism of 8mutual friend10 for 8common friend40 ,we have 8fallacy0 used as synonymous with 8falsehood40 ,we have many such inextricable labyrinths of pronouns as that which follows3 8,lord ,erskine was fond of this anecdote2 he told it to the editor the first time that he had the honour of being in his company40 ,lastly1 we have a plentiful supply of sentences resembling those which we subjoin4 8,markland1 who1 with ,jortin and ,thirlby1 ,johnson calls three contemporaries of great eminence40 7#a7 8,warburton himself did not feel1 as ,mr4 7#a7 ,,iv4 #cgg4 #chf;,boswell was disposed to think he did1 kindly or gratefully of ,johnson40 7#a7 8,it was him that ,horace ,walpole called a man who never made a bad figure but as an author40 7#b7 ,one or two of these solecisms should perhaps be attributed to the printer1 who has certainly done his best to fill both the text and the notes with all sorts of blunders4 ,in truth1 he and the editor have between them made the book so bad1 that we do not well see how it could have been worse4 ,when we turn from the commentary of ,mr4 ,croker to the work of our old friend ,boswell1 we find it not only worse printed than in any other edition with which we are acquainted1 but mangled in the most wanton manner4 ,much that ,boswell inserted in his narrative is1 without the shadow of a reason1 degraded to the appendix4 ,the editor has also taken upon himself to alter or omit passages which he considers as indecorous4 ,this prudery is quite unintelligible to us4 ,there is nothing immoral in ,boswell's book1 nothing which tends to inflame the passions4 ,he sometimes uses plain words4 ,but if this be a taint which requires expurgation1 it would be desirable to begin by expurgating the morning and evening lessons4 ,the delicate office which ,mr4 ,croker has undertaken he has performed in the most capricious manner4 ,one strong1 old-fashioned1 ,english word1 familiar to all who read their ,bibles1 is changed for a softer synonyme in some passages1 and suffered to stand unaltered in others4 ,in one place a faint allusion made by ,johnson to an indelicate subject1 an allusion so faint that1 till ,mr4 ,croker's note pointed it out to us1 we had never noticed it1 and of which we are quite sure that the meaning would never be discovered by any of those 7#a7 ,,iv4 #dae 7#b7 ,,ii4 #dfa4 #chg;for whose sake books are expurgated1 is altogether omitted4 ,in another place1 a coarse and stupid jest of ,dr4 ,taylor on the same subject1 expressed in the broadest language1 almost the only passage1 as far as we remember1 in all ,boswell's book1 which we should have been inclined to leave out1 is suffered to remain4 ,we complain1 however1 much more of the additions than of the omissions4 ,we have half of ,mrs4 ,thrale's book1 scraps of ,mr4 ,tyers1 scraps of ,mr4 ,murphy1 scraps of ,mr4 ,cradock1 long prosings of ,sir ,john ,hawkins1 and connecting observations by ,mr4 ,croker himself1 inserted into the midst of ,boswell's text4 ,to this practice we most decidedly object4 ,an editor might as well publish ,thucydides with extracts from ,diodorus interspersed1 or incorporate the ,lives of ,suetonius with the ,history and ,annals of ,tacitus4 ,mr4 ,croker tells us1 indeed1 that he has done only what ,boswell wished to do1 and was prevented from doing by the law of copyright4 ,we doubt this greatly4 ,boswell has studiously abstained from availing himself of the information given by his rivals1 on many occasions on which he might have cited them without subjecting himself to the charge of piracy4 ,mr4 ,croker has himself1 on one occasion1 remarked very justly that ,boswell was unwilling to owe any obligation to ,hawkins4 ,but1 be this as it may1 if ,boswell had quoted from ,sir ,john and from ,mrs4 ,thrale1 he would have been guided by his own taste and judgment in selecting his quotations4 ,on what ,boswell quoted he would have commented with perfect freedom2 and the borrowed passages1 so selected1 and accompanied by such comments1 would have become original4 ,they would have dove-tailed into the work4 ,no hitch1 no crease1 #chhwould have been discernible4 ,the whole would appear one and indivisible1 8,ut per lve severos ,effundat junctura ungues4 ,this is not the case with ,mr4 ,croker's insertions4 ,they are not chosen as ,boswell would have chosen them4 ,they are not introduced as ,boswell would have introduced them4 ,they differ from the quotations scattered through the original ,life of ,johnson1 as a withered bough stuck in the ground differs from a tree skilfully transplanted with all its life about it4 ,not only do these anecdotes disfigure ,boswell's book2 they are themselves disfigured by being inserted in his book4 ,the charm of ,mrs4 ,thrale's little volume is utterly destroyed4 ,the feminine quickness of observation1 the feminine softness of heart1 the colloquial incorrectness and vivacity of style1 the little amusing airs of a half-learned lady1 the delightful garrulity1 the 8dear ,doctor ,johnson10 the 8it was so comical10 all disappear in ,mr4 ,croker's quotations4 ,the lady ceases to speak in the first person2 and her anecdotes1 in the process of transfusion1 become as flat as ,champagne in decanters1 or ,herodotus in ,beloe's version4 ,sir ,john ,hawkins1 it is true1 loses nothing2 and for the best of reasons4 ,sir ,john had nothing to lose4 ,the course which ,mr4 ,croker ought to have taken is quite clear4 ,he should have reprinted ,boswell's narrative precisely as ,boswell wrote it2 and in the notes or the appendix he should have placed any anecdotes which he might have thought it advisable to quote from other writers4 ,this would have been a much more convenient course for the reader1 who has now constantly to keep his eye on the margin in order #chito see whether he is perusing ,boswell1 ,mrs4 ,thrale1 ,murphy1 ,hawkins1 ,tyers1 ,cradock1 or ,mr4 ,croker4 ,we greatly doubt whether even the ,tour to the ,hebrides ought to have been inserted in the midst of the ,life4 ,there is one marked distinction between the two works4 ,most of the ,tour was seen by ,johnson in manuscript4 ,it does not appear that he ever saw any part of the ,life4 ,we love1 we own1 to read the great productions of the human mind as they were written4 ,we have this feeling even about scientific treatises2 though we know that the sciences are always in a state of progression1 and that the alterations made by a modern editor in an old book on any branch of natural or political philosophy are likely to be improvements4 ,some errors have been detected by writers of this generation in the speculations of ,adam ,smith4 ,a short cut has been made to much knowledge at which ,sir ,isaac ,newton arrived through arduous and circuitous paths4 ,yet we still look with peculiar veneration on the ,wealth of ,nations and on the ,principia1 and should regret to see either of those great works garbled even by the ablest hands4 ,but in works which owe much of their interest to the character and situation of the writers the case is infinitely stronger4 ,what man of taste and feeling can endure rifacimenti1 harmonies1 abridgments1 expurgated editions8 ,who ever reads a stage-copy of a play when he can procure the original8 ,who ever cut open ,all's4 ,siddons's ,milton8 ,who ever got through ten pages of ,mr4 ,gilpin's translation of ,john ,bun-yan's ,pilgrim into modern ,english8 ,who would lose1 in the confusion of a ,diatessaron1 the peculiar charm which belongs to the narrative of the disciple whom ,jesus loved8 ,the feeling of a reader who has become #cij;intimate with any great original work is that which ,adam expressed towards his bride3 8,should ,god create another ,eve1 and ,i ,another rib afford1 yet loss of thee ,would never from my heart4'0 ,no substitute1 however exquisitely formed1 will fill the void left by the original4 ,the second beauty may be equal or superior to the first2 but still it is not she4 ,the reasons which ,mr4 ,croker has given for incorporating passages from ,sir ,john ,hawkins and ,mrs4 ,thrale with the narrative of ,boswell would vindicate the adulteration of half the classical works in the language4 ,if ,pepys's ,diary and ,mrs4 ,hutchinson's ,memoirs had been published a hundred years ago1 no human being can doubt that ,mr4 ,hume would have made great use of those books in his ,history of ,england4 ,but would it1 on that account1 be judicious in a writer of our times to publish an edition of ,hume's ,history of ,england1 in which large extracts from ,pepys and ,mrs4 ,hutchinson should be incorporated with the original text8 ,surely not4 ,hume's history1 be its faults what they may1 is now one great entire work1 the production of one vigorous mind1 working on such materials as were within its reach4 ,additions made by another hand may supply a particular deficiency1 but would grievously injure the general effect4 ,with ,boswell's book the case is stronger4 ,there is scarcely1 in the whole compass of literature1 a book which bears interpolation so ill4 ,we know no production of the human mind which has so much of what may be called the race1 so much of the peculiar flavour of the soil from which it sprang4 ,the work could never have been written if the writer had not been precisely what he was4 ,his character is displayed in every page1 and #ciathis display of character gives a delightful interest to many passages which have no other interest4 ,the ,life of ,johnson is assuredly a great1 a very great work4 ,homer is not more decidedly the first of heroic poets1 ,shakspeare is not more decidedly the first of dramatists1 ,demosthenes is not more decidedly the first of orators1 than ,boswell is the first of biographers4 ,he has no second4 ,he has distanced all his competitors so decided that it is not worth while to place them4 ,eclipse r first1 and the rest nowhere4 ,we are not sure that there is in the whole history of the human intellect so strange a phnomenon as this book4 ,many of the greatest men that ever lived have written biography4 ,boswell was one of the smallest men that ever lived1 and he has beaten them all4 ,he was1 if we are to give any credit to his own account or to the united testimony of all who knew him1 a man of the meanest and feeblest intellect4 ,johnson described him as a fellow who had missed his only chance of immortality by not having been alive when the ,dunciad was written4 ,beauclerk used his name as a proverbial expression for a bore4 ,he was the laughing stock of the whole of that brilliant society which has owed to him the greater part of its fame4 ,he was always laying himself at the feet of some eminent man1 and begging to be spit upon and trampled upon4 ,he was always earning some ridiculous nickname1 and then 8binding it as a crown unto him10 not merely in metaphor1 but literally4 ,he exhibited himself1 at the ,shakspeare ,jubilee1 to all the crowd which filled ,stratford-on-won1 with a placard round his hat bearing the inscription of ,corsica ,boswell4 ,in his ,tour1 he proclaimed to all the world that at ,edinburgh he was known by the appellation of #cib,paoli ,boswell4 ,servile and impertinent shallow and pedantic1 a bigot and a sot1 bloated with family pride1 and eternally blustering about the dignity of a born gentleman1 yet stooping to be a talebearer1 an eavesdropper1 a common butt in the taverns of ,london1 so curious to know every body who was talked about1 that1 ,tory and high ,churchman as he was1 he manoeuvred1 we have been told1 for an introduction to ,tom ,paine1 so vain of the most childish distinctions1 that when he had been to court1 he drove to the office where his book was printing without changing his clothes1 and summoned all the printer's devils to admire his new ruffles and sword2 such was this man1 and such he was contented and proud to be4 ,every thing which another man would have hidden1 every thing the publication of which would have made another man hang himself1 was matter of gay and clamorous exultation to his weak and diseased mind4 ,what silly things he said1 what bitter retorts he provoked1 how at one place he was troubled with evil presentiments which came to nothing1 how at another place1 on waking from a drunken doze1 he read the prayerbook and took a hair of the dog that had bitten him1 how he went to see men hanged and came away maudlin1 how he added five hundred pounds to the fortune of one of his babies because she was not scared at ,johnson's ugly face1 how he was frightened out of his wits at sea1 and how the sailors quieted him as they would have quieted a child1 how tipsy he was at ,lady ,cork's one evening and how much his merriment annoyed the ladies1 how impertinent he was to the ,duchess of ,argyle and with what stately contempt she put down his impertinence1 how ,colonel ,macleod sneered to his face at his impudent obtrusiveness1 how his father and the very wife of his #cic;bosom laughed and fretted at his fooleries2 all these things he proclaimed to all the world1 as if they had been subjects for pride and ostentations rejoicing4 ,all the caprices of his temper1 all the illusions of his vanity1 all his hypochondriac whimsies1 all his castles in the air1 he displayed with a cool self-complacency1 a perfect unconsciousness that he was making a fool of himself1 to which it is impossible to find a parallel in the whole history of mankind4 ,he has used many people ill2 but assuredly he has used nobody so ill as himself4 ,that such a man should have written one of the best books in the world is strange enough4 ,but this is not all4 ,many persons who have conducted themselves foolishly in active life1 and whose conversation has indicated no superior powers of mind1 have left us valuable works4 ,goldsmith was very justly described by one of his contemporaries as an inspired idiot1 and by another as a being 8,who wrote like an angel1 and talked like poor ,poll4 ,la ,fontaine was in society a mere simpleton4 ,his blunders would not come in amiss among the stories of ,hierocles4 ,but these men attained literary eminence in spite of their weaknesses4 ,boswell attained it by reason of his weaknesses4 ,if he had not been a great fool1 he would never have been a great writer4 ,without all the qualities which made him the jest and the torment of those among whom he lived1 without the officiousness1 the inquisitiveness1 the effrontery1 the toadeating1 the insensibility to all reproof1 he never could have produced so excellent a book4 ,he was a slave1 proud of his servitude1 a ,paul ,pry1 convinced that his own curiosity and garrulity were virtues1 an unsafe companion who never scrupled to repay the most #cidliberal hospitality by the basest violation of confidence1 a man without delicacy1 without shame1 without sense enough to know when he was hurting the feelings of others or when he was exposing himself to derision2 and because he was all this1 he has1 in an important department of literature1 immeasurably surpassed such writers as ,tacitus1 ,clarendon1 ,alfieri1 and his own idol ,johnson4 ,of the talents which ordinarily raise men to eminence as writers1 ,boswell had absolutely none4 ,there is not in all his books a single remark of his own on literature1 politics1 religion1 or society1 which is not either commonplace or absurd4 ,his dissertations on hereditary gentility1 on the slave-trade1 and on the entailing of landed estates1 may serve as examples4 ,to say that these passages are sophistical would be to pay them an extravagant compliment4 ,they have no pretence to argument1 or even to meaning4 ,he has reported innumerable observations made by himself in the course of conversation4 ,of those observations we do not remember one which is above the intellectual capacity of a boy of fifteen4 ,he has printed many of his own letters1 and in these letters he is always ranting or twaddling4 ,logic1 eloquence1 wit1 taste1 all those things which are generally considered as making a book valuable1 were utterly wanting to him4 ,he had1 indeed1 a quick observation and a retentive memory4 ,these qualities1 if he had been a man of sense and virtue1 would scarcely of themselves have sufficed to make him conspicuous2 but1 because he was a dunce1 a parasite1 and a coxcomb1 they have made him immortal4 ,those parts of his book which1 considered abstractedly1 are most utterly worthless1 are delightful when we read them as illustrations of the character of the #ciewriter4 ,bad in themselves1 they are good dramatically1 like the nonsense of ,justice ,shallow1 the clipped ,english of ,dr4 ,cains1 or the misplaced consonants of ,fluellen4 ,of all confessors1 ,boswell is the most candid4 ,other men who have pretended to lay open their own hearts1 ,rousseau1 for example1 and ,lord ,byron1 have evidently written with a constant view to effect1 and are to be then most distrusted when they seem to be most sincere4 ,there is scarcely any man who would not rather accuse himself of great crimes and of dark and tempestuous passions than proclaim all his little vanities and wild fancies4 ,it would be easier to find a person who would avow actions like those of ,csar ,borgia or ,danton1 than one who would publish a daydream like those of ,alnaschar and ,malvolio4 ,those weaknesses which most men keep covered up in the most secret places of the mind1 not to be disclosed to the eve of friendship or of love1 were precisely the weaknesses which ,boswell paraded before all the world4 ,he was perfectly frank1 because the weakness of his understanding and the tumult of his spirits prevented him from knowing when he made himself ridiculous4 ,his book resembles nothing so much as the conversation of the inmates of the ,palace of ,truth4 ,his fame is great2 and it will1 we have no doubt1 be lasting2 but it is fame of a peculiar kind1 and indeed marvellously resembles infamy4 ,we remember no other case in which the world has made so great a distinction between a book and its author4 ,in general1 the book and the author are considered as one4 ,to admire the book is to admire the author4 ,the case of ,boswell is an exception1 we think the only exception1 to this rule4 ,his work is universally allowed to be interesting1 instructive1 eminently original3 yet it has #cif;brought him nothing but contempt4 ,all the world reads it3 all the world delights in it3 yet we do not remember ever to have read or ever to have heard any expression of respect and admiration for the man to whom we owe so much instruction and amusement4 ,while edition after edition of his book was coming forth1 his son1 as ,mr4 ,croker tells us1 was ashamed of it1 and hated to hear it mentioned4 ,this feeling was natural and reasonable4 ,sir ,alexander saw that1 in proportion1 to the celebrity of the work1 was the degradation of the author4 ,the very editors of this unfortunate gentleman's books have forgotten their allegiance1 and1 like those ,puritan casuists who took arms by the authority of the king against his person1 have attacked the writer while doing homage to the writings4 ,mr4 ,croker1 for example1 has published two thousand five ,mildred notes on the life of ,johnson1 and yet scarcely ever mentions the biographer whose performance he has taken such pains to illustrate without some expression of contempt4 ,an ill-natured man ,boswell certainly was not4 ,yet the malignity of the most malignant satirist could scarcely cut deeper than his thoughtless loquacity4 ,having himself no sensibility to derision and contempt1 he took it for granted that all others were equally callous4 ,he was not ashamed to exhibit himself to the whole world as a common spy1 a common tattler1 a humble companion without the excuse of poverty1 and to tell a hundred stories of his own pertness and folly1 and of the insults which his pertness and folly brought upon him4 ,it was natural that he should show little discretion in cases in which the feelings or the honour of others might be concerned4 ,no man1 surely1 ever published such stories respecting persons whom he professed #cigto love and revere4 ,he would infallibly have made his hero as contemptible as he has made himself1 had not his hero really possessed some moral and intellectual qualities of a very high order4 ,the best proof that ,johnson was really an extraordinary man is that his character1 instead of being degraded1 has1 on the whole1 been decidedly raised by a work in which all his vices and weaknesses are exposed more unsparingly than they ever were exposed by ,churchill or by ,ken-rick4 ,johnson grown old1 ,johnson in the fulness of his fame and in the enjoyment of a competent fortune1 is better known to us than any other man in history4 ,every thing about him1 his coat1 his wig1 his figure1 his face1 his scrofula1 his ,st4 ,vitus's dance1 his rolling walk1 his blinking eye1 the outward signs which too clearly marked his approbation of his dinner1 his insatiable appetite for fish-sauce and veal-pie with plums1 his inextinguishable thirst for tea1 his trick of touching the posts as he walked1 his mysterious practice of treasuring up scraps of orange-peel1 his morning slumbers1 his midnight disputations1 his contortions1 his mutter-ings1 his gruntings1 his puffings1 his vigorous1 acute1 and ready eloquence1 his sarcastic wit1 his vehemence1 his insolence1 his fits of tempestuous rage1 his queer inmates1 old ,mr4 ,levett and blind ,mrs4 ,williams1 the cat ,hodge and the negro ,frank1 all are as familiar to us as the objects by which we have been surrounded from childhood4 ,but we have no minute information respecting those years of ,johnson's life during which his character and his manners became immutably fixed4 ,we know him1 not as he was known to the men of his own generation1 but as he was known to men whose father he might have been4 ,that celebrated club of #cihwhich he was the most distinguished member contained few persons who could remember a time when his fame was not fully established and his habits completely formed4 ,he had made himself a name in literature while ,reynolds and the ,wartons were still boys4 ,he was about twenty years older than ,burke1 ,goldsmith1 and ,gerard ,hamilton1 about thirty years older than ,gibbon1 ,beauclerk1 and ,langton1 and about forty years older than ,lord ,stowell1 ,sir ,william ,jones1 and ,windham4 ,boswell and ,mrs4 ,thrale1 the two writers from whom we derive most of our knowledge respecting him1 never saw him till long after he was fifty years old1 till most of his great works had become classical1 and till the pension bestowed on him by the ,crown had placed him above poverty4 ,of those eminent men who were his most intimate associates towards the close of his life1 the only one1 as far as we remember1 who knew him during the first ten or twelve years of his residence in the capital1 was ,david ,garrick2 and it does not appear that1 during those years1 ,david ,garrick saw much of his fellow-townsman4 ,johnson came up to ,london precisely at the time when the condition of a man of letters was most miserable and degraded4 ,it was a dark night between two sunny days4 ,the age of patronage had passed away4 ,the age of general curiosity and intelligence had not arrived4 ,the number of readers is at present so great that a popular author may subsist in comfort and opulence on the profits of his works4 ,in the reigns of ,william the ,third1 of ,anne1 and of ,george the ,first1 even such men as ,congreve and ,addison would scarcely have been able to live like gentlemen by the mere sale of their writings4 ,but the deficiency of the natural demand for literature was1 at the close of the #ciiseventeenth and at the beginning of the eighteenth century1 more than made up by artificial encouragement1 by a vast system of bounties and premiums4 ,there was1 perhaps1 never a time at which the rewards of literary merit were so splendid1 at which men who could write well found such easy admittance into the most distinguished society1 and to the highest honours of the state4 ,the chiefs of both the great parties into which the kingdom was divided patronised literature with emulous munificence4 ,congreve1 when he had scarcely attained his majority1 was rewarded for his first comedy with places which made him independent for life4 ,smith1 though his ,hippolytus and ,phdra failed1 would have been consoled with three hundred a year but for his own folly4 ,rowe was not only ,poet ,laureate1 but also land-surveyor of the customs in the port of ,london1 clerk of the council to the ,prince of ,wales1 and secretary of the ,presentations to the ,lord ,chancellor4 ,hughes was secretary to the ,commissions of the ,peace4 ,ambrose ,philips was judge of the ,prerogative ,court in ,ireland4 ,locke was ,commissioner of ,appeals and of the ,board of ,trade4 ,newton was ,master of the ,mint4 ,stepney and ,prior were employed in embassies of high dignity and importance4 ,gay1 who commenced life as apprentice to a silk mercer1 became a secretary of legation at five-and-twenty4 ,it was to a poem on the ,death of ,charles the ,second1 and to the ,city and ,country ,mouse1 that ,montague owed his introduction into public life1 his earldom1 his garter1 and his ,auditorship of the ,exchequer4 ,swift1 but for the unconquerable prejudice of the queen1 would have been a bishop4 ,oxford1 with his white staff in his hand1 passed through the crowd of his suitors to welcome ,parnell1 when that ingenious #djjwriter deserted the ,whigs4 ,steele was a commissioner of stamps and a member of ,parliament4 ,arthur ,mainwaring was a commissioner of the customs1 and auditor of the imprest4 ,tickell was secretary to the ,lords ,justices of ,ireland4 ,addison was secretary of state4 ,this liberal patronage was brought into fashion1 as it seems1 by the magnificent ,dorset1 almost the only noble versifier in the court of ,charles the ,second who possessed talents for composition which were independent of the aid of a coronet4 ,montague owed his elevation to the favour of ,dorset1 and imitated through the whole course of his life the liberality to which he was himself so greatly indebted4 ,the ,tory leaders1 ,harley and ,bolingbroke in particular1 vied with the chiefs of the ,whig party in zeal for the encouragement of letters4 ,but soon after the accession of the house of ,hanover a change took place4 ,the supreme power passed to a man who cared little for poetry or eloquence4 ,the importance of the ,house of ,commons was constantly on the increase4 ,the government was under the necessity of bartering for ,parliamentary support much of that patronage which had been employed in fostering literary merit2 and ,walpole was by no means inclined to divert any part of the fund of corruption to purposes which he considered as idle4 ,he had eminent talents for government and for debate4 ,but he had paid little attention to books1 and felt little respect for authors4 ,one of the coarse jokes of his friend1 ,sir ,charles ,hanbury ,williams1 was far more pleasing to him than ,thomson's ,seasons or ,richardson's ,pamela4 ,he had observed that some of the distinguished writers whom the favour of ,halifax had turned into statesmen had been mere encumbrances #djato their party1 dawdlers in office1 and mutes in ,parliament4 ,during the whole course of his administration1 therefore1 he scarcely befriended a single man of genius4 ,the best writers of the age gave all their support to the opposition1 and contributed to excite that discontent which1 after plunging the nation into a foolish and unjust war1 overthrew the minister to make room for men less able and equally immoral4 ,the opposition could reward its eulogists with little more than promises and caresses4 ,st4 ,james's would give nothing3 ,leicester house had nothing to give4 ,thus1 at the time when ,johnson commenced his literary career1 a writer had little to hope from the patronage of powerful individuals4 ,the patronage of the public did not yet furnish the means of comfortable subsistence4 ,the prices paid by booksellers to authors were so low that a man of considerable talents and unremitting industry could do little more than provide for the day which was passing over him4 ,the lean kine had eaten up the fat kine4 ,the thin and withered ears had devoured the good ears4 ,the season of rich harvests was over1 and the period of famine had begun4 ,all that is squalid and miserable might now be summed up in the word ,poet4 ,that word denoted a creature dressed like a scarecrow1 familiar with compters and spunging-houses1 and perfectly qualified to decide on the comparative merits of the ,common ,side in the ,king's ,bench prison and of ,mount ,scoundrel in the ,fleet4 ,even the poorest pitied him2 and they well might pity him4 ,for if their condition was equally abject1 their aspirings were not equally high1 nor their sense of insult equally acute4 ,to lodge in a garret up four pairs of stairs1 to dine in a cellar among footmen out of place1 to translate ten hours a day for #djbthe wages of a ditcher1 to be hunted by bailiffs from one haunt of beggary and pestilence to another1 from ,grub ,street to ,st4 ,george's ,fields1 and from ,st4 ,george's ,fields to the alleys behind ,st4 ,martin's church1 to sleep on a bulk in ,june and amidst the ashes of a glass-house in ,december1 to die in an hospital and to be buried in a parish vault1 was the fate of more than one writer who1 if he had lived thirty years earlier1 would have been admitted to the sittings of the ,kitcat or the ,scriblerus club1 would have sat in ,parliament1 and would have been entrusted with embassies to the ,high ,allies2 who1 if he had lived in our time1 would have found encouragement scarcely less munificent in ,albemarle ,street or in ,paternoster ,row4 ,as every climate has its peculiar diseases1 so every walk of life has its peculiar temptations4 ,the literary character1 assuredly1 has always had its share of faults1 vanity1 jealousy1 morbid sensibility4 ,to these faults were now superadded the faults which are commonly found in men whose livelihood is precarious1 and whose principles are exposed to the trial of severe distress4 ,all the vices of the gambler and of the beggar were blended with those of the author4 ,the prizes in the wretched lottery of book-making were scarcely less ruinous than the blanks4 ,if good fortune came1 it came in such a manner that it was almost certain to be abused4 ,after months of starvation and despair1 a full third night or a well-received dedication filled the pocket of the lean1 ragged1 unwashed poet with guineas4 ,he hastened to enjoy those luxuries with the images of which his mind had been haunted while he was sleeping amidst the cinders and eating potatoes at the ,irish ordinary in ,shoe ,lane4 ,a week of taverns soon qualified him for another year of night-cellars4 #djc,such was the life of ,savage1 of ,boyse1 and of a crowd of others4 ,sometimes blazing in gold-laced hats and waistcoats2 sometimes lying in bed because their coats had gone to pieces1 or wearing paper cravats because their linen was in pawn2 sometimes drinking ,champagne and ,tokay with ,betty ,careless2 sometimes standing at the window of an eating-house in ,porridge island1 to snuff up the scent of what they could not afford to taste2 they knew luxury2 they knew beggary2 but they never knew comfort4 ,these men were irreclaimable4 ,they looked on a regular and frugal life with the same aversion which an old gipsy or a ,mohawk hunter feels for a stationary abode1 and for the restraints and securities of civilised communities4 ,they were as untameable1 as much wedded to their desolate freedom1 as the wild ass4 ,they could no more be broken into the offices of social man than the unicorn could be trained to serve and abide by the crib4 ,it was well if they did not1 like beasts of a still fiercer race1 tear the hands which ministered to their necessities4 ,to assist them was impossible2 and the most benevolent of mankind at length became weary of giving relief which was dissipated with the wildest profusion as soon as it had been received4 ,if a sum was bestowed on the wretched adventurer1 such as1 properly husbanded1 might have supplied him for six months1 it was instantly spent in strange freaks of sensuality1 and1 before forty-eight hours had elapsed1 the poet was again pestering all his acquaintance for twopence to get a plate of shin of beef at a subterraneous cook-shop4 ,if his friends gave him an asylum in their houses1 those houses were forthwith turned into bagnios and taverns4 ,all order was destroyed2 all business was suspended4 ,the most good-natured host #djd;began to repent of his eagerness to serve a man of genius in distress when he heard his guest roaring for fresh punch at five o'clock in the morning4 ,a few eminent writers were more fortunate4 ,pope had been raised above poverty by the active patronage which1 in his youth1 both the great political parties had extended to his ,homer4 ,young had received the only pension ever bestowed1 to the best of our recollection1 by ,sir ,robert ,walpole1 as the reward of mere literary merit4 ,one or two of the many poets who attached themselves to the opposition1 ,thomson in particular and ,mallet1 obtained1 after much severe suffering1 the means of subsistence from their political friends4 ,richardson1 like a man of sense1 kept his shop2 and his shop kept him1 which his novels1 admirable as they are1 would scarcely have done4 ,but nothing could be more deplorable than the state even of the ablest men1 who at that time depended for subsistence on their writings4 ,johnson1 ,collins1 ,fielding1 and ,thomson1 were certainly four of the most distinguished persons that ,england produced during the eighteenth century4 ,it is well known that they were all four arrested for debt4 ,into calamities and difficulties such as these ,johnson plunged in his twenty-eighth year4 ,from that time till he was three or four and fifty1 we have little information respecting him2 little1 we mean1 compared with the full and accurate information which we possess respecting his proceedings and habits towards the close of his life4 ,he emerged at length from cock-lofts and sixpenny ordinaries into the society of the polished and the opulent4 ,his fame was established4 ,a pension sufficient for his wants had been conferred on him3 and he came forth to astonish a generation with which #dje;he had almost as little in common as with ,frenchmen or ,spaniards4 ,in his early years he had occasionally seen the great3 hut he had seen them as a beggar4 ,he now came among them as a companion4 ,the demand for amusement and instruction had1 during the course of twenty years1 been gradually increasing4 ,the price of literary labour had risen2 and those rising men of letters with whom ,johnson was henceforth to associate were for the most part persons widely different from those who had walked about with him all night in the streets for want of a lodging4 ,burke1 ,robertson1 the ,wartons1 ,gray1 ,mason1 ,gibbon1 ,adam ,smith1 ,beattie1 ,sir ,william ,jones1 ,goldsmith1 and ,churchill1 were the most distinguished writers of what may be called the second generation of the ,johnsonian age4 ,of these men ,churchill was the only one in whom we can trace the stronger lineaments of that character which1 when ,johnson first came up to ,london1 was common among authors4 ,of the rest1 scarcely any had felt the pressure of severe poverty4 ,almost all had been early admitted into the most respectable society on an equal footing4 ,they were men of quite a different species from the dependents of ,curll and ,osborne4 ,johnson came among them the solitary specimen of a past age1 the last survivor of the genuine race of ,grub ,street hacks2 the last of that generation of authors whose abject misery and whose dissolute manners had furnished inexhaustible matter to the satirical genius of ,pope4 ,from nature1 he had received an uncouth figure1 a diseased constitution1 and an irritable temper4 ,the manner in which the earlier years of his manhood had been passed had given to his demeanour1 and even to his moral character1 some peculiarities appalling #djfto the civilised beings who were the companions of his old age4 ,the perverse irregularity of his hours1 the slovenliness of his person1 his fits of strenuous exertion1 interrupted by long intervals of sluggishness1 his strange abstinence1 and his equally strange voracity1 his active benevolence1 contrasted with the constant rudeness and the occasional ferocity of his manners ,in society1 made him1 in the opinion of those with whom he lived during the last twenty years of his life1 a complete original4 ,an original he was1 undoubtedly1 in some respects4 ,but if we possessed full information concerning those who shared his early hardships1 we should probably find that what we call his singularities of manner were1 for the most part1 failings which he had in common with the class to which he belonged4 ,he ate at ,streatham ,park as he had been used to eat behind the screen at ,st4 ,john's ,gate1 when he was ashamed to show his ragged clothes4 ,he ate as it was natural that a man should eat1 who1 during a great part of his life1 had passed the morning in doubt whether he should have food for the afternoon4 ,the habits of his early life had accustomed him to bear privation with fortitude1 but not to taste pleasure with moderation4 ,he could fast2 but1 when he did not fast1 he tore his dinner like a famished wolf1 with the veins swelling on his forehead1 and the perspiration running down his cheeks4 ,he scarcely ever took wine4 ,but when he drank it1 he drank it greedily and in large tumblers4 ,these were1 in fact1 mitigated symptoms of that same moral disease which raged with such deadly malignity in his friends ,savage and ,boyse4 ,the roughness and violence which he showed in society were to be expected from a man whose temper1 not naturally gentle1 had been long tried by the bitterest #djg;calamities1 by the want of meat1 of fire1 and of clothes1 by the importunity of creditors1 by the insolence of booksellers1 by the derision of fools1 by the insincerity of patrons1 by that bread which is the bitterest of all food1 by those stairs which are the most toilsome of all paths1 by that deferred hope which makes the heart sick4 ,through all these things the ill-dressed1 coarse1 ungainly pedant had struggled manfully up to eminence and command4 ,it was natural that1 in the exercise of his power1 he should be 8eo immitior1 quia tolera-verat10 that1 though his heart was undoubtedly generous and humane1 his demeanour in society should be harsh and despotic4 ,for severe distress he had sympathy1 and not only sympathy1 but munificent relief4 ,but for the suffering which a harsh world inflicts upon a delicate mind he had no pity2 for it was a kind of suffering which he could scarcely conceive4 ,he would carry home on his shoulders a sick and starving girl from the streets4 ,he turned his house into a place of refuge for a crowd of wretched old creatures who could find no other asylum2 nor could all their peevishness and ingratitude weary out his benevolence4 ,but the pangs of wounded vanity seemed to him ridiculous2 and he scarcely felt sufficient compassion even for the pangs of wounded affection4 ,he had seen and felt so much of sharp misery1 that he was not affected by paltry vexations2 and he seemed to think that every body ought to be as much hardened to those vexations as himself4 ,he was angry with ,boswell for complaining of a headache1 with ,mrs4 ,thrale for grumbling about the dust on the road1 or the smell of the kitchen4 ,these were1 in his phrase1 8foppish lamentations10 which people ought to be ashamed to utter in a world so full of sin and sorrow4 ,goldsmith crying because the ,good-natured #djh,man had failed1 inspired him with no pity4 ,though his own health was not good1 he detested and despised valetudinarians4 ,pecuniary losses1 unless they reduced the loser absolutely to beggary1 moved him very little4 ,people whose hearts had been softened by prosperity might weep1 he said1 for such events2 but all that could be expected of a plain man was not to laugh4 ,he was not much moved even by the spectacle of ,lady ,tavistock dying of a broken heart for the loss of her lord4 ,such grief he considered as a luxury reserved for the idle and the wealthy4 ,a washerwoman1 left a widow with nine small children1 would not have sobbed herself to death4 ,a person who troubled himself so little about small or sentimental grievances was not likely to be very attentive to the feelings of others in the ordinary intercourse of society4 ,he could not understand how a sarcasm or a reprimand could make any man really unhappy4 8,my dear doctor10 said he to ,goldsmith1 8what harm does it do to a man to call him ,holofernes80 8,pooh1 ma'am10 he exclaimed to ,mrs4 ,carter1 8who is the worse for being talked of uncharitably80 ,politeness has been well defined as benevolence in small things4 ,johnson was impolite1 not because he wanted benevolence1 but because small things appeared smaller to him than to people who had never known what it was to live for fourpence halfpenny a day4 ,the characteristic peculiarity of his intellect was the union of great powers with low prejudices4 ,if we judged of him by the best parts of his mind1 we should place him almost as high as he was placed by the idolatry of ,boswell2 if by the worst parts of his mind1 we should place him even below ,boswell himself4 ,where #dji;he was not under the influence of some strange scruple1 or some domineering passion1 which prevented him from boldly investigating a subject1 he was a wary and acute reasoner1 a little too much inclined to scepticism1 and a little too fond of paradox4 ,no man was less likely to be imposed upon by fallacies in argument or by exaggerated statements of fact4 ,but if1 while he was beating down sophisms and exposing false testimony1 some childish prejudices1 such as would excite laughter in a well managed nursery1 came across him1 he was smitten as if by enchantment4 ,his mind dwindled away under the spell from gigantic elevation to dwarfish littleness4 ,those who had lately been admiring its amplitude and its force were now as much astonished at its strange narrowness and feebleness as the fisherman in the ,arabian tale1 when he saw the ,genie1 whose stature had overshadowed the whole sea-coast1 and whose might seemed equal to a contest with armies1 contract himself to the dimensions of his small prison1 and lie there the helpless slave of the charm of ,solomon4 ,johnson was in the habit of sifting with extreme severity the evidence for all stories which were merely odd4 ,but when they were not only odd but miraculous1 his severity relaxed4 ,he began to be credulous precisely at the point where the most credulous people begin to be sceptical4 ,it is curious to observe1 both in his writings and in his conversation1 the contrast between the disdainful manner in which he rejects unauthenticated anecdotes1 even when they are consistent with the general laws of nature1 and the respectful manner in which he mentions the wildest stories relating to the invisible world4 ,a man who told him of a water-spout or a meteoric stone generally had the lie #daj;direct given him for his pains4 ,a man who told him of a prediction or a dream wonderfully accomplished was sure of a courteous hearing4 8,johnson10 observed ,hogarth1 8like ,king ,david1 says in his haste that all men are liars40 8,his incredulity10 says ,mrs4 ,thrale1 8amounted almost to disease40 ,she tells us how he browbeat a gentleman1 who gave him an account of a hurricane in the ,west ,indies1 and a poor quaker who related some strange circumstance about the red-hot balls fired at the siege of ,gibraltar4 8,it is not so4 ,it cannot be true4 ,don't tell that story again4 ,you cannot think how poor a figure you make in telling it40 ,he once said1 half jestingly we suppose1 that for six months he refused to credit the fact of the earthquake at ,lisbon1 and that he still believed the extent of the calamity to be greatly exaggerated4 ,yet he related with a grave face how old ,mr4 ,cave of ,st4 ,john's ,gate saw a ghost1 and how this ghost was something of a shadowy being4 ,he went himself on a ghost-hunt1 to ,cock ,lane1 and was angry with ,john ,wesley for not following up another scent of the same kind with proper spirit and perseverance4 ,he rejects the ,celtic genealogies and poems without the least hesitation2 yet he declares himself willing to believe the stories of the second sight4 ,if he had examined the claims of the ,highland seers with half the severity with which he sifted the evidence for the genuineness of ,fingal1 he would1 we suspect1 have come away from ,scotland with a mind fully made up4 ,in his ,lives of the ,poets1 we find that he is unwilling to give credit to the accounts of ,lord ,roscommon's early proficiency in his studies2 but he tells with great solemnity an absurd romance about some intelligence preternaturally impressed on the mind of that nobleman4 ,he avows #daa;himself to be in great doubt about the truth of the story1 and ends by warning his readers not wholly to slight such impressions4 ,many of his sentiments on religious subjects are worthy of a liberal and enlarged mind4 ,he could discern clearly enough the folly and meanness of all bigotry except his own4 ,when he spoke of the scruples of the ,puritans1 he spoke like a person who had really obtained an insight into the divine philosophy of the ,new ,testament1 and who considered ,christianity as a noble scheme of government1 tending to promote the happiness and to elevate the moral nature of man4 ,the horror which the sectaries felt for cards1 ,christmas ale1 plum-porridge1 mince-pies1 and dancing bears1 excited his contempt4 ,to the arguments urged by some very worthy people against showy dress he replied with admirable sense and spirit1 8,let us not be found1 when our ,master calls us1 stripping the lace off our waistcoats1 but the spirit of contention from our souls and tongues4 ,alas6 sir1 a man who cannot get to heaven in a green coat will not find his way thither the sooner in a grey one40 ,yet he was himself under the tyranny of scruples as unreasonable as those of ,hudibras or ,ralpho1 and carried his zeal for ceremonies and for ecclesiastical dignities to lengths altogether inconsistent with reason or with ,christian charity4 ,he has gravely noted down in his diary that he once committed the sin of drinking coffee on ,good ,friday4 ,in ,scotland1 he thought it his duty to pass several months without joining in public worship1 solely because the ministers of the kirk had not been ordained by bishops4 ,his mode of estimating the piety of his neighbours was somewhat singular4 8,campbell10 said he1 8is a good #dabman1 a pious man4 ,i am afraid he has not been in the inside of a church for many years2 but he never passes a church without pulling off his hat3 this shows he has good principles40 ,spain and ,sicily must surely contain many pious robbers and well-principled assassins4 ,johnson could easily see that a ,roundhead who named all his children after ,solomon's singers1 and talked in the ,house of ,commons about seeking the ,lord1 might be an unprincipled villain whose religious mummeries only aggravated his guilt4 ,but a man who took off his hat when he passed a church episcopally consecrated must be a good man1 a pious man1 a man of good principles4 ,johnson could easily see that those persons who looked on a dance or a laced waistcoat as sinful1 deemed most ignobly of the attributes of ,god and of the ends of revelation4 ,but with what a storm of invective he would have overwhelmed any man who had blamed him for celebrating the redemption of mankind with sugarless tea and butterless buns4 ,nobody spoke more contemptuously of the cant of patriotism4 ,nobody saw more clearly the error of those who regarded liberty1 not as a means1 but as an end1 and who proposed to themselves1 as the object of their pursuit1 the prosperity of the state as distinct from the prosperity of the individuals who compose the state4 ,his calm and settled opinion seems to have been that forms of government have little or no influence on the happiness of society4 ,this opinion1 erroneous as it is1 ought at least to have preserved him from all intemperance on political questions4 ,it did not1 however1 preserve him from the lowest1 fiercest1 and most absurd extravagances of party-spirit1 from rants which1 in every thing but the diction1 resembled those of ,squire #dac,western4 ,he was1 as a politician1 half ice and half fire4 ,on the side of his intellect he was a mere ,pococurante1 far too apathetic about public affairs1 far too sceptical as to the good or evil tendency of any form of polity4 ,his passions1 on the contrary1 were violent even to slaying against all who leaned to ,whiggish principles4 ,the well-known lines which he inserted in ,goldsmith's ,traveller express what seems to have been his deliberate judgment3 8,how small1 of all that human hearts endure1 ,that part which kings or laws can cause or cure60 ,he had previously put expressions very similar into the mouth of ,rasselas4 ,it is amusing to contrast these passages with the torrents of raving abuse which he poured forth against the ,long ,parliament and the ,american ,congress4 ,in one of the conversations reported by ,boswell this inconsistency displays itself in the most ludicrous manner4 8,sir ,adam ,ferguson10 says ,boswell1 8suggested that luxury corrupts a people1 and destroys the spirit of liberty4 ,johnson3 #8,sir1 that is all visionary4 ,i would not give half a guinea to live under one form of government rather than another4 ,it is of no moment to the happiness of an individual4 ,sir1 the danger of the abuse of power is nothing to a private man4 ,what ,frenchman is prevented passing his life as he pleases8' ,sir ,adam3 #8,but1 sir1 in the ,british constitution it is surely of importance to keep up a spirit in the people1 so as to preserve a balance against the crown4' ,johnson3 #8,sir1 ,i perceive you are a vile ,whig4 ,why all this childish jealousy of the power of the crown8 ,the crown has not power enough4'0 ,one of the old philosophers1 ,lord ,bacon tells us1 used to say that life and death were just the same to #dad;him4 8,why then10 said an objector1 8do you not kill yourself80 ,the philosopher answered1 8,because it is just the same40 ,if the difference between two forms of government be not worth half a guinea1 it is not easy to see how ,whiggism can he viler than ,toryism1 or how the crown can have too little power4 ,if the happiness of individuals is not affected by political abuses1 zeal for liberty is doubtless ridiculous4 ,but zeal for monarchy must be equally so4 ,no person would have been more quick-sighted than ,johnson to such a contradiction as this in the logic of an antagonist4 ,the judgments which ,johnson passed on books were1 in his own time1 regarded with superstitious veneration1 and1 in our time1 are generally treated with indiscriminate contempt4 ,they are the judgments of a strong but enslaved understanding4 ,the mind of the critic was hedged round by an uninterrupted fence of prejudices and superstitions4 ,within his narrow limits1 he displayed a vigour and an activity which ought to have enabled him to clear the barrier that confined him4 ,how it chanced that a man who reasoned on his premises so ably1 should assume his premises so foolishly1 is one of the great mysteries of human nature4 ,the same inconsistency may be observed in the schoolmen of the middle ages4 ,those writers show so much acuteness and force of mind in arguing on their wretched data1 that a modern reader is perpetually at a loss to comprehend how such minds came by such data4 ,not a flaw in the superstructure of the theory which they are rearing escapes their vigilance4 ,yet they are blind to the obvious unsoundness of the foundation4 ,it is the same with some eminent lawyers4 #dae,their legal arguments are intellectual prodigies1 abounding with the happiest analogies and the most refined distinctions4 ,the principles of their arbitrary science being once admitted1 the statute-book and the reports being once assumed as the foundations of reasoning1 these men must be allowed to be perfect masters of logic4 ,but if a question arises as to the postulates on which their whole system rests1 if they are called upon to vindicate the fundamental maxims of that system which they have passed their lives in studying1 these very men often talk the language of savages or of children4 ,those who have listened to a man of this class in his own court1 and who have witnessed the skill with which he analyses and digests a vast mass of evidence1 or reconciles a crowd of precedents which at first sight seem contradictory1 scarcely know him again when1 a few hours later1 they hear him speaking on the other side of ,westminster ,hall in his capacity of legislator4 ,they can scarcely believe that the paltry quirks which are faintly heard through a storm of coughing1 and which do not impose on the plainest country gentleman1 can proceed from the same sharp and vigorous intellect which had excited their admiration under the same roof1 and on the same day4 ,johnson decided literary questions like a lawyer1 not like a legislator4 ,he never examined foundations where a point was already ruled4 ,his whole code of criticism rested on pure assumption1 for which he sometimes quoted a precedent or an authority1 but rarely troubled himself to give a reason drawn from the nature of things4 ,he took it for granted that the kind of poetry which flourished in his own time1 which he had been accustomed to hear praised from his childhood1 and which he had himself written with success1 #dafwas the best kind of poetry4 ,in his biographical work he has repeatedly laid it down as an undeniable1 proposition that during the latter part of the seventeenth century1 and the earlier part of the eighteenth1 ,english poetry had been in a constant progress of improvement4 ,waller1 ,denham1 ,dryden1 and ,pope1 had been1 according to him1 the great reformers4 ,he judged of all works of the imagination by the standard established among his own contemporaries4 ,though he allowed ,homer to have been a greater man than ,virgil1 he seems to have thought the neid a greater poem than the ,iliad4 ,indeed he well might have thought so2 for he preferred ,pope's ,iliad to ,homer's4 ,he pronounced that1 after ,hoole's translation of ,tasso1 ,fairfax's would hardly be reprinted4 ,he could see no merit1 in our fine old ,english ballads1 and always spoke with the most provoking contempt of ,percy's fondness for them4 ,of the great original works of imagination which appeared during his time1 ,richardson's novels alone excited his admiration4 ,he could see little or no merit in ,tom ,jones1 in ,gulliver's ,travels1 or in ,tristram ,shandy4 ,to ,thomson's ,castle of ,indolence1 he vouchsafed only a line of cold commendation1 of commendation much colder than what he has bestowed on the ,creation of that portentous bore1 ,sir ,richard ,blackmore4 ,gray was1 in his dialect1 a barren rascal4 ,churchill was a blockhead4 ,the contempt which he felt for the trash of ,macpherson was indeed just2 but it was1 we suspect1 just by chance4 ,he despised the ,fingal for the very reason which led many men of genius to admire it4 ,he despised it1 not because it was essentially common-place1 but because it had a superficial air of originality4 ,he was undoubtedly an excellent judge of compositions #dag;fashioned on his own principles4 ,but when a deeper philosophy was required1 when he undertook to pronounce judgment on the works of those great minds which 8yield homage only to eternal laws10 his failure was ignominious4 ,he criticized ,pope's ,epitaphs excellently4 ,but his observations on ,shakspeare's plays and ,milton's poems seem to us for the most part as wretched as if they had been written by ,rymer himself1 whom we take to have been the worst critic that ever lived4 ,some of ,johnson's whims on literary subjects can be compared only to that strange nervous feeling which made him uneasy if he had not touched every post between the ,mitre tavern and his own lodgings4 ,hiss preference of ,latin epitaphs to ,english epitaphs is an instance4 ,an ,english epitaph1 he said1 would disgrace ,smollett4 ,he declared that he would not pollute the walls of ,westminster ,abbey with an ,english epitaph on ,goldsmith4 ,what reason there can be for celebrating a ,british writer in ,latin1 which there was not for covering the ,roman arches of triumph with ,greek inscriptions1 or for commemorating the deeds of the heroes of ,thermopyl in ,egyptian hieroglyphics1 we are utterly unable to imagine4 ,on men and manners1 at least on the men and manners of a particular place and a particular age1 ,johnson had certainly looked with a most observant and discriminating eye4 ,his remarks on the education of children1 on marriage1 on the economy of families1 on the rules of society1 are always striking1 and generally sound4 ,in his writings1 indeed1 the knowledge of life which he possessed in an eminent degree is very imperfectly exhibited4 ,like those unfortunate chiefs of the middle ages who were suffocated by their own chain-mail and cloth of gold1 his maxims perish under that #dahload of words which was designed6 for their defence and their ornament4 ,but it is clear from the remains of his conversation1 that he had more of that homely wisdom which nothing but experience and observation can give than any writer since the time of ,swift4 ,if he had been content to write as he talked1 he might have left books on the practical art of living superior to the ,directions to ,servants4 ,yet even his remarks on society1 like his remarks on literature1 indicate a mind at least as remarkable for narrowness as for strength4 ,he was no master of the great science of human nature4 ,he had studied1 not the genus man1 but the species ,londoner4 ,nobody was ever so thoroughly conversant with all the forms of life and all the shades of moral and intellectual character which were to be seen from ,islington to the ,thames1 and from ,hyde-,park corner to ,mile-end green4 ,but his philosophy stopped at the first turnpike-gate4 ,of the rural life of ,england he knew nothing2 and he took it for granted that every body who lived in the country was either stupid or miserable4 8,country gentlemen10 said he1 8must be unhappy2 for they have not enough to keep their lives in motion20 as if all those peculiar habits and associations which made ,fleet ,street and ,charing ,cross the finest views in the world to himself had been essential parts of human nature4 ,of remote countries and past times he talked with wild and ignorant presumption4 8,the ,athenians of the age of ,demosthenes10 he said to ,mrs4 ,thrale1 8were a people of brutes1 a barbarous people40 ,in conversation with ,sir ,adam ,ferguson he used similar language4 8,the boasted ,athenians10 he said1 8were barbarians4 ,the mass of every people must be barbarous where there is no printing40 ,the fact was #daithis3 he saw that a ,londoner who could not read was a very stupid and brutal fellow3 he saw that great refinement of taste and activity of intellect were rarely found in a ,londoner who had not read much2 and1 because it was by means of books that people acquired almost all their knowledge in the society with which he was acquainted1 he concluded1 in defiance of the strongest and clearest evidence1 that the human mind can be cultivated by means of books alone4 ,an ,athenian citizen might possess very few volumes2 and the largest library to which he had access might be much less valuable than ,johnson's bookcase in ,bolt ,court4 ,but the ,athenian might pass every morning in conversation with ,socrates1 and might hear ,pericles speak four or five times every month4 ,he saw the plays of ,sophocles and ,aristophanes3 he walked amidst the friezes of ,phidias and the paintings of ,zeuxis3 he knew by heart the choruses of schylus3 he heard the rhapsodist at the corner of the street reciting the shield of ,achilles or the ,death of ,argus3 he was a legislator1 conversant with high questions of alliance1 revenue1 and war3 he was a soldier1 trained under a liberal and generous discipline3 he was a judge1 compelled every day to weigh the effect of opposite arguments4 ,these things were in themselves an education1 an education eminently fitted1 not1 indeed1 to farm exact or profound thinkers1 but to give quickness to the perceptions1 delicacy to the taste1 fluency to the expression1 and politeness to the manners4 ,all this was overlooked4 ,an ,athenian who did not improve his mind by reading was1 in ,johnson's opinion1 much such a person as a ,cockney who made his mark1 much such a person as black ,frank before he went to school1 and far inferior to a parish clerk or a printer's devil4 #dbj;,johnson's friends have allowed that he carried to a ridiculous extreme his unjust contempt for foreigners4 ,he pronounced the ,french to be a very silly people1 much behind us1 stupid1 ignorant creatures4 ,and this judgment he formed after having been at ,paris about a month1 during which he would not talk ,french1 for fear of giving the natives an advantage over him in conversation4 ,he pronounced them1 also1 to be an indelicate people1 because a ,french footman touched the sugar with his fingers4 ,that ingenious and amusing traveller1 ,m4 ,simond1 has defended his countrymen very successfully against ,johnson's accusation1 and has pointed out some ,english practices which1 to an impartial spectator1 would seem at least as inconsistent with physical cleanliness and social decorum as those which ,johnson so bitterly reprehended4 ,to the sage1 as ,boswell loves to call him1 it never occurred to doubt that there must be something eternally and immutably good in the usages to which he had been accustomed4 ,in fact1 ,johnson's remarks on society beyond the bills of mortality1 are generally of much the same kind with those of honest ,tom ,dawson1 the ,english footman in ,dr4 ,moore's ,zeluco4 8,suppose the king of ,france has no sons1 but only a daughter1 then1 when the king dies1 this here daughter1 according to that there law1 cannot be made queen1 but the next near relative1 provided he is a man1 is made king1 and not the last king's daughter1 which1 to be sure1 is very unjust4 ,the ,french footguards are dressed in blue1 and all the marching regiments in white1 which has a very foolish appearance for soldiers2 and as for blue regimentals1 it is only fit for the blue horse or the artillery40 ,johnson's visit to the ,hebrides introduced him to a state of society completely new to him2 and a salutary #dbasuspicion of his own deficiencies seems on that occasion to have crossed his mind for the first time4 ,he confessed1 in the last paragraph of his ,journey1 that his thoughts on national manners were the thoughts of one who had seen but little1 of one who had passed his time almost wholly in cities4 ,this feeling1 however1 soon passed away4 ,it is remarkable that to the last he entertained a fixed contempt for all those modes of life and those studies which tend to emancipate the mind from the prejudices of a particular age or a particular nation4 ,of foreign travel and of history he spoke with the fierce and boisterous contempt of ignorance4 8,what does a man learn by travelling8 ,is ,beauclerk the better for travelling8 ,what did ,lord ,charlemont learn in his travels1 except that there was a snake in one of the pyramids of ,egypt80 ,history was1 in his opinion1 to use the fine expression of ,lord ,plunkett1 an old almanack3 historians could1 as he conceived1 claim no higher dignity than that of almanack-makers2 and his favourite historians were those who1 like ,lord ,hailes1 aspired to no higher dignity4 ,he always spoke with contempt of ,robertson4 ,hume he would not even read4 ,he affronted one of his friends for talking to him about ,catiline's conspiracy1 and declared that he never desired to hear of the ,punic war again as long as he lived4 ,assuredly one fact which does not directly affect our own interests1 considered in itself1 is no better worth knowing than another fact4 ,the fact that there is a snake in a pyramid1 or the fact that ,hannibal crossed the ,alps1 are in themselves as unprofitable to us as the fact that there is a green blind in a particular house in ,threadneedle ,street1 or the fact #dbbthat a ,mr4 ,smith comes into the city every morning on the top of one of the ,blackwall stages4 ,but it is certain that those who will not crack the shell of history will never get at the kernel4 ,johnson1 with hasty arrogance1 pronounced the kernel worthless1 because he saw no value in the shell4 ,the real use of travelling to distant countries and of studying the annals of past times is to preserve men from the contraction of mind which those can hardly escape whose whole communion is with one generation and one neighbourhood1 who arrive at conclusions by means of an induction not sufficiently copious1 and who therefore constantly confound exceptions with rules1 and accidents with essential properties4 ,in short1 the real use of travelling and of studying history is to keep men from being what ,tom ,dawson was in fiction1 and ,samuel ,johnson in reality4 ,johnson1 as ,mr4 ,burke most justly observed1 appears far greater in ,boswell's books than in his own4 ,his conversation appears to have been quite equal to his writings in matter1 and far superior to them in manner4 ,when he talked1 he clothed his wit and his sense in forcible and natural expressions4 ,as soon as he took his pen in his hand to write for the public1 his style became systematically vicious4 ,all his books are written in a learned language1 in a language which nobody hears from his mother or his nurse1 in a language in which nobody ever quarrels1 or drives bargains1 or makes love1 in a language in which nobody ever thinks4 ,it is clear that ,johnson himself did not think in the dialect in which he wrote4 ,the expressions which came first to his tongue were simple1 energetic1 and picturesque4 ,when he wrote for publication1 he did his sentences out of ,english into #dbc;,johnsonese4 ,his letters from the ,hebrides to ,mrs4 ,thrale are the original of that work of which the ,journey to the ,hebrides is the translation2 and it is amusing to compare the two versions4 8,when we were taken up stairs10 says he in one of his letters1 8a dirty fellow bounced out of the bed on which one of us was to lie40 ,this incident is recorded in the ,journey as follows3 8,out of one of the beds on which we were to repose started up1 at our entrance1 a man black as a ,cyclops from the forge40 ,sometimes ,johnson translated aloud4 8,the ,rehearsal10 he said1 very unjustly1 8has not wit enough to keep it sweet20 then1 after a pause1 8it has not vitality enough to preserve it from putrefaction40 ,mannerism is pardonable1 and is sometimes even agreeable1 when the manner1 though vicious1 is natural4 ,few readers1 for example1 would be willing to part with the mannerism of ,milton or of ,burke4 ,but a mannerism which does not sit easy on the mannerist1 which has been adopted on principle1 and which can be sustained only by constant effort1 is always offensive4 ,and such is the mannerism of ,johnson4 ,the characteristic faults of his style are so familiar to all our readers1 and have been so often burlesqued1 that it is almost superfluous to point them out4 ,it is well known that he made less use than any other eminent writer of those strong plain words1 ,anglo-,saxon or ,norman-,french1 of which the roots lie in the inmost depths of our language2 and that he felt a vicious partiality for terms which1 long after our own speech had been fixed1 were borrowed from the ,greek and ,latin1 and which1 therefore1 even when lawfully naturalised1 must be considered as born aliens1 not entitled to rank with the king's ,english4 ,his constant practice #dbdof padding out a sentence with useless epithets1 till it became as stiff as the bust of an exquisite1 his antithetical forms of expression1 constantly employed even where there is no opposition in the ideas expressed1 his big words wasted on little things1 his harsh inversions1 so widely different from those graceful and easy inversions which give variety1 spirit1 and sweetness to the expression of our great old writers1 all these peculiarities have been imitated by his admirers and parodied by his assailants1 till the public has become sick of the subject4 ,goldsmith said to him1 very wittily and very justly1 8,if you were to write a fable about little fishes1 doctor1 you would make the little fishes talk like whales40 ,no man surely ever had so little talent for personation as ,johnson4 ,whether he wrote in the character of a disappointed legacy-hunter or an empty town fop1 of a crazy virtuoso or a flippant coquette1 he wrote in the same pompous and unbending style4 ,his speech1 like ,sir ,piercy ,shafton's ,euphuistic eloquence1 bewrayed him under every disguise4 ,euphelia and ,rhodoclea talk as finely as ,imlac the poet1 or ,seged1 ,emperor of ,ethiopia4 ,the gay ,cornelia describes her reception at the country-house of her relations1 in such terms as these3 8,i was surprised1 after the civilities of my first reception1 to find1 instead of the leisure and tranquillity which a rural life always promises1 and1 if well conducted1 might always afford1 a confused wildness of care1 and a tumultuous hurry of diligence1 by which every face was clouded1 and every motion agitated40 ,the gentle ,tranquica informs us1 that she 8had not passed the earlier part of life without the flattery of courtship1 and the joys of triumph2 but had danced the round of gaiety amidst the murmurs of envy and #dbethe gratulations of applause1 had been attended from pleasure to pleasure by the great1 the sprightly1 and the vain1 and had seen her regard solicited by the obsequiousness of gallantry1 the gaiety of wit1 and the timidity of love40 ,surely ,sir ,john ,falstaff himself did not wear his petticoats with a worse grace4 ,the reader may well cry out1 with honest ,sir ,hugh ,evans1 8,i like not when a #8oman has a great peard3 ,i spy a great peard under her muffler40 7#a7 ,we had something more to say4 ,but our article is already too long2 and we must close it4 ,we would fain part in good humour from the hero1 from the biographer1 and even from the editor1 who1 ill as he has performed his task1 has at least this claim to our gratitude1 that he has induced us to read ,boswell's book again4 ,as we close it1 the club-room is before us1 and the table on which stands the omelet for ,nugent1 and the lemons for ,johnson4 ,there are assembled those heads which live for ever on the canvass of ,reynolds4 ,there are the spectacles of ,burke and the tall thin form of ,langton1 the courtly sneer of ,beauclerk and the beaming smile of ,garrick1 ,gibbon tapping his snuff-box and ,sir ,joshua with his trumpet in his ear4 ,in the foreground is that strange figure which is as familiar to us as the figures of those among whom we have been brought up1 the gigantic body1 the huge massy face1 seamed with the scars of disease1 the brown coat1 the black worsted stockings1 the grey wig with the scorched foretop1 the dirty hands1 the nails bitten and pared to the quick4 ,we see the eyes and mouth moving with convulsive twitches2 we see the heavy 7#a7 ,it is proper to observe that this passage bears a very close resemblance to a passage in the ,rambler 7,no4 #bj74 ,the resemblance may possibly be the effect of unconscious plagiarism4 #dbf;form rolling2 we hear it puffing2 and then comes the 8,why1 sir60 and the 8,what then1 sir80 and the 8,no1 sir60 and the 8,you don't see your way through the question1 sir60 ,what a singular destiny has been that of this remarkable man6 ,to be regarded in his own time as a classic1 and in ours as a companion4 ,to receive from his contemporaries that full homage which men of genius have in general received only from posterity6 ,to be more intimately known to posterity than other men are known to their contemporaries6 ,that kind of fame which is commonly the most transient is1 in his case1 the most durable4 ,the reputation of those writings1 which he probably expected to be immortal1 is every day fading2 while those peculiarities of manner and that careless table-talk the memory of which1 he probably thought1 would die with him1 are likely to be remembered as long as the ,english language is spoken in any quarter of the globe4 ,,john ,,hampden4 7#a7 7,edinburgh ,review1 ,december #ahca47 ,we #dbg;have read this book with great pleasure1 though not exactly with that kind of pleasure which we had expected4 ,we had hoped that ,lord ,nugent would have been able to collect1 from family papers and local traditions1 much new and interesting information respecting the life and character of the renowned leader of the ,long ,parliament1 the first of those great ,english commoners whose plain addition of ,mister has1 to our ears1 a more majestic sound than the proudest of the feudal titles4 ,in this hope we have been disappointed2 but assuredly not from any want of zeal or diligence on the part of the noble biographer4 ,even at ,hampden1 there are1 it seems1 no important papers relating to the most illustrious proprietor of that ancient domain4 ,the most valuable memorials of him which still exist1 belong to the family of his friend1 ,sir ,john ,eliot4 ,lord ,eliot has furnished the portrait which is engraved for this work1 together with some very interesting letters4 ,the portrait is undoubtedly an original1 and probably the only original now in existence4 ,the intellectual forehead1 the mild penetration of the eye1 and the inflexible resolution expressed by the 7#a7 ,some ,memorials of ,john ,hampden1 his ,party1 and his ,times4 ,by ,lord ,nugext4 #b vols4 #hvo4 ,london3 #aca4 #dbhlines of the month1 sufficiently guarantee the likeness4 ,we shall probably make some extracts from the letters4 ,they contain almost all the new information that ,lord ,nugent has been able to procure respecting the private pursuits of the great man whose memory he worships with an enthusiastic1 but not extravagant1 veneration4 ,the public life of ,hampden is surrounded by no obscurity4 ,his history1 more particularly from the year #afdj to his death1 is the history of ,england4 ,these ,memoirs must be considered as ,memoirs of the history of ,england2 and1 as such1 they well deserve to be attentively perused4 ,they contain some curious facts which1 to us at least1 are new1 much spirited narrative1 many judicious remarks1 and much eloquent declamation4 ,we are not sure that even the want of information respecting the private character of ,hampden is not in itself a circumstance as strikingly characteristic as any which the most minute chronicler1 ,o',meara1 ,mrs4 ,thrale1 or ,boswell himself1 ever recorded concerning their heroes4 ,the celebrated ,puritan leader is an almost solitary instance of a great man who neither sought nor shunned greatness1 who found glory only because glory lay in the plain path of duty4 ,during more than forty years he was known to his country neighbours as a gentleman of cultivated mind1 of high principles1 of polished address1 happy in his family1 and active in the discharge of local duties2 and to political men1 as an honest1 industrious1 and sensible member of ,parliament1 not eager to display his talents1 stanch to his party1 and attentive to the interests of his constituents4 ,a great and terrible crisis came4 ,a direct attack was made by an arbitrary government on a sacred right of ,englishmen1 on a right which was the #dbi;chief security for all their other rights4 ,the nation looked round for a defender4 ,calmly and unostentatiously the plain ,buckinghamshire ,esquire placed himself at the head of his countrymen1 and right before the face and across the path of tyranny4 ,the times grew darker and more troubled4 ,public service1 perilous1 arduous1 delicate1 was required2 and to every service the ,intellect and the courage of this wonderful man were found fully equal4 ,he became a debater of the first order1 a most dexterous manager of the ,house of ,commons1 a negotiator1 a soldier4 ,he governed a fierce and turbulent assembly1 abounding in able men1 as easily as he had governed his family4 ,he showed himself as competent to direct a campaign as to conduct the business of the petty sessions4 ,we can scarcely express the admiration which we feel for a mind so great1 and1 at the same time1 so healthful and so well proportioned1 so willingly contracting itself to the humblest duties1 so easily expanding itself to the ,highest1 so contented in repose1 so powerful in action4 ,almost every part of this virtuous and blameless life which is not hidden from us in modest privacy is a precious and splendid portion of our national history4 ,had the private conduct of ,hampden afforded the slightest pretence for censure1 he would have been assailed by the same blind malevolence which1 in defiance of the clearest proofs1 still continues to call ,sir ,john ,eliot an assassin4 ,had there been even any weak part in the character of ,hampden1 had his manners been in any respect open to ridicule1 we may be sure that no mercy would have been shown to him by the writers of ,charles's faction4 ,those writers have carefully preserved every little circumstance which could tend to make their opponents odious or contemptible4 #dcj,they have made themselves merry with the cant of injudicious zealots4 ,they have told us that ,pym broke down in a speech1 that ,ireton had his nose pulled by ,hollis1 that the ,earl of ,northumberland cudgelled ,henry ,marten1 that ,st4 ,john's manners were sullen1 that ,vane had an ugly face1 that ,cromwell had a red nose4 ,but neither the artful ,clarendon nor the scurrilous ,denham could venture to throw the slightest imputation on the morals or the manners of ,hampden4 ,what was the opinion entertained respecting him by the best men of his time1 we learn from ,baxter4 ,that eminent person1 eminent not only for his piety and his fervid devotional eloquence1 but for his moderation1 his knowledge of political affairs1 and his skill in judging of characters1 declared in the ,saint's ,rest that one of the pleasures which he hoped to enjoy in heaven was the society of ,hampden4 ,in the editions printed after the ,restoration1 the name of ,hampden was omitted4 8,but ,i must tell the reader10 says ,baxter1 8that ,i did blot it out1 not as changing my opinion of the person4444 ,mr4 ,john ,hampden was one that friends and enemies acknowledged to be most eminent for prudence1 piety1 and peaceable counsels1 having the most universal praise of any gentleman that ,i remember of that age4 ,i remember a moderate1 prudent1 aged gentleman1 far from him1 but acquainted with him1 whom ,i have heard saying1 that if he might choose what person he would be then in the world1 he would be ,john ,hampden40 ,we cannot but regret that we have not fuller memorials of a man who1 after passing through the most severe temptations by which human virtue can be tried1 after acting a most conspicuous part in a revolution and a civil war1 could yet deserve such praise as this from such authority4 #dca,yet the want of memorials is surely the best proof that hatred itself could find no blemish on his memory4 ,the story of his early life is soon told4 ,he was the head of a family which had been settled in ,buckinghamshire before the ,conquest4 ,part of the estate which he inherited had been bestowed by ,edward the ,confessor on ,baldwyn de ,hampden1 whose name seems to indicate that he was one of the ,norman favourites of the last ,saxon king4 ,during the contest between the houses of ,york and ,lancaster1 the ,hampdens adhered to the party of the ,red ,rose1 and were1 consequently1 persecuted by ,edward the ,fourth1 and favoured by ,henry the ,seventh4 ,under the ,tudors1 the family was great and flourishing4 ,griffith ,hampden1 high sheriff of ,buckinghamshire1 entertained ,elizabeth with great magnificence at his seat4 ,his son1 ,william ,hampden1 sate in the ,parliament which that ,queen summoned in the year #aeic4 ,william married ,elizabeth ,cromwell1 aunt of the celebrated man who afterwards governed the ,british islands with more than regal power2 and from this marriage sprang ,john ,hampden4 ,he was born in #aeid4 ,in #aeig his father died1 and left him heir to a very large estate4 ,after passing some years at the grammar school of ,thame1 young ,hampden was sent1 at fifteen1 to ,magdalene ,college1 in the ,university of ,oxford4 ,at nineteen1 he was admitted a student of the ,inner ,temple1 where he made himself master of the principles of the ,english law4 ,in #afai1 he married ,elizabeth ,symeon1 a lady to whom he appears to have been fondly attached4 ,in the following year he was returned to parliament by a borough which has in our time obtained a miserable celebrity1 the borough of ,grampound4 #dcb,of his private life during his early years little is known beyond what ,clarendon has told us4 8,in his entrance into the world10 says that great historian1 8he indulged himself in all the license in sports1 and exercises1 and company1 which were used by men of the most jolly conversation40 ,a remarkable change1 however1 passed on his character4 8,on a sudden10 says ,clarendon1 8from a life of great pleasure and license1 he retired to extraordinary sobriety and strictness1 to a more reserved and melancholy society40 ,it is probable that this change took place when ,hampden was about twenty-five years old4 ,at that age he was united to a woman whom he loved and esteemed4 ,at that age he entered into political life4 ,a mind so happily constituted as his would naturally1 under such circumstances1 relinquish the pleasures of dissipation for domestic enjoyments and public duties4 ,his enemies have allowed that he was a man in whom virtue showed itself in its mildest and least austere form4 ,with the morals of a ,puritan1 he had the manners of an accomplished courtier4 ,even after the change in his habits1 8he preserved10 says ,clarendon1 8his own natural cheerfulness and vivacity1 and1 above all1 a flowing courtesy to all men40 ,these qualities distinguished him from most of the members of his sect and his party1 and1 in the great crisis in which he afterwards took a principal part1 were of scarcely less service to the country than his keen sagacity and his dauntless courage4 ,in ,january1 #afba1 ,hampden took his seat in the ,house of ,commons4 ,his mother was exceedingly desirous that her son should obtain a peerage4 ,his family1 his possessions1 and his personal accomplishments were such1 as would1 in any age1 have justified #dcc;him in pretending to that honour4 ,but in the reign of ,james the ,first there was one short cut to the ,house of ,lords4 ,it was but to ask1 to pay1 and to have4 ,the sale of titles was carried on as openly as the sale of boroughs in our times4 ,hampden turned away with contempt from the degrading honours with which his family desired to see him invested1 and attached himself to the party which was in opposition to the court4 ,it was about this time1 as ,lord ,nugent has justly remarked1 that parliamentary opposition began to take a regular form4 ,from a very early age1 the ,english had enjoyed a far larger share of liberty than had fallen to the lot of any neighbouring people4 ,how it chanced that a country conquered and enslaved by invaders1 a country of which the soil had been portioned out among foreign adventurers and of which the laws were written in a foreign tongue1 a country given over to that worst tyranny1 the tyranny of caste over caste1 should have become the seat of civil liberty1 the object of the admiration and envy of surrounding states1 is one of the most obscure problems in the philosophy of history4 ,but the fact is certain4 ,within a century and a half after the ,norman conquest1 the ,great ,charter was conceded4 ,within two centuries after the ,conquest1 the first ,house of ,commons met4 ,froissart tells us1 what indeed his whole narrative sufficiently proves1 that1 of all the nations of the fourteenth century1 the ,english were the least disposed to endure oppression4 8,c'est le plus prilleux peuple qui soit au monde1 et plus outrageux et orgueilleux40 ,the good canon probably did not perceive that all the prosperity and internal peace which this dangerous people enjoyed were the fruits of the spirit which he designates as proud #dcd;and outrageous4 ,he has1 however1 borne ample testimony to the effect1 though he was not sagacious enough to trace it to its cause4 8,en le royaume d',angleterre10 says he1 8toutes gens1 laboureurs et marchands1 ont appris de vivre en paix1 et mener leurs marchandises paisiblement1 et les laboureurs labourer40 ,in the fifteenth century1 though ,england was convulsed by the struggle between the two branches of the royal family1 the physical and moral condition of the people continued to improve4 ,villenage almost wholly disappeared4 ,the calamities of war were little felt1 except by those who bore arms4 ,the oppressions of the government were little felt1 except by the aristocracy4 ,the institutions of the country1 when compared with the institutions of the neighbouring kingdoms1 seem to have been not undeserving of the praises of ,fortescue4 ,the government of ,edward the ,fourth1 though we call it cruel and arbitrary1 was humane and liberal when compared with that of ,lewis the ,eleventh1 or that of ,charles the ,bold4 ,comines1 who had lived amidst the wealthy cities of ,flanders1 and who had visited ,florence and ,venice1 had never seen a people so well governed as the ,english4 8,or selon mon advis10 says he1 8entre toutes les seigneuries du monde1 dont j'ay connoissance1 ou la chose publique est mieulx traite1 et ou rgn moins de violence sur le peuple1 et ou il n'y an uls difices abbatus ny dmolis pour guerre1 c'est ,angleterre2 et tombe le sort et le malheur sur ceulx qui font la guerre40 ,about the close of the fifteenth and the commencement of the sixteenth century1 a great portion of the influence which the aristocracy had possessed passed to the crown4 ,no ,english king has ever enjoyed such absolute power as ,henry the ,eighth4 ,but while the #dceroyal prerogatives were acquiring strength at the expense of the nobility1 two great revolutions took place1 destined to be the parents of many revolutions1 the invention of ,printing1 and the reformation of the ,church4 ,the immediate effect of the ,reformation in ,england was by no means favourable to political liberty4 ,the authority which had been exercised by the ,popes was transferred almost entire to the ,king4 ,two formidable powers which had often served to check each other were united in a single despot4 ,if the system on which the founders of the ,church of ,england acted could have been permanent1 the ,reformation would have been1 in a political sense1 the greatest curse that ever fell on our country4 ,but that system carried within it the seeds of its own death4 ,it was possible to transfer the name of ,head of the ,church from ,clement to ,henry2 but it was impossible to transfer to the new establishment the veneration which the old establishment had inspired4 ,mankind had not broken one yoke in pieces only in order to put on another4 ,the supremacy of the ,bishop of ,rome had been for ages considered as a fundamental principle of ,christianity4 ,it had for it every thing that could make a prejudice deep and strong1 venerable antiquity1 high authority1 general consent4 ,it had been taught in the first lessons of the nurse4 ,it was taken for granted in all the exhortations of the priest4 ,to remove it was to break innumerable associations1 and to give a great and perilous shock to the principles4 ,yet this prejudice1 strong as it was1 could not stand in the great day of the deliverance of the human reason4 ,and it was not to be expected that the public mind1 just after freeing itself by an unexampled effort1 from a bondage #dcfwhich it had endured for ages1 would patiently submit to a tyranny which could plead no ancient'title4 ,rome had at least prescription on its side4 ,but ,protestant intolerance1 despotism in an upstart sect1 infallibility claimed by guides who acknowledged that they had passed the greater part of their lives in error1 restraints imposed on the liberty of private judgment at the pleasure of rulers who could vindicate their own proceedings only by asserting the liberty of private judgment1 these things could not long be borne4 ,those who had pulled down the crucifix could not long continue to persecute for the surplice4 ,it required no great sagacity to perceive the inconsistency and dishonesty of men who1 dissenting from almost all ,christendom1 would suffer none to dissent from themselves1 who demanded freedom of conscience1 yet refused to grant it1 who execrated persecution1 yet persecuted1 who urged reason against the authority of one opponent1 and authority against the reasons of another4 ,bonner acted at least in accordance with his own principles4 ,cranmer could vindicate himself from the charge of being a heretic only by arguments which made him out to be a murderer4 ,thus the system on which the ,english ,princes acted with respect to ecclesiastical affairs for some time after the ,reformation was a system too obviously unreasonable to be lasting4 ,the public mind moved while the government moved1 but would not stop where the government stopped4 ,the same impulse which had carried millions away from the ,church of ,rome continued to carry them forward in the same direction4 ,as ,catholics had become ,protestants1 ,protestants became ,puritans2 and the ,tudors and ,stuarts were as unable to avert the latter change as the ,popes had been to #dcg;avert the former4 ,the dissenting party increased and became strong under every kind of discouragement and oppression4 ,they were a sect4 ,the government persecuted them2 and they became an opposition4 ,the old constitution of ,england furnished to them the means of resisting the sovereign without breaking the law4 ,they were the majority of the ,house of ,commons4 ,they had the power of giving or withholding supplies2 and1 by a judicious exercise of this power1 they might hope to take from the ,church its usurped authority over the consciences of men1 and from the ,crown some part of the vast prerogative which it had recently acquired at the expense of the nobles and of the ,pope4 ,the faint beginnings of this memorable contest may be discerned early in the reign of ,elizabeth4 ,the conduct of her last ,parliament made it clear that one of those great revolutions which policy may guide but cannot stop was in progress4 ,it was on the question of monopolies that the ,house of ,commons gained its first great victory over the ,throne4 ,the conduct of the extraordinary woman who then governed ,england is an admirable study for politicians who live in unquiet times4 ,it shows how thoroughly she understood the people whom she ruled1 and the crisis in which she was called to act4 ,what she held she held firmly4 ,what she gave she gave graciously4 ,she saw that it was necessary to make a concession to the nation2 and she made it1 not grudgingly1 not tardily1 not as a matter of bargain and sale1 not1 in a word1 as ,charles the ,first would have made it1 but promptly and cordially4 ,before a bill could be framed or an address presented1 she applied a remedy to the evil of which the nation complained4 ,she expressed in the #dchwarmest terms her gratitude to her faithful ,commons for detecting abuses which interested persons had concealed from her4 ,if her successors had inherited her wisdom with her crowd1 ,charles the ,first might have died of old age1 and ,james the ,second would never have seen ,st4 ,germain's4 ,she died2 and the kingdom passed to one who was1 in his own opinion1 the greatest master of king-craft that ever lived1 but who was1 in truth1 one of those kings whom ,god seems to send for the express purpose of hastening revolutions4 ,of all the enemies of liberty whom ,britain has produced1 he was at once the most harmless and the most provoking4 ,his office resembled that of the man who1 in a ,spanish bullfight1 goads the torpid savage to fury1 by shaking a red rag in the air1 and by now and then throwing a dart1 sharp enough to sting1 but too small to injure4 ,the policy of wise tyrants has always been to cover their violent acts with popular forms4 ,james was always obtruding his despotic theories on his subjects without the slightest necessity4 ,his foolish talk exasperated them infinitely more than forced loans or benevolences would have done4 ,yet1 in practice1 no king ever held his prerogatives less tenaciously4 ,he neither gave way gracefully to the advancing spirit of liberty nor took vigorous measures to stop it1 but retreated before it with ludicrous haste1 blustering and insulting as he retreated4 ,the ,english people had been governed during near a hundred and fifty years by ,princes who1 whatever might be their frailties or their vices1 had all possessed great force of character1 and who1 whether beloved or hated1 had always been feared4 ,now1 at length1 for the first time since the day when the sceptre of ,henry the ,fourth dropped #dci;from the hand of his lethargic grandson1 ,england had a king whom she despised4 ,the follies and vices of the man increased the contempt which was produced by the feeble policy of the sovereign4 ,the indecorous gallantries of the ,court1 the habits of gross intoxication in which even the ladies indulged1 were alone sufficient to disgust a people whose manners were beginning to be strongly tinctured with austerity4 ,but these were trifles4 ,crimes of the most frightful kind had been discovered2 others were suspected4 ,the strange story of the ,gowries was not forgotten4 ,the ignominious fondness of the ,king for his minions1 the perjuries1 the sorceries1 the poisonings1 which his chief favourites had planned within the walls of his palace1 the pardon which1 in direct violation of his duty and of his word1 he had granted to the mysterious threats of a murderer1 made him an object of loathing to many of his subjects4 ,what opinion grave and moral persons residing at a distance from the ,court entertained respecting him1 we learn from ,mrs4 ,hutchinson's ,memoirs4 ,england was no place1 the seventeenth century no time1 for ,sporus and ,locusta4 ,this was not all4 ,the most ridiculous weaknesses seemed to meet in the wretched ,solomon of ,whitehall1 pedantry1 buffoonery1 garrulity1 low curiosity1 the most contemptible personal cowardice4 ,nature and education had done their best to produce a finished specimen of all that a king ought not to be4 ,his awkward figure1 his rolling eye1 his rickety walk1 his nervous tremblings1 his slobbering mouth1 his broad ,scotch accent1 were imperfections which might have been found in the best and greatest man4 ,their effect1 however1 was to make ,james and his office objects of contempt1 and to dissolve those associations which had #ddj;been created by the noble bearing of preceding mon-arclis1 and which were in themselves no inconsiderable fence to royalty4 ,the sovereign whom ,james most resembled was1 we think1 ,claudius ,csar4 ,both had the same feeble vacillating temper1 the same childishness1 the same coarseness1 the same poltroonery4 ,both were men of learning2 both wrote and spoke1 not1 indeed1 well1 but still in a manner in which it seems almost incredible that men so foolish should have written or spoken4 ,the follies and indecencies of ,james are well described in the words which ,suetonius uses respecting ,claudius3 8,multa talia1 etiam privatis deformia1 nedum prilcipi1 neque infacundo1 neque indocto1 immo etiam pertinaciter liberalibus studiis dedito40 ,the description given by ,suetonius of the manner in which the ,roman prince transacted business exactly suits the ,briton4 8,in comioscendo ac decernendo mira varietate animi fuit1 modo circumspectus et sagax1 modo inconsultus ac prceps1 nonnunquam frivolus amentique similis40 ,claudius was ruled successively by two bad women3 ,james successively by two bad men4 ,even the description of the person of ,claudius1 which we find in the ancient memoirs1 might1 in many points1 serve for that of ,james4 8,ceterum et ingredientem destituebant poplits minus firmi1 et remisse quid vel serio agentem multa dehonestabant1 risus indecens1 ira turpior1 spumante rictu1 prterea lingu titubantia40 ,the ,parliament which ,james had called soon after his accession had been refractory4 ,his second ,parliament1 called in the spring of #afad1 had been more refractory still4 ,it had been dissolved after a session of two months2 and during six years the ,king had governed without having recourse to the legislature4 #dda;,during those six years1 melancholy and disgraceful events1 at home and abroad1 had followed one another in rapid succession2 the divorce of ,lady ,essex1 the murder of ,overbury1 the elevation of ,villiers1 the pardon of ,somerset1 the disgrace of ,coke1 the execution of ,raleigh1 the battle of ,prague1 the invasion of the ,palatinate by ,spinola1 the ignominious flight of the son-in-law of the ,english king1 the depression of the ,protestant interest all over the continent4 ,all the extraordinary modes by which ,james could venture to raise money had been tried4 ,his necessities were greater than ever2 and he was compelled to summon the ,parliament in which ,hampden first appeared as a public man4 ,this ,parliament lasted about twelve months4 ,during that time it visited with deserved punishment several of those who1 during the preceding six years1 had enriched themselves by peculation and monopoly4 ,michell1 one of the grasping patentees who had purchased of the favourite the power of robbing the nation1 was fined and imprisoned for life4 ,mompesson1 the original1 it is said1 of ,massinger's ,overreach1 was outlawed and deprived of his ill gotten wealth4 ,even ,sir ,edward ,villiers1 the brother of ,buckingham1 found it convenient to leave ,england4 ,a greater name is to be added to the ignominious list4 ,by this ,parliament was brought to justice that illustrious philosopher whose memory genius has half redeemed from the infamy due to servility1 to ingratitude1 and to corruption4 ,after redressing internal grievances1 the ,commons proceeded to take into consideration the state of ,europe4 ,the ,king flew into a rage with them for meddling with such matters1 and1 with characteristic #ddb;judgment1 drew them into a controversy about the origin of their ,house and of its privileges4 ,when he found that he could not convince them1 he dissolved them in a passion1 and sent some of the leaders of the ,opposition to ruminate on his logic in prison4 ,during the time which elapsed between this dissolution and the meeting of the next ,parliament1 took place the celebrated negotiation respecting the ,infanta4 ,the would-be despot was unmercifully browbeaten4 ,the would-be ,solomon was ridiculously overreached4 ,steenie1 in spite of the begging and sobbing of his dear dad and gossip1 carried off baby ,charles in triumph to ,madrid4 ,the sweet lads1 as ,james called them1 came back safe1 but without their errand4 ,the great master of king-craft1 in looking for a ,spanish match1 had found a ,spanish war4 ,in ,february1 #afbd1 a ,parliament met1 during the whole sitting of which1 ,james was a mere puppet in the hands of his baby1 and of his poor slave and dog4 ,the ,commons were disposed to support the ,king in the vigorous policy which his favourite urged him to adopt4 ,but they were not disposed to place any confidence in their feeble sovereign and his dissolute courtiers1 or to relax in their efforts to remove public grievances4 ,they therefore lodged the money which they voted for the war in the hands of ,parliamentary ,commissioners4 ,they impeached the treasurer1 ,lord ,middlesex1 for corruption1 and they passed a bill by which patents of monopoly were declared illegal4 ,hampden did not1 during the reign of ,james1 take any prominent part in public affairs4 ,it is certain1 however1 that he paid great attention to the details of ,parliamentary business1 and to the local interests of his own country4 ,it was in a great measure owing to #ddc;his exertions that ,wendover and some other boroughs on which the popular party could depend recovered the elective franchise1 in spite of the opposition of the ,court4 ,the health of the ,king had for some time been declining4 ,on the twenty-seventh of ,march1 #ajbe1 he expired4 ,under his weak rule1 the spirit of liberty had grown strong1 and had become equal to a great contest4 ,the contest was brought on by the policy cf his successor4 ,charles bore no resemblance to his father4 ,he was not a driveller1 or a pedant1 or a buffoon1 or a coward4 ,it would be absurd to deny that he was a scholar and a gentleman1 a man of exquisite taste in the fine arts1 a man of strict morals in private life4 ,his talents for business were respectable2 his demeanour was kingly4 ,but he was false1 imperious1 obstinate1 narrow-minded1 ignorant of the temper of his people1 unobservant of the signs of his times4 ,the whole principle of his government was resistance to public opinion2 nor did he make any real concession to that opinion till it mattered not whether he resisted or conceded1 till the nation1 which had long ceased to love him or to trust him1 had at last ceased to fear him4 ,his first ,parliament met in ,june1 #afbe4 ,hampden sat in it as burgess for ,wendover4 ,the ,king wished for money4 ,the commons wished for the redress of grievances4 ,the war1 however1 could not be carried on without funds4 ,the plan of the ,opposition was1 it should seem1 to dole out supplies by small sums1 in order to prevent a speedy dissolution4 ,they gave the ,king two subsidies only1 and proceeded to complain that his ships had been employed against the ,huguenots in ,france1 and to petition in behalf of the ,puritans who were persecuted in ,england4 ,the ,king #ddd;dissolved them1 and raised money by ,letters under his ,privy ,seal4 ,the supply fell far short of what he needed2 and1 in the spring of #afbj1 he called together another ,parliament4 ,in this ,parliament1 ,hampden again sat for ,wendover4 ,the ,commons resolved to grant a very liberal supply1 but to defer the final passing of the act for that purpose till the grievances of the nation should be redressed4 ,the struggle which followed far exceeded in violence any that had yet taken place4 ,the ,commons impeached ,buckingham4 ,the ,king threw the managers of the impeachment into prison4 ,the ,commons denied the right of the ,king to levy tonnage and poundage without their consent4 ,the ,king dissolved them4 ,they put forth a remonstrance4 ,the ,king circulated a declaration vindicating his measures1 and committed some of the most distinguished members of the ,opposition to close custody4 ,money was raised by a forced loan1 which was apportioned among the people according to the rate at which they had been respectively assessed to the last subsidy4 ,on this occasion it was1 that ,hampden made his first stand for the fundamental principle of the ,english constitution4 ,he positively refused to lend a farthing4 ,he was required to give his reasons4 ,he answered1 8that he could be content to lend as well as others1 but feared to draw upon himself that curse in ,magna ,charta which should be read twice a year against those who infringe it40 ,for this spirited answer1 the ,privy ,council committed him close prisoner to the ,gate ,house4 ,after some time1 he was again brought up2 but he persisted in his refusal1 and was sent to a place of confinement in ,hampshire4 ,the government went on1 oppressing at home1 and blundering in all its measures abroad4 ,a war was #dde;foolishly undertaken against ,france1 and more foolishly conducted4 ,buckingham led an expedition against ,rhe1 and failed ignominiously4 ,in the mean time soldiers were billeted on the people4 ,crimes of which ordinary justice should have taken cognisance were punished by martial law4 ,near eighty gentlemen were imprisoned for refusing to contribute to the forced loan4 ,the lower people who showed any signs of insubordination were dressed into the fleet1 or compelled to serve in the army4 ,money1 however1 came in slowly2 and the ,king was compelled to summon another ,parliament4 ,in the hope of conciliating his subjects1 he set at liberty the persons who had been imprisoned for refusing to comply with his unlawful demands4 ,hampden regained his freedom1 and was immediately reelected burgess for ,wendover4 ,early in #afbh the ,parliament met4 ,during its first session1 the ,commons prevailed on the ,king1 after many delays and much equivocation1 to give1 in return for five subsidies1 his full and solemn assent to that celebrated instrument1 the second great charter of the liberties of ,england1 known by the name of the ,petition of ,right4 ,by agreeing to this act1 the ,king bound himself to raise no taxes without the consent of ,parliament1 to imprison no man except by legal process1 to billet no more soldiers on the people1 and to leave the cognisance of offences to the ordinary tribunals4 ,in the summer1 this memorable ,parliament was prorogued4 ,it met again in ,january1 #afbi4 ,buckingham was no more4 ,that weak1 violent1 and dissolute adventurer1 who1 with no talents or acquirements but those of a mere courtier1 had1 in a great crisis of foreign and domestic politics1 ventured on the part of #ddfprime minister1 had fallen1 during the recess of ,parliament1 by the hand of an assassin4 ,both before and after his death the war had been feebly and unsuccessfully conducted4 ,the ,king had continued1 in direct violation of the ,petition of ,righ1 to raise tonnage and poundage without the consent of ,parliament4 ,the troops had again been billeted on the people2 and it was clear to the ,commons that the five subsidies which they had given as the price of the national liberties had been given in vain4 ,they met accordingly in no complying humour4 ,they took into their most serious consideration the measures of the government concerning tonnage and poundage4 ,they summoned the officers of the custom-house to their bar4 ,they interrogated the barons of the exchequer4 ,they committed one of the sheriffs of ,london4 ,sir ,john ,eliot1 a distinguished member of the ,opposition1 and an intimate friend of ,hampden1 proposed a resolution condemning the unconstitutional imposition4 ,the ,speaker said that the ,king had commanded him to put no such question to the vote4 ,this decision produced the most violent burst of feeling ever seen within the walls of ,parliament4 ,hayman remonstrated vehemently against the disgraceful language which had been heard from the chair4 ,eliot dashed the paper which contained his resolution on the floor of the ,house4 ,valentine and ,hollis held the ,speaker down in his seat by main force1 and read the motion amidst the loudest shouts4 ,the door was locked4 ,the key was laid on the table4 ,black ,rod knocked for admittance in vain4 ,after passing several strong resolutions1 the ,house adjourned4 ,on the day appointed for its meeting it was dissolved by the ,king1 and several of its most eminent members1 among #ddgwhom were ,hollis and ,sir ,john ,eliot1 were committed to prison4 ,though ,hampden had as yet taken little part in the debates of the ,house1 he had been a member of many very important committees1 and had read and written much concerning the law of ,parliament4 ,a manuscript volume uf ,parliamentary cases1 which is still in existence1 contains many extracts from his notes4 ,he now retired to the duties and pleasures of a rural life4 ,during the eleven years which followed the dissolution of the ,parliament of #afbh1 he resided at his seat in one of the most beautiful parts of the county of ,buckingham4 ,the house1 which has since his time been greatly altered1 and which is now1 we believe1 almost entirely neglected1 was an old ,english mansion1 built in the days of the ,plantagenets and the ,tudors4 ,it stood on the brow of a hill which overlooks a narrow valley4 ,the extensive woods which surround it were pierced by long avenues4 ,one of those avenues the grandfather of the great statesman had cut for the approach of ,elizabeth2 and the opening1 which is still visible for many miles1 retains the name of the ,queen's ,gap4 ,in this delightful retreat1 ,hampden passed several years1 performing with great activity all the duties of a landed gentleman and a magistrate1 and amusing himself with books and with field sports4 ,he was not in his retirement unmindful of his persecuted friends4 ,in particular1 he kept up a close correspondence with ,sir ,john ,eliot1 who was confined in the ,tower4 ,lord ,nugent has published several of the ,letters4 ,we may perhaps be fanciful2 but it seems to us that every one of them is an admirable illustration #ddhof some part of the character of ,hampden which ,clarendon has drawn4 ,the correspondence relates to the two sons of ,sir ,john ,eliot4 ,these young men were wild and unsteady2 and their father1 who was now separated from them1 was naturally anxious about their conduct4 ,he at length resolved to send one of them to ,france1 and the other to serve a campaign in the ,low ,countries4 ,the letter which we subjoin shows that ,hampden1 though rigorous towards himself1 was not uncharitable towards others1 and that his puritanism was perfectly compatible with the sentiments and the tastes of an accomplished gentleman4 ,it also illustrates admirably what has been said of him by ,clarendon3 8,he was of that rare affability and temper in debate1 and of that seeming humility and submission of judgment1 as if he brought no opinion of his own with him1 but a desire of information and instruction4 ,yet he had so subtle a way of interrogating1 and1 under cover of doubts1 insinuating his objections1 that he infused his own opinions into those from whom he pretended to learn and receive them40 ,the letter runs thus3 8,i am so perfectly acquainted with your clear insight into the dispositions of men1 and ability to fit them with courses suitable1 that1 had you bestowed sons of mine as you have done your own1 my judgment durst hardly have called it into question1 especially when1 in laying the design1 you have prevented the objections to be made against it4 ,for if ,mr4 ,richard ,eliot will1 in the intermissions of action1 add study to practice1 and adorn that lively spirit with flowers of contemplation1 he will raise our expectations of another ,sir ,edward ,vere1 that had this character--all summer in the field1 all winter in his study--#ddi;in whose fall fame makes this kingdom a great loser2 and1 having taken this resolution from counsel with the highest wisdom1 as ,i doubt not you have1 ,i hope and pray that the same power will crown it with a blessing answerable to our wish4 ,the way you take with my other friend shows you to be none of the ,bishop of ,exeter's converts2 7#a7 of whose mind neither am ,i superstitiously4 ,but had my opinion been asked1 ,i should1 as vulgar conceits use to do1 have showed my power rather to raise objections than to answer them4 ,a temper between ,france and ,oxford1 might have taken away his scruples1 with more advantage to his years444444444 ,for although he be one of those that1 if his age were looked for in no other book but that of the mind1 would be found no ward if you should die to-morrow1 yet it is a great hazard1 methinks1 to see so sweet a disposition guarded with no more1 amongst a people whereof many make it their religion to be superstitious in impiety1 and their behaviour to be affected in ill manners4 ,but ,god1 who only knoweth the periods of life and opportunities to come1 hath designed him1 ,i hope1 for his own service betime1 and stirred up your providence to husband him so early for great affairs4 ,then shall he be sure to find ,him in ,france that ,abraham did in ,sechem and ,joseph in ,egypt1 under whose wing alone is perfect safety40 ,sir ,john ,eliot employed himself1 during his imprisonment1 in writing a treatise on government1 which he transmitted to his friend4 ,hampden's criticisms are strikingly characteristic4 ,they are written with all that 8flowing courtesy0 which is ascribed to him by ,clarendon4 ,the objections are insinuated with so 7#a7 ,hall1 ,bishop of ,exeter1 had written strongly1 both in verse and in prose1 against the fashion of sending young men of quality to travel4 #dejmuch delicacy that they could scarcely gall the most irritable author4 ,we see too how highly ,hampden valued in the writings of others that conciseness which was one of the most striking peculiarities of his own eloquence4 ,sir ,john ,eliot's style was1 it seems1 too diffuse1 and it is impossible not to admire the skill with which this is suggested4 8,the piece10 says ,hampden1 8is as complete an image of the pattern as can be drawn by lines1 a lively character of a large mind1 the subject1 method1 and expression1 excellent and homogeneal1 and1 to say truth1 sweetheart1 somewhat exceeding my commendations4 ,my words cannot render them to the life4 ,yet1 to show my ingenuity rather than wit1 would not a less model have given a full representation of that subject1 not by diminution but by contraction of parts8 ,i desire to learn4 ,i dare not say4 ,the variations upon each particular seem many2 all1 ,i confess1 excellent4 ,the fountain was full1 the channel narrow2 that may be the cause2 or that the author resembled ,virgil1 who made more verses by many than he intended to write4 ,to extract a just number1 had ,i seen all his1 ,i could easily have bid him make fewer2 but if he had bade me tell him which he should have spared1 ,i had been posed40 ,this is evidently the writing not only of a man of good sense and natural good taste1 but of a man of literary habits4 ,of the studies of ,hampden little is known4 ,but1 as it was at one time in contemplation to give him the charge of the education of the ,prince of ,wales1 it cannot be doubted that his acquirements were considerable4 ,davila1 it is said1 was one of his favourite writers4 ,the moderation of ,davila's opinions and the perspicuity and manliness of his style could not but recommend him to so judicious a reader4 #dea;,it is not improbable that the parallel between ,france and ,england1 the ,huguenots and the ,puritans1 had struck the mind of ,hampden1 and that he already-found within himself powers not unequal to the lofty part of ,coligni4 ,while he was engaged in these pursuits1 a heavy domestic calamity fell on him4 ,his wife1 who had borne him nine children1 died in the summer of #afcd4 ,she lies in the parish church of ,hampden1 close to the manor-house4 ,the tender and energetic language of her epitaph still attests the bitterness of her husband's sorrow1 and the consolation which he found in a hope full of immortality4 ,in the mean time1 the aspect of public affairs grew darker and darker4 ,the health of ,eliot had sunk under an unlawful imprisonment of several years4 ,the brave sufferer refused to purchase liberty1 though liberty would to him have been life1 by recognising the authority which had confined him4 ,in consequence of the representations of his physicians1 the severity of restraint was somewhat relaxed4 ,but it was in vain4 ,he languished and expired a martyr to that good cause for which his friend ,hampden was destined to meet a more brilliant1 but not a more honourable death4 ,all the promises of the ,king were violated without scruple or shame4 ,the ,petition of ,right1 to which he had1 in consideration of monies duly numbered1 given a solemn assent1 was set at nought4 ,taxes were raised by the royal authority4 ,patents of monopoly were granted4 ,the old usages of feudal times were made pretexts for harassing the people with exactions unknown during many years4 ,the ,puritans were persecuted with cruelty worthy of the ,holy ,office4 ,they were forced to fly from the country4 ,they #debwere imprisoned4 ,they were whipped4 ,their ears were cut off4 ,their noses were slit4 ,their cheeks were branded with red-hot iron4 ,but the cruelty of the oppressor could not tire out the fortitude of the victims4 ,the mutilated defenders of liberty again defied the vengeance of the ,star ,chamber1 came back with undiminished resolution to the place of their glorious infamy1 and manfully presented the stumps of their ears to be grubbed out by the hangman's knife4 ,the hardy sect grew up and flourished in spite of every thing that seemed likely to stunt it1 struck its roots deep into a barren soil1 and spread its branches wide to an inclement sky4 ,the multitude thronged round ,prynne in the pillory with more respect than they paid to ,mainwaring in the pulpit1 and treasured up the rags which the blood of ,burton had soaked1 with a veneration such as mitres and surplices had ceased to inspire4 ,for the misgovernment of this disastrous period ,charles himself is principally responsible4 ,after the death of ,buckingham1 he seems to have been his own prime minister4 ,he had1 however1 two counsellors who seconded him1 or went beyond him1 in intolerance and lawless violence1 the one a superstitious driveller1 as honest as a vile temper would suffer him to be1 the other a man of great valour and capacity1 but licentious1 faithless1 corrupt1 and cruel4 ,never were faces more strikingly characteristic of the individuals to whom they belonged1 than those of ,laud and ,strafford1 as they still remain portrayed by the most skilful hand of that age4 ,the mean forehead1 the pinched features1 the peering eyes1 of the prelate1 suit admirably with his disposition4 ,they mark him out as a lower kind of ,saint ,dominic1 differing #dec;from the fierce and gloomy enthusiast who founded the ,inquisition1 as we might imagine the familiar imp of a spiteful witch to differ from an archangel of darkness4 ,when we read ,his ,grace's judgments1 when we read the report which he drew up1 setting forth that he had sent some separatists to prison1 and imploring the royal aid against others1 we feel a movement of indignation4 ,we turn to his ,diary1 and we are at once as cool as contempt can make us4 ,there we learn how his picture fell down1 and how fearful he was lest the fall should be an omen2 how he dreamed that the ,duke of ,buckingham came to bed to him1 that ,king ,james walked past him1 that he saw ,thomas ,flaxney in green garments1 and the ,bishop of ,worcester with his shoulders wrapped in linen4 ,in the early part of #afbg1 the sleep of this great ornament of the church seems to have been much disturbed4 ,on the fifth of ,january1 he saw a merry old man with a wrinkled countenance1 named ,grove1 lying on the ground4 ,on the fourteenth of the same memorable month1 he saw the ,bishop of ,lincoln jump on a horse and ride away4 ,a lay or two after this he dreamed that he gave the ,king drink in a silver cup1 and that the ,king refused it1 and called for glass4 ,then he dreamed that he had turned ,papist2 of all his dreams the only one1 we suspect1 which came through the gate of horn4 ,but of these visions our favourite is that which1 as he has recorded1 he enjoyed on the night of ,friday1 the ninth of ,february1 #afbg4 8,i dreamed10 says he1 8that ,i had the scurvy2 and that forthwith all my teeth became loose4 ,there was one in especial in my lower jaw1 which ,i could scarcely keep in with my finger till ,i had called for help40 ,here was a man to have the superintendence of the opinions of a great nation6 #ded;,but ,wentworth1--who ever names him without thinking of those harsh dark features1 ennobled by their expression into more than the majesty of an antique ,jupiter2 of that brow1 that eye1 that cheek1 that lip1 wherein1 as in a chronicle1 are written the events of many stormy and disastrous years1 high enterprise accomplished1 frightful dangers braved1 power unsparingly exercised1 suffering unshrinkingly borne2 of that fixed look1 so full of severity1 of mournful anxiety1 of deep thought1 of dauntless resolution1 which seems at once to forebode and to defy a terrible fate1 as it lowers on us from the living canvass of ,vandyke8 ,even at this day the haughty earl overawes posterity as he overawed his contemporaries1 and excites the same interest when arraigned before the tribunal of history which he excited at the bar of the ,house of ,lords4 ,in spite of ourselves1 we sometimes feel towards his memory a certain relenting similar to that relenting which his defence1 as ,sir ,john ,denham tells us1 produced in ,westminster ,hall4 ,this great1 brave1 bad man entered the ,house of ,commons at the same time with ,hampden1 and took the same side with ,hampden4 ,both were among the richest and most powerful commoners in the kingdom4 ,both were equally distinguished by force of character1 and by personal courage4 ,hampden had more judgment and sagacity than ,wentworth4 ,but no orator of that time equalled ,wentworth in force and brilliancy of expression4 ,in #afbf both these eminent men were committed to prison by the ,king1 ,wentworth1 who was among the leaders of the ,opposition1 on account of his parliamentary conduct1 ,hampden1 who had not as yet taken a prominent part in debate1 for refusing to pay taxes illegally imposed4 ,here their path separated4 ,after the death of #dee;,buckingham1 the ,king attempted to seduce some of the chiefs of the ,opposition from their party2 and ,wentworth was among those who yielded to the seduction4 ,he abandoned his associates1 and hated them ever after with the deadly hatred of a renegade4 ,high titles and great employments were heaped upon him4 ,he became ,earl of ,strafford1 ,lord ,lieutenant of ,ireland1 ,president of the ,council of the ,north2 and he employed all his power for the purpose of crushing those liberties of which he had been the most distinguished champion4 ,his counsels respecting public affairs were fierce and arbitrary4 ,his correspondence with ,laud abundantly proves that government without parliaments1 government by the sword1 was his favourite scheme4 ,he was angry even that the course of justice between man and man should be unrestrained by the royal prerogative4 ,he grudged to the ,courts of ,king's ,bench and ,common ,pleas even that measure of liberty which the most absolute of the ,bourbons allowed to the ,parliaments of ,france4 ,in ,ireland1 where he stood in the place of the ,king1 his practice was in strict accordance with his theory4 ,he set up the authority of the executive government over that of the courts of law4 ,he permitted no person to leave the island without his licence4 ,he established vast monopolies for his own private benefit4 ,he imposed taxes arbitrarily4 ,he levied them by military force4 ,some of his acts are described even by the partial ,clarendon as powerful acts1 acts which marked a nature excessively imperious1 acts which caused dislike and terror in sober and dispassionate persons1 high acts uf oppression4 ,upon a most frivolous charge1 he obtained a capital sentence from a court-martial against a man of high rank who had given him offence1 he debauched #defthe daughter-in-law of the ,lord ,chancellor of ,ireland1 and then commanded that nobleman to settle his estate according to the wishes of the lady4 ,the ,chancellor refused4 ,the ,lord ,lieutenant turned him out of office1 and threw him into prison4 ,when the violent acts of the ,long ,parliament are blamed1 let it not be forgotten from what a tyranny they rescued the nation4 ,among the humbler tools of ,charles were ,chief-,justice ,finch and ,noy the ,attorney-,general4 ,noy had1 like ,wentworth1 supported the cause of liberty in ,parliament1 and had1 like ,wentworth1 abandoned that cause for the sake of office4 ,he devised1 in conjunction with ,finch1 a scheme of exaction which made the alienation of the people from the throne complete4 ,a writ was issued by the ,king1 commanding the city of ,london to equip and man ships of war for his service4 ,similar writs were sent to the towns along the coast4 ,these measures1 though they were direct violations of the ,petition of ,right1 had at least some show of precedent in their favour4 ,but1 after a time1 the government took a step for which no precedent could be pleaded1 and sent writs of ship-money to the inland counties4 ,this was a stretch of power on which ,elizabeth herself had not ventured1 even at a time when all laws might with propriety have been made to bend to that highest law1 the safety of the state4 ,the inland counties had not been required to furnish ships1 or money in the room of ships1 even when the ,armada was approaching our shores4 ,it seemed intolerable that a prince who1 by assenting to the ,petition of ,right1 had relinquished the power of levying ship-money even in the out-ports1 should be the first to levy it on parts of the kingdom where it had been unknown under the most absolute of his predecessors4 #deg;,clarendon distinctly admits that this tax was intended1 not only for the support of the navy1 but 8for a spring and magazine that should have no bottom1 and for an everlasting supply of all occasions40 ,the nation well understood this2 and from one end of ,england to the other the public mind was strongly excited4 ,buckinghamshire was assessed at a ship of four hundred and fifty tons1 or a sum of four thousand five hundred pounds4 ,the share of the tax which fell to ,hampden was very small2 so small1 indeed1 that the sheriff was blamed for setting so wealthy a man at so low a rate4 ,but1 though the sum demanded was a trifle1 the principle involved was fearfully important4 ,hampden1 after consulting the most eminent constitutional lawyers of the time1 refused to pay the few shillings at which he was assessed1 and determined to incur all the certain expense1 and the probable danger1 of bringing to a solemn hearing this great controversy between the people and the ,crown4 8,till this time10 says ,clarendon1 8he was rather of reputation in his own country than of public discourse or fame in the kingdom2 but then he grew the argument of all tongues1 every man inquiring who and what he was that durst1 at his own charge1 support the liberty and prosperity of the kingdom40 ,towards the close of the year #afcf1 this great cause came on in the ,exchequer ,chamber before all the judges of ,england4 ,the leading counsel against the writ was the celebrated ,oliver ,st4 ,john1 a man whose temper was melancholy1 whose manners were reserved1 and who was as yet little known in ,westminster ,hall1 but whose great talents had not escaped the penetrating eye of ,hampden4 ,the ,attorney-,general and ,solicitor-,general appeared for the ,crown4 #deh,the arguments of the counsel occupied many days2 and the ,exchequer ,chamber took a considerable time for deliberation4 ,the opinion of the bench was divided4 ,so clearly was the law in favour of ,hampden that1 though the judges held their situations only during the royal pleasure1 the majority against him was the least possible4 ,five of the twelve pronounced in his favour4 ,the remaining seven gave their voices for the writ4 ,the only effect of this decision was to make the public indignation stronger and deeper4 8,the judgment10 says ,clarendon1 8proved of more advantage and credit to the gentleman condemned than to the ,king's service40 ,the courage which ,hampden had shown on this occasion1 as the same historian tells us1 8raised his reputation to a great height generally throughout the kingdom40 ,even courtiers and crown-lawyers spoke respectfully of him4 8,his carriage10 says ,clarendon1 8throughout that agitation1 was with that rare temper and modesty1 that they who watched him narrowly to find some advantage against his person1 to make him less resolute in his cause1 were compelled to give him a just testimony40 ,but his demeanour1 though it impressed ,lord ,falkland with the deepest respect1 though it drew forth the praises of ,solicitor-,general ,herbert1 only kindled into a fiercer flame the ever-burning hatred of ,strafford4 ,that minister1 in his letters to ,laud1 murmured against the lenity with which ,hampden was treated4 8,in good faith10 he wrote1 8were such men rightly served1 they should be whipped into their right wits0 ,again he says1 8,i still wish ,mr4 ,hampden1 and others to his likeness1 were well whipped into their right senses4 ,and if the rod be so used that it smart not1 ,i am the more sorry40 #dei,the person of ,hampden was now scarcely safe4 ,his prudence and moderation had hitherto disappointed those who would gladly have had a pretence for sending him to the prison of ,eliot4 ,but he knew that the eye of a tyrant was on him4 ,in the year #afcg mis-government had reached its height4 ,eight years had passed without a ,parliament4 ,the decision of the ,exchequer ,chamber had placed at the disposal of the ,crown the whole property of the ,english people4 ,about the time at which that decision was pronounced1 ,prynne1 ,bastwick1 and ,burton were mutilated by the sentence of the ,star ,chamber1 and sent to rot in remote dungeons4 ,the estate and the person of every man who had opposed the court were at its mercy4 ,hampden determined to leave ,england4 ,beyond the ,atlantic ,ocean1 a few of the persecuted ,puritans had formed1 in the wilderness of ,connecticut1 a settlement which has since become a prosperous commonwealth1 and which1 in spite of the lapse of time and of the change of government1 still retains something of the character given to it by its first founders4 ,lord ,saye and ,lord ,brooke were the original projectors of this scheme of emigration4 ,hampden had been early consulted respecting it4 ,he was now1 it appears1 desirous to withdraw himself beyond the reach of oppressors who1 as he probably suspected1 and as we know1 were bent on punishing his manful resistance to their tyranny4 ,he was accompanied by his kinsman1 ,oliver ,cromwell1 over whom he possessed great influence1 and in whom he alone had discovered1 under an exterior appearance of coarseness and extravagance1 those great and commanding talents which were afterwards the admiration and the dread of ,europe4 ,the cousins took their passage in a vessel which lay #dfj;in the ,thames1 and which was bound for ,north ,america4 ,they were actually on board1 when an order of council appeared1 by which the ship was prohibited from sailing4 ,seven other ships1 filled with emigrants1 were stopped at the same time4 ,hampden and ,cromwell remained2 and with them remained the ,evil ,genius of the ,house of ,stuart4 ,the tide of public affairs was even now on the turn4 ,the ,king had resolved to change the ecclesiastical constitution of ,scotland1 and to introduce into the public worship of that kingdom ceremonies which the great body of the ,scots regarded as popish4 ,this absurd attempt produced1 first discontents1 then riots1 and at length open rebellion4 ,a provisional government was established at ,edinburgh1 and its authority was obeyed throughout the kingdom4 ,this government raised an army1 appointed a general1 and summoned an ,assembly of the ,kirk4 ,the famous instrument called the ,covenant was put forth at this time1 and was eagerly subscribed by the people4 ,the beginnings of this formidable insurrection were strangely neglected by the ,king and his advisers4 ,but towards the close of the year #afch the danger became pressing4 ,an army was raised2 and early in the following spring ,charles marched northward at the head of a force sufficient1 as it seemed1 to reduce the ,covenanters to submission4 ,but ,charles acted at this conjuncture as he acted at every important conjuncture throughout his life4 ,after oppressing1 threatening1 and blustering1 he hesitated and failed4 ,he was bold in the wrong place1 and timid in the wrong place4 ,he would have shown his wisdom by being afraid before the liturgy was read in ,st4 ,giles's church4 ,he put off his fear till he had #dfareached the ,scottish border with his troops4 ,then1 after a feeble campaign1 he concluded a treaty with the insurgents1 and withdrew his army4 ,but the terms of the pacification were not observed4 ,each party charged the other with foul play4 ,the ,scots refused to disarm4 ,the ,king found great difficulty in re-assembling his forces4 ,his late expedition had drained his treasury4 ,the revenues of the next year had been anticipated4 ,at another time1 he might have attempted to make up the deficiency by illegal expedients2 but such a course would clearly have been dangerous when part of the island was in rebellion4 ,it was necessary to call a ,parliament4 ,after eleven years of suffering1 the voice of the nation was to be heard once more4 ,in ,april1 #afdj1 the ,parliament met2 and the ,king had another chance of conciliating his people4 ,the new ,house of ,commons was1 beyond all comparison1 the least refractory ,house of ,commons that had been known for many years4 ,indeed1 we have never been able to understand how1 after so long a period of mis-government1 the representatives of the nation should have shown so moderate and so loyal a disposition4 ,clarendon speaks with admiration of their dutiful temper4 8,the ,house1 generally10 says he1 8was exceedingly disposed to please the ,king1 and to do him service40 8,it could never be hoped10 he observes elsewhere1 8that more sober or dispassionate men would ever meet together in that place1 or fewer who brought ill purposes with them40 ,in this ,parliament ,hampden took his seat as member for ,buckinghamshire1 and thenceforward1 till the day of his death1 gave himself up1 with scarcely any intermission1 to public affairs4 ,he took lodgings in #dfb;,gray's ,inn ,lane1 near the house occupied by ,pym1 with whom he lived in habits of the closest intimacy4 ,he was now decidedly the most popular man in ,england4 ,the ,opposition looked to him as their leader1 and the servants of the ,king treated him with marked respect4 ,charles requested the ,parliament to vote an immediate supply1 and pledged his word that1 if they would gratify him in this request1 he would afterwards give them time to represent their grievances to him4 ,the grievances under which the nation suffered were so serious1 and the royal word had been so shamefully violated1 that the ,commons could hardly be expected to comply with this request4 ,during the first week of the session1 the minutes of the proceedings against ,hampden were laid on the table by ,oliver ,st4 ,john1 and a committee reported that the case was matter of grievance4 ,the ,king2 sent a message to the ,commons1 offering1 if they would vote him twelve subsidies1 to give up the prerogative of ship-money4 ,many years before1 he had received five subsidies in consideration of his assent to the ,petition of ,right4 ,by assenting to that petition1 he had given up the right of levying ship-money1 if he ever possessed it4 ,how he had observed the promises made to his third ,parliament1 all ,england knew2 and it was not strange that the ,commons should be somewhat unwilling to buy from him1 over and over again1 their own ancient and undoubted inheritance4 ,his message1 however1 was not unfavourably received4 ,the ,commons were ready to give a large supply2 but they were not disposed to give it in exchange for a prerogative of which they altogether denied the existence4 ,if they acceded to the proposal #dfcof the ,king1 they recognised the legality of the writs of ship-money4 ,hampden1 who was a greater master of parliamentary tactics than any man of his time1 saw that this was the prevailing feeling1 and availed himself of it with great dexterity4 ,he moved that the question should be put1 8,whether the ,house would consent to the proposition made by the ,king1 as contained in the message40 ,hyde interfered1 and proposed that the question should be divided2 that the sense of the ,house should be taken merely on the point whether there should be a supply or no supply2 and that the manner and the amount should be left for subsequent consideration4 ,the majority of the ,house was for granting a supply1 but against granting it in the manner proposed by the ,king6 ,if the ,house had divided on ,hampden's question1 the court would have sustained a defeat2 if on ,hyde's1 the court would have gained an apparent victory4 ,some members called for ,hyde's motion1 others for ,hampden's4 ,in the midst of the uproar1 the secretary of state1 ,sir ,harry ,vane1 rose and stated that the supply would not be accepted unless it were voted according to the tenor of the message4 ,vane was supported by ,herbert1 the ,solicitor-,general4 ,hyde's motion was therefore no further pressed1 and the debate on the general question was adjourned till the next day4 ,on the next day the ,king came down to the ,house of ,lords1 and dissolved the ,parliament with an angry speech4 ,his conduct on this occasion has never been defended by any of his apologists4 ,clarendon condemns it severely4 8,no man10 says he1 8could imagine what offence the ,commons had given40 ,the #dfdoffence which they had given is plain4 ,they had1 indeed1 behaved most temperately and most respectfully4 ,but they had shown a disposition to redress wrongs and to vindicate the laws2 and this was enough to make them hateful to a king whom no law could bind1 and whose whole government was one system of wrong4 ,the nation received the intelligence of the dissolution with sorrow and indignation4 ,the only persons to whom this event gave pleasure were those few discerning men who thought that the maladies of the state were beyond the reach of gentle remedies4 ,oliver ,st4 ,john's joy was too great for concealment4 ,it lighted up his dark and melancholy features1 and made him1 for the first time1 indiscreetly communicative4 ,he told ,hyde that things must be worse before they could be better1 and that the dissolved ,parliament would never have done all that was necessary4 ,st4 ,john1 we think1 was in the right4 ,no good could then have been done by any ,parliament which did not fully understand that no confidence could safely be placed in the ,king1 and that1 while he enjoyed more than the shadow of power1 the nation would never enjoy more than the shadow of liberty4 ,as soon as ,charles had dismissed the ,parliament1 he threw several members of the ,house of ,commons into prison4 ,ship-money was exacted more rigorously than ever2 and the ,mayor and ,sheriffs of ,london were prosecuted before the ,star ,chamber for slackness in levying it4 ,wentworth1 it is said1 observed1 with characteristic insolence and cruelty1 that things would never go right till the ,aldermen were hanged4 ,large sums were raised by force on those counties in which the troops were quartered4 ,all the wretched shifts of a #dfe;beggared exchequer were tried4 ,forced loans were raised4 ,great quantities of goods were bought on long credit and sold for ready-money4 ,a scheme for debasing the currency was under consideration4 ,at length1 in ,august1 the ,king again marched northward4 ,the ,scots advanced into ,england to meet him4 ,it is by no means improbable that this bold step was taken by the advice of ,hampden1 and of those with whom he acted2 and this has been made matter of grave accusation against the ,english ,opposition4 ,it is said that to call in the aid of foreigners in a domestic quarrel is the worst of treasons1 and that the ,puritan leaders1 by taking this course1 showed that they were regardless of the honour and independence of the nation1 and anxious only for the success of their own faction4 ,we are utterly unable to see any distinction between the case of the ,scotch invasion in #afdj1 and the case of the ,dutch invasion in #afhh2 or rather1 we see distinctions which are to the advantage of ,hampden and his friends4 ,we believe ,charles to have been a worse and more danserons king than his son4 ,the ,dutch were strangers to us1 the ,scots a kindred people speaking the same language1 subjects of the same prince1 not aliens in the eye of the law4 ,if1 indeed1 it had been possible that a ,scotch army or a ,dutch army could have enslaved ,england1 those who persuaded ,leslie to cross the ,tweed1 and those who signed the invitation to the ,prince of ,orange1 would have been traitors to their country4 ,but such a result was out of the question4 ,all that either a ,scotch or a ,dutch invasion could do was to give the public feeling of ,england an opportunity to show itself4 ,both expeditions would have ended in complete and ludicrous #dff;discomfiture1 had ,charles and ,james been supported by their soldiers and their people4 ,in neither case1 therefore1 was the independence of ,england endangered2 in both cases her liberties were preserved4 ,the second campaign of ,charles against the ,scots was short and ignominious4 ,his soldiers1 as soon as they saw the enemy1 ran away as ,english soldiers have never run either before or since4 ,it can scarcely be doubted that their flight was the effect1 not of cowardice1 but of disaffection4 ,the four northern counties of ,england were occupied by the ,scotch army1 and the ,king retired to ,york4 ,the game of tyranny was now up4 ,charles had risked and lost his last stake4 ,it is not easy to retrace the mortifications and humiliations which the tyrant now had to endure1 without a feeling of vindictive pleasure4 ,his army was munitions2 his treasury was empty2 his people clamoured for a ,parliament2 addresses and petitions against the government were presented4 ,strafford was for shooting the petitioners by martial law2 but the ,king could not trust the soldiers4 ,a great council of ,peers was called at ,york2 but the ,king could not trust even the ,peers4 ,he struggled1 evaded1 hesitated1 tried every shift1 rather than again face the representatives of his injured people4 ,at length no shift was left4 ,he made a truce with the ,scots1 and summoned a ,parliament4 ,the leaders of the popular party had1 after the late dissolution1 remained in ,london for the purpose of organizing a scheme of opposition to the court4 ,they now exerted themselves to the utmost4 ,hampden1 in particular1 rode from county to county1 exhorting the electors to give their votes to men worthy of their confidence4 ,the great majority of the returns was on the side #dfgof the ,opposition4 ,hampden was himself chosen member both for ,wendover and ,buckinghamshire4 ,he made his election to serve for the county4 ,on the third of ,november1 #afdj1 a day to be long remembered1 met that great ,parliament1 destined to every extreme of fortune1 to empire and to servitude1 to glory and to contempt2 at one time the sovereign of its sovereign1 at another time the servant of its servants4 ,from the first day of meeting the attendance was great2 and the aspect of the members was that of men not disposed to do the work negligently4 ,the dissolution of the late ,parliament had convinced most of them that half measures would no longer suffice4 ,clarendon tells us1 that 8the same men who1 six months before1 were observed to be of very moderate tempers1 and to wish that gentle remedies might be applied1 talked now in another dialect both of kings and persons2 and said that they must now be of another temper than they were the last ,parliament40 ,the debt of vengeance was swollen by all the usury which had been accumulating during many years2 and payment was made to the full4 ,this memorable crisis called forth parliamentary abilities such as ,england had never before seen4 ,among the most distinguished members of the ,house of ,commons were ,falkland1 ,hyde1 ,digby1 young ,harry ,vane1 ,oliver ,st4 ,john1 ,denzil ,hollis1 ,nathaniel ,fiennes4 ,but two men exercised a paramount influence over the legislature and the country1 ,pym and ,hampden2 and1 by the universal consent of friends and enemies1 the first place belonged to ,hampden4 ,on occasions which required set speeches ,pym generally took the lead4 ,hampden very seldom rose till late in a debate4 ,his speaking was of that kind which #dfh;has1 in every age1 been held in the highest estimation by ,english ,parliaments1 ready1 weighty1 perspicuous1 condensed4 ,his perception of the feelings of the ,house was exquisite1 his temper unalterably placid1 his manner eminently courteous and gentlemanlike4 8,even with those10 says ,clarendon1 8who are able to preserve themselves from his infusions1 and who discerned those opinions to be fixed in him with which they could not comply1 he always left the character of an ingenious and conscientious person40 ,his talents for business were as remarkable as his talents for debate4 8,he was10 says ,clarendon1 8of an industry and vigilance not to be tired out or wearied by the most laborious1 and of parts not to be imposed upon by the most subtle and sharp40 ,yet it was rather to his moral than to his intellectual qualities that he was indebted for the vast influence which he possessed4 8,when this parliament began10--we again quote ,clarendon1--8the eyes of all men were fixed upon him1 as their patriae pater1 and the pilot that must steer the vessel through the tempests and rocks which threatened it4 ,and ,i am persuaded his power and interest at that time were greater to do good or hurt than any man's in the kingdom1 or than any man of his rank hath had in any time2 for his reputation of honesty was universal1 and his affections seemed so publicly guided1 that no corrupt or private ends could bias them44 4 4 ,he was indeed a very wise man1 and of great parts1 and possessed with the most absolute spirit of popularity1 and the most absolute faculties to govern the people1 of any man ,i ever knew40 ,it is sufficient to recapitulate shortly the acts of the ,long ,parliament during its first session4 ,strafford and ,laud were impeached and imprisoned4 ,strafford #dfiwas afterwards attainted by ,bill1 and executed4 ,lord ,keeper ,finch fled to ,holland1 ,secretary ,windebank to ,france4 ,all those whom the ,king had1 during the last twelve years1 employed for the oppression of his people1 from the servile judges who had pronounced in favour of the crown against ,hampden1 down to the sheriffs who had distrained for ship-money1 and the custom-house officers who had levied tonnage and poundage1 were summoned to answer for their conduct4 ,the ,star ,chamber1 the ,high ,commission ,court1 the ,council of ,york1 were abolished4 ,those unfortunate victims of ,laud who1 after undergoing ignominious exposure and cruel manglings1 had been sent to languish in distant prisons1 were set at liberty1 and conducted through ,london in triumphant procession4 ,the ,king was compelled to give the judges patents for life or during good behaviour4 ,he was deprived of those oppressive powers which were the last relics of the old feudal tenures4 ,the ,forest ,courts and the ,stannary ,courts were reformed4 ,it was provided that the ,parliament then sitting should not be prorogued or dissolved without its own consent1 and that a ,parliament should be held at least once every three years4 ,many of these measures ,lord ,clarendon allows to have been most salutary2 and few persons will1 in our times1 deny that1 in the laws passed during this session1 the good greatly preponderated over the evil4 ,the abolition of those three hateful courts1 the ,northern ,council1 the ,star ,chamber1 and the ,high ,commission1 would alone entitle the ,long ,parliament to the lasting gratitude of ,englishmen4 ,the proceeding against ,strafford undoubtedly seems hard to people living in our days4 ,it would probably have seemed merciful and moderate to people living in #dgjthe sixteenth century4 ,it is curious to compare the trial of ,charles's minister with the trial1 if it can be so called1 of ,lord ,seymour of ,sudeley1 in the blessed reign of ,edward the ,sixth4 ,none of the great reformers of our ,church doubted the propriety of passing an act of ,parliament for cutting off ,lord ,seymour's head without a legal conviction4 ,the pious ,cranmer voted for that act2 the pious ,latimer preached for it2 the pious ,edward returned thanks for it2 and all the pious ,lords of the council together exhorted their victim to what they were pleased facetiously to call 8the quiet and patient suffering of justice40 ,but it is not necessary to defend the proceedings against ,strafford by any such comparison4 ,they are justified1 in our opinion1 by that which alone justifies capital punishment or any punishment1 by that which alone justifies war1 by the public danger4 ,that there is a certain amount of public danger which will justify a legislature in sentencing a man to death by retrospective law1 few people1 we suppose1 will deny4 ,few people1 for example1 will deny that the ,french ,convention was perfectly justified in placing ,robespierre1 ,st4 ,just1 and ,couthon under the ban of the law1 without a trial4 ,this proceeding differed from the proceeding against ,strafford only in being much more rapid and violent4 ,strafford was fully heard4 ,robespierre was not suffered to defend himself4 ,was there1 then1 in the case of ,strafford1 a danger sufficient to justify an act of attainder8 ,we believe that there was4 ,we believe that the contest in which the ,parliament was engaged against the ,king was a contest for the security of our property1 for the liberty of our persons1 for every thing which makes us to differ from the subjects of ,don ,miguel4 ,we believe that the cause of the #dga;,commons was such as justified them in resisting the ,king1 in raising an army1 in sending thousands of brave men to kill and to be killed4 ,an act of attainder is surely not more a departure from the ordinary course of law than a civil war4 ,an act of attainder produces much less suffering than a civil war4 ,we are1 therefore1 unable to discover on what principle it can be maintained that a cause which justifies a civil war will not justify an act of attainder4 ,many specious arguments have been urged against the retrospective law by which ,strafford was condemned to death4 ,but all these arguments proceed on the supposition that the crisis was an ordinary crisis4 ,the attainder was1 in truth1 a revolutionary measure4 ,it was part of a system of resistance which oppression had rendered necessary4 ,it is as unjust to judge of the conduct pursued by the ,long ,parliament towards ,strafford on ordinary principles1 as it would have been to indict ,fairfax for murder because he cut down a cornet at ,naseby4 ,from the day on which the ,houses met1 there was a war waged by them against the ,king1 a war for all that they held dear1 a war carried on at first by means of parliamentary forms1 at last by physical force2 and1 as in the second stage of that war1 so in the first1 they were entitled to do many things which1 in quiet times1 would have been culpable4 ,we must not omit to mention that those who were afterwards the most distinguished ornaments of the ,king's party supported the bill of attainder4 ,it is almost certain that ,hyde voted for it4 ,it is quite certain that ,falkland both voted and spoke for it4 ,the opinion of ,hampden1 as far as it can be collected from a very obscure note of one of his speeches1 seems to have been that the proceeding by ,bill was unnecessary1 #dgb;and that it would be a better course to obtain judgment on the impeachment4 ,during this year the ,court opened a negotiation with the leaders of the ,opposition4 ,the ,earl of ,bedford was invited to form an administration on popular principles4 ,st4 ,john was made solicitor-general4 ,hollis was to have been secretary of state1 and ,pym chancellor of the exchequer4 ,the post of tutor to the ,prince of ,wales was designed for ,hampden4 ,the death of the ,earl of ,bedford prevented this arrangement from being carried into effect2 and it may be doubted whether1 even if that nobleman's life had been prolonged1 ,charles would ever have consented to surround himself with counsellors whom he could not but hate and fear4 ,lord ,clarendon admits that the conduct of ,hampden during this year was mild and temperate1 that he seemed disposed rather to soothe than to excite the public mind1 and that1 when violent and unreasonable motions were made by his followers1 he generally left the ,house before the division1 lest he should seem to give countenance to their extravagance4 ,his temper was moderate4 ,he sincerely loved peace4 ,he felt also great fear lest too precipitate a movement should produce a reaction4 ,the events which took place early in the next session clearly showed that this fear was not unfounded4 ,during the autumn the ,parliament adjourned for a few weeks4 ,before the recess1 ,hampden was despatched to ,scotland by the ,house of ,commons1 nominally as a commissioner1 to obtain security for a debt which the ,scots had contracted during the late invasion2 but in truth that he might keep watch over the ,king1 who had now repaired to ,edinburgh1 for the #dgcpurpose of finally adjusting the points of difference which remained between him and his northern subjects4 ,it was the business of ,hampden to dissuade the ,covenanters from making their peace with the ,court1 at the expense of the popular party in ,england4 ,while the ,king was in ,scotland1 the ,irish rebellion broke out4 ,the suddenness and violence of this terrible explosion excited a strange suspicion in the public mind4 ,the ,queen was a professed ,papist4 ,the ,king and the ,archbishop of ,canterbury had not indeed been reconciled to the ,see of ,rome2 but they had1 while acting towards the ,puritan party with the utmost rigour1 and speaking of that party with the utmost contempt1 shown great tenderness and respect towards the ,catholic religion and its professors4 ,in spite of the wishes of successive ,parliaments1 the ,protestant separatists had been cruelly persecuted4 ,and at the same time1 in spite of the wishes of those very ,parliaments1 laws which were in force against the ,papists1 and which1 unjustifiable as they were1 suited the temper of that age1 had not been carried into execution4 ,the ,protestant nonconformists had not yet learned toleration in the school of suffering4 ,they reprobated the partial lenity which the government showed towards idolaters1 and1 with some show of reason1 ascribed to bad motives conduct which1 in such a king as ,charles1 and such a prelate as ,laud1 could not possibly be ascribed to humanity or to liberality of sentiment4 ,the violent ,arminianism of the ,archbishop1 his childish attachment to ceremonies1 his superstitious veneration for altars1 vestments1 and painted windows1 his bigoted zeal for the constitution and the privileges of his order1 his known opinions respecting the celibacy of the clergy1 had excited great disgust #dgdthroughout that large party which was every day becoming more and more hostile to ,rome1 and more and more inclined to the doctrines and the discipline of ,geneva4 ,it was believed by many that the ,irish rebellion had been secretly encouraged by the ,court2 and1 when the ,parliament met again in ,november1 after a short recess1 the ,puritans were more intractable than ever4 ,but that which ,hampden had feared had come to pass4 ,a reaction had taken place4 ,a large body of moderate and well-meaning men1 who had heartily concurred in the strong measures adopted before the recess1 were inclined to pause4 ,their opinion was that1 during many years1 the country had been grievously misgoverned1 and that a great reform had been necessary2 but that a great reform had been made1 that the grievances of the nation had been fully redressed1 that sufficient vengeance had been exacted for the past1 that sufficient security had been provided for the future1 and that it would1 therefore1 be both ungrateful and unwise to make any further attacks on the royal prerogative4 ,in support of this opinion many plausible arguments have been used4 ,but to all these arguments there is one short answer4 ,the ,king could not be trusted4 ,at the head of those who may be called the ,constitutional ,royalists were ,falkland1 ,hyde1 and ,culpeper4 ,all these eminent men had1 during the former year1 been in very decided opposition to the ,court4 ,in some of those very proceedings with which their admirers reproach ,hampden1 they had taken a more decided part than ,hampden4 ,they had all been concerned in the impeachment of ,strafford4 ,they had all1 there is reason to believe1 voted for the ,bill of ,attabuler4 #dge;,certainly none of them voted against it4 ,they had all agreed to the act which made the consent of the ,parliament necessary to a dissolution or prorogation4 ,hyde had been among the most active of those who attacked the ,council of ,york4 ,falkland had voted for the exclusion of the bishops from the ,upper ,house4 ,they were now inclined to halt in the path of reform1 perhaps to retrace a few of their steps4 ,a direct collision soon took place between the two parties into which the ,house of ,commons1 lately at almost perfect unity with itself1 was now divided4 ,the opponents of the government moved that celebrated address to the ,king which is known by the name of the ,grand ,remonstrance4 ,in this address all the oppressive acts of the preceding fifteen years were set forth with great energy of language2 and1 in conclusion1 the ,king was entreated to employ no ministers in whom the ,parliament could not confide4 ,the debate on the ,remonstrance was long and stormy4 ,it commenced at nine in the morning of the twenty-first of ,november1 and lasted till after midnight4 ,the division showed that a great change had taken place in the temper of the ,house4 ,though many members had retired from exhaustion1 three hundred voted2 and the ,remonstrance was carried by a majority of only nine4 ,a violent debate followed1 on the question whether the minority should be allowed to protest against this decision4 ,the excitement was so great that several members were on the point of proceeding to personal violence4 8,we had sheathed our swords in each other's bowels10 says an eye-witness1 8had not the sagacity and great calmness of ,mr4 ,hampden1 by a short speech1 prevented it40 ,the ,house did not rise till two in the morning4 #dgf,the situation of the ,puritan leaders was now difficult and full of peril4 ,the small majority which they still had might soon become a minority4 ,out of doors1 their supporters in the higher and middle classes were beginning to fall off4 ,there was a growing opinion that the ,king had been hardly used4 ,the ,english are always inclined to side with a weak party which is in the wrong1 rather than with a strong party which is in the right4 ,this may be seen in all contests1 from contests of boxers to contests of faction4 ,thus it was that a violent reaction took place in favour of ,charles the ,second against the ,whigs in #afha4 ,thus it was that an equally violent reaction took place in favour of ,george the ,third against the coalition in #aghd4 ,a similar reaction was beginning to take place during the second year of the ,long ,parliament4 ,some members of the ,opposition 8had resumed10 says ,clarendon1 8their old resolution of leaving the kingdom40 ,oliver ,cromwell openly declared that he and many others would have emigrated if they had been left in a minority on the question of the ,remonstrance4 ,charles had now a last chance of regaining the affection of his people4 ,if he could have resolved to give his confidence to the leaders of the moderate party in the ,house of ,commons1 and to regulate his proceedings by their advice1 he might have been1 not1 indeed1 as he had been1 a despot1 but the powerful and respected king of a free people4 ,the nation might have enjoyed liberty and repose under a government with ,falkland at its head1 checked by a constitutional ,opposition under the conduct of ,hampden4 ,it was not necessary that1 in order to accomplish this happy end1 the ,king should sacrifice any part of his lawful prerogative1 or submit to any conditions inconsistent #dggwith his dignity4 ,it was necessary only that he should abstain from treachery1 from violence1 from gross breaches of the law4 ,this was all that the nation was then disposed to require of him4 ,and even this was too much4 ,for a short time he seemed inclined to take a wise and temperate course4 ,he resolved to make ,falkland secretary of state1 and ,culpeper chancellor of the exchequer4 ,he declared his intention of conferring in a short time some important office on ,hyde4 ,he assured these three persons that he would do nothing relating to the ,house of ,commons without their joint advice1 and that he would communicate all his designs to them in the most unreserved manner4 ,this resolution1 had he adhered to it1 would have averted many years of blood and mourning4 ,but 8in very few days10 says ,clarendon1 8he did fatally swerve from it40 ,on the third of ,january #afdb1 without giving the slightest hint of his intention to those advisers whom he had solemnly promised to consult1 he sent down the attorney-general to impeach ,lord ,kimbolton1 ,hampden1 ,pym1 ,hollis1 and two other members of the ,house of ,commons1 at the bar of the ,lords1 on a charge of ,high ,treason4 ,it is difficult to find in the whole history of ,england such an instance of tyranny1 perfidy1 and folly4 ,the most precious and ancient rights of the subject were violated by this act4 ,the only way in which ,hampden and ,pym could legally be tried for treason at the suit of the ,king1 was by a petty jury on a bill found by a grand jury4 ,the attorney-general had no right to impeach them4 ,the ,house of ,lords had no right to try them4 ,the ,commons refused to surrender their members4 ,the ,peers showed no inclination to usurp the unconstitutional #dgh;jurisdiction which the ,king attempted to force on them4 ,a contest began1 in which violence and weakness were on the one side1 law and resolution on the other4 ,charles sent an officer to seal up the lodgings and trunks of the accused members4 ,the ,commons sent their sergeant to break the seals4 ,the tyrant resolved to follow up one outrage by another4 ,in making3 the charge1 he had struck at the institution of juries4 ,in executing the arrest1 he struck at the privileges of ,parliament4 ,he resolved to go to the ,house in person with an armed force1 and there to seize the leaders of the ,opposition1 while engaged in the discharge of their parliamentary duties4 ,what was his purpose8 ,is it possible to believe that he had no definite purpose1 that he took the most important step of his whole reign without having for one moment considered what might be its effects8 ,is it possible to believe that he went merely for the purpose of making himself a laughing-stock1 that he intended1 if he had found the accused members1 and if they had refused1 as it was their right and duty to refuse1 the submission which he illegally demanded1 to leave the ,house without bringing them away8 ,if we reject both these suppositions1 we must believe1 and we certainly do believe1 that he went fully determined to carry his unlawful design into effect by violence1 and1 if necessary1 to shed the blood of the chiefs of the ,opposition on the very floor of the ,parliament ,house4 ,lady ,carlisle conveyed intelligence of the design to ,pym4 ,the five members had time to withdraw before the arrival of ,charles4 ,they left the ,house as he was entering ,new ,palace ,yard4 ,he was accompanied by about two hundred halberdiers of his guard1 and by many gentlemen of the ,court armed #dgiwith swords4 ,he walked up ,westminster ,hall4 ,at the southern end of the ,hall his attendants divided to the right and left1 and formed a lane to the door of the ,house of ,commons4 ,he knocked1 entered1 darted a look towards the place which ,pym usually occupied1 and1 seeing it empty1 walked up to the table4 ,the ,speaker fell on his knee4 ,the members rose and uncovered their heads in profound silence1 and the ,king took his seat in the chair4 ,he looked round the ,house4 ,but the five members were nowhere to be seen4 ,he interrogated the ,speaker4 ,the ,speaker answered1 that he was merely the organ of the ,house1 and had neither eyes to see1 nor tongue to speak1 but according to their direction4 ,the ,king muttered a few feeble sentences about his respect for the laws of the realm1 and the privileges of ,parliament1 and retired4 ,as he passed along the benches1 several resolute voices called out audibly 8,privilege60 ,he returned to ,whitehall with his company of bravoes1 who1 while he was in the ,house1 had been impatiently waiting in the lobby for the word1 cocking their pistols1 and crying 8,fall on40 ,that night he put forth a proclamation1 directing that the ports should be stopped1 and that no person should1 at his peril1 venture to harbour the accused members4 ,hampden and his friends had taken refuge in ,coleman ,street4 ,the city of ,london was indeed the fastness of public liberty1 and was1 in those times1 a place of at least as much importance as ,paris during the ,french ,revolution4 ,the city1 properly so called1 now consists in a great measure of immense warehouses and counting-houses1 which are frequented by traders and their clerks during the day1 and left in almost total solitude during the night4 ,it was then closely inhabited #dhj;by three hundred thousand persons1 to whom it was not merely a place of business1 but a place of constant residence4 ,this great capital had as complete a civil and military organization as if it had been an independent republic4 ,each citizen had his company2 and the companies1 which now seem to exist only for the sake of epicures and of antiquaries1 were then formidable brotherhoods1 the members of which were almost as closely bound together as the members of a ,highland clan4 ,how strong these artificial ties were1 the numerous and valuable legacies anciently bequeathed by citizens to their corporations abundantly prove4 ,the municipal offices were filled by the most opulent and respectable merchants of the kingdom4 ,the pomp of the magistracy of the capital was inferior only to that which surrounded the person of the sovereign4 ,the ,londoners loved their city with that patriotic love which is found only in small communities1 like those of ancient ,greece1 or like those which arose in ,italy during the middle ages4 ,the numbers1 the intelligence1 the wealth of the citizens1 the democratical form of their local government1 and their vicinity to the ,court and to the ,parliament1 made them one of the most formidable bodies in the kingdom4 ,even as soldiers they were not to be despised4 ,in an age in which war is a profession1 there is something ludicrous in the idea of battalions composed of apprentices and shopkeepers1 and officered by aldermen4 ,but1 in the early part of the seventeenth century1 there was no standing army in the island2 and the militia of the metropolis was not inferior in training to the militia of other places4 ,a city which could furnish many thousands of armed men1 abounding in natural courage1 and not absolutely untinctured with military discipline1 #dhawas a formidable auxiliary in times of internal dissension4 ,on several occasions during the civil war1 the train-bands of ,london distinguished themselves highly2 and at the battle of ,newbury1 in particular1 they repelled the fiery onset of ,rupert1 and saved the army of the ,parliament from destruction4 ,the people of this great city had long been thoroughly devoted to the national cause4 ,many of them had signed a protestation in which they declared their resolution to defend the privileges of ,parliament4 ,their enthusiasm had1 indeed1 of late begun to cool4 ,but the impeachment of the five members1 and the insult offered to the ,house of ,commons1 inflamed them to fury4 ,their houses1 their purses1 their pikes1 were at the command of the representatives of the nation4 ,london was in arms all night4 ,the next day the shops were closed2 the streets were filled with immense crowds2 the multitude pressed round the ,king's coach1 and insulted him with opprobrious cries4 ,the ,house of ,commons1 in the mean time1 appointed a committee to sit in the city1 for the purpose of inquiring into the circumstances of the late outrage4 ,the members of the committee were welcomed by a deputation of the common council4 ,merchant ,tailors' ,hall1 ,goldsmiths' ,hall1 and ,grocers' ,hall1 were fitted up for their sittings4 ,a guard of respectable citizens1 duly relieved twice a day1 was posted at their doors4 ,the sheriffs were charged to watch over the safety of the accused members1 and to escort them to and from the committee with every mark of honour4 ,a violent and sudden revulsion of feeling1 both in the ,house and out of it1 was the effect of the late proceedings of the ,king4 ,the ,opposition regained in a few hours all the ascendency which it had lost4 ,the #dhb;constitutional royalists were filled with shame and sorrow4 ,they saw that they had been cruelly deceived by ,charles4 ,they saw that they were1 unjustly1 but not unreasonably1 suspected by the nation4 ,clarendon distinctly says that they perfectly detested the counsels by which the ,king had been guided1 and were so much displeased and dejected at the unfair manner in which he had treated them that they were inclined to retire from his service4 ,during the debates on the breach of privilege1 they preserved a melancholy silence4 ,to this day1 the advocates of ,charles take care to say as little as they can about his visit to the ,house of ,commons1 and1 when they cannot avoid mention of it1 attribute to infatuation an act which1 on any other supposition1 they must admit to have been a frightful crime4 ,the ,commons1 in a few days1 openly defied the ,king1 and ordered the accused members to attend in their places at ,westminster and to resume their parliamentary duties4 ,the citizens resolved to bring back the champions of liberty in triumph before the windows of ,whitehall4 ,vast preparations were made both by land and water for this great festival4 ,the ,king had remained in his palace1 humbled1 dismayed1 and bewildered1 8feeling10 says ,clarendon1 8the trouble and agony which usually attend generous and magnanimous minds upon their having committed errors20 feeling1 we should say1 the despicable repentance which attends the man who1 having attempted to commit a crime1 finds that he has only committed a folly4 ,the populace hooted and shouted all day before the gates of the royal residence4 ,the tyrant could not bear to see the triumph of those whom he had destined to the gallows and the quartering-block4 #dhc,on the day preceding that which was fixed for their return1 he fled1 with a few attendants1 from that palace which he was never to see again till he was led through it to the scaffold4 ,on the eleventh of ,january1 the ,thames was covered with boats1 and its shores with the gazing multitude4 ,armed vessels1 decorated with streamers1 were ranged in two lines from ,london ,bridye to ,westminster ,hall4 ,the members returned upon the river in a ship manned by sailors who had volunteered their services4 ,the train-bands of the city1 under the command of the sheriffs1 marched along the ,strand1 attended by a vast crowd of spectators1 to guard the avenues to the ,house of ,commons2 and thus1 with shouts and loud discharges of ordnance1 the accused patriots were brought back by the people whom they had served and for whom they had suffered4 ,the restored members1 as soon as they had entered the ,house1 expressed1 in the warmest terms1 their gratitude to the citizens of ,london4 ,the sheriffs were warmly thanked by the ,speaker in the name of the ,commons2 and orders were given that a guard selected from the train-bands of the city1 should attend daily to watch over the safety of the ,parliament4 ,the excitement had not been confined to ,london4 ,when intelligence of the danger to which ,hampden was exposed reached ,buckinghamshire1 it excited the alarm and indignation of the people4 ,four thousand freeholders of that county1 each of them wearing in his hat a copy of the protestation in favour of the privileges of ,parliament1 rode up to ,london to defend the person of their beloved representative4 ,they came in a body to assure ,parliament of their full resolution to defend its privileges4 ,their petition was #dhd;couched in the strongest terms4 8,in respect10 said they1 8of that latter attempt upon the honourable ,house of ,commons1 we are now come to offer our service to that end1 and resolved1 in their just defence1 to live and die40 ,a great struggle was clearly at hand4 ,hampden had returned to ,westminster much changed4 ,his influence had hitherto been exerted rather to restrain than to animate the zeal of his party4 ,but the treachery1 the contempt of law1 the thirst for blood1 which the ,king had now shown1 left no hope of a peaceable adjustment4 ,it was clear that ,charles must be either a puppet or a tyrant1 that no obligation of law or of honour could bind him1 and that the only way to make him harmless was to make him powerless4 ,the attack which the ,king had made on the five members was not merely irregular in manner4 ,even if the charges had been preferred legally1 if the ,grand ,jury of ,middlesex had found a true bill1 if the accused persons had been arrested under a proper warrant and at a proper time and place1 there would still have been in the proceeding enough of perfidy and injustice to vindicate the strongest measures which the ,opposition could take4 ,to ,impeach ,pym and ,hampden was to impeach the ,house of ,commons4 ,it was notoriously on account of what they had done as members of that ,house that they were selected as objects of vengeance2 and in what they had done as members of that ,house the majority had concurred4 ,most of the charges brought against them were common between them and the ,parliament4 ,they were accused1 indeed1 and it may be with reason1 of encouraging the ,scotch army to invade ,england4 ,in doing this1 they had committed what was1 in strictness of law1 a high offence1 the #dhesame offence which ,devonshire and ,shrewsbury committed in #afhh4 ,but the ,king had promised pardon and oblivion to those who had been the principals in the ,scotch insurrection4 ,did it then consist with his honour to punish the accessaries8 ,he had bestowed marks of his favour on the leading ,covenanters4 ,he had given the great seal of ,scotland to one chief of the rebels1 a marquisate to another1 an earldom to ,leslie1 who had brought the ,presbyterian army across the ,tweed4 ,on what principle was ,hampden to be attainted for advising what ,leslie was ennobled for doing8 ,in a court of law1 of course1 no ,englishman could plead an amnesty granted to the ,scots4 ,but1 though not an illegal1 it was surely an inconsistent and a most unkingly course1 after pardoning and promoting the heads of the rebellion in one kingdom1 to hang1 draw1 and quarter their accomplices in another4 ,the proceedings of the ,king against the five members1 or rather against that4 ,parliament which had concurred in almost all the acts of the five members1 was the cause of the civil war4 ,it was plain that either ,charles or the ,house of ,commons must be stripped of all real power ,in the state4 ,the best course which the ,commons could have taken would perhaps have been to depose the ,king1 as their ancestors had deposed ,edward the ,second and ,richard the ,second1 and as their children afterwards deposed ,james4 ,had they done this1 had they placed on the throne a prince whose character and whose situation would have been a pledge for his good conduct1 they might safely have left to that prince all the old constitutional prerogatives of the ,crown1 the command of the armies of the state1 the power of making peers1 the power of appointing ministers1 a veto on bills passed by the two ,houses4 #dhf,such a prince1 reigning by their choice1 would have been under the necessity of acting in conformity with their wishes4 ,but the public mind was not ripe for such a measure4 ,there was no ,duke of ,lancaster1 no ,prince of ,orange1 no great and eminent person1 near in blood to the throne1 yet attached to the cause of the people4 ,charles was then to remain ,king2 and it was therefore necessary that he should be king only in name4 ,a ,william the ,third1 or a ,george the ,first1 whose title to the crown was identical with the title of the people to their liberty1 might safely be trusted with extensive powers4 ,but new freedom could not exist in safety under the old tyrant4 ,since he was not to be deprived of the name of king1 the only course which was left was to make him a mere trustee1 nominally seised of prerogatives of which others had the use1 a ,grand ,lama1 a ,roi ,fainant1 a phantom resembling those ,dagoberts and ,childeberts who wore the badges of royalty1 while ,ebroin and ,charles ,martel held the real sovereignty of the state4 ,the conditions which the ,parliament propounded were hard1 but1 we are sure1 not harder than those which even the ,tories1 in the ,convention of #afhi1 would have imposed on ,james1 if it had been resolved that ,james should continue to be king4 ,the chief condition was that the command of the militia and the conduct of the war in ,ireland should be left to the ,parliament4 ,on this point was that great issue joined1 whereof the two parties put themselves on ,god and on the ,sword4 ,we think1 not only that the ,commons were justified in demanding for themselves the power to dispose of the military force1 but that it would have been absolute insanity in them to leave that force at the disposal of #dhgthe ,king4 ,from the very beginning of his reign1 it had evidently been his object to govern by an army4 ,his third ,parliament had complained1 in the ,petition of ,right1 of his fondness for martial law1 and of the vexations manner in which he billeted his soldiers on the people4 ,the wish nearest the heart of ,strafford was1 as his letters prove1 that the revenue might be brought into such a state as would enable the ,king to keep a standing military establishment4 ,in #afdj1 ,charles had supported an army in the northern counties by lawless exactions4 ,in #afda he had engaged in an intrigue1 the object of which was to bring that army to ,london for the purpose of overawing the ,parliament4 ,his late conduct had proved that1 if he were suffered to retain even a small body-guard of his own creatures near his person1 the ,commons would be in danger of outrage1 perhaps of massacre4 ,the ,houses were still deliberating under the protection of the militia of ,london4 ,could the command of the whole armed force of the realm have been1 under these circumstances1 safely confided to the ,king8 ,would it not have been frenzy in the ,parliament to raise and pay an army of fifteen or twenty thousand men for the ,irish war1 and to give to ,charles the absolute control of this army1 and the power of selecting1 promoting1 and dismissing officers at his pleasure8 ,was it not probable that this army might become1 what it is the nature of armies to become1 what so many armies formed under much more favourable circumstances have become1 what the army of the ,roman republic became1 what the army of the ,french republic became1 an instrument of despotism8 ,was it not probable that the soldiers might forget that they were also citizens1 and might be ready to serve their general against their #dhh;country8 ,was it not certain that1 on the very first day on which ,charles could venture to revoke his concessions1 and to punish his opponents1 he would establish an arbitrary government1 and exact a bloody revenge8 ,our own times furnish a parallel case4 ,suppose that a revolution should take place in ,spain1 that the ,constitution of ,cadiz should be reestablished1 that the ,cortes should meet again1 that the ,spanish ,prynnes and ,burtons1 who are now wandering in rags round ,leicester ,square1 should be restored to their country4 ,ferdinand the ,seventh would1 in that case1 of course repeat all the oaths and promises which he made in #ahbj1 and broke in #ahbh4 ,but would it not be madness in the ,cortes1 even if they were to leave him the name of ,king1 to leave him more than the name8 ,would not all ,europe scoff at them1 if they were to permit him to assemble a large army for an expedition to ,america1 to model that army at his pleasure1 to put it under the command of officers chosen by himself8 ,should we not say that every member of the ,constitutional party who might concur in such a measure would most richly deserve the fate which he would probably meet1 the fate of ,riego and of the ,empecinado8 ,we are not disposed to pay compliments to ,ferdinand2 nor do we conceive that we pay him any compliment1 when we say that1 of all sovereigns in history1 he seems to us most to resemble1 in some very important points1 ,king ,charles the ,first4 ,like ,charles1 he is pious after a certain fashion2 like ,charles1 he has made large concessions to his people after a certain fashion4 ,it is well for him that he has had to deal with men who bore very little resemblance to the ,english ,puritans4 #dhi,the ,commons would have the power of the sword2 the ,king would not part with it2 and nothing remained but to try the chances of war4 ,charles still had a strong party in the country4 ,his august office1 his dignified manners1 his solemn protestations that he would for the time to come respect the liberties of his subjects1 pity for fallen greatness1 fear of violent innovation1 secured to him many adherents4 ,he had with him the ,church1 the ,universities1 a majority of the nobles and of the old landed gentry4 ,the austerity of the ,puritan manners drove most of the gay and dissolute youth of that age to the royal standard4 ,many good1 brave1 and moderate men1 who disliked his former conduct1 and who entertained doubts touching his present sincerity1 espoused his cause unwillingly and with many painful misgivings1 because1 though they dreaded his tyranny much1 they dreaded democratic violence more4 ,on the other side was the great body of the middle orders of ,england1 the merchants1 the shopkeepers1 the yeomanry1 headed by a very large and formidable minority of the peerage and of the landed gentry4 ,the ,earl of ,essex1 a man of respectable abilities and of some military experience1 was appointed to the command of the parliamentary army4 ,hampden spared neither his fortune nor his person in the cause4 ,he subscribed two thousand pounds to the public service4 ,he took a colonel's commission in the army1 and went into ,buckinghamshire to raise a regiment of infantry4 ,his neighbours eagerly enlisted under his command4 ,his men were known by their green uniform1 and by their standard1 which bore on one side the watchword of the ,parliament1 8,god with us10 and on the other the device of ,hampden1 8,vestigia #dijnulla retrorsum40 ,this motto well described the line of conduct which he pursued4 ,no member of his party had been so temperate1 while there remained a hope that legal and peaceable measures might save the country4 ,no member of his party showed so much energy and vigour when it became necessary to appeal to arms4 ,he made himself thoroughly master of his military duty1 and 8performed it10 to use the words of ,clarendon1 8upon all occasions most punctually40 ,the regiment which he had raised and trained was considered as one of the best in the service of the ,parliament4 ,he exposed his person in every action1 with an intrepidity which made him conspicuous even among thousands of brave men4 8,he was10 says ,clarendon1 8of a personal courage equal to his best parts2 so that he was an enemy not to be wished wherever he might have been made a friend1 and as much to be apprehended where he was so1 as any man could deserve to be40 ,though his military career was short1 and his military situation subordinate1 he fully proved that he possessed the talents of a great general1 as well as those of a great statesman4 ,we shall not attempt to give a history of the war4 ,lord ,nugent's account of the military operations is very animated and striking4 ,our abstract would be dull1 and probably unintelligible4 ,there was1 in fact1 for some time no great and connected system of operations on either side4 ,the war of the two parties was like the war of ,arimanes and ,oromasdes1 neither of whom1 according to the ,eastern theologians1 has any exclusive domain1 who are equally omnipresent1 who equally pervade all space1 who carry on their eternal strife within every particle of matter4 ,there was a petty war in almost every county4 ,a town furnished #diatroops to the ,parliament while the manor-house of the neighbouring peer was garrisoned for the ,king4 ,the combatants were rarely disposed to march far from their own homes4 ,it was reserved for ,fairfax and ,cromwell to terminate this desultory warfare1 by moving one overwhelming force successively against all the scattered fragments of the royal party4 ,it is a remarkable circumstance that the officers who had studied tactics in what were considered as the best schools1 under ,vere in the ,netherlands1 and under ,gustavus ,adolphus in ,germany1 displayed far less skill than those commanders who had been bred to peaceful employments1 and who never saw even a skirmish till the civil war broke out4 ,an unlearned person might hence be inclined to suspect that the military art is no very profound mystery1 that its principles are the principles of plain good sense1 and that a quick eye1 a cool head1 and a stout heart1 will do more to make a general than all the diagrams of ,jomini4 ,this1 however1 is certain1 that ,hampden showed himself a far better officer than ,essex1 and ,cromwell than ,leslie4 ,the military errors of ,essex were probably in some degree produced by political timidity4 ,he was honestly1 but not warmly1 attached to the cause of the ,parliament2 and next to a great defeat he dreaded a great victory4 ,hampden1 on the other hand1 was for vigorous and decisive measures4 ,when he drew the sword1 as ,clarendon has well said1 he threw away the scabbard4 ,he had shown that he knew better than any public man of his time how to value and how to practise moderation4 ,but he knew that the essence of war is violence1 and that moderation in war is imbecility4 ,on several occasions1 particularly during the operations #dib;in the neighbourhood of ,brentford1 he remonstrated earnestly with ,essex4 ,wherever he commanded separately1 the boldness and rapidity of his movements presented a striking contrast to the sluggishness of his superior4 ,in the ,parliament he possessed boundless influence4 ,his employments towards the close of #afdb have been described by ,denham in some lines which1 though intended to be sarcastic1 convey in truth the highest eulogy4 ,hampden is described in this satire as perpetually passing and repassing between the military station at ,windsor and the ,house of ,commons at ,westminster1 as overawing the general1 and as giving law to that ,parliament which knew no other law4 ,it was at this time that he organised that celebrated association of counties1 to which his party was principally indebted for its victory over the ,king4 ,in the early part of #afdc1 the shires lying in the neighbourhood of ,london1 which were devoted to the cause of the ,parliament1 were incessantly annoyed by ,rupert and his cavalry4 ,essex had extended his lines so far that almost every point was vulnerable4 ,the young prince1 who1 though not a great general1 was an active and enterprising partisan1 frequently surprised posts1 burned villages1 swept away cattle1 and was again at ,oxford before a force sufficient to encounter him could be assembled4 ,the languid proceedings of ,essex were loudly condemned by the troops4 ,all the ardent and daring spirits in the parliamentary party were eager to have ,hampden at their head4 ,had his life been prolonged1 there is every reason to believe that the supreme command would have been intrusted to him4 ,but it was decreed1 that at this conjuncture1 ,england should lose #dicthe only man who united perfect disinterestedness to eminent talents1 the only man who1 being capable of gaining the victory for her1 was incapable of abusing that victory when gained4 ,in the evening of the seventeenth of ,june1 ,rupert darted out of ,oxford with his cavalry on a predatory expedition4 ,at three in the morning of the following day1 he attacked and dispersed a few parliamentary soldiers who lay at ,postcombe4 ,he then flew to ,chinnor1 burned the village1 killed or took all the troops who were quartered there1 and prepared to hurry back with his booty and his prisoners to ,oxford4 ,hampden had1 on the preceding day1 strongly represented to ,essex the danger to which this part of the line was exposed4 ,as soon as he received intelligence of ,rupert's incursion1 he sent off a horseman with a message to the ,general4 ,the cavaliers1 he said1 could return only by ,chiselhampton ,bridge4 ,a force ought to be instantly despatched in that direction for the purpose of intercepting them4 ,in the mean time1 he resolved to set out with all the cavalry that he could muster1 for the purpose of impeding the march of the enemy till ,essex could take measures for cutting off their retreat4 ,a considerable body of horse and dragoons volunteered to follow him4 ,he was not their commander4 ,he did not even belong to their branch of the service4 ,but 8he was10 says ,lord ,clarendon1 8second to none but the ,general himself in the observance and application of all men40 ,on the field of ,chalgrove he came up with ,rupert4 ,a fierce skirmish ensued4 ,in the first charge1 ,hampden was struck in the shoulder by two bullets1 which broke the bone1 and lodged in his body4 ,the troops of the ,parliament lost heart and gave way4 ,rupert1 after pursuing them for #did;a short time1 hastened to cross the bridge1 and made his retreat unmolested to ,oxford4 ,hampden1 with his head drooping1 and his hands leaning on his horse's neck1 moved feebly out of the battle4 ,the mansion which had been inhabited by his father-in-law1 and from which in his youth he had carried home his bride ,elizabeth1 was in sight4 ,there still remains an affecting tradition that he looked for a moment towards that beloved house1 and made an effort to go thither to die4 ,but the enemy lay in that direction4 ,he turned his horse towards ,thame1 where he arrived almost fainting with agony4 ,the surgeons dressed his wounds4 ,but there was no hope4 ,the pain which he suffered was most excruciating4 ,but he endured it with admirable firmness and resignation4 ,his first care was for his country4 ,he wrote from his bed several letters to ,london concerning public affairs1 and sent a last pressing message to the head-quarters1 recommending that the dispersed forces should be concentrated4 ,when his public duties were performed1 he calmly prepared himself to die4 ,he was attended by a clergyman of the ,church of ,england1 with whom he had lived in habits of intimacy1 and by the chaplain of the ,buckinghamshire ,green-coats1 ,dr4 ,spurton1 whom ,baxter describes as a famous and excellent divine4 ,a short time before ,hampden's death the sacrament was administered to him4 ,he declared that1 though he disliked the government of the ,church of ,england1 he yet agreed with that ,church as to all essential matters of doctrine4 ,his intellect remained unclouded4 ,when all was nearly over1 he lay murmuring faint prayers for himself1 and for the cause in which he died4 8,lord ,jesus10 he exclaimed1 in the moment of the #dielast agony1 8receive my soul4 ,o ,lord1 save my country4 ,o ,lord1 be merciful to----40 ,in that broken ejaculation passed away his noble and fearless spirit4 ,he was buried in the parish church of ,hampden4 ,his soldiers1 bareheaded1 with reversed arms and muffled drums and colours1 escorted his body to the grave1 singing1 as they marched1 that lofty and melancholy psalm in which the fragility' of human life is contrasted with the immutability of ,him to whom a thousand years are as yesterday when it is passed1 and as a watch in the night4 ,the news of ,hampden's death produced as great a consternation in his party1 according to ,clarendon1 as if their whole army had been cut off4 ,the journals of the time amply prove that the ,parliament and all its friends were filled with grief and dismay4 ,lord ,nugent has quoted a remarkable passage from the next ,weekly ,intelligencer4 8,the loss of ,colonel ,hampden goeth near the heart of every man that loves the good of his king and country1 and makes some conceive little content to be at the army now that he is gone4 ,the memory of this deceased colonel is such1 that in no age to come but it will more and more be held in honour and esteem2 a man so religious1 and of that prudence1 judgment1 temper1 valour1 and integrity1 that he hath left few his like behind40 ,he had indeed left none his like behind him4 ,there still remained1 indeed1 in his party1 many acute intellects1 many eloquent tongues1 many brave and honest hearts4 ,there still remained a rugged and clownish soldier1 half fanatic1 half buffoon1 whose talents1 discerned as yet only by one penetrating eye1 were equal to all the highest duties of the soldier and the prince4 #dif;,but in ,hampden1 and in ,hampden alone1 were united all the qualities which1 at such a crisis1 were necessary to save the state1 the valour and energy of ,cromwell1 the discernment and eloquence of ,vane1 the humanity and moderation of ,manchester1 the stern integrity of ,hale1 the ardent public spirit of ,sydney4 ,others might possess the qualities which were necessary to save the popular party in the crisis of danger2 he alone had both the power and the inclination to restrain its excesses in the hour of triumph4 ,others could conquer2 he alone could reconcile4 ,a heart as bold as his brought up the cuirassiers who turned the tide of battle on ,marston ,moor4 ,as skilful an eye as his watched the ,scotch army descending from the heights over ,dunbar4 ,but it was when to the sullen tyranny of ,laud and ,charles had succeeded the fierce conflict of sects and factions1 ambitious of ascendency and burning for revenge1 it was when the vices and ignorance which the old tyranny had generated threatened the new freedom with destruction1 that ,england missed the sobriety1 the self-command1 the perfect soundness of judgment1 the perfect rectitude of intention1 to which the history of revolutions furnishes no parallel1 or furnishes a parallel in ,washington alone4 ,,end ,,of ,,vol4 ,,ii4